Author name: Melissa Dunworth

I had such a wonderful weekend! My parents came to visit from California – we haven’t seen them in 2 months so it was an especially nice treat.

When we moved into our new house it was perfect – easy to do when you get to pick out everything that goes in it.  The only problem was that we didn’t have a back fence or side gates. Well….we still don’t have side gates (those are a work in progress), but with the help of my dad and one of my hubby’s army friends – we now have a FENCE! This is especially exciting because it means that Anne and I can play out side (when it isn’t raining) and I can feel safe out there.  We have had a few incidents of stray dogs wandering into our yard – not anymore!

Didn’t the men do a beautiful job?!? We still need to stain it, but I think we will wait until the gates are done too.

While the men were building, my mom and I spent our time entertaining Anne and while she napped we started working on Anne’s Halloween Costume.

Here is Anne’s handiwork decorating for Halloween. She put the decals on the window – with help from Nana. She also decorated a spider web with 3-D stickers. I think her and my mom both had a lot of fun together!

Did I mention that I made A LOT of progress on Anne’s Halloween Costume. It is all done except for the waist band…and the pressing of the seams.  I am so excited – my mom helped me cut it out and then I whipped out my Sewing Answers Book for the questions I had after she left.  Considering that I don’t sew garments this book is a must have for me.  I got mine for $8.99 at Costco last week and I am very happy with it.

What did you do this weekend?

Don’t forget to check out my newest sponsor SassyPacks! They have a great offer going on EXCLUSIVELY for my readers.

Have you heard of Sassy Packs?  They are a fabulous online quilt store that is designed around meeting the needs of the beginner quilter.  I met Vicki (virtually) back in July when I posted my (still) unfinished Christmas Sampler quilt to one of the sewing groups I belong to on Facebook. I began following her blog and we have gotten to know each other a little bit.  When I launched my new blog, she and her daughter, Jennifer, were one of the first companies that I approached about being a sponsor.  The fact that they gear their store and their blog around helping you learn to quilt and sew is what drew me to them.

When I first started quilting all I bought was quilt kits. It made the entire process so much easier for me. I didn’t have to worry about whether or not my fabric selections would look good together, I didn’t have to worry about getting the right amount of fabric and I had clear and well written instructions to follow.  SassyPacks has over 20 kits available –and they aren’t just for quilts either!  One of my favorite kits they are offering right now is the Urban Cabin – you can get the kit in two different sizes – which is a total bonus if you ask me.

If you are looking for a great Christmas present to make, they also have a kit for a Christmas Mug Rug right now – in case you haven’t noticed in the blogging world recently, mug rugs are ALL the rage right now!

They also have a great selection of fabric by the yard, fabric bundles and pre-cuts, quilt patterns and they even have a sample sale. Vicki and Jennifer test almost every pattern from the kits they sell and they sell those samples!

Now I have an exclusive offer from SassyPacks for all of the Sew BitterSweet Designs readers…FREE SHIPPING ON ALL orders over $20.00.  How awesome is that?!? I don’t know about you but half the time shipping is what makes or breaks an online purchase for me.  Take a few moments to check out SassyPacks, compare their prices to other shops; their Kona Solids rolls the cheapest I have seen anywhere!

The coupon code for free shipping is BitterSweet. Enter it at check out. The code is good for the entire month of October!

UPDATE: for all my international readers – we are doing something special for you too!  If you are interested in purchasing fabric from SassyPacks – please send them an email at contact@sassypacks.com and they will let tell you about shipping to your country and their special offer just for you!

Thank you Vicki and Jennifer! I am sew happy you are here!

I hope everyone will take some time to check out SassyPacks!  They have an excellent selection of Kona Solids and carry some of the top names in the industry! Show them some love!

I am so bummed that I have to part with the two amazing books that Barb & Mary from Me & My Sister Designs have donated. Just having them in my house has been fun!  But…if I have to part with them, at least I get to give them away to 2 of my awesome readers!

And the winner is….

Lee Ann L. says:

I’m a follower of your blog. I signed up for the newsletter

And the Winner is….

Hueisei says:

September 27, 2011 at 8:57 pm (Edit)

Tweeted the great news here — https://twitter.com/hueisei/status/118896861972144128

Congratulations to both of you! I will be sending you an email to get your shipping information.
Do you remember my little guessing game from yesterday?

For those of you who guessed that I was making a poodle skirt…you’re right!  It is for my precious Anne!  I haven’t followed a paper – store bought pattern in more than 15 years – so this should be interesting. It is also the first time I will be putting a zipper in a garment.  I am so glad my mom will be here to help me 🙂

I am so excited to make this for my baby girl! It will be fun, I just hope it turns out looking the way it is supposed to look.

On a completely different note – I follow the blog Lily Pad Quilting and she is doing a fabric charity drive to make school uniforms for children in Malawi Africa.

I have donated some thread and some fabric. If you have some fabric to spare in your stash, please consider participating!

I will be back tomorrow with a very cool blog post – I hope you will stop by and check it out!

Let’s play a guessing game… I’ll show you some pictures and you try and guess what I’m going to be working on this weekend!

A couple of hints:

1. It isn’t for me
2. My mom is flying in for a visit and will be helping me (she is a talented quilter AND seamstress)
3. I had one when I was younger

Did you figure it out?  I’ll tell you on Friday if you are right 🙂

Today I have the pleasure and honor of participating in the Celebrate Christmas Quilt Along over at Quilting Gallery.

I was so honored when Michele asked me to be one of the designers that I immediately said yes. It took me awhile to decide which block to showcase, but after reading all the comments on my welcome post about people wanting to learn paper piecing, I thought that my Old Snowflake Block (originally designed by Nancy Cabot) would be perfect. It is super simple and a great introduction to paper piecing.

Let’s get started! …

Old Snowflake TutorialRead More »