Journeying Together...

I'm kinda pilfering this from Stacy's post last week... but her post got my brain rolling... and too many memories flooded back to not blog about it :)

My journey with Stacy began when we were probably about 6 or so.  She and her family would come to Swift Current to visit my other friend Autumn every now and then.  My nose was alway out of joint those weekends because it meant that Autumn hung out with Stacy at church and wasn't my "friend"... at that point, I wasn't quite sure what to make of this red haired girl...

Fast forward a few years.  We were 9 and landed at the same summer camp. We were the youngest girls in our age division and we ended up bunking together that week... and my life was never the same :)  From that week on we were pen pals, occasionally talked on the phone, and I would usually go to her house for a week in the summer.  We played a lot of Tetris in those days and solitare on her computer!  We'd read books together (yes we would read the same book at the same time) and listen to Amy Grant & Sandy Patti.

Over the years we have shared the "cleanest cabin" award at camp (several times in fact), many sleepovers and late night chats... we have celebrated the major milestones of our lives together, shared many many hours of heart to hearts, the tears of loss and heartbreak and celebrated the joys that made us giggle like little girls.  When I felt God calling me to go to China, she was the one who looked at me with tears in her eyes one night and said, "You'll go Am... I don't know when, but I know you're going to go."  And a year and a half later I did...she was at the airport as part of my family to say goodbye and there to welcome me home 16 months later.  When Justin asked me to marry him, even though she was travelling with the African Children's Choir, she was one of the first people I called... and 6 months later she was there standing beside me as I said forever to my love....

Life has taken us in pretty different directions in the past few years but, more than 20 years later, we are still close and I still can't imagine my life without her...Stac, you have filled my journey with so much laugher and amazing memories... here's to the next 20 years of friendship :)

We went to hang out with Faith and Tim... such a fun concert!

Christmas Eve at my parent's aka Stacy's 2nd home

Ringing in the New Year at Stacy's 

Our entire photo shoot was taken with a camera timer on a music stand... yes we're nerds but the photos turned out great!

Welcome to the World Little Miss...

Children are an incredible gift... My friend Lana and her husband welcomed their second princess into their family in early February, and I knew that I wanted to create something special for this little miracle.  

I absolutely love Riley Blake's fabric so when this bundle arrived, I knew that the fun patterns and bright colors would totally be Lana's style.  But I have to admit, I bought the fabric not knowing if they were having a boy or a girl... it wasn't till I looked at it sitting in my closet one night that the thought hit me: what if they have a boy!?  Lucky for me my dear friend was keeping the wonderful secret that she was indeed having a girl... and I did breathe a sigh of relief when I got the text saying that Haidyn had arrived!

Welcome to the world Miss Haidyn...I'm looking forward to many snuggles with you!

Paying it Forward...

I'm a bit of a Google junkie if the truth be told... spending significant amounts of time finding just what I am looking for, well I'm ok with that!

In the past week I've stumbled across a couple of links to great pattern sites:


Amy Butler Design
I read in one article that Amy Butler has transformed the quilting industry with her "vintage modern" fabric designs...
Her fabric is amazing and I can't wait till I get to work on a piece using her fabric! If you want fabric that is totally different than what you'll find in your traditional fabric store, googling Amy Butler is a must.   This site has a number of her patterns all as free printable PDFs.



Moda Bake Shop
This might just be my new fave blog site!  They've put a little twist on traditional patterns: patterns are "recipes", the designers are "chefs", all their products are in the "bakery"... and in addition to amazing quilt patterns, they also have patterns for tons of other items!  Each project can be viewed online or as a printer friendly version.

My friends have been so generous in allowing me to pick their brains for their tips and hints, I thought I'd pass along a few of mine!  Enjoy :)

Contagious...

There have been some rather heated days at work in the past number of weeks.  I have been at this job nearly three years, and don't get me wrong, I really do enjoy my job and I'm definitely not planning on going anywhere. However, this slightly rough patch has driven home one very important fact: my attitude in any given situation is key.  I'm not responsible for how the other person reacts but I am very much responsible for my reactions.  And I have been reminded once again that my attitude can either diffuse a heated moment or escalate it faster than I can blink.

I wanted some kind of visual in my office as a reminder to keep my attitude in check, and I came across this quote:
Attitudes are contagious... is mine worth catching?
I definitely want to have a positive influence in my work place....
and my attitude is the perfect place to start....

A couple of shots taken our first time hiking the West Coast Trail...
Those 77kms were ALL about your attitude!

Blissful...

Yesterday afternoon turned out to be a wonderful "play" day for me... the more I look at them, work with them and play with different combinations, the more I love fabric.  With a bottomless wallet, I could very easily become a fabric junkie... the combinations are endless and there are SO many amazing prints out there :)  But I digress...

Several months ago I had purchased a fat quarter bundle with fabrics from the Moda Fabrics line "Bliss" by Bonnie & Camille.  I love the retro look of this fabric and while I'm not normally a pink and red kind of girl, there is something about the combination of the colors in these fabrics that really grabbed my attention.  I had cut the fat quarters into 8x8 inch squares and they have been sitting in my closet waiting for a free afternoon like yesterday.  As I looked at the layout I had previously created for this fabric, it just wasn't grabbing my attention. Late last week I stumbled on this site that had several free Amy Butler quilt/project patterns (click here to see these fabulous patterns!) and her Lotus Brick Path Quilt caught my attention.  With my squares already cut I had to make a few adjustments to the pattern but I think it's going to look great!  I am a very visual creator, I have to see the project laid out before I start sewing and this quilt was no exception!  Here's a sneak peak of what I'm planning to work on next :)

When finished, the top and bottom will be trimmed straight

Our pooch decided this was a great place to relax and watch the Brier with me!

"You want me to move?  Seriously?"
Look at those eyes and eyelashes... lol what a cutie... she just made me smile!

Therapy... Part 4

This past week was a very full and busy one consisting of a lot of hockey, with a little creativity thrown in here and there too :)  The team Justin coached this season lost in the first round of playoffs... they played their best hockey of the whole year (in my very uneducated opinion) in those two games and unfortunately the scoreboard wasn't the best reflection of how they really did play.  And then Justin played in a tournament this past weekend - it was great to see him out on the ice again :)

Thankfully the game schedule this weekend gave us some time to spend together and gave me some time to wrap up a few projects and even get another underway!  I've been working on this quilt for a while now and have blogged it's journey (check out the other posts titled  "Therapy" if you haven't already!) but this quilt will be making its way to it's forever home this week. I absolutely love this piece, I'm very proud of it and thrilled with how it turned out.  So here is the final installment of pictures...

All clipped and washed!

I really like the combination of the cotton front and flannel back...
the color of the flannel came out so strong adding to the richness of the look of it all!

I just realized I forgot to copy the shot of the whole quilt...
This will have to do for now!  I love it :)