Leibster Blog Award

Ashley and Emily from the awesome blog, Frances Suzanne, nominated me for the Leibster Blog Award, which was super nice of them.  And I'm totally embarrassed to admit that it was almost two weeks ago and I'm just now getting around to thanking them and responding to the questions!  We've had some sickness, and more sickness and then a little more sickness.  We're finally starting to feel human again, thank goodness!  So I want to apologize to Ashley and Emily for the delay in response and say "Thanks!!" for the award :)
 

 So here's the description of the award:

"The Liebster Blog Award is an award given by bloggers to up and coming bloggers, most of whom have less than 200 followers (or have been blogging for less than 6 months). It is to show newer bloggers that they are appreciated, and to help spread the word about new blogs. It was created to promote appreciation and recognition among the blog world. Liebster translates to “dearest” (or favorite/best) in German. It is also known as the Love Blog Award."

 And here are the rules:
1. You must post 11 random things about yourself.
2. Answer the questions that the nominator set for you.


11 Random Things:

1. I love old sewing machines!  I have a Singer 201 from 1957 that I use nearly every time I sew.  I also have a couple Berninas from the early 1980s that I love dearly.

2. I think winter should end after December (can you tell I've got cabin fever??)!

3. I studied Industrial Design in college and loved it.  I started out interested in designing furniture, which I explored while I was in school, but ended up designing laptops for several years before Miss S was born.

4.  I'm 2nd of eight children in my family and one of four redheads!

5.  I've never had a cavity (due more to good luck than perfect dental hygiene :)

6. I've been sewing for as long as I can remember.  I received an old, metal sewing machine ( I can't remember what kind) for Christmas one year, and I went to town on it!  I remember sewing grass skirts (with real grass!) for my brothers and a grass door for a treehouse we built.

7. I'm a Mormon!

8.  I really love dill pickles.  They've been one of my favorite foods since I was old enough to ask for them.

9.  I don't like to travel much.  I'm kind of a homebody.  I used to have to travel to Asia every month or two for work, and while it was always interesting and sometimes fun, it cured me of the desire to travel :)

10. I'd rather do laundry than cook!

11. I'm kind of a fabricaholic...

 
 And now, here are the questions from Frances Suzanne: 

1. What are your top five ‘must-read’ blogs?  
Ooh, that's a tough one...there are so many great blogs out there...
 Little Betty:  She's got great style and is really good at seeing hidden potential in patterns
skirt as top:  Super talented and super nice
Five and Counting.....:  Nicole is constantly making amazing things for her five kids
No Big Dill:  She's got really creative ideas
craftinessisnotoptional:  Fun ideas and tutorials

 
2. Do you have a phobia? And if so – what is it?
Hmm, maybe rodents?  I'm pretty irrational when it comes to thinks like mice...


 3. What is your favorite fabric? This might be a certain designer’s look, or a particular style / texture you are drawn to....





Hmmm, I love cotton voile, especially the really finely woven, super silky ones.  I've loved the Free Spirit voiles that have come out in the past few years. There wonderful to sew with and the drape is so well suited to garment sewing.

4. What is your most tried and true pattern in your stash?

Actually, I think the best patterns I have in my stash are those taken from items of clothing I've purchased and loved the fit.  I have a tshirt pattern and a jeans pattern that I pulled from existing clothing, and have reproduced several times.  These are probably some of the most-frequently worn items in my wardrobe.

5. What is your dream job?
I kind of feel like I have the dream job right now :)  Life's not perfect, but I love taking care of my little girl and sewing during naptime...I don't think there's anything else I'd rather be doing.  Ask me again when she decides she's done with napping ;)
 
6. Share a tradition that you and your family enjoy.

We love going on long walks on summer evenings.  It's the easiest way for everyone to relax!


7. Name one thing sewing-related that you haven’t tried…but want to learn how to do.

I'm totally intimidated by sewing jackets for women.  They seem so hard to get right, but I'd love to learn from a great tutor.

8. What is your favorite month of the year and why?
I love May, because the weather is usually pleasantly warm, but it's still spring and everything is new.
 
9. If you had the opportunity to do a guest post, what series would you want to participate in….or, on which site would you like to guest post?
 Ooh, this is kind of hard.  I'm a little intimidated by the idea of guest posting, so I don't have a good answer for this question.

  10. Where do you get your sewing inspiration (be specific – for example: a particular pinterest board, blog, children’s retail, etc.)? 
 I'm generally inspired by fabrics.  It's usually in looking at my fabric stash or browsing a fabric store that I am inspired.



11. What has been your greatest “sewing find” to date?
 Maybe Oliver + S patterns...they're practically no-fail!  The styles, the fit, the instructions are all so good.


Now, there are a few more rules:

3. Create 11 questions for the people you nominate.
4. Choose 11 new blogs you love and link them in your post.
5. Please leave me a comment on this post with the URL to your Liebster post so I can learn more about you!

....but I'm going to break them.  I don't think I know of 11 new blogs that haven't already received the Leibster award.  I hope that's okay.

Thanks again to Ashley and Emily from Frances Suzanne for the award!  It's been fun trying to think of random things and answering all their questions!