Let's Get Acquainted Blog Hop!

I am so excited that it is finally my turn on the Let's get Acquainted Blog Hop put on by one of my favorite blogs Plum & June.

So if you are new to my blog - welcome! Thanks for taking a few moments to check out my corner of the blogosphere. I hope you will make a cup of hot chocolate (or tea or coffee...or whatever is your poison) and take a look around.

If you don't know me, here are a few things you should know:

I love pandas. Seriously, I am obsessed. I have a PandaCam app where I can watch a live feed of the San Diego Zoo Pandas 24/7. I own multiple panda things such as stuffed animals, usb drives, frames, figurines, etc. Heck, my car is even named panda - so what if it is red?

I am a self-taught quilter and have been quilting for about 4 years now. I've always admired quilting and woke up one day after I was newly married and decided I wanted to learn how to sew. I figured it couldn't be that hard. Clearly I was delusional. But I adopted Nina (my sewing machine) and haven't looked back.

My husband is in medical school which leaves me alone to quilt for hours on end. Yes he really is gone ALL THE TIME.

I love to read and will fangirl with you about a variety of books at a moment's notice. And if I haven't read it, I'll go read it and then fangirl with you about it.

Here are a few of my most recent/favorite projects:

If you are looking for a place to start, might I suggest...

Stockings for Kids -- Last year I ran a charity stocking drive for foster and kids and this page will link you to tons of stocking tutorials from some of your favorite bloggers -- perfect in time for the holidays!

Citrus Sails Quilt -- This was the first quilt I completed as a member of the Do.Good Stitches Charity Bee...being a member of this group is one of the highlights of my sewing time -- I really enjoy using my quilting abilities to help those in need.

Just Read! Kindle Case Tutorial -- A super easy and fast way to make a zipped, padded case for your kindle. Perfect gift idea =)

and of course there is always the quilts page to see some of my finished quilts.

ANYWAY.

I had an awesome fall table runner tutorial planned using some of this gorgeous fabric:

Yup, that's chicopee from Denyse Schmidt. At first I was on the fence about buying it, but I am so glad I did - it is so gorgeous in person, the photos really don't do it justice...in fact I am wishing I bought more than fat quarters.

But you're probably wondering my tutorial is.

I am almost finished with it but apparently all of the drains decided to no longer work in the house and I have spent my time trying to not flood the house, take photos for my tutorial, bake a pie (shameless plug: I am guest posting over at craftytammie for her Sew Full of Thanks blog series) and celebrate my husband's birthday (Surprise! You get new sewage pipes for your birthday!! Yay, just what you wanted!!).

Needless to say I didn't finish my tutorial. But don't cry. It will be available tomorrow. I promise. So come check it out. You won't regret it (aka there just *might* be something in it for you if you stop by...hint hint)

Edit to add: Tutorial is finished! Yay! Click here to go to the tutorial. And if you'd like to win a fat quarter bundle of the fabrics I used click here to enter my giveaway!

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And don't forget to visit the following blogs this week as part of this awesome blog hop

Cynthia from A Quilter by Night
Stephanie from Smalltown Dreamz
Cynthia from Quilt Doodle Doodles
Diane from From Blank Pages
Laura from Waffle Kisses
Mary Ann from Rocknquilts
Angela from Angela B
Jaime from Stitches to Sprinkles
Allegory from {sew} Allegorical
Alyce from Blossom Heart Quilts
Lynne from Bouts Choisis
Nat from Made in Home
Francine from Mocha Wild Child
Stacey from The Tilted Quilt

100 Day Hustle: Halfway

Well this will be the post in which you discover that I haven't accomplished many things that were on my original list *hangs head*

On my gigantic list, I've managed to finish:

A noodlehead clutch:

My 3x6 Bee blocks:

My kitchen rug:

And that's it. Although I have made significant progress on my quilts (they just need binding). I have been rather distracted as of late by my new cross stitch project and spending time with my dashing husband (who has been on family medicine rotation recently and all of a sudden has a somewhat normal schedule)

Perhaps I will amend my list to make it more manageable...(are you allowed to do that? Whatever, I'm doing it anyway.)

I will complete:

DGS Star Quilt
DGS Gray Quilt
Cancer Strip Quilt
Mosaic Quilt
Dessert of the Month
Kawaii Winter Wonderland Countdown to Xmas

I really want to complete:

Amy Butler Weekender Bag

Everything else I want to get done will be icing on the cake. Suggestions on how to stay focused on my list and not get distracted by other ideas are much appreciated.

Kawaii Winter Wonderland: AKA My Current Obsession

When I saw that the girls of Frosted Pumpkin Stitchery were doing a cross stitch Christmas Countdown, I knew I needed to participate. It was the perfect project to get me in the holiday spirit - so I went and got my supplies and started stitching in the evenings while my dashing husband studies for his exams.

I decided to use some silver sparkled aida cloth so I've changed the color scheme a bit to match, but so far I am loving the results...and yes, I did have to take out some (a lot) of stitches to change the outlines to green, but it was worth it.

I most likely will be posting pictures of my progress on instagram (username: PurplePandaQuilts) with the hashtag #kawaiixmas as well as on twitter (@PrplePandaQuilt) and I would love to see your progress when you decide to make one too!

If you are looking for a perfect holiday project - this is it. And the pattern is on sale for only 10 dollars until November 10th.

Scenes from the Weekend (a few days late)

**I intended to post this on Monday morning, but alas due to the negativity online from the Presidential Election, I decided to protect my sanity by avoiding all forms of social media (which led me to really just avoiding my computer) until after the election. So pretend you read this on Monday.**

This past weekend was my dashing husband's birthday (which also happens to be the anniversary of the day he proposed so many years ago), so to celebrate we spent a significant amount of time in the snowy Blue Ridge Mountains. It was a nice and relaxing getaway that gave us a much needed break...and a chance to use my new tripod.