Winner!

Good morning friends! I jumped on the computer first thing and did the random number generator thingy...for the life of me, I can't get the result to post, but I entered numbers 1-10 (my sister's comment wasn't eligible). Number 4, you're the winner! And that's JEN from Miss Punkie Pie! Jen wrote:

"OH! Pick me! Pick me! PICK ME!!!! I love that magnet! If I don't win, you'll have to tell me where you got it so I can get one. I'm a sucker for magnets. Congratulations on your first year"

Jen, email me your address and I'll get your goodies out asap! Congrats and thanks everyone for playing! Off to finish my coffee!

♥ Jen

Interim project

Hello friends! How was your weekend? I got the quilting done on my nephew's quilt, hooray! Now it's just awaiting binding.

I had to order some fabric for that so I'll get right to it when it arrives. Binding is one of my favorite parts of making a quilt...I love hand-stitching it to the back. It's so satisfying.

Lookie what I made today!

I don't know about you, but even though there are a zillion apron tutorials out there, it was hard for me to find just the right one.  This one from jcaroline was perfect. It's a bib apron, with a pocket, and D-rings for the straps. I added ric-rac to the bottom (note to self: lower it a tad for the next apron).

 And I love the fact that...

it's reversible! (the instructions to make it reversible are on the last page of the tutorial). I didn't add a pocket on the other side, to lessen the bulk. But isn't this fabric adorable? It's from the "Stitches" line by Lynette Anderson.

This will be my "crafting apron." I'm sick of sewing, then going out somewhere, only to find a million loose threads stuck to my shirt. Once I went out and only later noticed I had several pieces of painter's tape stuck to my pants. Never again!

Just a reminder, the deadline for entering my giveaway is Wednesday! Don't forget to comment on that post if you'd like to enter!

♥ Jen

Quilting is like childbirth

Yes, this thought popped into my head as I started quilting today. And it's not because you create something beautiful, etc. etc. No. It's because you forget how painful it is so that you're not scared to try the next time! I just quilted three seams and my arms are killing me.

Basted, pre-quilting

But what's nice is that I'm using a variegated red-white-blue thread for the quilting, which looks so cute with the fabrics. And I'm quilting in-the-ditch so it can't get any easier.

Well, better get back to it! Have a great day!

♥ Jen

One whole year!

Hello all! Yes, this Friday will be my one-year anniversary of blogging! We've laughed, we've cried...well, I don't think we've cried, not about this blog anyway...but whatever! It's time to show my appreciation for all of you who read Jen's Fun Little Things. I am very thankful for you, and I've made some great friends through blogging. Even if you're a lurker, I know you're out there so thank you just as much!

The cats staff and I thought we'd have a giveaway. Here's the loot...

I made this tuffet just for you. The pattern says to use scraps, but my readers are too good for SCRAPS! So I cut into my precious stash of Holiday Happy. I know, it's the cutest fabric ever, right?

I used a home dec fabric for the back, to keep the crushed walnut shells in. What a great stuffing material! It adds such nice weight to the pin cushion. And, bonus, it will keep your pins sharp!

Since I used a Christmas-themed fabric collection for the tuffet, I decided to give this giveaway a holiday theme. The rest of these are store-bought. There's a hand towel...

Three ornaments...

An adorable fat quarter...

A sweet fridge magnet...

All tucked inside a fun box!

So what do you have to do? Just leave me a comment on this post by Wednesday, October 27. I'll draw a random entry and post the winner the next day. Once again, thanks for a fantastic year, here's to many more!!

♥ Jen

October thingies

Yes, October is more than half over...and I typically like to make my coffee quilt blocks at the beginning of each month...but better late than never, right?

I got a little silly this time with the background fabric. But, don't you like a little something unexpected in your quilts? I think it adds movement and interest. So that's what I was going for with this block. Eclectic, wouldn't you say?

The kids and I went apple-picking on their day off on Tuesday. We were running low on apples (hard to believe, I know!). On weekdays, they don't have tractor rides into the orchard so we grabbed a wagon and walked.

It was a cloudy day but the colors made up for it.

There weren't many varieties anymore, but we did get about 12 lbs. of Jonagolds. Oh they're so good. Crisp and sweet, with a bit of tartness, just what you want in an apple!

My little guy has Strep throat. First time for either of them. Starting about Tuesday, his throat was bothering him; not a lot though. His temp that day was 99.4, no biggie. And the rest of the week it was normal. He's not one to complain so the only reason we knew something was wrong was it looked like he was having trouble swallowing at dinner. Dave looked in his throat and his tonsils were really swollen. His glands were too. (This was Friday night.) Yesterday morning (Saturday), he checked again and they were worse. Luckily his doctor has weekend hours so I took him, and he was positive for Strep. It's nice to have a doctor in the house, I never would have suspected! Anyway he's on antibiotics so he'll  be back to school tomorrow.

I'm going to Marshall's in a bit...I hope I can find some treasures! Have a wonderful day!

♥ Jen

Enjoying autumn

Hello friends! How are you on this lovely day? My kids are home, it's a teacher workshop day so they've been enjoying a four-day weekend. We've done lots of autumnal-type things. On Saturday we went to the Lafayette Apple Festival, which we look forward to every year. There's lots of apple food, rides, and tent after tent of crafters. But you know, the last couple of years the crafts have not impressed, and we can find better apple cider donuts elsewhere. The parking is awful and the kids complain about walking around so much. So this may have  been the last year for the Fest! We'll see.

The next day we went to a local pumpkin patch. Lots of pretty pumpkins and stuff to do.

I love the unusual colors and shapes!

Making a "corn angel"...don't ask!

You would not believe the amount of corn kernels in our car! Just saying!

The highlights, though, were the little barn kittens! We held the black one who immediately started purring and got all cozy in our arms. It was all I could do to keep from putting him in my pocket and taking him home!!

The gray one was really cute too. Mini Holbear and Will!

I have been doing some sewing, in-between all the fun. Max's quilt is coming along...

I still have five columns left to do but after that I'll trim it and possibly add a border, not sure about that yet. It's not in the pattern but we'll see. I got this polka-dot fabric way on sale from Desperate Quilters for the backing. And while I was there I picked up a gorgeous Bliss charm pack too.

I'm a little late on my October coffee quilt block, but I did get the fabrics picked out! Some are from Fig Tree's Breakfast at Tiffany's. Another beautiful line!

I've done a bit more fall decorating, here's just one update...I bought the shade, pumpkins and plate from Wal-Mart. Have you checked out their Better Homes and Gardens seasonal section yet? Great stuff!

Also, my dad sent me a gift card to Amazon for my birthday, and here's what I got!

Hey guess what? In a few weeks I'll be having my one-year blog anniversary! So stay tuned, I'm planning a fun little giveaway! OK, the kids and I are going to pick some apples, so I'm off!

♥ Jen

Birthdays and happiness

Hey there! Since Mason's birthday, Annabelle and I both had our birthdays too, so as you can imagine we've been pretty busy and festive around here! Annabelle had her party at CJ's House of Bounce, where Mason had his last year. It's a great place, just a big storefront with 8 or so bouncy castles/slides. There's an area in the back, with tables and a fridge and such, that they decorate for your party. We brought in pizza and a giant chocolate chip cookie cake.

Mason's that blur in the middle. He never sat still!

There were 11 kids, and I think they all had a lot of fun. Annabelle got a lot of good gifties, so along with Mason's assortment that is still in the family room, it looks like Christmas!

 

Now that my birthday's over, I can show you the Harvest House stitchery that I finished! Why now, you ask? Well, I gave it to my twin sister for our birthday, and I didn't want to spoil the surprise for her.

I stitched her house number on it to personalize it a tad.

It took me months to do, off and on, but it was a pleasure! Now I am seriously in need of a new embroidery project!

So how's the weather by you? It's been rainy and chilly this week so far, after a lovely weekend. I actually love the chilliness, I've got an apple butter pork loin in the crockpot right now. Sometimes I cook it in the oven but today felt like a slow cooker day. Are you in the mood to cook? Well then you might want to download Gooseberry Patch's latest chapter of their Circle of Friends Cookbook....25 Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipes. This chapter is only available as a free download until their number of Facebook fans reaches 50,000. In fact, you can download it right from my blog!
25 Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipes by Gooseberry Patch

Speaking of food, my friend Jonni took me out to lunch yesterday for a little birthday celebration, and we went to Panera Bread. Have you ever had their tomato soup? You've GOT to try it. I'm not normally a huge tomato soup fan...honestly all I've ever had is Campbell's...but this was divine. With those delicious croutons, pieces of tomato, and tasty spices....well, it was quite a treat!

Have a great day!

♥ Jen