Peas In A Pod

Sugar and Spice Perpetual Magnetic Calendar Tutorial

via thequiltedfish.typepad.com

 

HI Everyone!

I am quite the slacker!  Candice posted this awesome tutorial for the Quilted Fish Design Team last Friday, and I was so busy traveling, I never got the alert out to all of you.  It is super cute, don't you agree?!  I love it!  This would be a really fun addition to a kitchen...and fairly quick, too.  Click here to go to the free tutorial on-line.  If you love it, make sure you stop by and tell Candice what a great job she did.  :-)

I am home now from my travels and trying to unpack, do laundry, get the lawn mowed, catch up on the 350 work e-mails sitting in my in-box, etc.  And I start teaching a summer class tomorrow.  So, it's pretty busy.  And I'm trying to get ready to make one more trip next weekend....to a quilting retreat, where I'll get to meet Shelly and, hopefully, Brooke!  I am really excited.  Then, it will be pretty low key for the rest of the summer.  Should be nice.

I have so much to share with you all from my travels, I don't even know where to start.  My posts will probably be a little sporadic still until I get home from this next trip.  Then, I'll really be able to get caught up on all your blogs, the comments you've left me, etc....and I should be able to have more regular posts again.  It's all been a might bit crazy, but totally worth it.  I really needed the time away from home and with family.  It had been a long year with no visits to anyone on my side of the family.

Hope you are all doing well.  I really miss reading your blogs and staying on top of things!

Until next time,

Mama Pea

Meet Up with Amanda Herring

Yep.  Still traveling!  :-)  Today, I headed up to northern Utah to stay with some friends.  Tomorrow and Wednesday, I am attending a conference in Logan, UT.  I'm doing another presentation on Wednesday.

When I knew I was heading up here, I e-mailed Amanda Herring, The Quilted Fish, who lives not too far away to see if she'd want to meet up.  She said some friends of hers had opened a quilt shop in Logan and that she would road trip up here to meet up with me.  So, we made plans to meet today.

I emailed Amanda the other day to confirm our meeting location.  It was a funny conversation.  Here is how it went (something like this):

Me:  Amanda, can't wait to meet up with you.  What's the name of the quilt shop where we're meeting.

Amanda:  Me, too!  It is my girlfriend's quilt shop.  See you there!

Me:  Great, but what's the name of the quilt shop?

Amanda:  LOL!  The name is My Girlfriend's Quilt Shoppe!  (The link to the shoppe works, but it looks like the site is under construction.  Find them on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/mygirlfriendsquiltshoppe.)

Haha!  What a riot!  It was like a Who's On First routine!

So, Amanda was at the shop being "Designer of the Day," doing a trunk show, etc.  I was supposed to meet her this afternoon at the shop.  But we had a slower than expected travel day, and I got to town sort of late.  So, we met up at The Bluebird for dinner.

The Bluebird is a really old restaurant in Logan that has pretty good food.  I sort of like the ambiance of the place, too.

We had a wonderful time chatting about just about everything!  I felt like we were old friends from the moment we hugged and said hello.  It was a wonderful time!  I really enjoyed getting to meet and know Amanda better!

 
Then, Amanda dropped me of at my friend's house here in town.  We got a chance to snap a photo in front of my friend's amazing irises!  I'm so sorry, Amanda!  I didn't realize when I checked the photo on my camera that your eyes were closed.  I can't see anything without glasses any more!  Oh, well...I'm smiling wayyyy to big in this photo and I look like crap!  And for the record, I feel like I've gained back all the weight I lost!

See the necklace I'm wearing?  It was a gift from Amanda!  She is so amazingly sweet.

Here are the lovely charms on it!  I just love it.  What a thoughtful gift!  Thank you, Amanda!  The whole time we were having dinner, she kept telling me how grateful she is for the Design Team.  I told her we were the ones who were grateful to her for providing us with such a wonderful opportunity.  It's really been a special thing to get to know everyone.  Amanda is such an impressive woman.  I am so glad I got to meet her today and to talk with her about things.  I tell you, the courage it must take to start your own business in this market....  !!!

I feel bad, but I didn't get to the fabric store today.  I will sometime this week, so I'll report back to you about that later.  I hear it's fabulous!

I have to leave you with this photo.  Our friends run dogsled races.  One of their "retired" sled dogs is Skardu...a Husky mix of some sort.  Our friends got him at the pound some 14 years ago.  He turns 15 this year!  Anyway, he is the BEST dog...he was their lead dog for a long time and now he is retired and gets to live in the house with them.  He and Sweet Pea have always had a special bond.  One time, we were camping with our friends, and Sweet Pea was about 2 years old or so....maybe even younger.  Skardu was camping with us.  In the morning, Sweet Pea came out of our campsite, all bundled up (it was chilly) and wearing her first pair of hiking boots.  (She walked like Frankenstein in them because she'd never had shoes with such hard soles and so stiff in the ankles.)  She ambled toward our friends' campsite to see Skardu.  Skardu woke up, saw her, and ambled over to her.  They met up in the middle and were nose to nose.  They just stood there, having a moment.  Then, they turned and ambled down the trail a little bit together.  It was so cute.  Sweet Pea always hugs him, and he just loves her.  (Skardu sends Sweet Pea e-mails sometimes, telling her great stories of his adventures.)  Today, on the way to our friends' house, Sweet Pea said to me, "I can't wait to see Skardu.  He loves me."  Yes, he does!  Tonight they were all cuddled up together....but Skardu was a little freaked out, because usually nobody sits in his chair with him.  He didn't quite know what to think of that, and Sweet Pea was blocking the pat to the pillow he usually lays his head on!  The two of them were quite a sight.

Well, I better get to bed.  It's late.  But I wanted to jot this post before I went to bed.  Good night and more later!

Until next time,

Mama Pea

Em Celebrates with Me!!

Hi Everyone!

Yep....still traveling!  I left my folks' house and was heading north up to Utah.  I e-mailed Em from Em Celebrates! to see if we could arrange a meet up.  She was so sweet to invite me over for dinner!  We had such a nice time!  I got to meet her, her mom, her sweet husband, and her adorable son.  It was so wonderful!

Here we are after dinner...me on the left and Em on the right.  What a nice time we had.  Em, you have a beautiful home and a wonderful family.  Thanks for sharing both with me!

She even had a little gift for Sweet Pea...these little dolls and theri furniture, etc.  Sweet Pea just loved it.  She played with it more in our hotel room after dinner. 

And check this out....I don't know if you can see this, but the little plates are buttons.

And the lampshade is a thimble, the telescope is a thimble, and the table base is a spool of thread.  They are so adorable!  Em said she couldn't believe it when she saw they were all sewing related.  So cute.  Thank you, Em.  You just made Elsa's day.

And to top it all off, Em gave Sweet Pea this little quilt she had made.  She told Sweet Pea she could use it with her dollies.  Sweet Pea has a stuffed Pluto with her on this trip, and she thinks she may cover Pluto with it until we get home.  But, as I write this, she's playing with her little dolls on it on the bed.  Is it just the cutest thing, or what?!

Here are some close up shots of the quilting.  Em, you are really good at this.  I really need to take a cue from you and Lynn (Alamosa Quilter)...I love how you work small and do everything you can to practice your free-motion quilting.

This little strip of aqua fabric is just great.  And I love the bunny fabric.  In this photo you can see better how Em used all different colors of quilting thread on this quilt.  It's really pretty spectacular.

This little star in the center with the little girls playing is just so cute, too.  I really love it, and so does Sweet Pea.  You are just the most thoughtful thing!

Oh, and I got to meet Em's pooches and her kittens.  They are just too much fun.

The evening was filled with good conversation....quilting, tatting, knitting, travel, training pets, nursing, teaching, kids, family, etc.  I so enjoyed getting to know her better and hope that we will be able to get together again sometime really soon!  What a delight.

Thank you, Em, for a special and memorable evening!  It was so fun to finally meet you IN REAL LIFE!  You're even better than your blog.  You're just a special person.

Tomorrow morning, I'm off to northern Utah to another conference.  I'm excited, because I get to meet another blogger friend tomorrow, too!  I get to meet Amanda Herring, The Quilted Fish!  I'm really excited about that, too.  I'll tell you more about that later!

Hope everyone is doing well!

Until next time,

Mama Pea

My Magnet Board Tutorial at The Quilted Fish

via www.thequiltedfish.typepad.com

Hi Everyone!

Sorry I've been absent again!  Between spending time with my family and getting the grant written that I need to do for work, it's been really busy!

BUT...Here is my new tutorial for the Quilted Fish Design Team!   I hope you like it!  I made it with Amanda Herring's super cute "Sugar and Spice" fabric.  I had so many ideas for what to do with this fabric, but I just love the red and turquoise combination that this "vision" just popped into my head--as well as how to execute it!  So, it got the green light.  It's a totally NO SEWING project, and it's kid friendly, except for a few steps.  Hop on over to The Quilted Fish blog today and check it out.  If you make one, let me know.  I would love to see it!

To demonstrate how kid friendly it is, here are a couple of photos of Sweet Pea making one herself.

She was really proud of herself and of her board.  It turned out really cute.  Older kids will enjoy it even more and be able to do it even more independently.  Maybe it will help chase away some of those "I'm bored!" comments.  LOL.

I think this project would also be very fun with scrapbooking paper if you didn't want to use fabric!

By the way, I just want to give a shout out to all my Quilted Fish Design Team members.  They are such a great group of gals.  I have enjoyed getting to know them all so much, and we have really become friends.  In addition to sharing designing ideas, we cheer each other on and give each other comfort through personal, professional, and quilting triumphs and troubles.  I have really grown to love each of them.  I am so grateful for this opportunity to be involved with them and to have them all in my life.   So, gang, if you are reading this, LOVE YOU!

We are still enjoying the desert.  Today, we are headed to Old Tucson Studios.  We love that place.  We've been there before and Sweet Pea has been begging to go back.  It's where they filmed a lot of the old John Wayne movies.  Most of the "town" is the old movie sets.  You can recognize some of the buildings and scenery from his movies (if you're a buff like some of us are).  You can go to the saloon for a show and something to drink/eat, you can go through a haunted mine shaft, you can have a horse ride, you can ride the little train around the property, there's a general store you can visit, and there are some carnival rides like a merry-go-round.  There are also gunfights and shows you can attend in the streets that are pretty entertaining.  Sweet Pea can't wait to pan for gold again.  I'm looking forward to the day.

Well, I hope you enjoy this new tutorial!

Have a wonderful weekend!

Until next time,

Mama Pea

Two's Company Quilt Bee: Mama Pea Stephanie of Peas in a Pod Blog

via twoscompanyquiltbee.blogspot.com

A little while back I was invited to participate in a Quilt Bee.  I have never participated in a bee before, have you?  It will be a new experience for me.  So, I agreed to jump in and be part of the fun.  It's a two-color bee...meaning all the quilts will only be two colors.  And I think we agreed they'd all be red and white.  LOVE red and white quilts, so I am looking forward to it.

I got invited through my association with Shelly of Prairie Moon Quilts.  She also invited me on a retreat this summer so we can meet in real life.  Should be fun.  She tells me that many of the other gals in this bee will be at the retreat as well.  So that was additional motivation for me to participate.

If you don't know what a bee is, here is what I understand about it.  Each member is assigned a month.  During your month, it is your job to select a pattern and fabrics and to send them out to the bee members.  Each bee member completes a block.  Sometimes bee members are asked to contribute some of their own fabric and/or creativity to the block.  At the end of the month, bee members send the blocks back to the coordinator for the month, who then assembles the blocks into a quilt.  At the end of the year, everyone has her own quilt.

Fortunately, my month is not until April, so I will have a chance to see how it works with everyone before I have to send stuff out myself.  But the first packet is coming out right now and is due back at the end of July (I think).  So, I'm getting excited!

What's really neat is the gal who is coordinating the whole thing set up a blog for us, called the Two's Company Quilt Bee.  The members have all been coming on and introducing themselves.  My introduction is linked above at the top of this post.  If you want to check it out, feel free.  Click on the banner once you get to the blog to see all the other posts, too.  I'll probably blog both places or at least link to my posts there if you are interested in following along.

Should be fun!

Until next time,

Mama Pea