Crazy Life = Blog Slacking!

I've said it before and I'll say it again, I'm a horrible blogger! It's not that I intend to be, it just happens. So I figure the least I can do is share what I have been up to (sewing and otherwise) while I have not been here.

Let's start with the sewing and craft goods, but I think that's what most, if not all, people want to see. Apologies if you are on my Instragram (@carly__ann) as that's where many of these are coming from.

Christmas Quilt Planning took over most of the month of October! I ended up planning four (and yet have only finished three) separate Christmas quilts.

I wish I had a better picture of this one, but somehow in the craziness of Christmas it got missed. This is the quilt I made for Zach's step-mother (I guess I can call her the step mother-in-law, right?). We were able to spend the holidays with them in Louisville, so I was happy to have a homemade gift to give. She sent me a text just the other day saying her 'Carly Quilt' is keeping her warm in all this crazy weather up there!

I also finally finished a quilt for my sister! I know it's bizarre to think she did not have one yet, but she was a tough one to design for. She's super stylish and up on all the latest (Check out LaLa Couture, her boutique in Ft. Lauderdale), plus she lives in South Florida- not exactly quilt land. I finally put my much loved ombre fabric to work and came up with this. She loves it, and says it works perfectly in her house. Yay!

...and this picture of her, just because she's so darn cute! 

The other two Christmas Quilts are still under wraps. We are celebrating with my parents at the end of the month and with Zach's mom and step-dad sometime soon, so I want to wait to post anything else. 

After Thanksgiving, and before Christmas I was able to squeeze in one non-holiday present- this baby quilt for Meg! At times she will email me cute quilts she sees, and recently had sent me a cross quilt that she loved. I took that and ran with it! She loved the quilt, and I may have made her cry (not on purpose). We are very excited to meet Aria Grace, who will be here within weeks!

I can't believe I'm posting this on my blog, but that my friends is the end result of two months of non-stop sewing in my studio room. OUT OF CONTROL! I finally bit the bullet and dove in there to get things organized (took an entire weekend). The funny thing is that cleaning led to this.....

...a beautifully organized stash! But that my friends led to this.....

A massive destash sale! I joined many (I venture to say over 100) other quilters on instagram in what was referred to as The Great Fabric Destash (#thegreatfabricdestash). It was a blast! Basically how it worked was everyone posted pictures of their fabric for sale on Instagram and tagged it with that hashtag. This meant that not only your followers saw what you were selling, but so did everyone else using that hashtag. It was CRAZY! I believe the last count I saw was nearly 6,500 separate posts. Yes, 6,500 posts of fabric for sale! I'm telling you, if you are not on Instagram RUN, don't walk, and get your booty on there! 

The only flaw in this plan is I was shopping as I was selling. Oops! My one rule was that I could not buy more than I sold, and I stuck to it! I ended up on the positive side of things in my Paypal account, and I have some wonderful fabric headed my way, so I'm a happy camper!

All my buyer paid me rediculously fast. This means that even though the sale was on a Wednesday night I was able to get all my packages out by Thursday afternoon. Awesome! Thanks again to everyone who helped me destash!

In other sewing and craft news....

Mardell (my machine) is giving me fits! See all that blue tape up there? I rigged the tension to finish my Riley Blake challenge (more on that later), but it is NOT GOOD. I'm planning on taking her to the doctor's this weekend and hopefully it's an easy fix under warranty. 

While Mardell is away...

I might just get to work on this baby! My mom came across it at a garage sale for $20, so when she texted me the picture I said absolutely YES! My dad was kind enough to be the guinea pig and plug it in and says she runs great. I have had zero time to work on it, but I think I see some light at the end of the tunnel. 

Next on the list...

crafting for another bridal shower. I'm becoming the bridal/baby shower and wedding crafty person to go to around here. I've lost count of how many different events I have done at this point, but they are adding up for sure. This weekend I will be working on centerpieces, and a crazy idea for a few different decorations like this, this, or this. I might even try a garland similar to this, either using this or this tutorial. Wish me luck!

In the interest of having something to post next week (HA!) I'm going to leave the non-sewing updates until then. I will however be back this weekend with a recap of the Central Florida Modern Quilt Guild's Riley Blake Challenge projects. I will give you a little teaser with this picture:

Just wait until you see them up close... AMAZING! 

How are you coming along on your challenge project?