Back from Outer Space

Sorry, I've been a little tied up lately...

I've been posting sporadically for the last few months and I hope that this post marks the return of a more regular schedule. Since May I have been working on four major projects for my real life job and they are finally nearing completion. These projects sucked the life out of me. Most of the summer I would come home late from work (usually the last one out of the parking lot, except for the cleaning people), eat dinner and go to bed. On the weekends, I did laundry and napped. I barely touched my sewing machine or my beading projects. I apologize to my lovely husband, family and friends who put up with a very grumpy and depressed PugMom for far too long. Ironically, the less I wrote, the more followers joined my blog...

Here's a few highlights to get you caught up.

On August 5th, Caesar joined our family. He is four years old. We adopted him through New England Pug Rescue (PRONE).

On October 2nd, Elvis had a big birthday!

He turned 15, which is 105 in dog years. And yes, we had a party for him!

I got to meet Natalia (JMag) who appeared on Project Runway Season 15. She was did a lecture for Marion's sewing guild at the Framingham Public Library. She was just delightful. We got to check out a rack of her hand-made clothing items. She also shared some of the Project Runway behind the scenes dirt with us...

I've finally started sewing again. I'm making a quilt out of my birthday blocks.

Thanks for visiting!

Pugs and kisses,
Nancy

Brown Bagger Babies

I have been remiss in sharing the latest crop of Brown Bagger grandbabies. Today, we'll show off the 2016 models.

This is Rex. He is Kim G.'s grandson. He is a very happy little guy!

This is a recent photo.

In this photo, Rex is a little younger, but I thought everyone would enjoy seeing some of Kim's beautiful quilts.

This is Madison. She is Terri's granddaughter. Terri is bringing her to our Brown Bagger meeting today, so hopefully I can get a picture where she is awake.

Sleeping beauty!

The 2017 models are just in! On July 27th, Eden Lee was born. She is Debbie's first grandaughter. And on Thursday, August 10th, Ryan Michael was born. He is Sue's third grandbaby, and second grandson. Congratulations Grandma Debbie and Grandma Sue! Hopefully I'll get some pictures soon.

No word on any pending 2018 models yet, but Joan S.'s son got married in May, so who knows...

Thanks for visiting!

Pugs and kisses,
Nancy

I had a dream...

The other night I had a funny dream. In my dream, I promised my husband Mike that I would finish 100 craft projects using my existing Stash before I bought anything new. I was relieved to wake up since I had plans to go fabric shopping with Marion on Saturday.

This is a true story. I'm wondering if I should use my dream as an inspiration for a challenge...

What do you think?

Thanks for visiting.

Pugs and kisses,
Nancy

Taking Val's Piggy Bank Challenge again!

Just wanted to drop by and let you know that I am taking Val's Piggy Bank Challenge again. My "piggy" is actually a bear!

This past month, I emptied my Bear and took my savings to the Coinstar machine at my local supermarket. If you exchange your coins for a gift card, there is no charge to sort them. So it was a no-brainer to get an Amazon gift card.

I then used my Amazon gift card to buy myself some gold sandals because a girl can never have too many shoes or too much fabric!

Thanks for visiting!

Pugs and kisses,
Nancy

What's New Pussycat? A Quilt for Angie

Angie turned 5 last month. She wanted a quilt for her big girl bed. She loves cats and the color red.

Here is the finished quilt.

When in doubt, I always turn to Yellow Brick Road which is my TNT (tried 'n true) pattern. It goes together quickly and allows me to use a myriad of fabrics, patterns and colors. I had been collecting cat fabrics for Angie but as usual, I had collected more cat fabric than I could possibly need...

I think that little kid quilts should have lots and lots of colors and patterns to look at. The quilt looks a little garish in photographs, but I think it will be a hit with Angie. The quilt is en route to Oregon, and I'm waiting to hear how she likes it.

Here's a close-up of some of the cat fabrics. Most of the red fabrics are ancient fat quarters from my Stash.

I use some large pieces of cat fabric on the back. There is more feline fabric left over so Angie will definitely be getting some kitty cat pillowcases soon.

The quilt was machine quilted by my friend Val. She even did a kitty cat pantograph.

Here is Angie's baby quilt which I made in 2012 which was the year that I started blogging.

Thanks for visiting.

Pugs and kisses,
Nancy

Sandie's Scraptastic Star Quilt

Sandie finished her Scraptastic Star Quilt yesterday at our July Brown Baggers Meeting. It is her own design. No scrap is too small! It is for her baby niece in Idaho.

Sandie was my first friend when I moved here in 1992. We met at a quilt retreat. I didn't know a soul and Sandie walked right up to me and asked me to go to lunch with her. That was the weekend I learned that you could buy fabric without any project in mind and you didn't have to wait until your current project was finished... the rest is history! (Or herstory!)

Sandie can be found at The Lone Quilter. Although we are happy to report that she has rejoined her Brown Bagger buddies, so she is alone no more.

Thanks for visiting!

Pugs and kisses,
Nancy

Showing Off Joannie's Latest T-shirt Quilt

Joannie has finished her latest t-shirt quilt commission! As usual, it is magnificent!

Below are some close-up shots of her work. Joannie doesn't settle for plain, old ordinary sashing. No, she uses tiny half square triangles, flying geese and pieced strips. We counted and think there are 38 t-shirts in this quilt. It is a gift for a recent graduate who has moved to Arizona. His Mom cried when Joannie gave her the quilt. Our friend Terri did the beautiful all over machine quilting on her long arm, using a free hand puzzle meander design with gold thread.

Hats off to Joannie! Thanks for visiting!

Pugs and kisses,
Nancy