some stuff I've been sewing lately...

These are 2 dresses I recently completed for 2 sisters. I really love how they came out, especially the knot dress. The peasant dress was a standard item in my shop, but the knot dress was a custom order.

The fabrics I used were from a line called Summer Soiree designed by Paula Prass for Michael Miller. The patterns I used were from Sandi Henderson's Portabellopixie Claire pattern. The knot dress was tweaked a little from her original design. By the way, Sandi has a new book coming out soon! It looks amazing and I have already pre-ordered it from Amazon! I can't wait to get it! She talks about it here on her blog.

Oh, a few more random things to share:

1. I've really been getting the itch to make another quilt.

2. I'm dying to make my daughter a dress, and my son a coordinating tie for Easter.

3. We successfully threw my son a football themed party this past Saturday for his 9th birthday. Ten 9-10 year old boys playing football and generally acting wild. And get this. I spent all this time and energy planning and executing the production of the theme colored cupcakes (with 3 different colors of icing and 'go team' flags in them I might add) only to have them pounced upon and devoured so quickly before my eyes that we were barely able to sing Happy Birthday (actually not 100% sure if we sang it or not....) and I did not even get a picture of their loveliness. Bummer. Boys are weird.

That is all!

did you see this?!

I have been busy pattern testing again!

Did you see this?! Megan of the Brassy Apple has come up with this new pattern, the Maddie Bee Apron Top, and she did a feature on her blog showing the different varieties her pattern testers came up with, one of them being mine. Check it out. It's a great pattern, and can be used for so many different occasions or themes. The possibilities are endless! I used Sandi Henderson's newest line, meadowsweet. Love it!

the first step is...

admitting you have a problem! Last week I received five packages of fabric that I had ordered, all pictured above (Denyse Schmidt, Jennifer Paganelli, and just a smidge of Amy Butler). It was a glorious occasion I must say. But, oops. I didn't realize that I had ordered quite that much. Ok, so I love fabric. What can I say?! I have big plans for all of this! What do you think I should do with it?!!

p.s. don't tell, but I ordered more this week.....

tutorial: bookmark this!

Hi! Welcome to my first tutorial! Forgive me if I leave anything out! Also, this is my first try with altering my photos with text, so forgive the differences in font sizes. I am trying to improve my tech-savviness so just bear with me.

This bookmark came about this morning while I was working on an order. I cut the ends off of a 2" strip I had cut to make ruffles and I was left with 2 2"x 6.5" pieces of fabric. I thought to myself, 'hey, this looks like a bookmark', and the idea just flowed from there.

I missed pictures of the very first steps, so here is how you get started:

1. Cut 2 2"x6.5" strips of your choice fabric.

2. Draw letters (inverted) on to the back side of your fabric with pen. (you can also use any shape that you want. I cut around a floral shape on one of my scraps to enhance my design a little bit).

3. (this is text on the picture below, but I wanted to type it again here as it turned out so small). Following manufacturer's instructions, iron your letters to fusible web (that you can sew on).

This is a little small too, so this one below says:

cut your letters/ shapes out.

Now you take your 2 pieces of fabric and sandwich a piece of felt between them. The felt should be just slightly larger than the edge of the fabric.

This was really easy and quick to do. It is great for a gift for a teacher or friend, or even do a manly one for your husband. You can personalize it with a name or monogram, a school logo, or any holiday or theme. Really, the possibilities are endless with this one.

This only took me 45 minutes, including the time it took me to locate my fusible web, and retrieve my camera and take photos, so you can do this one too!

**A little off subject, but something really cool of a personal nature. I had chosen in January for the word LOVE to be my 'one word' for this year. I chose it because I am always repeating the word LOVE in my head when I am feeling frustrated towards someone. It helps me remember this:

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails. 1 Corinthians 13:4-8

I didn't even realize when I was making this, that it was my 'word'. I was only thinking of Valentine's Day and trying to have something small to give my kids' teachers as a gesture. (remembering last year when I didn't and was left thinking 'teacher's gifts for Valentine's Day?! really??!)

But then it hit me.

This was my word.

So I'm keeping this one.

in the land of pattern testing...

Lately, I feel like I have been living in the land of pattern testing. In December I had the opportunity to test a quilt pattern for Patty Young - the Hummingbird Quilt. I was very happy to be chosen to test the pattern and overall it was a very rewarding experience. The best part was getting a big box of fabric from Patty's newest line in the mail! I actually used some of the scraps from this hummingbird quilt in the quilt I made for my daughter for Christmas. (see 2 posts back, quilt of love 2) Patty released her newest set of patterns towards the end of January and all of the patterns look great. I got my copies of the pattern from Patty last week and it was really neat to see the quilt I had created on the pattern.

The down-low on making the quilt.... aka pattern review:

The quilt was really easy to do, great for a beginner that wants to try quilting but hasn't had the confidence. Using Patty's new double border daisy design in her newest collection, Flora & Fauna, there is virtually no work at all for the background. Just simply cut it to the correct length. The backing is also just one piece of fabric. I love the back almost more than the front! The daisies are irresistible! All the flowers and the hummingbird are raw edge appliques and Patty explains each step in her pattern very simply. It did take some time, but not the kind of time some quilts take. All quilts take some time and that is why they are so lovely. *This quilt used the mustard colorway of Patty's new flora & fauna collection. And I have to mention that I love all of the polka dots in this collection!

There will be more to come from the land of pattern testing in the weeks to come. I just finished testing a pattern for another fabric/ pattern designer last weekend, and received another in the mail yesterday from yet another pattern designer. Keep watching for reveals on these but for right now I'm not allowed to say anything. Mums the word.

poppies

I must say that I cannot wait for this new fabric line from Laura Gunn to come out! It is beautiful! I have some projects already in mind for this collection!

quilt of love 2

Here it is, the quilt I made my daughter for Christmas because I just didn't have enough to do. I made it completely from scraps and what I had in my (extensive) stash. I used only scraps for the inside part of each block which is made by doing a log cabin type block but without any measuring. I also did all the piecing using my serger, which I find to be much easier to use than my sewing machine. After putting the center of each block together, I then cut 4" strips of fabric for the outside of the block, then used my 12.5 x 12.5" square to square off each block and make them uniform. I loved doing this quilt. It was satisfying to use my scraps and I loved putting the fabrics together. They were all fabrics I love from my favorite designers, and I didn't just use the ones I wanted to use up, I used my favorites and was careful to put a LOT of pink! It was also great because it was kind of a free form thing, meaning that I was just making it up as I went along, which I enjoy. Following directions can really bring me down sometimes:). The backing and binding is done in a hot pink with white polka dots pincord cotton. It is also used on quite a few of the blocks, so you may be able to see it there. When I made my son a quilt a few years ago, I told him that it was full of love from Mommy because I had put LOTS of love into it while I was making it and when he put it over him, he could feel my love. So, he has always callled it his 'quilt of love'. He was very excited that I was (finally) making a 'quilt of love' for his sister because he had been telling me for quite a while that she needed one. Thus the name, quilt of love 2. And that's what makes it all worth while. And it really is full of Mom's love.