Knot on Call

UPDATE - thie treasury is no longer active, so the link won't work anymore...

Treasury Wests are WIDE Open! It's not much of a challenge to get a "Treasury West" on Etsy anymore, but I snagged one for fun this morning.

We're headed to the lake tomorrow - to spend the day on a family friend's massive house boat called "Knot on Call." It's the ultimate in luxury, and I am just dying to have a relaxing day on the boat!

So, in honor of "Knot on Call," I have posted a Treasury West with some boat loving goodness :)

Check it out here!

When my hubby told me that he was being sent out of state to work for 3 months, I cried a little, thinking of the lonliness, but then reality set in...

• "I have to sleep in our house alone 5 nights a week?!?"
• "I'm going to clean out EVERY closet in our house!"
• "I get to watch old movies without Kevin complaining!"
• "Kevin can watch the Braves every night without me complaining!"
• etc...

Well, thanks to Netflix, I have watched probably a dozen classic movies the past 3 weeks. I have this list of movies that I feel like I'm supposed to see in order to call myself a classic movie fan... So I've watched Whatever Happened to Baby Jane, The Three Faces of Eve, A Streetcar Named Desire, All About Eve, & Summer Magic. I snuck in my favorite Doris Day movie called Move Over Darling. She is such a fun actress!

And I worked in some of the other films that aren't as old, but I've always wanted to see... Kramer vs Kramer, It Could Happen to You, & Peggy Sue Got Married.

I'm totally not watching these movies out of laziness. They're my "craft time" entertainment - when I'm sewing or cutting vinyl art jobs. My ultimate "me" time!

I'm nearly done with my first "mini-quilt." Its such a fun pattern & I'm excited about the fabrics that I put in it, but nervous about sending it to my partner for the mini-swap. I've seen her work & its fabulous! Little does she know that I'm making my very first traditional style quilt... Yikes! It is a lot of fun though, and I want to make another with the same pattern - it's called "windmill," but its not the traditional windmill pattern.

Here's what it's supposed to look like when its done: Windmill Mini Quilt... So I'll post photos soon :) 

On the T-shirt quilt end, we are kind of panicking because our top-quilter promised the top stitched & bound quilt YESTERDAY. It wouldn't be a huge deal, except we promised that the quilt would be sent to the gift recipient in time for the graduation party on SUNDAY. Today is Thursday... I just wish that we could afford a long-arm machine so that we wouldn't have to rely on others for the quilts that are under deadlines!

On a positive note we're starting one of our largest quilts right now. It's a compilation of concert T-shirts, including Dave Matthews Band, String Cheese Incident, Widespread Panic, & festivals such as Bonaroo. The best part about this quilt is that the owner plans to use it for sitting outside at concerts, so we're going to get a lot of publicity from those crowds!

My mom & I also have a connection to Yee-Haw Industries through our day job, and they take their fabulous products to Bonaroo every year. We're hoping to get a chance to show them this quilt & maybe get some networking going through them...

We're also setting up a table at the Miss Majorette of Tennessee pageant on June 5th. I'm launching a new line of Baton Twirler decals, so I'm hoping that we'll get some good exposure there. I have posted the first installment of the line on my Etsy page here: Baton Twirler Decal. I grew up looking for decals like this - and only finding cheerleaders or dancers. Baton twirlers have always been left out of the accessory market! ha!

By the way... I have cleaned out a single drawer in the house... haven't made it to the closets yet...

My first quilt swap - yikes!!

Ok, I'm nervous about this, but with Kevin working out of town the next few months, I think it'll be a great opportunity to stretch myself...

So the first assignment was to post quilts that I love so that my swap partner will have a good idea of who I am, what I like, etc.

Because I'm hopelessly addicted to Etsy, I made a Treasury East here with my ideas to get the ball rolling.

But basically, I have a newfound passion for quilts. In the past 2 years, my mom & I have started a t-shirt quilt business, where our goal is to create quilts that defy the cheesiness of t-shirt quilts. So far we've had great success... I was in the opinion before this venture that all quilts were granny-esque, and I didn't want a part of the grandma quilts. Well I've since discovered Amy Butler, the Modern Quilt Guild, and endless resources for modern quilting. I'm hooked...

So THANK YOU Modify Tradition for issuing this challenge to do my first quilt swap. I've already checked out my secret partner that I'll be quilting for, and I am intimidated by her beautiful quilting, but want to use this as a growth experience.

Anyway, to my secret partner who is quilting for me, I am so excited to see what you'll create! The link to my Etsy treasury above will help you see what colors draw me in, and there's a paragraph at the bottom of the treasury that explains colors & etc.

Good night!

Shadowfeet

I've had the song "Shadowfeet" by Brooke Fraser in my head the past few days, and the lyrics inspired my latest treasury title.

"Shadowfeet" - Brooke Fraser

Walking, stumbling

On these shadow feet

Toward home, a land that I've never seen

I am changing

Less and less asleep

Made of different stuff than when I began

And I have sensed it all along

Now fast approaching is the day

When the world has fallen out from under me

I'll be found in you, still standing

When the sky rolls up and mountains fall on their knees

When time and space are through

I'll be found in you

There's distraction

Buzzing in my head

Saying in the shadows it's easier to stay

But I've heard rumours of true reality

Whispers of a well-lit way

You make all things new

When the world has fallen out from under me

I'll be found in you, still standing

Every fear and accusation under my feet

When time and space are through

I'll be found in you

I became interested in the artist's inspiration for this song, as it fills me with such a longing to be found in the Lord. So I found her blog here, which answers my question about Shadow Feet.

"The song ‘Shadowfeet’ was inspired by his (C.S. Lewis) wonderful book ‘The Great Divorce’

and in particular the following passage:

'Will you come with me to the mountains?

It will hurt at first, until your feet are hardened.

Reality is harsh to the feet of shadows. But will you come?'  "

Amazing...

So, that's a roundabout way of saying

here's the treasury that I created yesterday.  

Little Lindsay Lulu

My friend Lindsay... She is such a light in my life! Lindsay is never afraid to tell you the truth, and her loyalty is such a rare gift!

Lindsay walked away from her role as a manager at a bank to be a stay-at-home mom to her precious baby Elijah. She & her husband are living on one income, and the Lord is so faithful to meet their needs! Brent & Lindsay have been supplementing that income by shopping local garage sales & estate sales on weekends. You would not believe the treasures that they've found!
Check out Lindsay's Etsy store to see some beautiful vintage items, not to mention her eye for photography :)

Please pass her shop around to anyone who has a weakness for vintage items!

http://www.etsy.com/shop/littlelindsaylulu

Etsy Treasury

I waited several hours on Friday to snatch a great treasury spot, and I was inspired by the lyrics from Stairway to Heaven to post about spring cleaning...

Here it is!

http://www.etsy.com/treasury_list.php?room_id=129192

It expires on Monday @ 10 am ET.

Thanks for looking!!