A Tale Of Two Kitty Beds

As I'm sure you all know, today is National Cat Day!  What?  You had no idea???  Well, there's still time to rush out and get some fresh tuna and organic catnip for your kitties......assuming that you don't live in the Northeast in the path of Frankenstorm - Ugh!  If you're in the Northeast just stay home and you can make it up to them on another day!

Anyway, I decided to buy a really nice heated cat bed for my 18.5 year old, Cassi.  The ol' girl has been seeking out warm spots lately so I thought she could use a luxurious, snuggly, plush heated bed now that winter is almost here.  Aren't I a nice kitty Mommy?

Well.....the cat bed has been here for two weeks and here's how things have been going.....that's Cassi on the left in her ratty, old, sunken in bed.  And that's Bailey on the right in the brand new heated cat bed.  No matter what I do she refuses to get in the nice, new bed.   What's up with kitties these days?  You buy them something wonderful....something you know that they need.....and they just don't appreciate what you've done for them!  But at least someone is getting some use out of it.  And maybe Cassi will come around one day......

And to all of you in the Northeast....I'm sending lots of happy thoughts your way and keeping my fingers crossed that things won't be as bad as the weather forecasters are predicting.  Big hugs to all of you and just do lots of sewing to stay calm and pass the time!

Happy Sewing,
Jenny

P.S.  Daisy is doing great!  There's no picture of her in this National Cat Day post just because she's soooo camera shy.

My Newly Scheduled Life

I did something wild and crazy this week and I actually attempted to follow a schedule.  Crazy, right?  And what's even crazier is that I let Col. Sew Fab make the schedule for me!  You know I've been on my whole "get more organized and be more efficient kick" and this seemed to be the logical next step.  So instead of randomly floating through my day trying to follow to-do lists written on 10 different scraps of paper I'm actually following a very detailed schedule. 

Don't be too impressed yet.....there were some snafus along the way.  It's hard to get used to following a new schedule.  Especially when it has you waking up at 5:00 frickin' a.m. in the morning so you can get your daily run in before you start work at 8:00.  And there was the little incident on Thursday afternoon where I freaked out because I was sooooo off-schedule and instead of trying to re-group and carry on I did what any sane person would do....I made a bowl of chocolate chip cookie dough and ate it by the spoonful.   But overall......it's going great and I feel like I got twice as much done this week!  

And all these other miraculous things are happening too......the top of my desk isn't covered in piles of paperwork.  And it's not because I shoved it all in a closet somewhere.  It's because the paperwork is actually done.  And for the first time in....well....forever...I can actually say that I'm caught up on Quickbooks because there is a time slot for it in my schedule.  So instead of doing Quickbooks my normal way (avoiding it until the pile of receipts has built up for a year and just looking at the pile is giving me an ulcer and the accountant is asking me for my records because tax deadlines are looming) I dealt with Quickbooks in a new way - I actually did it when it when it was supposed to get done.  Wild, huh?!

And I've even scheduled in time for the good work stuff like Illustrator class and SEWING TIME!  Yay!

And Emma is adjusting to the new schedule well.  She's willing to wake up at 5:30 a.m. but not a moment before.....

Gotta run.....it's time for lunch on the schedule.

Hugs,
Jenny

Meghan Peasant Dress

Just in case you were wondering I still sew things on occasion.  It seems like forever and a day since I've had any sort of completed project or work in progress to show you because the last few weeks were....well....shall we say kind of chaotic and there wasn't much time for FUN!  But I managed to make this Meghan Peasant Dress (PDF Pattern) by Sis Boom in ONE AFTERNOON a few weekends ago and now I'm finally getting around to showing it off using a fabulous iPhone self portrait......

This was my first time making a Sis Boom pattern and I've got to say I'm in love.  The directions are well written, there are tons of diagrams, there are tons of sleeve length and skirt length variations and there are no zippers or buttons in this dress.  And you know how I tremble in fear when a pattern calls for zippers or buttons! 

But don't freak out like I did the first time you see that a Sis Boom PDF pattern has about 200 pages!  You only need to print off about 20 pages to get the right pieces for your size and sleeve length. 

And don't you just love the fabric I used for my dress?!  It's Seaside Madras Patch from the Shore Thing Collection by Michael Miller.  I feel like it's very preppy and nautical and studious all at the same time which is why I've been calling this my "back to school dress."  Because even grown ups who aren't in school should still get new back to school clothes, right?!  But wait.....I'm taking an intensive Illustrator class so I kind of am in school, aren't I?  And speaking of Illustrator.....we got into a huge fight yesterday so I'm kind of scared to take my next class today.  Fingers crossed that Illustrator and I will be on speaking terms again today and that our love affair can continue!  Wish me luck!

Hugs,
Jenny

All Hail The Illustrator Queen!

I am the Illustrator Queen!  I am one week into my class and I am constantly forcing asking Col. Sew Fab to ooh and aah over my art like a child showing off their macaroni and glitter craft project from school.  I was so flippin' excited when I was able to color in these shapes a few days into the class.....

And then I did a little happy dance when I was able to make this button.  I think I should make a Sew Fabulous superhero cape with this button on the back of it.....

And the day I was able to make this.....well.....I have nothing else to say except.....Holla!!!  Mind.  Officially.  Blown.

Maybe I should start taking commissions for Graphic Art work now - LOL!

I'll be making a ribbon in class today.  Fingers crossed that it will be worthy of going in my Ugly Macaroni & Glitter Art Gallery!

Hugs,
The Illustrator Queen

My Life Is A Country Western Song

Well hello there!  I've missed you all out there in blogland.  You won't believe what's been going on with me the last few weeks.....

First, my car broke.....

Then my iPhone broke......

Then I found out my cat has a large mass in her lungs (that was the last thing I mentioned before I "disappeared" for a while).  The specialist says it's a 50/50 chance it's lung cancer.  The only course of action is just to wait and watch and re-check her in a few months.  But I'll happily take that news and I'll happily take the 50/50 chance because at first it looked like there was a 100% chance it was bad news.  So 50/50 was like winning the lottery!

Then I got in a fender bender when I borrowed Col. Sew Fab's truck to do errands because my car was in the shop.  And FYI......it was 100% the other person's fault.  But more importantly no one was hurt.  But sadly my first thought after the big thud in the Hobby Lobby parking lot was "That was NOT my fault!"  Oh yeah.....if you're wondering, there's only a small dent in the bumper of the truck - no major damage.  Woo hoo! 

Then I ran 8 miles on Sunday, September 30.  That's the farthest I've even ran, thank you very much!  I had been training for my own little personal half marathon that I had scheduled for Saturday, October 20.  Have I ever mentioned that I'm a runner?  I fell in love with the sport about a year ago.  I used to love power walking and then I quit for several years and then I gained a few pounds....and then we went to Napa on vacation last year and I gained a few more pounds so I started walking again.  But one day I decided that walking was too slow and boring so I started running just to see what that was like and we (running and I) fell in love.  And all those pounds went bye-bye!

Anyway.....where was I?  Oh yeah.....I was well on my way to being ready for my "Run Bunny Run Half Marathon" when I came down with a cough, fever and body aches the day after my record breaking 8 mile run.  And that was around the point that Col. Sew Fab told me that my life had become a country western song - LOL!  But it gets better!  That was also the week that his family was coming to town to visit because his HUGE Colonel promotion party was the following weekend.  Talk about a bad time to get super sick!  

Soooo.....my little phlegm filled self carried on as best as I could and still managed to make FOUR homemade desserts for the party (we had caterers doing the rest of the food) and clean the house and do the party decorations all while entertaining his family and running my own business.   Yeah....I rock if I do say so myself!

And this is what Emma, my assistant hostess looked like at the start of the huge party.....

And this is what Emma looked like the day after the party.....

I thought those photos did a better job than words ever could of conveying how we all felt the day after the party!

And do you remember how I was on that kick to become a more organized,  efficient and productive person a few weeks ago?  Well, now that I'm starting to feeling better after TWO FLIPPIN WEEKS of being sick I'm getting back to it!  I'm still going through all the old magazines and keeping the daily log (sooooo beneficial) and I've got some great books to read and I'm taking a couple of awesome online classes (A creative business class by Kelly Rae Roberts and Adobe Illustrator with Laura Coyle) and I'm ready to take on the world again....I think.....

And I've got to tell you the Adobe Illustrator story before I go.....

Col. Sew Fab and I were enjoying cocktail hour in the hot tub a few nights ago (a.k.a. "The Think Tank") when the following conversation happened....or it happened kind of, sort of, a little bit like this......

Me:  "I wish I knew how to do my own graphics for my website and blog and other future crafty projects that might involve surface pattern design."

Col. Sew Fab:  "You DO have Adobe Illustrator on your computer.  It's been there for years."

Me:  "What's that?"

Col. Sew Fab:  Facepalm.  "It's what graphic artists use to make their artwork.  And you have it.  It's exactly what you're looking for."

Me:  "Wow!"  

Felt kind of stupid.....but also felt like I had just won the lottery again!  (The cat story was the 1st "lottery win."  I've never actually won the real lottery).

Soooo.....I immediately started searching for some online classes and I'm now learning Adobe Illustrator.  And all I can say is....WOW!  It's such an amazing program!!!  All I can do right now is make squares and rectangles and circles and fill them in with different colors but I already feel like a creative genius!

So here's my big question.....what else don't I know about?  I didn't know about running or Adobe Illustrator a year ago.  I also didn't know about Bento boxes before Pinterest existed.  So what else don't I know about?  Are there any other books or blogs or classes or things out there I should know about?  Anything about business or organization or motivation or surface pattern design???  Tell me everything you know!!!

Hugs,
Jenny

P.S.  The "Run Bunny Run Half Marathon" has been re-scheduled for the Saturday before Thanksgiving.  That gives me a month to finish training.  And it also gives me the opportunity to pre-burn off the calories I'm going to eat on Thanksgiving!

P.S. #2  Thank you SOOOO much to everyone for their kind words about Daisy in my last post.  And I'm sorry if I scared anyone with that post.  I just want to make it clear that screaming in the middle of the night IS NOT a sign of lung cancer in cats.  Lung cancer is EXTREMELY rare in cats so don't you worry your pretty little head with those thoughts!  But you should always get your kitty checked out by the vet if you're worried about anything that they're doing!

Well That Was Unexpected....

Well I've "failed" at Work In Progress Wednesday again but I have a reallllly valid excuse this time.  My sweet, little, precious 15 year old Daisy has been having multiple screaming fits in the middle of the night during the past week and that is soooo not good for those of us trying to actually sleep at night and then get stuff done during the day.  And since she hadn't been responding to my frequent requests to "shut the eff up" I decided it was time for a visit to the vet hospital.  And please note.....I feel reallllly bad about telling her to "shut the eff up".......but when you're really cranky from being woken up so much it's hard to be polite.

Anyhoo......I think it's time for a brief back story.....a lot of you don't know that I'm a veterinarian in addition to being a quilt shop owner.  I was a full time vet for 9 years, became burned out and made a spur of the moment decision to open a quilt shop.  And I'm so glad I did!  But I now live 1.5 hours away from the only vet clinic in the area that I trust with my fur babies so whenever one of them is too sick to be treated at home I take them on a little road trip.  O.K.  Back story is done!

So yesterday I took Daisy to "my" vet clinic to get some routine senior citizen kitty testing done.  I was totally and completely expecting her to have a little thyroid problem which is easily treatable and really common.  Instead, we found that she has a large mass in her chest right next to her heart. Not so easily treatable and not so common.  Didn't see that one coming out of left field!

And by "mass" we mean it's probably a tumor but have you ever noticed that medical professionals like to be vague and non-committal with their answers?  Like "it might be this" or "it looks like that" or "there's no way to be sure."  So, I'm vaguely and non-committally telling myself that it could be lots of things.  We just don't know yet.  We're waiting to hear back from some specialists and then we'll go from there!

In the meantime I'm keeping my chin up and a smile on my face and hoping for the best!

Happy Sewing,
Jenny

An Autumn Weekend

Autumn is a strange time here in Florida.  While most of you are talking about a chill in the air and leaves turning colors (oh how I miss that from my days as an Ohio girl) we're at the point where it's finally cool enough to venture outside.

Col/Mr. Sew Fab took me to lunch at the Marina down the street from our house on Friday.  Fish sandwiches plus a water view equals perfection.....

And we took the dogs on another adventure in the Got Crabs.....

We headed back to "our" deserted beach just across the bay and "the kids" ran and played and rolled in the sand and frolicked in the waves....

And when we returned home, Emma settled in on her favorite sofa cushion right under the vent and didn't budge for SEVEN HOURS!  (O.K.  That's actually not a picture of her on the sofa cushion.  That's a picture of her in bed.  The pictures of her on the sofa cushion didn't look too good so I used a substitute "Emma Is So Exhausted Picture.")

And I went on some sort of wild Spring Cleaning in Autumn frenzy.  I'm on one of those kicks where I'm determined to become a more organized and efficient and productive person and get rid of all the clutter and become one of those people who has a home that always looks picture perfect.  And I started with the magazines.  The piles and piles and piles of magazines that just keep growing and taking over.   Do you know what I'm talking about?  I bet you have those piles too, don't you?  If you don't I'm seriously, REALLY impressed!  And kind of jealous.....

I went through over 100 magazines, tore out the articles that I REALLY wanted (to be put in a 3 ring binder and sorted by theme/topic/etc.) and threw the rest away.  I was ruthless and showed no mercy!  Just me against the magazines.  And it felt SOOOO good.  I still have a long way to go but at least I'm heading somewhere! 

The funniest part about the Great Magazine Purge of 2012 was when I was going through some old Website business magazines that were about FIVE YEARS OLD and there was an article about this new thing called blogging that everyone should try.  Ya know....that new craze that's taking over the internet!  Needless to say, I didn't save that article!

And the other thing I've been doing is keeping a daily log of exactly what I'm doing all day.  It's absolutely amazing how much you get done when you're forcing yourself to admit on paper what you're spending your day doing!  I just don't want to have to write down stuff like "checked Pinterest for the 20th time."  And it's also amazing to see how much extra sewing time I'll have if I keep this up!

Well....I'm gonna run and go do things that extremely productive and responsible people do.....as soon as I figure out what those things are!

Happy Sewing,
Jenny

Recipe Of The Month - Cupcakes!!!

Happy National Cupcake Week!  Uh huh.....yup....seriously.....it's National Cupcake Week!  Don't you love how they have a holiday or week for absolutely EVERYTHING?!  Which makes me wonder if there's a National Bacon Week or Day.....or National Cookie Dough Day.....or a National Red Wine Day.....Wouldn't that be wonderful?!

Anyway, it's convenient that it's also time for Recipe Of The Month so I'm going to share the greatest cupcake recipe ever.  Seriously. Best. EVER.  They're vanilla buttermilk cupcakes with buttercream frosting.  They taste like something from a fancy schmancy bakery.  But they're semi-homemade so anyone can do it.  Yup....even you non-bakers out there can do it!

I took tons of pictures as I was making the cupcakes....and then I realized photos of white cupcakes being made are really boring so I'm just going to skip right to the good part.  Mmmmmm.....cupcakes.......

And here's a fancier version that I made a few years ago to celebrate Sew Fab's birthday.....

So now that I have everyone drooling over the thought of cupcakes, here's how you make them....

Vanilla Buttermilk Cupcakes:
-1 package white cake mix
-1 1/4 cups buttermilk (I use fat free)
-1/4 cup melted butter
-2 large eggs
-2 tsp vanilla extract

Beat all ingredients together at low speed until dry ingredients are moist.  Increase speed to medium and beat until smooth.  The batter will not be the consistency of normal cake mix batter.  It will be thicker and fluffier.

Place paper baking cups in muffin pans and coat with cooking spray.  Fill each about two-thirds full.

Bake at 350 for 25 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

Or if you want to make mini cupcakes bake at 325 for 18 minutes.  We make the mini ones for parties and everyone loves them!    Little bites of heaven.

Vanilla Buttercream Frosting:
-1/2 cup softened butter
-3 oz softened Cream Cheese
-16 oz powdered sugar
-1/4 cup milk
-1 tsp vanilla extract

Beat butter and cream cheese on medium speed until creamy.  Gradually add powdered sugar and beat at low speed until well blended.  Increase speed to medium and add butter and vanilla.  Slather frosting on cupcakes.  Also very good on strawberries.  Also very good when eaten by the spoonful.

Now run along and go make a batch.  You need sustenance for your next marathon sewing session!

Happy Sewing,
Jenny

Work In Progress Wednesday - What Progress?

What is it about a week long trip that makes it seems like you've lost 3 weeks of your life?  Anyone else feel that way?  I was only gone for a week but if you add in the days before I left where I was getting ready and the travel days and the days after I got back where I was Just. Worn. Out.  And then add in the days where you're trying to catch up on laundry and e-mails and work.....well....a week long trip really does take 3 weeks out of your life.  What's up with that?!  So that's why I haven't had any progress to show for Work In Progress Wednesday during the last few weeks - no time and no energy!  So instead of showing you pictures of quilts that look exactly the same as they did the last time I showed them to you, I'll show you what we did last weekend.

Col. Sew Fab bought a rinky dink little boat full of leaks last summer.  It came with the name "Got Crabs."  Yup.....Col. Sew Fab is the Captain of the Got Crabs.  But we love it because we can hop in with the dogs and putt putt across the small bay we live on and voila.....we're at a small barrier island with the Gulf of Mexico on the other side. And that's exactly what we did last weekend....

Emma frolicked in the waves and rolled in the sand and found a coconut to play with.....

And Sammy laughed at me because I was scared that the coconut might be a human skull.  (Is anyone else always scared that they're going to find body parts on the beach?  Nope?  Just me?  Maybe I should quit watching crime solving t.v. shows).....

And after a day of fun in the sun the two cutest, fuzzy, wuzzy puppers butts led the way back home....

And it should come as no surprise to anyone that we all slept very well that night.

Happy Sewing,
Jenny

September 2012 Giveaway - Love It or Leave It?

 WE HAVE A WINNER!

The winner is SpendLove who said "Avignon by Emily Taylor for Riley Blake Designs -it was a hard decision love so many, but Avignon wins my vote! Thanks :)"  Please send me an e-mail so I can give you your Gift Certificate!  

And the fabric collections that got the most votes are Hill Farm, Notting Hill, Honey Honey, Avignon, Simple Life and Hello Sunshine!

Happy September!  It's giveaway time again!!!  Well.....actually it was Giveaway time over a week ago but I went out of town and totally forgot to tell anyone in blog-land or Facebook-land or Twitter-land that I was going out of town.  And I totally forgot to do the intelligent, well prepared thing and write blog posts ahead of time.  I'm such a responsible business person, aren't I?  And where did I go, you ask?  I went up to Massachusetts for Mr. Sew Fab's promotion to Colonel at Barnes Air Force Base!!!  Seriously!  We may all have to start calling him Colonel Sew Fab from now on! 

Anyway, back to my original point of it being Giveaway time (more on the Colonel thing later)!  This month I'm doing another one of those Love It or Leave It posts.  As you can imagine it can be kind of challenging to pick out new fabric collections.  And I want to make sure that I'm going to get fabric collections that YOU like.  So here are some snippet samples of some collections I'm considering getting for the shop.  Tell me what you think!  What jumps out at you and screams "you can't live without me?!"  Which ones do you want to buy?  Which ones would you walk right by and say to yourself "Yuck!  What was she thinking?"  You don't have to comment on every collection.  If you have lukewarm feelings about something you don't have to tell me unless you want to.  Obviously, I'm mostly interested in the ones that you really, really want to buy and can't live without!  And if there's a collection you're interested in that I haven't listed here please tell me that too.  Please be honest!  You're not going to hurt my feelings if you don't like something.  You'll just be helping me stock the shop with tons of stuff that everyone will LOVE!  

Just leave a comment and you'll be entered to win.  I'll pick the winner of a $50 Gift Certificate on Tuesday, September 18. 

Here are the fabric collections that are being "nominated."  The name of the collection is listed above the image.  These collections are all being released sometime in the next few months.  (Please Note:  The fabric collections in the sidebar on the right are fabrics that are already in the shop).

This is Avignon by Emily Taylor for Riley Blake Designs.

This is Cherry On Top by Keiki for Moda.

This is The Sweetest Thing by Zoe Pearn for Riley Blake.

This is Poppy Love by Michael Miller.

This is Honey Honey by Kate Spain for Moda.

This is Flutter by The Quilted Fish for Riley Blake.

This is The Simple Life by Tasha Noel for Riley Blake.

 

This is Garden Party by Pillow and Maxfield for Michael Miller.  That middle print is actually a large bandana print, not a small print.  This image doesn't show it to scale in relation to the other prints!

This is Kissing Booth by Basic Grey for Moda.

This is Notting Hill by Joel Dewberry for Free Spirit.

This is Hello Sunshine by Lori Whitlock for Riley Blake.

These last five images are all Hill Farm by Brenda Riddle for Lecien.

Thank you so much for all of your honest opinions.  I can't wait to read your comments!!!

Happy Sewing,
Jenny