Happy Zombie

Welcome to Day 3 of my 5 or so Days of Holiday Happy - 5 or so days of celebrating Gnoma Claus from my Holiday Happy fabric.

I gained 4 pounds just reading Day 2’s comments! I promise, today’s 5osDofHH is 100% fat free. At least for me. I can’t help it if someone eats half a dozen devil’d eggs while writing reading this post.  Today I’ve got a printable download - happy little Gnoma Lights.

The lights for me symbolize love, family and traditions - and being far from home and away from my family. We’ve been a military family for the last 21 years, and in 1993 when we moved to Honolulu and had our first holiday away from my family and all our traditions… we started a new tradition - we spent every Christmas Eve going to downtown to Honolulu Hale to see all the city and county departments’ decorated trees and all the light displays at Honolulu City Lights. It was fun and different and it was exciting to start a new tradition.

I refused to let a giant ocean get in the way of my family’s fun and joy - and I was adamant about starting a new tradition. I look back at our seven Christmas’ on the island with love and smiles - and proud of myself being ya-hoo smug instead of being bah hum-bug. There’s always light. We just have to twist our own bulbs to “on” sometimes.

Download, print, cut and enjoy.

Maybe you’ll want to string them or hang them on the tree…

Maybe you’ll want to use them as gift tags….

I’ll give a little charm pack of Holiday Happy to one lucky commenter who answers the question of the day (or just leave a comment).

Q: What’s your favorite holiday and it’s tradition(s) and/or what holiday tradition(s) did you start? Did you twist your own bulb to “on”?

EDITED IN 11/29/10:
Winner picked for this day has now been picked (by random.org), and is… comment #141 Jessie of Quilting Mommy! Congratulations, Jessie!

[Day 1] ❄ [Day 2] ❄ [Day 3] ❄ [Day 4] ❄ [Day 5] ❄ [Day 6]

[See what others have made @ HH flickr group]
[Shop] ❆ [Contact Lecien]

PS…

May your day be filled with a [gravy]boat-load full of family, gratitude, love, warmth, kindness, peace, friendship & stretchable pants. xoxo

Posted in Holiday Happy | 209 Comments

Welcome to Day 2 of my 5 or so Days of Holiday Happy - 5 or so days of celebrating Gnoma Claus from my Holiday Happy fabric.

Reading the comments from Day 1 was soooo much fun! WOW, talk about bringing back some happy memories, and not just for me - I think everyone enjoyed reading all the comments. Funny how many Easy Bake Ovens were listed as the favorite toy or gift. And funny how many of those people like to bake and/or cook as adults. And even funnier… the people [moi] who didn’t get an Easy Bake Oven… who don’t like to bake/cook as adults! Coincidence??? I’ll always be happy with the Easy Make Menu Printer and my Easy Stroll Costco Cart that I got.

Today’s Holiday Happy goodie is a potholder/hot pad project. Perfect for taking cookies out of the oven or having your hot dish rest upon on your table. Maybe part of a cookie making kit gift pack?

You’ll need one Gnoma Claus panel (list of shops where you can buy one here) and about a yard of your favorite batting, (I used Warm & White).  Use 2 pieces of batting plus a front and back Gnoma Claus.  NOTE: You can use one layer of premium batting… but it’s too thin for a hot pad for my personal taste.

Layer right side together atop 2 pieces of batting. Give yourself at least a ¼” to a ½” of fabric beyond the outside line of Gnoma.

Use a window or a lamp to help you align your Gnoma front and back. Pin together front and back, and then pin to batting.

Optional - add a hanger tab to the top of Gnoma’s cap.  A great use for ribbon scraps.

Pin folded ribbon between the tops of Gnoma’s front and back cap.

Stitch around Gnoma’s body, leaving an opening at the bottom for turning.

Make your opening a size you’re comfortable with (at least 2½ - 3″).

Trim edges. I like somewhere between ⅛” and ¼”. Leave a little extra at the turning opening (about a ½”).

Turn inside out.  I love my plastic chop-stick as my turning tool. Turn the opening’s edges inside and pin.

Top-stitch as close as you can to the edge of Gnoma. Start near the pinned edge so you can get that sealed up right away. (thus avoiding any rogue Gnoma poops).

When you get to the to hat, turn and stitch across Gnoma’s hat.

Next top stitch across Gnoma’s beard - and then continue top-stitching the remainder of Gnoma’s edges. Done. Now make the other 4 the same exact way.

Maybe your Gnoma-pads will be a giant coaster - in case you have a visitor in the middle of the night who could use a cup of coffee and some cookies.

I’ll give a little charm pack of Holiday Happy to one lucky commenter who answers the question of the day (or just leave a comment).

Q: What food or what dish says to you “home” or “family gathering”? Mine is my mom’s potato pancakes and also my mom’s butter cookies - even the old metal deciliter she uses to make them makes my heart swell with happiness.

EDITED IN 11/24/10:
Winner picked for this day has now been picked (by random.org), and is… comment #67 Ramona of the Burkeshires! Congratulations, Ramona!

[Day 1] ❄ [Day 2] ❄ [Day 3] ❄ [Day 4] ❄ [Day 5] ❄ [Day 6]

[See what others have made @ HH flickr group]
[Shop] ❆ [Contact Lecien]

Posted in Holiday Happy | 247 Comments

Welcome to my 5 or so Days of Holiday Happy - 5 or so days of celebrating Gnoma Claus from my Holiday Happy fabric. Five days, maybe more… all things Gnoma. And not all 5 or so days in succession, either. It wouldn’t be very gnome-like or Santa-like to not be secretive (and mischievous), but projects and goodies await in the days to come.

Every day of 5osDoHH - I’ll give a little charm pack of Holiday Happy to one lucky commenter who answers the question of the day.

If you’d like to shop for some Holiday Happy, you can find a list of online and brick & mortar stores here.

I’m kicking off Day 1 of 5osDoHH with a downloadable printable - a sheet of Gnoma Notes. Little notepaper for all kinds or reasons.  Print.  Cut.  Write stuff.

Download a copy of the Gnoma Notes PDF file here.  Leave a comment if you want to play for the charm pack.

Q:  When you were a kid - what was that best/most memorable toy you wanted/got.  Mine was a red Panasonic “Ball & Chain” Panapet radio.

EDITED IN 11/22/10:
Winner picked for this day has now been picked (by random.org), and is… comment #208 Melanie! After reading her comment… I’ve been twirling my arms backwards ever since reading it! Congrats, Melanie!

[Day 1] ❄ [Day 2] ❄ [Day 3] ❄ [Day 4] ❄ [Day 5] ❄ [Day 6]

[See what others have made @ HH flickr group]
[Shop] ❆ [Contact Lecien]

Posted in Holiday Happy | 289 Comments

for a little Gnoma Claus mischief!

Stay tuned!

Posted in Stuff | 29 Comments

I’m tickled pink to be in another issue of Quiltmaker’s 100 Blocks issue. I do so love the 100 Blocks issues - and love being a part of it.   I also love, love, love the mug Quiltmaker gave to all the contributors (we each have our block on it).   My mug + coffee mug = mugshot.  I really shouldn’t be left unsupervised with Photoshop.

My block is called Snow Happy Home (block #115). Crazy cute name, eh - Quiltmaker was the genius behind that.   I got to use my Holiday Happy fabric - and that was a  HUGE THRILL for me.  The yellow dot is from Lecien’s Color Basics collection.  So buttery, so yummy.

Quiltmaker has all sorts of celebratory goodness goin’ on - so be sure to check out their 100 Blocks Blog Tour with all the other blockmakers.

Want a chance to win an issue? Leave me a comment on this post by 5:00 pm PST on Sunday, 14 Nov 2010. I would love to know what everyone’s all time favorite block is (because I’m Mrs. Kravitz-ishy like that).  I’ll random.org TWO winners - one person will receive an issue from Quiltmaker, and one person will receive one from me.

[Contest is now closed]

WINNERS UPDATE - Congrats to the winners! Random.org picked #83 “mean sarah jean” and #207 “Linda (Petey)”.

Posted in Quilty n Crafty, Make Something | 274 Comments

Recently I was asked if I’d like to have a copy of/and review Amy Sedaris’ new book Simple Times - Crafting for poor people.  I jumped at the chance, JUMPED  [whispering] And it was already on my shopping list.  Score! [/end whispering].  I love, love, love Amy Sedaris and I think she is HILARIOUS.  Here’s a YouTube clip of Amy on a recent Martha visit.

As soon as Simple Times came, I thought I’d do a quick thumb through… only to have gotten sucked in and I couldn’t put it down. There’s even some recipes in the book. Not that I know how to use that big box thing in my kitchen that gets hot - but there’s no way I can resist a recipe that’s called My Plumbers Cheesecake. 

I’m too chicken to show the Crafty Candle Salad recipe (a banana, a smidgen of mayo, a cherry…), but I can show the Mexican Sugar Skulls recipe - which I want to make yesterday.

The section on Safety Meeting is something I need to make myself get in tune with.

Especially after Jana’s pin incident.  The book says there may be tragic results… but Amy has yet to meet Lizzy.

This killed me: “KILLING JAR - Instructions: The easiest way to kill your butterflies is to use a killing jar. Simply soak… yada yada yada… blah blah blah… A label on the the jar make the whole thing cuter”. Yay… just like Dexter… he’s so darn cute when he follows The Code.  And then there’s the how to make a roach clip with a crab claw - it had me roaring. This is NOT your momma’s crafting book from the 80’s. Now I’m having a fantasy Carol Duval making crab claw roach clips with Gary Collins in my head. Dude. Carol. Dude. Gary. Sweet.

The Healing Power of Crafting… clearly my medicine cabinet needs restocking! Out with the OTC, in with the fat quarters and ric-rac.

The only downside to this book is that you shouldn’t read it alone - I wanted to read it out loud to my friends. Especially the chapter on, ummm… Ya. That. Again… NOT your momma’s crafting book.

OMG… so naughty and so funny. Charlie Sheen would blush.

Posted in Stuff I like | 36 Comments

Sit down.
Seriously.
Sit down.
I don’t want to be responsible if something happens to you when you look at what I’m going to show you.  And if something does happen to you and you need medical attention… please send the bill to Jenny.  It’s all her fault.

Do not EVEN think about the holidays until you see this: inspired ideas

You are now free to craft about the country.

Posted in Make Something | 22 Comments

Fall Quilt Market was a whirlwind speed event. My market-mate and bestie Mo and I had only one full day at market, so we had to speed through it. Speeeeeeeed through it. We got in a lot… but also missed stuff too. I was armed with my iPhone camera, and Mo was armed with my other camera… between us both I hope we got it all covered.

Off to Quilt Market… I left the house somewhere between 0′dark thirty and the butt crack of dawn - and accidentally left an hour too early for PDX.  That’s ok… it gave us time to run through McDonald’s so I could get a MacGriddle.  That takes me to four MacGriddles consumed this year.  Now I’m over my annual quota by 3.

I soon met up with my #PDXflygirls Mo and Kristin - and as we boarded our flight… our personal DirecTV monitors greeted us with today’s top news. Yay… F-14’s ready to shoot us down.

After we arrived, we checked into our hotel, changed, jumped on the beds and left for Fabric 2.0 - hosted by the party princess J. Caroline - along with Michael Miller Fabrics and Stash Books. Oh the fun! Everyone was there in one place at the same time. And where was my camera?

After the party, off we went for a late night dinner at Guadalajara. We were a large group and they accommodated us with ease. Great food, drinks and service… and we were there almost an hour past closing. Honestly… I could have been there 5 hours longer. How could I not… I was with the best peeps ever. I have a good memory… but I also have good margarita ordering skills. In seating order (with the help of Heather’s photos here)… Susanne, John, Charlie, Ryan and his wife Mandy, Traci, Elizabeth, Kristin, Cyndi, Brioni, Katy, Jona, Heather, Mo, Bari, Kathy, Rebecca and me.

Having had a great night’s sleep in the best beds we’ve ever slept in… Mo and I had breakfast with Cyndi - who found a gem of quick/cheap/good little cafe/cafeteria called Au Bon Pain place across from the Four Seasons - I got my milk and oatmeal… and off to Market we went.

One of the first quilts that greeted us was a darling Susan Branch quilt.  Dear, sweet Susan.  I love her!  Hi Susan!

Barbara from QuiltSoup shows us the secrets in her beautiful quilt.  What looks to be lace behind the hexagons, is actually embroidery Barbara did.  Dreamy!

On my list of must meet peeps was Jackie (who I’ve been bloggy buddies with forever and have never met) - and while I was waiting to say hello and introduce my self to Melly of Melly & Me - low and behold the person who was photographing her was Jackie!  Fun, fun, fun!

Jenean Morrison and Mo - Love Jenean’s fabric… loved her both (and loved her… she’s SO NICE!).   The judges loved her too - Jeane’s booth won for most creative!

I was bedazzled by Anna Maria’s fabrics and booth (and I fell i love with this heart quilt) - and we got to meet Anna Maria’s sweet mom and chit chat with her a bit.

Tula, Tula, Tula… WOW did Tula deliver.  I’ve always been in awe of the magic that flows out of her pencils and what transforms into beautiful fabric (I ♥ Parisville)… and now I’m in awe of her super talent as a stylist as well.   I can’t believe her booth didn’t get an award.  #acrimehasbeencommitedinTexas.

One of my huge thrills was meeting Katy and Brioni - who came all the way from the UK.  LOVE THEM.  And so did everyone else.  We’ve started a campaign to have them move to Oregon.  #wishfulthinking.  Katy sports a tat of a Tula owl, so I asked if Katy and Tula would indulge me in some Theatre in The Booth.

Rockstar alert.  John aka QuiltDad indulges me in a little Stephen Colbert pose - showing us his beautiful ribbon quilt he made with Parisville for the Free Spirit Fabric booth.  John is BY FAR the coolest and nicest person and talented and funny and genuine and bigbrotherhuggable person I know.   If QuiltDad is not your Homeboy… I feel very sorry for you.

Another one of the #PDXflygirls is our own Elizabeth Hartman, aka Oh, Fransson! Elizabeth’s new book The Practical Guide to Patchwork is an AMAZING book. I have a copy (friendship has it’s privileges!) and it’s must have book for everyone. Open it up and a beginner will say, “I can do that!” - and a seasoned quilter will say, “I want to do that!”. Yes… it’s for everyone. Ev. Er. Y. One. And it’s a beautiful book. Eye candy. By the time I hit “publish” on this post, E’s book will be into the top 500 bestsellers rank on Amazon (it’s currently #644 as I type this, and E’s book is #16 in Amazon’s Home & Garden section. Ina Garten’s book is #19).

SQUEAL!! My sweet friend Lori has a sneak peek of her first fabric line - Sew Cherry with Riley Blake! I’m so excited for Lori! Lori’s talents and aesthetics sing to me. Plus I adore her. And I think she made Sew Cherry just for me!

More squeals! My good friend Cyndi also has her first line with Riley Blake - Daydream! So beautiful and I’m so happy for Cyndi. CLEARLY Riley Blake is the coolest of cool, as was their booth. Loved how they had everything laid out and it was easy to see all their lines and products. It’s no surprise they won an award for best merchandising.

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Part 2
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ANOTHER #PDXflygirl with her goodness… Our sweet n sassy Violet has a darling purse pattern with Indygo Junction (it’s hanging under the “tion”). You can read more about Violet’s purse at here or on her blog post. I love her purse!

Kate and Mo at Kate’s booth, celebrating the release of her latest line with Moda called Central Park. I LOVE THIS LINE and I love Kate’s inspiration for it! I love Kate! Kate is THE NICEST person on the planet and I’m in such awe of her. Kate oozes kindness and talent. Kate’s booth was so cute… it was like being in a park made of fabric. I’m shocked Kate’s booth didn’t win an award. #anothercrimehasbeencommittedinTexas.

SWOON! Melissa’s new line of Swoon with Andover. I love it… I love her! Loved seeing Melissa and Beth at market. Always fun, always full of adventure and good times… and Melissa also came with The Letter.

Finally it’s Mo’s turn for some show & tell! Here we are at the Blue Hill both where Mo proudly shows us her next line called Magic Garden. I LOVE THIS LINE SO MUCH. I thought Mo’s Party Dress was the bomb… and she went and outdid herself! I can’t wait for it to be printed - no doubt Mo can’t either! Kudos to Blue Hill and winning Multiple Booth, Second Place!

Penny, me and Sheree in Sheree’s Alchemy booth. I love these two and because of blogging I feel like we’re old, old friends! Check out Sheree’s blog post about market and see how beautiful her booth was.

Pillow & Maxfield’s booth at Michael Miller. Super saturated color and bold happy prints. I wanted to lock myself in this booth. Serious mad love. I got so excited I pee’d a little. Ooops Michel Miller… you might want to rethink your iconic white carpet in the future.

Aussie. Aussie. Aussie. Oi. Oi. Oi. What a thrill to meet my Lecien fabric sister Rosalie! She may be the “me” of Melly and Me… but she’s also sistah to me. It was such a thrill for me to meet her, and bonus joy I got to meet Leanne too! Suckaroo though… I never got to see Natalie and my other Lecien sister Lynette! I’m so happy I did get to see my newest Lecien sister Sarah and her husband Damian! Love them too. I heart my Aussie peeps soooo much!

Good times at the Better Homes & Gardens booth village. I LOVE my friends at American Patchwork & Quilting and Quilts & More. I’m hamming it up with Lisa, Jody and Maria (behind Lisa). Loved seeing everyone - (missed you Stumbo and wish you were there!). Do you get the AllPeopleQuilt.com weekly newsletter? If not, you SHOULD. Seriously. It’s so good and packed with so much goodness. Plus you’ll get to see Lisa’s smiley happy sunshiny face in the top corner with each issue. To the right is my “Project Runway” quilt (made with my Holiday Happy) it’s in the upcoming Winter issue of Quilts & More.

My newest Lecien sister Bari. I can not wait to see what she’s been cooking up for her Lecien line that’s to debut at Spring market. Bari’s booth was so cute… and loving the chair and ottoman she rocked out in her fabric. Love that we got to spend time together!

Felt sweet delights! This company was next to the Kokka booth, and I think their name was Sewfelt. SEW AMAZING! I was able to buy 3 kits and I can’t wait to get started on them! I’ll show them when I’m done. Mouthwatering cuteness. Dying over these. I wish Pam wasn’t MIA - she would have died with me.
And speaking of Kokka (who’s had me at Echino)… I saw THE fabric that made me force myself to exhale. If anyone asks me what was the one thing that was most memorable or exciting to see at this market… it was THIS fabric. Melody Miller’s Ruby Star Rising for Kokka. I was so gobsmacked by it I didn’t even get any photos! Luckily Melissa did… and she pretty much wrote E X A C T L Y what I thought about Melody and her new fabric.

Finally, finally, I get to meet Pat IN PERSON! What a thrill. And she was even more awesome in person (which I knew she would be). And if meeting Pat wasn’t enough, I got to meet her at the same time as seeing my rockstar donut toting friend Cherri! I love these women!

Speaking of rockstars… next stop Patty’s booth. Mo, me and Patty. I could have moved in. I admire Patty so much. If anyone reading this is considering a career in fabric or garments or patterns or ANYTHING… Patty is a role model for women in business. Heck… anyone in business. Patty is one classy broad, and she makes everyone feel special and valued AND delivers kick ass cute stuff time and time again! I love Patty and I feel blessed to be her friend (I know… there’s a long line of us!).

M’a girls. I LOVE THEM SO MUCH! Traci, Violet and Mo. And see our cute badge holders? Traci made them all for us. Really sweet, really cleaver, really cool! And best part… Traci sells them (contact Traci via her shop for custom orders)! We’re at Lizzy’s world famous Cake Party. I didn’t get any photos, but I’m sure they’re around (put “lizzy cake party” in your googlereader seach). Lizzy OUTDID herself and made a cake in honor of Jana’s infamous pin incident. And speaking of love… I love Lizzy and Jana so much too!

Tear. The crazy deer heads at the Kokka booth started crying as the announcement was made that Market was closing for the day.

Off to the airport we go (Kristin, Traci, Violet, Mo and me) - #PDXpartyplane fules up with breakfast (surprise… oatmeal and milk for me). I asked for a “small”, and the cafe-lady handed me a small bucket of oatmeal. I guess in Texas that IS a small. Also notable, the airport PA announcements repeated over and over and over about not making any inappropriate jokes. SERIOUSLY? Then why was I so taunted in the airport and on the plane?!

And we’re off… Traci, Mo, Violet (and Kristin in the row behind us) on our way back home. We had a wonderful time. Saw wonderful friends. Traci and Kristen ordered wonderful fabric. We all were inspired. Back home, and tucked in and snug with our families.

Next stop… Salt Lake City!!

===== The I SUCK FILES =====

Is there a name for a person who has 3 cameras and fails to take photos or mention people in my rambling above? Whatever the name… that dill weed would be me. So this is like a yearbook, and the people with missing photos get a silhouette image and a big angry “ABSENT” written on the bottom. Except I’m the really crappy yearbook editor. So crappy I don’t even provide the silhouette. EDIT: I had the intention of listing all the people I didn’t take photos of or mentioned above. I got to about two dozen people listed, and I was struck with a super panic, “what if I missed someone’s name?” - so I deleted it all. Please forgive me. Everyone who I spoke with, who I hugged with, who I shook hands with (sorry for the sugar donut residue I passed on)… everyone of them was a wonderful moment for me. I love my quilty peeps so much! xoxo, m

Posted in Quilt Market | 61 Comments

… so it must be almost time to head to market. Radio Free PKM is cranking it up on KPKM - the place to go to find all blog posts about 2010 Fall Quilt Market in Houston, TX.  Are you going to market?  Did you make something that’s on display at market?  Check out KPKM to either to submit your permalink(s) that pertain to anything/all things market… or to go find the permalinks to visit all the market posts.  Or both!  Be sure to grab a button from Pam’s post and sport it on you blog.

I’ll be tweeting/twitpic’ing on my twitter from market instead of blogging this year, so all my posts will be instant - vs the month after it usually takes me to make a blog post. Added in: You do not have to be signed up for twitter to read my twitter or see my photos. Reason #1,808 why I ♡ twitter.

Anyone want to do me a flavor flav? Leave me a comment on this post about something you’d like me to tweet/twit-pic… and I’ll try my best to do it. Challenge me… truth or dare me even.  And did I mention the #PDXpartyplane? Little ol innocent me flying with Mo, Violet, Traci, Elizabeth, Kristin and Heather. I’m sure nothing scandalous will happen.  Nothing.

Note: I’ve gotten kind words on the armadillo (thanks!)… but I can not take credit for him (her?) - it was a copyright free stock image/clip art… I just jazzed him up a little.

Posted in Quilt Market | 28 Comments

When ever I go to Ikea I “flat shop” - I pick out my favorite showroom as if I’m going to live there (kinda like Mark). Last April I fell hard in love with this “flat”:

I especially loved with the colors in the showroom and that quilt… navys, lt. blues, pinks and reds. AND WHO KNEW that at that very moment when I was playing my own little version of House Hunters International - Bari was putting her finishing touches on her now current line, Country Lane… in navys, lt. blues, pinks and reds. Bari knew, that’s who. #sobarigenius! Maybe Bari was channeling me? 

Next thing I know… there’s little Country Lane tiny treats totes birthing themselves right out of my sewing machine.

Eight fun little Country Lane tiny treat bags. My machine feels like Octomom.

Next stop Bari’s booth at Fall Market - and now Bari is #tinytoteoctomom.

I have an addiction for making bags, and an empty plastic-ishy rice bag called to me.

Inside my Birkin Nishikin’ bag, I made some poochi corners to make my bag pooch.

I added a fabric strap (Moda’s Chez Moi line from a few years back), folded the top edge of the bag over it (with the ends tucked under the fold), top stitched it. I then flipped the strap over the the fold and top-stitched the top edge.

Love the window on the bag - and the little treasure I see hiding.

How darling is my treasure! It’s a Matryoshka from Emily of Ravenhill - all the way from Norway.  Emily makes and sells her freaking adorable little Matryoshkas in her Esty shop - but she and I swapped some goodies with each other - and I got the way better end of the deal.  Way.  Better.  End.  Of.  The.  Deal.  And how darling is she in her Lecien Flower-Sugar outfit!

I suppose I better get crackin’ on another bag… one for my Matryoshka baby…

Posted in Stuff | 41 Comments