The Quilter's Applique Workshop & Giveaway

I was super excited the other day when I received a copy of The Quilter's Applique Workshop by Kevin Kosbab from Interweave.  It is no secret that I love applique and use it a lot of my projects.  It was so nice to be able to take this on our little family vacation and have some time to go through it.

And can I just say, I am loving it!!!  Kevin Kosbab does such an amazing job with the technical writting, explaining each and every little detail with fabulous illustrations.  There is no way you can get lost and  I learned so much!! The book is broken down into an applique basics section followed by sections on raw-edge, prepared-edge, and needle-turn applique.  I spent a lot of time reading in prepared-edge and needle-turn as I tend to stick mostly to raw-edge applique.

And of course, I couldn't get through the book without adding a few more "to do's" to the list.   First off, these fantastic All Seasons Pillows from the needle-turn section.  They are so stinking cute and of course, some hand sewing practice would be vastly helpful to me, you know, the non-hand binding gal.

And then from the prepared-edge section this stunning counterbalance quilt.  I think this is calling to be a new master bedspread.  And I am so excited to try out some prepared-edge applique, I have never done that but Kevin's instructions seem to make it seem like a piece of cake.  Here is hoping ;)

To see more fabulous reviews of this book, check out the official Book Tour.  You can find all of the links at Kevin's blog here ;)  

Not only was I happy to be able to review this fabulous book but Interweave has graciously offered to giveaway a copy of The Quilters Applique Workshop to one of my readers.  Want to win this fabulous book??  Of course you do.   

To enter for a chance to win simply leave a comment of your take on applique.   It can be as simple as "love it", "never tried it", "excited to learn", or you can share some of your applique experiences.  Whatever you like as long as it is about applique ;)  

The giveaway will be open until Monday the 28th and I will announce a winner on Tuesday morning.  Good Luck and have a Happy Quilting Day ;)  

Project Linus Opportunity

Fave Quilts is teaming up with Leisure Arts to help the children of Project Linus.  I know lots of you make so many amazing quilts for Project Linus.  It is incredible.  If you don't know about Project Linus or have been thinking about doing a Project Linus charity quilt this would be a great time to join in the giving.  There will even be prizes opportunities for those who donate a blanket.  To see all the details go Here ;)

I am sending in my Playing The Scales quilt.  It is one of my tutorials that is featured at Fave Quilts ;)  

I like to think of it being wrapped around a special little child.  I never cease to be amazed of how much love can be put into a quilt and how much love it receives in return.  I am so happy to be part of such an amazing community that uses their skill to give back :)

Mellow Yellow

Well, I am all unpacked, laundry is done, and it is time to get to my sewing room.  And just in time, this lovely bundle arrived from Art Gallery Fabrics yesterday afternoon ;)

I am doing a little Market sewing today.  Yippee!!!  Don't you just love Yellow.  It is so Happy to sew with ;)

Fabric Collections are from top to bottom are:
Minimilista
Meadow
Chromatics
Tule
Pure Elements
Chromatics
Oval Elements
Sweet as Honey

Our Spring Break!!

This weekend was Spring Break and we spent it in San Diego, California!!!  We had a wonderful time except for the 30 minutes I posted about yesterday ;)  Thank you so much for all of your kind thoughts and comment from yesterday.  I started to respond to them individually and quickly found myself in tears.  So I read through them all, had a wonderful therapeutic cry and am now writting thank you  here.  You ll are the best!!    But now I am getting off topic again.  Let's get back to the fun!!!

We spent 2 days at the beach enjoying the sun, sand, and waves.

My kids are beach babies.  They could stay here forever ;)

The family that plays together, stays together ;)

On Friday we went to Lego Land!!   The kids had a blast!!!  Mini Land was my favorite.  So cool!!

Dad and the older three loved all of the roller coasters!!  

And Kami had fun on rides a little more her size ;)

And this one and I just strolled around the park.  She did amazing, and I think enjoys people watching as much as her mom does ;)

And we finished the day off with the Aquarium.  So cool!!! No surprise that these little fishes loved seeing all the fishes ;)

 While in San Diego we also visited the Mormon Battilion Visitor's Center and San Diego Temple.  My twin sister served her LDS mission here a few years back so it was exciting to go see where she was ;)

The kids especially loved getting to dress up like the Battalion ;)

 And the San Diego temple is just stunning.

All in all, an amazing family vacation.  Here is hoping we can go back some day :)

Our Families Easter Miracle

I hope you don't mind If I get a little personal this morning and share our experience from yesterday.  It just seems so appropriate on this Easter morning.  Yesterday, while playing at the beach in San Diego for Spring Break we lost Kamryn, our sweet 5 year old.  It was a look away for 30 seconds and she was gone.   She was lost for just over 30 minutes and those were the worst 30 minutes of my life.

She was found way down the beach looking for us by the San Diego Life Guards.   I can not begin to express my thanks that she was returned to us with no harm.  I am so grateful to the San Diego Police Department and Life Guards for their diligent efforts to find her.  I was so incredibly touched by how many wonderful people saw our distress and stopped their vacation and began scouring the beach with us.  There are still so many wonderful people in this world.  I thank each and every one of them!!

Last night, when Kami said her prayers she thanked Jesus for helping her find her family.  I know that He was with her while she was lost and that he was watching over her and keeping her safe.  I am eternally grateful for that.   I know that His love was with us while we searched for her, keeping us calm and giving us hope. He is Hope!! Whatever your Religion or Belief, I hope that you have a Wonderful Easter Day spent with those you Love and that it will be filled with the Hope and Peace of Jesus.