Mel's Own Place

Instead of working on projects that have some sort of deadline, I PLaYeD today in my studio!!

Bunny Hill Designs is offering a FREE Block of the Month called A Tisket, A Tasket, 12 Month's of Baskets. The name didn't excite me until I saw the first block which is D*A*R*L*I*N*G !! It's a snowman inside a basket with a couple of stars! Way to cute to pass up, I probably won't get around to doing it any time soon, but I WILL save the blocks as she reveils them! There are lots of other free patterns on the site; heart ornaments, teddy bears, baby blankets, wall hanging etc. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * I found a blog that got me excited to 'liberate' my quilting a bit this year! (Don't worry, there won't be any bra burining here!) Tall Grass Prairie Studio has lots of modern quilting ideas. I find that I am drawn more and more to that style, since I've been doing the timeless traditional type of quilts for about over 15 years now. I still like the classics and will continue to make them, but I would like to try some new techniques to liven up the rotary cutter! The author, Jacquie, is hosting a block collection for charity called Project Improv . Quilters make ONE 12 1/2" log cabin type block and send it in. There is no time limit. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Have you guys heard of the blog Cake Wrecks ?! It's a riot! It's a blog about professionally made cakes that go wrong. I ran into it the other night and it was 3:00am before I could tear myself away! Readers of the blog find and send in pictures of the most hideous cakes your ever seen - you won't believe some of them! There is also an area where gorgeous cakes are featured, really these ones are amazing!

You know I love a swap! Now that Christmas and New Year's is over, I don't have anything to stress about (ha-ha!) - so I went in search of some swaps! Creative Kismet is having a BIRD exchange! I'm excited about this since I just designed my own bird ornament to top Christmas gifts this year! Participants make 5 birds, send them to Regina then wait for her to send you back 5 different birds from other YOU can still join until January 9th! * * * * * * * * * * Valentine's hasn't been a favorite holiday of mine, probably since I feel that love is forced or expected. I'm trying to change my attitude and I think a fun ValDay exchange might do the trick! This swap found at Bunch of Scrap's blog is a great one since you are assigned just one person to give three things to, home-made or not. I can do this, and I might feel some love while I'm at it! Sign up until Jan 9th.

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So where did I find all of these fun swaps? On the Swap Dex blog. There's tons of swaps that look like fun, but I can only do so much!

* * * * * * * * * * For the resolutionaly challenged like me, Tip Junkie is hosting a "Word for the Year 2009" giveaway. It's a great concept, you choose ONE word to live by during 2009. ONE word that sums up what you want out of 2009. ONE. I'm going to have to think on this a bit, but wanted to let you all know about it. ZEAL * SIMPLE * BREATHE * TRY * CREATE

OK, I'll post what I can for now, my computer has never been so enaccessable and it's driving me crazy!! My final for class is trapped in there somewhere and so are some pictures I wanted to share with you, but until my hubby can fix it, this post will have to do. My birthday was Sunday and I was able to sew for three whole days!! (I can't show you what I've been sewing . . . it's for Christmas!) My hubby and son let me be all alone for most of the weekend! Don't get me wrong, I LOVE them dearly, but I was in heaven with all the time to myself! I had to go buy a new iron and board cover and counted them as a couple of my presents! Only a quilter would be excited to get an iron for a birthday present! Oh, and don't worry, I won't iron ANYTHING but quilting fabric with it! Sunday we went to my parent's house for a yummy Lasagna dinner!! My mom makes the best lasagna - really, I promise! We had my very favorite thing in the whole world for desert, CHOCOLATE CAKE!! Nothing fancy, just CHOCOLATE CAKE! OK, ok, there were 35 candles on the cake, I decided not to be shy or embarrassed about the number because every one of them account for many wonderful times in my life! My parents gave me a 2 year subscription to a quilting magazine and a digital scrapbook program; Memory Mixer. I've been eyeing the program for a few months now and can't wait to fiddle with it! My sister (no blog) gave me some yummy truffles and some darling 'spoke weights' for basket weaving. As you lay out your spokes (reed) for creating a base for your basket, you need something to hold them down. I've been using small pieces of wood, but these are SOOO CUTE! and I think they will work much better! *I wish my computer would let me in to post a picture!!* As a tradition, we lit the candles, yes REAL candles on my parent's Christmas tree. Our family comes from Germany/Switzerland so as homage to our ancestors who put candles on their trees, we have them on our tree as well. I really can't explain how beautiful it is to see the tree lit with only the candles. We only light them on special occasions, my birthday, my dad's birthday, Christmas eve and Christmas day. My dad puts on Johnny Mathis singing Silent Night and it is so peaceful and calming! Here are some of my favorite ornaments on the tree: I made this tree skirt a few years ago. It's a Thimbleberries pattern and fabric. I liked the pattern because of it's square shape. My friend Jen (no blog) left this charming package for me to find on my porch. I love Willow figurines, they seem to be able to portray relationships so well. Marta (no blog) who is the owner of the shop I quilt at, gave me a beautiful assortment of Kaufman fat quarters and a Thimbleberries book; My Best. She also took me to the movie; Four Christmases. I'm not usually one for cheesy Christmas themed movies, but this one was truly funny! Another fun Christmas time movie in my opinion is Holiday with Kate Winslet and Cameron Diaz - Jack Black too! My sister-in-law, Lori has been a super help to me this week!! She has had Urban over to play with her son, Scotty twice this week! This has allowed me lots of time to sew and work on my final! I'm a lucky gal to have such great friends and family!! Tomorrow is basket weaving day, I'll try to remember to take pictures and upload them from a healthier computer than mine has been!