A Second Post? Really?

So, today is a slow day at work. Or it could be the fact that I took a nap today instead of going to the class I have been auditing. I made that decision because it needed to be done. The upside is that I got to see what was in my mailbox before I went to work this evening. It was quite the exciting box. Set a new standard for me. I definitely want to start following T's lead with how she presented this wonderful swap. Everything was wrapped in tissue paper and labeled so sweetly. I didn't get any pictures of her gifts pre wrapping paper being ripped off, but I do have pictures of all of the wonderful little goodies.

This swap is so much fun! You pick three holidays that fall within the month you are swapping for (typically the next month) and then come up with something that is representative of it. We each picked four holidays. Represented here are April 17th, Pet Owners Independence Day; April 22nd, National Jelly Bean Day;  April 25th, World Penguin Day; and April 30th, Hairstyle Appreciation Day. My swap partner also sent me some wonderful fabric as a bonus gift! I'm so spoiled! I think I should even be able to use some of the hair accessories, even though I have dreads. Carefully, mind you, but it should work!

And honestly, short of my stories about my crazy students and how the full moon is affecting them, that's all I have to report for today. If you look though, I'm in the process of getting other pages put together for my blog. So exciting!

Where has the time gone?

Hey crafting world out there. Life has been happening way too fast for my taste. I had this wonderful vision of posting as I got packages in from swaps and as I worked on cool projects in my evenings and on the weekends.

That hasn't happened.

A lot of my evenings have been spent cleaning up from the day or trying to go to sleep early since I have been so tired. Thank you concussion. And my weekends have been more of the same. I'm going to keep trying though and putting one foot in front of the other, getting things done, taking pictures as I have time, and posting when I get a chance.

So, on to funner things (and yes, that is a word. It's in the dictionary.) Swaps! I have been getting a lot of packages recently, which means that I have all sorts of awesome stuff coming in! I have loved the fun of opening up my mail box, which I used to check maybe once a week (maybe) for junk mail that my mom ended up forwarding to me that she thought I needed. Yep, really exciting. But now, I am getting all sorts of awesome fabric and postcards. It makes me excited to come home!

This was what was waiting for me in my mailbox today. A total of six fat quarters, 98 2.5" squares and two wonderfully cute tea packets.

There also were multiple wonderful postcards. I love to see what people can find and what they choose to send.

So, I finally folded all of my laundry that has been needing to be folded and found these gems in the laundry. I think these were some of my bargain bin finds from a few weeks ago. The rest have already been sorted into my stash yesterday (I sorted my stash!). I also feel like taking pictures of what is going directly into the stash may not be in my best interest if my long distance significant other decides to follow. He already rolls his eyes at the quantity of fabric and other craft supplies I own. I don't think I need to give him the blow by blow accounting of it.... But I probably still will post pictures as I remember to take them of what I bring home. I have been trying to do a little bit better of maintaining my stash and then using it in projects (gasp!). We'll see how that actually carries through.

And with that, I bid you all good night! I either need to sleep or read, but whatever I do, it will be relaxing so that I can try to start bouncing back!

And it's Monday again... How did that happen?

***I wrote this at work. While at work, I referenced pictures on my phone. I then proceeded to leave my phone at work. Yep. Pictures will be posted tomorrow.***

***Edit #2: I decided to go back to work and get my phone. Now there are pictures.***

While I was on Spring Break, I just got caught up with what was going on. Well, that and sleeping. I love breaks when I can sleep as much or as little as I want and whenever I want. But the downside is I don't post. Such is life. There was a lot of adventures that were had and a lot of sewing that was done. Even some cleaning too!

Tuesday I went with some "family" (I call them family. They are all but) to Moody Gardens in Galveston. It was a lot of fun. I realized I'm finally at the place in life where I don't care if I look like a little kid or not, I am going to oooh and aaah over everything, point at stuff, and get excited. I took lots of pictures (just haven't uploaded them yet), made smash pennies to commemorate the trip, and even brought home a friend.

His name is Porter after my favorite seal at the exhibit. I know, I'm a dork. But he is just so soft, and the real Porter had such a wonderful story.

Thursday was quite the adventure as well. I handled the most cash I ever had handled to buy a car by myself (mostly) for the first time. E and I drove to Houston where we met her dad and the owner of the Jeep I ended up buying. So nerve wracking. Long story short, I had to buy a car before today (which successfully happened), which ended up happening! It has its own little quirks, but overall, she is a better rig than the one I lost.

And then came the cleaning. I have been considering taking in one of the international students at my school for the summer (which means I would lose my craft storage room), and for that to happen, I need to get my house in good condition (I am not the most organized person in the world). It is slow going, but I am starting to see the makings of a clean house! Yay!

Cleaning necessitated a trip to the dollar store (which is quite dangerous), which means I acquired quite a bit of smaller storage items, as well as some stuff to spruce up the place.

And of course, I have been sewing! Yay for sewing! I'm actually surprised that the end of this quilt is coming together as quickly as it has been. It is my first 2.5" square quilt. I started collecting these a little over six months ago due to Mary of The Curious Quilter running a PSQ swap that I stumbled upon. It was really cool, I learned lots of things, and then I became hooked!

This is what I have assembled so far

And these are what I have been working on

Hopefully they will be finished here soon so I can start on the hand stitching of the backs and then bind it. The end is in sight! How wonderful.

Last, I have been receiving swaps! So exciting. Saturday, my dog went bazerk at the postman when he came to drop off my goodies. I received five bandannas and five Easter eggs! So exciting. My offerings for these are either waiting in my mail crate or are already in the mail.

And then today, when I came home, I had more packages in the mail! Lots of green for the day!

To sum it up, lots of swapping and lots of quilting happening, which is really exciting. I didn't get around to working on the projects I had actually planned on completing, but I'm okay with that. I still have some other aspects I need to finish on one of my gift quilts before it can be finished, but I feel like it will be finished fairly soon as well. At least, that's what I hope!

Are you sure it's Monday?

So, I have been letting myself sleep. It's a good thing, right? Well, true, but then my days start getting all wonky. Like the fact that I woke up and finally got out of bed to be productive at 5 pm. Don't judge me. I guess I needed the rest.

In other news, I got some awesome mailbox candy today! This envelope is amazing! It was for one of my note card swaps (Fast and Easy Notecard Swap), and I am just floored!

She was amazing. She sent some really cute fabric and a sheet of stickers, in addition to answering one of the questions I posed on the page. I really think I am going to send her something back. It just seems right.

Also in the mail were two postcards. Yay for postcards! One is for 2013 PC Swap #10 and the other is for 1 postcard to 1 person USA swap

Also done today was putting two packages in the mail for swaps. One for the Bandanna Rama Swap and one of two for the Take a Break swap. Yay chocolate! Didn't take pictures though. I'm waiting to mail the last one until tomorrow. I feel like making sure it gets the correct postage. I need to get a scale or something so I can measure how much a package weighs.

Dinner tonight will hopefully be the butternut squash gnocchi that I have been working on for the past, oh, three days? It takes a lot of chilling time. I know that sounds like an excuse, but it is what it is.

And it has turned out well! Yay! And I have leftovers for tomorrow. All in all, a good day.

So Much Fabric!

I have a problem. I admit it. I am a fabricaholic! And to help assist in my addiction is the wonderful stores of Walmart and Joann Fabrics. Walmart has wonderful remnant prices, discounting fabric, including 100% cotton, either 20%, 30%, or 50%. Then, Joann Fabrics comes along with sales combined with lots of 50% off coupons. In my defense, I have swaps to prep for, which are, officially, prepped. I have a ton of envelopes floating around this place.

So, Walmart. Lots of fun fabric in good sizes. Almost everything is over a half a yard. I'm also signed up for a bandanna swap, so I got some really fun ones.

 

The center photo is of fabric that I am going to use for clothing. I don't know quite yet what I am going to use them for, but I like them. Fun, bright prints. The photo on the right are all of the cotton fabrics that are going into my stash. I am going to cut a few strips for postage stamp quilts out of it, and then add them to my stash. 

These are the fabrics I purchased at Joann Fabrics. I spent a little more than I had planned on, but I ended up only paying half price overall. 

Well, everything but the shirt in the center picture was from Joann's. I'm making a quilt for Mercy Project's Auction this spring. I'm excited. I'm using shirts from the kids race this past year for it.

I also picked up some other pieces from Joann's for swaps. The drawing pack is for one of the swaps, and then the thread is for another swap. Yay for getting everything put together for swaps. 

I think I have a few packages to send out in the next few weeks. :-) See you all in the marrow. More stories of getting everything put together for swaps, sewing, and taming the mess in my house!

PS - I got more postcards today! Lots of fun. I especially like the octopus one.

Creativi-TEA and Roasted Butternut Squash Soup

Okay, so this is another swap-bot post. I feel bad because I started out saying that this blog is going to be about my quilting, but car accident + little to no energy + simple swaps = more swap posts for right now. I might even work on sewing tonight; we'll just have to see. Probably just something really simple like chain piecing squares for one of my postage stamp quilts. :-)

But, right now, it's tea time. It's a very cool idea for a swap. You make these really cute envelopes and place a tea bag in the little envelope and mail off two of these packages to someone else who is expecting some fun tea. I think it's going to be fun. Also a really good use of the scrapbook paper that I got in a mix pack that probably won't ever make it into my scrapbooks. (I tried to flip the picture, but no such luck. Just look at it upside down...)

In other highlights of the day, I got a postcard from one of my swaps today. Yay! First postcard!

And lastly, I am working on roasting butternut squash. I got a great deal on squash on Wednesday (yes, car crash day, but beforehand) and want to get it roasted and into either soup or gnocchi here soon. It's nice to take as much time as I need. A lot of other recipes are time sensitive, but this one is nice and slow. Yay for slow.

And, I just have to post this recipe, that way that I can remember it. It turned out really awesome. I based it off of this recipe, but I modified it a lot.

Easy Roasted Butternut Squash Soup

Ingredients:
2 medium/large butternut squash
4 chicken bouillon cubes
2 cups water
2 1/2 teaspoons onion powder
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

I'm lazy, which is why I used the powder, rather than fresh. I'm okay with it.

1. Split the squash in half, clean out the seeds, and then roast in the oven (set at 400 degrees) until soft and the skin is starting to pull from the meat of the squash.
2. While the squash is roasting, microwave/boil the water, then dissolve the bouillon cubes in the water.
3. Separate the meat from the skin and throw the skin into a blender. Add the water, with the onion powder and garlic powder.
4. Blend until smooth.

5. Enjoy! (I put a little bit of ricotta cheese in mine, but I've also heard of sour cream, creme fresh, etc.)

Welcome! And the reason I have time...

So, I have finally decided that I need to have a blog about my sewing. I cannot promise that I will update all the time, but I do want to work on documenting everything I am making. 

And so, the event that is providing me with the ability to do actually do this is that I am currently on a day of bedrest after a car accident yesterday. It wasn't my fault and I am feeling better than I thought I would be feeling today. The one downside is that my poor Jeep didn't fair so well. I'm still waiting to hear back from the claims guy to see what is going to happen with her. 

I think this was God's way of telling me I needed to slow down a little. Even though spring break starts Saturday, I was going to just keep going full tilt. Guess that isn't happening. I'm okay with that though. I'm getting some stuff done and working on healing. 

And the stuff I am getting done is some fun stuff indeed! I am a member of swap-bot.com, which connects people all over the world so they can swap things! Today I am working on sending out postcards (PCs) and a note card, as well as some tea bags. Yay for swapping! I also can't wait to see what's in the mail too. I don't think I have anything coming right now, but I should within the next few days.

And so that's been my day. Welcome and I hope you enjoy the quilts and swaps and everything else that ends up posted here. 

AJ