The Spunky Diva

I can’t wait to start reading what sounds like a fabulous book by Colleen Coble.  This is the first book of Colleens that I have read, and I hope that she will become another author on my must-have list.  This is the third book in the Mercy Falls series.  I received an eBook copy to review from Thomas Nelson Publishers via BookSneeze . Book Summary courtesy of BookSneeze: Olivia seems to have it all, but her heart yearns for more. Olivia Stewart's family is one of the Four Hundred—the highest echelon of society in 1910. When her sister dies under mysterious circumstances, Olivia leaves their New York City home for Mercy Falls, California, to determine what befell Eleanor. She suspects Harrison Bennett, the man Eleanor planned to marry. But the more Olivia gets to know him, the more she doubts his guilt—and the more she is drawn to him herself. When several attempts are made on her life, Olivia turns to Harrison for help. He takes her on a ride in his aeroplane, ...

I will buy no fabric for the entire month of April. No yardage, no fat quarters, no remnants.  None. It is going to be a very long month… Do you want to take this pledge to?  Do you need to take this pledge even if you don’t ‘want’ too?  Add this button to your sidebar to help you stay strong and resist the fabric temptation bug. <a border="0" href="http://thespunkydiva.blogspot.com/search/label/No%20Fabric%20Pledge" target="_blank"><img src="http://i869.photobucket.com/albums/ab259/thespunkydiva/Button%20Pics/nofabricinapril.jpg" /></a>

Details on Ms. Diva's skirt are in this post from Sunday . Linking up with; Wordless Wednesday Wednesday at The Tea Rose Mid-Week Mingle at Give It To Me Tara Welcome Wednesday at Frugal Invitation Outdoor Wednesday at Southern Daydreamer Wordless Wednesday at Crazy About My Baybah

While blog hopping recently, I came across this fantastic tip listed on Be Our Best .  Jill has compiled her Top 10 Blogging Tips in one place to help others out there in blogland.  Most of them I had heard of before.  But she had one on her list that I have only seen a couple times in practice, and have not heard a how-to do it before. Number 6: Add a clickable signature to your comments. If you add the following text to the bottom of the comments you leave for other bloggers, whatever text you insert for “Your Text Here” will be clickable.  You have to switch out “{“ and “}” with “<” and “>” then it will work.  Remember to also change the “Your Blog Address” part, LOL! {a href=http://www.YourBlogAddress.com/ }YOUR TEXT HERE {/a} Bonus Tip ~ I use Notepad to store all the html codes I use on a regular basis {the direct link code for my signature image, color codes, etc.}.  I added the above code to my Notepad page, edited it with my informat...

The quilt-along schedule was posted last night on the Patchwork Squared blog .  I have to say… I am relieved that I can say… that I have already completed this week’s task;  Pick out fabrics to use for the quilt-along and post a picture to the Flickr Group . Week 1: Monday, March 28 – Intro Week 2: Monday, April 4 – Block 1 Week 3: Monday, April 11 – Blocks 2 & 3 Week 4: Monday, April 18 – Blocks 4 & 5 Week 5: Monday, April 25 – Blocks 6 & 7 Week 6: Monday, May 2 – Blocks 8 & 9 Week 7: Monday, May 9 – Finishing/exit post What is it with setting a goal to accomplish something that just begs for chaos to happen your life???  My car has decided this is the perfect time to go on the fritz, and Ms. T was up all last night { okay maybe not all night , but it felt like it} not feeling good. In case you missed the post last week with my fabrics for the quilt-along here they are once again.  Week one ~ Complete!

Cuter pictures from same day. Linking up with... Project 52

This Sunday was 50’s day at church, and with Ms. Diva walking this year she ‘just’ had to have a fun skirt to wear to celebrate the occasion.  I had about half a yard of tan felt in my fabrics to use for the skirt { to go with her brown shoes }.  Not enough for a true, full poodle skirt.  So... I compromised and made an abridged ‘butterfly’ skirt.  I added a shocking hot pink tulle ruffle at the bottom, and tied the pink to the shirt with a quick stitched ‘flower’.  This was tulle I had left over from the TuTu Drive .  She was soooooo cute!  She is just starting to figure out twirling, and... ... she is fascinated with dandelions at the moment.  She loves to pull off the ‘fluff’ and set it free!  See how cute she is?  {Tomorrows post will have pictures of her not-so-cute side and pictures of my outfit to.} The butterfly design is from Embroidery Garden , and has to be one of my favorite butterfly designs I have found to d...

Heather and Megan over at Quilt Story are hosting a giveaway for their newest sponsor, The Fat Quarter Shop .  They are giving away 5 yards from the Sugar and Spice line by The Quilted Fish for Riley Blake!  5 whole yards of Fabric!!!! There are four ways to enter.  Click here to go directly to the giveaway post .  Good luck!

Since I didn't luck out and win a gift certificate to purchase fabric... { darn it }... I will be using these puppy themed fabrics for my P2 Quilt-Along Quilt.  I think a fun puppy inspired quilt is in order to celebrate the newest family addition, Ms. T { found behind a local store in town last week }. I had all of these in my stash except for the two fabrics in the top right of the picture { the blue nursery puppy print and the multi-dog breeds with words print} .  I am super excited to be taking part of the quilt along, and can't wait to learn new quilting skills.  I will be posting each quilt block as we go so you can keep track of my progress. Watching the Fons and Porter on T.V. I have been learning alot, and now want to put some of those new skills into practice.  One thing they showed was a 'project sheet' to help you keep what fabric you are using where in order.  Here is my 'project sheet' for this quilt.  Since I am not using the 'recommende...

For Ms. Diva’s Fresh Flowers Quilt with fabric from Moda, I am adding a band of pieced fabric to tie in the patchwork from the front of the quilt into the back piece.  It seems to be a common theme in lots of quilts today.  Personally I think it adds some spunk to an otherwise blank canvas.  I also have plenty of left over ‘bricks’ from the front to use for this back band of fabric.  So… it is a win-win. To add some more yellow to the border of the band {which is primarily blue and red} I picked out a sunny yellow embroidery thread, and then used my machine’s triple stitch {set at 2.5 stitch length} to sew along and define a border. This is a technique I have picked up from purse making, and as an added bonus… it not only adds style, but also durability to the seam by catching the ends of all the bricks and reinforcing the seam. I can’t wait to get this quilt finished!!! Plant a Seed at Punkin Seeds Boost My Blog at Design It Chic Macro Friday at Blogging fro...

Using blogger can be very tiresome.  It always seems to disregard my edits, takes forever to load a photo {and now it only will load one photo at a time, ugh!}, and now keeps glitching when I try to add links in my posts. To say I am a little frustrated is an understatement.  So… when I came across a blog post on The Computery , I figured I would give Windows Live Writer a try.  After downloading the Windows update files, it wanted me to sign in to an Instant Messenger account {I cancelled that out}, and also wanted to install a Bing Toolbar {I didn’t do that either}, but now it seems to be behaving. I just added the link to The Computery above, and it couldn’t have been easier!  At this point I have to say I am a happy camper with this change. PS ~ Stay tuned to see how this… …turned into this. PSS ~ The top photo was a photo straight from my computer, uploaded into Live Writer, and then edited to round the corners and to add the watermark.  What do you think?...

I am super excited to try this new pattern from Ellie Inspired .  The Ayano is such a fun, flirty dress I am sure both Ms. Diva and Ms. T will adore having serveral of them to wear.  As an added bonus, the proceeds from the purchase of this pattern is going to Samaritan's Purse  relief efforts in Japan.  As of today, over $500 have been raised! ~Click here to Order~

The quilt top has gone from this sneak peak shot... To this... I love the orange silky fabric and the fun pleated trim I found at Hobby Lobby... The fabrics used in this quilt top are Fresh Flowers from Moda .  This entire quilt top was pieced together using a Jelly Roll, and there is still fabric left over to add a piecing strip to the quilt back.

Linking up with... Wordless Wednesday W.W. at Crazy about My Baybah Welcome Wednesday Blog Hop at Frugal Invitation The Motherhood Project at Simply Modern Mom

I found a wonderful fellow sewer's blog at The Other Side of Me... and she is hosting a wonderful fabric and quilting book giveaway.  Check out the colors of these fabrics!  Head on over there to enter for a chance to win.    

  {Photo from Silhouette Blog } Here is another chance for you to enter to win your very own Silhouette machine.  You can enter the giveaway at The DIY Showoff Blog through Wednesday {March 23rd}.   Check out the Silhouette Blog for new projects, products, and freebies! ~Kimberlee

  I want to thank everyone that took the time to stop by and leave comments!  Thank you!!!!!   Our winner is comment 2:   Congratulations Lindsay! You can visit Lindsay at her blog: Lindsay Writes...   ~ Kimberlee