Shhhh, don't tell!

So, because I am slightly a private person, I didn't tell you ahead of time....but I was on 
Creative Mojo with Mark Lipinski last Wednesday.  Okay, it's possible I might have told you if my week last week wasn't so flippin' busy.  We all have those weeks, and last week was one of them for me, it was busy and full of many wonderful things, but full nonetheless.

I still haven't listened to it.  I am pretty sure I might have made a fool of myself, but at least I had fun doing it.  It was WAY more fun to do the radio show than to be on TV....  I didn't have to dress up, or worry about my hair, or travel.  I just sat at home, waited for my turn to spout my crazy ideas, and then I was done.  


Of course, it was all during the time I was supposed to pick up the kids, and take care of the baby...but that is what friends are for, RIGHT?  I am blessed to have friends that pick up my slack when I have crazy things to do.


One funny thing, for those of you who really aren't going to listen to the show, I laughed a little when they introduced me.  They introduced everyone who was going to be on the show, and there was some interesting accomplishment to go along with their name.  Then they introduced me...."and then we will have Sarah Bisel" (pause.... Mark is now thinking....who in the heck is Sarah Bisel), pause again, and then they introduced the next guest.  I laughed, because really, I am a nobody in the quilt world.  But, every now and then, I do something that makes people wonder, who the heck is Sarah Bisel.


I wonder that all the time!


Happy Tuesday.


If you want to listen go to: http://toginet.com/shows/creativemojo
I am like the 20th guest on the show (okay, possibly the third or fourth) and I come in after about 1 hour.  

Fast and Easy Valentines Treats

You may have seen cute valentines cards like these (taken from Summertimedesigns.blogspot.com).  They are totally cute, and perfect for the holiday. 

But, if you are like me, and you want to just buy the box of treats and cards, you may have bought one of these boxes.    See, it looks like this box includes the cards along with the tootsie pops.  Don't be fooled!  The box just came with candy, NO CARDS.  

So, I know how to be cute, I could totally take some good pics of my kids.  But, that would take more effort than I currently want to use.  So, I came up with a way that I think is cute, and EASY.  Yes, emphasis on easy for this mom.  No making my kids look cute and happy for a picture.  No extra trip to costco to pick up the pics.  5 minutes on Pages, print, cut, and staple.

Here's what you get.

How do you achieve this super easy awesome valentines "flag"?

The steps are easy. 

1. Create 2 columns in your document.  

2. Next make sure there is a lot of room on the left side of the happyVALENTINESday.  Adjust your margines to get the space you need. (Oh, you need this space so you can wrap the paper around the stick).

3.  I used Gill Sans font (BOLD for the word "VALENTINES" and no spaces), the line spacing was .7 between the top and bottom lines

4.  Fill up both columns with your greeting, making sure there is enough space between the lines

5. Cut them out.

6.  Wrap flag around tootsie pop and staple in place. (the best way to make this work is to staple it to the wrapper as well).

You are done.  That took about 10 minutes, and it is cute enough.  It gets the job done with minimal effort.  And that is my kind of "craft."  

Happy Valentines Day!

Tucson Quilt Show

A few weekends ago our family went to the quilt show.  Yes, I wrote that correctly, the whole family went.  I hoped it would be joyful, and inspiring.  Instead, I found myself dragging my feet to leave the convention center just to punish my children for their consistent and enduring whine fest.  

Yes, I am one of the best mothers in the world.  

One of stops I made in the convention center was at a long arm quilting booth.  I tried out a gammill...one that would only be $9K.  I know, I said only and $9K in one sentence, but that is cheap.  Anyway, I tried it out, and I fell in love.  Mostly, because I really think I could do a lot more with my quilting if I wasn't always dreading the quilting part.  You know the question, will this be too big to quilt with my machine?  Will my shoulders fall off if I quilt this myself?  Or, will my aunt Becky hate me if I come take over her long arm again this summer?

I quilt most of my own quilts.  I have only had my aunt quilt one of my quilts, and it was the best experience ever.  I love not having the stress of quilting my quilts.    Contrary to popular belief, my machine does not just quilt the quilt for me, it is work.  I long for the day when I can have a long arm machine.  It will still be work, but it will be different, and much less taxing on my shoulders.

Or, should I start saving for the $40K long arm that quilts for you?  Yep, you have to do some work, but it quilts from a computer design.  That sounds like heaven.  

Until then, I will go ahead working on my now ancient Bernina (it is 10 years old), and I will be happy the whole time (maybe just most of the time, until my shoulders start cramping up).

Okay, back to the quilt show, the quilts were fun and some were amazing.  It was inspiring to me, I kept hoping I could go home and get some time to work on my sewing machine.  

We saw a number of skeleton themed quilts.  They totally made me laugh, not every quilt has to be serious.

I really liked this yellow and blue quilt.  If you can't tell from the photo, this is all pieced, and then appliqued.  A lot of work went into this to make the color variation.  I love it.

Now, here is a quilt I can appreciate because it is one I would NEVER do.  Not because it is too hard, but because it would take me forever.  I don't have forever.   But, I totally appreciate the work that went into it. 

And, then I saw this quilt, which is the show winner.  I was amazed at the quilting.  Super intricate work here, everything was perfect.  So fun to see people work really hard, and accomplish their goal.  I love that the colors are bright and cheerful, and I love how the quilt is just perfect.

I had a number of goals at the start of the new year.  Some goals will hopefully make me a better person, and some goals...will just help me get something done.  One of the goals was to blog at least once a week.  It is nice to know I have already failed that goal...less pressure for the future.  Oh wait, I mean I will work harder in the future.

Well, another one of those goals was organizing my sewing room.  At the end of last year, it seriously looked like a tornado was trapped in that room.  Christmas didn't help, I was constantly trying to make new gifts, but without the time to clean up what I was working on.  

So, after the new year I went to work.  I started with buying more shelves.  I hope that getting more shelves, means that I can be more organized, and have a place for the things I am working on.  You can BARELY see the shelves I bought in the second picture, on the right hand side.  They are just the little cube shelving you build yourself, and the blue baskets/boxes...they are from the 99cent store.

After two...yep, it took me two full days, the task was done.  No, I didn't make it look pretty, but it is functional, again.  

This is the view from the doorway....a  lot less cluttered.  I know a before shot would be nice, but I just couldn't take pictures of what it looked like (the horror).  Just imagine bins full of fabric, quilts, and batting.  I am not proud of this.

I look at this picture, and I am not impressed, it really doesn't look clean, but it is.  I promise.  The only thing I didn't do was clean up those shelves full of fabric.  And, just because I want to brag....that quilt hanging over the chair is done...DONE.  It only took a year. I know, I am awesome.

Oh, the closet.  If you only knew what a mess it was before.  This is amazing now.  The shelves line one wall, the bins above hold finished quilts, and there is room to walk in it.  Ahhh, the joy of clean living.

Okay, so the clean up effort didn't result in magazine worthy organization, or beautiful containers, or any inspiration worthy of "Where Women Create,"  but this is my actual workplace, where I create.

And, today.... I actually quilted, for 2 hours.  

Small victories.