I Love Sushi!

I didn't mean to be gone for so long, but it has been busy around here!  I really wanted to share my "I Love Sushi" Quilt with all of you.  About six weeks ago, Sonja put out a call for pattern testers for an upcoming pattern of hers, and I happily volunteered.  Actually, I was begging, "please, please, let me try!":)  She sent me the pattern along with a host of other happy pattern testers, and this is my end result!  Isn't it great?

 I love this pattern so much and it is so well written.  One of the things that I love is that she has options for you to customize it.  For example, the rice bowl can be a bowl of rice, or a bowl with just chopsticks, or a bowl with chopsticks and rice.  I had so much fun making it, and it was great practice with paper piecing.  Everything is very well explained, and she also has tutorials on her blog (artisania.wordpress.com) if it is your first time paper piecing.  Go check out her shop for all of her awesome patterns!

Here is a quick summary of everything else that has been going on around here:
-First Annual Front Range Modern Quilt Guild Retreat-  We had this last month, and it was so much fun.  I stayed up way too late sewing and chatting (mainly chatting) each night-3 A.M. the first night!  We have such a great guild, and it was so much fun to be surrounded by people who also like quilting and sewing as much as me.  I sat across from Traci, and we really had way too much fun talking into the night.  She made so many outfits for her little girl! She also convinced me that I need a serger because she was amazing switching back and forth between her sewing machine and the serger.  I shared a room with her and with Marta, who is so fun.  Marta just started a blog, and she is making a beautiful Swoon quilt. Amy did a great job recapping all of the fun on her blog, Stitchery Dickory Dock, with a group picture because I did not get one!  I barely took any pictures the entire weekend, which is shameful, but I was having too much fun!  Melissa also did a great job recapping the fun that this weekend was, so go check it out here, too.:)  These are just a few of the awesome people that I am so lucky to be in a guild with!  I went to bed Sunday night at 6:30 before my 2 1/2 year old daughter.  I was happily exhausted.

-Met up with other moms of young children from the guild to go to a trampoline center for the kids one Saturday, which was a blast.  My daughter had so much fun, and I didn't know they had places like that for kids! 

-Bought a Zoo pass for this summer a couple of weeks ago.  The weather over Spring Break, which is next week, is supposed to be unbelievably nice (high 70's this weekend!), so we are going to the Zoo soon!

-Bought a serger off of Craigslist!  It is an early birthday present, and you can get sergers for a great price off of Craigslist.  I set Denver, Colorado Springs, and Birmingham (where my mom lives) on a rss feed for sergers in my Google Reader, and anytime a serger popped up I knew that day.  I will share more details later, but it was interesting how many showed up in Denver or Colorado Springs (at least a couple a week) and how few showed up in Birmingham (I think two over an entire month!).

-This past Saturday we had another guild meeting and a sew day!  I learned how to thread my serger from Melissa, and cut out a dress, which I then proceeded to sew wrong.:)

-I have also been hanging out with my daughter, and we were going to the park every day last week enjoying our lovely spring weather until Thursday, when she became sick, but she is on antibiotics and seems to be doing better. 

I hope all of you have been doing well!  I have more projects to share soon!