Economy Block Quilt

So there are definitely benefits of being on “blog hiatus” for a few months……I have tons of projects that I’ve been working on that I haven’t told you about yet!  I got completely caught up in the Economy Block Along craze that took over Instagram back in JENuary.  Did you see it?  Did you get pulled into the vortex too?

I planned on making a mini-quilt but I became so obsessed with fussy cutting center squares and picking the perfect fabrics for the outer squares that it seemed to grow uncontrollably.  And seriously….don’t those little foxes totally remind you of Baxter???  I’m convinced that Baxter needs a monocle, a snazzy, argyle sweater vest and a fedora now!

It was one of those projects where I got so into it when I was working on it that I would forget to do trivial things like eat or take the dogs out to potty. I even did the unthinkable and cut into some of my favorite fabrics that I’d been hoarding forever!  I spent many chilly, winter afternoons cutting and sewing all of my pastel squares while watching NetFlix and sipping on the occasional champagne mini.  Pure bliss…..

And before I knew it, it was done!  It never became a neglected Work In Progress that got dropped the second I came up with a new idea.  That’s how much I LOVE this quilt!
My points and quilting are totally wonky and I certainly will never win any awards for precision piecing but who cares?  I’ll just live by the theory that the imperfections give it lots of character!

And of course, it was promptly claimed by Baxter.  Sweet dreams little buddy!  Enjoy YOUR new quilt!

Hugs,
Jenny

P.S. – You can find the tutorial for the Economy Block Quilt on Rita’s blog, Red Pepper Quilts.

P.S. #2 – I’m watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer on NetFlix.

P.S. #3 – What’s JENuary you ask?  My birthday is in the month formerly known as January.  I have claimed the month as my own and re-named it JENuary as I believe in celebrating my birthday all month long.  Especially, since it was my 40th birthday this year!

Hello World

Hello there!  I’m so glad you stopped by!  A lot of you already know me from my old blog or from my old online shop or from social media but since this is the first blog post on my brand new blog I felt like it needed to be an introduction for those of you who don’t know me…..or a bit of a re-introduction and update on what I’ve been up to for the rest of you!

I’m Jenny.  I live in sunny, central California surrounded by orange groves and vineyards with a view of the Sierra Nevada Mountains.  I’m here with John, my sweetie of 13 years who is an F-15 Fighter pilot, three dogs, Emma, Sammy and Baxter and two cats, Cassi and Bailey.  I’m an introverted, homebody who has always loved to make things.  We came out to California last summer for John’s dream job after spending 13 years living at the beach in Florida and we LOVE it here!

I was a practicing veterinarian for 10 years, ran an online quilt shop, Sew Fabulous Quilt Shop for 4 years and now I’m having fun reinventing myself all over again.  The plan right now is to start designing and creating things……patterns, fabric, paper goods…..who knows!  I’m just going to see where this adventure takes me and enjoy the journey!

I love fabric, sewing, quilting, cross stitch, embroidery, dollhouses, painting, running, red wine, baking, Italian food, raw cookie dough, peanut butter cups, Hello Kitty, the color pink, pajama pants, Staycations, NetFlix tv show marathons, getting packages and cards in the mail, searching for creative inspiration online, Susan Branch’s artwork, snow, anything autumn-y and animals……especially Cavalier King Charles Spaniels!

The name Belle and Buttercup has a very special meaning to me.  They are the names of the dog Moms of my two beloved Cavs.  Emma’s Mom was named Belle and Baxter’s Mom is named Buttercup.

So far this has been a big year for me! I turned 40 in January…..or JENuary as I like to call it….then I closed my online quilt shop to start my new creative venture and promptly came down with all sorts of colds and the flu and then disaster struck…..we found out that Emma, my sweet 8 year old Cav has cancer.  She bravely and happily endured a month of radiation treatment and countless other tests and procedures and is now happily snoozing the day away and snoring at my feet.  Emma is my hero and she’s the perfect role model on how to live a happy life!  Go Team Emma!

I’m now spending my days learning Illustrator, working on designing cross stitch patterns and trying to figure out what I’m going to be when I grow up.

I’m so glad you stopped by and I hope you enjoy this little peek into my world!
Hugs,
Jenny