RASmataz

Moving to a New Web Address

2008-10-14T18:19:00.003-05:00

I'm moving my blog to a new web address. I wanted to have an address which matched my name better.

So, here it is:
http://www.rebecka-rasmataz.blogspot.com/

Since I am a fairly new blogger I decided to do it before I had too many more entries.

Rebecka

THANK YOU SO MUCH KATA!!

2008-09-26T17:23:00.006-05:00

Today when I got home from work I opened my mailbox to find a package from Hungary. I was so excited! Each day since I received an email from Linda with the Bag/Bucket Swap, I couldn't wait to get home to check the mail. My package is from Kata.

Look what Kata made for me. I LOVE MY GIFTS!!! She made a bucket, which is going to be perfect for me to get organized. Here are photos of the 4 sides of the bucket. She used her embroidery machine on the pockets. My bucket is made out of denim and she used 9 patch squares on the sides. And, on the bottom Kata quilted flowers. Great details. I can't tell you how much I love it.

I love sewing
A Sewing Machine
Thread

Quilting Bee

Then, Kata included an embroidered piece made by her Mom. In my note from Kata, she told me this is traditional Hungarian embroidery. Absolutely colorful and perfect. Thank you Kata's Mom for the special gift. I will treasure it.

Beauty So Close to Home

2008-09-21T20:34:00.007-05:00

It has been a long time coming but the nursery a few blocks from our home finally finished their waterfall. Campbell's Garden Center does fabulous work. We are lucky to live so close to enjoy their landscaping design.

Just outside my front door is our hydrangea bush. In the Spring and the Summer, it has beautiful white flowers and in the fall the flowers turn a dark pink. I love the colors the bush produces this time of year.

It's Not too Early to Think of Christmas

2008-09-18T20:04:00.002-05:00

Connie and Kate are my models for new Christmas Aprons.

When I was in Georgia visiting my sister, I found this Christmas panel from Mary Engelbreit's collection at Beaver Creek Quilt Company. The panel is from the Isn't Christmas Jolly line by Moda. I used the large portion of the panel to make an adult apron. The three smaller panels can be used for quilt labels, trim or on a child's apron, like I did. The panel also has red polka dots and if you cut carefully you can use the dots for trim.

Now on to my next Christmas project. I'm using Jelly Rolls to make a Christmas quilt from...yes...the same collection of Mary Engelbreit's Isn't Christmas Jolly. This will be the first time I've worked with the jelly rolls and I'm looking forward to this project.

Sept. Guild Meeting & Wedding Shower Centerpieces

2008-09-13T15:32:00.010-05:00

This week was the first program for the Lincoln Quilter's Guild 2008-2009. Our guest speaker was Mary Sue Suit from Sidney, Nebraska. In the photo, Mary Sue is pictured with "Sawdust" which was juried into IQS Houston Quilt Festival in Fall 2007 and she won 1st place. Mary says when she is designing a quilt she starts in the middle of the quilt, works until her fabric runs out and then that is when she decides the quilt is done. LOL Mary works a lot with geometry and triangles. Her work is amazing.

This is Mary Sue's Nebraska quilt.

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The guild is also selling raffle tickets for Habitat for Humanity. This batik quilt and two other smaller quilts will find homes to the winning tickets in October.

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My friend Joann asked me to make centerpieces for her sister Sam's wedding shower. The cake centerpieces are make from 2 bath towels (base), 3 hand towels (middle), and 2 washclothes (top). I made ribbon flowers and added leaves. Sam's wedding colors are a burnt orange and brown.

My Bag Is Complete

2008-09-07T15:34:00.004-05:00

The bag I made for Linda's All Stiched Up, Bag/Bucket Swap is completed and on its way to Bonnie in Texas. I used The Miss Benson pattern from Purse Strings. I changed the handles and the closure. Bonnie asked for reds and neutrals.

Georgia on My Mind

2008-09-07T14:07:00.008-05:00

I had a fantastic time in beautiful, green Georgia. I love how the vines grow on the trees. I have been told the vines don't hurt the trees.

We landed in Atlanta and rode the train to the luggage pick-up. Here are my sisters, Nancy and Connie. My sister, Kristine, and her family, Blaine, Heather and Dustin, live in Canton, GA.

During our visit we went shopping in Blue Ridge, GA.

We found the cutest shop called, SSSHINEY BAUBLES. This shop has unique clothing and jewelry...lots of fun shopping there. If you visit, plan on spending a lot of time there.

One of my favorite places to have breakfast is at The Flying Biscuit. I saw a documentary on PBS about biscuits, and they highlighted this restaurant. The Flying Biscuit, of course, has great biscuits and a wonderful atmosphere.

We had a pizza night where we each made our own pizzas. My sister, Kristine, was clearly the winner for being the most creative.

I got a window seat on the way home. I thought this view of the clouds was pretty neat.

Going to the Fair

2008-08-23T18:31:00.008-05:00

The Nebraska State Fair is moving from Lincoln to Grand Island after next year's fair season. I've been going to the State Fair in Lincoln since I was a little girl, and it's one of my favorite things to do. Today Conan and I went to the Fair and here are my highlights of this year's Fair.

Every year, I just love seeing the baby chicks in the UNL Birthing Center.

I couldn't resist this sleeping baby goat and I couldn't believe it could sleep with all the other babies running around it.

Who says llamas aren't cute.

These ducks are the "Puddle Jumpers."

Cabela's "Dock Dogs."

Dana Kunze, Pirates of the Caribbean High Dive Show

There were marching bands every fifteen minutes.

My niece, Kaley, received a Blue Ribbon on her quilt entry that she worked reeealy hard on.

This was a pencil drawing that looked like a photo! It was drawn by a fifteen year old 4-H'r. It was amazing.

This is an open class, mixed media, collage.

A black and white photograph that received Best in Show.

The Grand Champion in the quilt exhibit.

These were other quilts that I thought were colorful and interesting...my favorites.

Planning My Trip to Georgia

2008-08-21T19:50:00.005-05:00

Next week, two of my sisters and I are going to visit our sister in Georgia. This will be my second trip there, and I'm looking forward to it. We're going to be there for five days, with nothing really planned while we're there. We'll be winging it. I made a Charming Handbag for my sister in Georgia. It was from the Bend-the-Rules Sewing book.

Our neighbor's Hibiscus flowers are blooming and I just love them. Actually three of our neighbors have them and each have plants with different colors, white, pink and red.

My Bunnies

2008-08-15T22:46:00.000-05:00

Just a short clip of my bunnies.

A Busy Week

2008-08-10T19:45:00.012-05:00

This is going to be a long blog entry because I've had a busy week and tonight is my first time to write.

First of all, I wanted to tease you with a photo of my bag for the Bag/Bucket Swap. I was really working hard on my bag, but now I'm at a stand still because I want to put in a zipper and I have to figure out how to do it.
On Tuesday of last week, I went to the Bernina Club Sew and we had some talented artists put on a presentation called, Converging into Cornflowers. The talented artists were: Elaine Johnson, Elizabeth Sterns, Judy Bucklin Lane, Lois Wilson, Margrethe Ahlschwede, Marty Eischeid, and Zita Schneider.

They're going to have a fabric art exhibit August 21st through September 18th at the Bernina Sewing Studio in Lincoln, Nebraska.

Their works were still in the creation stages and I loved hearing about their ideas of what they were doing and what they were going to do. Their thought processes were so interesting. I can't wait to see the finished projects.

On Friday night I took my niece and nephew to the Lancaster County Fair and we had a great time. We watched the Bunny Dress Up Contest and the winner was a bunny dressed up like Snoopy.

The Bunny dressed up like a pig was also adorable.
Next we watched the hay hauling contest where teams of three load a pick up with forty-two hay bales, drive an obstacle course and then unload the pick up and re-stack the hay. The team with the fastest time wins. It's always well attended each year.
Daryl's Racing Pigs are a staple at the fair. Daryl chose our fair to train his twenty-four day old pigs and they were so cute. We couldn't cheer, because it would scare them, so we could only clap.

Then the experienced pigs raced and we could cheer as loud as we wanted to for them.
As the sky turned dark, we checked out the rides with their colorful lights.

As a former 4-H'r, I love all the excitement of the fair and can't wait for the Nebraska State Fair to start.

Today was the Sandall reunion and we had a great turn out. I was happy to have my center pieces completed and displayed on the tables. There were about two hundred relatives there and everyone had fun celebrating their Swedish heritage.

Dala horses made by children out of paper mache hung from the ceiling.

A Day in Omaha

2008-07-27T19:41:00.009-05:00

Conan and I went on a date today. We saw the new Batman movie, Dark Knight, at the IMAX theater in Council Bluffs. It was fantastic!

We did some shopping in the Old Market in Omaha. I had a fun time window shopping and checking out some of the little shops and galleries.

Nouvelle Eve

We had lunch at Twisted Fork. It was delicious. I loved how the restaurant was decorated.

We finished off the afternoon with a boat ride at the Riverfront. You can check out all the pics and video.

Home Town Visit

2008-07-26T20:59:00.022-05:00

I drove to York today to spend the day with Kaley for a full day of sewing. I had to take some time to admire their three kittens.

Kaley holding Calico.

Derek holding Socks.

Dawson & Nancy Drew

Kaley & I then went out to my parents' farm to work on sewing projects. Kaley is working on getting the binding on her 4-H quilt. Some other projects we worked on were a dress and pillow cases.

Kaley sewing

With all the sewing that got done, we took a break and went into Bradshaw to go to Community Days. The Volunteer Fire Department was putting on a barbecue, there were custom cars on display as well.

My dad looking at the cleanest engine I've ever seen!

But I was most impressed with the Volunteer Fire Department's vehicles and displays. The Volunteer Chief has made this department his passion. There are sixteen firefighters and a rescue unit with paramedics.

They have two trucks and the newest one has a special device mounted towards the front of the truck that can be used to put out grass fires as it drives along the road.

One of their original trucks on display.

Careful Editing

2008-07-24T10:07:00.012-05:00

Last night was great because you see, I'm a reality TV junkie. The top show on my list is Project Runway. I love to see the creations the designers come up with for each of the challenges. Last night I learned an important lesson, CAREFUL EDITING. On the show, Leanne almost got sent home because she had so many ideas and she used them all on one dress. Of course the judges didn't like it. I have that problem myself. I have too many ideas.

I'm making something (it's a secret) and I am going to use the lesson I learned last night, careful editing. Don't put all of your ideas into one project.

One more thing...

I'm also excited because I joined a Bag/Bucket Swap from Linda's Blog, All Stitched Up. I have my swap partner's name and her suggestions, but I have to keep it a secret. I'll tease you later with some of my ideas. I've decided on the pattern for my bag, but I'm not sure about the fabrics yet. If you want to see more details of the swap hop over to Linda's blog.

Placemats and Napkins From My Swap Partner

2008-07-15T19:50:00.016-05:00

Yesterday I went to the mailbox and...

I got a package from my swap partner, Sarah K., from the second Bend-the-Rules Sewing Swap. I opened the package and found four placements & napkins, and a recipe. The recipe is for a Leek Cheese Salmon Puff pastry.

I can't wait to try it. Sarah did a wonderful job on the entire project. They're made from linen and have a cool retro print.

I have them displayed on my sun room table and am happy to say, they look really great on this table! Thanks Sarah.

Conan's Videos on YouTube

2008-07-13T23:34:00.006-05:00

As some of you may know, I have some of my videos posted on YouTube.

Adventure Racing

2008-07-13T21:25:00.008-05:00

Team JECOMA's first race was the Run, Row, Rock & Roll Adventure Race on June 14th in Fairbury. After the race I felt like I had been run over by a Mack truck and was certain our team had come in last place. When the results were posted a few days later, I was pleasantly surprised to find out we had actually placed 10th out of 27 for the Short Course. Of course it took us 5 hours and 21 minutes to complete the course, so it was probably a good thing that we didn't sign up for the Long Course for our first race. You can check out the race schedule and results.

Our next race is the Cornhusker State Games Adventure Race on July 19th at Branched Oak Lake. I think we're going to be a lot more prepared for this one. I'll keep you posted.

Conan's Birthday Party

2008-07-13T21:15:00.007-05:00

The family gathered at Fireworks for a Birthday party for Conan and Renee (sister-in-law). These two little princesses have no shame when it comes to hamming it up for the camera. You can view the rest of the photos at Flickr.

Rebecka's Current Projects

2008-07-13T08:51:00.020-05:00

It's been a very busy month so far. Rebecka took part in the Bend-the-Rules Sewing Swap and created some wonderful placemats and napkins. She got them sent off to her swap partner, who posted pics and comments on her blog.

Rebecka is anxiously awaiting her placemats and napkins.

She also volunteered to make a handbag for a woman who took part in the first Bend-the-Rules Sewing Swap. The woman didn't receive a handbag from her partner, so Rebecka volunteered to be a "Pleated Bag Angel." She did a great job and got it sent off right away. As a matter of fact, Rebecka enjoyed making the handbag so much that she made another one for one of our nieces.

Rebecka is working on topiaries as well for an upcoming family reunion.

I realize I've included a lot on this first post, but thought I'd just group it all together to get it out there.

*RAS*mataz