I received my package from the Vintage Sheet Swap that Jennifer @ Rosey Little Things hosted.  I got a lot of great fat quarters back (some I like more than others!).  There were 38 swappers and 545 fat quarters!

The one on the bottom right with the rick-rack print was the pattern of my childhood sheets! That brings back memories.

This was my first big group swap, so there are two things I wish I had done differently:

1. I really wish I had sent our hostess extra FQ’s as a gift. I rushed to get my package out, since I found out about it AFTER the due date plus we were packing to leave town for ten days, so it just didn’t cross my mind. I’m normally a very giving person, so I’m a little embarrassed that I didn’t do anything for her.

I’ll be living near Jennifer once we move, so i am sure I will have the chance to make it up to her. I know she put a lot of work into this swap!

2. I should have attached cards to each fat quarter with my name and blog.  A lot of the ladies did and I have had fun checking out their blogs and thanking them for the fabric.

Thanks, Jen!

photo credit: Amanda *Bake It Pretty*

Why am I a sucker for vintage sheets??  I really think they just remind me of my childhood, plus the prints are so yummy.

Shari over at “Sew Make Time” is doing a Vintage Sheet Swap.  It is based around a blanket from Amanda Blake Soule’s book “Homemade Home” (which I will need to check out!), so the pieces required for the swap need to be 15″x30″.  That’s easy! Sheets are HUGE!

I’m excited to see what I get back this time.  Deadline for the swap is April 15th.  Leave a post on Shari’s blog and she will email you with the info.

I’ll post what I received from my last swap as soon as I take photos.  I already cut into some of it!

We are having an open house on Sunday, but I took a little time away from dredging out our home to do a little sewing!  I was inspired, because I finally organized my sewing room so that I can walk around in it again.  It’s a room above our garage that I used for my bridal alterations business, but once I started sewing for fun my sewing space somehow worked it’s way down to our dining room table.  I wanted the kitties and TV (and central air) for company.

I had dreams of returning to the sewing room once Liam was taking nice naps, but now I realize that it’s too far away for the baby monitor to keep its signal.  Hopefully my new house will have a designated sewing space.

I did some sewing for the Vintage Sheet Quilting Bee I am participating in. Rachel asked for string blocks which I LOVE making (hopefully I will someday finish my own string block quilt). I am really pleased with how the one I made with vintage sheets came out.  I am going to make at least one more and then ship them off.  I hope she likes them!

We are moving out of Los Angeles!  We’ll be moving to Marin County outside of San Francisco and my husband will be working at Lucasfilm.  I am SO sad to be leaving my wonderful, amazing circle of friends that I have here and to be leaving the LA Modern Quilt Guild just as it is getting started, but I am really excited to be getting out of smoggy, dirty, congested LA.

We are actually up in Marin County this week staying at Skywalker Ranch.  It is GORGEOUS!  I feel like I am staying at a 5-star resort.  The grounds are lush, green and rolling, all the food is organic and the veggies are grown on the property.

Liam and I at Skywalker Ranch

The next month or two will be a whirlwind.  We need to figure out what to do with our house in LA that we bought 2 years ago and find a place up in Marin.  Luckily, the movers will be packing everything for us, so I’ll still have time to sew!

If anyone has any suggestions of where to live in Marin County (We are looking at San Rafael and Novato and all the towns around them) and places to shop for fabric, please tell me.

I would have blogged this earlier, but it finally fit him now!

I saw this adorable sock monkey outfit at Sock Monkey Knits before Liam was born and I knew I had to have it.  All the outfits are sock monkey themed and custom made in either 100% wool, or cotton/acrylic blend.

Progress is slowly being made on the Crazy 9-Patch. I didn’t finish like I wanted to, because Liam and I both were sick all week (and still recovering now).   We’re headed out of town for 10 days, so I REALLY wanted to get finished today, since I only had two seams left to sew.  I normally do all my sewing after Liam has gone to bed, but today I had a little helper:

I was curious to see how he would react to the sound of the sewing machine, because he heard enough of it while I was pregnant.  He used to kick me a LOT when I would sew.  I don’t think he really knew what to make of it:

Now I have ten days to relax…and think about the back of the quilt!  I kinda have an idea that would allow me to try a technique I have never used, but I need to think about it more.

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Other goings on:

You’ll notice a difference in the look of the blog.  I wanted something cleaner with larger photos. I’m still playing with the banner, so it’s ALL a work in progress.  I had toyed with changing the entire name of the blog to something more fun and witty, but I don’t think I want to change the web address and lose the 3 devoted fans (ha!) who read my blog.   A long time ago, this was going to be a site for my alterations business, which I decided not to do, thus the “alterations” in the web address.

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I joined a quilting bee organized by Rosey Little Things.  It’s 12 ladies, 12 months and LOTS of vintage sheets.  Right up my alley!  This is my first virtual quilting bee and I am really excited.

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I also have a big announcement, but that will wait for next week.

(no, there will be no new babies for a LONG time!)

Oh wow!  Post it and it will be!

My lovely quilting friend, Ms.Alleycat steered me over to Rosey Little Things.  She is hosting a Vintage Sheet Swap and it seems to still be open.  Head on over if you want to join in!

I was originally going to title this post “Thrift Store Fail”, but I had a turn of good luck this morning.

Monday I went to two thrift stores where I found vintage bed linens last summer and they either, A: have gotten absolutely nothing new since I cleaned them out 8 months ago, or B: someone else got there first.  I was prepared to “cheat” and buy some on Etsy, but they come in bundles and it seems like I have to buy 4 crappy 80’s pastel prints in order to get one fabulous 60’s/70’s print.

Then, this morning I recalled a giant thrift store I went to years ago for a TV show I was working on.  This places has miles of clothing and junk and treasures.  I drove on over and was very pleased with what I found!

Bold Candy Stripes

My parents actually had the light blue sheets when I was little.  I totally forgot until I saw them in the store.

A fun diamond pattern and sweet flowers

Groovy bright floral prints.

These are my favorite and what I wish I could find more often.

I wish someone was doing a vintage bed linen swap. I’ve got some great ones to trade!

This weekend was filled with goodtimes and productivity!

We:

Celebrated Ben’s 1st birthday on Saturday.  My best girlfriend from college, Wendy, threw an AMAZING birthday party for her son with woodland decor, yummy food and a musician.

Spent Sunday in the Santa Inez Wine Country.  It was our first time back since our wedding and we showed Liam the Mission mommy and daddy were married in, snacked on Abelskivers, and had lunch at Grappolo. Their pumpkin ravioli is what got us to make the 2 hour drive (the chianti and flourless chocolate cake didn’t hurt, either!)

and I:

Made a lot of progress on the Crazy 9-patch quilt.  All the blocks are completed and ready to be pieced together.

Finally spent the gift certificate my sister gave me for Christmas to Fat Quarter Shop. I purchased a fat quarter bundle of the entire Denyse Schmidt “Hope Valley” collection.  24 different fabrics!  I totally missed out on Flea Market Fancy, so I am so excited to get this package in the mail.

I am already thinking (dreaming) about my next quilt.  I may revisit my vintage bed linen stash and perhaps do a little hunting this week at some of the local thrift stores.  I am hoping to finish the crazy 9-patch this week (if Liam cooperates) and then Saturday we are heading north for over a week.

I hope everybody’s Valentine’s weekend was as wonderful as mine!

Ugh.  Can you see my very blatant error?  This is what I get for quilting with a five month backlog of sleep deprivation.  I made crazy 9-patch blocks with eight fabrics. ARGH!  I realized it as I was getting ready to sew the final seam.  I have 18 more blocks to make with 18 more fabrics, so I think once it is together and quilted, it really won’t be noticeable. Oh well, no way to fix it now.

It still felt great to sew again!  I’m following this tutorial at Oh Fransson!