Frugal Friday with Marsha--Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween!  It's turned cold here in Kansas.  Oh how I hoped the weather would hold out at least through today.  No such luck for me.  I will just have to go dig out my long johns so I don't freeze this evening.

I am steering away from my crafts as gifts this week and sharing photos from past trunk or treats at my church instead.  This is our 7th or 8th year that we've done this at our church.
It's pretty well not frugal because the candy isn't cheap, but it's a great community service.  Many churches take part each year.

Have a fun and safe Halloween!

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Writer's Unite 10/30/31

Having too many days this past week where I had to be away from the house most of the day, I got lapse in my blog posts again.  I had a post that needed to go up Saturday...it didn't get done.  I had a post that needed to be put up on Tuesday...it didn't get done either.   I must get both of those posts done, and soon.

Monday, my All Business Monday post was delayed due to me sewing and quilting all day.  I felt that was the perfect time to share about the Sewing Party.  That is something that I need to do since I'm working towards making selling the things that I make as more of a business than just a hobby.  I felt it fit in.

How has your writing week been?

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WIP Wednesday 10/29/14

I've still stayed busy with my sewing and that's a good thing.  I did finish up the 40 hotpads.
I have my quilt retreat paid for, which is Nov. 8 and 9.  I can't wait to have hours and hours of just sewing time!

I took a workshop taught by David Duwe on the fractured pineapple block this past Monday at our quilt guild.  I finally get paper piecing!!

Here is my first block.  I look forward to making more of them.  In fact, I'm going to see how many I can make with the scraps I pulled from my drawers for the workshop.

Here are the brown, black and gray hexagon flowers that I was able to finish for the month with the scrap challenge from the soscrappy blog (see button at the bottom of my post).  I also did lots of individual hexagons as well.

I got the rest of my 2 and a quarter inch squares organized in to my 2 pizza boxes.  I kept out quite a stack to just go ahead and sew together, then also realized that I forgot to put some of the piles into my boxes.   I got a start on sewing those together as you see in the top row.  The bottom row are the ones that still need to be sewn together.   These will all eventually be 4 patches and then doll blankets and pillows.

I've added a couple more things to my UFO list and moved one more thing to my done list for this year.   I'm going to go ahead and include all 3 of my lists.  The NewFO's are things that I do have in project bags but haven't started past that point.

UFO's:

Rectangle quilt
challenge wall hanging
GoodNight Irene quilt/wall hanging
Yo-Yo Table runner
Emerald Island Fusique table runner
Five and Dime quilt
Fractured Pineapple quilt
Christmas bags (total of at least 25) (9 done)
Charming Stars quilt
Brown half square triangle quilt
? sets of doll blanket, pillows and rug
Hexagon flower table runner

NewFO's
Spiderweb quilt
Easter wall hanging
Cat wall hanging
Braid table runner
Sunflower pillow
Christmas wall hanging
Chevron quilt
40 Hot Pads

2014 Finishes:
Log Cabin quilt
Log Cabin wall hanging
Log cabin table runner
2 rectangle table runners
Quilt for sewing club at church
Applique Bunnies quilt
Penny Patch Quilt
Spoolin' Around
Hexagon table topper
Sunflower table runner and matching placemats
9 Trick-or-Treat bags

I am linking up with the following blogs:

All Business Monday--The Sewing Party!!

After a day at my quilt guild meeting as well as an afternoon sewing workshop, I think this is the perfect time to tell you all about The Sewing Party.
If you are like me and really want to turn your sewing into a business, then you will definitely want to check this out.

“The Sewing Party” is the first ever online-all-day DIY event in history!

On November 8, 2014, thousands of DIY-ers will gather for a fun-filled day of sewing and crafting classes taught online by leading bloggers and educational experts. It’s all about Connecting. Crafting. And Creating.

Attendees will have access to more than 30 online classes available on the day of the event and for an additional 90 days. There is truly something for everyone! Classes include home décor, fashion sewing, quilting and upcycling, crafting, costume design, techniques for turning your craft into an entrepreneurial venture, and more!

Space is limited and likely to fill up fast! For just $40, “The Sewing Party” participants can attend classes; chat with participants from across the country; interact with top bloggers and educational experts who are teaching; and explore the latest crafting and sewing tips, techniques and products in our marketplace.

*The Sewing Party is a US-only event. We hope to expand the party internationally next year, but it is limited to the US only for 2014

A few of the online classes are:

Bra Making with Madalynn

 
Sewing Curved S Seams

The Tate Top by Workroom Social

“The Sewing Party” brings together some of the best in the industry for this FIRST EVER event. The stellar lineup of sponsors includes:

Be sure to check out all of the website and social links!!

Website & Social Links:

• Website - www.thesewingparty.com
• Facebook - http://www.facebook.com/thesewingparty
• Instagram - http://www.instagram.com/thesewingparty
• Twitter - http://www.twitter.com/thesewingparty
• Pinterest - http://www.pinterest.com/thesewingparty
• #thesewingparty
• The Sewing Party Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_bOrxggs2pM

An InLinkz Link-up

Super Sunday Reviews--…Featuring Norah Jones album review

...Featuring is a star-studded collection of Norah Jones' collaborations spanning her entire career. The result serves as a kind of parallel history to her four albums, which have sold over 40 million copies worldwide.

"A lot of the people on this record are people I've worshiped since I was a kid, and some of them are younger and more my contemporaries," says Norah. "Even though the musicians are so varied, the vibe of the songs makes sense when we put them all together."

** This information was provided to me as part of my review.**

My Review
The back of the CD case reads: “Recorded from 2001 to 2010, the cameos, duets and collaborations on this compilation span the musical spectrum and show Norah Jones to be one of the decade’s most diverse musical connections.”

Wow! Is this an under statement in my mind as I listened to the CD. There are so many genres of music on this cd from country to rock to jazz to rap and more!

If you enjoy a variety of music, you will want to add this CD to your collection. One CD about covers it all.

As a family we had fun listening to the album. Some of us enjoy country, some jazz, some rap…some a little bit of it all. My 2 favorite songs on the album are tracks 9 and 10–Life is Better (Q-Tip featuring Norah Jones) and Soon the New Day (Talib Kweli featuring Norah Jones)

Others you will find her singing with are Charlie Hunter, Dolly Parton, Foo Fighters, Willie Nelson and more. ***See the complete track list below***




Track Listing
1. Love Me - The Little Willies
2. Virginia Moon - The Foo Fighters featuring Norah Jones
3. Turn Them - Sean Bones featuring Norah Jones
4. Baby It’s Cold Outside - Willie Nelson featuring Norah Jones
5. Bull Rider - Norah Jones and Sasha Dobson
6. Ruler Of My Heart - Dirty Dozen Brass Band featuring Norah Jones
7. The Best Part - El Madmo
8. Take Off Your Cool - OutKast featuring Norah Jones
9. Life Is Better - Q-Tip featuring Norah Jones
10. Soon The New Day - Talib Kweli featuring Norah Jones
11. Little Lou, Prophet Jack, Ugly John - Belle & Sebastian featuring Norah Jones
12. Here We Go Again - Ray Charles featuring Norah Jones
13. Loretta - Norah Jones featuring Gillian Welch and David Rawlings
14. Dear John - Ryan Adams featuring Norah Jones
15. Creepin’ In - Norah Jones featuring Dolly Parton
16. Court & Spark - Herbie Hancock featuring Norah Jones
17. More Than This - Charlie Hunter featuring Norah Jones
18. Blue Bayou - Norah Jones featuring M. Ward





Find Norah Jones----

Official website http://www.norahjones.com/index.php
Facebook Fan Page http://www.facebook.com/norahjones?sk=wall
Twitter http://twitter.com/#!/NorahJones
Youtube http://www.youtube.com/norahjones





Disclosure: I was not compensated for this review. Opinions in my review are my own. I received the album from One2One Network where I was placed into a gift card drawing for my review.

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Frugal Friday 10/24/14--Crafts as Gifts

This week I'm going to continue to share crocheted gifts that I have given.

I started crocheting these cotton washcloths/dishcloths several years ago.  They have been a common gift for the women over the years.

Last year I gave making crochet topped towels a try.  They came out really well.   I still have lots of towels since you only use half of the towel to make each one.  I wonder who would like another one this year?   I didn't have a pattern.  I just took the one that I own and made my best guess.

I had won this cookbook in a raffle at the grandkids' elementary school.  I knew I wanted to give it to my sister-in-law for Christmas.  That gave me the idea to also crochet her 2 of the double thick hotpads and then make her the matching coasters and cross magnet with plasttic canvas.
Not sure why I thought they needed to match the cookbook, but they did.


I'm going to go off the track of the crochet now and show you a latest project.  I was approached by the PR firm for wholesaleforeveryone.com and asked to make Trick-Or-Treat bags with some of their Halloween-Themed Bandanas
 
I did one post with the giveaway, but want you to be on the look out tomorrow when I will put up a tutorial with step-by-step pictures of how to make the bags.

These are gifts too.  A bag for each of my 9 grandchildren that live in town.

An InLinkz Link-up

Writer's Unite 10/23/14

Good Thursday to all! 
I haven't caught up with my blog posts, but I did get my new Super Sunday Reviews series started.
I am adding a linky there each week as well for you to share reviews you've done in the past week.
I will share that post in the linky today.

I had some questions about what can be shared in this Thursday linky.  Share whatever you like!  It doesn't have to be something that you wrote this week.  It can be something you wrote last year, 10 years ago, or yesterday.  The choice is yours on what you would like others to take a look at.

Thanks goes out this week to Ruthi Cox for getting the word out about this weekly post.
You can find Ruth many places online including:
http://wizzley.com/authors/RuthCox/
http://www.zazzle.com/abitosunshine
http://abitosunshine.blogspot.com/
http://www.dogpawsitivetidbits.com/

An InLinkz Link-up

WIP Wednesday 10/22/14

Somehow I'm not feeling as productive in the area of sewing this week.   I only have 2 pictures to show you this week.

Let's start off with my hexagons.  I'm working with brown, black and gray on the soscrappy challenge. (See button at the bottom of my post).
I stopped making them in to flowers because I needed to free up pins for other projects.  I did get all that I had papers pinned to put together.  Hopefully this week I will get at least a few of these made in to complete flowers.

Then I completed 4 more Charming Stars blocks for this month and the sewalong with Terry's Treasures. (See button to the right)
I have them hanging on the 'design wall' now.    I'm enjoying these blocks.   I already told the quilt shop owner that I intend to put the top completely together for this at the upcoming retreat November 7th and 8th.   It will be here soon and I'm so excited!

Wait!!  I did do more sewing than this.   I knew I had to have!    I finished up 7 more of the Halloween bags.   The giveaway for the bandanas is over, but I will soon be putting up a post with step by step instructions on making the trick-or-treat bags.

Here is my UFO list........ I was looking in my sewing room for one thing last night.  I was going through my too many to count bags that either have these UFO's in them, or projects that I've not started yet.  My mind was boggled.   It's not even been that long since I made up all of these bags of projects yet I still had forgotten about some of them.  I need to get busy and STAY busy.


UFO's
Rectangle quilt
challenge wall hanging
GoodNight Irene quilt/wall hanging
Yo-Yo Table runner
Emerald Island Fusique table runner
Five and Dime quilt
40 Hot Pads (22 done)
Christmas bags (total of at least 25) (9 done)
Charming Stars quilt
Brown half square triangle quilt
? sets of doll blanket, pillows and rug

I am linking up with the following blogs:

All Business Monday---Online Craft Mall

This week I would like to introduce to you the Online Craft Mall at Under The Rainbow.

Under The Rainbow, Online Craft Mall is your source to buy and sell quality crafts!
It's a real craft mall for craft shopping, not just links to other sites.

Are you a crafter looking for an outlet to sell your wares? Do you enjoy buying hand made items?
If so, then the Under The Rainbow Online Craft Mall is for you!

I've been a member of the mall for 10 years now and have never been disappointed. You will NOT find a better deal on the internet.

Online Craft Mall with a LOW one time fee of only $10 to join!


Including myself, there are currently 23 crafters.
I have several of my crafts listed there and need to add more.

View Marsha's Crafts

Marsha Cooper, Crafter     Gifts Galore and More, Owner

Hutchinson, KS     

I'm Marsha, a mom from Kansas. I have 4 children, with only one left at home. I have 10 grandchildren. I really enjoy my crafts and keeping my hands busy at all times. I've really been enjoying making upcycled, or recycled crafts and I've been learning more and more about quilting.


All handcrafted items in the online craft mall are handmade by individual crafters. Crafters join Under The Rainbow online craft mall as independent members and Under The Rainbow works directly with our members to fill your orders. Most members will even customize crafts for you!

Follow Under The Rainbow on facebook to see highlighted crafts and more.
You can also follow Under the Rainbow's pinterest boards as well.


Stay tuned next week for more information  :)

An InLinkz Link-up

Super Sunday Reviews--Learn To Sew with Lauren

When I received my copy Learn to Sew with Lauren in the mail I was ecstatic.
My 13 year old grandson has been asking me to teach him how to sew.
He was the first one to look through the book.

The full title is Learn to Sew with Lauren:  From first stitches to personalized projects.

It's not kidding.   The front 63 pages of the books is techniques starting with understanding and choosing fabrics and ending with setting in a sleeve.  In between you find things such as basic hand stitches, seams, hems, and a lot more.
Here are examples of some of the technique pages:

Pages 64 through 207 are projects.  They start with Beginners--easy peasy through Improvers--more tricky.
Here are a couple of pages from the projects:

The first project in the book is an Envelope Cushion Cover.   I've never made one before, so couldn't wait to give it a try.
The instructions were very easy to follow.  Each project shows plenty of illustrations to go with the instructions.
Here is my pillow cover.  I can't wait to make more now that I know how easy they are to make!

The front and back covers of the book contain paper patterns for the projects that need them:

I attend a sit n' sew at our local quilt shop once a month.  I took the book along this month to get feedback from the other ladies.   They were all impressed with it.  They did notice things that I didn't such as the wording telling that it's published in another country.  It actually is published in the UK.
One lady pointed out that all measurements are given in both metric and standard measurements.
They liked how the instructions were clear with plenty of illustrations.

About the author:
Lauren Guthrie was a finalist on the highly successful Great British Sewing Bee TV series.   A very enterprising twenty-something, Lauren initially trained as a physiotherapist, but gave that up to renovate a historic building in which she has just opened her own haberdashery, Guthrie & Ghani, in Birmingham, England.  Lauren runs extremely popular sewing classes and workshops, as well as a popular blog from her website www.guthrie-ghani.co.uk with news, projects and tutorials.

Book info:
ISBN 978-1845339272
Hardcover, with 224 pages and 7 pull out patterns. 400 total illustrations.
Distributed by Hachette Book Group


Get your copy now on amazon :)



Disclaimer: I rec'd a copy of this book for the purpose of this review. Author and other information was also provided to me. I was not compensated in any other way and all opinions expressed are my own.

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