Follower Friday

We're back with a new follower!

This week we have 

Steph!

Specs: 

Name:  Stephanie 

Family:  Craig (husband) and Logan (5-year-old son) 

Location:  Omaha, Nebraska, USA 

Blog:  http://stephjacobson.blogspot.com  

Flickr:  stephjacobson  

Pinterest:  http://pinterest.com/stephjacobson/ 

Etsy:  http://stephjacobson.etsy.com (though my shop has been empty for awhile!) 

Day job:  retail pharmacist 

Dream job:  stay-at-home mom, full-time crafter, or elementary school teacher <--(this was my dream job in elementary school--some days I wish I had pursued this)  

What are you working on now? 

finishing up all those quilt tops I've made (making the tops is so much fun but finishing them not so much); fabric grocery bags (I just bought a Keyka Lou pattern); making baby stuff for my friend who is expecting her first child in August 

Favorites: 

Place:  Relaxing by a lake.  We took a family vacation to Lewis & Clark Lake in Yankton, SD last summer--I'd love to go back. 

Movies:  PS I Love You, Hot Tub Time Machine, Gone in 60 Seconds 

Food:  pasta 

Way to spend a Friday night:  at home with my family watching a movie 

Fabric line:  pretty much anything by Moda and Riley Blake--right now I want some Half Moon Modern by Moda--love those scissors prints! 

Color:  I love bright colors but also really like gray right now 

Designer:  Michael Miller 

Project completed by you:  I have lots of favorite projects but the one I'm most proud of is the baby blanket I made for a friend's baby girl 10 years ago.  It started my love of quilting.  At the time, I had no idea what I was doing.  It was before you could google something on the internet.  I used horrible polyester batting because I didn't know any better.  I hand-tied it because I had no clue how to machine quilt.  I didn't know how to bind it so I used some kind of ruffle trim that I didn't even attach correctly.  I was still so proud of it.  As the years passed and I learned more about quilting, I was kind of embarrassed by my gift.  I delivered another baby quilt last year to this same friend to celebrate the birth of her third child.  Her 10-year-old daughter still had her blanket which she kept in her memory box.  She brought it out to show me and it looked much better than I remembered.  I don't have a picture of that quilt, so I'll share my second favorite project, too.  It's my version of a $198 Anthropologie bag I made for a knock-off challenge.  It was my first attempt at piecing something other than squares (don't look too close--many of the points don't match up) and I was really happy with how it turned out.  I use it as my library bag and get a lot of compliments on it. 

Project when you need a quick finish:  Anna Maria Horner's quick change trousers, baby bibs or softies (for baby gifts) or fabric grocery bags (morsbags are my favorite) 

Least Favorites: 

Color:  purple 

Fabric line:  I like pretty much anything but Karavan by Free Spirit Fabrics is one I've seen recently that I don't really care for. 

Project completed by you:  A quilt intended as a Christmas gift for my mother-in-law that is still sitting in my craft room unfinished.  It started off with so much promise.  I used a Moda Fresh Flowers charm pack to make a pretty disappearing nine patch panel.  Instead of just using this small panel for a baby quilt I decided to try and turn it into a larger quilt.  Instead of buying another charm pack to make the panel larger I decided to add odd borders and a weirdly-pieced backing.  Instead of using straight-line quilting which I'm able to do, I decided to give free-motion quilting a whirl.  (Don't they warn to you practice on a small project first?)  The result is a project I have no desire to finish yet have too much time and money invested so I really need to finish it.  And I'm sure my mother-in-law would love it but right now all I can see are the imperfections. 

OK--maybe it's not that bad?  Maybe I just needed a break from it.

Big plans for 2012? 

Spend less time on the computer and more time creating.  (I am not off to a good start with this goal!)   

Make my first I-spy quilt using the charms from my first fabric swap. 

Participate in more fabric swaps and host at least one more swap--they're so much fun! 

Make baby quilts and other baby items to donate to expectant mothers in need.  (I say this every year but if I can master machine binding my quilts I think I can make this happen.) 

Try a new quilting technique and use up my scraps--string quilt blocks are first on the list. 

Give my family mostly handmade gifts for birthdays/Christmas. 

Thanks Stephanie!

Personally, I think the quilt is very pretty, great colors!

Take a step back and give it some time, then come back to it -- happens to everyone

Thank you again for taking time out of your life to be a featured follower today!

As always, if you have any interest in being featured

email me at

knot.threads@gmail.com

We'll be taking a break from follower next week, 

but only because it's my birthday and I have a surprise for you all instead 

:)

Have a great weekend!