On Marriage

Derrick and I have been married a little less than three weeks, and it's been nothing short of amazing.

Nothing has changed. We still live in the same home together. We still love each other unconditionally. We still play video games and bicker about one of us waiting for the other in Super Mario Bro's U. At times we're considerate, at times we're selfish. The bottom line is we love each other, we are in love with each other, and we've made a commitment to stay with each other through thick and thin for the rest of our lives.

Marriage is beautiful.

Everyone, and I mean EVERYONE, asks us if anything has changed, if we feel any different, and how married life is. We discussed it, and at times there's a piece of each of us that feels slightly different. It's almost as if we love each other a little bit differently, but still just as much as we did before we were married. It's difficult to explain, almost magical, complete bliss.

Many people gave us well wishes, and marriage advice, but one piece of advice that really resonated with us was; "When you fight, fight with love and respect. If that doesn't work, fight naked."

Sometimes in the thick of things it's hard to remember you love this person more than any other person on the planet. When you are disagreeing, disagree with respect for the other person. Though you may not understand what they're fighting for, respect their opinion, respect them as your husband/wife. As the advice says, if it doesn't work, just fight naked!

Enjoy the rest of these photos, some professional, some not, from our wedding.

I love this sweet photo of my Step Dad and I just before walking down the aisle.

Tuxter the penguin attended our reception!

Candid moment of my mom and I sharing the excitement for my new marriage

~Hoppi

Post-Wedding Craziness and The Next Few Days

The day after the wedding Derrick and I had a ton of fun putting our new stuff together while Derrick drank beer and watched {and took a million photos}.

Why yes, that is an unfinished keg of beer behind me that Derrick and I finished in one day.

She's a beaut! 

I'm quite the handywoman if I do say so myself!

Those were the only photos we took, but we had a lot of stuff to organize and build. We are so blessed with such amazing friends and family! 

Over the next few days I'm going to be a little silent on here. I'll post photos of my progress, but not a whole lot of words. 

I have my very first vendor show on May 31st, and I'm working on a billion quilts/wood burned items for the show. To say I am incredibly excited is the understatement of the century.

Here is my progress thus far

I'm undecided as to whether I should add a border to this wall hanging/ accent quilt. What would you do if it were yours? 

Ooops, how did a picture of beer get in here!? Now that you all think know I'm a lush, I will add that I'm totally addicted to jelly roll quilts. I need to find some people in the area to have a jelly roll race with!

I'll be back tomorrow with more photos of my progress! Have any of you done craft shows before? What advice or tips do you have for newbie craft show vendors?

-Hoppi

Longest Month Ever

I'm back, and I'm MARRIED!

I know I took quite the extended break from blogging, but I haven't had a break from quilting or reading your blogs! Though I've been quiet for a long time, I have been reading a long with all of you!

We haven't gotten our photos back from the photographer yet, but here is a little preview;

For more of our preview go over and like me on Facebook! :)

The day was amazing! It was such fun wedding, and so beautiful. It was nice to finally see everything come together. I will have a full post on the wedding coming soon!

For now... I will FINALLY share our guest quilt with you!

I am so obsessed with this wall hanging. I love the colors, the photo of us, even the straight line quilting which I didn't think I would like. I read that simple quilting on a bold pattern makes it stand out more, and that is SO true in this case. Our guests used Micron scrap booking pens to sign the quilt. Maddie over at BAQS  gave me the idea to use them and they worked perfectly!

Our guests loved the idea of a quilt, and we love that it's on our wall and we look at it every day!

I didn't use a pattern for this quilt, I just kind of went with the flow and let the quilt come together on its own. It's a little wonky and I love it that way. I used Aurifil 50 wt Light Beige to piece and quilt... like butta. I'm so addicted to Aurifil, I can't even think about using other threads! I really need to try what else is out there, though!

My first vendor show is on the 31st, and soon I will share what I'm working on for the show!

~Mrs. Hatton ;)

Wedding Update

I haven't been so good and keeping up with those wedding Wednesday posts... I know, big shocker there. Here's what's been going on in my world for the past few days, wedding craft mayhem!  


Lots of wood burning and Mod Podging. Our apartment smells like a constant bonfire and I love it! Our dining room table has turned into wedding central and that is a-ok with me.


I LOVE wedding planning. Derrick and I have had a blast doing it all together and I can't believe our wedding is 3 weeks away. Where did the time go?! It feels like just yesterday I was announcing to the world that we had gotten engaged! I'm just as giddy about it all as the day that I wrote that post.

Being engaged is so fun, and being married will be wonderful!


I really couldn't ask for a better man to be by my side through all of this, he truly is my soul mate.


I'm sure the next few weeks are going to be crazy busy, but I will try to keep you updated on what I'm quilting!


-Hoppi

Sharing is caring

Recently I've been working on stuff I can't show you for one reason or another. Mostly because I'm making things for people who read this blog, also because I didn't want to reveal our guest quilt until the wedding...

Then I got drunk.


Ooops, I shared a picture on Instagram that had the quilt in the background. I'm not sure if anyone noticed, but since it's there I may as well share my progress. Head over to Insagram and follow me @hoppiquilts (I add everyone, unless you're some kind of creeper). I will be posting a progress picture of the quilt this morning!


I've also been working on my Hands 2 Help quilt. I had originally picked a fairly difficult pattern, spent about $90 on fabric (I really hope Derrick, the fiance, doesn't read this one), then completely scrapped the idea. I will be making this quilt in the future, possibly to sell, possibly for myself, we shall see. For this, however, I've decided to make a triangle quilt, something I have yet to do.

I'm getting all the info on how to make this quilt from The Sassy Quilter.

Tomorrow I will share the million wedding things I've been working on over the past two weeks. I'm going to be a Mrs. in 3.5 weeks, son!


Quilt on with your bad selves,
Hoppi

Stop Teaching Your Kids to be Dicks

No quilts today. I've finished a few things and I'll share them tomorrow or Sunday, but for now I need to cover an incredibly important topic: bullying.

Parents, you are leading your children down paths to being a dick.

Not all of you. Some of you are fucking awesome parents, you know who you are. Your kids are forming interests on their own, they're coming into themselves, they're bright, they're funny, they're kind hearted and loving and caring.

For the rest of you, your children are dicks, straight up horrible 8 (or whatever) year old douche bags.

I was bullied as a child. What did I do wrong?

When I was 9 I donated $100 (my entire life savings) to Hersey Children's Hospital because a friend had recently passed away from cancer (he was also 9).
I volunteered regularly, doing things for my community and people I didn't know.
I played video games.
I had the best Pokemon deck, and I actually knew how to play.
I would have watched Sailor Moon (and other anime) until my eyes bled if my mom let me.
I had (have) huge, frizzy, uncontrollable hair.
I was (and am) sensitive.
I took anyone and everyone under my wing.
I got really good grades.
I started college while I was still in high school, I was one of two people picked by the college for the program.
I acted in school plays.
I played soccer, pretty well too.
I was a cheerleader.
I was a caring child and I believed so strongly that everyone was inherently good.
I was bullied, to the point of tears, every day of my life until the day I graduated high school.

When I was 9 my nick name was frizz head. When I was 12 someone spread a rumor that I had a penis, that rumor stuck until senior year, most people thought it was a harmless joke in high school but it really did hurt my feelings. For the record, I have always had a vagina. When I was 14 someone spread a rumor that I had sex with a ton of guys, even though I hadn't even had my first kiss at that age and yes, I was most definitely a virgin. I was called every name in the book. I spent a lot of my time in the guidance counselors office because that was the only safe place I could escape the bullying, and teachers just stood idly by. It seemed to never end, until the summer after senior year when I finally was freed from the torment. School up until college was a living hell for me.

Now one of the most incredible, loving, kind hearted, brilliant, super funny, and amazing kids I know is going through some of the same stuff I went through as a kid, and no one, other than his parents, is doing a damn thing about it.

When will we as a society wake the fuck up?

Lead by example. Your children learn from you. They watch you, they listen to everything you say, they see everything you do.

Stop being a dick, and your kids will stop being dicks.


Be kind. Share your love with others. Radiate positivity, it won't just make others feel good, it will make you feel good, too.

Now go do something nice for someone!
~Hoppi

Monday Shmunday

Monday's used to be my favorite day of the week. Filled with new opportunities and new beginnings. I used to start over clean every week; start a new project, organize a closet, go to the gym bright and early. Now when I wake up on Monday's I just want to go back to sleep.

Quilting gives me that zest for life that I lack Monday through Friday 9-5 (more like 6:30-5 or 6 or 7 some nights...).

Quilting is really my passion. I feel that it's what I was put here to do. I'm here to quilt, and now I know it.  So I'm going to quilt, and I'm going to bring the joy of quilting to others.

That's right bitches, I'm breaking out into the world of teaching!!!! (insert giant smiley emoticon here)

I will be holding workshops sometime after the wedding, no date has been set yet, but I'm thinking June is a fabulous month to start being as though I have my first trade show in May post-wedding.

I'm very excited to share this with you all. Now I know I'm no Karen McTavish (not even close), Leah Day, Maddie Kertay, okay I could go on and on and on with the list of quilters that I admire, but I won't; however, I am Alyx Patterson and I'm pretty damn good at thread painting and making other women feel good about themselves. So that's what I'm going to do. I will be teaching workshops for women only, and hopefully, making them feel good about themselves through quilting.


I am so so so excited to embark on this next journey of my quilting career!!!!



Unfortunately I have no quilty pictures to share with you this week as what I'm working on is top secret for my eyes only, but here's a picture of a mason jar with glitter in it.

These are part of our centerpieces for the wedding! Huzzah!

Here is a photo of my dog. This will make everything better instantly. Yes she really is that cute IRL. 

Finally, a picture of my man crush. It is man crush Monday after all.

Now go quilt on with yo bad self!

~Hoppi

Have you seen my voice?

Finding my voice has been the hardest part of blogging, for me. I've had this blog for a little over a year, and before this, I had two others. I'm having a very hard time remaining true to myself and my voice through my blog. Especially when it comes to a quilt blog.


There's certain stereotypes attached to quilting; I'm not a grandma (hell, I'm not even a mother), I'm not Amish (though some of my neighbors may be), I don't consider myself to be a boring person or an introvert, anyone who knows me knows I'm certainly not a devout Christian (though I used to be and do have my own relationship with God).

Here is what I am; I am bright, I am colorful, I am funny, I am crude, I am a nerd, I cuss, I am raw. I say dude all the time. I say fuck, often. On a rare occasion, I like to drink until I puke. On a not so rare occasion, I like to drink one or two glasses of wine. I am smart, I graduated Cum Laude with a degree in Poli Sci, French, and Japanese. I lift weights and grunt like a man at the gym. I am an incredible cook. I am kind. I have a huge heart. I give back to my community. I'm a sales woman struggling to survive in a mans world. I have big boobs, get over it. I always put others before myself. I spoil my dog as if she were a child. I love babies. I love children. I live to spend time with my fiance, my soul mate, my better half, and my best friend, who all just so happen to be the same beautiful man.
On top of all of this, I create some seriously rad quilts. That's what you and I have in common. That's why you're here. You like my quilting. Not because you like me.


I'm taking this moment to let go of the fear that no one will read my blog if I let my true self shine through. If you don't want to read my blog, that's okay. If you're offended by anything I say on here, that's okay.

You don't have to like me to like my work.


And in a post to proclaim that I cannot find my voice, I have found it.

Wedding Wedn...errr Thursday

Wednesday totally got away from me this week. Work has been nuts, but I'm not going to tell you about it because this is my happy place.


Can you believe our wedding is 6 weeks away!?! It really feels like just yesterday we moved into our new place and got engaged, but at times it feels like years ago.

You all know I've been trying to print on fabric for about a week now. I tried, and tried, and tried, and it didn't work and didn't work and didn't work until... it worked.

 So here is the step by step list for how to print on fabric.

Firstly you need to get some Bubble Jet Set. Just go for the 32 oz, you're going to need it. Cover your fabric just enough so the whole piece is wet, don't over do it, this stuff isn't cheap. Now soak your fabric in the solution for 5 minutes and let dry.









Next, iron the fabric right side up on to the shiny side of a piece of freezer paper. Make the freezer paper slightly bigger than the size of the fabric. Seriously iron the shit out of the fabric. When I say iron the shit out of it, I really mean to iron the shit out of it. This is the reason why my first two tries didn't work out so well. I ironed for about 10 minutes. Just make sure you don't burn the fabric.










Now insert into your printer and print your beautiful self on that fabric. Fabulous.












This next step was the scariest step for me. (pictured to the left is one of the failed attempts at printing the photo) Rinse the fabric, then take a tiny bit of Bubble Jet Rinse in your hands and rub the fabric. Rinse thoroughly. Let air dry. If you're impatient like me, blow dry that sucker for 5 minutes on high.










Quilt that baby up! How beautiful is this? Seriously. I am awesome.















This is going to be the last picture of the guest quilt you'll get to see until after the wedding... I know, how disappointing of me. I want to leave some element of surprise for my guests! Don't worry, I'm working on some other things. Plus I'm almost done with the top, so I'll most likely finish the quilt tomorrow and be on with the next one.

Have you ever printed on fabric? Will you use my tutorial to make something F'ing awesome? Show me!

Quilt on,
Hoppi

Wedding Quilt Update!

As promised, I'm here with an update on our wedding quilt!

Not quite the update that I'd love to share, but an update none the less.

 I drew my layout, and did the math for the size I'd like it to be. I cut my squares but not my borders, which I'll probably just cut as I go.














  The first try at printing on fabric turned out okay, but my printer cut off a bit of the photo.

My second try at printing was a total disaster. I jammed my printer and had to pull out all the little threads that got stuck. Oops.

When you don't succeed try, try again.


I have to buy some more bubble jet set and I will try again. More on that to come, though. As soon as I figure this out I will write up a tutorial for you all so you can try it, too!



My H2H quilt is also in the works. It will be made for a woman, and I am SO excited about it. I am using another person's pattern for the first time and I can't wait! Check back for an update on that later this week!


For now, I'm off to play some Final Fantasy X remastered.

What have you been up to this week other than quilting?



Quilt on,
Hoppi