Bari J.

Happy Turkey Day! And... Black Friday Sale Event!

Happy Thanksgiving to you all! Hope you are having a wonderful day. Personally, I started the binge eating yesterday after I made a plate of chocolate chip mandel bread (like biscotti, but softer). Yum.

I'm supposed to be making a sweet potato casserole right now... (why my mom wants it made 4 hours before guests come I'll never know). None the less, I've sneaked away to let you know that I'm having a Black Friday (through Sunday) sale. Some items are nearly 50% off. Yay-hoo! 

So I hope you'll stop by before you head out at 4 am tomorrow morning (LOL... do you do that? Yikes. I can't imagine...) and check out my new sale page where you'll find this little pretty and more...

Additionally, you may notice that I lowered some existing prices all over my site about 10%. 

Don't forget that custom bags must be ordered by December 5 in order to be delivered in time for Christmas and Hannukah. And that gift certificates are always available...

Again, have a great day! 

Smiles,

Bari

I so wish I had studied harder in high school French class... I love when Marie Claire Idees arrives in the mail. It's just too bad I can only understand a couple words per page. I've been typing entire articles 150 words at a time into babelfish to get the translations. Of course, I do love the pictures!

Here's a world of French style out of just a few pages of the December issue.

 

I ordered my subscription here, if you were wondering how to get your hands on this beautiful magazine!

Many of you know that although I've been sewing for a while, I only just started quilting. I guess I had been doing many quilting-like things for years, but I had never made finished a whole quilt. When I got started on the whole quilt thing a couple months ago I had no idea... no idea at all... how easily I would become obsessed with it. I can't stop. I'll work all day and piece quilts all night and weekend. I've now finished three quilts and I am on my fourth.

I'm really excited about this one. I'd had Anna Maria's gorgeous incredible fabulous fabrics sitting in stacks calling my name for months and I was loathe to cut them... they looked so great just there in the stacks and I didn't want to make any mistakes. But then the other day Miss Laurie stopped by with her fabulous quilt made out of many of the same fabrics and motivated my butt. 

This weekend after all was settled in house and work, I dove in... foot loose and pattern free. I hate to follow a pattern. Not that I can't follow a pattern, I can, but I don't like to. Rules stink.

I decided that I wanted to really mix up the colors and patterns so that whatever color we paint our master bedroom in, it will work. (Did I ever tell you that we've had test paint splotches on our wall in there for three years? We can't decide. And it's such a big undertaking and such a messy process... that's our excuse anyways.) 

The other thing I wanted to do with this quilt was test out all sorts of angles and different kinds of piecing so that I can learn a bunch as I go along. One of the things I learned right away was that I need to learn paper piecing. Which apparently would have helped this block a whole lot... If you don't know, with paper piecing you build in the seam allowance on things like these triangles in order to get a beautiful point. I think the color play works here so I decided to ignore the wibbly-wobbiliness (I'm being kind to myself) of my piecing and use it anyways.

Here's a bunch more of the unfinished quilt. It's about 1/3 of the way there. I can not wait until it's finished!

It is truly the best way I know to get things done. Have too much to do. When I am too busy I go into overdrive and zoom away until I can't zoom anymore. When there's a lull, I'm cranky.

 

When there's a lot to do, I write lists, I get organized, I get things done. I love to reign over the chaos. It's a "Look what I accomplished" kind of feeling. I spent an un-Godly amount of time cutting my scraps into smaller scraps for instance, because it was on the list (it's part of a project, but it was on the list).

I was behind schedule a bit because I added more than I needed to to the list, but tomorrow I am sending a package express mail to Amy over at Inspire Co. I even got motivated enough to take out something I hadn't looked at in a long time and decided to get it finished.

This is something like 30" x 24" it's all individual motifs that have been cut out from various fabrics and quilted together. It sat in a basket needing another round of quilting, some satin stitching and binding in order to be finished for probably a year or so. Today I finally finished it up (I had time to sit on the couch after I had a root canal today. I thought I was going to nap, but instead I found myself finishing the binding.. not kidding.) I'm tempted to keep it for myself really. But it's going to be up for grabs at Inspire Co instead. I don't know, I could change my mind by tomorrow. You never know.

None the less, it's done, because it made it's way onto the list. I won't go into what is on the list that did not get done. But since the numbing stuff is starting to wear out, I think I shall go take some Advil and march my tired tush back to the couch. Grey's Anatomy time quite soon...Doubtlessly Super Husband has hidden the needles and thread that I stashed in the vicinity so I'm thinkin' I may actually try very hard to sit still and ignore my aching jaw. 

G'night.

While chatting with my friend, Laurie, on the phone this morning I was clearing the mounds of scrapage (a real word... it's in the Bari J. dictionary, so you can look it up) I had accumulated on my cutting table.

By the by, did I tell you that Laurie moved just a mile away from me? So now my virtual bloggy friend is a real friend!

But I digress... back to scrapage. I mentioned the scrapage aloud to Laurie and she asked do I ever make covered buttons. 

Why, just last night I had covered one to go on a pillow, so beneath the mounds of scrapage somewhere I found the buttons and button kit and started plugging away at that little job. 

Do you know that there are not enough buttons in the world for me to make in order to use up all of my scrapage? I used up all the buttons I had in my possession, and tossed the rest of the fabric into the laundry basket under my table that serves as overflow (it's a disgrace). 

Then I got back to work on what I was really working on in the first place which was creating a pattern for this... also a good use for your scraps. With the fabric line, I'm bound and determined to have some patterns to offer as well. This little birdie (the bird obsession rages on...) is my slow start to that project. I hope to have the patterns available ... uh... let's just say... in the near relatively near future. 

Right now, it's back to the cutting table for the next project of the day... and at least now I can find my cutting table. I'm thinking though that I need a skirt to go around it so that one can't see the carnage that lies beneath it.

Have a nice Thursday!

~b

I've been getting ready for a special event that I have been graciously invited to take part in. Amy Powers of Inspire Company has invited me to be her "Inspired Friend" for two weeks starting December 1.

I've been plotting and planning what to do for months... And, true to my nature I got started on it... just last week. But I'm making some great progress.

Looky-loo what I got my hands on yesterday...

It's a stack of Sandy Klop's Look and Learn line. Perfection for what I've been doing. It's going to be part of some mini quilts and probably some pin cushions and aprons too. Doesn't look so Christmas cheery here... but, I see all sorts of potential. 

Here's some bits and pieces from goodies in progress. I hope you'll join me over at Inspire Co. (December 1)... there's a project for you to do in the planning too.