Thankful for the farm in FALL!

International Sunflower Festival, Year TWO!

It was so amazing to be back at the Sunflower Festival.  It rained again, but I still had a blast!!  The great thing about doing a show so close to home is that when I need to pee I can text dad or mom to come watch my booth for a minute haha  I also get homemade meals delivered so I don't have to live on fair food all weekend.  This was the only show I did but the fact that it was the second year was special to me.  I had people that said they remembered me!  I had repeat customers!  It might have been a little much to take in but it was so awesome! 

My grandma.

My grandma is the best.  She taught me to sew, to quilt, to crochet, to knit, to embroider.  To do most things crafty.  Well, she got honored this year in the best way possible. But, let's back up a little...My grandma joined a quilt group.  They are the funniest little group of little old ladies and it seriously warms my heart that she's found this group!  Well, this little group chose her to be the main person getting honored during the Labor Day Festival in that town.  The festival was only open Saturday, Sunday and Monday of Labor day...and I had a show (more on that later!) all day Saturday and Sunday and was scheduled to work Monday at 1230.  I should add here that the town her group meets in is over an hour away from the farm.  Yes, I woke up super early, made it to her house for breakfast with her, my grandpa, and my aunt & uncle who came in from Maine, went to the show for a bit and then came back to work until 930 at night.  It was exhausting but so so so so worth it!!  Here are a few pics that I was able to snap.  I know there are more pictures somewhere with us in them but my uncle still has them.

This one made me cry.  Ok, let's be honest, the whole thing made me cry.  But this?  This quilt holds so many memories for me, being scared that I was losing my grandma to breast cancer the worst of those memories.

The hand quilting on the top quilt is stunning!  She hand quilts so the shear amount of hours put into this is mind blowing!  Each motif is marked by hand with a pencil and then quilted.  BY HAND haha

This caption cracks me up!  If anyone would just jump in head first, it would be my grandma!  Her love for hexies will never cease, I'm sure of it :)

 

Catching Up On Sewing Stuff

I've been sewing a lot lately,and teaching myself hand sewing!  Bring on the hexies and English Paper Piecing!!  Here is a quick catch up in pictures....

I needed some hexagons to practice on, so of course, I fussy cut them.  I'm not sure what this will end up turning into but you never know with me....I'm sure I will change my mind over and over again.

This is the unstitched layout of my first BEE BLOCK!  Yes, I joined a couple of online quilting bees.  This is for the Love Lucy Bee on Flickr.  This bee is using the Lucy Boston Cross Block and is open internationally.  My month isn't until October of 2014 so I have a while to plan my colors.  The totally cool part is the international part!!  I will be getting blocks from Germany!  England!  Japan!  HOW FUN!  You can follow along via Instagram with #LoveLucyBee

These are the pieces for the Lucy Boston Cross Block...yep, one inch sides!!  So tiny!

I'm planning on doing this QAL on Canoe Ridge Creations for the Giant Starburst.   I'm more than slightly terrified that I don't have enough fabric, in fact I know I don't, but I'm going to make it work.  I'm thinking it will be a Christmas gift for my momma.  You can follow this with #GiantStarburst on Instagram as well!

These two blocks have already been sent out and I'm just waiting on the return blocks.  I joined the Scrappy Nine Patch Swap over at Just a Bit Frayed.  I actually really like this fabric combo so expect to see it again later, I'm sure!

I also signed up for the Stash Bee!  Signups are still open on this one so if you're into sewing and want to join a Bee, now is your chance!!  I can't wait to see our hive assignments the first of December :)  OH!  I totally forgot!!  I mentioned Instagram a couple of times up there....you can find me on there @pommesdeterres  :)

Quiz Time from Roxy!!

So, I have a major girl crush.  haha Roxy writes one of my all-time favorite blogs and I couldn't help but pick up these questions from her last post to share here :)  Enjoy!! 

1. I love animals! Share details and photos of your special furry companions. [No pets? Who/What is your favorite cuddle buddy?]

My fur babies are my true loves of my life.  

 

 

Cody is my child.  I sometimes feel like I did birth the little shit haha  

 

 

 

Elroy is the one I spend the most time with these days because his current favorite sleep spot is on the pillow next to my head while he paws at my hair. 

 

2. What is your favorite Friday afternoon/evening activity?

 My favorite thing about Friday is leaving work.  Not even gonna lie!  I work.  A LOT.  Like 50-60 hours/week minimum.  Usually I'm off Saturdays, and while I end up going in sometimes (ok, a lot of the time), so leaving on Fridays means that I get at least a few hours of me time to do what I want.....which, let's be honest.  I usually end up sleeping. 

 

3. A day in the life: What does you typical day look like?

 My usual work shift is 1230-930 at the store so I will go with one of those days....Since I've most likely stayed up incredibly late the night before, I get woken up by Elroy around 630am.  I feed him and then roll over and go back to sleep.  I might have moved his food and one dish to right by my bed so I can do this.  Don't judge.  :)   I wake up again around 10-1030 and check my phone for a bit - the usual, Facebook, Twitter, etc.  Shower and ready to leave by 1215 since my drive to work is only 10 minutes.  Work, with lunch from 3-4, leaving around 930 but most nights it isn't until 10.  After that it is fair game but most nights end up with me in bed with my laptop or stitching on something for the shop. 

 

4. Do you have any fitness routines? What are they?

 Fitness is something that comes and goes with me.  At work I'm on my feet all day long running from one side of the store to the other.  When I get a few hours or even an hour, I'm at the trail walking or jogging (yes, I JOG now!!!) but that's about it.  

 

5. If you could live anywhere else in the world, where would it be?

 Nice, France.  I've never been there but it looks absolutely picture perfect.  And I would get to use my French class!! 

 

6. You've got a whole day to yourself...what will you do?

 Watch stuff off the dvr - Scandal and all the American Horror Stories (both seasons!!) are saved on there right now and I neeeed to watch both!!  While watching, I'm sewing...or crocheting....or knitting...or something.  I can't just sit.  And I've got a million ideas racing through my mind to try and a few shows to get ready for. 

 

7. Dream job?

 Child Psychologist.  Or Elementary School Librarian.  I have the fondest memories of my elementary school librarian, Mrs. Early.  She, along with my parents, really encouraged me to read and to always hold onto my passion for it.  I started working in the school libraries way back then and went all the way through high school.

 

8. Least favorite chore?

 Ugh.  Dishes.  Or taking the trash out.  Both are surefire reasons to get married someday, right??! 

 

9. When do you most feel like a rock star?

 When my boss sends me a picture of my departments that I run and tells me I'm doing a great job.  He doesn't give out compliments that often so when I get them, I hold onto them and relish in them a bit. 

 

10. What is something you are currently trying to improve within yourself?

 Internal happiness is always a struggle with me.  I've got a history of anorexia.  I've got a history of manic depression.  So, I'm just trying to maintain if that makes sense.  I like regularity.  I like steady.  I feel like if I can master steady, then I'm golden. 

 

MADE: Ring Display

y'all.  I'm still alive.  Alive and well, no less!  And I made something today!  WOOHOO!  My creative muse has been coming and going for a while now and she left on an extended vacation it seems.  But, I think she is back.  I've been tucking little Pinterest ideas away for my future show for a while now.  I even have a board dedicated to the ones I like, but I have not actually made any of them until today....  I hated the way I had my rings at every show last year.  I had them on a tray one time, in a bowl another time, and then a basket.  None of those felt right.  I needed a display.  A proper ring display...but I never found one to buy that I really loved.  Insert: Pinterest.  The first idea was this pin.  A shoe and rings?  Hello.  Perfect.  But then I never found a shoe that I really loved enough to use.  This second pin that I found seemed more perfect.  And do-able!  I hunted for a frame and ultimately found this one at Hobby Lobby (all their frames are 50% everyday!) that was perfect and went to town...Here's how I did it in pictures:

The important thing to look for in a frame is a deep glass setting.  The way that I built mine is so that I can just take this ring insert out and change up the fabric and such so having the glass set-in about an inch really was a requirement.  I think it is important to note that I didn't take the glass out either, it is still in behind the insert.

This is my frame, head on.  I really liked the scroll accents.  It suits my shabby-chic-ness of my other displays.

This is the picture that I sent to a few friends to see which fabric they thought I should use.  We all said the same thing, the right fabric was the one to use!

I don't remember where I saw it, but foam hair curlers are a life saver in this project!!  Instead of trying to roll up foam or felt or anything, just use the curlers!  I had to lay them out inside the frame to see how I wanted the rings to be displayed.

I decided to use the frame sideways, this will mean that I need to find a different back so that I have a support but that's small apples to worry about!  haha

Now this is the awkward part.  I cut my fabric to be just under an inch past the edge of each row and left it quite a bit long since I didn't know how much would be needed to go around each row.  I glued three curlers together, end to end to make up a row.  Then I glued the curlers to the fabric.  I forgot to take a picture of it, but I took the edge of the fabric and glued it to my first row.  Then I brought the fabric all the way around so that the edge touched the fold of the fabric going back to get to the next curler.  I did this because you have to be able to sit the rings in between the curlers, you don't want to glue the fabric to itself and lost that ability. 

DONE!  SO in love with it!!

 It came out pretty cute, right?!  I kinda love it!  Let me know if you make one!!

Struggling.

Well, I am still alive.  I've just been struggling with a lot of things lately.  The intensity of how much I miss Dayton and my friends there comes in waves.  Lately, it feels like tidal waves crashing over me.  I miss having my own space, my friends, my life there.  I dislike Ross County so much for so many different reasons.  This has never felt like "home" in the sense that Dayton or Clinton County does.  Everything with Scarlett Key has been weighing heavily on me as well.  I am seriously debating closing the Etsy shop, I don't do well on there.  I know it will only return as much as I put into it, but let's face it...I was unemployed and put my all into it and I still was lost amongst the masses on there.  I do so much better at shows.  However, the time off work to prepare and work those shows doesn't happen so then I'm back to square one with struggling on Etsy.  I know there is a learning curve, and I will master it.  I just feel beat down a bit about it right now.  I will be back, maybe not here, maybe on a blog *just* for Scarlett Key things, but I will be back at some point.