working working and a winner

i'm almost done. well, no. i'm almost out of time. today and tomorrow are my last days to sew. tomorrow i have to pack, and then on wednesday i drive and head to quilt market to set up. 
pfew! 
are you so tired of hearing i'm working so hard can't wait to show you! yeah, i'm tired to saying too. but tomorrow i'll show off my patterns, and well start selling them. because they are done. yay!!
i'm very excited to show them off, and even more excited to show them off in my fabrics. they turned out great.
but i'm not done yet. still need to finish a few projects like these pillows from my book (just updated in my fabric) and a few more little things here and there. :)


okay so for our geared for guys giveaway. i had a BLAST reading your entries. i was laughing soo hard!
one thing is for sure: we love our men. they are good GOOD men, with some silly and sometimes gross habits. but thankfully our love of them totally makes it kind of okay and even funny to have them be who they are all the guts and glory. :)


so our two winners are:

brooke
and
Nicole

and your info has been given to emily and she will be contacting you shortly!
okay off to finish sewing...and packing...so i can show you what i've been working on!!!
we'll talk soon!!!! 

V and Co: attracting pretty beetles

this house has a back yard.
this house's back yard is super bare.
it has nothing in it... and that includes trees, shrubs or patio furniture.

compared to our last backyards
this backyard is boring and really kind of sad.
i can almost hear it weep how sad it is.
over the next few decades (cause it's going to take us that long!) we would like to have a nice little backyard retreat, that will be a great place to BBQ and gather together as a couple and family.

and well this last weekend, i got the family started on that mission.
everyone was happy.<---just look at the husband's face, what? oh...yeah well he's happy inside. his face was just tired and didn't really reflect how he was REALLY feeling.
(he's going to laugh real hard when he sees that picture... well at least i am!)

we have such a long way to go in this yard, but it's okay. i think the kids actually kind of miss working in the yard together as a family. (they had equally tired faces, except for the that one pictured there)
we kind of had fun.
no really we did. :)

this tree is supposed to attract butterflies

so this time around we planted a few trees. three to be exact.
one of the trees is supposed to attract butterflies, (or so it says on the tag) and two are birches...which i was just told today, attracts some kind of beetle.
wha???
it didn't say that on the stupid tag.
honestly, i don't have a clue about this gardening zone, we're trying to figure stuff out, there are things out here that i've never seen grow back west, and there are some scary bugs that go with the gardening season out here as well...that i totally would much rather not have to deal with if i can. and of course i pick three trees, two of which attract a scary japaneese beetle of some sort...

well good news is the guy assured me that indeed it would attract the beetle BUT that it was a green, shiney, AND kind of pretty beetle.

yeah, i don't think so.
unless it can sing hey jude, or be one i can drive,  it aint a beetle i want to attract thank you very much.
sigh.
now how to break it to the husband that the happy maker he had to plant this weekend is going to bring us shiny PRETTY green beetles?
blarg.
i should stick to sewing.

V and Co: Geared For Guys book review and giveaway

oh now see i told you we were going to have a "couple of book reviews and giveaways" here's the second one. :)

but first the winners of the pat sloan book is:

Linda said...HELLO! I WANTED TO GO WITH SOMETHING ORIGINAL,BUT I COULD NOT-I'D MAKE ONE LIKE YOURS-SO BEAUTIFUL!
THANKS FOR SHARING!
thanks linda, pretty sure pat loves the compliment! :)
and the second winner is :
I think I would like to do this quilt in pinks and brown.
Barb
well barb you get a book and now you can give it a shot!

NOW
this week we have a completely different kind of book we're looking at and doing a giveaway for. it's by my friend emily herrick. her book comes out soon and it's called Geared for Guys.
we all have a special guy in our life...and well sometimes they don't want to be under a flowery kind of quilt do they?
here's a book just for them
read more and and how to enter following this link

V and Co: today

as i pick up the thing that used to be my kind of clean house, i reflect on the simple daily routines that make me happy.
i like to have a clean house.
mowed lawn.
and clean laundry.

i feel like none of those things have been on my radar while i get ready for market.

yesterday, was chaotic, today i want to get my house a little more in order. so today i am putting aside sewing and i will try to tackle some of those things. except the mowing, that's already done.

 in my chaoticness of a week i did get something fun in the mail, Quilty is fons and porters modern magazine. its super cute!

 in this issue it talks a little about the awesomness that is iowa (yeah that's right i've been here almost 9 months and i'm embracing the iowan-ess in me that i never knew i had)
we've seen some of these painted on quilt blocks as we've driven to different places. these awesome quilt blocks are found on the side of barns. who wouldn't love a state that puts big huge 'ol quilt blocks as large as the side of your barn? seriously.

 also in this issue you'll see my quilt. and yup, there's my name. :)

 in this issue it's highlights cool info about the modern quilt guild, and quilt con.

 and this issue this is my favorite cool quilt in ombre. by heather jones
i got to look at the magazine finally today, that i got sometime this last week.
yes.
today i am going to put aside all things sewing (at least for a few hours) and clean, and grocery shop and love my husband and kids. because sometimes its the super simple every day things in life that make you super happy.
have a great weekend.
i'm hoping to stuff as much simple every day things in today because i know i have to get back to the crazy of prep for market after today again.
:) who knew toilet cleaning could be a happy thing?

V and Co: blog tour: Pat Sloan's new book

yeah so i work from my kitchen table these days, so what? and no it doesn't look that clean anymore that picture was taken before i actually started working, now it looks like a tornado hit it!

 taking a quick break from sewing to write up and talk about one of the hardest working ladies in the quilting industry: Pat Sloan. she has a new book out with liesure arts called focus on the center. and i got to check it out and now i get to talk a little about it. (and ahem give a couple away) whoot! so check it, and read more and leave a comment about it here.