Birthday News.

So today was my birthday, I turned 22 years old. 

However, I feel way older than that. Ha!

It was a relaxing day at home with my daughter and then this evening I went out to dinner with my family-in-law.

At dinner I shared some news that I received today;

Disregarding what I said in my Little Apples post from a few days ago..

I am indeed pregnant!

Wow.
Everyone is hoping for a boy.

I am hoping for a healthy baby with ten fingers and ten toes. ;)

Official!

So, it's official! 

I got my labels made and they came in the mail yesterday!

Although I wish I would have gotten them printed a little darker, I love them.

My plan is to stitch over them in coordinating floss to match the quilt. ;)

I have also been getting to work on my Little Apples quilt.

So far I am loving it.
I ran out of my Kona solid gray, but I will be making a trip tomorrow to pick some up.

I can't wait to share it, but right now, I don't want to spoil it!

It's been so beautiful here in Portland. 

The sun has been shining and I have been making sure my little one has been getting out!
With lots of sunblock close by too!

I love my cutie! :)

My Love of Little Apples.

Since I first saw Little Apples by Aneela Hoey, I wanted it.

I wanted it bad.

However, I never purchased any.. I don't even know why.

(You should know though, that as soon as A Walk in the Woods came out, I had my little grubby hands all over that. And I can't wait to use it!)

Anywho, my sweet sister-in-law knew and saw me long for these fabrics.

And she began bringing me 'treats'.

She would bring me an eighth or a quarter.

And suddenly I had a little pile:

(Her excuse for bringing these to me, was to make a quilt for baby number 2, though I am not currently pregnant. Hah! Sneaky!)

Over the last month, I have been agonizing over designing the perfect pattern for these fabrics.

I love them so much and I just don't want to mess up the cuteness.

And last night, it hit me!

I finally thought of a pattern. 

I started cutting into it today, and can't wait to carry on with cutting tonight!!

I cannot wait to show everyone. But for now, it's a secret. 

(Just in case I change my mind.. hah!)

Ha! 

While I was trying to take a few pictures, I found my daughter in the living room like this.
(Strips of a quilt I am making for my sister.)

She keeps wearing them as scarves. ;)

Winner Winner Chicken Dinner!

Unfortunately, I have nothing sewing wise to share today.

This is due to the fact that my family and I just moved across town, and I am back in school. I thought that taking online courses would mean less time spent on school shinanagans, but boy was I wrong. 

I have to be online all the time when I am not tending to my little one.

(Which is when she is napping or sleeping for the night.)

This is leaving me a little stressed as my mind is full of ideas, 

And the fabric stash is getting bigger..

Now how am I supposed to explain that to my Husband!?

Haha.

However, something REALLY cool did happen. 

I was grabbing the last of our stuff from our old place, and I got a package from Godiva.

I was really intrigued, yet really confused as to who would be sending me such goodies.

There was no return address from the sender or purchaser of the treats.

So I opened it.

There was a box of Godiva chocolates, all for me. Mmmmm!

(They were really good by the way.)

Inside I looked at the receipt, and still no clues. 

There was a little card on the inside but it was unsigned.

I was really wondering now if I had a secret admirer. ;) 

Thinking that was it, I was about to pack up, but then I saw a small package that looked like it was wrapped like the stuffing of the box.

I opened it, and as soon as I saw the contents, I instantly knew and was incredibly excited!

It was a letter of congrats and a signed copy of Nicholas Sparks' The Lucky One.

Godiva and Nicholas Sparks had a contest a few months back called "The Sweetest Story Ever Told" and you basically entered and wrote a short love story. I wrote mine about the love I have for my daughter and how incredibly in love with her I fell on the day she was born.

And I was a first prize winner!

How cool is that?!
(By the way, Nicholas Sparks is one of my favorite authors, I already own all of his books, but now I have this signed one to add to my collection. ;) )

Anniversary

This Tuesday, the 10th of April, my husband and I hit our 5 year anniversary.

(Being that I am not even 22, this makes me feel so old!)

Our day was spent moving across town. 

Oh the joy! 

But now we are getting settled in and the little one seems to really like having all the space to run and play.

In the month before we moved my Husband already had to start working at his new work location, so he was staying at his parents, and I was staying at mine. 

We got to see each other two days out of the week, and while we were apart, I began to work.

Remember these?

Well, they had been sitting for months and I just couldn't figure out what I wanted to do with them.

But I just went for it.

And it all worked out beautifully:

 This was the largest quilt that I have ever made, and yes, there was some difficulty sewing it at my little table.

It is not free of flaw, but it gives it personality. 

I am really proud of myself as well, because this design was 100 percent original. Came straight from my mind. Never seen it, no pattern followed. I just went with the flow.

 The colors of our new home are mostly brown with a little green, which it why I chose the green backing. To match and to break up all of the brown on the font. I also pieced it with left over blocks. :)

 I couldn't be happier with the way that it has turned out. 

I was really proud.

 And ps, I am so dedicated, I stayed up till 3am trying to finish this before my Husband came over to load boxes! 

A few times I almost went to bed, but I decided I needed to do it.

And I did.

 He knew exactly what it was once he started ripping into the wrapping. :)

He loved it! And it's already been being used everyday.

Anniversary quilt 64x64

Semi-Custom Finish!

I know I always say that I am in love with my quilts.

But let's be honest, it's really hard not to fall in love with something that you have worked so hard on creating!

And I really, really love this quilt.

It was a semi-custom order.

(I say semi-custom because I was told lots of purple, but was given the okay for use of my creative ability for the rest of everything.)

And this is what I came up with:

Complete and utter love.
I will be SO sad to see it go!

I even came up with a name for this one. ;)

Diamonds in the Jungle

32x34