One Lovely Blog Award

Oh. My. Goodness. I was ridiculously happy to see that someone had selected my blog to participate in One Lovely Blog Award, thanks Amanda! The rules are as follows

1) Share a little bit about the person (or people) who nominated you.

Amanda has some seriously cute things going on over at her blog, The Cozy Pumpkin. I don’t have any littles but if I did I’d be checking out her blog for adorable hand-made clothes. Instead I’m interested in her quilty awesomeness and amazing hand-stitching skills. One of my favorite Cozy Pumpkin quilts is one that she made for her daughters room, a giant tumbler quilt with free motion stippling, yum! The colors drew me in right away but that quilt has some beautiful crinkliness that I can't get enough of! She has a lot of tips and tutes too!

2) Share seven things about yourself your readers may not know.

1. I've only been quilting about 5 years although I had dabbled before. I attempted my first quilt in college, bought a sewing machine, fabric and set out to complete a king size pinwheel quilt with very small pinwheels (I needed about a thousand or two)... still working on that one!

2. I have quilted all of my own quilts. I recognized right away that I couldn't afford to take my quilts to a long-armer. When I first started I just made quilt tops and folded them up and put them in the closet (good idea right?!). After a small pile amassed I bought a plastic free motion foot for my little Wal-Mart sewing machine. I finished one quilt with the little foot and started a second. Unfortunately the machine and foot exploded into a dozen parts! This is the story of how I came to purchase my Pfaff 4.2 Quilt Expressions machine which has been a workhorse and improved my piecing and quilting dramatically. It has made sewing and quilting so much more fun.

3. I probably spend more time researching ideas for quilts than actually making quilts! Anyone else have this problem?! I'm a regular pinterest, instagram, flickr, blog stalker... and boy does that keep you busy!

4. Proud mama time! My son is a US Marine and currently stationed in Pensacola, Florida. He's studying to be an air traffic controller and is waiting to find out where his next duty station will be! He's hoping for the west coast - he is not a fan of Florida humidity. Wisconsinite through and through.

5. Speaking of Florida, my hubby and I met in college while completing our Masters program and were married in Panama City Beach, Florida at sunset. We stayed at a little pink hotel on the beach which was demolished a year or so later and turned into a high rise condo. My hubby put together all of the flowers for the wedding including my bouquet. I bought my wedding dress from ebay for $300. I like to be thrifty like that...

6.  I've been taking an interest in sewing clothes lately! Not sure what got into me.  Over Memorial Day a friend and I got together to sew the Staple Dress. After that I completed the Belcarra Blouse in cotton and a self drafted linen circle skirt! There are some cute dress and tank patterns I've been eyeing up for future projects. This has been a new adventure - there is so much to learn, garment photography, reading patterns, tailoring, apparel fabric... The Pinterest, instagram and blog research is in full swing!

7.  Randomness. I'm currently watching Lost on Netflix; I was never caught up in it while it was airing. I was missing out. I'm also way hooked on Mad Men; I want to be on Mad Men. I just finished reading Overdressed by Elizabeth Cline, a book about the clothing industry in America. Favorite books include Like Water for Chocolate, The Help and anything by Jen Lancaster. Some of my favorite movies are Steel Magnolias, Hope Floats, and Drowning Mona. I love watching old movies, especially Carey Grant, James Stewart and Jack Lemmon flicks. Don't even get me started on holiday movies... I have a large stack that must be watched every single year. Every. Single. Year. I listen to a lot of country and classic rock music. I like a craft beer or glass of wine (or two) pretty much every day. Green Bay Packers have my heart always. And I wish I could remember half of the Spanish I learned in high school. Randomness.

3) Choose bloggers that you wish to nominate for the One Lovely Blog Award and share a bit about them.

Girl With a Sewing Machine: Lala sews some amazing clothes for herself and her young daughter. Great photos and the fabric, oh my, the fabric! I love reading about her sewing adventures in Singapore.

Where is My Instruction Manual: Again with the clothes! A theme here? I want to sew everything she has made. Lots of kids sewing too.

Never Just Jennifer: A quilty blog! I've had this scrappy baby quilt pinned for half a year. I love the random blocks in the simple and slightly off center setting setting. And then there's the rounded corners to fall in love with!  I love Jenn's style and use of color.

This post has been quite an adventure - hope you enjoy!