I can’t brag about Morgan without talking about Dustin.  It wouldn’t be fair and I can’t love one more than the other.  You know what I am saying.

Anyway – as proud as I am of Morgan, I am 100 times prouder of my son.  This has been a great year with him.  He is finally “getting it” and working harder in school and has a goal.  He ended the year with all A’s and B’s – this is first since 2nd grade.

Those of you following the podcast understand the struggles I have had with Dustin.  I feel bad complaining at time because I know my problems could be so much worse.  We have never had behavior issues and most teachers enjoy having him in their class.  In the past it was because he was quiet and kept to himself.  We never had a problem with test scores – he has always tested well above his grade level.  Our problem has always been that he refused to do any class work or home work.  And, what he did do, he wouldn’t turn in.

We tried everything.  Every suggestion.  Punishment. Reward.  Nothing got through to him.  The school was very little help because he was maintaining a “C” and never got in trouble – they could care less and never returned my calls or emails.

But this year, his Sophomore year, something was different.  He did all his work and never missed an assignment.  His teachers raved that he actually participated in class – raising his hand several times.  The school added a way for me to monitor his progress online – even daily if I wanted.  Dustin was grounded the entire school year for getting and F in Algebra; but we allowed him to earn days off grounding by doing A or B assignments.  And it worked!  Basically he was never grounded and I put a foot down to any missing assignment (failing an assignment was better than not turning it in).

He is now working on getting an academic scholarship to a Florida University!  He will need practically straight A’s this year to make up for the screw up in the Freshman year – but he wants to work toward it.  Can you believe it?!  Two years ago I was loosing hope.

What is even better is the man he is turning into.  He is kind, thoughtful, a leader who does his own thing, he is smart and has a great mind of his own.  I am so lucky to be his mother.

One parental belief I have is to let your children be themselves.  Let them find their own way and you just worry about the core values and point them in the right direction.  That brings me to his hair.

You hear my voice, you see my picture – have you ever wanted to put the two together?  Well check this out http://igg.me/p/34076?a=189606&i=shlk and you can see me in action.  Be sure to look at the Gallery Video as well as the main one.

The hair will be cut off and donated soon.  This might be your last chance.

Do my pictures seem any better to you? I think so, I know they are brighter.

It is all thanks to my wonderful husband. Look at what I got for Mother’s Day:

It is so AWESOME!!! it is a Nikon 3100 DSLR. The pictures are brighter, clearer, and it shoots super quick.

I was so tired of looking at everyone else’s pictures and seeing how good they looked. While mine were dark and blurry. If you are on the fence on getting a fancy camera – I say “go for it”. For me – it has been worth every penny. There is nothing better than hitting the button and the picture being taken instantly instead of 2 seconds after the action.

Dear Friends,

I am writing to tell you about something I am very excited about.  A new great website for quilters and fabric crafters; ‘www.SeamedUP.com’!  The site is still in development, but when it is finished is will be a one stop site for sewing, fabric crafting and quilting.  It combines shopping, browsing, learning, friendship, and community all in one.  Best of all, it is FREE to join and you can sign up now even though they are still working on it!

Websites like this are a great asset to the craft, but it takes a lot to put it all together.  The SeamedUP.com team is made up of only two girls and they can really use our help.  They are currently running a fundraising campaign to keep the site up while they are working on it.  Doing this allows them to test it and get feedback from its members.  One of my favorite things about SeamedUP.com is that they listen to member’s suggestions and members can really help mold the site into what we want it to be.  But to continue to do this, they need money to upgrade their servers.

The link below will take you to their Indie GoGo fundraising campaign.  Please take the time to visit it, watch the video and read their mission.

http://www.indiegogo.com/SeamedUPcom?a=189606&i=emal

There are many ways you can support this project.  You can donate money, share it on Facebook, Twitter, or Google +, blog about it, add their button to your website, blog or email, leave a comment on the fundraising page, and add it to your Indie GoGo favorites.  I hope you choose to do all of these, but I am asking you to do at least one thing for me:

Copy this letter and send it to everyone on your email list

The more people that know about this great idea, the better the chance we will have to use it.

Share it!  Together we can make SeamedUP Happen!

The question I am asked most often on this blog and in my emails is “How is Morgan?”

So I figured today, I would give you an update.  She is still smart as ever, always happy, enjoying her summer vacation, and drives me crazy everyday.  Yes, I could end here – but here are some details.

The school year ended great.  Morgan won awards every quarter and her teachers just rave about her.  All her scores for the entire year were the best they could possibly be.  Her gifted teacher said “Morgan more than met the challenge of being the youngest student in the class” and she scored the highest grade possible.

The fact that she is smart is wonderful, but what I am more proud of, is her behavior.  Those of you with little ones understand the daily behavior reports teachers send home.  For the entire school year, she never once scored below the top level.  She is really a great kid to be around.

That is of course, when she is quiet.  The girl never stops talking. NEVER!  I know this will be a good thing as she grows up, but right now it makes me feel like a terrible mom; because I am constantly saying “please stop talking!!” (well, sometimes in those words, and sometimes a little nicer).  And she has started talking so low – like she doesn’t understand that her talking too much is not the volume it is the quantity.  When she is not talking, and sometimes when she is, she is bouncing, jumping, dancing, moving – I get dizzy when she is around me.  It wears me out.

She did venture off to Girl Scout camp for a day this year.  This is something she earned for selling so many cookies for her troop.  She was very nervous about camp, but loved it and next year plans on going to the overnight camp.  I have to say that Girl Scouts is one of the best organizations I have dealt with and we are looking forward to many more years of participation.

One thing I did not like about Girl Scout camp was the infestation of head lice Morgan ended up with a month later.  Of course, I do not know if it was camp that did it; be she was so infested everything I read said she had to have them for 30 days or more.  Count back 5 weeks and she was at camp.

So we went on a week long vacation to Florida (yes, I live in Florida – we only went 80 miles down the road) and took the kids to several theme parks; Universal, Islands of Adventure, Busch Gardens.  The following week, I went to Mobile, Alabama for a conference for work.  Two days into the conference I get the call from Rick – Morgan has Lice!!!

That poor man always has to deal with bad stuff when I am out of town.  So he did the first treatment.  I got home a few days later and found more live creepy crawlies and did another treatment.  We combed her hair for hours every other day. And a week later we did a follow up treatment.  During this time, I was reading everything I could and found a ton of info about non-toxic treatments.  Of course I understood why people would want non-toxic (chemicals and all around your kid), but I just wanted them dead.

About a week later I found out why non-toxic would have been a better choice – Morgan’s hair was destroyed.  It was breaking off to the touch and her scalp was in terrible shape.  In the picture above she has lost about 3 inches and before school we will cut off another 3-4 inches.  It is split, knotting and just dried up.  I have been doing intense conditioning treatments and her scalp is getting better.  I am hoping by the time school starts the flakiness has stopped.

So there is the long and the short of it.  It is summer vacation right now; I don’t send her away anywhere, she stays home with her dad and brother playing with her toys.  She goes back to school in 2 weeks.  I am hoping for a teacher that gives her more homework and makes her write more.  She is a great writer and her 1st grade teacher didn’t assign very much.

Over the last week, I have been reminded on my blog.  In one guess, I was “asked” to keep it updated.  Not in a mean or negative way – just a gentle reminder that some on my loyal followers use their Kindle to read my blog.  Another person mentioned the traffic that my blog gets.  I hadn’t check it in a while and was shocked that 300-400 people visit me every day.  OK – now I am feeling guilty.

So, in response, I am going to make a real effort to keep in touch.  Starting today.  This week, I will have several posts to update you on what I have been doing.  I still live by my motto of  ”crafting everyday”.  Even though SeamedUP has been keeping me busy, I still make an effort to do a little something everyday.

I will also be updating the site this week.  You will no longer see the discussion page because that is happening over at SeamedUP.com in the forums (very active by the way).  I am also going to remove my quilt and knitting projects – because you can see those on Ravelry and SeamedUP.  I am also getting rid of the question of the week – at lease for now.  I never keep it updated anyway.

As for podcasting – I can’t give you an answer.  The last time I posted was April 8th.  I actually recorded another one a week later – but never posted it.  So, for now, let’s take this one step at a time.  My focus right now will be blogging regularly.

Wish my luck – I really hope I succeed at this.  I do love this blog.

I finally finished the quilting on my disappearing 9-patch. I was putting it off because I was down to just the decorative swirly’s on the border. For each one I had to start and stop quilting. They were not connected or continuous.

But I sat down and got into a rhythm and finished them all. I didn’t stop there. I made the binding and sewed it on right away. I even made little hanger triangles for the corners. Now I am down to the hand sewing of the binding.

Yeah!!! It may be done this week.

This week I caught you up on what I have been up to and discussed what I am learning in my monthly quilting class – Hot Ribbon Applique.

So here is the process:

This is everything that came in my first month’s kit: a picture of the block, the pattern, pattern instructions, fabric, Steam a Seam, hot ribbon, a green Copic marker and a Copic colorless blender.

The first step is to trace the pattern pieces onto the Steam a Seam.  This pattern came with the pieces already in reverse.

I didn’t take pictures of the next step.  But you press the Steam a Seam onto the back of the fabric and cut out the pieces.

Next lay down the pattern on your pressing mat or ironing board.  Place an applique pressing sheet over it.  Notice how you can see the pattern through the pressing sheet.

Then place you cut out pieces in the right spot.  Be sure to overlay them about 1/8 of an inch.  Press. Let cool and peel off the pressing sheet.  It is almost like a giant sticker!

Press the applique piece onto your background.  If you want to machine embroider on the block, this is when I suggest you do it.

Here are the supplies to finish up: a mini iron set on the low setting, tiny scissors, and the Copic markers to add shading.

This is how you apply the ribbon.  It is important that you press and don’t push the ribbon around.  The ribbon has a glue on the back that will adhere to the fabric once it is heated.  You can lift it and reposition if needed, but try not to do that too much.

Cover all your raw edges with the ribbon and Viola!  Beautiful!  Shade with the Copic markers as desired using the patten picture as a guide.  You can’t see it here but I shaded the white with a bit of the green.

I have all twelve strip twist quilt blocks done and pressed.  Next step – assemble my quilt top!!!!

Frolic finished.  Here are the pics!

Every week I think about recording a podcast.  I have plenty to say and topics to discuss.  But I can never find the time.  And, when I do have the time – the whole family is around making too much noise.

So, Monday, I had to work a night shift.  Since I wasn’t around Rick decided to take Dustin fishing for the night and dropped Morgan off at Grandmas.  I got home just before 10pm to a completely quit house.  This is the perfect scenario, right?

Well, when things are that perfect, something is bound to go wrong.  I started recording and the playback was HORRIBLE.  Something was wrong with my recording software.  I sounded like a computer.

Yes, I did fix it, but by the time it was fixed it was nearly 11:00.  Remember, I have to wake up early for work so it was a bust.

Better luck next time.  I am hoping to get something out soon.

I finished my miniature quilt.  It measures 17 1/2″ x 17 1/2″.  It is paper pieced, so now I just have to tear out all the little pieces of paper.  UGH!!

I am being over run with my UFOs.  I know, I know, it is a sign of a true quilter to have so many projects started; but it goes against my natural instincts.  I am the person who finished every bit of toothpaste in the tube, the one who reads the book she hates just because she started it, the one who will finish the skirt I cut out when I was two sizes smaller.

I can’t handle this…. it is driving me nuts…..I am starting to shake with nervous tension.

I spent the past two days trying to work on these and I did make a good dent in it.  And I do realize it is probably not half as bad as some of my reading audience.  But this is what I have:

1. One quilt with only a little quilting left to do and the binding
2. One quilt top done with the backing ready to piece and sandwich
3. One miniature quilt top done; need to remove the paper and who knows how I will back it
4. One miniature quilt sandwiched waiting to be hand quilted
5. Supplies purchased for a yo-yo cat
6. Supplies purchased for a wool table runner
7. One pair of socks on the needles
8. One large sweater on the needles
9. three out of four hardanger coasters completed – one to go.
10. two chalkboards to make

And I am sure, if I look under my sewing table, I will find more.

Well, Rick has asked me to stop spending money for the next few months.  I guess I am all set anyway.

I know. . . I have disappeared again.  Ok – Here’s the deal. . . .   Lots of you have praised me on how I get so much done with the little bit of time I have available.  But I think I have finally gotten to the point that I have overloaded myself.

Things at work have been crazy busy and I am months behind schedule.  In the past I would bring work home to make up, go in earlier, or work a weekend.  Can’t do that now due to massive sleep deprivation and the host of projects I have going on at home.

The holidays and family have added their own stresses lately.  My husband is absolutely wonderful and takes care of most of it for me, plus we went to Tennessee for Christmas so I didn’t have to plan for a get together at my house.  But, I had Frolic to finish for a gift, and had to sneak to finish his socks, plus plan how Santa was going to visit us in TN instead of FL.  I am a traditional shop and wrap until Christmas Eve type of person, but this year it had to be done early.  Rick also gets stressed this time of year and I have to deal with that; him waking up early and wanting to do things that throw my schedule totally out of balance.  Those husbands, love them but they can really mess things up.

SeamedUP and the problems we have had launching it has put a wrench in my gears too.

As with all labor’s of love, I have thought of this blog and podcast all the time.  And I am not going away, I just have to start over and work it back into my hectic schedule.  I am still crafting everyday and have lots of finished, started,  and on going projects to share. I love doing this, I just need to develop some better habits for posting.

So, last night at Morgan’s Girl Scout meeting, I spent a lot of time thinking about how to accomplish everything that I want to get done.  I am taking some tips from CraftyPod and I am going to start off by practicing to blog more – meaning that blogging is more important, and easier for me to fit in right now, than podcasting.  I am also going to tweet and Facebook more.  I don’t think I have been on there since October.  This is a priority because I am tired of the comments from my Mom.  She loves Facebook and is always saying “Did you see…..on Facebook?”, “I will post it on Facebook”….”Why haven’t you been on Facebook?”….OK, Mom, I am getting the hint.  She lives 5 miles away, but my life is so busy that FB makes us connect more often than is actually possible face to face.

I am not saying that I will not record, I am just saying that I will record when I can.  I am putting podcasting at the bottom of my to-do list right now.

Thanks for sticking with me and thanks for your patience.  Keep the comments and reviews coming, they help keep me motivated.

Brye Lynn

I wanted to give everyone who follows me an update on where we stand with the SeamedUP project.  The short story is that we have built a great site.  It does all the things we wanted as modern fabric crafters ourselves.  However, after some initial testing, we found out that we need to move to a much larger dedicated server to make the site work properly.  If only one or two people are on the site, it works beautifully.  But, that’s just not good enough.

If you want the long story of how we arrived at this place, please check out our new blog: http://seamedup.blogspot.com – it has all the background information on the site, and what we’re planning next.

As the team that gave birth to SeamedUP, we’ve come to the conclusion that we can’t raise this baby alone.  We need some loving aunts and uncles to help us.  That’s where you come in – we’re asking for your help.  If each person who reads this would donate just $10, we’ll be able to host the site for the next year.  Once we have reached the one year point – our plan is to be self-sufficient.   We’re confident that you’ll be happy with the end result.  In fact, if you don’t like the site when it’s launched, we’ll refund your donation.    Seriously, the blog will have a “refund” button where you can request your money back.

If you’d like to help, please visit our blog and make your donation today.  Just think of the bragging you can do when this little baby grows into a happy, successful adult.

Here is a little “taste” of what you can expect:

Search by Fabric Category

Patterns Dashboard Page

Not sure what to do? FLIT around

Today we talked about a few tips when machine quilting.  Not much for show notes, but here is the list I ran down.

1.       Create a flat surface around your machine

2.       Extend the flat surface to the back of your machine

3.       Sit up higher – ergonomics

4.       Good needle, I use a quilting needle and some use a denium needle

5.       Prep lots of bobbins before you get started

6.       Set you needle to the needle down position.

7.       Straight stitching use a walking foot

8.       Free motion use a darning foot

9.       Make your sewing surface slick – Supreme slider, furniture polish

10.   Use a type of grippy glove; depends on your surface and how well it slides around.

11.   Prepping the quilt – rolling it or stuffing it under

12.   Start in the middle and work your way out

13.   Do your straight stitching first

14.   Do stippling last – it will draw up the quilt more

15.   Quilt sashing in the same direction on all sides, prevents fabric shear or pulling of fabric

16.   Speed control – set your speed control but use your foot petal for more control.

17.   Take breaks – every hour to 90 minutes

18.   Clean you machine with every bobbin change, lots of lint

19.   Starting and stopping – do a couple of stitches in place to lock it in.

20.   Stop the machine to reposition your hands – do not walk your hands, it will show in your stitching.

Easy straight stitching designs:

1.       Vertical or horizontal lies

2.       Double lines

3.       Grids, straight or diagonal

4.       Outline the block

5.       Square spiral

Morgan is sick ~ again! I know, it is never ending.

When I got home she drew me a picture of how her throat feels.  She is imagining a cut on her uvula or on her tonsils.  You know me, I went immediately to Google to help her out.  I googled images of a sore throat and after a bunch of clicking, I ended up on this page:

http://www.giantmicrobes.com/us/products/sorethroat.html

This is a stuffed toy of strep bacteria!  They also have the common cold, flu, ear ache, stomach ache, white blood cells and much much more.  They are super cute and a neat way to teach about germs.

My next google search was to find an Etsy shop selling a handmade version.  Can you believe that no one on Etsy is selling anything like this!  Personally, I was surprised.  I know that handmade funky monsters are really popular right now.  I felt like germs would not be a far stretch to make.

I just wanted to share.  If you are looking to make something different sell on Etsy, this may be an idea.

Today, I tell you the ugly truth about my high-end sewing machine; Janome Memory Craft 11,000 Special Edition (MC11000 aka MC11000SE)

• In the shop 7 times within a year; needs to go back again.
• Bobbin case keeps turning and the needle goes through it. Dealer broke two bobbin cases trying to fix it then told me I threaded it wrong.
• Machine tells me the bobbin is empty when it’s not
• Machine rattles when I machine quilt; dealer says I have to use the blue dot case when Janome says it is not mandatory to use it.
• Dealer fixes on the spot and says there is nothing wrong with it.
• I had to argue, yell and fight with the dealer to get them to take it in and actually examine it thoroughly.
• Dealer will not listen to me when I bring it in, makes excuses for everything I say. Such as “I am using cheap thread” or “I shouldn’t have used the darning foot for machine quilting”.
• Dealer says all my problems are user error, but I say 7 times in the shop proves it is not user error.
• Dealer says Janome will not exchange it for another machine or another model of machine.
• Janome says the purchase of my machine is between me and dealer – they refuse to get involved or exchange.
• Janome says I can have my dealer ship it to them, but I will have to pay for all shipping and repair charges.
• I believe they sold me a refurbished machine without telling me.
• On an internet search I found page after page of complaints for this model; most of them include bobbin and bobbin case problems.

Here are some of the projects I completed recently.

Tooth Fairy Pillow:  Fairly embroidery pattern from www.emblibrary.com

“Tonight when its time to lay down in your bed, Put your tooth under your pillow where you rest your sweet head. may the Tooth Fairy bring you lots of money and your toothless days be bright and sunny.” – Not sure where I found this, on the internet somewhere.

Hardanger Coaster – 3 down, 1 to go!

Disappearing 9-patch wall hanging – quilting has begun!

Today we talked about naming your quilts, why name them, labeling your quilts, what info to put on the label and different ways to label them.

Check out this award winning quilt by Cherry.  Beautiful!!!!  I love the quilting.  Thank you so much for sharing this with us Cherry.  Don’t forget to comment and tell Cherry what you think.

Check out my latest project!!!

www.SeamedUP.com

• The quilting and fabric crafting website you have been waiting for.
• Made for quilters, by quilters
• Sign UP for UPdates.  We should be launching very soon and you want to be the first to know.

On the podcast this week, I forgot to put a link to our new sponsor.  Check them out!  They have a lot of great crafting kits.  I particularly like the “Driving Miss Daisy Gloves”.

Craft swaps are a great way to make something different, try a new technique, and be part of our crafting community.  What I love about swaps are that you get the chance to see someone elses work and see how they made the same craft as you.

This time around we are swapping tote bags.  Below are links to several sites with directions or tutorials on how to make different types of tote bags.  Choose any or all or make up your own - whatever suits your fancy.  All bags will be shipped to me and I will swap and ship different ones back to you.

• Craftster – Reversable Tote Bag
• Tiny Happy – Shoulder Bag
• Mama’s Pocketbook – Pink October Basic Tote Bag
• DIY Bag Patterns – Rag Bag Tote Bag
• Sew Mama Sew – Classic Tote Bag
• Got Fabric – 6 Pocket Tote Bag

Here are the RULES:

1. Send me an email, bryelynn@sewstitchcreate.com telling me that you want to participate.  I will respond with my mailing address.
2. Make at least one tote bag.  You can make as many as you wish, but we this swap is so new and we have so few participants, I recommend not doing more than three. 
3. Fabric used to make the bags must be of good quality.  There are no restrictions on color or fabric design.
4. The size of the tote bag must be larger than 12″ but smaller than 21″ wide.
5. Mail the tote bag(s) to me with a self address stamped return envelope.  The weight for postage of the return envelope should be the same or close to the one you shipped to me.
6. I must recieve the bag(s) no later than May 24, 2010.
7. I will swap out the bag(s) with other crafters bag(s), returning to you the same number of bags you shipped. I will try to match the sizes so you get a bag close to the same size you sent 
8. I will ship out no later than May29, 2010. 
9. If you live internationally, you are welcome to participate. 

Grab the Swap Button for your site. 

Help promote the swap!

<a href=”http://www.sewstitchcreate.com/2010/04/14/tote-bag-swap/” mce_href=”http://www.sewstitchcreate.com/2010/04/14/tote-bag-swap/” target=”_top”><br /> <img src=”http://www.sewstitchcreate.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/Tote-Bag-Swap.png” mce_src=”http://www.sewstitchcreate.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/Tote-Bag-Swap.png” width=”125″ height=”125″ alt=”Tote Bag Swap” border=”0″/></a>

I finally finished writing out all my info on how to start your own podcast.  You can find it on the page tabs at the top of the website or click here.

It is really wordy but I wanted to give you all the information.  Please don’t let it scare you.

I hope some of you out there grab this info and act on it.  I really feel like our quilting community needs more podcasts.  It is a great way to get more people involved in our craft.

Email me with any of your questions.

Don’t forget to join our Easter Egg Swap!  So far we have too few people to make it a good swap.  Making the eggs does not take long and they add a great holiday decoration to your table.

For details on the swap Click Here!

Congratulations to Annette!! She is our winner of the tool necklace.  Annette has a great blog at http://fabricateandmira.wordpress.com/  Check it out.  Annette, email me your address and your winnings will be shipped out this weekend.

I have had a very busy couple of days.  Monday was Girls Scouts; I got volunteered to chaperone the upcoming field trip.  Yeah.  Can you hear the excitement…..Dustin says that “it is not about what you want to do, it is about how happy it will make her”.  I really hate getting parenting advice from my 15 year old.  Makes me want to throw him in a dungeon.  Anyway, by the time we got home I was so tired I crashed on the couch.

Last night, I got stuck in the office late.  When I got home I did not want to touch my computer.  My apologies, this is why the winner was announced late.  I played on my iPod for a bit and they jumped on my machine. 

I finally finished Morgan’s apron.  I cut out the body of this apron 6 months ago, but I did not know how to make my own binding – hence the binding tutorial.  So last night I added the binding and a pocket and finished it off.

My “loving” husband says that this apron will probably get used more than mine, since Morgan will be wearing it.  She will cook more than me.

I have some scraps of the pink and quite a bit of the butterfly material.  Any ideas on what to make with it?

Enter to win this cute little tool holder. There are many ways your name can be entered, and entered multiple times:

1. For each comment you leave between now and March 7th.
2. For emailing me a picture to feature on the podcast.
3. For calling me and leaving a voice mail

A random winner will be drawn on March 8th.

Tonight I am participating in a Friday Night Sew in. I have my comfy clothes on and a fresh cup of coffee; Morgan is at grandma’s, Dustin in hiding out in his room and Rick is on the Xbox. I have the living room to myself.

Join me! Check out the details at http://www.handmadebyheidi.blogspot.com.

Sorry – no podcast this week.  Here’s the story:

I really did not do much this week.  I worked on my sock; got about 80% of it done.  I am really psyc’d to start on a new knitting project, so I am working quickly on that.  I also worked on my embroidery software, trying to digitize the podcast logo and my company logo.  It really is A LOT to learn that software and make it stitch out nice.  Right now, it is just s0-s0; not perfect.

So that was it.  I probably could have still gone on with the show……if, I had a topic.  But it didn’t.

A lot of the week was spent researching vacation spots on the internet and going back and forth with my husband about where to go.  Planes, hotels, tourist attractions….. my mind was spinning and by Saturday, I could not stand to be at the computer another minute.

Forgive me.  In the meantime, I uploaded the United States template I made for my DC Quilt.  If you want to make something similar, this may come in handy.  Enjoy!

DC Quilt – United States Block

We will talk again next week.

Any topic ideas?

Tonight my husband spilled YooHoo on my Frolic blocks.

I had them sitting on my table, waiting to be sewn together once my machine is working again.  He has a really bad habit of using my sewing table as a rest for his drinks.

Luckily, it is all washable and I intended on it to be washed.  Right now, I have rinsed them and hopefully I got it all out.  The are drying on my Sham Wow!!! lol

Maybe he will learn – but I doubt it.

Our new home came with a “pet”.

This pigeon is living on our roof.  He rarely leaves.  The neighbors have told us that he is the neighborhood pigeon and spends time on all the houses, but as you can see, there is enough poop to prove where he lives.  I believe he is a homing pigeon, so I have no clue how to get rid of him.

He really isn’t doing any harm, but I don’t know much about pigeons.  Will he peck a hole in my roof?  Will all the poop damage something?

It has been freezing in Florida and this poor guy is out in the middle of it.  I was truly surprised to still see him in his spot when the temps dropped below 20 degrees.

Rick my hamburgers for dinner tonight. My only job was to cut up tomatos and lettuce. What a perfect opportunity to use my new mandolin.

Here is the disaster I made. Tomato Mush.

I can’t figure out what I did wrong. Maybe a mandolin is not meant for a soft veggie.

I better stick to the Easy Bake Oven! Morgan and I did melted chocolate in her EB. We made chocolate covered bananas and peanut butter for desert.

Yesterday, a receptionist at a business I frequent gave me an idea for a quilt. She is so sweet and friendly, I would like to bring her idea to life for her. She thought about making a quilt out of buttons – or having a quilt with buttons all over it.

The idea has been stewing in may head and has morphed into several different designs. But in the end, it always comes down to needing several hundred buttons. No doubt making this quilt too expensive to bring to life.

So here is my shout out to the community. If you have some unwanted buttons lying around your sewing space, please consider donating them to this project. I will take buttons of any shape, color, or size; cheap or expensive; old or new. As the project unfolds, I will share it on the podcast and blog.

If you can help, send an email to BryeLynn@sewstitchcreate.com and I will email you back my mailing address (at the new house! I should be moved in within the next week!).

Thank you.

Just a quick podcast today to announce the contest for a FREE seat in Annie Smith’s next online class.

Check out this new podcast – Mirkwooddesigns – Adventures in Creativity

Check out this “New to me” podcast – Creative Mom

My new coffee pot

This is the cutting board my son made me.

I canned my Jalapenos.

Here is my harvest

What they looked like while they were soaking

What they looked like before processing

After processing – see how much the water reduced.

Check out my new sewing chair!  Best of all – it was FREE!!

Remember me saying that this bad economy has hit my work particularly hard?  Well, one of our plants shut down about a year ago.  I had to go over to the abandoned plant today to search for some paperwork.  While I was there, I raided the offices for goodies.  I picked up some much needed things that I needed for work – then I spotted this chair.

Yes, I did get permission to take it – I was not stealing!  lol  It is practically brand new.  Not sure if it is real leather, but I will find out the first time I sit in it with shorts.  It is very comfy – my neck will thank me!

Fast Tube by Casper

Fast Tube by Casper

This just hit me today.

When I first learned to embroider, I was taught to always use a hoop.  It holds the fabric taunt and makes the stitches neater and tighter.  I have been adding embroidery accents to my applique blocks.  I just realize that I never hoop them.  I just hold them in my hand and stitch.

Hey – Quilt Police – Am I doing this wrong?!?!?!

Everything seems to be coming out good.  In fact, some of the accents are so close to the edge, I don’t think I could have hooped it.

Drinking enough water is essential to be healthy.  I have never been too good at making sure I am getting enough.  Lately, my skin has not been looking too good and I realized that I was barely drinking two glasses of water a day, let alone the recommended 8. 

This weekend I picked up two 33 oz bottles of water at Wal-mart.  (It was actually sparkling water – but who cares, I only wanted the bottles).  My goal is to drink both bottles by the end of one day – 66oz total, right at 8 glasses of water.  I refill them with tap water and put them in the fridge for the next day.  Once a week, I throw them out and get new ones so bateria doesn’t start growing.

Sorry everyone – my website is not coorperating.  I recorded the podcast already and I am having trouble uploading it.  I have been trying all day.  I will troubleshoot more tomorrow.

This is the kind of day I have been having.  I am not surprised.

I finally got my new machine. My husband is on the way home with it right now. While I wait, I thought I would share a TST (Time Saving Tip).

When you buy thread for your project, always buy two spools. One for stitching with and one for winding your bobbins. I hate it when I have unthread my machine; wind a bobbin; and then re-thread the machine. Every time I do this, it is a 5 minute delay and I lose my rythem.

Many new machines have a dedicated bobbin winding motor (like my new one!!!). But the “Sidewinder” is a great notion to use for bobbin winding. Having the extra spool of thread allows you to use these tools without unthreading your machine.

You can also pre-wind bobbbins – this never works for me, I still run out!

My machine did not come in today – I have one more day of waiting.  I did stop by and pick up accessories!  I got the circular attachment, the ditch quilting foot, clothsetter, bobbins, needles, and 14 different colored embroidery threads.  I am ready and waiting. 

They also gave me the digitizing software – at least I have something to play with while I wait.

Here is a video of my new machine

Fast Tube by Casper

Here is a video that has been passed around at work after a seminar.  Not this exact video, but it is done the same way.  It’s a neat trick.

Fast Tube by Casper

I had a very busy, crafty week.  I didn’t have time to organize a planned topic, so, instead of skipping a week I thought I would share everything that went on.

Thank you to Nicole for sharing her pictures.  Nicole took one of her husband’s old shirts and made this dress for her daughter.  LOVE IT!!!  She got the idea from Crafster.org.  Leave a comment and let Nicole know what you think.  I love the idea and I may be running to the thrift store to pick up an old shirt to try it!

Tiffany shared with us how she trys to break the stereotype of only older people craft.  She always brings her crafts with her – knits in public as much as she can.  Join her – help spread the word and change this stereo type.

Picture from the baseball game – here is my WONDERFUL husband; he’s a cutie, isn’t he?

Picture of the card catalog I swiped from the junk mail pile at work.  Great place to get fabric postcard ideas.

This is my sewing table ready and waiting for my new machine.  One more day!!!  This picture does not give this table justice.  I love this table so much.  It is the perfect size not to be too overwhelming in a room.  The “L” shape is perfect and very comfortable to work at.  It doesn’t have much storage, but everything can’t be perfect.  the fact that It doesn’t have storage allows me to sit where my cutting mat is, if needed.

Everything I bought at JoAnn’s. 

My first knitting attempt.  I knitted a little, I purled a little, then I stockinette stiched a little.  See Friday’s post for a picture of the supplies I picked up at Hobby Lobby.

Today, I started to teach myself how to knit.  I took a trip to Hobby Lobby and JoAnn’s.  I picked up the “Taught Myself to Knit” kit – the same kind I got when I taught myself to Crochet.  I also picked up a few free sock patterns and 4 skeins of yarn.  The yarn is super soft.

Right now I am working on learning how to cast on….wish me luck!

This week I just caught you up on what I have been doing and how my projects are going.  No topic, but plenty of craftiness.

My traveling with my stitching went very well.  Here are some pictures of how I organized everything.

I wound my thread onto bobbins and they all fit into a pin case. I left the ends hanging out so that I could get thread without opening up the case.

I used a small piece of material to organize some pins and needles.

I kept my scissors on lanyards.

Everything fit into a gallon size zip-lock bag.

Here is my lastest block finished or the Frolic Quilt.  I did this while on the road to DC.

Here are the blocks I received from the Facebook Quilt Block Swap.

Check out my daughter’s “Flower Party”!

Don’t forget to answer our question of the week.

Email me pictures of your projects and your ideas of what you would like to see in an iPhone App.

I am back from vacation.  we had a wonderful time in our nation’s capitol.  It is a great vacation spot – especially if you are interested in our history.

My family is not very fond of waiting while I go into quilt shops, so unfortunately, I did not get to go fabric shopping.

I did find one quilt in the museum of American History.  But my husband quickly dragged me away.  I did snap these few pictures.  I didn’t get to read too much about it, but I do know that it was from the World Fair (I just don’t know what year).  I don’t think you can see it in the picture, but it is all hand stitched. 

I spent Independance Day on the lawn of the Washington Monument, waiting for the fireworks to begin.  My five year old took this picture of me with my stitching.  What a perfect day – sewing with the White House and monuments all within view.

I am on Vacation in Washington, DC. Sorry that I can’t post a podcast until well after July 7th. You can view pictures from my travels at www.flickr.com my profile is under “BryeLynn”.

I hope everyone is enjoying their summer and for those in the state – have a great independance day!! We will be watching the fireworks in our nation’s capital – Awesome!

Everything in my life has a purpose, even if that purpose is just to make me smile! Here are few things recently that made me smile.

 My handmade coffee cup.  I picked this up at a craft fair about five years ago.  I love it!  It has groves that fit my fingers perfectly.

When my kids get along.  Nothing is sweeter to me than this picture.  I wish every moment of everyday was like this.

This week we talked about Whitework Quilting.  This topic was a suggestion from one of my listeners.

Sorry I missed posting a podcast last week.  I forgot my headset microphone at work.  I plan on pre recording a few episodes so that if it happens again, I am more prepareded.

Thank your for all the comments and suggestions.

• Allison Rosen, Lisa, Debby, Tammy, Betsy, Grammie2Maddie
• Jan, Rhonda and Village tunes for leaving comments on iTunes

Special thanks to Emily for sharing her work and suggestion for an online quilt class.  Check out the website www.AllPeopleQuilt.com.  They have online video classes; some for under $10 a month. 

This is the project that Emily shared.  The pattern was from the Quilt Sampler Magazine.  It is machine pieced, hand appliqued and hand quilted.  I think this is absolutely beautiful.  Please leave comments and share your thoughts on Emily’s work.

Facebook - if you send a friend request, please send me a message telling me you know me through my website.

New Quilting App for the iPod touch and iPhone – seach for it “QuiltFab”.  It tells you how much fabric you need for binding, backing,a nd borders.

If you want to make money freelancing administrative work – send me an email and I will pass on what I know. 

I found Fons & Porter’s and Quilting Arts TV shows on my local cable.  Plus some great sewing shows.  Search your PBS and set up your recorder.

I need to crochet some baby booties for an upcoming shower.  If you have any easy patterns, send me an email and point me in the right direction.

Quilt shop visit – look what I got!!!!!

Question of the week results:

• 30 votes
• over 75% do not belong to a guil
• Will do a show on how to start a guild – we need to promote our craft!

Topic this week was whitework quilting, we reviewed what I covered in the articles posted this week as well as I preferred techniques

Check out Terri’s Whitework Tutorial

Here are some links to whitework patterns:

• Colonial Quilts
• Forest Quilting
• Jo’s Place
• Red Leaf Sales
• Victoriana Quilt Designs

Create your own Motif:

[
drafting motifs from Adam Chenevert on Vimeo.]

Book about Whitework Quilting and the authors video:

Fast Tube by Casper

Whitework is a type of whole cloth quilting.  This process uses one piece of fabric as the quilt top.  When you quilt with white thread on white fabric it is called “whitework”.  When completed, instead of the patchwork being the main focus of the quilt, the quilting itself is the highlight.  On the flip side, needlework can be called white work when white thread, floss, or yarn is used on a white background.

This style of quilting was first seen during the 17^th century.  Also known as Marseilles quilts, from the area in France where they were often seen, white work has remained popular in the quilting community.  In modern times, these quilts are also called trapunto or stuffed quilts.  This can be misleading; not all white work is stuffed and not all stuffed quilts are white work.

The quilting in a whitework piece is generally very close with intricate designs.  The quilter plans and places the larger elaborate quilting patterns first, adds some boarder patterns and fills in the background with a decorative grid.  The real beauty of the piece does not come out until it is washed; after washing a whitework piece the decorative quilting stands out and is almost mesmerizing.  The time, effort and attention to detail really shows.

There are several stitching styles that can be used when working with whitework; these include regular quilting, cording, stuffing (trapunto), candle-wicking, embroidery, drawn work, pulled fabric, or stump work.  With an arsenal of stitching styles available, the variety of whitework quilting is limitless.

Unfortunately, I do not have copyrights to any photos so that I can share this exquisite technique.  However, I found several websites for you to explore.

• Webshots
• Region of York Quilter’s Guild
• Quilter’s Muse Virtual Museum
• Dream Weaver’s Quilts
• The Purl Bee
• NY Times
• Forgotten Arts Quilting

Plus, this is a great book about the history of whitework quilting.

Check it out!!  I have joined the Facebook and Twitter revolution. 

I am super excited.  When I first joined Facebook, I found out that almost my entire family is on there.  So even though they are over a 1,000 miles away, I now feel closer.  I may even connect with some of my High School Alumni.

Anyway – click the links to the right and add me as a friend to Facebook and follow me on twitter.  I even have the two connected so twitter updates Facebook.  (time management!!!).  Next I am off to update my iPod so I can do my tweets while I am on the go.

One more thing.  I had to change my RSS feed.  This was due to an iTunes issue.  If you subscribe via iTunes you are fine, but if you are subscribing to the blog for a blog reader, bloglines, google reader, etc….. you may have to resubscribe if you are not getting the latest posts.

More crafty goodness next time and a new podcast tomorrow.  Have a great day!

Early this morning I went outside to get something out of my car and there were three peacocks strolling down the street.  I live on the edge of a National Forest and this is only the second time in 14 years that I have seen peacocks in our neighborhood.  And it is a close community – each lot is less than 1/4 acre – I think it is strange to see these birds around a busy neighbor hood.

Anyway, I ran in the house so I could share it with you.  My camera, I did not realize, was still attached to my computer.  When I grabbed it and ran, all went flying.  By the time I got back outside, they were headed to my neighbor’s backyard.  So the picture isn’t the greatest.

While I was waiting and hoping for them to come closer or at least to show their feathers, I thought about quilting.  Peacock feathers are so beautiful, don’t you think they would make a gorgeous quilt.  Think about it…this is a picture I got from Microsoft Office.  We could piece together the circles and bird’s body, making the pattern so the circles get closer together towards the center.  The details can be accomplished with quilting (in metallic thread!)

 After walking around the neighbor’s yard, the turned and went down the street toward’s the main road ~ just like three friends taking a stroll.