Practicing

Hi there ...

I've been practicing my embroidery skills this weekend while doing a bit of traveling.  I figured I couldn't go five days without making something and didn't want to lug my machine and assorted accessories.  I saw this picture several weeks ago on Flickr and loved it and thought it would be a good project to bring along for the ride.  I decided to try the original design first (you can find it here).

Well, so far it is going pretty well. (I think ... this is my first embroidery project!) I wish I had brought along a smaller hoop to work with.  I'm using the dark grey perle from the Little Apples Perle Sampler kit on Bella White.  It's not as stark as black but will contrast well with whatever buttons end up on this.  I am also doing mine a little smaller than her original size.  (Mostly because I forgot to resize the picture! haha)  I definitely need to work on my circles but I'm enjoying the process.  Thanks to Clover &Violet for all the great stitch tutorials! :-)

That's all for now y'all!  Hope you've been having a great weekend.  :-)

Happy Sewing!

Hexagon Needle Book

Happy Weekend, y'all!

I joined a swap on Flickr where we made needle books for our secret swap partner and my swap partner requested turquoise as her main color.  I loved these hexagon books I made with the Keyka Lou swatch book cover patterns and I decided to adapt the pattern a bit to make my needle book cover.

I used a bunch of different prints for this and made the flap to match the hexagon it would cover.  I really liked the way it turned out and kind of wish that I didn't have to send it to someone else! ;-)

I used a piece of felt on the inside to stick needles, etc. through.  I added a few needles and pins for her as well as another little surprise in the pocket.

Here's the final package all set to mail ... it is probably half way to her by now! :-)

Happy Sewing!

Lovin it

Hi everyone!  I hope your week has ended well and that you're ready for one more hot July weekend!  :-)  (Personally, I am soooo over the triple digit heat!)

I had planned to share a needle book project with you tonight, but am having some issues with connecting my laptop a network while traveling this weekend.  Hopefully, I will get that worked out tomorrow and be able to get the pictures ready to share with you.

In the meantime, I just wanted to say that I am lovin' all the projects that have been shared so far on the July Stitch & Share Challenge post.  If you haven't clicked on the links, I'd encourage you to do so and say hello to those who stuck their neck out and shared something to inspire us! :-)  If you want to play along, there's still some time!

Happy Sewing! :-)

Dogwood Trail is Here!

Hey there y'all! Hope you are having a wonderful week :-)

I'm just stopping in for a minute to let you know that Dogwood Trail yardage is now available in our shop! (I'll be adding yardage to our Etsy store in the next 24 hours.)  Also, don't forget that all of our precuts are 15% off through Sunday as well!

Happy Sewing! :-)

Sew Lux Stitch & Share Challenge: Summer

Hey y'all!  Today I'm putting up our linky post for our July Stitch & Share Challenge.  I introduced the challenge several weeks ago here.  But here's the details again for you ...

The Sew Lux Stitch & Share Challenge

• On the first of every other month (odd months), we will post a challenge theme.  This may be a technique that should be used or a concept to base your project around.
• If a technique is to be used in your project, we'll share a step-by-step tutorial within the first week of the month to show you what to do just in case the technique is new to you.
• On the 27th of the month, we'll put up a special post for you to link your projects to.  This is the time to share on your blog about what you made.  If you don't have a blog, you can link to a Flickr photo.  This will make it easy for us to check out everyone's projects!  (A Few Rules: Make sure your project and your post is specific to this challenge and is not a giveaway/promotional post.  We'd love for you to link back to the challenge post as well and visit the other participants' project posts.)
• Each month, we'll select a random winner from participants who link up their project to win a $20 gift certificate to sewluxfabric.com.  You must link your project by the last day of the month to be entered for the random winner drawing.

For our first challenge, we're just going to give you a theme ... SUMMER!  Make a project that is inspired by whatever summer means to you - it can be a block, a mug rug, a quilt, a bag, whatever - it just has to include fabric and be made by YOU! :-)

Remember to post a link to your project by August 1st to be eligible for the gift certificate drawing!  :-)  Please email us if you have any questions - sewlux (at) gmail (dot) com.

Happy Sewing! :-)

Free FQ Winner + Other Randomness

Hi again!  We wrapped up another week of the Summer Spectacular on Sunday, which means we have another free FQ promo winner ... this time it is Jacqueline W!  Congrats :-)

This is our last week of the Summer Spectacular promotions and all precuts are 15% off now through July 31st!

Also, on Wednesday, I will post the link to add your summer-inspired projects for our first Stitch & Share Challenge!  Read more about the challenge here.  Hope you'll join us!

And speaking of summer projects, have you seen this awesome beach bag pattern from Clover & Violet?

(Photo by Clover & Violet)

Love that pinwheel stripe!

Happy Sewing! :-)

Seuss

Hi all!  There went another week ...  Goodness gracious!  :-)  It's been over 100 degrees here ... stinkin' hot, I tell ya.  I hope you are all staying nice and cool.

Earlier this week, I finished up a quilt for a friend of mine.  She's got better things to do ... mainly, enjoy taking care of her long awaited sweet baby!  So, I offered to quilt and bind her latest Turning 20 adventure ... a Dr. Seuss quilt.

Here's the whole thing ...

I did some (mostly) straight line quilting and I think it really suited this quilt well.  And it crinkled up nice after a wash and tumble.

I pieced the back and got it on there straight!  woot woot!  That blue & red dot print can really mess with your eyes!  ;-)

And a striped binding. LOVE a striped binding!

Thanks, D, for letting me finish this up for you ... now I suppose I should quilt the tops hanging in my closet! ;-)

What have y'all been working on?  Hope you'll share a summer project with us later this week!

Happy Sewing!

Customer Spotlight: Amy

Hiya!  I didn't get to my Swoon block today, but that is because I babysat a sweet little man so I had a good excuse.  :-)

I wanted to share a fun Sugar Pop quilt that was made by a customer named Amy of Stitchery Dickory Doc.  (How fun is that for a blog name!?)  Here's the quilt she made ...

You can read more about it here on her blog. If you love it, you can also buy the pattern from her - its called "Fruit by the Foot" and is available in her shop.  How fun would this be in some Countdown to Christmas?

Thanks for sharing your quilt with us Amy!  Happy Sewing!  :-)

Fat Quarter Frenzy + Winners

Happy Monday, y'all!

This week, we're kicking off with another Summer Spectacular sale ... this week is Buy 6 FQ and Get 1 Free.  Check it out here and choose your own bundle.  Mix & match from all our prints and there's no limit ... one free for every six purchased! :-)

Also, I realized I forgot to post the Free FQ winner from the other week, so I will do it here along with last week's winner ... drum roll, please ...

Congrats to Judith S. and Tiffany S. who each won a free FQ from our weekly drawing in the month of July so far!  Make sure you ladies check your email!

Speaking of fat quarters, I've got two I'm getting ready to test out a Swoon block with ... see y'all tomorrow!  Who can guess which collection of fabric I'll be using?  LOL

Happy Sewing!

Gettin' Ditty With It

Hey there!  Sorry I've been a sporadic blogger this past week.  It turned out to be a lot busier of a week than I anticipated!  I'm sure you all know how that goes. 

Anywho, I had a mini meltdown on Monday when my Bernina stopped sewing mid-stitch.  OMG.  When a borrowed foot pedal didn't do the trick, I hauled it to the dealer and three days later got the call that she was all better.  (I might have done a little moaning and groaning in the interim similar to that of my husband while his PS3 was out for service.)  Apparently, the electrical wire to the motor somehow got disconnected and just needed to be re-soldered.  Fortunately, my trust Pfaff played nice when I brought her out of hibernation ...

She's seen better days for sure.  But she was sweet and I nearly finished piecing a quilt top with her.  (More on that later this week.)

But the Bernina is definitely my favorite and she's back in business.  Lots of fun with zippers and curved pieces in the last 24 hours.  Exhibit A ...

I made 9 Keyka Lou Ditty bags since yesterday for my mom to take a Dulcimer event where she'll be vending her Little Quilts and other assorted items.  And in case you're wondering, while the pattern is really great and easy to follow, I did stab myself a few too many times with all the required pinning. ;-)  I also discovered that the new pen I was using to trace darts disappeared under the iron's heat.  This is great ... if you're ironing after you've sewn the darts. Whoops!

I made them in mostly music fabric due to the nature of the customers they'll likely go to, but I did sneak in a few "non-music" ones.  I used Spirit Panache in the one of them.

And just in case I hadn't made enough of a mess in my sewing room gettin' ditty with it, I hauled out some stamping supplies and made some "just a note" card sets to sell at the event as well.  I used a sheet music stamp in the background and my husband just rolled his eyes at the subtle pun.  LOL

Well, that's been my week ... minus a few things that will be coming soon.  ;-)

Don't forget that you can still save on Christmas and patterns through tomorrow ... I'll be adjusting prices very late Sunday night and prepping the site for Buy 6, Get 1 Free FQs starting Monday!  And, we've even had to add some Summer House to the Last Chance page already ... gasp!

Happy Sewing!

Don't Judge ...

Just a little excited to see this stuff in person ...

Ridiculous, right?!  Please don't judge me ...

Happy Sewing! :-)

Stitch and Share Inspiration

Hey there!  I hope everyone is having a great week!  :-)  I can't believe we are nearly half way through July already ... can you?

Two weeks ago, I introduced our Sew Lux Stitch and Share Challenge.  This month's theme is "summer."  I thought I'd give you another project to inspire you to make something that represents "summer" to you.  (Your project could be anything .... a quilt, wall hanging, mug rug, bag, a block, whatever ... just made with fabric and made by you.)

This flip flop wall hanging is one I made a couple of years ago and it is still one of my favorite quilts.  I love the bright colors and all the dots and, of course, the flip flops.  If I could wear flip flops year round everywhere, I would. :-)  In fact, I leave this piece up year round in my sewing room!

Here's a closer view of the applique and quilting.  I chose the border fabric as it reminded me of beach balls and then selected the prints for the flops using that as a jumping off point for colors.

If you want to play along, you have 13 days until we post the link up post for the challenge.  We'll choose a random participant for a $20 gift certificate to our shop.  Read all the details here.  Hope you'll join us.

Happy Sewing!  :-)

Summer House Now Available to Order!

Hey everybody!  I am stoked to announce that our Summer House yardage will be here on Thursday.  I can't wait to stare at it in person!  LOL  We've added it to our website so that you can go ahead and order it.  Please be aware that your order will be held until the yardage arrives and any orders containing Summer House yardage will be hitting the postal system beginning on Friday (7/15/11).  (Of course if your order doesn't have any Summer House yardage (gasp!), it will ship right away! :-)

Love the big, bold florals ...

The fun paisleys are great too ...

Although this is my favorite print I think ...

And this tonal is delish!

Happy Sewing! :-)

It's Christmas in July!

Happy Monday, y'all!

Today kicks off the next installment of our Summer Spectacular sales series.  This week it is "Christmas in July!"  All of our Christmas prints from Flurry and Countdown to Christmas are on sale!  AND we've put all of our patterns on sale as well - 20% off - to help you get started on making some amazing gifts for someone special (or just for yourself)!  See our Patterns page for a complete list of our in stock patterns - the sale on these is while supplies last this week.

How about making a 3-Pocket Wall Organizer in Christmas prints to hold Christmas cards? 

We also have a new bundle - a rainbow assortment of Essential Dots.  (This bundle will begin shipping on Wednesday.)

Happy Sewing! :-)

3 Pocket Wall Organizer Tutorial

Hey y'all!  Today I'm sharing a quick and easy project with you ... the 3 Pocket Wall Organizer!  Ready to get started?

Materials Needed:

• 1/2 yard cotton fabric for pockets + binding
• 3/4 yard cotton fabric for main panel
• Batting - 13" x 30"
• Fusible Interfacing 12" x 18"
• 2 Eyelets/grommets + setting tool
• 2 Hooks
• Basic sewing supplies

Here are the tools I used:

Step 1: Cut your fabrics.  
From your focus fabric (pockets + binding), cut ONE 12" x WOF strip and TWO 2.5" X WOF strips.  Subcut the 12" wide strip into THREE 12" squares.  You'll use the 2.5" strips for your binding.
From the main panel fabric, cut TWO 13" x 30" rectangles.
From the interfacing, cut THREE 6" x 12" rectangles.

Step 2: Prepare the Pockets.
Align one interfacing rectangle (fusible side DOWN) on the wrong side of one 12" square.  Press to adhere interfacing.

Fold the non-interfaced half over and press the square in half.  Top stitch along the fold.

Repeat with the remaining two rectangles. 

Step 3: Quilt the Main Panel. 
Sandwich the two main panel rectangles with the batting in the middle.  Pin or baste as desired.  (I used pins and marked lines with painter's tape here.)

Quilt as desired.

Trim the finished quilted rectangle to 12" x 28".

Step 4: Attach the Pockets.
Align one pocket with the bottom of the main panel.  Secure the pocket by stitching along the edges of the sides and bottom with a 1/8" seam.

Using a ruler, draw a line 2-3/4" inches above the edge of the bottom pocket.

Align a second pocket with the edge of the line you draw.  NOTE: the folded edge of the pocket should be hanging down over the bottom pocket.

Stitch along the edge of the pocket using a 1/4" seam.
Fold the pocket up and press.

Secure sides of pocket using a 1/8" seam.

Repeat the process to attach your top pocket.

Step 5: Attach the Binding. 
Join the two 2.5" x WOF strips together to create one long strip.  Fold in half and press.  Attach binding.  (I use a walking foot and lengthen my stitch length a little.)

Press binding open.

Hand stitch binding down on the back.
** See a more detailed binding tutorial here. **

Step 6: Attach Grommets/Eyelets.
Mark the position of your grommets using a ruler.

Follow the directions on the grommet package to mark your position. I stitched a box around my circle to hold the layers together nicely.

Carefully cut a hole to put the grommet through.

Attach grommets with tool as directed on the package. (Here is where I got my husband involved to do the hammering.  Feel free to involve your mister in this step.)

Step 7: Admire Your Work!
Hang your organizer up and enjoy!  :-)  (I used small, clear Command hooks and they are barely noticeable!

I hope you've enjoyed this tutorial.  Please feel free to ask questions if something isn't clear OR to share a link to one you've made with the tutorial!

Happy Sewing! :-)

Easy Wall Organizer

Happy Friday, y'all!  I got to playing around in my sewing room this afternoon and came up with this ...

Cute, huh?  Did I hear you say you needed something to get important stuff off your sewing table, too?  Well, I guess you're lucky I took pictures as I went ... tutorial coming tomorrow! :-)  See ya then ...

Happy Sewing! :-)

My 4x5 Modern Bee Block Inspiration

Hiya!  I've joined a few swaps over on Flickr lately - one is the 4x5 Modern Bee and the other is the Sewn Spaces Needle Case swap.  I'm really excited about these and I'm especially needing a needle case ... bad!  I'm using the same colors/inspiration for both and I thought I'd share it here with y'all ...

Apparently, I still have that pink problem! haha

Get all the links to the original photos here.  Notice there is some Summer House in the bottom middle photo!  Ack - can't hardly wait for that stuff to arrive!

Off to work on the hand stitching for the binding on a fun Dr. Suess quilt ... will share soon!

Happy Sewing!  :-)

Customer Spotlight: Sarah

Hi again!  I'm back to share another Customer Spotlight with you.  This one is from Sarah and I love how she used Fandango for a beautiful nursery set.

Check out the crib bumper she made ...

And what mom wouldn't love this amazing gift basket of coordinated baby items, including a blanket, bibs, and burp cloths?!

Thank you so much for sharing your beautiful work with us, Sarah!

Happy Sewing! :-)

Perle for Little Apples :-)

It's now here!  Perle Sampler Packs for Little Apples.  This set has 10 colors and comes on two cards - a "basics" card and a "colors" card and cards will come in a zip top plastic bag for easy storage.  Only a few charm packs left and then we'll all have to wait until September!  :-)

I chose these colors specifically to match the prints in the collection.  Perfect for doing complimentary hand quilting or completing coordinating embroidery patterns.  Here's another look at the colors ...

Today is also the last day to get the free Watermelon Mug Rug kit with your minimum $15 purchase. :-)

Happy Sewing, y'all! :-)