swap group Etsy treasury

swap group Etsy treasury
Originally uploaded by janssendesigns

Look who made it into an etsy Treasury! It's Oscar with some fun creations from other etsy sellers and fabric swappers! Yay for Oscar!

work in progress

I am working on this little mini quilt for my very first swap. I am part of this really fun online group of crafty, fabric loving souls that love to swap fabric. It has been pretty fun to get some of the lines that are long out of print and be able to trade for fabric I have to spare. Everyone is so nice , but warning...it certainly feeds my fabric addiction! If you are interested in joining just folow the link

So one of the ladies came up with the idea to do a mini (20"x20") quilt swap with the theme being Heather Ross fabrics. Since she is one of my favorite designers, I signed up. I knew what I wanted to do pretty right off the bat. I am still finishing up and not sure if my partner will see this, but sneak peaks are fun too! Should be done soon and on it's way to her home. Then she will also make one for me, yay! I love surprises, how often do we get them really??

take the long way home

We were driving home today from my in-laws house after a weekend visit. Along the way my husband turns to me and says, "want to take a detour?" "Let's go visit Blowing Rock (about 45 minutes North of where we were at that exact moment) and take the kids to the park and get ice cream." Well uhmm..ok, I guess! So we trekked up the mountain and landed in the quaint little town of Blowing Rock. Mind you it is almost 5:00 on a Sunday and it started raining the second we got there. No worries, we are on an adventure we all kept saying. And secretly I think we are always trying to prove that we can still function and be spontaneous with 3 young kids! And an adventure we had! It was such a blast to spend some unplanned, and kinda wet time together. We walked around, played on that wet playground, had some pizza and ice cream too. It was a fun way to squeeze one last bit of summer and anything goes time in right before school is set to start in 2 short days. It makes me kind of sad. The schedules and the have to's are just around the corner waiting to start. But at least for today they could all wait!

happy birthday little girl

My littlest turned 3 yesterday. Of course we always say that we can't believe it! It has been so fun to have her here, to watch her grow and add such joy to our lives!! And I just love, love having a little girl! The sewing alone is a blast!

Here's to many more happy memories!!

reading group

Well, first off my camera has died or at least the lens has. So I have mailed it back to Nikon in hopes they can fix it quickly. So I have no crafty projects to show you right now. But another thing that makes me sane, apart from creating is reading. Lately I have rolled through several new books. I am part of a book club with a fun group of women. We meet once a month to chat about the book or wherever our discussion can lead us. I found with summer I was having a hard time keeping up. But in the past few weeks (and a trip to the beach) I have read these books:

Out Stealing Horses by Per Petterson

Life of Pi by Yann Martel

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society

Stepping out of what I ordinarily may read is always fun. I did enjoy each of these books for different reasons. I am always looking for new books to read. Do you read too? If you have one you loved, please send it my way. I will give it a try for sure!

Happy Reading!

and the winner is...

Thank you all for entering my 1 year blogging giveaway! I loved reading all your comments and hope you will stay in touch and visit again.

The winner of the 3 fat quarter set is:

Nicole from Frontier Dreams

and be sure to check out her lovely blog here, it is beautiful!

So Nicole send me your info and I will get your prize right out to you.

And this must have been a bit of karma because in my inbox yesterday I received this sale notice from Quilting As You Wish. And they have the pink and aqua birds on sale right now for $6/yd so if you are still wanting some hop over there quick!

Hope your week gets off to a great start!

quilt show

Yesterday I made it over to the Quilt Show with my good friend Heather. It was so amazing to see the quilts that were there. You could hardly believe that some of them were made by human hands. I loved to think about each woman that created them and the process from the first dreams of what her quilt would be to the final finished product. All the mental hours alone are astounding. The talent in that building was just awesome. We enjoyed seeing the art quilts full of bold designs and ingenious use of color. The traditional quilts I can picture being handed down for generations to come. Each one holding its' own story. I was really inspired. Heather and I talked about how one day when we are old ladies, still walking around the show. Could we ever dream of having one of our own works there? I think she could, she is really talented already!

Also we visited a great vendor from Thimble Pleasures and picked up some yummy half yard cuts from the Katie Jump Rope line and one from Anna Maria Horner. Certainly an added bonus to the day's activities!

Hope your weekend is full of creativity and inspiration too! And remember to join my giveaway which ends tomorrow night!

let's do a giveaway

Let's do a giveaway, what do you say? Want to? It has been a year since I started this blog. At first it was an idea for the etsy business Olliekate that I run with my friend Rebecca. But I strayed from just etsy stuff and it became a family blog, a sewing blog, a creative outlet and connection to the online world of other women just like myself who are trying to mother and lead their lives the best they know how. I have truly enjoyed posting here and exploring my life through these pages as well. I love the comments I receive and always check back with people who have taken the time to reach out through the blog world. So thank you for making me comfortable, for stopping by and saying hello. I am always inspired!

As a big thanks I want to do a year anniversary giveaway. Since I love fabric so very much, I thought it would be a great thing to share with you. And if you don't sew, well you may just be inspired to start with this great design. It is the birdseed fabric by Alexander Henry. Comes in these great colors, very vibrant and fun. I will be giving away a fat quarter (18"x22") of each color to the lucky winner.

Leave me a comment be sure your contact info is there too and I will randomly pick a winner. You can leave any kind of comment but I would love to hear about what you like to sew or what you would use these birdies for. We can inspire each other that way.

I will leave the giveaway open until Sunday night at 9:00 pm. August 9th, and announce the winner on Monday morning. Thanks for stopping by!

The giveaway is closed and I will announce the winner on Monday morning, thanks!!

at night with my girl

Every night it goes the same way. She comes and finds me, usually only a few feet away, and says "I'm ready for bed" in her little voice. She gives her round of good nights to the boys and hops in bed. She lays on "my pillow" and laughs when I tell her to make room for me. We lay in bed always in the same spots, always the same way. She turns to me and says " let's talk about our day" and we name the activities of every. single. thing we did that day. Today's events: Daddy's birthday, the pool, the first ride down the big slide, the pizza place, ice cream and home.

She says how fun it all was and gives me hugs. Then she rolls away from me toward the wall and says " Night Mommy, see you in the a.m." (same thing I always say to my kids each night). She is out like a light switch. No in between, no tossing and turning. There is wake , then instant sleep. I always lay there and listen to her little snores and soft breathing. Slowly and quietly I creep out , and I smile for the sweet routine of it all.

home again

Hello! We are home from our week at the beach with the best of friends. Six kids, four adults, lots of laughter and sun, sun sun! It was fabulous and left me with feeling thankful for friendships that fill us up and time to enjoy the kids and each other. We arrived home last night and awoke to 2 phone calls on our house which is for sale. We had 2 showings today which is a great remedy to get those bags unpacked and the house picked up! House still for sale but it is clean!
On the sewing front, I had a lovely email from The Fabric Shopper who asked to include my Far Far Away dress on her blog. She covers all things fabric, so of course I love her blog! Check it out!
My friend Heather over at Brown Robin reminded me that we have both been blogging now for 1 year. I have really enjoyed the community of people I have met through blogging and online. I am always inspired by such talent and kind spirits to share our love of life, parenting, sewing, creating or whatever may bring us together! So it is high time for a giveaway! I will be posting about it this week so check back and enter to win :)
Hope you had a fabulous weekend!