Final FQ

My last FQ came in the mail!! Such a sweet surprise yesterday. Its from Rebecca in Kansas City, MO, she insists there aren't many fabric stores there, but I think she did a great job finding some. Well, anyway, you can decide, but I cant wait to use this and the goodies that came along with it!! Thanks Rebecca!!



Ok I'm off to celebrate St. Patricks Day with the rest of Chicago!! Slainte!

Monday Monday

Why is it that Mondays seem so much worse than any other day?

Anyway, just a quick post before I'm off to bed.

The "missing" FQ from my swap sister in Germany. The truth was it was "missing" in the package it was sent in. Yes, this is the second time this has happened to me. They apparently make their padded envelopes with more than one pouch (probably not intentionally to hide things). On to the goods!!

It came with a pretty springy fat quarter, some German chocolate and a great postcard. I'm not sure what I will do with the FQ yet, I need some suggestions for a good easy project. Especially after the Weekender Bag fiasco!!
Thanks so much Karin!! PS I'm So glad you like the package I sent!! :-)

Also, here is a peek at the fabric box I made about a month ago for my linens, I had had it stored up in the high reaches of my closet on the precarious shelf my management company installed. But once I put together my new Ikea bookcase and it sat in my closet for a week, I realized it was the perfect size to fit!! How smart am I ;) ? haha.
Well everyone have a great week, one down, four to go!!

Finally...

Weekend, originally uploaded by Carson.J.

Just wanted to send a shout out to my FQ swap partners. The two FQs on the left are from my partner for the Spring FQ swap, she sent two perfect fabrics for me!! We should all know by now how much I love that AB martini and also grey, wink!! The one on the right of that shot is from my Sew Mama Sew! FQ quarter swap, she even sent it along with some Winnie The Pooh stickers (I love Eeyore!). The one on the right is a package I got all the way from Germany, awesome red vintage reproduction fabric, even the selvedge is in German!! I got another package from Germany, but I admit that its currently missing in my little apartment. I will find it and post it ASAP!! Still missing one FQ from the SMS Swap, so that's strange...
Then the bottom four pics are the FINISHED product of the Amy Butler Weekender Travel Bag pattern. I'm sure we are all sick of seeing this bag on my blog!! Like everyone has said this bag is a bleeeeep to sew. But whatever, its done, I'm just hoping it doesn't fall apart when i use it the first time. There are alot of seams on this thing! Also made a label for the inside, I really like it. I used a download from A Print A Day, I lovvveee her work. Cheers everyone. Have a Great week!

FQ Swaps

I found two fat quarter swaps to join, sewmamasew and Stitches and Scissors, and managed to convince my crafty partner in crime to join in as well. I have 5 people that I am paired up with and Heather and I worked on our packages yesterday during a snowy windy day. Here is what we came up with: our chosen fat quarters, a chocolate lolly from a Wilton kit we impulsively purchased from Joanns (haha), some ribbon, and a homemade card. These are cutouts I have used before for cards and I also made a larger one to frame for my apartment. There is a second half that can be used along with the left side which includes the Hancock Center and other buildings on the northern side of the Chicago River. We used some Amy Butler paper and some other paper from a sweets paper collection. I think they look really incredible if I do say so myself...I hope my partners really love their packages. I can't wait to get mine in the mail (who doesn't like getting mail?).

On Friday night we celebrated Heather's boyfriend Nate's birthday, the big 26. She made a fantastic dinner per usual, and as a really special treat she made two cakes. A cheesecake for Nate, and a Frank Lloyd Wright stained glass frosted chocolate cake for me. See, FLW (as we affectionately refer to him) was my first introduction to the study of architecture, the idea that someone could create buildings that would be considered art. My friends here in Chicago have taken a few trips to various FLW attractions in and around Chicago, from Oak Park to Taliesin. Hence, the conception of my FLW cake. Here is the pic from Friday, it made me sad to eat, and I tried to forbid anyone from touching it, unfortunately that wasn't a popular order. So it was cut into and it was an amazing cake. I can't thank Heather enough, and all my great friends here in the windy city, really I am so lucky to have such supportive friends, and it makes me feel so loved that they want me to stay here for architecture school!! Cakes are definitely a good bribe.