Done and done!

I apologize in advance for the number of exclamation marks in the post, I'm entirely too excited!



After 2+ months of reading, 4 days of writing, I finished and PASSED(!!) my comps/quals exam! This means I've earned my Masters and I'm officially a PhD candidate. All that's left in my grad school career is my dissertation and that'll definitely take at least another 2 years.

In honor of the occasion, my parents sent me the most wonderful gift that they purchased on a recent trip to North Carolina: Kaffe Fassett books, fabric and some of the Gee's Bend solids.





They ran into someone who recommended that they visit the Quilt Shop in Boone, NC and I guess they have an amazing selection of Kaffe Fassett. My mom had never seen his fabric before but thought it would be right up my alley (which of course it is!). Can you believe how great the fabric she picked is??!



And to top it off, after I finished my exam, I found out that I got reassigned to a new office this year and it has a window! I've been without a window for the last 3 years in grad school and I'm hoping the natural light will really help through the drab Western New York winters.

I've been sewing a few Bee blocks, so watch out over the next couple days for a post about that and some wedding stuff (it's less than 6 weeks away!).

Puppy Love

Meet the latest addition to our family: a puppy we named Burrito!


He's very cute and very curious.




...sometimes too curious...




but it's hard to stay mad since he looks so sad when we yell at him.


He waits so patiently at the door for us to come home


and always has happy face.


What more could you ask for?




I can't believe he's already started asking difficult questions,
like "Where do puppies come from?"
Hopefully we can save that conversation for another day.


In case you're wondering though, the pattern to make your own puppy can be found in
One Yard Wonders and it really wasn't too bad especially with these tips and tricks for making softies on Melly & Me's blog.

A few more new books

After exchanging gifts with Jon's side of the family, here are a few new additions to my sewing library (which had 0 books before the holiday season):

Heather Ross's Weekend Sewing looks like it has some good projects that I've seen all over flickr and blogland.

One Yard Wonders looks amazing! It has 100 projects, from home dec to kid stuff to clothes to softies. I've already found a handful of projects that are now on the must-sew list. Great gift ideas too!


These are going to be good for finally making some of my own clothes. Although the cover is seriously outdated, Palmer's Fit for Real People is a great resource about how to alter patterns to get them to actually fit. I have all kinds of problems buying off-the-rack, so I would love to learn to make clothes that actually work for me.

Sew What! Skirts looks like a fun basic book that basic instructions for pieces that mix and match for different skirt types, like different cuts, closures and waistbands. There isn't much new information for me there, but it's nice to have it all in one place as a resource.

Christmas Excitment

A belated Merry Christmas and an early Happy New Year!
Jon and I just enjoyed a wonderful week at my parents' house in Minnesota. Almost everyday was busy with get-togethers or errands, but it was so wonderful to be able to spend time with everyone.

I got completely spoiled with gifts this year. My sister really surprised me with a Modern Quilter illustration from Ariel Eldridge (on flickr and etsy)!! I was just gushing about how I love this series and lamenting that she didn't have any more for sale. Little did I know that the reason was because my sister already bought the last one!




I got some really beautiful books about Gee's Bend Quilts from my aunt and uncle. There's way too much inspiration!!




And finally, I really got spoiled with a new camera from my parents. I have a good point and shoot, but lately, I've been getting frustrated by the limitations that come with a small point and shoot.




I asked for a DSLR so that I could get better control over colors, better low light photos and so I stop missing the moment waiting for my camera to respond. I'm definitely going to get that and a whole lot more. I have no idea what I'm doing with it and have only used it in full auto mode. I'm already soooo happy!!

Here's a little direct comparison with indoor light (my biggest frustration).

Old Camera

Me and my dad

My sister and her husband

New Camera!

My sister laughing

My aunt and uncle
Sisters!

And here's a fun moment that I caught (and wouldn't have caught with the old camera) at a family get-together with my dad's extended family. My dad's cousin had set up a way to race little bait fish and here's one of the races. There was also a costume contest if you're wondering about some of the outfits. :) By the way, bait racing is really fun!




I'm going to take a 6-week class at a local art center on how to use a DSLR camera and I can't wait to get started January 25th!

I heart mail

Yesterday was an exciting mail day. My parents recently went on a trip to Seattle and my mom sent me some goodies from their adventure. The highlights were a couple of books. My mom stumbled upon Undercover Quilts and picked up the quilting book. It's perfect since it's my first book on quilting and has lots of basic blocks, but in more modern colorways. The other book she found at Pike's Place Market and I think it's brilliant... I whole book on mac and cheese!



I also got some great rubber stamps from Mayberry Sparrow/Corrrabelle on etsy and used them to make some new flat notecards. With all the swaps and mail, I'm regularly using notecards for the first time in my life. I figure it will be cheaper in the long run to own my own stamps and make ones I really like than to keep buying cute notecards pre-made (I'm clearly my mother's daughter). Though, these sewing ones did catch my eye on etsy.



I'm still new to this whole idea of stamping, do any of you have tips on getting the hedgehog to stamp a little better?

Finally, over the last month, the mail has brought me all of these fantastic bugs from the Sew Kid at Heart quilting bee. More will be trickling in as the year goes on, but I'm already really excited to put this together. The way they're lined up in the photo, it kind of looks like a class photo or yearbook. :) The extra bugs in jars came from Viv (aka Highway Cottage) who had them leftover from some projects she did. They'll probably make great pieces for the back.