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Saturday, December 8, 2012

Sew Mama Sew Giveaway Winner

First of all, thanks to everyone that participated in my giveaway! I really love giving fabric away to good homes.  :)

The lucky winner is.... #77


Congrats to Julie!  She said....

Julie - I think I would make a table runner. Thanks for the chance!
 
That table runner is going to be gorgeous!  I will be contacting you very shortly.
 
Happy Sewing!
 
oxox,
Sunny
 
 
 
 

Tuesday, December 4, 2012

Sew Mama Sew Giveaway!!

**This giveaway is now closed.  Thanks so much for participating.  I've enjoyed reading all your comments.  I'll be picking a winner later today.**


it's the Sew Mama Sew Giveaway Day!  I'm really happy to be participating!  If you are new to my blog....I'm thrilled you came to visit!  :)

Did you ever get any of Denyse Schmidt's Picnic & Fairgrounds fabric?  I did!  I even made a big quilt with it. I loved this line when it first came out and I still do.  Since I'm done making my quilt, I decided that I'd love to giveaway a Fat Eighth set to one of my peeps!  



Here's how to enter this awesome giveaway:

1. Leave a comment.... what will you be making with this set?
2. Bonus entry:  New followers and peeps already following....Leave a comments letting me know if you're a new follower or are already following.  If you've been following, thanks! :) And your comment counts as 2 entries! :)

That's it! Easy Peasy! This is giveaway is open to international peeps too.  This giveaway closes Friday, December 7th.  Winner will be announced Sunday, Dec. 9th. Good Luck!

Oxox,
Sunny

PS.  Head over to Sew Mama Sew for more great giveaways!

Monday, November 5, 2012

Happy in my own skin

Today is my birthday. I am 40 and I'm totally okay with that!  I have a beautiful family & home.  I have a man in my life that accepts and loves me for who I am.  I couldn't be happier in my own skin.  So Thank You, Howard for sharing your life with me.  I would not be the strong confident woman & mother I am today if it wasn't for you!  I love and adore you! 

 
oxox,
Sunny
 
PS.  Thanks for never getting mad every time I spend $$$$ on fabric.  :D

Tuesday, July 24, 2012

Pico De Gallo

Where have I been?  Sorry, guys! :)

I've shared a ton of my sewing / quilting projects with you, but realized that I haven't shared any of my recipes.  So here's one that I love making especially in the summer.  It's a pico de gallo (chunky salsa) recipe that I make all the time. 

Here's what you'll need:

6 roma tomatoes (any tomatoes work fine)
1/2 of a medium red onion (I used mayan sweet. Both work!)
2 tablespoons fresh cilantro
1 small jalapeno
1 small lemon juiced
salt (I use kosher salt)

Dice onion, jalapeno (remove seeds and ribs if you don't like it too spicy.) and tomatoes and put them in a bowl.  Add a pinch of salt (more if needed), cilantro and lemon juice.  Give everything a good mix and that's it!  Enjoy with chips, steak, chicken and everything else!  :)


oxox,
Sunny










Saturday, June 23, 2012

PTS 8 - Pillow Talk Swap - Round 8

I love me some pillows.... so, I'm swapping again!  Plus, I really love all the folks in this swap!  Getting a pillow from any of these swappers is a real treat.

So when I was 'stalking' my partner, it turned out that she and I have very similar tastes.  All of her favorites were ones that I would have made my favorites too.  And, her likes were pretty broad, just like mine!  So, I knew if I made something I adored, she would probably dig it too. 

So.....here's what I came up with...  

I'm currently working on my Loulouthi quilt that uses this same pattern. 


It's called Curlicue and I re-sized it to make it fit into a 20" x 20" form. 


 I used a ton of Denyse Schmidt fabric with some Suzuko Koseki prints.  


Here's the back.  I used a DS Quilts Daisy Mae print (which happens to be one of my favs).


 I added a zipper and of course, a little label. 


Here's a close up of my quilting. I decided to hand-quilt it.


Yes, Annie (My amish alter ego that makes me hand quilt everything!) took over again!
She kindly suggested that I do a petal / catherdral windows pattern, so I did. 


So, what do you think, Partner?  Do you love it as much as I do?  I hope so! 

This is going to be a tough one to give up.  Please don't laugh at me if I make one for myself.  Okay, you can, just not too loud.... 

Thanks so much for letting me share another project.

oxox,
Sunny



Sunday, June 10, 2012

Can I have mine back?

A few months ago, I made this pillow to go with this quilt. Turns out that Taylor took my quilt and the pillow too! So I made this one so I can get my pillow back. It's a modern bento box pattern. Every piece is from my scrap bin and I decided to do some pebble quilting. Pillow size is 20" x 20". I forgot how much I like this pattern so it's definitely on my 'to make' list.



 
oxox,
Sunny

Lizzy House in the house!

LAMQG RULES! Seriously...  First Denyse Schmidt, then Anna Maria Horner and now Lizzy House!  Wow! 

I love this girl!  Her designs to me are so whimsical yet beautiful at the same time.  She talked to us and started by saying:  "Everyone here is an artist.  Don't let anyone tell you otherwise."  She said this with such emotion.  She later explained how much of a struggle she had at school.  She almost failed her first year.  She wanted to quit, but hung in there and finished.  It's so funny... I would have never thought that about her.

She brought along a few quilts that just blew my mind. 



I knew Outfoxed was colorful, but I didn't realze it had every color of the rainbow until I saw this. 



This one has her Hello Pilgrim line.  I love this one too. 


She spoke with such passion and now I totally see it in her work. In a nutshell, she's awesome.   

Lizzy, I really enjoyed hearing you speak about your career and designs.  \

See you in Austin at QuiltCon

oxox,
Sunny

Tuesday, May 15, 2012

Who's the Lucky Winner?

So, Taylor (aka 'mini me') always has to ask what I'm doing...  That's what 6 year olds do....  I told her I was going to share some of my fabric so she really wanted to help. 

So, I let her...write some of your names, fold some paper,


 and draw a name....


And the winner of the Flea Market Fancy FQ set is......


sewiwasthinking!!!  Yay!  :)

sewiwasthinking (aka Melissa P.), I will be contacting you very soon!

Thanks so much to everyone for participating in my giveaway!  I'll be doing another one very soon. 

Happy Sewing, Melissa!

oxox,
Sunny



Monday, May 14, 2012

Sorry for the delay....

I know I said that I would announce a winner for the Flea Market Fancy FQ set tonight... My daughter, Taylor is helping me with this, and she's not quite finished. So... I will announce a winner tomorrow. I promise!!! :)

I'm happy to say, I managed to get some sewing done this weekend. Check out these cute little wallets I made from Valori Well's. The pattern is called 'Little Wallet'. That's easy to remember....  :)



Oxox,
Sunny

Wednesday, May 9, 2012

Flea Market Fancy Giveaway!!!

***This Giveaway is now officially closed!  Thanks so much for all your comments.  It was so fun reading them.  :)***  


So, I know tons of you were excited about Denyse Schmidt's Flea Market Fancy Legacy re-release! I loved this line when it first came out and I still love it.  I bought some, and since I'm behind on so many projects... I decided that I'd love to giveaway a FQ set to just my peeps! That's right! My followers!

Here's how to enter this awesome giveaway:

1. Leave a comment....Tell me how long you've been sewing/ quilting. 
2. Also, tell me if you are a new follower or you've been followering. If you've been following, thanks!  And your comment counts as 2 entries!  :)

That's it! Easy Peasy! Winner will be announced Monday evening.  Good Luck!

Oxox,
Sunny

ps.  I've been sewing on and off since high school...  I started collectioning fabric around 2005.  I've been at this quilting stuff awhile....  :)

Friday, May 4, 2012

Giving Back

My first job out of college was at Rhino Records. What an amazing experience that was. It was the best job I've ever had. This company was very big on giving back. The week off of Christmas and New Years was paid time off as long as you completed 16 hours of community service. This ranged from volunteering at pet shelters, participating in walks / runs or spending time helping kids at boys & girls clubs.

I didn't know where to begin... There were several Rhino sponsored events on Saturdays, so I started there. My first event was such a great experience, I participated in almost every company sponsored event. By the the end of the year, I had completed 60 hours of community service! The time I spent giving back was so rewarding....

Remembering those times made me want to find a new way to give back. I remembered a women's shelter from those volunteering days and then it hit me! I can donate / make some quilts for these ladies and their children! An even better idea was to start a bee so we could make more quilts for these ladies. So that's what I'm doing here. If you'd like to join / be a part of making a difference, leave a comment or send me an email. :)

Oxox,
Sunny

Monday, April 9, 2012

Quilting Bees 101

I'm in a bee again this year and realized that I didn't make any recent posts on my blocks.  Shame on me!  So let me show you guys real quick what I've done so far this year. 

January was my month to host, so I asked everyone to make me some Crazy Blocks.  Last year, I made this block for a different bee and I really liked the scrapy-ness!  I couldn't really decide on a color, so I listed 12 colors and I let everyone choose one.  I took whatever was left - brown.  (I love brown!)  :)


Here's what I got back from these talented ladies...  Awesome, right?!?! 
I call this quilt my "Crazy Crayon Box"



These are February blocks I made for Maria
She showed us a great Half Rectangle Triangles tutorial from the MQG blog. 
Colors requested were orange and aqua.  Who doesn't love this color combo?!?!


Here are March blocks for Linda.  She wrote a great tutorial for these Wonky Diamond Log Cabins.  She requested jewel tones so I knew a saturated look would do the trick. 
Plus, she loves Kaffe Fasset.


I just finished April Blocks last night.  These are for Karen.  She also wrote a great tutorial on her blog for these Tassels blocks.  She wanted one block in light blue / aqua & Gold.


The other to be a darker / medium blue & yellow. 
Aren't they cool?!?!



I've had the pleasure of participating in quite a few bees. In fact, I'm a bee mama again this year. A few of you have asked me about quilting bees and how to join, etc...

So here's the 411....

There are different types of bees. The run if the mill one involves 12 or 11 members, 1 host (or queen bee) per months. (2) - 12.5" blocks per month. The host will send out / provide fabric to the remaining 11 members and also provide instructions on their block.

There are other bees where members use their own stash to make others blocks. I tend to prefer this type of bee only because I love getting blocks with fabric I don't have.

There are also Charity Bees.  Here, 12 members make quilts that are donated to various organizations.  There are so many generous quilters that participate in these.

For those of you that are new to quilting and are dying to try one....  please keep in mind that there is normally a 12 month commitment.  I highly recommend doing a block swap to get your 'feet wet'. This might be another option if you do not want to commit to 12 months.

DO NOT JOIN A BEE if....
You don't have time to sew....
you are not good with deadlines
you are often tardy or flakey - it's really not fair to the other members

So here if you are interested in doing a block swap, check these out.

NuBees {A Block Swap} -  A monthly block swap
[3 x 6] Sampler Quilt Mini Bee -    A Quarterly block swap
4x5 Modern Quilt Bee - A Quarter Block Swap (more for the modern quilter)

If you are interested in joining a bee, the quilting bee blocks group has a thread for upcoming bees or you can post that you are looking for join.

If you are interested in joining a charity bee and using those sewing skills to benefit others, please let me know.  Leave a comment or send me an email.  I'm getting a bee together that will make quilts for a local shelter for women with children in Los Angeles.  Giving feels so good and you will make a big difference to someone.  You will be so glad you joined.

So, I hope you all join a bee if you haven't done so already.  If you are still a little confused and would like to maybe purchase a book for more info, here's a great one... 

Happy Sewing!

oxox,
Sunny

Sunday, April 8, 2012

Saturday, April 7, 2012

So Flattered!



A few weeks ago, Erica nominated my blog for a  Liebster Blog Award.  I did thank Erica via email, but didn't have time to do a post until today.  Erica, please forgive me for my delay.  Then on Friday, Karen nominated me too! 

So, thanks so much for the blog love, Erica & Karen.  I'm following and loving your blogs too.  :) 

So here's the scoop!

The Liebster award (German for favorite) is for bloggers with 200 followers or less. As a recipient of the award, you have the chance to thank and link back to the blogger who gave it to you as well as pass it along to five other deserving blogs.

So here's are my choices (in no particular order.)

Charise at Charise Creates just blows my mind.  She is such an amazing paper piecer.  She creates her own paper piecing patterns that leave me speechless.  Check out her ski chalet.  It make you want to take up skiing even if you live in Hawaii.

Sheila at Zoom Baby is an amazing art quilter.  She's a guild mate and a fellow 'valley girl'.  I ran into her a couple months ago at a LQS.  Everytime she brings a quilt for show and tell, everyone in the room just gasps.  She's make my jaw drop too...  To top it off, she dies her own fabric too.  Oh, and she's won a few awards and was featured in Paducah.  Enough said....

Melissa at We Shall Sew is one of the sweetest people I've met.  I met her very briefly when I first joined the LAMQG.  Now, she runs the Front Range Modern Quilt Guild in Colorado.  Her awesome 'TNT' Hexie Quilt was recently featured in Apartment Thereapy post on 10 Modern Quilting Inspirations post.

Tanya at Free Range Quilting is a friend, guildmate an awesome long armer.  Check out some of her personal quilts.  Here's one she did for Maria (M Press Blog - mentioned next).  I highly covet each one!  If you are looking for a long armer, she's definitely your girl. 

Maria at M Press Blog is one of my BFF's in real life.  I met her at work in 1996.  She's is a Grammy ( not a typo!  Yes, Grammy!!!) nominated graphic designer who loves to do a little letter press too. Her work is top notch and she quilts too.  We lost touch for a bit , but reconnected through facebook.  We've been inseperable ever since we found out that we both quilt and love fabric.

I hope you check out these lovely ladies when you have a moment.  They are great people and great quilters too.

I wish all of you a wonderful Easter.

oxox,
Sunny

Friday, March 30, 2012

Unable to Access!!

Sorry about this!!! 


I recently changed my blog address from www.sunnyincal.blogspot.com to www.sunnyincal.com. Wow! What a pain in the butt that turned out to be. It turns out my purchase never went through... I sat here like an idiot hoping it was just a time thing....  It wasn't.  It's almost fixed now.  I promise.  :)

I'm off to Vegas for a few days!  (YES, again!)  :)

Hoping all of you have a lovely weekend. 

oxox,
Sunny


Saturday, March 24, 2012

Swaps Received!

Look at the pillow I got from PTS 7! 

Ack!!!  Isn't it awesome?!?!  Amanda did an awesome job! 
I love this so much because it's so scrappy!  Plus, I adore these colors. 

Thank you so much, Amanda!  It's already part of the family.  :)



So, the pillow I made for Joanna was well received!  She's pretty happy with it.  Phew!  :)

Here's another swap that I received.  These 2 mini's are from Rebecca. 
We did a private mini quilt swap.  Aren't they adorable?!?!



I really love them. They will be hanging in my sewing space very soon. :) 
Thanks again, Rebecca! I can't wait to put these up!
This what I sent her.  Some granny squares....  :)


If you've been wanting to make one, here's a great granny squares tute!

I hope you all are having a great weekend.  :P

oxox,
Sunny

Wednesday, March 21, 2012

My First Show!

I'm happy to announce that I particapted in my first Quilt Show last weekend.  The Glendale Quilt Guild puts on a big quilt show every year.  This year, they had a small exhibit for our guild.  It was very cool seeing my quilt on display.  It was even cooler to hear what other people had to say.  I felt like a fly on a wall.  :)

So here's my quilt along with some by my friends...


This one is Maria's Seams Perfect Bee Quilt.  I made 4 blocks in this one.  Isn't it Fabulous?!?!


Here's another one of hers. 
This is the one she made for the Robert Kaufman solids challenge last year. 


The red one on the end is Liberty's.  She hand quilted it and it looks beautiful. 
The other 2 were done by Allison
The one in middle was the winner of MQG Organic Challenge.


More awesome-ness by Alissa, Tanya and Latifah


I attended this show last year and it was my frst show.  It was a big kick going to the show as an exhibitor.  I'm so looking forward to participating in more shows. 

A BIG Thank you to the LAMQG for arranging all of this. 

oxox,
Sunny

Sunday, March 4, 2012

What do you think, Partner?

PTS 7 is Pillow Talk Swap 7. I'm currently participating in another round. I really love this swap because there are some seriously talented people. Receiving a pillow from any of these peeps is 'A okay' with me.   

A few weeks ago, I saw Rashida's quilt and was smitten!  There was something similar to this in my partner's favorites, so I went for it.  I drew up a quick block and Voila!

Here you go, partner!


 It's paper pieced.  


 I used Kona Bone and I hand quilted all of it with floss.


I used some Nicey Jane for the back and some Bijoux to bind.


I added a label that came out a little too big.  Sorry about that, Partner!  : /


 I really enjoyed making this for you, Partner.  I looked through your photo's and almost fainted at some of your work....  I hope it's up to par with your high standards.  I hope you find this pillow as lovely as I do. 

I'll be posting the pattern I used soon!.  It needs a bit of fine tuning, so I may need a litle help from a dear friend.

I'll be a little busy the next few weeks.  I need to finish up a quilt that will be in the Glendale Quilt Show.


Oxox,
Sunny 

Thursday, March 1, 2012

Quiltcon, Baby!

On February 21, 2013, I'll be in Austin, TX at QUILTCON! Ack!!! 

Denyse Schmidt, Anna Maria Horner, Malka Dubrawsky and many many more to be added...


I can't wait!! Won't you join me?!?!


Oxox,
Sunny

Friday, February 17, 2012

Anna Maria Horner in Los Angeles!!


She was here a couple weeks ago....  Can you believe it? Not only did I get to meet my favorite designer, but I also got to take a class with her. She taught a Multi Tasker Tote class and it was fantastic. I've always wanted to go to a Heather Ross weekend sewing workshop but could never get in! She has been a guest teacher on several occasions.


I used to sew a little in high school and stopped when I started college.  I began sewing again after I had Taylor. I began to shop for fabric online and discovered designer fabric! I found this Chocolate Lolliop print and fell in love! I quickly realized that there was a coordinating collection and had to have it! This was the collection that got me hook, line and sinker! I now have a terrible fabric addiction....



After class, she hung out and spoke to our guild. She talked about how she got started. Showed some of her sketches, clothes and of course, quilts.


The funniest part is that she doesn't really consider herself a 'quilter'. Oh, she has a new line coming out in May called 'Field Study'. We got a sneak preview and it's amazing!



Well Anna, I enjoyed my class with you, loved hearing you speak about your career / life.  I don't know how you do it with all those kids!!!  You are truly an inspiration! Please come back to LA soon!

Oxox,
Sunny



Tuesday, February 7, 2012

And the winner is....

We have a winner!  

  True Random Number Generator
 Min:
Max:
Result: 32
Powered by RANDOM.ORG


What i dislike? hmm.. once i mentioned that flowers make me sad because eventually they die to my husband, now i dont get flowers any more. I always get sad on valentines day because more than anything i want some flowers!! (i even tell him that, but he doesnt want me sad later)
Congratulations to Angela Nussbaum!  2.5 yds of fabric just for you!  I'll be contacting you very soon.

Thank you so much for participating in my 1st giveaway.  I will be hosting another one next month in celebration of St. Patty's Day.  I want to do something exclusively for just my followers.  Following via Google reader and email totally count!  :)   So stay tuned!

oxox,
Sunny

Sunday, February 5, 2012

Baby, Baby, Baby.....

Ugh!  Babies are popping up everywhere!  Last year, 4 of my friends had babies.  That means I needed to make 4 quilts, but only made 1!  Ooopps!  I'm still going to make them, but they will just be late.  Yes, I suck...  :(

I found out earlier this year that 4 lovely ladies from my guild are pregnant too....  Gheez!  I'm really going to try to be on the ball with these....  TRY....

The good news is that I managed to finish one last week.  It's for baby Jonathan.  I used some metro living circles and some geeks gone wild by Timesless Treasure.  I didn't want to make it "too babyish" so these prints worked perfectly together. 

These are all HST's arranged in a zig zag patttern.  Finished quilts measures 40" x 40".


I quilted it with staright lines and made more lines on the ends.


I pieced a big space invader on the back, embroidered his name and added a label.  :)


2 down, 6 more baby quilts to go.... GHEEZ!  :P

I've new completed 2 quilts this year.  Feels good!  Thanks so much for letting me share another quilt.

oxox,
Sunny