My new cash envelope system

My husband and I decided at the beginning of the year to get on a budget and save for the crazy stuff happening for us over the course of this year.  I've been a fan of Dave Ramsey and his Total Money Makeover plan for a while, and we're implementing a lot of his ideas.  We're trying out a cash envelope systems for a few of our budget categories.  Of course I had to craft them!

When I did a quick search on Etsy for Dave Ramsey-style cash envelope systems, there were so many to choose from!  I ended up getting the Magnetic Cash Envelope Pattern from tresmarias, along with a set of iron on labels.  I got the magnets from K & J Magentics, and I used fabric from the Acorn fabric line designed by Alice Kennedy for Timeless Treasures. 

I ended up making a little pouch for the envelopes with the left over fabric.  It doesn't *quite* fit, but oh well!  The categories I used are: Groceries, Pharmacy, Restaurants, Pet Sitting, Pet Food & Supplies, Hair, Dry Cleaning, Gifts & Christmas, Richard's Fun Money, and Beth's Fun Money.  I also got a Dollars and Cents Memo Book from Staples.  I ripped out the pages and put a page in each envelope to record the activity for each one.

2010 Designer Mystery BOM Blocks 9 and 10

This weekend I got two new blocks finished from the 2010 Designer Mystery Block of the Month sponsored by the Fat Quarter Shop.

Block Nine "Matching Ornaments" designed by Joanna Figueroa

Joanna Figueroa designed the fabric line used in the FQS 2011 Designer Mystery Block of the Month

Block Ten "All Tied Up with Pretty Red Tinsel" Designed by Polly Minick and Laurie Simpson

My first swap!

In April, I'm going to do my first swap!  Swaps have appeared on many sites, like Craftster and flickr groups, but the one I'm doing is hosted by AnneMarie at Gen X Quilters.

For this swap, I'll send in 12 fat quarters of Robert Kaufman's Kona Cotton Solids, and receive back 12 different colors.  I'm sure some people will use it for "stash building," but I've been actually looking forward to swapping since I lurked on the Craftster swap forums a couple years ago.  (Check out the photo galleries!)  I like the idea of picking out fabric and sending it away to AnneMarie, who will divvy up the goods and send them back to the participants.  I'm already excited about it!  Check out all the great colors Kona comes in here: Sew Fresh Fabrics.

Block-a-Palooza First Round of Blocks

I'm participating in this Quilt-Along.  It's my first quilt-along, and I'm behind schedule.  Oh well.  Here's what I've done!

Block 1: Flying Over Fields by John Adams Quilt Dad

Block 2: Word Search by Elizabeth Hartman from Oh Fransson!

Block 3: Shoofly Geese by Amanda Sasikirana from sasikirana handmade

Block 4: Gingham Pinwheel by Cherri House from Cherry House Quilts (oops, skipped this one!)

Block 5: Geesy McNinepatch by Kaye Prince from Miss Print

Block 6: You Are Here by Monica Solorio-Snow from Happy Zombie

Block 7: Orange you glad I chose a nine patch by Heather Bostic from House of a la Mode

Block 8: Basket of Geese by Angela Yosten from Moda Home Mom

Block 9: Lemonade Stand by Scott Hansen from Blue Nickel Studios

And here's my Rectangle Reverie, a design from Monica Solorio-Snow from Happy Zombie.  Her link is above.  I'm almost done, but I wanted to share what I have now.