I just wanted to say thank you all for your wonderful comments on our upcoming move. I plan to email each of you individually, but wanted to say thanks here too :) It is starting to sink in that we will be moving in less than 2 weeks & I feel like I should be doing more. I have packed a few things myself, but we are having movers come in and pack the rest so there isn’t much to do with that. Although there are still plenty of other things to get done (just not as much fun as packing in my opinion), so there is a lot of move prep stuff going on around here.

Besides preparing for the move there isn’t much else going on… my sewing machine actually decided to completely die on Tuesday night while I was in the middle of working on a project. So that meant I couldn’t give it to my sister as planned or finish the projects I had planned on working on this past week… Instead I did take it in to the sewing repair shop & should find out if it is fixable either today or tomorrow. I am still planning on a new machine after we move, but I had really hoped to finish some of the projects I had been working on before we moved. If it isn’t able to be fixed, I guess I will just have to wait though… Oh well! (Side note: I will never, ever buy anything brother brand again after the experience I had with this machine…. their customer support was terrible & I have had so many problems with this thing. End rant – sorry just had to express my frustration. :)

Project 365 is still going strong though & I made a new mosaic for the month of February. I did actually forget to take a photo one day (for the first time since I started the project), but I had taken several the day before so I used one from that day instead. So go ahead & take a look at some of my project 365 photos from February (links to each photo below the mosaic)…

1. :Rainboots in the snow: Day 18 of 365, 2. :Afternoon Tea: Day 19 of 365, 3. :Inside looking out: Day 20 of 365, 4. :Favorites: Day 21 of 365, 5. :Axel: Day 22 of 365, 6. :Reading: Day 23 of 365, 7. :Work in Progress: Day 24 of 365, 8. :Winter: Day 25 of 365, 9. :Prairie: Day 26 of 365, 10. :Inspiration: Day 27 of 365, 11. :Axel: Day 28 of 365, 12. :Lost: Day 29 of 365, 13. :Sunbeam: Day 30 of 365, 14. :Pounce & Me: Day 31 of 365, 15. :Mr Owl: Day 32 of 365, 16. :new shoes: Day 33 of 365, 17. :Whiskers: Day 34 of 365, 18. :Lazy day: Day 35 of 365, 19. :Linen Samples: Day 36 of 365, 20. :Blue Pleated Purse: Day 37 of 365, 21. :Night: Day 38 of 365, 22. :Owl Tote: Day 39 of 365, 23. :Self Portrait of a Mother & Daughter: Day 40 of 365, 24. :Nature in the Winter: Day 41 of 365, 25. :Shadows: Day 42 of 365, 26. :Broken: Day 43 of 365, 27. :Axel helping: Day 44 of 365, 28. :Climbing: Day 45a of 365, 29. :Tired Out: Day 45b of 365, 30. :Sitting at the computer: Day 46 of 365

I have some exciting news to share! In less than a month, Ben & I will be packing up the cats and everything we own to move 2000+ miles across the country. Ben has been offered a job in Seattle and we are incredibly excited to be moving out there. We have actually been wanting to move to that area of the country for awhile now & it is exciting to see it finally happening.

I can’t honestly say I will miss Illinois (no offense to anyone who lives here & loves it, it just isn’t the right place for me)… although I will admit that I am glad we lived here for this period in our lives as we now have Axel and I wouldn’t trade him for anything! :) It just never felt like we were meant to live in Illinois long term, and there is a lot that I have missed since moving here (like water & trees – and a few trees scattered on the flat land around us doesn’t count:).

Cute owl tote from my sister in law, who said she thought of me when she saw it:) It has nothing to do with this entry, I just thought the entry looked weird without a photo & the tote is so cute I wanted to share it.

Anyways there is a ton to get done in the next couple of weeks… it feels a bit stressful at times, but being excited about the move does help the stress of trying to figure it all out so quickly. Although I think a lot of the stress will go away once we find a place to live out there… Today though I think I might escape the to-do lists & sew for awhile, since I want to get some sewing in before I have to pack everything up! Unfortunately I am going to be sewing machine free at the end of this week… I am actually giving my sister my sewing machine before we move, because I am going to be buying a new one finally :) I am excited about getting a new one, but it is going to be strange to be without a sewing machine for a couple weeks. I do plan on finishing a few projects before I pack it all up though, so I will have those to share while I am without a sewing machine & of course I am sure I will be posting lots of photos since I am sure I will find lots to photograph in our new city:)

I mentioned in my last blog post that I had run out of linen in the middle of a project & so had the fabric store… Luckily I was finally able to get some of the same linen through the stores website so I could match it for the project I was working on & actually finish the project. Although I did decide that I need to find a different source for linen, so I ordered some fabric samples (above photo) and am really quite happy with it although I still need to run it through the wash to see how it washes… Oh and I learned my lesson to not start a project without making sure you have enough fabric:)

After finding the linen I needed, I have been working on a bit of sewing lately although I seem to only pick it up for a few minutes each day which means the projects I have been working on have been slow going. I finally finished up a project yesterday though, this purse for my mom…

It is the same design as this purse that I made for my 2nd blogiversary giveaway (oh and Angela if you are reading this could you email me since I still need your address, thanks!). My mom loved it so much, she asked if I would make her a similar one and since I am a good daughter I did:) (Actually I tend to forget about projects that I tell her I will make, so it is amazing I remembered this one!)

And just to clarify a bit (since I don’t think I was super clear in my first post about this design), for these 2 purses I did end up making my own pattern but was definitely inspired by some of the lovely bags made with the bend the rules sewing pattern & also a few other pleated bags including this one (which is also very similar to the bend the rules bag but was made before that book) & this one.

A few more details… the outside is linen with “Katie Jump Rope” fabric by Denyse Schmidt for the pleats & inside of the purse. I also added a pocket to this purse so that it has 3 pockets (the first one I made had 2), my mom wanted a way to keep her glasses case from falling to the bottom so hopefully the 3rd pocket will work for that. The one detail nobody probably cares about but me… those ties for closing the purse are annoyingly hard to sew up on my current sewing machine!

Now if I can just finish up a few more projects that I am in the middle of working on that would be wonderful! :)