pincushions

i have joined another swap....the pin cushion pass. it goes throughout the summer, so ill have plenty of time to find a cute pin cushion pattern. i like swaps because it really is a chance to get to know other bloggers.

you should all try the swaps out. ive had good luck so far.....a few glitches in receiving but im still happy with most of them. i have participated in 3 potholders, a friendship bag, currently a pillow swap, and a siggy block swap (which im hoping to recv those blocks someday-sigh).....hmm what else. i think ive lost track. LOL

have a great week and happy june. summer has arrived in vegas....pray for me. :)

fabulous gifts!!!

THANK YOU all for the NICE bday greetings! I had the most fantastic weekend!!! My sister came into town and brought me these GREAT gifts!!! Ive been dying to make myself an apron but she made me one! almost makes me want to cook and do dishes.



this book made me cry a little.....its sooo adorable! it had pics of us with a bunch of hand written things about our lives together as sisters and thoughts about us growing up. ill cherish it forever! along with sewing shes a GREAT scrapbooker too!
This is a pic of us with our parents. im the little girl in the red dress. i love those old photos. moms got quite the wig on.....LOL

we laughed and laughed for 3 solid days. At one point we even had those night-time giggles and my 24 y/o nephew came into the room and said "girls, next time i come in im cracking skulls". my dad even threatened to spank us. LOL



it was a BIG weekend. along with celebrating my bday, we also had my dads retirement party. it went perfectly!! the weather was the best-80s and no wind, a lot of people came, but the best part of all was my dads siblings were all here. 6 of them....1 girl and 5 boys together....all ranging from 66-74 y/o. they have the best sense of humor!!! (one guy in the photo is like a 3rd cousin we all call uncle buck...the guy is 80 and still smooth as ever!!!) my dads the guy with no shirt on...we had to drag him out of the jacuzzi because he was teaching his greatgrandson to swim.

once the party died down, the cards came out and we started playing for hours. its what we do as a family. we call each other names, take each others money (usually 75cents) and have more laughs than you can even imagine. i love my family!



i still have 1 more day to relax before going back to work. maybe ill sew, maybe ill read, but im definitely relaxing tomorrow!

the big day....

yes, im officially 40 today.....but they say 40 is the new 30 right..... WOOHOO.

i get to spend the big day with a bunch of my family who i love!!! its going to be the perfect day........

Friday Night Sew-In May winner

Heidi and I love hosting these Friday Night Sew-Ins. I cant tell you how fun it is to look at everyones projects. I always get some fantastic idea (like from Carols Crafty Creations) for a project. She has been doing these CUTE snowmen stitcherys and she has graciously told me where to find the pattern. My mom converts her house at christmas time into a snowmans village......so im going to make her some cute pillows. THANKS Carol!!!

last night i got to spend some time with Heidis dad, Larry (right). My dad, Kenny (left), retired this month and we are having a big celebration this weekend for him. He is the baby of the family and the last to retire, and heck my family LOVES a good party......So a bunch of them have been rolling into town. arent they adorable? they are very close in age and look SOOO much alike. they both have the heartiest of laughs too. I adore my family. Im going to miss Heidi when she moves to minnesota.....thank goodness for blackberrys, email, blogs....

ok ok ok....so i know your all anxious for the winners..... here we go. the lucky winner on my blog is.....#36 .... AMY at http://alliekatmom.blogspot.com/ WOOHOO. send me an email with your mailing info and ill send the pin cushion and charm pack to you. CONGRATS!!!

dont forget to hop over to heidis blog to find out the 2nd winner. check back soon for the date in june. Due to Heidi moving.....it might just be me hosting. BUT the good news...... im still doing 2 giveaways!!!

Friday Night Sew-In results...

im in love with the "keep calm" sayings. i finished stitching this one last night and added the red polka dot border. its going to be a pillow case for my pillow swap :)

im also in love with the red/aqua color combos. the new line "bliss" looks like it will be a new fav of mine in aug/sept when its released.

this is another project i was working on but didnt get far. its going to be a potholder with a dresden plate design.

i always seem to have a crazy night on the FNSI. i spent half my night helping a friend move some furniture, going to dinner, picking up a kid from his 5th grade sea world trip (how fun) and waiting up for curfew. but atleast i managed to get some done on a few of my projects.

today im going to spend some quality time with some family in town. BBQ time baby!

dont forget to check in tomorrow on both my and Heidis blogs to see who the 2 lucky winners are. OH, i was asked how we find winners. we DO look at the blogs. ive already seen a few and GREAT JOB on friday night!!!

Bloggers quilt festival

This quilt was made for my sisters birthday. it wasnt a hard quilt to make, but was very rewarding. I used a kona green and a mixture of black/white fabrics.

I have only been making quilts for about a year. I have only made a few quilts, but this one i LOVE. I even have a stash to make myself one. Its a lap size quilt and my sister assures me that it is very COMFY. the picture is from her porch where she cuddles underneath it and reads in the cool weather of montana.

Ive got another quilt in the works which im going to try and stipple for the first time! its intimidating, but im sure ill get the hang of it.

Ill be spending most of my weekend surfing all the wonderful blogs of the quilt festival. thanks to amy for putting the 3rd one together!!!

tonight im going to be sewing for mine and heidis monthly friday night sew-in. i cant wait for some machine time! happy sewing everyone!!!

Giveaway winner is....

you all were lucky.....we only had 25 people sign up for the giveaway. i was watching some of the sew mama sew giveaways and one girl had 989 comments. WOW!!!

so per random.org the lucky winner is..........................
---DIANE of http://www.suburbanstitcher.com/ who lives in texas but would love to go home to louisiana. send me an email with your mailing info and ill get the package out to ya.

thanks for playing my "place to live" game. you all had some great answers and there are a lot of you who have found your "home".

dont forget that tomorrow night is friday night sew-in! i really need this time to get a couple projects done. i currently have the potholder pass3, pincushion swap, pillow swap and a project for my sister. ill be burning the midnight oil and machine. you can sign up HERE if you havent already for the sew-in and remember, there are always 2 giveaways.

Giveaway Time!!!

I decided to make another potholder in the black/daisy pattern to match my dresden plate and do a GIVE AWAY!!! i also am tossing in a cute little notepad/pen set.

so here are the rules......leave a comment and tell me if you could live anywhere, where would it be? if its where you are, than your lucky! i know vegas isnt my "live forever" place, but its working for now. (my dream is a place like NC, TX or CO). yes, i have a few LOL

Isnt this porch heavenly? its not mine, but i hope someday it will be :)

I will let this giveaway run until thursday 5/20/10. GOOD LUCK!

***this is officially closed. thanks for playing!

Moms Breakfast Bake recipe

does absence make the heart grow fonder? ive been SOOO busy lately with everything BUT sewing. i know ill find my machine again....one day soon right?here is a little dish i made last night, put in the fridge then had mr. vegasmom toss it in the oven early this morning. i woke up to my alarm and a big wiff of YUMMO! yes, im lazy and use paper plates! teehee

we LOVE to make breakfast dishes in my house. this dish is one of my absolute FAVS my mom used to make. but she only made it on special occasions, like christmas morning, easter morning etc.....the funny thing is i know why....because you make it the night before and all you do in the morning is toss it in the oven. so in honor of mothers day and my mom.....im sharing this recipe with you. isnt she adorable??

Junies Egg Strata

3 cups croutons---i use the larger ones and sometimes use around 4 cups

2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

1 roll jimmy dean sausage-browned and crumbled

8 eggs (have used 9 if i add more croutons)

2 1/2 cups milk

3/4 tsp dry mustard

layer in a cake pan first 3 ingreds. croutons, cheese, sausage.

mix the eggs, milk and mustard well, pour over top of the ingredients already in pan. refridgerate overnight covered with foil.

Bake 350 for 1hour. (my oven sometimes takes 1 1/2hrs). ive baked it covered and not covered too.....just make sure and uncover it for the last 15mn or so for browning.

that smell on christmas morning always takes me back to those times of childhood. hugging your favorite new toy, running around the house all giddy while wearing your new jammies, and the smell of mom "baking" in the kitchen. ahhhh good times.

i hope you all try this and enjoy it! its great for having company too.....isnt that right HEIDI?

dresden plate....

after surfing blogs all last week i decided it was time to branch out, try something new! isnt she fabulous??? a dresden plate.....i love this potholder!

it took me all weekend....but i did it. i bought the tool on friday, stared at fabrics on saturday (even shuffled them around a little), and sunday dove in head first. it was a really easy block to make. they are piddly....but go together really fast! the bamboo tool is a must!

for the back i just used some fabric to match blocks on the front.

the best part was getting to take fun pictures outdoors!!!

have you seen the new moda fabrics called "half moon"? all black n whites.......i cant wait to use some of them!