Well, it's been the summer of swimming lessons, scout camp, a pioneer trek (and a bunch of other stuff that I can't exactly put my finger on right now).  

I'm sorry there hasn't been much blogging around here lately.  With some camera issues and 2 kiddos to entertain all day, I'm lucky to have gotten a few posts under my belt.  Thanks for bearing with me though.  I hope you're all still out there?!?  It seems a little quiet on my google reader these days so maybe I'm not the only one taking it easy for the summer...

There are a couple things I want to share with you today. 

First, my button.  You may have noticed it over there on my sidebar.  You are welcome to grab it and share it, if you'd like.  I was pretty proud of myself for making it :)  Can I just say, "Yay me!" !?!  I must admit though, I did not figure out the coding on my own (I'm not that smart).  I did have some help.  This link gave really easy-to-follow instructions that anyone can follow (even me):

http://oikology101.blogspot.com/2008/09/make-your-own-button-for-your-blogger.html

I might be the last one on earth to "have a button" and you all are probably thinking, "it's not that big of a deal".  But I did it and it felt good to learn something new. 

***

On a different note, I thought I would share my newest finish.  Well, it's just a quilt top right now, but that counts doesn't it?  You've seen a little snippet of it before (when it was in its newborn stage).  But look how she's grown! 

She started out as this:

and it ended up as this:

I'll show better pictures when it's finished, but she really is so different than my original plan.  A few new blocks were introduced, setting triangles were added, and I'm thinking a scalloped border is in order.  I hadn't thought to put the blocks on point until they were just about done and I'm really glad I decided to do it.  

   

All of the blocks came from the book, Around the Block with Judy Hopkins.  They were really fun blocks to make with simple, clear cut instructions.

This was a project that my quilt group decided to do.  We just picked out 12 blocks and each made our own quilt using our own color schemes and settings.  Mine will hopefully be done soon (as I am a little behind in starting and finishing this project).  I'm trying to keep up with these ladies...

My 2 favorite blocks?

This one (in the middle) called, Old Favorite.

and one right next to it called, Arrow Crown.

All the blocks finished at 10" and the size of the quilt is now measuring about 63" square.

Well, enough about that. 

I mentioned a giveaway, didn't I?

I was thinking that it's been a while since I did a giveaway on here so I decided that I am going to give away my scraps from this project and I'll throw in a couple of patterns (your choice which two) to one lucky winner.  I love these fabrics (most of them are Daydream by Stitch Studios for Riley Blake Designs).

I really thought some dresden plates out of these scraps would be so sweet, but since this is my second and a half quilt made out of these fabrics I thought it was time to move on.  Didn't want to over do a good thing, ya know? 

So we'll make this real easy for ya.

Just leave me a comment below telling me the best thing you did this summer.

Leave some contact info. and make sure you're a follower.

You'll get an extra entry if you blog about it on your blog

(just leave a separate comment saying "blogged it).

This giveaway will close Thursday night at midnight. 

I'll announce the winner this weekend.  Good luck!

~ Amber

I've caught the bug.

Besides swimming lessons for the kiddos, a walk/run with my 8 year old, sewing a binding on a newly finished quilt [pictures coming soon]

and cleaning my kitchen for way too long, I pretty much wasted the day away "pinning".  I'm a bit technologically challenged, so I'm always a little slow jumping on the bandwagon of things like Pinterest, Twitter, Flicker, etc.  [I was pretty proud of myself though for figuring out how to get the "Pin It" button on my favorites toolbar yesterday.  It's been hard to stop pinning since then].  For those of you out there that have not yet caught the bug, let me tell ya that you're missing a whole lotta eye candy.

Here are just a few photos I've "pinned" today.

First, I found me a new project I want to do.

[Please don't hate.  I know this pattern is everywhere these days,

but I like it on everything and in every color!]

yeah.  that's a rug.

 [tutorial found here].

{credit}

I've been inspired to spruce up my craft room.  Well, really I've been wanting to for a long time.  Isn't this cubby system fun?

There's been some serious color inspiration too. 

Is anyone else feeling orange and turquoise lately? 

I may or may not have a new pattern in the works using just these colors...

And, I suddenly need to make this quilt.

I've been ignoring that fact for far too long.

[All photos credit = Pinterest]

To follow me on Pinterest, just click on the link on my sidebar.  I'm having a lot of fun.  I think you will too :)

Color Wheel

In my little quilt group, we've been talking alot about color.

We decided we wanted to make color wheels,

so this is the one I chose to make:

The pattern for this block can be found HERE.

I really enjoy paper piecing.  It's such a thrill to see difficult looking patterns come out so perfectly!  If you have never tried it before, you should.  It's pretty fun once you get the hang of it.  I took a class (to make this project) when I first learned and have loved it ever since.  It does waste some fabric, but it can definitely be worth the finished product.

I had some leftover fabric so there are 6 of these kits available in my shop 

if you want to make your own.  Plus, combined shipping costs have been updated and a few patterns are on sale. 

Happy 24th of July!!!

i miss you.

Things have been a little quiet around here without my camera's memory card working...

{Credit}

I feel like I have no connection to the outside world.

Can you help me?

Pleeeaaase send me pictures

of any of your Gigi's Thimble/A Little Bit Biased projects

so I can have something to blog about :)

I'd love to see what you've done.

I think others would ♥ to, too.

{Scrap} Love

Remember this?

I made a little something else to go with it, but I just now finished it 

(5 months later).  Thought I'd share...

I used my Candy Heart Template to make this scrappy Valentine's Day quilt a few months ago.  It was a great stash buster quilt, although I did buy the red inner border fabric and the light pink fabric for the outer "saw tooth" border and the black floral backing fabric (#4034 from Luna Notte by 3 Sisters for Moda).

*** Do you ever make a scrap quilt and actually only use scraps???

I did use up some red fabrics from my scrap jar to make this scrappy binding though! I got lucky and found three pinkish reds that worked well together.  Even better ~ some of them were already cut into 2 1/4" strips and ironed in half!  Score!

Natilie Thompson from Nestled did the quilting for me and she did a great job!  I love the all over "pretty posies" design she used.  Perfect for the country-sweet look I was going for. 

Natilie's contact info is: 801-787-2496 (South Jordan, UT).

Cruisin'

My card reader is not working right now so I had to borrow this image from the internet, but trust me when I tell you that I ♥ my little vanilla townie with aluminum fenders and tan leather seat.  It's such a fun little way to ride around town.  Comfy and cute!?!  Well, I just love it.  But sometimes a mom needs to have a little storage space.

I love the rattan baskets, but when I saw these basket patterns at a LQS the other day, I knew I just had to buy them!

One for me, and one for the little Missy.  Wouldn't they make such cute birthday gifts for all the other little girls in the neighborhood? 

[photos from hemma design website]

Don't you just love everything about this cover shot?  And can you see that little gingham bike seat cover on the childs' bike?  So cute!

Speaking of bikes and baskets, I also wanted to tell you about a contest that Riley Blake is hosting right now.  They're giving away three beach cruiser bikes AND one lucky person will even win a free cruise!   If you like to quilt or make home decor projects, click here for more details: http://www.rileyblakedesigns.com/. 

Then, after you win, be sure to buy these cute patterns and whip yourself up a new basket for your NEW BIKE!  You'll feel like the cutest thing around!