A winner and the SGQA.

Here we go. The winner of the Cheater Friday 2.5" squares is

Jennifer

who blogs at marriedtoabmw.com.

And, get this, Jennifer is a fellow Texan! These little squares are only making a short trip to their new home. I'll send you a message, Jennifer, to get your address and get these on the way to you. Congrats!

So, I hardly need another project right now, but this is one I can't pass up.

Last year, I spent who knows how many hours (and money) chasing down the entire Katie Jump Rope collection to make the Single Girl quilt. I've had all the fabric, but the pattern seemed overwhelming with all those little templates. But no fear, Nova, Megan, and Katy have formed the Single Girl Support Group and come to my rescue. 

Over the past couple of days, I traced and cut out all the templates. My first thought was to stick with the KJR and use Kona stone for the background. But after looking around in the SGSG (Single Girl Support Group), I decided it's time to cut into some of my beloved Flea Market Fancy. I'm not jumping in with both feet this time, I only pulled FMF fabrics that I have more than one FQ of so that I'll still have a complete set of FMF. 

I want to make the king sized quilt for our bed, but I was worried about all the pink the FMF brings to the party. What would the hubby think? I called him in to the sewing room for his opinion.  

This one...

or this one.

He likes the set with the pink! Woo hoo! And I even fully disclosed that it was going on our bed. I'm not really that surprised, because he has good taste and isn't afraid to wear pink himself, but I was glad because I think that set with the pink on Kona stone is going to make a beautiful quilt.

If you've had the Single Girl quilt on your radar, but like me were intimidated by the pattern (templates, curves, etc.), check out the SGSG and jump on in!

I can't believe it's October! (And the giveaway winner!)

Thank you for all the well wishes regarding our move! Unfortunately, our house still isn't ready. I would complain about the builder, but he's my husband and I love him madly regardless of how long it's taking. Doing so much of the work ourselves takes longer, but stretches our dollars much further and in the end, that's a very good thing.

I won't bore you with details of our delays, such as of deluges of rain dumped on north Texas by a tropical storm (thanks, Hermine), broken sewer taps and dealing with the water department, or our current foe, the electric company. I won't bore you with the story of my 20 plus consecutive days with a headache, which is now gone thanks to some strong antibiotics for a sinus/ear infection and a round of steroids. (I hope I never have to take steroids again! They made my feel terrible.) Sorry, I guess I just bored you anyway.

We've probably got another week until we can move and I'm anxiously tapping my foot. Living with my mom has really been fun, but I want my stuff out of storage! I packed for about three weeks and we've been here almost six. I can hear my fabric crying out to me from the bottom of a massive stack of boxes.

I'll share a couple of construction shots of my favorite room in the new house, the kitchen!

My kitchen island without it's butcher block top and the floors pre-scraping and staining.

A corner of the kitchen with counters (absolute black granite) and backsplash (Cararra white marble). That hood is over the cooktop that still hasn't arrived. I'm so excited about cooking in that kitchen! I officially pledge to eat out less often after the move.

In crafty news, I've almost finished this quick baseball baby quilt for a shower on Sunday. It's not my really my style (sports), but I think it will be a home run with it's recipient. wha wha.

Alright, I know what you are thinking... get to the big news, Mel!

Oh, you mean who I'll be sending this bundle of happiness to?

That would be number 82...

Ashley who blogs at Our so called life!
And, wow, does she have some adorable kiddos!

I'll send you an email shortly, Ashley. I hope you enjoy the fabric!

Well I'm off to run some errands and seal the backsplash tile in the kitchen to prepare it for grouting. If anyone wants to help, come on over!

Finished KJR Pillow

The pattern is very simple, but I just adore the the Katie Jump Rope fabrics with linen. It has been a long time since I've sewn with linen; I'd forgotten how much I hove working with it. I love the drape and hand.

I'm going to look into the Essex linen/cotton blend as an option for the quilt top, but Kona Stone also looks like a good option.

Have a lovely weekend!

Katie Jump Rope + Linen = Love

Yesterday's snowfall was a record for the DFW area. The official total was 12.5"! School is out again today, so all the neighborhood the kids are having a blast playing outside.

Here's my most recent fabric purchase.

Well, this is some of it. I decided that since I missed out on Flea Market Fancy, I'm not going to miss out Katie Jump Rope. The stash above is from three different places with two more orders on the way. I was able to find everything with the exception of two of the dot prints (the yellow and the light blue/green).

I want to make a quilt for my bed and it's king size. My dream pattern is the Single Girl quilt, but I've read that it can be a little on the challenging side. So, I've had this quilt at Wise Craft bookmarked for a while which has the same feel as the Single Girl pattern, but looks much easier. The pattern is called the Marquee Quilt and it's in the Modern Quilt Workshop book from FunQuilts.  I ordered the book but decided I wanted to play with the fabrics right away.

Using 100% linen on the front of a kind sized quilt may end up being much too expensive, but wouldn't it be gorgeous! I decided to try some of the fabrics with linen while I wait for the book to arrive.

After some quick pattern drafting, I had a design that worked and feels a little like the Marquee quilt.

I love the way the front turned out. Love it! I was tempted not to wash it, but I went ahead. It's in the washer now, so I'm anxious to see how it looks washed. Hopefully I'll have the pillow assembled tomorrow to show you.