the sewing spider

thinking about my grandmother...

2011-03-02T12:37:00.001-06:00

sunday night i received a text from my mum that my grandmother's house had sold... the house my grandparents shared for over 40 years. i spent much of my childhood within those walls learning to sew, knit, and be crafty with a needle. their house became my haven for 4 years after my first marriage fell apart and it's shelter was a welcome retreat as i rebuilt my life and rediscovered who i was. needless to say, i cried myself to sleep sunday night. my grandparents' house becoming SOLD is a bittersweet feeling for me... it is time i know, yet i feel like i have just lost my grandmother all over again.

monday afternoon my sweet nannie and memories of the house on south strathmore circle weighed heavily on my mind. what is a girl to do when feeling reminiscently overwhelmed? why, get crafty of course! nannie passed on her vintage button collection to me a few years back and, ~~being the type a / ocd person that i am,~~ i have them organized according to color. a bit of linen and a hoop later, and i whipped up some rainbow prettiness (:

this was quite a cathartic project for me... i enjoyed planning the design and then took my time sewing on each button one at a time while watching a bit of british tele (my grandmother greatly admired all things british... the monarchy, the literature, masterpiece theater).

interesting to think about: my grandmother was born on december 28... she died on july 28... papers making her house sold were signed on february 28.

for my niece...

2011-02-28T20:25:00.000-06:00

my first finished quilt of the year was given to my wee niece, elizabeth cate...

i used oh fransson's charm squares baby quilt, a charm pack of momo's it's a hoot fabric, and kona cotton 's ash grey (for the sashing) and grass (for the binding). can i just say how much fun this was to sew up! i already have two more charm packs all cut up and sewn into strips awaiting their sashing mates... pictures soon to follow (:

i was even able to utilize a yard of amy butler from my stash for the backing... yay for using stash fabric!!!

poor dear was quite hungry and looks frightfully mad in this shot! planning to take another photo of her when she is happily having a bit of hanging out time on her new quilt...

conquering challenges...

2011-02-16T15:02:00.012-06:00

at the beginning of the year i set some goals for myself in regards to my sewing... one of those goals is more of a challenge, a craft book challenge. turns out, there are others out there who, like me, acquire fantastic craft books filled with wondrous projects yet struggle to get any of them sewn up. i joined liesl made's group in january but waited too long and then (before i knew it) january was over and my project was only half completed. no worries, i simply have two craft book projects completed to show off for february (: here are the books i used for my first two challenges:

my "january" project was to sew up a booster seat for my nephew. he is 3 years old... too old for a high chair but too young to sit in a regular chair. the project came from the one yard wonders book. i followed the measurements in the book but opted for a different stuffing (tutorial calls for a foam insert and buckwheat hulls). i don't throw away any scraps; those that are too small to sew with get put in a bag to use as future stuffing. i rather liked their insert idea but knew that my recycled "stuffing" would also work nicely. i made sure not to stuff the seat too much and left enough "give" to make it cushion-like.

my february project came from sew what! bags and is something i have been wanting to make for awhile but never made the time for. those who know me know that i wear glasses, and those who really know me know that this glasses-wearing business is something i've been doing since i was two years old. 34 years of wearing glasses is quite some time! i decided that my glasses needed a cozy place to rest at night when i got to sleep and ~~finally~~ sewed up this fun eye glasses holder. i used a scrap of amy butler fabric for the outside and a soft brown flannel scrap for the inside... i love using my fabric scraps towards a project!

now i am off to figure out what to sew up for the month of march... it will be here too soon and i have plenty of craft books to choose from!

hug and kisses...

2011-02-13T22:23:00.000-06:00

i am not a big valentine's day person... part of it stems from those elementary school years when none of my classmates could seem to spell "charlotte" correctly ~~even with a printed list of everyone's names, including mine~~. this year i decided to do a small bit of decorating... i had some felt hearts that i had blanket-stitched some time back and thought would make cute garland to hang across my felt inspiration board.

i whipped up the garland a couple of weeks ago. i have really enjoyed it and might just keep it up a bit longer... it makes me smile (:

happy valentine's day!!!

meet margot...

2011-01-25T20:43:00.002-06:00

when i was a little girl i used to spend friday nights over at my grandparents' house. one of my favorite places in their house was my mum's childhood room... it was located upstairs adjacent to the attic space. this room is where my grandmother had her sewing machine (a singer 401-a), and i loved sitting in a cozy chair reading or hand-sewing as she sewed on her machine. it was on this singer that i learned to sew as my nannie aided me in sewing up stuffed bears (i was adventuresome in middle school :). later, in my twenties i lived up in this very room for a spell, and when i moved out nannie gave me her sewing machine to have for my very own.

this singer has been my faithful sewing companion throughout my life... now that she is fully serviced (finally) we have been enjoying a bit of sewing time here and there. i named her margot in memory of my nannie... it's french for margaret, my grandmother's first name. margot is completely metal (= heavy!) and luckily she came with her very own sewing table. the table doubles as storage for margot, but i keep her out because 1) i looove the space the table provides me and 2) i use margot at least twice a week because she is such a good "work horse". i need to sew up a nice cover for her so the dust doesn't get her, of course i might get one from my amazing make mine modern swap partner (fingers crossed)...

my sewing machine is sturdy, trusty, and faithful... margot is my "go-to gal" for pillow and bag construction... i love how quickly she sews the seams up!

a little pillow talk...

2011-01-22T23:55:00.003-06:00

friday we had a snow day due to icy-ish roads and the sun/snow combo gave me excellent light. i took full advantage of this and had a photo shoot with my latest completed project... two fun pillows. i have been wanting to share them with you for quite some time (like 2 weeks), and had actually taken photos a bit ago that have been waiting to download. however, i just wasn't entirely happy with the photos (due to horrible lighting) and kept putting off this blog post as a result. now that i have decent photos i can share... yippee!!!
the first pillow is the result of an experiment with random pink scraps. every so often i like to get out my scraps and ~~color-code and organize~~ play around with them. one night months ago i took out my pink scraps and started sewing up log cabin blocks... then the blocks sat around waiting for me to figure out what to use them for. after the holidays i started cleaning out and organizing all my wips and came across this block. i happened to have a spare 16" pillow and decided to add some pink border and and fun embroidery to create a pillow top. the embroidery was also an experiment... i saw something similar in flickr and figured i could do that. i grabbed some buttons, sewed them on, and embroidered the stems, leaves, and grass while watching reruns of dr. who. i quilted around the border for a "finished" look and used amy butler's pink lotus fabric for the envelope back.

photo of the embroidery detail... i found these wonderful buttons in my button collection. the first two are from my grandmother's button stash that i inherited... i especially like the pinwheel one (:

i had some leftover fabric from my grandmother's quilt so i decided to make a pillow with it... it is quite basic compared to my pink scrappy love pillow, but i love the way it turned out!

my two pillows together in my sewing room...

it was loads of fun making these pillows and i foresee many more in the future (:

bidding adieu to 2010...

2011-01-10T22:46:00.001-06:00

a new year means reflecting on the previous year and pondering the possibilities awaiting...

last year...
- i participated in my first swap... p.s.i quilt's siggy swap (i still need to sew up the quilt top)
- i sewed my first quilt... made a lap quilt for my grandmother
- lost my dear nannie... my sweet grandmother died 6 months after i gave her the quilt (i still tear up when i think of her and haven't been able to use the quilt)
- became a godparent...of course i had to sew her a fun baby quilt!
- became an aunt again... this time to a girl!!!!! (already spoiling her with sewing goodness)
- added south america to my list of continents visited... traveled to bogotá, colombia with my husband on a missions trip and had an amazing experience there.

for 2011...
- i am going to blog more... i am going to make an honest attempt to blog at least once a week
- i want to sew more intentionally... i have started making a monthly list of what i want to accomplish - realistic goals that i can complete or make a good dent into. this past weekend i took 3 items on my list and finished ALL 3!!! it felt sooo good to finish 3 wips one. at. a. time. (instead of adding to my endless wip stack)
- sew projects from my sewing books... i have some wonderful books with terrific (and easy to follow) tutorials, but i have not attempted any. i want to sew at least one book project a month... goodness knows i have the stash to make it possible!
- do more with my fabric stash than just look at it... i found the perfect tutorial for all my girlfriends' birthday presents this year which will help a bit (: it's time to get cutting this year!
- join/participate in more swaps... already signed up for the make mine modern swap (see the button on my side bar) and would love to take part in others! i want to become more a part of the sewing community out there and swaps is a great way to do this.

i am excited about 2011 and what it will bring my way. i should have some photos to share in the next day or so of what i have already accomplished (:

in memory of my grandmother…

2010-12-28T10:04:00.001-06:00

today is my grandmother's birthday... sadly, my nannie passed away this past july, exactly 5 months shy of her 95th birthday. below are my thoughts and memories...

Words fail me when I attempt to verbalize just what Nannie meant to me. The matriarch of our family, she was an ever-present figure in my life. My grandmother influenced my life profoundly. Nannie was a force of nature – everything had its place and there was always something to be done. She was an authority on organization, a trait which I am thankful to have inherited and had nurtured under Nannie’s watchful eye. Nannie always had a library book checked out, took time daily to read, and always gave me a book for Christmas. She modeled active, voracious reading, giving me someone to emulate. As soon as my fingers were willing, Nannie had either knitting needles or needle and thread in my little hands and diligently helped me in knitting or sewing up simple projects for a child to cherish. When I was a bit older she taught me to use the sewing machine, giving me a life-long love for creating with textiles. Nannie was a God-fearing woman whose diligent prayer life, daily bible reading, and servant heart impressed volumes on me. These are but a few of the numerous ways in which Nannie touched my life, and it seems that everywhere I look I am reminded of my grandmother and how she has shaped me. Although I cannot imagine my life without Nannie in it, I know she is rejoicing with Jesus in heaven, and I will always have her memory with me wherever life takes me.

a bit of what i've been doing...

2010-11-28T21:54:00.000-06:00

organizing my threads...

i restocked during joann's big after-thanksgiving day sale and got everything all color-coordinated (:

making good use of my siggy square scraps...

just couldn't throw away my snippets from my siggy squares... they sat around for quite awhile, and about a month ago i got them out and started playing with them. the result is this doll quilt top... i finally got the sashing sewn on last night and am planning on binding it with a nice solid red kona cotton fabric, but i have not decided on a backing yet.

i also sewed up six more burp cloths for the upcoming crafts sale and for all those friends of mine having babies (there are sooo many, too!)...

3 is the magic number...

2010-11-27T16:18:00.000-06:00

my nephew levi turns 3 today!!! this is the first birthday where he has been fully conscious of presents and party hats. we will be celebrating this evening by roasting hot dogs and marshmallows while watching "cars" on the big projection screen. i wanted to make levi something special for his big day that he could enjoy and use... seeing how he has only a million cars, i decided to make him a car carrier for toting a few cars when he goes out and about. i absolutely love this tutorial by jill (along with everything else that she makes :) and used it to sew up this for the birthday boy...

this was my first time to attempt piping and appliqué and i was a bit nervous about both... i even goofed when attaching the piping and cut individual pieces for each side rather than one continuous piece going around (:

i basically followed the tut stitch for stitch except i free-handed my numbers ~~because i'm lazy~~ since i had no freezer paper and felt confident that i could accomplish them without a stencil... there were a few moments of terror that i would end up with six blobs, but i think they turned out okay.

hoddy toddy...

2010-11-26T16:58:00.002-06:00

my mum has three friends from her ole miss college days who she still keeps in touch with... they get together every year for the ole miss homecoming, and each brings a little gift for the other girls. while fabric browsing not too long ago i came upon some ole miss collegiate fabric with the colonel rebel (for those of you who do not keep up with ole miss dealings, they recently retired the beloved colonel rebel mascot). i grabbed up 5 yards with visions of homecoming gifts swirling in my head. this year's gift was a simple pillow with envelope backing. i used this tutorial as a guide and churned them out.

here is my mum's pillow...

and the girls with their gifts...

a bit of shopping...

2010-11-23T13:17:00.000-06:00

i went to nashville this past weekend with my mum and youngest sister. when in nashville i always make a stop at the textile fabric store... their prices are quite high but i just love all the beautiful fabrics they have that i cannot visit anywhere in memphis. my mother treated me by splitting the cost of my goodies and i acquired the following...

some far far away 2 fabric to make a birdie sling... i absolutely looove the sleeping beauty in gray and have been wanting to make one of these BIG bags for ages! i liked how the modern meadow complemented the roses and thought it would do nicely as the lining.

how could i resist this fun retro christmas fabric from alexander henry... i plan to sew up holiday napkins this friday after doing my annual black friday shopping at joann's (:

christmas time...

2010-11-22T22:26:00.000-06:00

is my absolute favorite season! i love listening to the music, putting up the decorations, watching the movies, wrapping the presents... but i especially love making anything christmasy... i am currently working on several festive christmas-inspired projects. here is a peek at what i have been doing in my spare time...

yoyos!!!

don't you just love the color? i am stringing them together to make garland for the house (:

miscellaneous crafts fair ramblings...

2010-10-09T23:45:00.002-05:00

so i know i've been pretty much non-existent on my blog lately... i blame it partly on work. first, i have an overflow of students in my classes this year. the number of kids doubled this year, which is great but means more time after school committed to planning and grading. we also adopted a new set of textbooks so i am starting from scratch with lessons. also, my school just added an extra hour to each school day for extra interventions and i now get home even later than before. don't ge3t me wrong, this year is 100x better than last year... my 6th graders are wonderful and 7th and 8th graders are as good as it's going to get in middle school (: i just have so much more to do and it tends to overflow into the evenings and weekends now.

i was also consumed with producing items to sell at a local crafts fair that took place mid-september... made up a bunch of coasters, several camera strap covers, cute "pigtail packs", a couple of kitchen trivets, some coffee cozies, and a few burp cloths in the hopes of getting my name out there a bit. i actually got invited to another crafts fair in october (next weekend) by one of my sister's friends and have been busy whipping up a few last-minute items.

here's a look into what has absorbed my sewing time these past 2 months...

my mum has already commissioned me to make her several sets for christmas gifts...

every photographer needs one of these...

looks adorable in any little (or big) girl's hair...

the lizzie house fabric makes perfect trivets...

i try to be eco-friendly with my sewing...

my go-to baby gift...

love the terry cloth backing for absorbency...

my plan is to start on some bigger items once next week is behind me... my niece will be making her appearance in a couple of weeks and i need to get cracking on her baby quilt - want to use this pattern with wither luv u or freebird charm pack (my sister needs to make her decision between the two).

here's a last-minute photo for you... some coasters that i made using scraps from my fabric wreath. my mum snatched these up when she saw them. they were quite a bit of fun to sew up (:

i'm a godparent...

2010-07-25T12:30:00.003-05:00

therefore, i whipped up a baby quilt for my tiny goddaughter (of course!).

i used lots of fun, girlie amy butler midwest modern fabrics in a simple big brick pattern from starlit nest...

i pieced the back just a bit with festive kona cotton pinks and a large piece of martini in linen...

i stitched on a handwritten label so gracie would always know that i love her...

and i wrapped it all up with a burp cloth (because her mummy can't have enough of these) and a polka-dotted frog beanie.

fabric vase photos...

2010-07-24T22:01:00.001-05:00

here are a couple of photos of the fabric vases i have made so far...

large bouquet vase and small single stem vase i made for art's cousin maggie who got married a couple of weekends ago... planning to duplicate these again this week for a friend who is getting married on the 31st.

small single stem vases i made for myself, my sister, and my mum...

frogs for nepal...

2010-06-29T13:35:00.001-05:00

my youngest sister, becca, is going to nepal in a couple of days... she will be revisiting the orphanage where she spent 2 months of her life a couple of years ago. these little froggies will be going as gifts for some of the children there. becca is making up several others and rachel is also helping sew up a couple. now that these are complete, it's on to finishing up wedding gifts and a multitude of baby gifts needed yesterday...

it's been awhile...

2010-06-25T15:06:00.000-05:00

between wrapping up the last couple weeks of the school year; my trip with mum, rachel, and levi to pennsylvania; and our trip to bogota, colombia i have been quite the non-blogger. i was unable to do too much craftiness due to traveling, etc., but here are a few photos of what i did get done in that time...

this doll quilt has been patiently waiting to be binded and sent to one of my best friend's little girl for her 6th birthday... we drove to pennsylvania (2 days in the car one way!!!) so i made good use of the time and finally got this task completed. once i was done i wished i had 10 more to work on... riding in the car proves to be perfect for hand binding! the hubby and i will be traveling to chattanooga and then on to knoxville in july... think i need to have a few baby quilts ready for binding for the ride (:

here is my very first attempt at embroidery... i did this sweet kitty on the drive home from pennsylvania. not sure what will become of her yet. i am thinking of turning her into a mini log cabin quilt to hang in my sewing corner...

rachel of p.s. i quilt posted a lovely little tutorial on the moda bake shop that i decided to attempt while in pennsylvania... it was the perfect project to work on while in the car and at night after a long day out and about. i worked a bit on the drive up, continued throughout the evenings in new oxford, and completed it on the way back home (giving me time to tackle my embroidery :)

i also made two fun little fabric vases using prudent baby's easy and addictive tutorial, but forgot to take a photo of them! i made them the night before leaving for colombia (talk about last minute)... gifts for our amazing friends jorge and ginny ensico and the sweet couple, lucas and luisa, who live with them. we went to bogota with our church as part of a missions team to help renovate a dear little lady's house. she is a member of jorge and ginny's church ( jorge is the pastor). art and i stayed 5 additional days (after the team left) and did life with ginny, jorge, their 2 adorable girls, lucas, and luisa. the vases were the perfect tiny host gift to give each couple. i already have more fabric cut and a trip planned to buy more vases (small and large) for 2 upcoming july weddings and stocking for future host/birthday/well wishing events. i promise to post pictures of them in the next few days...

more coasters...

2010-05-25T18:33:00.001-05:00

these fun coasters were a small bridal shower gift for my friend, mandy... she was one of my sister becca's college roommates, and she is also the one who inspired me to start sewing after a looong break! mandy and her blog single-handedly started my blog reading, fabric stashing, sewing obsessing addiction. so, when my sister invited me to nashville a couple weekends ago to hang out with mandy i knew exactly what i would whip up and what fabric to use. i fell in love with anna maria horner's vivacious collections because of mandy and she loves garden party as much as i do... yay! i rummaged through my coveted garden party stash, found six fun prints, and matched three with solid kona and three with garden party polka dots. they turned out great... now i need to make some up for myself!!!

nannie's quilt completed...

2010-05-22T21:49:00.002-05:00

i finally finished my grandmother's lap quilt... yay! i am so happy to have this project completed and being used by my nannie. this was my first attempt at a quilt of this size (have done a few doll quilts). i found the pattern from the moda bake shop... a bit more involved than i probably should have tackled for my first quilt, which is why it took so long to complete. now though i am sooo happy to have made it. this quilt is far from perfect but i love it!!!

the front of my nannie's quilt...

the corners are a bit different than the pattern, but i like the solid white border and improvised corners...

and the back view...

little circles were a happy accident... i made a wee hole and needed a way to fix it. appliqué to the rescue!

love seeing my nannie using her quilt... it makes me smile to see it on her.

to market, to market...

2010-05-21T22:31:00.001-05:00

i finally made my first jane market bag... made especially for my good friend, rachelle, for her birthday. fun fabrics in greens and browns, her favorite colors. i used home dec fabric for the bag's exterior and handles... changed the straps a bit because my machine didn't want to sew them up the way the pattern was written... new computerized machine that i am not accustomed to + extra fabric thickness = one frustrated me! this bag did take me a bit to make, but in its defense this is the first bag pattern i have ever used and i am always super slow when doing something for the first time. i am looking forward to making more... already have the coordinating fabrics all set aside waiting to be cut out and sewn up. unfortunately they will have to wait until the end of june when i return from our trip to bogota, colombia. if time permits i will cut all the fabrics and set it all aside for the time being. i quite enjoyed making a bag and see various bags being made in my future!

quilting in progress...

2010-04-18T15:11:00.002-05:00

attempting to get this quilt quilted... a lot of personal time with my seam ripper has transpired over the past 48 hours. i started out with white thread but quickly (after 3 quilted rows) realized that it was too much of a stark contrast with the kona coal fabric i used for the backing. a quick trip to joanns and i had a more subtle gray thread to quilt with instead. i have finally found my quilting rhythm (fingers crossed) after a bit of uneven stitches due to overzealousness and a lead foot. i believe i finally have all the unevenness ripped out and am about to re-attempt to make some headway today!!!

quilting update...

2010-04-03T21:34:00.002-05:00

here's where i was at the beginning of this week...

all my blocks were sewn into their 8 rows and yearning to be sewn together...

and this is where i am as of last night...

the quilt top is all pieced, pressed, and waiting to be sandwiched and quilted. it totally helped that this week was spring break and i was able to get a bit more sewing in than usual. now i need to get started on the back... i want to do just a small bit of piecing with a few of the 10" squares left over from the layer cake. i also need to cut the strips for my binding... my favorite part ---yes, i am a hand-binding nerd (:

my fabric ladder...

2010-04-02T19:22:00.002-05:00

found this awesome ladder last saturday at a garage sale. it's one of those decorative purposes only ladder that is perfect for my sewing space... i needed something to hang various fabrics: ironed strips, quilting wips, random scrappy blocks, finished doll quilts, etc. as you can see, i didn't waste any time putting it to good use.

here's a random shot of something i made quite a bit ago and just did not have a good photograph worth posting...

pin cushions for my sister becca and myself... mine's the teacup and it is the last surviving member (to my knowledge) of my parents' everyday china they received 41 years ago when they got married. whenever i look at my little pincushion i am reminded of my childhood and the plates, bowls, platters of our mealtime. i found the fun jam bowl at a local thrift store and knew immediately i had to get it for becca... i made rachel (my other sister) a teacup pincushion also and must remember to take o photo of it next time i am at her house.

a few finished doll quilts...

2010-04-02T18:48:00.002-05:00

for mary claire...

for meg...

i made these two fun doll quilts for my best friend's little girls... their favorite colors are pink and green! these future birthday presents are in the wash becoming all crinkly and soft and will await the fall when they will adorn the beds of two american girl dolls :)

this one is all mine...

i love anna maria horner's garden party fabric collection, don't you? her beautiful fabrics helped to start/build the foundation of my stash. i had the best time making this lovely, especially the creative randomness of the quilting experience. it is also in the wash getting all crinkly and soft... yay! there is a place of honor at my sewing station where it will hang for inspiration and maybe be joined by others eventually.

i love my little quilt!!!

my grandmother's quilt part 1...

2010-03-24T22:20:00.003-05:00

my sweet grandmother fell early monday morning and broke her hip... scaring the family to pieces, naturally. she had surgery yesterday (partial hip replacement) and is now starting the recovery process. my nannie is 94 years young and a feisty lady... 1 1/2 ago she had surgery for a slipped disc and had to basically be reminded how to walk. the rehabilitation was quite a rough ordeal, but nannie weathered it and came out putting about with the aid of her trusty walker. we all know she can make it through this current ordeal if its what the good lord intends, but it is quite difficult to see her in such pain and not be able to relieve it.
i have had the nouveau layer cake from moda siting in my stash for some time now, and decided to make my grandmother a lap quilt with it. i actually took 2 of the squares and made a set of coasters for her birthday this past december... now she will have a matching quilt for when she sits in her chair during the day. i found the perfect tutorial to help me from none other than the fabulous moda bake shop. it is super easy to follow, and i have completed steps 1-7 already (as you can see from the above photos :) i plan to bring the quilt (in its various stages) when i visit her each afternoon/evening and maybe take her mind off the pain a bit.

national quilting day...

2010-03-21T00:20:00.000-05:00

when i found out that today was national quilting day i decided to finally quilt and bind my (anna maria horner fabric) doll quilt. this doll quilt top was actually completed at least six months ago, and i sandwiched it a month ago. the poor thing has been hanging in my sewing room waiting for me to quilt it. not sure what made me procrastinate so on it... because it's for me i guess i let all my sewing for others take precedence. now it is finally quilted and the binding simply needs to be hand-sewn to the back. i am going on a trip next weekend (the start of my spring break) with my mum, sister, and wee nephew; we will be driving up to visit relatives in pennsylvania. i am going to take this doll quilt with me and stitch it up during our time on the road... got to have something crafty to do while away from my machine :) i'm also thinking of attempting to learn how to crochet and try my hand at hand embroidery then (fingers crossed!!!)

siggy swap blocks signed, sealed, and delivered...

2010-03-20T12:19:00.002-05:00

here is a very belated (and hastily shot) photo of the blocks i sent in two weeks ago... used my scraps (and one hope valley fat quarter) from my stash. fabrics include amy butler, moda, anna maria horner, heather bailey, denyse schmidt, joel dewberry...

had a rocky start with signing them (note: don't attempt writing on fabric with a sharpie after 10 pm when tired and hand a bit lead heavy). other than that, the experience was fun, and i truly enjoyed participating in my very first swap. we'll see what happens when i receive my swap blocks in a few weeks... i'm excited t to see the various fabric choices that will be sent my way, but wonder how i will organize them into a quilt. i will update here when the package makes its way to my doorstep...

my funky scrap bucket...

2010-02-13T21:36:00.001-06:00

so, here is my scrap bucket i sewed up using my bits of orange, brown, and yellow fabrics...and i had a complete blast with the entire process!!! i quite enjoyed piecing all the scraps together like a giant puzzle to solve, and i have already started on pink and green/blue ones. i used the tutorial featured on sew mama sew during the scrap busters contest... can be found here.

i tend to be quite a multi-tasker and have accumulated quite a bit of wips (works in progress)... this was but one on a looong list. my problem is that i see something great to sew, get a bit done, put it aside, and then see something else that is fun, start on it... you get the idea. i decided that this cycle cannot continue and i need to finish up all wips before i start on anything else! i need to get started on my goodies for cooper-young festival (yes, i know it is in sept. but i want to start stocking things aside now in preparation) and i want to start quilting, etc. well, i made a list and am slowly crossing things off and this scrap bucket is the first :) stay tuned... more completed wips are on the way!
speaking of, here is a shot of my bright little bag to tote around small projects. i used some of my anna maria horner home dec fabric scraps. it is padded with quilt batting, lined with a golden kona solid, and even has a pocket for odds and ends. i topped it off with a sweet little button my friend amanda sent me. i am quite proud of this little number because it is all me... nobody else's tutorial was used and it turned out okay!!!

chinese new year gifts...

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fabrics chosen and cut out; binding and thread matched...

and the finished products...

so, chinese new year will be celebrated this year on sunday, february 14th. there is a family quite dear to me who reside in the amazing city of hong kong, and i wanted to do something for the four kiddos for cny. since the traditional chinese new year gift is money, my sister and i got together to send a small package. i made up mini card wallets using verypurpleperson's fabulous tutorial and rachel bought itunes cards to go in each. i spent last weekend making these up while watching alias season 3... good times!

cutie pies...

2010-01-08T15:47:00.007-06:00

i made these two cutie pies from betz white (tut found here) last night. my sewing machine's bobbin holder is currently broken (darn plastic) and i have been forced to put any machine stitching on hold for the time being. i have been keeping busy cutting out future projects which has proved quite productive... i have a stack waiting for their turn to be sewed in the near future! i also have been going through all my online tuts i have accumulated over the last 10 months in search of any that can be made up with hand stitching. soooo excited when i remembered this little project... i even ordered more felt from felt-o-rama last night to create 6-8 more!!! now if ornamentea.com will just stock their felt balls i will be in business :)

handmade christmas presents...

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jonny and susie's baby shower gift...

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i used the self binding receiving blanket tutorial at piece n quilt's blog that i first saw at cluck cluck sew's blog... quite pleased with my first attempt and i have a rather large stash of flannel yardage (thanks to joann's black friday sale:) to keep my self binding baby blanket business going for a bit. an added bonus was having enough fabric to make up a fun frog beanie using the tutorial at the purl bee...

sneak peek of xmas crafty goodness...

2009-11-27T21:29:00.002-06:00

wee birdie ornaments hanging around to be stuffed...

pieced pot holder tops in line for quilting...

soon-to-be fabulous holiday dish towels...

more birthdays = more coasters to make...

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i am having quite a bit of fun cranking these out... and actually got the last set ready in time to bring it to the party! there is hope for me yet :)

my first set of fabric napkins...

2009-09-07T14:13:00.003-05:00

i am sooo tired of wasting paper napkins every time we eat dinner. i found some wonderful alexander henry fabric at joann's a little bit ago that i knew would be perfect for our asian inspired dining room. i found some great advice online about creating fabric napkins and had a napkin-making day. the result was eight fun napkins...

i have already purchased two more fabrics for more napkin fun!

something to set your glass on...

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i started making coaster sets for birthday presents...

my friend rachelle is partial to greens and browns...

paige likes a bright mix of colors...

becky's color of choice is red...

garden goodness...

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vivid deliciousness that actually came out of my little garden!

not sure what to do next...

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this fabric will eventually become the back...

and here is the center block for my very first doll quilt!!!

i have been wanting to dive into the world of quilting for quite some time now and finally dipped my feet in a bit last week. i became inspired by an incredibly talented lady, bitter purl, and this moda bakeshop pattern for a doll quilt that she blogged about recently. so, i grabbed up my anna maria horner's garden party (plus one bit of drawing room) fabric and started slicing it up! i had quite a fun time coming up with the block arrangement and sewing everything up. and can i just say that i looove the way the block turned out!!! now all i need to do is pick up some sashing fabric and finish piecing it all together before i tackle the actual quilting step. here is where my indecision comes into the mix. what fabric do i choose to sash it with??? any advice, help, words of wisdom would be MUCH appreciated! i am going to do a bit of research this next week while relaxing at the beach and hope to figure it all out so when i return home i can get to quilting :)

the perfect way to spend a lazy saturday...

2009-06-20T08:52:00.006-05:00

introducing rosita

i began to get the sewing itch a few months ago... i had begun sewing during junior high school but had not been on my machine in 7+ years. i started getting that "i have to sew something" feeling and spent way too long on blogs written by inspiring women with incredible sewing talent. this pointy kitty from hillary lang's wee wonderfuls site was what i decided to attempt as i delved back into the world of sewing. i spent a delightful saturday morning watching hgtv and sewing up this wee pointy kitty, aka rosita. let me just say that i sooooo enjoyed creating little rosita!!! and i was overjoyed when i discovered these awesome antique buttons from my button collection... perfect kitty eyes :)

a project many years in the making...

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my grandmother's first cousin was a lovely woman who was like a grandmother to my sisters and me. miss grace (what we always called her) was full of spunk and independence... she never married and worked until she was 82 (she told her bosses she was 10 years younger so they would not force her to retire - lol). ever resourceful, miss grace use to alter and even make her own clothes. she had quite an amazing button collection with both the practical button and the beautiful buttons from generations before her. one day miss grace decided it was time to pass her buttons on and she gave them to me. when she passed away (the feisty lady lived to be 99!!!) i wanted to create something with her buttons as a way of keeping her memory alive. in a magazine i had seen a pillow that was decorated with buttons and an idea began to form. a large majority of miss grace's buttons were gorgeous pearl ones of all shapes and sizes. one large cream pillow, thread, a needle, and a thimble later and i was off. this project was worked on bit by bit and time began to pass. there were long periods of inactivity and then many a button sewn. fifteen years came and went and still the pillow remained uncompleted. then, a few months ago i finally sewed the last of the buttons on and re-stuffed the pillow. it now has a place of its own in our bedroom and every time i pass by i am reminded of miss grace.

now entering blogdom...

2009-06-18T22:35:00.000-05:00

after thinking about this for quite some time and receiving encouragement from others out there, i am finally starting a blog of my own. just to let everyone know, this will not be anything fancy or contain elaborate creations by me... i am simply a girl who likes to sew and is kinda adequate at it. this blog is an attempt to keep track of what i make for friends and family (and occasionally me), to give credit to the amazing women whose patterns i have utilized for my wee projects, and to see what happens as i begin to evolve in my sewing.