Newness

Hi everyone!  We're kicking off a new week with a new special kit for a great project by Jenelle of Echinops & Aster.  Check out her beautiful project tutorial here and enter to win a FQ bundle and thread sampler!  (Enter to win on Jenelle's tutorial post.)

Bundles and thread samplers are on sale through Friday, 1/18/13.

Oh and did I tell you that 35 of the prettiest new bolts just arrived?!  We're coming off of a weekend in the 70's and with those temps, these spring-y fabrics from Kate Spain's new Honey, Honey collection are calling my name!

Almost done with the tutorial for this project ... coming later this week.  :-)

Happy Sewing!  :-)

Customer Spotlight :: Wendy

Happy Saturday!

Today I wanted to share a project that one of our customers, Wendy of Caribousmom, recently completed. We love it when our customers email us with pictures of finished projects and we're excited to share Wendy's Garden Steps quilt with you.

Didn't it turn out just beautiful!?  You can read more about it from Wendy here.

Wendy used the Garden Steps Quilt Kit featuring Good Fortune by Kate Spain as well as the Garden Steps Perle thread kit to complete this Quilt Along project from Jennie & Clara at Clover & Violet.

Thanks so much for sharing your project with us, Wendy!

If you have a project you'd like to share with us, please email us!

Happy Sewing!  :-)

Happy October!

Happy October, y'all!  We have some fun things planned this month ... more details on that later on ...

but here's a hint ... it's our two-year anniversary this month.  :-) 

This weekend I did some cute sewing ... 

... tutorial will be posted here on the blog tomorrow evening.  Who's excited?  

It's a quick and easy project that you can whip up in a hurry.

We've got some fabric treats for you on sale this week ... 

The Candy Corn Bunting kit

and the 2012 Boo Bundle (a Halloween-inspired bundle)!

See you tomorrow!

Happy Sewing!  :-)

Free Pattern: Lil Monster Pencil Case

School's back, y'all!  And Halloween is just around the corner.  Are you ready?

Photo from unitednotions.com

I saw this super cute (and FREE) pattern designed by Holly Hickman at Moda's website and thought I'd share it with you. A couple of seams and a little applique and you're off!

I think they'd make great party favors too.  :-)

Download the PDF pattern here.

Happy Sewing!  :-)

Coloring Squares

Happy Weekend, y'all!  :-)

It's been a busy week packing orders, setting up my classroom for the year, rearranging our shop room to accommodate more bolts, and planning some fun things I will be sharing here on the blog later this week.

Thought I'd give you a little sneaky-peeky at one of the things I am planning for you. I printed some graph paper and grabbed my marker bucket to design this ...

Using a few different prints for this project.

Can anyone guess what I will be making for this tutorial?  Take a guess ..  I will draw a random entry  on Wednesday, 8/22/12 after 5 PM for a special prize.

Off to start stitching ...

Happy Sewing!  :-)

Summertime Adventures: Button Hoop Tutorial

Hi everyone!  I am really excited to be participating in Clover & Violet's Summertime Adventures Blog Hop.  If you haven't checked out the series, there are lots of great tutorials.  Just click on the button to see all the posts. There are even some prizes for sharing your own projects.

This week the theme is sewing projects "on the go."  When I think of projects I can take along with me, I think of things that require few supplies and that can be hand stitched.  So, for today I have prepared a quick and easy embroidery project - perfect for showing off some favorite buttons.  Are you ready?

Supplies Needed: 

• 7" embroidery hoop 
• 9 assorted buttons (mine are about 3/4-1" in diameter) 
• Embroidery thread (I used Finca Perle Drab Green Brown)
• 12" x 12" White fabric (I used Bella White Bleached) 
• 12" x 12" white fusible interfacing
• Marking pen (such as FriXion erasable pen)
• Basic sewing supplies - clear ruler, needle & scissors
• Card stock & adhesive

Note:  I do have a few kits available here with all the fabric, interfacing, thread and buttons you'll need to make this project.  Hoop, pen, card stock, adhesive, needle, ruler, and scissors are not included in the kit. 

Step 1: Fuse Interfacing to your fabric.  Follow the directions from the manufacturer to fuse the interfacing to your white square of fabric. 

Step 2: Mark the center by folding the fabric in half and then in half again.  Finger pressing will do .... don't crease too hard - just enough to know where the center is. 

Step 3: Mark your grid.  Start by marking the center lines that you just made. 

Then use a clear ruler to mark off a grid of 1.5" squares.  Start by marking lines 0.75 inches away from the center lines.  Then 1.5" away from those lines.  When finished it should look like this ... 

Step 4: Hoop it up!  Center the design in the hoop.

Step 5:  Start stitching.  Use a basic back stitch (directions here) for the grid and the accents at the corners. 

Keep going ... you're doing great! 

At the intersections of the grid, make a french knot.  (Directions here.)

Step 6: Unhoop and iron your work. 

Step 7:  Rehoop and stitch on your buttons. 

Step 8: Trace your hoop onto a piece of card stock.  Cut out the circle. 

Step 9:  Trim the excess fabric away.  (Note: next time I will trim a little more generously!)

Step 10: Adhere your card stock to the back of your hoop. I used a sticky scrapbooking tape.  Of course, you could just glue the excess fabric to the inside of the hoop.  

Step 11:  Admire your work!  :-) 

I hope you enjoyed this tutorial!  This was my first hoop embroidery project and if I can do it, you can too!  :-)  I also think it would be a super cute little pillow or you could frame it in a picture frame too.  If you have any questions, please email me or leave them in the comments.  If you make a hoop, I'd love to see it - please link it up in the comments section!

Happy Sewing!  :-) 

Weekend Sewing

Hi friends!  Hope you've had a great weekend!  I told my mister on Friday afternoon that I was going to get some sewing done this weekend and he was sweet enough offer to play some video games so I wouldn't feel bad for ignoring him.  (Let me tell you ... it was some serious arm twisting to get him to play those games ... NOT!)

Anyway, I did get quite a bit accomplished this weekend ... some bee blocks (I'll share those later this week) and finally started getting caught up on my Scrap Attack Strings blocks.  Here's my newest set of blocks ...

I really enjoy that fussy cut strip of tulips ... what a fun surprise that will be in a big quilt when it is all done!  Are you stitching along with me?  (Or maybe ahead of me - geez!)  There is still one more day to show me your progress on the Show & Tell Post. :-)

I also finished the second installment of the "2 minis from one charm pack" series today as well.  Love how this one turned out.  It's current hanging out next to my machine...

(Probably should've emptied my trash bucket before I snapped a photo!)  Look for a tutorial on that mini on Wednesday! :-)

What did you sew this weekend?  I'd love to see what you've been working on!

Happy Sewing! :-)

Weekend Sewing

Hey friends!  I thought I'd stop in and share what I was working on this weekend.

First up ... I have been working on finishing this Domestic Bliss baby quilt using the fabulous pattern Jennie posted on the Moda Bake Shop a few weeks ago.

Just working on finishing the binding now.  :)

I also went to work on some Hello Luscious charm squares.  How does 2 mini quilts/large mug rugs from ONLY one charm pack sound?  Well, I will have a tutorial for you later this week with the first of the two.  But for now, here's what I started with for mini quilt #1 ...

What did you sew this weekend?  Link it up in the comments ... I'd love to see it!

Did I tell you we're doing some shopping tomorrow (Tuesday)?  We're looking forward to meeting with our Moda rep and catching up with her as well as selecting prints for later this summer.  I'd love to know what you think of these lines ... anything you'd love to see us carry?  (Please no negative comments on designer's work ... just tell us what you love in the comments!  Negative comments will be deleted ... as your mama probably said, "if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all.")

• Coquette by Chez Moi
• Bungle Jungle by Tim and Beck
• Ladies' Stitching Club by Oliver + S
• Oh Deer! by MoMo

Thanks for stopping in!

Happy Sewing!  :-)

Modern Solids 2 Complete

Hi there!  Happy almost Friday!  :-)

I finished my Modern Solids Round 2 Swap package just in time to get it shipped off today and I really like how everything turned out.  As you know, I had a dilemma about the wall hanging, but decided to go with my instinct and orient it horizontally.  Hopefully, the recipient will like it that way!  :-)  Here it is all finished ...

It turned out really pretty well considering I drafted my own smaller version of the original Prism pattern by Faith at Fresh Lemons.  The blocks finish at 5 inches, so this is about 20 x 30 inches.

I also made a Swatch Book cover using a Keyka Lou pattern.  (Love Michelle's patterns!)  I pieced some leftovers together and added a graph paper Moleskine book so the recipient can use it as a sketch book.  Hope she likes it.

I used quite a bit of Bella Steel for these projects.  It really is a lovely medium gray solid.

And here's the package I packed up and mailed off ...

Kind of wish I didn't have to mail it! ;-)

Happy Sewing! :-)

Get Organized: Pockets to Go

Hi there!  I am back today with another Get Organized Series post. Today, I wanted to share a project I made from a pattern in the shop called Pockets to Go from Atkinson Design.

These little buckets are perfect for corraling small items in one place.  I made this little fabric bucket for a coworker at school as a birthday gift and she loves keeping it on her counter at home to corral her keys, phone, and other items she frequently uses. Here it is in action. :)

I used some Terrain prints as well as the Lilac Essential Dots and managed to make the whole thing with 4 fat quarters in addition to the peltex and two zippers!  Since I decided to use several prints, I did take a little extra time to plan out the cuts and label them.  I laid them out on the floor in my sewing room so that I wouldn't get anything mixed up.

Look at all the great pockets this has on the inside!

And ... it makes a great gift bag too!

What would YOU organize with a little Pockets To Go bucket?  I'd love to hear your ideas!

Happy Sewing! :)

Leftovers

Hello, hello!  Well, it was back to the real world today and man that alarm clock was not welcome.  Can y'all relate?

Just sharing a leftovers project ...

Didn't think I should let the center of my Flurry Tree Skirt go to waste!  I think it will be a cute oversized coaster/mug rug.  :-)   And, can I just say ... I used to be biased about bias binding.  Didn't like it.  Didn't want to make it.  But, now I am a fan.  And I think my corners turn out better when I use it.  Which do y'all prefer - bias or straight grain?  Or does it depend on your project?

Back tomorrow with my WIP list for Rhonda's Finish-A-Long.  (You think hand-stitching the binding down on this one will count?!  LOL)

Happy Sewing! :-)

Finished!

Hi there!  So I did finish my quilt about 11:30 PM last night ... glad I didn't have to work on it today.  :-)  Here I am ... almost finished ...

I did take some photos this morning of the quilt fresh from the dryer... 

I will share more pictures and the tutorial next week.  :-)

Happy Sewing! :-)

Progress

Hi there ...

Is anyone else still stitching for Christmas!?  I realize I am completely nuts ....

Today about 10 AM ...

Later today about 6 PM (after a hair cut, several errands, a little procrastination, and a trip to get different binding fabric than my original plan) ...

I continue to be amazed at the sizes of quilts I am able to quilt on my little Bernina with only slight irritation/frustration.  (I love my machine.  But I would love the 820 more when it comes to actually quilting my projects.  One day ...)  It helps to bring my machine down to the dining room where the table can support the weight of more quilt than my sewing desk upstairs in my disaster area sewing room.

About 7:30 PM ...

Better start hand stitching that binding!  ;-)

Later I will be praying that the Shout Color Catcher does its job. :-)

I will show you the finished quilt and share a tutorial for the easy peasy pattern next week. 

Happy Sewing! :)

Flurry of Activity

Hi there!  A few days ago, I shared that there was about to be a Flurry of activity in my sewing room.  Well, I managed to finish one big project this weekend ... this is headed to a friend/customer tomorrow.  My friend commissioned a tree skirt and selected the Flurry collection and the Fruitcake Under My Tree pattern from the Moda Bake Shop shared by Tracey.  Here it is ...

I decided to use only the red and green prints from the layer cake and I also added two sets of ties instead of just one in the original pattern. 

I really love how it turned out.  I hope that my friend will too.  :-)

I almost hate to send it off to someone else as it matches my new monogrammed ornament that my secret santa at work gave me last week ... super fun, right?!  (And obviously, I love a LOT of ornaments on a tree!  LOL)

Now let's see how many more projects I am complete before Saturday ... I will keep you posted!

Happy Sewing! :-)