A Million Things

I have been busy doing a million things but apparently blogging was not one of them ;)
The weather has been nice here with moderate temps in the lower to mid-80s F, rain, and low humidity for the most part.  I've been working outside on the garden and on various maintenance projects. All those fun chores--reglazing windows, washing windows, priming exterior trim and porch posts, buying paint, etc. etc.

I would like to say a big THANK YOU to Nancy, Near Philadelphia for the wonderfully fantabulous mug rug and sewing goodies that I won on her 1600 Post Giveaway.  Nancy's blog was one of the very first quilting blogs that I started reading lo these many moons ago. This mug rug just makes me smile and it will have a treasured place in my sewing room.  You bet these great purple fabrics are going to be featured in a quilt or two and those adorable embroidery scissors are going straight into my on-the-go sewing kit.

There has been some sewing going on here at Chez Stella Bella.   I finally decided to cut into my stash of Flea Market Fancy and Hope Valley fabric that I've been hoarding.  I am pairing it with my favorite Zen Gray Moda Bella Solid.  Here is a sneak peek of a new quilt I'm working on. 

After missing the past two Another Year of Schnibbles projects.  I'm starting this month's right away.  I dug through my stash of charm packs and found an early Fig Tree line called "A Day in the Country."  The blocks are cut out and I'll be working on those this week. Photos to follow.

How could I not include an update on the cats?  They are all fine and sprawled around the house in their favorite spots.  Isn't this the cutest photo of Remy?!?!? (of course I think he is the cutest all the time).  Remy loves playing in paper bags and I try to have one out for him to play in.  Paper bags don't last very long because he likes to run into them at top speed so he runs right through the bottom or he rolls around and rips them to shreds.  

Remy's "green" motto:  Reuse, play, shred and recycle. 

Remy loves paper bags from Whole Foods

  

OK Now It's the Heat

Most of the country is broiling this week under a record-breaking heat wave.  According to the LA Times, nearly 35,000 record high temps have been recorded in the past year.

Yesterday in Atlanta it was 104F, breaking a record for the day.

The record-high heat in Atlanta is 105F and it is forecast to reach 106F today.

We also have had code-red smog alerts the past few days, which means terribly unhealthy air quality.

Guess where I'll be?

Inside sewing in the air-conditioning.  Hope y'all are too.

I had a busy week this past week, which is also a trend for the past several months.  Here's a rundown of what was going on at Stella Bella's house.

 I received this package of lovely patterns from Sherri at This & That.  I won her giveaway for the awesome "Farmer's Market" tote pattern and she added some extras.  Thank you so much Sherri!!  I just love them!!

In the evenings, I alternated between sewing binding on my Eventide quilt and basting hexies.  Sewing binding is much more fun in the wintertime but I am persevering.

I have a lot more hexies to baste but am anxiously awaiting the next step in Hexy Quilt Along.   I am glue-basting these using a Sewline glue pen.  Super easy.

Both of these are perfect projects to work on while partaking in the latest obsession at Stella Bella Quilts--watching "Game of Thrones."

S. and I missed this show the first time around, but since there is a lull right now in TV land (my favorite shows: Mad Men, The Walking Dead, Hell on Wheels, Luther, and The Hour are all on hiatus) we are catching up.

Remy is demonstrating what the cats have been up to this week.

Oh the life of cats at Stella Bella house.

Remy is such a goof.  This is how he sleeps most of the time--very uncatlike.

Stay cool everyone!

Edited to add:  It's official 106F the hottest ever recorded temperature in Atlanta.  And it's only June....

Winning (not Charlie Sheen related) and Hermiting

I was so extremely lucky to win two more great giveaway prizes recently.  Look at this fantabulous win from Miss Rosie & Carrie as a prize from the Le Petite August finishes.

I am soooo excited to have a Schibble project bag and more Schnibble patterns (these are Carrie's brand-new ones)and generous chunks (is that a new precut size?) of Carrie's new fabric line.








It is YUMMMMMMMY!!

Carrie wrote a sweet note too.  She is just the sweetest and I know she is always super busy so I'm even more touched that she took the time to write a cute note.


I can't wait to dive into this fabric and more Schnibble-y fun.

Big THANK YOU to Carrie and Miss Rosie and Sinta and Sherri!!!

From the wonderful folks at Cloud 9 fabrics, I won some big chunks and scraps of their Forest Friends Flannel.  

Cloud 9 makes wonderful organic cotton fabrics and we are all about organic here at Stella Bella Quilts. I am very excited to be able to make a little organic project from this fabric. 

Not to mention the OWLS!  Very owl-some retro owls. 







And bunnies!!  And polka-dots.


Doesn't this make you want to run out and get some?



I've been a bit of a hermit lately and even missed my Silver Thimbles sewing group last weekend.  I knew I wouldn't be very good company and just wanted to hermit at home.  Does anyone else ever do this?
I was still trying to adapt to the loss of Morpheus and feeling really sad. 

I also was finally relieved to be over and done with all the house repairs from the May 13th fire (FOUR months and TWO days after the fire). The last tiny itty bitty bit of repairs was a never-ending, drawn-out, annoying saga of bad subcontractors, which I spared y'all from.  I finally just told the general contractor that I was done with it all and I would finish it up myself. Poof begone with that!  The lesson I learned was to be my own general contractor (as I did for 95% of the repair work the beginning of the summer) and not rely on anyone my insurance company recommended (go figure).

I was also dealing with getting used to working two jobs again.  I already miss my Friday night through Sunday night weekends...

Well I feel bad not seeing my friends and I feel bad for not replying to all the emails and comments the past month but I really needed some alone-time.  I think I am back now and will be more social. Love to y'all.

Giveaway at Green Fairy Quilts

Check out the most wonderful giveaway at Green Fairy Quilts!  And say hello to baby Noah (he is a cutie!). There are some wonderful fabric lines coming up from Moda this spring. I better start saving my pennies.

What are your favorites?  Do you pre-plan fabric purchases of fabric lines you like?  Or just wait to see what inspires you at the shops? 

Not By Owl Post and Halloween Cat Toys

Don't you just squeal and hug these boxes when you see them on the porch?

I was so excited to receive the "Fall into Fall" giveaway I won courtesy of the Most Fabulous Fat Quarter Shop.




The package did not arrive by Owl Post although I did hear our resident barred owl again the other night.  Spooooooky.

Quilt possibilities wrapped up and ready to be released!

 
My prize was this simply fabulous bundle of Pure fabric by Sweetwater for Moda. 

Stuffed full!

 Going out (not via owl post) was my b-day giveaway won by Tiffany of This Crafty Fox.  Hope you enjoy the goodies, Tiffany!!!

Counting down the days until Halloween here at Stella Bella-ville.  E. dug through the cat toy basket to unearth purple bat and black cat head toys for the season. 

I hope I'm not the only one with Halloween cat toys....

A Wednesday in October

Anyone else watching the "Ghost Hunters" marathon on SyFy channel?  I love watching this show and "Haunted History" shows just to see the great historic places and hear ghost stories. I'm not so sure about the evidence though their little meters, etc. All in fun.

I started working on the Le Petite project but haven't gotten very far.  I better get a move on before Nov. 1st.  For my Paganin schnibblei, I am using one charm pack of "Looking Back" and one of "Renewal" both my Brannock & Patek.

Paganini step one

Don't forget to enter my giveaway on this post. I've had so much fun reading the comments and visiting new blogs!!  A few entries were no-reply. Karen at Sew Many Ways is hosting a wonderful tutorial series and tips for using Blogger.  Check her post on how to change your blog from a no-reply to a reply! (note to Karin:  you can do this!!!!! You've already conquered applique!)

Hope everyone is having a great week! Let me know what kind of fun seasonal and/or Halloween activities everyone is doing.  I'm taking Friday off of work and plan on having a mega-fun weekend.