Vacation ...

Last week was my annual week in Nashville with my friend Linda.  (This year we actually stayed in Franklin, rather than downtown Nashville, and did most of our eating and playing in Franklin)

We heard lots of great music. 

Tuesday night, Danny Wells, T Graham Brown, Eddy Raven, Frank Myers and Jimmy Nichols. Every year we manage to see at least one "iconic" show and this was the one this year.  

Friday night, our friend D Vincent Williams.

And Saturday night, FAB, a Beatles cover band.  This week they counted down the top 30 Beatles songs according to Rolling Stone magazine.  The drummer, Tim Buppert, is an acquaintance of ours and has a great voice. 

And of course food, lots of food ....

Those sweet potato fries are from Puckett's.  Best sweet potato fries evuh!  No matter what I order to eat at Puckett's, I always get a side of sweet potato fries.

The malted shake (mine) and mango smoothie (Linda's) are from Mike's Ice Cream on Broadway in Nashiville.   The best ice cream and milkshakes I've ever had (and ok, I've had more than my share). 

And I tried escargot Thursday night. It wasn't too bad.  Truthfully, about all I could taste was the garlic.  I'd like to have them again sometime, cooked some other way than just swimming in garlic. 

We did some sight seeing.  This is The Carter House. 

And The Lotz House and the Franklin Courthouse.

We ran out of time but will visit The Carnton Plantation on the next trip.

I visited a couple of quilt shops.  At The Quilting Squares I bought a kit for a quilt top with the Giggles fabrics and they also had the 'welcome' sign pictured below.  At The Stitchers Garden I was so overwhelmed I just rummaged through the fat quarter bundles and got the Dr Seuss bundle and got the heck outta there.  It was a huge place and it was floor to ceiling bolts of fabric.  It was piled everywhere, even stacked in the floor.  I couldn't make head or tails of it.  I'm sure if I'd gone in there looking for something specific I could've asked for it and they would've gotten it for me, but it was just not a 'browser friendly' place for me.  

I bought a few fabrics (the pink and aqua ones) at Hobby Lobby, and the shelf came from a going out of business KMart.  The shelves are wonderful, and I'm regretting not getting two of them.  I might have to do some online shopping later.  :-)

It was a great vacation.  Tomorrow it's back to "the real world" for me.  And I have to catch up on my Triangle Quilt Along with Sassy Quilter!! 

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Joining up with some great linky parties this week.  Please visit the fine folks listed in my right-hand sidebar and comment on some of the wonderful projects thay have linked up! 

TQA (Triangle Quilt Along) - Week One

I'm doing the TQA with Paula @ The Sassy Quilter.  

Week One is for signing up and sharing our fabrics.  

I bought mine a few weeks ago actually, but just finally took a somewhat decent pic of them today.  

I went in search of a pink / turquoise variety, but when I didn't find what I wanted in that I just grabbed a couple of prints I really liked and when I saw they both had black in them, I followed through with fabrics that all have a bit of black or grey in them .

I got my triangle ruler several weeks ago (right after Paula announced the quilt-along) from JoAnn's (online) for half price with something like $1.29 shipping and I used eBates and got 4% cash back!  Yay me!  

This is going to be a great way for me as a newbie to learn something new, to share with all my newest bestest friends and quilters, and there are prizes too!!

It's not too late to join!!  It's gonna be fun!!
Updates are posted on Fridays (and I'll be out of town next week so I'll get to play catch-up!)

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And just a couple of other odds n ends ...

This is my 100th blog post!! 

I also recently got a website/domain name so you can just remember one url and find links to and updates from all my sites (blog, facebook, etsy, and email) in one handy place!

www.sewystuff.com

And, if you'd like to find out more about eBates and sign up to get your very own 'big fat check' please use my referral link and I'll get a little bonus when you make your first qualifying purchase (of $25) and you'll get a $10 gift card then you can get all your friends to sign up with your referral link!  It's a win win!!

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Linking up with:

Sewy Stuff Website!

Ok y'all, it's pretty low-tech, but I've finally got a website with a SewyStuff.com domain.

Mostly it's just a place to navigate from, to all my social media outlets.  But it means you can use, memorize, bookmark only one URL to get to all my stuff ... Etsy, Blog, Facebook, and Email.

www.sewystuff.com 

Please come visit!!

Whooping It Up today with Sarah @ Confessions of a Fabric Addict. 

Mid-Week Update ....

I don't have much going on in the way of sewy WIP's this week, thanks to a wonderful weekend spent snuggling this little bunny and kissing those cheeks til I was getting the "Gamma! Enough!" look from those big bright eyes. 

And after church I had two sweet girls riding home with me.  

I did manage to whip up this little noteboook cover that I plan to give to a cousin tonight who had a birthday a couple of weeks ago.  (Hey, those belated, unexpected presents are the best kind, right?) 

Then there's this one I whipped up for myself this morning before work (well, I almost got it done). 

And I'm loving how quick and easy this is so I'm going to make up a few more in fun fabrics for some of my <gasp!> non-football friends! 

I used this great, easy to follow tutorial for the notebook covers.  

I'm looking forward to trying different fabrics and embellishments on them.  

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Linking up with Lee @ Freshly Pieced, and Randi @ I Have To Say, and Connie @ Free Motion By The River. 

Also, don't forget - until midnight Thursday (March 20) everything in the Etsy Store is 10% off with the code SEWY10 (discount does not apply to shipping). 

S A L E !!

Pre-Vacation Sale!  10% off storewide!!

My Etsy Store will be closed next week for a little much-needed R & R (for me, not the store) ..... and right now (through Thursday March 20th) everything is 10% with the coupon code SEWY10 (discount does not apply to shipping).  All items ordered and paid for by Thursday will be shipped out before I go on vacation.  

Here is a peek at some of the items available:

Click here to shop!!

My Little Pretties ...

Finally!  A chance to get an outdoor pic of the top I made from the Charm Pack Cherry pattern.

And yesterday I got a chance to do a little shopping at Hobby Lobby and picked up some grey dots for the backing.  After she measured out what I needed there was a wee bit left (just over a half yard) so I took it all.  You can never ever have too much of either grey or dots right?  

I still need something for binding.  I was hoping for some grey/white stripe the same shade of this grey dot, but alas, not to be found (yet). 

  

And just because I love it - another pic! 

And more of my haul from Hobby Lobby.  I always forget that they have fabrics there.  It's not all that far, but it's in a direction I never travel. Their selection is not large, but they have some really cute / pretty fabrics.

The green, and green/grey/black/white is for BabyGurl's baby girl's (due in July) diaper bag.  BabyGurl does not care for pink, but she loooooovvvvves green. 

The school print, and the alphabet print (that's duck canvas) came from fabric.com (I've been shopping with them a lot lately); all the others came from Hobby Lobby yesterday.  The puppies are flannel.  

So, I am going to be busy busy busy.  And I just ordered more fabric today, for BabyGurl's baby girl a baby quilt (again, light on the pink!)

You can follow me on Bloglovin' and Facebook.  

Linking up with Lee @ Freshly Pieced.

Charm Pack Cherry Top ...

I jumped on the Charm Pack Cherry bandwagon with this free pattern from Fat Quarter Shop.  

My fabrics are 'Sphere' by Zen Chic for Moda, and Bella Solids Platinum. 

This came together really quickly, even though I had to cut my solids into 5" squares because I didn't find this color in precuts.  I don't know exactly how long it took, because I only got to work on it in small increments of time, due to the 'day job' and the five-year old.  But if I say it was quick and easy, an experienced quilter could knock it out in a snap.  

All my 9-patches before slicing.  

Indoor pic last night after I finished.  I really love how the colors came together.  I made no effort at any time as I was piecing to do anything other than make sure two identical fabrics were not touching.  Other than that, the placement is totally random (in accordance with pattern placement/layout of course).  

This morning I was able to get a pic in some natural light.  Not outside, but right by the door. (In fact hanging on the door!)

Aren't those colors fabulous together?!!  I'm going to call this one 'Night Sky'. 

I am really anxious to get some backing and binding and get this baby quilted.  I love it!  

I already want to make another one by this pattern.  The only thing I might change is I think I might make a few more blocks and add another row (or two).  This one comes out 'square' (52 x 54) and I'm not a big fan of square (except in baby quilts).  

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Linking up today with Marelize for Anything Goes Mondays. 

(I'm always linking up with great folks that you can find in my right-hand sidebar.  Check 'em out!) 

Pink Plaids and Polka Dots!

Still living up to my my new moniker of Bag Lady. 

New in the Etsy Shop today. 

Pleated Purse 

Pleated Purse with bonus matching Dumpling Pouch

Purse is approximately 14" tall, 13" wide, and bottom is approximately 4". Handles have a 17" drop. Interior patch pocket measures approximately 7” wide by 6” deep. 

Dumpling pouch is approximately 5.5” wide, 4.5” tall, and 1.5” bottom. 
Purse pattern/tutorial     Dumpling Pouch tutorial

Linking up with Kelly for Needle and Thread Thursday., and Whooping with Sarah!  and Linking a Finish with Richard. 

Money Money!

I got my "big fat check" from eBates last week!

No, it's not thousands of dollars like they say on the tv commercial (did you really think it would be?)  

So, go sign up for eBates and you too can get your very own cash back check before you know it!  It's easy, just sign up, shop online, and get cash back!

Use this link to sign up  and I'll get a referral bonus (then you can get a link to sign your friends up with and get a referral bonus too!)

Even "little skinny checks" are fun!

(Can you guess what I'll be spending my money on?)  ;-)