Farmer's Market Shop Hop (part one) and sewing!

The Farmer's Market Shop Hop started on Thursday and is going through this whole week!

Lisa and I made it to four of the seven shops on Friday!

Our first stop! In Orlando

Lisa's niece, Abby went with us :)

I love the simplicity of the quilt on the wall-the top left one.

Frames galore!!

Abby was SO funny with this fuzzy fabric!

She said that she wanted to take it home! LOL. Too cute!

they had lots of half priced kits!

Shop number two!

LOVE this mini quilt

I really enjoyed this shop! I found several things that I had to have here!

Ahem...My niece Aria's first bday is going to be owl themed.....hmm hmm...I may or may not have HAD to buy this pattern!

Abby was so cute reading these books...look at her lil face!

LOVE this!

this fabric with fat cats totally made me think of my Patches and Pippi.

Abby was getting grumpy and tired, lol.

Shop # 3

I did not care for this one at all. And I was seriously unimpressed with what they had to offer

I did see this in the bathroom tho...cute! :)

THIS store was AMAZINGGG! HUGE selection. Super friendly staff!

Lisa had to drive after we got to the first shop b/c I was "making her sick with my braking and punching the gas"...geesh (lol)

That night, after dinner, I went to Lisa's to sew!! Yayy!

I finished my first Christmas present for 2013 (nevermind that it was intended to be given in 2012, lol)

And....I made binding for my "jelly roll race" quilt!

I came home and poured out my purchases...here are some of the pics...

I found another McKenna Ryan for my Sea Breeze quilt...this is only the third one i have found. Also in this pic is a tool for "skinning the quilt". Neither Lisa nor I had ever heard this term but it's for when you need to undo the quilting from the back of a quilt for one reason or another.

Here is an assortment...Some cat wintery fabric, a panel to make some bibs for Macy and Aria, a panel of cheater fabric and a yard of some tan and blue flower fabric that I found on clearance!

I also bought this quilt!!!! I got a steal of a deal on it and happens to be a pattern that I was thinking of making in one of the magazines this year. I LOVE it!

My cute kitties love it too!

This and That (including MACY JEANNE's ARRIVAL!)

My SIL, Amanda was induced on the 2nd...my niece, Macy Jeanne Chambers was born at 2:48am on the 3rd! She is BEAUTIFUL!

tired daddy

exhausted mama

PURE PRECIOUSNESS!

Proud Auntie! Isn't she BEAUTIFUL!!??!

This week our family started a new devotional..."Focus on the Family's" study on patience. They have a whole bunch of four day topics....Kyle actually chose this one :) We have been enjoying making time for our bible reading, devotion time and blessing jar together.

This coming week is going to be CRAZY BUSY!
Kyle starts piano and art club tomorrow, science club Thursday and I am teaching a sewing class Thurs and Fri. This is all in addition to our normal life schedule (swim team for 2 hours/day, 5 days/week, church on Wed's, scouts on Tues's, etc.) AHHHH!!

We got a great deal on a keyboard, thanks to Detto helping us know what to look for! Kyle's been practicing piano ALL WEEKEND LONG....

 He taught himself The First Noel on his own! And he's working on Silent Night right now.
I'm excited to see how he does with professional instruction. He seems to have the ear for music like Ronnie does...  I DEF DO NOT! lol.

In the meantime, I am preparing to teach a Valentine's Day Quilt class.
 Here are a couple of the blocks I've made for it. (WE are doing a four block with sashing wall hanging).

I've started a FB group (Lisa's Quilt Circle-isn't it a CUTE name!) for local sewers/quilters and it is taking off! I am blessed by this! I had NO idea it would be so popular, but I am loving getting to "meet" new people with a mutual love for quilting! Just about everyday I am adding friends to my FB page b/c people I don't know are wanting to be a part of the group. I LOVE IT!

I went into our LQS yesterday because they were having a great sale! Here are some of the goodies I picked up:

2 yards each...these will make great blenders or backings!

4 panels and some correlating fabric! Quilts and books for Aria and Macy!!

Look at this BEAUTIFUL thread! LOVE it!

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Last night I made Beef Stew from scratch for dinner...man was it DELICIOUS! and I LOVE that there were NO preservatives in it and no sodium except for the dash of salt I tossed in!

 I sauteed some onion, garlic and the beef in coconut oil, then added some spices and 2 cups of water-I let it simmer for an hour and a half....then I threw in another cup of water and a carrot, a few bits of celery (shhh, don't tell Ronnie, lol) a potato and half a carton of mushrooms. I let it cook for another 40-45 mins and added a 1/4 of a cup mixed with cornstarch....TA DA! YUMMY wholesome beef stew.

I also tried my tea from England last night...I had actually forgotten about it! Lisa brought me some Earl Grey back from Europe. I love Earl Grey tea and it was neat to have some from it's place of origin...........it was really yummy.

I hope you all have had a fabulous first week of the new year!

New Quilt Project!!

Don't you just LOVE starting a new quilt project?!?! I think that is why us quilters have SO many UFO's! We love the idea of a new quilt project!
Here is the quilt I will be starting soon.

I have already chosen all my fabrics for the top! Here they are!

Here's my Jacob...isn't he just the cutest!??!

I just saw this pic from when he was a kitten! SO DARNED ADORABLE!!!