Guest Book Quilt

Well, it is finally complete, the Guest Book Quilt I started months ago. I really, really like how it turned out! The front is several different fabrics in a very simple square and circle pattern. The guests wrote on individual squares at the wedding, and I sewed them together when I got home. I used grey Kona Cotton on the back and the inset strip was one of the table runners from the wedding that I incorporated into the final product. I hand quilted this and really loved the results once I washed it. Can't wait to send it home to the happy new couple! If you have any questions about making a guest book quilt, feel free to contact me. There isn't much information out there about them, but you can really do whatever pattern you like. On to the next project, wonder what I can dream up...

Where oh where did I go?

I wish I could give you a good reason as to why I haven't blogged for SO LONG, but I can't. Time has just been getting away from me. So, I have a little catching up to do. Here is the run down of the pictures you see above, they are all so amazing in person!

First up, the Practical Tote I made for my sister using Anna Maria Horner's Festival in Tangerine. Unfortunately, I gave it to her last week, so summer is just about over, but it really turned out cute! The pattern was pretty easy, and I made a couple more that I may post pictures of, if I ever get around to taking them. I plan to use the one I made for myself as an everyday tote, I'm excited!

Next up, the baby quilt I made for my nephew that is going to be making his entrance anyday, I just know it! I used Dancing Dinos from Michael Miller with some plain brown Kona cotton. It turned out amazing. The colors are much brighter in person. For an added surprise, I pieced some of the fabric together for the back, love this quilt! Hand quilted too, quite a project! It's huge, he will be able to use it until he's 18!

Last but not least, this is just a simple wall hanging I "threw" together for my sister. It really was her lucky day last week once I got all my sewing done that I had for her! Just 3 simple pieces of fabric sewn together and machine quilted. Turned out very festive!

So, next on my list is putting together and quilting that guest book quilt I have in the works. Stay tuned for pictures of that to come. Really, next week, I'm getting to it. Fall is my favorite time of year to hand quilt, so I'm anxious to get it going! I will keep you posted! Happy October to all! Hope you are enjoying it as much as I am!

Travel Pouches

Okay, just had to share the travel pouches I made a couple of weeks ago. Haven't been on the computer much this summer, so it's been tough to get pictures onto my blog. Two of these pouches are gifts and the other is for sale in my etsy shop. Hope you enjoy the pictures, I think the fabric combos turned out great! Enjoy the rest of your summer, I sure plan to!

Fabrics: Amy Butler - Memento, Arabesque, Sun Spots, Full Moon Dots & Heather Bailey - Pop Garden

A Peek...

So, here is a glimpse of the guest book quilt I'm working on. Due to the fact that the wedding isn't for exactly a month, I won't be able to actually sew this together just yet, but I wanted to see what it was going to look like. It is kind of crazy, with lots of colors, but I feel like it will be really cool when it's done. Something totally different than I would have chosen for myself, but it is for my dear friend, and I think it will be perfect for her! Thoughts, suggestions?!

Now I'm off to sew a travel pouch and hopefully some coffee sleeves one of these days. So much to do, so little time...happily!

New Project

Well, much going on here, finally had a chance to get started on the next project. This is the fabric that my friend chose for her guest book quilt that I will be making for her wedding that is next month. I cut out the squares for this project today, and I will probably start cutting the circles for the machine applique tomorrow!! I will post more pictures soon. This quilt is going to be amazing!

Quilting

My goodness, when I look at the last date I blogged, I can't believe it was almost an entire month ago. I have been busy, I promise! I have 2 big accomplishments to mention here for the month.

The first one doesn't have anything to do with sewing, but everything to do with my precious children! Earlier this month, I created 5 photo books in the kodak gallery to document each of my children's lives up to this point. There is a book for each kid, for each year of their life, minus the current year which I will be completing before Christmas, but that's only 2 books left, I already did 5!! I don't think that you can fully understand the magnitude of this project until I tell you that I had to go through thousands of pictures and relive all of those years, then organize them into the actual books. Anyway, it was a huge project, I'm so excited to be caught up and I can't wait to complete one book per year going forward! The books should arrive in the mail on Friday and I'm more than excited!

The second accomplisment is a twin size quilt for my daughter to use on the new "big girl" bed we will be putting her into next month. I think I mentioned that I would be doing this project, and now it's done. The quilt went together in record time, and was so easy. I used Amy Butler's "Lotus Brick Path" quilt pattern with Heather Bailey's new "Nicey Jane" fabric line. And for the backing I used a vintage Holly Hobbie twin flat sheet. I love, love, love this quilt and I know she will too! Oh, how could I forget to point out the pink pom poms that are sewn into the corners, so sweet!

Next project on the list...A wedding guest book quilt for my dear friend who is getting married in Septmeber.

Drink Sleeves!

Well, I have been working on a large drink sleeve order for some very lucky moms come this fall! I just had to give a little peek to everyone else. I made 50 coffee sleeves, in 10 sets of 5 fabric combos. They turned out FANTASTIC! It was also fun because I was able to order some color variations that I don't usually choose, but it turns out I will order again. Most of the fabric was from Heather Bailey's, Nicey Jane and there were a few Amy Butler fabrics in there too. Will be hard to part with these, they are really cool!

I think I might make up some similar combos for my etsy shop, we'll see if I've sewn on enough buttons this week or not! And after that, I'm super excited because I will be making a twin quilt for my daughter. We are possibly moving her to a big girl bed at the end of the summer, so she will need a girly quilt! I will use a free pattern Amy Butler has on her site, and most of the pink and yellow fabrics from the Nicey Jane collection. I'm really into this fabric line right now, fresh, vintagey, and colorful! So, stay tuned for the next finished project! I will try not to stay away so long next time.

Wristlets

I have been meaning to get zippered pouches into my etsy shop for months. So, I finally did that, just a few minutes ago. I made up 6 zippered wristlets yesterday, please go to my shop and check them out! Acutally, there will only be 4 pouches there for you to see, I made this one pictured, to surprise a friend and I made one for myself that I didn't take a picture of. Let me know what you think. I have already received the suggestion of putting a single pocket on the inside. That will probably be part of the next batch. Is the price right? Would you purchase one for $8? I appreciate feedback...

Ahoy Matey!

Okay, I just had to share the latest sewing projects. My sweet pirate is turning 4 next week and we are having a pirate party, so he needed a new outfit. What do you think? With my grandma's help, I "whipped" this little number up yesterday, so much fun! He wore the outfit to the grocery store this morning and was turning heads down every isle. Wouldn't it be great to live in a world of make believe like that again? I'm envious!

And the kitchen curtains, are they just... happy? I have been toying with fabric choices and colors for a few months, then the other day, I just decided to do it. I used Amy Butler, Full Moon Dots in Tangerine, yep, orange. Kind of different than what I would usually do, but I LOVE them! And the red Happy Camper material is a great accent. I recently painted my kitchen a golden yellow and have been trying to decorate it using warm colors that remind me of fall (my favorite season) all year long. Wonder what my next random project will be, maybe a quilt for the almost ready for a bed big girl in my house! We will see what inspires me...

More Fun

So, you will have to excuse my pictures on this post. The weather here has been less than cooperative for good pictures outside, so I had to take these inside last week and they didn't turn out the greatest. Aren't they fun though? The first pic is my new sewing apron, made with Amy Butler's new fabric, Memento and Sun Spots. I am forever pulling strings off my pants after I complete an afternoon of sewing, so this will help with that, plus it just makes me feel special when I put it on!

Second pic is a clutch I made with some scraps from the medium tote in my last post. It was a pattern I found in my Amy Butler book, Institches. It was pretty easy, didn't turn out quite like I had hoped, but I might modify the idea to make my own clutch, it's been on my to do list for awhile, designing a clutch I mean. Maybe soon, we'll see.

The last pic is the travel bag I made for myself, yep, for myself. I have made enough of these for other people, and been needing one, so I used my favorite Anna Maria Horner fabric, Festival, and made it up!! I have it sitting on my dresser just so I can look at it until we take another small trip. Of course, after I showed it around, I had a few people say they would like to have one, so maybe in my free time I will "whip" up a few more.

Speaking of travel bags, I have been meaning to look for a pattern to make a larger travel bag, one that has pockets for shampoo and conditioner and enough room to put everything I need in one bag. Does anyone know of a good pattern for something like that?

For your viewing pleasure...

I know, I know, tons of pictures, but I have been BUSY with my own projects and I thought you might enjoy some pictures!

So, I'm sure you probably recognize the wallhanging from a couple months ago. I finally finished hand quilting it, yes, all that is hand quilting and it looks AMAZING in person. I think it is the nicest wallhanging I have EVER made! I'm so excited about it, I think it will be up until Christmas. (ok maybe not, but a long time!)

Then there is the medium tote I made for my friend's birthday. We went together to choose the fabric, it turned out so cute, I just love the orange (OZ by Moda) with the black and cream (Alexander Henry)!

Last but not least, my new skirt. I used an A-line pattern, and didn't have the full amount of fabric necessary to do it all with the plaid, so I improvised and added the band at the bottom. Glad I did, I think it turned out better this way. So bright and summery, and so great to have a cute new skirt that fits. This fabric is Meadowsweet by Moda, I think it's the first line because I thought I saw somewhere there is a Meadowsweet 2 out now. Beautiful line of fabric, I would love to get my hands on some more of it!

Okay, that's all for now. I think this week I'm going to make some zip pouches from extra fabric and the zippers my grandma is letting me use, she is so generous with her supplies! Although, I was looking through books tonight and I saw a cute clutch purse, and a couple of my friends have been asking about those, I could use scraps.....

Giveaway Day Winner!

I really want to thank everyone that commented on my blog over this past week. It is so encouraging to have other crafty people say good things about what I'm doing! Unfortunately, there is only one winner, so better luck next time to all of you that were hoping to win!

The random number generator chose comment #39, "Summer said...Such a cute giveaway." I have contacted Summer and she will be receiving her prize in the mail soon!

Now I'm off to check and see if I won any giveaways, goodness knows I must have entered 300 or so myself. Back to project blogging another day...

Thanks again everyone!

Giveaway Day!

First off, hello to everyone that is visiting from "blogland" for Sew Mama Sew's annual Giveaway Day! I participated last year in this giveaway and it was so much fun, so I thought I would give it another go! If you aren't sure what I'm talking about, visit their website to see a list of other bloggers that are giving "stuff" away until Thursday!

Okay, here is the info that you really need...

This year I am giving away a 5"x7" zip pouch and matching drink sleeve. They are made out of Robert Kaufman's Cupcake fabric in turquoise, with a light pink stripe to coordinate. There are 3 ways you can be entered to win these sweet treats:

1. Post a comment here on my blog expressing your interest in my giveaway.

2. Visit my etsy shop, come back here and post a comment telling me your favorite fabric that I have used.

3. Blog about me, and post a comment here with the link to your post.

Each time you choose to participate, please create a different comment, as I will be using a random number generator to choose the winning post. The giveaway is open until Thursday, May 20th, so I will be notifying and posting the winner here on Friday, May 21st. Good luck!

I'm Officially Published

Okay, if you didn't know, or didn't remember, this weekend the Woman's World magazine came out with the picture of my bag in it. I didn't want to actually get excited about it (too much) because I didn't feel like it would be real until I saw the picture for myself.

So, my bag is in the middle of page 8 and 9 in the May 17th issue of Woman's World, for all of you that want to go out and see it for yourselves. I have this bag available in my etsy shop here, for purchase.

I really am excited now, although it still feels unreal to say that my bag was randomly chosen to be in a national magazine that almost everyone has heard of. Anyway, just wanted to (re)share the good news. Thanks to all of you for following me, even when I wasn't famous! :}

Now it's time to get back to work...

Biggest order yet

Well, just when I was thinking that 7 bags for a bridal party was a "big" order, I received a call from my husband's aunt on Cape Cod (love that place!). She wanted to know if I could make 40, yes you read that correctly, 40 small totes for the nurses that work for her as an appreciation during Nurse's week. Of course I said yes, no problem, no stress and so it began! Several yards of fabric and many hours later, here are some pictures of my biggest order yet!!! It was such an accomplishment to take them to the post office this morning, only about 6 days after receiving the fabric in the mail! I feel so honored to even be asked to complete such a task, so no order is too large, no request too stressful...(I say that now) :}

Quick update about the show I was part of this past Sunday. Unfortunately, there weren't many customers, so I didn't sell too much. I was grateful though, because I made back what I paid for the table. The weather was really cold and grey so I don't think many people were in the mood to shop, oh well, there will be other shows!

A Success!

Well, I promised a Garden Show update...

It was great! The weather was very, Seattle in the Spring, minus the rain, which was all that mattered to me! Very windy, chilly and cloudy for most of the day. My sweet husband was amazing and so innovative in the ways to weigh things down. I would have been freezing cold and chasing flying bags if not for him! I ended up selling 11 coffee sleeves, 2 sets of produce bags and 6 totes (a few medium, a few small). So, I would say a success! Not to mention all of the exposure I received by just being there. Many people took my business cards and asked questions, so I'm confident that this will lead to more interest! Plus I'm excited now because I have several items for my etsy shop since I haven't been posting there as much as I would like to.

While I'm talking about shows, I should also mention the show I will be at next weekend. Yes, another show coming up! This one will be smaller and more quaint, but I'm just as excited. Here is the link to the I Heart Indie Crafts website with more information, if you are free next Sunday from 12-4 and in the Kirkland area, please come by and visit me! This is also a free show. Can't wait to see what happens there!

Garden Show

Well, I have been sewing up a storm, with a little bit of light at the end of the tunnel. I don't remember if I told you all, but I will be a vendor at a local Spring Garden Fair, here in Bothell this coming Saturday. I am SUPER excited, first of all because I was received an invitation, but also because there is so much publicity for this show that I'm sure to get some serious exposure! If you live in this area, please stop in and say "hi", there is no admission fee and I think it will be great fun, lots to see and learn! Here is the website...

In preparation for this fair, I just completed (with my sweet gram's help!!) 47 drink sleeves. I'm also planning to bring around 20 medium totes, 6 sets of produce bags and around 15 small totes. I found out about the show at the begining of April and I haven't stopped sewing since! Anyway, I'm a little overwhelmed, but really can't wait to see what kind of reception I receive. I will post pictures this weekend and all the juicy details! Thanks for all of the good luck I know you are sending my way! ;}

p.s. The picture up top is what 47 drink sleeves looks like, yikes!!!

Gift Ideas!

Okay, so in the past few weeks, I have sent out 2 large orders of small tote bags for bridal parties. I just thought I would let everyone here know, that I love doing custom orders and if you have gifts you need to purchase, please visit my shop! The small totes make especially good bride's maids gifts or even the perfect reusable gift bag for a birthday gift! If you are interested in a custom order, you can start a conversation with me on etsy, or email me directly. My email address is on the side bar of my blog. Just thought I would take a minute to post the picture of the custom order I just finished. There are some lucky gals out there about to receive these totes as part of a "thank you" for being a great friend/sister/cousin...

Sewing for Me!!

Well, I actually got to my own personal projects this weekend. I just had to post a couple of pictures to share, because it hasn't been happening that way for about 3 weeks now. I have been so busy keeping up with my bag orders and the steady demand!

I made this tote bag with some fabric that my friend sweetly surprised me with last week. I call the tote my rainy day tote because the fabrics look like a Seattle day, but brighter. I just love it!

And the flowers are a wall hanging in process. That is just the top, I am going to baste it and quilt it, hopefully start that this week, although I just got another large order for bags on etsy, YIPPEEE, so we'll see when I get back to the spring wall hanging! I keep joking that it might be done before summer starts. For now, I have an open wall waiting for it.

I also wanted to respond to a comment about my Oak Street bag pattern. I wrote that up last year, and have been putting off getting it copywritten. I would like to sell copies of it, I would be interested in selling it for your personal use in the mean time, if there is interest. You can email me, or comment here. Thanks for bringing that up, it's good to know that I haven't been forgotten!! Gotta get back to some internet research, have a good day!