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!