Projects...

I'm not sure if anyone even takes a look at my humble little blog any more. It's been slightly neglected as of late. Sometimes blogging overwhelms me. I LOVE looking at peoples blogs, I LOVE getting ideas from others blogs, there are some blogging ladies that I hold on a serious pedestal. I just don't think I've ever been 'that' blog for anyone else. Oh well, it's almost the beginning of a new year, and I have MANY projects on the horizon. (Which is part of my problem. There is so much I want to do, and so much I have done lately - that I don't often enough slow down to document the process.) I'm attempting to do better. Maybe I can inspire one or two of you!

As mentioned, I've been a busy little bee in the last few months. There have been multiple 'custom name quilts' a few baby blankets for friends, a whole herd of elephant softies (pictures coming soon!), and a slew of other holiday gifts. I managed to get a bunch of them out the door without taking pictures (bummer), but others I can show!

My neighbor, dear friend, and AWESOME photographer (check out her blog/website here), asked me to make some Hanukkah shirts for her four cuties to wear on the first day of Hanukkah this year. Other than giving me the shirts to use, she pretty much told me to use my own imagination and 'go for it'! It was a bit of a challenge, because before I knew Stacy and her family I didn't know the first thing about Hanukkah, but I've been able to learn over the past few years and came up with some totally adorable tops for her totally adorable tots! (Sorry for the cheesy words...the real me is coming out here!)Kind of fun eh? What is most important is that she loved them and her KIDS really loved them! Thanks for the challenge Stacy! (And thanks for the photo, because this is one project that I forgot to take pictures of before they left the door!)

Happy New Years Eve! I hope 2011 has been great, and I hope that 2012 is even better!

Zoe Quilt

A friend commissioned me to make this quilt for her new beautiful niece. She chose the color pallet (brown, green, cream, and coral.) It's one I haven't necessarily worked with, but I LOVE it, and see myself using it again for sure.
It is quilted with an all-over meandering stitch (stippled).
I hope that it gets lots of love and use at it's new home!

My little Incredibles

Fun costumes to make! Even more fun to watch my boys play in them and believe they really are Super-Heros. Happy Halloween!

Outfits for Disneyland!

So...we were on vacation for like the whole summer, it was awesome! Something fun that we we got to squeeze in (a vacation within a vacation!) was a quick weekend trip to Disneyland. I LOVE Disneyland! (So much so that my husband took me there for our Honeymoon 10 years ago!) This was to be my boy's first time experiencing the magic of Disneyland. Me being the corney crafty mom that I am, I just HAD to make outfits!Luckily for me, JoAnne's had a sale on McCall's patterns, so I snatched up a couple patterns for shorts for $1.99 ea. I made up the shorts using those handy dandy patterns, and then came up with the applique on the tops on my own.My niece is a seasoned Disneyland goer (her mom works for JetBlue, so they fly there often!) She loved having something fun to wear that matched the boys too. I just made a simple 'tube' shirt using elastic thread in my bobbin, added a few straps, and voila!Three matchy-matchy adorable kids! (It was actually super convenient that they matched, because they were easier to see in a crowd.)

Summer Vacation project!

Hey! It's been a little while since I've checked in. Not because I haven't thought about it often, but because I've been on vacation...like all summer! I'm not home quite yet, but will be in just a few days.

I don't know about any of you, but I have a hard time going anywhere for any length of time without taking a project to work on. I came across this "Yoyo along" and knew it would be the perfect 'take a long' portable project for the next few months.I've made what feels like a ton of these little babies over the past month! It's a great scrap buster project. The crazy thing is that I'm like just over a tenth of the way to 1000 yoyo's. This is one of those projects that I see as a marathon, rather than a sprint! It may take a year to get all the yoyo's sewn, but who cares! I'm just loving the process.If you've never made a yoyo, they are so cute and fun to make. Go get yourself one of the handydandy yoyo makers and give it a go! This will be a great fall-time project too, very portable to take along to all those little league soccer practices and games!

I interrupt this break...

To bring you my latest project!

It's a random one, but really, doesn't everybody need to sew a travel golf bag for their son? (Totally joking, I think it's crazy that I needed to make one.) I didn't have a pattern or anything, just kind of went with it.I'm totally pleased with how it turned out. Kyle loves it, which is most important.
My six year old is quite the little golfer. He has a nice big golf bag that we use here around town, but he's taking off for Utah tomorrow with his Grandma for a few weeks, so I needed to make something much smaller profile that could fit more easily inside his suitcase. Hence the travel golf bag!

I can't believe how long it has been since my last post. I've been ridiculously busy with life. Things have officially slowed down. I'm excited to get back on the blogging wagon! Thanks for hanging on with me.

Little Gift Bag

So you all know I am positively obsessed with sewing, but every once and a while I get the paper crafting bug too! I had picked up a random little gift for a teenage friend of our family and wanted to give it to her in something cute.
I used my Cricut (Bags, Tags, Boxes and More Cartridge, Don Juan for the 'K') to cut out the bag. I've been holding onto this paper for a while now, thinking that I would pass it on to my friend who has daughters (I just couldn't quite figure out how to include hot-pink lips into one of my boys scrapbooks!) But it was PERFECT for this little project! Just the right amount of sass. And really, I just couldn't resist the sparkle monogram. I'm pretty sure there is no such thing as too much bling! (Well, except on those older ladies cardigans that you see in Las Vegas that are sparkleicious...those should be outlawed!)
On a totally different note, I hit the 2,000,000 stitch mark on my sewing machine yesterday. Wow! I've been sewing up a storm. Getting ready for spring 'craft fair season'!

Life..thankfully!

You know when 'life happens'? That's where I've been for the past few weeks. I made a very last minute trip out to Utah for a week to spend time sitting in the hospital with my big brother. And many various other stuff. Just life! Although I am happy to report that my brother is out of the hospital and on the road to recovery...whew!

Amid all the craziness, I've still found a little bit of time to create!Just in time for Easter, I drew up this little critter. I think using the fuzzy yellow material is what makes the shirt. (That, and the cute little bow on the chick's head!) Maybe this can help you come up with an idea for a fun Easter top for your little angel! (Or if you'd like to just skip the headache, you can pick one up here!)

Happy Spring! We are in full bloom here in Virginia.

Birthday Shirt

A friend recently contacted me and asked if I could make a shirt for her daughter's birthday this week. She's turning 6 and asked her mom if she could get a new '6' shirt for her big day. The only direction I was given was that she would be pairing the top with a tutu skirt in either orange, dark pink, or light pink.
I was pretty pumped when I found some material I had on hand with ALL THREE COLORS! Perfect! She can wear it with whichever skirt her little heart desires. I think it turned out pretty cute, and my friend LOVED it, which was most important!

The '6' is appliqued to the shirt then top-stitched for durability. I added the cute little bows on the sleeves for a little pop. (I tied the bows and then stitched them on using the button stitch on my machine...they are on there nice and snug and are totally washable.)

Purses

I've been busy again! Sewing purses this time...

Two down and two to go.
The best part? My beautiful model! Seriously, I wish I was a better photographer, she's gorgeous. Thanks Kayleigh for helping me show off my bags!

new quilt start

What I've been up to yesterday and today...I got a bee up my bonnet yesterday to start a new quilt. I'm using this tutorial from Elizabeth Hartman as my inspiration, but taking it to a direction all my own! If it turns out even partially like I see in my mind, I think it's going to be pretty cool.This is my first attempt at a 'artsy fartsy' / improvisational / abstract quilt. I'm actually really excited. (I came to terms a while back that I am as much of a crafty nerd as my awesome husband is a computer nerd. I get oddly WAY excited over random new projects.)

I've given myself a deadline of the end of the month for this quilt, so hopefully I'll have a finished product to share in a couple of weeks!

Car Seat Tents

I've been a busy little bee lately. Sewing like crazy! Not a whole lot of exciting stuff to show off here though, I've just mainly been working on filling up my little shop.
Today's finished projects... Car Seat Tents.I never really found a tutorial for these that I liked, so I made my own. I'm happy to share my dimensions and directions if anyone is interested. Just leave me a comment!

Happy Friday Y'all!

Embroidery

It's about dang time! I finally pulled out the embroidery module that I purchased with my sewing machine over three years ago. I've used loved and abused my sewing machine in the past three years, but was afraid to tackle the embroidery portion for some reason. It was all just a bit intimidating, especially because I am starting with no knowledge or past experience. I don't live close to a Bernina dealer, so I cant even really take classes on it. Here's to trial and error!In the past week or so since I have pulled it out, loaded the program on my laptop, and tried a few stitch outs, I have already made a bunch of mistakes - but I have also learned a bit!
My first 'real' project? I am making personalized receiving blankets for a friend of mine's photography business. She is giving them as gifts to her newborn sessions. Pretty snazzy eh?
I can't wait to get more and more familiar with my embroidery machine and software. I think the options will be limitless once I get it figured out!

My online shop is OPEN!

It has been a LONG time coming, but as of yesterday my online shop is open once again! At a new exciting location...my OWN URL!! Etsy has been good to me, but I was ready to have a shop of my own. I haven't had the chance to list ALL of my products quite yet, but a good handfull of them are there.

Drop by if you get the chance!


In the next week or two I'll be having my official 'Grand Re-Opening' with sales and great offers (and possibly even a give away or two!) Keep an eye on my blog for details!

a quick selvage project

Okay, so two of my favorite quilting trends right now are selvages and 'wonky quilts'. I decided to put the two together and came up with this...It's just a hot pad, sorry if I got you excited! I constructed it just like a log cabin block, except I used scrap selvages and uneven angles. It turned out pretty fun. I made it for my mom's friend who has generously been saving her selvages for me, as a little thank you.

My interest (obsession) in selvages started last year when I came across this post on the Moda Bake Shop Blog; it kept growing when I started following the Selvage Blog. I actually have a selvage quilt in progress, you can check it out here! I'd say I owe my 'wonky' obsession to Elizabeth Hartman from the Oh! Fransson blog. I love her work. She's a quilt rockstar as far as I am concerned!

If you want to jump on the selvage train, check out the selvage blog I mentioned above. I suggest starting with a small project, like a hot pad!

A little love

So, I realize I am over a week late on this post, but time has gotten away from me lately! Last week was CRAZY! My oldest son came home from school on Monday with a 102 degree fever. Holy Smokes! I ended up taking him to the doctor on Tuesday, and he had Strep. Poor little guy. The same day K-man was good enough to go back to school, Little-C started coming down with something. Seriously, I had no idea a 20 month old could loose so much bodily fluids out of such a small little body. The silver lining is that my mom (aka - my BFF) was visiting from Utah, which is always great. Unfortunately for her we didn't get to do too much 'fun stuff' since we were nursing sick kids all week, but I LOVED having her here to help and be quarantined with me.

Anywho, this was my only Valentines project this year. A much smaller version of this quilt I made a few years ago. I figure it can be a little wall hanging or a small table centerpiece quilt/runner kind of thing. It has made its home at a dear friend's house, so hopefully she can find a use for it!
Here's to hoping we can stay healthy and I can do some fun crafting this week!

Contrary to what may appear...

I haven't fallen of the face of the planet...at least not yet! ;)

Things have been busy around here. I have been working hard. Not too much to show for it yet, but here is one of my in-progress pictures.
I've been painting and re-decorating the whole main level of my house. It happened kind of last minute, but once I got a bee in my bonnet I haven't wanted to stop. It's been a total make-over. I'll post more pictures when it's all done.

In the mean time, I did try my hand at a little cookie decorating for the big game yesterday. They looked a lot better than they tasted, but at least I tried, right?

ruffled edge 'quilt'

I had to put the word quit in quotations in the title, because this isn't a 'true' quilt to me, with batting and lots of quilted stitches! But no matter what we call it, it's pretty cute and sassy if you ask me!
My friend bought this material months ago, when she was just a wee bit pregnant with her third child. Back in the fall I even helped her cut out the squares and gave her a sewing lesson. Fast forward a few months. She approached me the last week in December and asked if I could just sew it for her. She ran out of time and energy. With very little guidance from her, other than she wanted a 'random' pattern and the ruffley satin edge, I came up with the quilt above.
She also didn't want batting in between the top and back minky-dot material, so really this is just a larger, glorified receiving blanket. I kept the 'quilting' very minimal and only stitched in the ditch along a few of the seams (to keep the top and back from shifting.)
I'm not going to lie. This quilt was a little bit of a challenge for me. It combined two of my least favorite types of material to sew with...Satin and Minky Dot. I'm not saying I don't LOVE both of them for their luxurious textures, they are just a pain to work with. I think I conquered them both this time though and produced a dang cute quilt.

It was a different experience sewing a quilt with material that I didn't personally choose. I probably wouldn't have put the color combination together that Jen did, but it looks great. Props to her for 'seeing' what she wanted. - I have one more quilt to do just like it. She is going to use them for her daughter's beds as soon as the 4 year old and the new baby start to share a room. I learned a few things from working with the satin and minky dot material on the first quilt, so the second should be a little easier.