Joyful Journaling

Happy Tuesday friends! If you follow my social media, then you may have heard my extremely happy news - I finally got my fancy sewing machine back from repair in mid-March and I have been sewing up a storm daily. I was worried when it took months for repair, but the backordered parts finally arrived and my machine is sewing perfectly again. I have been making and listing a lot of items in my Etsy Shop and working on a few client orders...plus I have been working on projects for Poppie Cotton and ThermOWeb...and making a few gifts and personal projects. I have even been making time for new cross stitch designs and ideas. With the crazy new night schedule, I find spending time in my studio is keeping me sane and happy. I was also able to take four days off and help my local quilt shop (The Quilted Sunflower) for the Ad Astra shop hop, which is always inspiring and fun. It has been refreshing to take a step away from needlework finishing and some of the more cumbersome client projects and work on things that truly bring me joy. Here are just a few of the photos I can share...

Another project I worked on was this special framed piece for my mother-in-law - a gift for her birthday. Half of the heart is a map of where we live and half of the heart is a map of where she lives. I was quite happy with how it turned out...

Finally, you may remember this pillow I designed in December, playing around in my studio for the Poppie Cotton Christmas Countdown Challenge. I decided to enter it in the Nancy Zieman Productions 2023 Pillow Sewing Challenge. You could enter one photo of one pillow that was made in the last year and write one or two sentences about it.

This was my entry:
My Pink House Pillow is an original design, has an envelope back and uses a 12” x 12” pillow form. My pillow features fusible appliqué with blanket stitching, rick rack around the perimeter and a ¼” button for the doorknob.

The winners were announced in a blog post on March 26th, and I was on the list! I am receiving a June Tailor prize package, including: Quilt As You Go Morning Blend Table Runner package; Quilt As You Go Venice Placemat (set of 6) package; Quilt As You Go Venice Table Runner package and Magic Seam Wand. I haven't received my prize package yet, but I am looking forward to it!

Thank you for visiting with me today! I will be back on Thursday to share my latest ThermOWeb project tutorial with you. A little hint...my project is for Houses Make a Home Week...and you can see it on the ThermOWeb Blog on Wednesday. Until then, I wish you a happy and creative week...

Nancy Zieman's Pillow Challenge Entries: Please Vote For Me...

I'm sure most of my visitors are familiar with Nancy Zieman - she is the host and driving force behind the popular sewing program "Sewing With Nancy" (the longest running sewing program on North American television)...she is also an author, designer, and founder of  Nancy's Notions, a direct mail company specializing in sewing notions, supplies and accessories. I am one of the many that grew up watching Nancy on PBS, learning sewing skills and techniques from her extensive catalog of Sewing With Nancy programs...her books are in my collection...her catalog is one of my favorites...her sewing notions are in my studio...and her blog is in my daily reader...I am a fan!

Today, I am excited to share that I have entered three pillows in in Nancy Zieman's 2015 Pillow Challenge. A couple weeks ago, quilters and sewists were invited to participate in the pillow challenge by uploading photos and details on the Nancy Zieman Blog with a chance to win FABULOUS sewing and quilting prizes. 

I hope you will support my entries by voting...it only takes a second - you don't have to register - all you have to do is find my images and click on the word "VOTE" above each one - it is that easy - and you can cast FIVE votes! Here are the images of my entries:

Garden Girl

Bloomin' Beauty

Equilateral Elegance

There are MANY wonderful entries that deserve your votes, but I hope you will take a moment and vote for my three pillows...

• Visit: http://www.nancyzieman.com/blog/sewing-2/nancy-zieman-2015-pillow-challenge-voting-begins/
• Find the images of my pillows shown above.
• Click the word "VOTE" above my images.
• You can cast FIVE votes.
• Voting is open March 7th - 14th.

Thank you so much for taking a few minutes to vote for my entries! While you are visiting the voting page, I am sure you will be inspired - there are over 200 images showcasing a wide variety of skills!