Grow Your Blog

Welcome to the 3rd Annual Grow Your Blog Party!

Special thanks to Vicki at 2 Bags Full for throwing this wonderful blogging bash.
Over 400 blogs are participating today. WOW!
Thank you for all of the work you do behind the scenes, Vicki!

Thank you for visiting! (You may click on any photo for a larger image.)

About Me

My name is Renee. I am 43-years-old and live relatively close to Portland, Oregon.

My best friend is my wonderful hubby of 20+ years.  I am so blessed to have him in my life.

Our lives revolve around our 2 boys.

My nearly 18-year-old is nicknamed Monkey.  (I am still coming to terms with the knowledge he will be graduating and off to college this year.)

My 15-year-old is nicknamed Mutt, but only on this blog.  (It was his choice of a nickname, but it never really took.)

My Hobbies and Favorite Things

Crazy quilting is my passion.
Quilting that includes embroidery and expects wonky corners?! That fits me perfectly!

I really enjoy cross-stitching and embroidery in general.  

And, I am striving to improve my sewing skills (check back on January 30th to see...)
I love hearts, flowers, butterflies, birds, trees, landscapes and embroidered spiders.
My favorite color varies daily. I love pinks, blues, yellows, greens, browns, jewel tones...

New Things I Tried in 2014

This is the purse I have been using for almost a year now.  It is one of a couple of crazy quilted purses I made from my own designs last year.
There are areas I would improve in the future, but it was a great learning experience
and I think each purse turned out cute!

I made my first county fair entries and was pleasantly surprised
to learn they both won blue ribbons!
I hope to make these entries an annual tradition.

I finally gathered my courage and attempted using a sew-in purse frame.
(I love making these now!)

I also made my first crazy quilted postcard, my first pin cushions and my first mug rugs.
Pictures and links to the posts are on my 2014 Finishes page.

I even joined my first Linky Party for a Halloween Ornament Exchange
organized by Kim at Wisdom with Needle and Thread.
If she hosts another this year, I will be joining the fun again!

New Things I Plan to Do in 2015

Reminder: You may click any photo for a larger image.

This year, I will participate in my first quilting blog hop.  

When Madame Samm at Sew We Quilt announced the We Support You Blog Hop to support our sisters battling breast cancer, I simply had to sign up.  The hop begins on January 29th and I will reveal my project on January 30th.  It has been in the works since the day after Thanksgiving and I am very pleased with how the project is turning out. I fear I may be hooked. I signed up for 2 more blog hops at Sew We Quilt!

This year, I plan to make enough items to stock my Etsy store. I opened Hand Stitched Treasure last year with one little item that expired in December.  This year, I plan to make the shop a bigger priority.  This under-the-sea themed embroidery piece is part of the project I am currently creating.

Although I finished NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) once, I was not happy with what I wrote.  This year, I would like my hubby's Christmas gifts to include a rough draft of my first novel.

In 2013, I participated in a Winter/Christmas Do Your Block Round Robin through Crazy Quilting International.
Last year, I began making a wall quilt with the blocks
and I plan to finish it this year.
The ladies that embellished these blocks for me did such
a lovely job! (I stitched their names in beneath
the blocks they embellished.)

If time allows, I will also begin putting my
Heart Do Your Block Round Robin blocks together.
First, I need to embellish the E.
More beautiful work by more amazing ladies.
I feel quite blessed.

Over the past couple of years, I swapped crazy quilted "snowballs" with members of Crazy Quilting International.  This year, I plan to make a wall quilt with my fabulous winter/snowman collection.
I plan to swap more snowballs to begin a Halloween collection.

Thanks to other bloggers that participated in the 2014 Grow Your Blog Party, I discovered Heaven and Earth Designs. I fell in love with
the freebie chart of Santa and the Mouse.
I plan to finish this little ornament this year so I can start on another fabulous chart I purchased from HAED.

I also need to finish up the 8 remaining blocks from the Crazy Quilt Journal Project 2013 (CQJP 2013).  And, I have 5 more blocks to make to complete my CQJP 2014 projects.

I plan to add more finishes to the "My Crazy Quilt/Embroidery Projects" board I created on Pinterest.

In addition to all of that, I want to train to walk a half marathon this year.
And, I need to compile a cookbook to make family get-togethers a bit easier.
(I am a bit of a nightmare as a dinner guest. Not being able to eat gluten, corn, rice, eggs, yeast, dairy, shellfish, some nuts, pineapple, mushrooms and a slew of other foods makes meal planning a bit tricky for some reason...)

Most importantly, I look forward to making more wonderful friends
here in the world of blogging!

Thank you so much for visiting. Your comments brighten my day!
Renee

UPDATED: I would like to thank Susan for letting me know some of you are having problems with the comment section of my blog. Please feel free to contact me directly HERE.
Thank you!

3rd Annual Grow Your Blog Party at 2 Bags Full on January 25th

Vicki at 2 Bags Full is hosting her 3rd annual Grow Your Blog Party.

This year, the blogs participating will also include a list of up to 3 crafts or hobbies that each blog is primarily associated with, so readers can more easily find blogs that meet their interests.

What is a Grow Your Blog Party?

Everyone participating in this event will make a post on their blog on January 25th that introduces themselves and shares their interests, crafts, or hobbies.

Why participate?

This is a great way to increase the number of people following your blog.

AND

This is a great way to discover new blogs that spark your interest and inspire you.

How do I participate and/or what do I have to do?

To learn more about the 2015 Grow Your Blog Party, hop on over to 2 Bags Full sign-up post (just click HERE) and read all about it.  

If you decide you want to participate, leave a comment on the sign-up post including all of the information Vicki requested for the big day. 

When is the last day to sign-up?

January 17th is the sign-up deadline.

What if I missed the sign-up deadline?

If you did not sign-up, you may still join in the fun!  

Just mark your calendar for January 25th and visit Vicki's blog, 2 Bags Full - just click HERE. 

Visit the blogs and leave a comment.  Last year, some people that missed the deadline left a link to their own blog in the comments of the blogs they visited.  That allowed the blog owner to check out the reader's blog.  

Personally, if someone took the time to comment, I clicked on their profile name and if the person that left a comment had a blog, I visited it before continuing down the list Vicki so kindly provided on the day of the Blog Party.

Will there be giveaways?

Participating bloggers may chose to offer a giveaway or not.  It is my understanding that last year roughly half of the blogs had a giveaway. The blogs that do offer giveaways this year will be announcing the winners on February 15th.

What are my thoughts from last year?

This event was a wonderful way to get to know more members of the blogging community. 

Last year, I discovered a couple of very inspiring blogs.  Through those blogs, I discovered more fun events in the blogging world.

I also discovered at least 3 blogs working on gorgeous, massive cross-stitching projects.  That is how I discovered Heaven and Earth Designs and was able to begin working on the Santa and the Mouse Freebie Ornament Chart provided on their site. 

I wonder what wonderful things I will discover this year...

CQJP 2014 February Block Pieced

Oops!  I was so excited to start stitching that I forgot to take a picture of my February CQJP 2014 Block first.  Luckily, you can still see what the "before" picture looks like.

Now, I am off to try working on it a more!

If you are new to my blog and have left a comment on my Grow Your Blog Party 2014 post and I have not replied, I hope to soon.  My laptop died last year, so I am sharing our PC with my hubby and our boys.  As time allows, I am enjoying a visit to each person's blog(s) before replying to their comments.  I am enjoying each visit so much, I do not want to rush.  I look forward to "meeting" you all and appreciate your comments so much.

Hugs,
Renee

Grow Your Blog

I would like to thank Vicki at 2 Bags Full for hosting the Grow Your Blog Party.  I can only imagine the amount of time she puts in to this event...  Thank you, Vicki!  (I cannot wait to learn more about her Pink Scarf Project.)

I would also like to thank Elizabeth at Sew In Love for letting me know about this blog party.  (If you have visited her site, be forewarned, her stitching is gorgeous.)

As for me... My name is Renee Younger, I am 42 and live in Oregon.  I am married to a wonderful man and we have been blessed with two wonderful children.  One is nearly 17 and has sported the nickname "Monkey" nearly 16 of those years.  (Thankfully, he likes the nickname, as I use it as often as his birth name.)  My youngest just turned 14.  I have a nickname for him that I am not allowed to share (I fear it is too cutesy for his liking.)  When he was 5 or 6 he asked me to change his nickname to "Piggy" because he could oink so well.  I politely declined, explaining he would thank me when he was older.  (For the record, he has thanked me for that decision on more than one occasion.)  We decided his new nickname would be "Mutt" because he loves all types of dogs. I fear, I still use my personal nickname for him, except here on my blog.  (Poor kid.)  However, I used the boys' nicknames for the url for my blog; thus,  monkeyandmutt.blogspot.com.

Here is a recent picture of me.  I apologize because it is blurry.  I tend to be our family photographer, so I escape the camera lens most of the time. However, over Christmas, my hubby took a couple of pictures of me and this is the least blurry of the two. (We'll blame my camera...)

This blog began as a way for me to hold myself accountable for finishing up some of my projects.  I even listed weekly goals.  Perhaps I should take that habit back up ~ lol!  Now, it is mostly my way of sharing crazy quilting.

Things I love:
Cooking ~ This has been both a blessing and a curse this past year.  After several months of illness and lots of normal tests that left my doctor baffled, I was referred to a naturopath and discovered food was the likely culprit.  On the positive side, eliminating gluten, dairy, eggs, most grains, sugar, honey, beef, pork, chocolate, and ~gasp~ coffee from one's diet is definitely one way to shed some pounds.  The Internet is an amazing source for hunting down new recipes and learning about substitutions to tweak recipes so I can eat them.  (Although, I will admit, on the days this feels particularly challenging I can be found humming Monty Python's song, "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life."  I think I will adopt it as my theme song for the year ~ lol!)

Running ~ I love running.  Due to a foot injury, I have not been at it for about a year.  (I even completed the Warrior Dash in 2012 with my eldest son, sister-in-law and best friend from college.  They were great about waiting for me to catch up so we could go through each obstacle together.  My husband cheered us on and played photographer.)   It is my hope to get back to running this year.  (I really do miss it, but I also have a confession. To be totally honest, I mentally mock myself during at least the first mile of every run.  I wonder why I am doing it, as I do not really enjoy the process.  However, by the end of a run, I am exhilarated and cannot wait for the next one.  My husband says I am a dork, but I am his dork, so it is okay.)

Writing ~ I love writing.  I actually finished the 50,000 word goal in NaNoWriMo in November of 2012.  Of course, that novel needs almost a complete do-over, so I hope to get that done this year.  (Hmmm... I really should go back to weekly goal setting...)  My husband likes to point out that my gift (or curse?) of verbosity comes in handy here.  (Verbose? Me?  Well, let's face it,  this post is already turning into a novella...)

Crazy Quilting ~ Over the past couple of years, crazy quilting has become my true passion.  If I go a few weeks without working on a crazy quilt block, I get grumpy.  I long for it.  However, I suppose as far as addictions go, this is a healthy one to have.

I stumbled upon the Crazy Quilting International Blog and joined their Yahoo! Groups almost two years ago. I have learned so much from the wonderful community there. (If you want to risk spending a couple of hours admiring some amazing eye candy, click on the link to their blog above ~ or on either of the CQJP links below!)

Last year, I committed to the Crazy Quilt Journal Project 2013 (CQJP 2013.)  I would love to say I finished, but I allowed myself to get stuck on my May block. (Yep.  I definitely need to get back to weekly goals.)  I decided to make this project one of landscape themed crazy quilt blocks.  When they are finished, I plan to put them into a quilt.  My mother-in-law would like me to enter it into the Northwest Quilting Expo in Portland in September. I am not so sure about that, but I am thrilled she likes my work.

In spite of my failure to finish last year, I signed up for CQJP 2014 and just finished my first block. I plan to make purses out of each of the blocks this year.  I may try to sell them at a Christmas bazaar.  Maybe.  I have been encouraged to try selling some of my crazy quilted projects through Etsy.com.  I have a tendency to second-guess my work; so, we'll see...

Blogging ~ As nice as it is to share my crazy quilting with my husband and my two boys, it is fun to have a place to share the projects I am working on with others that share my love for the craft.  I share photos of some projects as I go.  Others, I complete before I post.  (I find this motivates me to finish them before starting on something new!)  This year, I joined Pinterest, and I have shared photos of a few projects I made using ideas found there (one is seen in the photo to the left.) I have also added a few photos of my crazy quilt projects on a Pinterest board.  However, I think I prefer sharing here.  Perhaps this is because my favorite part of blogging has been making some great on-line friends over the past couple of years.

Crazy Quilting Projects:
So far this year, I have completed the CQI Winter/Christmas blocks for our round robin rotation and my CQJP 2014 January block (pictured here.)

Items I plan to share on my blog in the near future include:

1. A gift I am working on
2. The purse I plan to make with my CQJP 2014 January block
3. The 6 blocks I need to piece for the CQI Heart DYB Round Robin
4. My CQJP 2014 February block (which is not yet pieced and will likely be a test run of the block idea I have in mind for the Heart DYB round robin)
5. My block to embellish from the CQI Winter/Christmas DYB Round Robin
6. The wall hanging I plan to create with all of my CQI Winter/Christmas blocks
7. My CQJP 2013 May block (better late than never?!)
8. A crazy quilted hexagon to participate in my first swap with the World Wide Crazy Quilters Yahoo! Group

Thank you so much for stopping by!  Please feel free to leave a comment and include the name of your blog so I can stop by and visit.

Hugs,

Renee

The Grow Your Blog Party 2014

I would love to thank Elizabeth at Sew in Love for sharing information about the Grow Your Blog Party 2014.

The party is hosted by Vicki at 2 Bags Full.  CLICK HERE for more information.  The deadline to sign up to participate is January 15th.

Last year, I learned about this party the day of and I found a few wonderful blogs to follow. Some bloggers will be offering prizes.  (They are cooler than I am!)  It should be a fun event.

Wishing you all a fantastic week!

Hugs,
Renee