OK So lots of pictures in this post! First, the APRON SWAP! OMG, I love my apron. My swapster must have been looking in my closet and my sewing room because it is SO ME!!

And, she sent swap goodies. (Not pictured: the m&m's that my husband and I swooped on and devoured) Pencils, more candy and the cutest cupcake iron on! yay!
Hey, ya know what's really cool, Marissa will make you an apron too, yup, she has a business making these gorgeous flirty aprons. Check it out:

I somehow forgot to get a picture of the apron I made. Duh. But lucky for me, Debi really likes it and posted a picture on her blog. cowgurlsblessing

More on the goodie I put in with the apron later in this post.

ALSO, we had an awesome girls' retreat in Bodega Bay.

This is Karen, sewing away while we watched chick flicks like Mama Mia!

Uh oh, Carol and I even got up and danced.

I am always annoyed at movies that show a bunch of girls sitting around and then breaking into spontaneous song and dance numbers, and then here we were, doing that same thing!

We also watched Hairspray an the Holiday to round out the chick film fest.

But of course, the retreat wasn't all about dancing and singing, we were there to CREATE!! oh, but first, better have a hot tub. That dancing wore me out, how 'bout you, Carol?

Ah yes, this didn't suck. Cosmos in the hot tub!

Ok, so what did we dream up in the tub?? I decided to make a pocket cowboy for the western themed apron I was working on for the sassy flirty apron swap. We named him Shane because he has an "S" on the belt buckle.

He kept staring at me with those blue eyes. Shane, I am trying to sew!!

Go hang out with Karen in the hot tub!!

When Karen had enough of Shane and his two dimensional conversational skills, he sneaked away to Donna's bed. Shane, Donna is busy working on her scrapbook now. Her WEDDING scrapbook! Get out of her bed.

No, no, no, I didn't mean for you to get into mine!

Shane, you are in need of a hobby!
Yes, read a book! Maybe that will improve your conversational skills.

uh oh, look what I found blooming on the patio. She says her name is Betty, but I think it is TROUBLE.

No sense fighting the inevitable, so Donna whipped up another batch of cosmos, and we let the two have the hot tub while we got to work:

Did we actually make anything? I am glad you asked! In addition to the cute apron and the happy couple, I made:

This is a log cabin with Asian themed fabrics that I started last century (ok, like 2004) and decided to finish this weekend. I came up with the colors and layout on EQ5. (On Tuesday I shipped it off to Montana, Laura Heine, to do some magical quilting.)

Then, I made this autograph quilt for the Grad Night dinner dance auction, in blue and gold fabrics for our school colors. I just need to add the borders and quilt it. I brought fabric for the borders but meh, I didn't like it at all!! Didya notice how the gold fabric blends into the floor. weird, huh?




Karen finished her Celebration quilt with the awesome applique'd balloons and presents (the flames on the candles were left behind at home), and all that's left is for me to quilt it for her. I wish you could see the stitching on the applique. It is tres magnifique.

She and I took that class together a long time ago. Here is my version of the same pattern:

Fun, huh, how different they can look depending on fabrics. Nice fuzzy picture, too I might add.


Carol made this awesome quilt. This was a funny process for her. She had all the fabrics picked out, but ended up changing her mind here and there before she cut them out. Then she cut, cut, cut and sewed, sewed, sewed. AND then, she DIDN'T LIKE IT for a while, until we all looked at it and decided that it was very aquarium-like. The orange dot fabric strips look like Nemo fish or these beauties I snorkeled with at Lover's Cove on Catalina Island. The center blocks have a wave like seaweed about them, don't they?? So Carol changed her plan on the border fabric, and ended up creating a gorgeous aquatic quilt. It's about 4 feet by 5 feet I think:

whew. So you see, I have been a busy bee. And I am happy to have my computer back and running faster than ever.

LOOKIE LOOKIE. My favorite blogger, Ms. Craft Rage herself, Rachelle, has nomitated me for a Kreativ Blogger award.

Because of my quilts and my sewing room. How awesome is that! Rachelle is quite deserving of this award for her wit as well as her creative sewing. Check out her blog and read about the hotness, her crazy animals and her quest to create the perfect wedding dress. So the rules are that I now get to nominate 5 blogs for the same award. I would like to nominate:

1. Inside a Black Apple Emily is an artist with an etsy shop you must check out. I got the most beautiful print of the girl from Pan's Labyrinth for my husband. He loves that movie and loves original art. I can spend a lot of time looking at her blog and shop!

2. Crazy Mom Quilts This is the most prolific crafter ever. She makes about a quilt a week, no joke. plus she knits, makes clothes for her cute kids and publishes tutorials on her site for the rest of us.

3. Marianne of Moonbeams in a Jar is so flippin funny and creative and she has two boys the same age as mine, so it's fun to read along with her adventures and that of her sidekick, Miss Kitty. (you have to go see Miss Kitty in her inaguration hat)

4. That Dorky Homemade Look. Lisa Boyer is a quilter, author and very entertaining blog writer. I love when she takes her audience on trips around the island. She lives in Kauai. Poor thing.

5. Monica, another fave, of Happy Zombie fame. Go to her blog and you will see. She creates stuff for magazines, like quilts and purses and pennie pockets for garsh sakes. She is uber talented, funny and cutting edge.

OK SO TWO HOURS OF BLOGGING LATER, I AM READY TO SIGN OFF FOR NOW! I got things to do people. Like sew! Next post: what I got in the mail from MONTANA. No, it is not Shane's brother. ciao bellas.