Remember last Sunday when I was singing the praises of a certain online group wholesale ordering website for quilting supplies? Well, I'm going to do it one more time because the batting I ordered last month just happened to arrive this week, and I got a bonus! MassDrop had a hiccup in their warehouse and sent everyone queen sizes of the Quilters Dream batting sampler pack even though some of us had just ordered twins. They're eating the error, though, so I get to keep it! Each package worked out to only $17 - isn't that a great deal?  I'm especially looking forward to trying the Orient after hearing such great things about it from other quilters, as well as the Dream Green because we're super into the reduce/reuse mantra at our house and it fits the bill. 

9/29/14 Editor's note: Since posting, I've been told that the people who ordered queen batting received twin, but MassDrop is sending them all queen sets at no additional cost (and I assume they get to keep the twin sets, too!). Very impressed that when the company made what was apparently a bigger mistake than I realized, they chose the most customer friendly way to correct it despite the extra cost to themselves. Kudos, MassDrop!

And here's a little piece if Spoonflower's new Eco Canvas that I selected when they had a freebie offer a few weeks ago. It's a small piece, but the feel is soft and the color is spot on. I picked the Colorful Lady Bugs print so I could use it as a small zipper pouch for my daughter who *loves* bugs!

Have you ever had an unexpected crafting windfall like my big batting deal?
What was your great steal?

~ Sarah

Linking up with Sunday Stash.

Hi. My name is Sarah and I am addicted to MassDrop. What's MassDrop you say? Only this great customer driven wholesale shopping site where you recommend products for bulk purchase, your peers vote for the most popular options, and then you all unlock big savings on items you'd otherwise pay full retail for. Did I mention free US shipping? And very low int'l shipping? And that it's not even just for quilters because the people in your life who are huge on electronics or cooking or fashion can all find great products, too? Do I sound like a salesperson or what! (I'm not. Just an addict. Plain and simple.)

All summer I was happily fulfilling my craving for MassDrop by bidding away on some great basics, and these Aurifil thread sets are probably my best grab. I picked up three lines: my most favorite variegated thread combos ever in the whole wide world - the Tula Pink Premium Collection (I think I could use these and only these on pretty much every single project I do because the colors are so well blended and so fitting to my preferred palettes), Simplify by Camille Roskelley - great bright basics, and The Basics Collection by Mark Lapinski full of useful neutrals.

So anyone else out there need a 12 step program for MassDrop like I do?
What have you found on the site that you couldn't pass up?

~ Sarah

Linking up with Sunday Stash.

Finally! My finished Sunbonnet Sue. I completed this commissioned baby quilt for a great milspouse friend and client the day before we left on the most amazing camping trip ever. (See last week's very exciting post here if you missed my new baby news!)

My friend Stella Reynoso is a former professional photographer turned business mentor who had a dear friend expecting a baby girl. Her friend is also a photographer, and the mom-to-be's only request was a Sunbonnet Sue, so Stella asked me to come up with something incorporating both ideas that she could gift to her.

Admittedly, at first I wasn't very enthusiastic about the project because I find Sue's a bit traditional for my taste. But we all know I love applique, and after I got the go ahead to use some fabrics I'd been coveting from Riley Blake's Snapshots collection, I really got into it. I updated my Sue to have a more modern profile, and layered in some other colors for the skirt to tone down the busy focal print. I suggested she be holding a camera and snapping something, and Stella volunteered the family's initial. The finish is simple, clean, and bright - an aesthetic I love, and one that lends itself well to both a quick finish for the short deadline I was under, as well as to an eye catching and fun quilt for baby.

My first monogram was smaller than needed, so I whipped up a quick bib to add it to for a nice complementary gift. This bib pattern has been getting a lot of use from me lately - it's a freebie with endless design options that you can find at Nana Company. If you pop over to download it, take a moment to look around Amy's site at the various versions she's stitched - I'm a huge fan of her exquisite details!  

And here's a lovely quote from the recipient's Facebook post when she received the gift: "...the most awesome quilt and bib EVER!!!! I love love love them!" I'm so happy that she was thrilled with the design, and hope her new daughter gets lots of enjoyment from her special quilt.

Ok, so speaking of baby quilts, I need to think of a design for my new little one. Both of the currently non-purposed quilts I have underway have a lot of pink in them, so they're going to have to have a different purpose. If you have suggestions for boy color schemes or patterns, I'd love some input! Perhaps something simple and quick since I have a lot less free time on my hands these days ; )

~ Sarah
P.S. I have every intention of uploading a free copy of the Sunbonnet Sue pattern I
created in case you'd like to adapt it for your own project. Give me a day to find another few minutes to squeeze in a fresh sketch and scan. I'll add it to this post as soon as I do!
Thanks for bearing with my "only twenty minutes at a time to accomplish anything" schedule right now lol.

Linking up with Let's Bee Social, Needle & Thread Thursday,
Fabric Frenzy Friday and Submarine Sunday.

If you've been wondering why my somewhat-quiet-for-summer-family-time blog has been even more quiet the past two weeks, then this post will provide your answer. I had a lovely souvenir stash part deux lined up for last Sunday when instead we got the surprise of our lives and everything quilty and blog related went quite out the window!

Two weeks ago we took our kids camping in Bar Harbor, Maine, and spent time exploring Acadia National Park. If you haven't been and you love national park hopping, then you really must go - I have never seen a view as breath taking as I did standing on top of a mountain surrounded by ocean, and every other vista in the park was a close second. Truly gorgeous and unforgettable. 

While we were there, I looked for a local quilt shop, and happily stumbled upon Fabricate, a neat little quilting and scrapbooking store in a hexagonal building with a small but diverse and modern selection of textiles. And thus I planned a souvenir redux post to show you these three little goodies I picked up to remember our trip:

On Friday morning we got up extra early to break camp so we could make our Diver Ed's Dive-In Theater boat tour before leaving for home. If you go to Bar Harbor and you have kids, you MUST do this - we almost skipped it because of the price, but it was so worth it for our girls who are obsessed with all things sea creatures. They got to see and touch crabs, lobsters, seastars, sea urchins, scallops and moon snails - plus we saw seals and a bald eagle flew by! But all that pales in comparison to what happened next...

When we returned to shore, we discovered we had three missed calls from our adoption agency. With a car packed to the gills and two little kids whining from the back seat about lunch, we listened to the message that a baby boy had been born the day before and we had been chosen as parents! The agency wanted to know if we were we on board and how soon we could get to the hospital. (As fate would have it, we'd be driving right through the town on our way home that afternoon and we were much closer coming from our trip than if we'd been at home.) 

With just the short drive to make a decision and launch a plan, we knew immediately that we were headed to meet our son and told the girls the amazing news. Our oldest summed up everyone's reaction when she replied: "Wow, I didn't think THAT was going to happen today!"

We were all overwhelmed and excited when we met him that afternoon. My husband and I thrilled at the chance to hold our child, and the girls enjoyed the opportunity to smother their new brother with hugs and kisses!

The rest of the week has been a blur of grandparents rushing up to visit, bringing our baby home and settling into a nice sleep deprivation routine, and getting ready for the first day of Kindergarten tomorrow. What was supposed to be a very productive fall for me with kids in school and me quilting nonstop will probably have a different tenor now, so bear with me if my summer blog pause extends a little longer than originally planned. I owe you a finish post of my Sunbonnet Sue and a nod to my stash bee mates for all the lovely blocks they've sent the past few weeks while I was queen, but in the meantime, I'm just really really busy loving and cuddling the absolute BEST vacation souvenir we've ever brought home!

~ Sarah

Linking up with Molli's Sunday Stash!