pink fig holiday giveaway

Head over to Chelsea's blog at Pink Fig and enter her fabulous Holiday giveaway! She's giving away 2 quilts made from her beautiful new fabric line, Miss Modd! Can you believe that?! She has all the details over at her blog. You can enter the giveaway from now through December 1!

the notting hill hobo by Bari J

Towards the end of summer, Bari J Ackerman asked me to test this pattern for her and send her the sample so that she could use it in her booth at Quilt Market. I quickly said yes, as I was so excited and flattered on top of that. I have been following Bari since I found her blog a couple of years ago and she was about to debut her first fabric line for Windham, Full Bloom. She has been a constant source of inspiration to me since that time, and she has been so willing to reach out with encouragement. This was my second bag to test for her. I'll have to blog that first one. I still haven't done that. Actually Bari gave me a choice of patterns this time, and I chose the notting hill hobo. The funny thing is that I consider myself to be an awful bag maker. I get so confused with lining and the fusible fleece and interfacing and magnetic snaps.... But I really liked the style of the bag and I wanted to challenge myself. So, after a couple of times of ripping the bag apart and some help from a friend, (thanks Carrie!), I finished it and off it went to live my dream, a trip to Quilt Market! I am thankful that Bari asked me to do it, and also that she was patient with me as I literally got it to her at the last minute. The pattern is great and actually very easy. (I think I just got caught up in the whole 'I think bags are hard' thing.) There are a couple of different options and sizes so you can personalize it to your style. Mine is the large, patchwork version and I used her special technique (which is outlined in the pattern) to applique the flower and butterfly to the front of the bag. Fabrics used were from Bari's newest line, Country Lane.

costume juggling

I thought I'd better get this picture up before the end of the week! Up until a couple of days before Halloween, the kids were planning to dress up as Snow White or Ariel and Ulysses S. Grant. (Yeah, Samuel had to do a report on U.S. Grant last year for school in which he had to dress up for the presentation, and so we had bought him a U.S. Grant costume in the spring. We worked hard to convince him that this would be a very cool trick or treat costume, and I thought I had pulled over one of the best scams of the year when he told me that he indeed wanted to dress as U.S. Grant for Halloween, but alas, the mass produced, Target skeleton costume won out in the end. And since we had to go buy him the skeleton costume at Target, and the little princess was along, we also had to purchase a new costume for her to wear. The good thing was that since it was so last minute, the costumes were all 40% off.) So, I give you, the scary Skeleton, and Barbie Thumbelina. And no, I have never sewn Halloween costumes. I just don't have it in me. Truthfully, Halloween is just a 'holiday' (and I use that term loosely) that I barely tolerate.

Pumpkin Carving Party at Country Lane

This past week I made a dress for my daughter out of Bari J's newest line, Country Lane. She got the chance to wear it yesterday to church and then to a pumpkin carving party at our friends' house. It was the perfect choice for a beautiful fall day if you ask me....

favorite. project. ever.

This has to be my most favorite project I've ever done. It's from Anna Maria Horner's latest book, Handmade Beginnings. First of all, I LOVE this book. It has so many great projects in it, and I have neither a baby nor am I expecting one, so don't be fooled by the title. It's truly for anyone. When I saw this project, I knew I HAD to do it! I knew my little girl would love it, and she does. The pattern is for the quilt, the baby, and diapers to fit the baby. I must say that I loved making the diapers. I loved doing the hand stitching for the baby's face and hair. But most of all I loved making the quilt. The 4 blocks were foundation pieced, a technique I had not tried before, but found to be very easy and satisfying. I love color and it was so fun to put so much color into each block. All fabric I used was from Anna Maria's collections. I even mixed in some voiles with the cotton, and a tiny bit of her home decor. Do I even have to say how much I love her fabric? Just got in some of her newest line, Innocent Crush. Sigh. Can't wait to get started sewing with it.

Wow. I know, it's been a long time. I've been out of the loop for quite a while. I have a good excuse, though. We started homeschooling our kids this year. It was a very difficult decision that we put off until the last minute, but we are in week 9 now and although we have hard days (just like with anything else), it is going really well. More on that later though. I just wanted to peek my head up out of my 'cave' and let you know that I am still out here and slowly but surely, I am carving out little bits of time in my new schedule to sew.

What I am sharing today is the Madison Bag, a pattern I tested for Trish Preston. It's a great bag and I love how it turned out. Trish is actually about to debut her first line of patterns, which includes the Madison Bag, at the upcoming quilt market in Houston, last weekend of October. She has a sneak peak of them here, on her blog. I must say that ALL 14 of them look fantastic. I'm really impressed with how professional they look and the photography for the covers is amazing and makes you want to buy all of them! I'm so glad I had the honor to test 2 of them for her. Please, go check them out!

patsy ann apron top

Yes. I am still alive. Wow, time has been flying by and I have been so busy. Did May and June even really exist? It all happened so fast. Now, we are at the end of July and I am still extremely busy, but have gotten really sick, so I have been forced to slow down, thus the blog post.

This is one of the patterns I tested back in April. It turned out really cute. The pattern is the Patsy Ann Apron Top by Trish Preston. You can read her blog here. Trish is a really sweet, talented woman who will be debuting her new pattern line in her very own booth at quilt market this fall in Houston! So exciting! I know great things await her!

my thoughts on the pattern:

First off, it's totally adorable! I love how it turned out. And it's practical too! I actually made a mistake on the length of the fabric when I cut it and instead of re-doing it, I just decided to go with the length I had. It should be a few inched longer, but I actually like how it turned out. The straps go over the shoulders and cross in the back and then tie, as you can see in the first picture. This could totally dress up an outfit and give your little diva's jeans and tee a new look. Love it! You can order the pattern here, in Trish's etsy shop.