Tonight's gonna be a good night

Happy Friday everybody! I woke up this morning with the chorus from that song "I've Gotta Feeling" by the Black Eyes Peas going through my head.  "Tonight's gonna be a good night... tonight's gonna be a good good ni-i-ight..." hehe  I can actually change the lyrics a little bit to "tonight's gonna be a sewing night... tonight's gonna be a sewing and sewing ni-i-ight. "  I'm celebrating my friend's birthday with her tomorrow and I need to finish the zipper pouches I'm making for her tonight.  I usually don't let things get so last minute but as I was making the pouches earlier in the week, I realized I didn't have any white zippers. (gasp). So I had to pick them up, and now I'm ready to finish.

The pieces you see here will soon turn into fun and exciting zipper pouches

I'm really excited to see how the blue and white ones turn out. I love those fabrics so much!

Another development that is actually quite surprising is that I've started an official scrap pile!  You might wonder how I could go so long as a quilter without having a scrap pile so I will explain.  I'm a little bit of an anti-clutter freak. So as I've made my quilts in the past, unless it was a large enough piece to fold and put away, I didn't keep the little random, odd-sized pieces.  The funny thing about this is that I love scrappy quilts and have really been wanting to make one. That's hard to do without scraps. hehe.  This week as I was making my placemats for the swap and the zipper pouches, I ended up with the cutest little scrap pile.And all of a sudden I was inspired.

Scrap piles can be beautiful!! :) 

Now, I just have to find something to keep my scraps in. I would like it to be attractive yet functional.   What do you use for your scrap management? Do you sort according to color or keep them all in one place? I would love some ideas on where to start.
    
One last thing that I want to share is that I won a giveaway this morning!  Amy from A Quilting Sheep  had a giveaway and I won some yardage and fat quarters! What a fun way to start my Friday. Maybe that's why I was singing that song. ;)  Thanks Amy!

Wordless Wednesday- pictures from around Southern California

Blog Hop- Photos that make you feel good

The theme for this blog hop is "Photos that make you feel good." My Photo for the blog hop is from our wedding day. I love this photo for many reasons- not the least of which is that it captures the day my sweet husband and I got married.  I love the lighting and the stained glass in the background. It makes me happy to look at it!

Two projects finished!

 I had a very productive weekend in the quilting department! It was one of those weekends where I just got totally motivated and keeping finishing project after project. This does not happen very often so I had to take advantage of it!   I finished my placemats for my placemat quilt swap and I ended up liking them so much I wanted to keep them. But since I know that they will match my swap partner's decor really well (from what she tells me) I will refrain from holding onto them and get them in the mail this week. :)  Here are a few fun shots to show you how they turned out. I don't think she reads my blog so I should be safe.

I decided to use straight, diagonal lines to quilt the placemats and I really like this technique.  I think it's very clean looking and shows off the fabrics well.

I used the sewing guides on my walking foot for the first time and I wish I would have tried them sooner! Truthfully, I didn't even know what they were for a very long time. :)  They attach to the back of the walking foot and if you line them up to the first line you sew, all the rest of the lines will be straight and evenly spaced. What a great invention!

I also finished a ladybug quilt that had been done except for binding for over a month.  I think it turned out very cheery and I added it to my etsy store.

The binding is fun because it alternates between the different fabrics in the quilt.

Placemat Quilt Swap and other fun things

My latest fun project is a placemat quilt swap on flickr.  Swaps are so fun! You get to meet new people and make something for somebody you otherwise wouldn't have been in contact with. The last swap partner I had was in England and she sent some British treats along with her placemat. Treats with chocolate!   It's so fun to make a gift for somebody else- even if you don't know the person. I tend to be a lot more motivated to make things for other people than for myself- hence the reason that after a couple years of quilting I don't have any of the quilts I've made. I should probably change that this year at some point. :)   Anyway, I digress.  Back to the quilt swap. :)

This was the inspiration fabric for my placemat quilt swap

This is the current state of the first placemat.  I'm making two matching ones and so far I have all the pieces cut out. I'm a little unsure about what I'm going to use for the binding, but that should be remedied after I've had some more time to think about it. 

I also sent off one of my favorite baby quilts this week because someone purchased it in my Etsy shop.  I had such a good time packaging it up and imagining someone across the country being able to enjoy it.  A lot of what quilting is about is the community aspect of it, isn't it?

 Here's a picture of the quilt before I boxed it up and bid it adieu. 

It's easy to add sparkle to your sewing projects

Have you noticed a trend at quilt shows lately that people are adding lots of crystals a.k.a. "bling" to their quilts?  Women are attracted to these quilts like moths to a bug zapper.  :) My mom and I attended the Road to California Quilters Conference and Showcase in Ontario and came across a booth that was buzzing with buyers. (How's that for alliteration?) hehe
Anyway, we nudged our way closer amidst the throngs and found a mecca of sparkle.  We could almost hear the choir singing as we gazed at the amazing colors.   The booth was owned by Cheri, the creator of "Cheri's Cool Tool".  I haven't been paid to talk about her or what she sells.  I'm just really in love with the idea of adding crystals to pretty much everything!

I couldn't resist and purchased a kit with her "cool tool" and some crystals.

In case you want to see it, this is the "cool tool" with the single crystal attachment. 

You plug it in, it heats up and all you have to do is hold it on top of the crystal and it adheres to the fabric.

It comes with these attachments so you can affix a group of crystals at once or one at a time.

The kit came with all of these crystals divided in this fun little container. I love organization. :)

My mom bought this assorted pack of crystals which I ended up sorting and adding to the plastic container.

I know you are so excited to see what they look like aren't you? Well this is the first fun zipper pouch that my mom and I embellished with crystals. Isn't it fun and sparkly?

Here's another view of the bling

On this zipper pouch we added a few crystals for an accent in the middle of the flower.

Bling closeup

Artsy shot of the bling :)

I recently opened a store on etsy so if you are in love with this zipper pouch, it's available here. Let me know if you have any questions about embellishing with crystals. It's so much fun!

Changing to a custom domain on blogger

So you may have already noticed that I've made a couple changes in my blog world.  It was a little bit scary because I was nervous that something would go wrong in the transfer, but now that it's official I'm so pleased to announce my new domain name!  My blog is now www.dawnsquiltcorner.com.  Blogger made it so easy to do and it's very affordable.  If you're interested in checking out the process, just go to your settings and then to "publishing."  You can choose a custom domain name and change it all in one place! It took about three days for it to completely take affect but all the old links are now redirecting to the new page. I love the fact that my  domain name doesn't have so many parts to it.  And I also love that blogger does the hosting for such a low rate. I highly recommend it!

We have a winner!

Many congratulations go to *Liesl* from "The Irwin Update" as she is the lucky winner of a new Cuisinart mini-prep food processor from CSN stores!   Thanks so much to everyone who participated. I really enjoyed hearing about all of your favorite kitchen gadgets.  : )

Wordless Wednesday- fancy macaroni and cheese

This is an almost wordless Wednesday post. I need to give credit where it's due to The Pioneer Woman. I used her recipe to make this amaaaaazing dish. :) Also, the Cuisinart Giveaway ends tonight at midnight pacific time. I will announce the winner tomorrow!

Sunday Stash

I picked up some really fun fabrics this morning and wanted to share them with you. :)  I see some sewing in my near future!  I also wanted to remind everyone to make sure and enter my *Cuisinart Giveaway* before midnight Pacific time on Wednesday, April 14th.

Cuisinart Appliance Giveaway!

Have you ever headed out on a shopping trip to look for something like a couch or speaker stands and ended up in the small appliance section because it was beckoning you? You are not alone. I am enamored by small kitchen appliances and gadgets that can help me be a better cook and have fun while doing it. In order to share the fun of kitchen gadgets with you, with the help of CSN Stores, I am giving away this Stainless Steel Cuisinart Mini-Prep Food Processor!  (loud cheering and clapping)

 **Entries are closed for this contest. Thanks for visiting!
 There are several ways to enter:  
(note: you must be a resident of the United States or Canada to be eligible)
*First, you can leave a comment here telling me about your favorite kitchen gadget
*For a Second entry, leave a separate comment telling me that you are signed up to follow my blog. If you are already following, please leave a comment to remind me.
*For a Third entry, link to my blog on your blog to tell your readers about the fun giveaway and leave another comment to let me know that you did that.
 *If you want a Fourth entry, sign up to follow me on twitter and leave a comment to let me know you are a twitter follower. If you already follow me on twitter, please leave a comment to remind me.

*Remember*, you need to leave a separate comment for each entry in the giveaway. Also please make sure to leave an e-mail address so I have a way to contact you if you win!


 The deadline to enter is midnight pacific time on Wednesday, April 14th, 2010. I will then choose a winner  using a random number generator. The winner will be announced on  Thursday April 15th at 12pm Pacific Time. Good luck and thanks for participating!!!

 

Learning to sew zippered pouches

I entered a new world this weekend. The world of sewing zippers! (gasp)  Until yesterday, the idea of sewing a zipper was a daunting and intimidating thought.  But with the use of an easy pattern, I  found out that zippers are no big deal!  Well, actually they are quite a big deal once you learn you can sew them, because the possibilities of fun zippered creations are endless. We were spending Easter with my parents and while the boys were out at the driving range, my mom and I started working on these cute zipper pouches. I made the pink and green one and she made the black and red one. Aren't they fun?

An Award!

Thanks so much to Ashley from Always a Piece of Me   for giving me this blog award! I've never received one before and it was so neat to get one. : )  Ashley said some really nice things about my blog in her post and I'm so grateful for her kind words! 


What the award entails:
- Link my presenter
- Post the award on my blog
- Share 7 interesting things about myself
- Nominate 7 blogs and link to them

Interesting facts:
1. I have sailed in international sailing races
2. I am from Los Angeles and still live here. Most people I work with are from somewhere else. 
3. I dream of owning a quilt shop someday
4. I love peanut butter and pickle sandwiches
5. I love to read
6. I love to edit photo montages for weddings and other special events
7. I am lactose intolerant but I love cheese and ice cream


Blogs that inspire me:
1. A Moment With Us  My amazing friend Shelly has the cutest blog and I love to read about the fun things she does with her family
2. The Irwin Update  My wonderful sister in law has a great blog and shares her heart beautifully
3. Make it and love it  Ashley has an amazing blog full of fun and beautiful projects
4. The Pioneer Woman Ree's blog should be called a blog empire I think. I am addicted to reading it and have already tried some recipes. Such amazing content!
5. A Quilting Sheep  Amy has a beautiful blog and I have a lot of fun reading her great posts. 
6. Lucky Pup Quilter  Loris is celebrating one year of blogging and she has a fantastic blog! Congratulations!
7. Spoonful of Sugar This is a blog full of cuteness! I love the projects and all the pictures


Thanks again to Ashley for this award! And thanks to all the wonderful bloggers out there who inspire me everyday to create new things and have fun.