Stop staring and start sewing!

Cakes and Thanks

Well we have one cake down and two to go.  We are the dessert bringers for our Thanksgiving group (I've never cooked a turkey!) and this year we are doing cheesecake (this recipe is phenomenal, and easy too),  pecan apple pie (with butterscotch instead of caramel) and chocolate cake.  I've made the cheesecake a few times but the other two are new so we'll see (great reviews though).

Here are some of our ingredients but mostly I want to show you my finished floor!  We put down new flooring (linoleum and laminate) over a year and a half ago and the edge where they meet has been unfinished since then and it's gone from being irritating to aggravating to infuriating (which is what you get when you have aggravation mixed with a sizable dose of hormones).  So we ran to Lowes and IKEA last weekend and got to work.  I even painted the island to freshen it up (my little guy likes to color any surface 2 feet off the ground) and then caulked the whole darn thing!  Yay!  So happy!

It's been raining all day here and tomorrow will be the first rainy Thanksgiving that the Phoenix area has had in over 20 years (we've been here 13 years and have always enjoyed the day out on the patio)! So I have to come up with odd things like sweaters, long pants and socks for the kids. Fortunately Skate seems to have found a hat to keep his little noggin warm. Here's what we walked in on (he's digging through his sister's stuff, bad boy).

I love this one because he's just so darn happy with his new hat and has absolutely no concept of just how dorky he looks (he kinda looks like Lambchop doesn't he?). I adore him!  This picture may come back to haunt him in about 15 years.

And I'm thrilled because it looks like my next pattern should be done by next week. I wasn't happy with my first set of pictures so I did some new ones and I think they will help make the instructions very clear. I haven't settled on a name yet so I have to mull that over. My first pattern was named Edith after my great-grandmother and she had an identical twin named Ethel. Ethel just doesn't seem like a good name for a little girls skirt though. Molly maybe?  

Anyway, I'm finally happy with it and I'm glad I got to use my little scraps of Paula's butterfly fabric (which I was irked to find I ordered too late for the first run so I have to wait until January for it).

But I'm happy to report the Robots fabric (by David Walker) is really truly shipping out now (they were filling my order when I called them this morning) and some of Tanya Whelan's Darla are coming early too. The Ava Rose order was delayed (grrr!) and will be here next week with some more Sis Boom, Pop Garden, and some gorgeous Kaffe Fassett prints (thrilled about that!). And you are going to freak out (I mean it!) when you see Jennifer Paganelli's new collection called Flower Power. I'll let you know when she posts sneak peeks because I think she may have out-done herself with this one (and I'm ordering this one now so I get it early)!

Oh and if you have a Feliz pattern but have been a bit intimidated by it (I know I have), Caroline over at Trillium Design is posting a sew-along which takes you through the pattern step by step (I love these!). I have a few patterns in the store if you need one (which leads me to my next point!).

I'm having a massive Black Friday sale in the store which runs Thursday (you can surf while digesting!) through Saturday (I wanted to leave it up long enough for my overseas friends). EVERYTHING is 30% off (my fabric is already priced on the low end so this is a great deal) with the coupon code "blackfriday"! I'm still offering the freebies (listed on the front page) with this sale too!

And to all my fellow Americans...Have a wonderful Thanksgiving (is this a great country or what!?)!  Be sure to count your blessings (and kiss them if they're nearby)!  And If you're not in America you can kiss your blessings too (you don't have to wait for a holiday)!

Everybody's working for the weekend!

The kids have a bunch of stuff going on this weekend (birthdays, sleepovers, etc) so we are all making preparations right now.  Asher is going to a slumber party at a friends house and it was recommended that he bring a sleeping bag.  Well we don't have any boy sleeping bags (just pink princess ones the girls have had for years) so I had to come up with something suitable for an 8 year old boy in Arizona.  And since there will be 5 other boys there it has to have a "cool dude!" factor.

I took him to JoAnn last night and let him pick some fleece (with a little "guidance").  He liked the Navy one.  He also liked the Army and Air Force fabrics but I advised him that it would be best to pick the Navy in order to stay on his Grandpa's good side.  So Navy it was.  I was a little surprised at how pricey the licensed prints are but I think he'll get good use out of it (I think all the fleece is marked down starting tomorrow, but we needed it today).

So I whipped this up in less than an hour (including a pillow cover) and he loves it!  Fleece is great because you can leave the edges unfinished and your mistakes have to be huge in order to show. 

Here's the best part. A pocket with velcro so he can hide a flashlight and I left the pillow cover opened so he can slide a book in there for some after-dark reading. I have a feeling I'll be making a few of these for Christmas this year.

Fun!

I called Free Spirit this week to check the status of my orders and it turns out David Walker's Robots fabric isn't shipping until the middle of December (waaaa!) so I will try to be patient. They just put Tanya Whelan's new line Darla on the public page so go take a look because it's gorgeous and it will be perfect for Easter dresses (that's shipping in mid-December too)!  And be sure to visit Tanya's website because she is featured in the current issue of Country Home and oh my goodness!  I picked up a copy last night.  Such gorgeous ways to use her Ava Rose fabric!  I've ordered a bunch more (due here next week) because I just can't get enough of it (and it sells fast) and I need something to tide me over while I wait for Darla.

I tried one of the ideas from the magazine and I think I might be in danger of burning through my colored ink.  Look!  Gift wrap (for little gifts but great still)!

And I gave the kids permission to pick through some of my scraps and Peety came up with something cute right away. She's had these little embroidery samplers for awhile and didn't know what to do with them. How cute is this quilt project?!

Now we are off to IKEA (another weekend project beckons). Have a great weekend!!

Falling into Fall

I saw some trees today that are turning orange! That's a big deal because we're mostly surrounded by palm trees and cactus (or "cacti") here and the seasons (summer, summer, "winter" and summer) turn so quickly that you have to catch it fast. Anyway, we're feeling a little cozier here and I actually had to wear a sweater to the wedding last weekend (the reception was outside and it was lovely).

The kids are feeling cozy and crafty too. Here are a few projects Olivia has been pouring herself into. She's crazy about Heather's pincushion pattern (in my store now!) and so far she's made the pear and some tomatoes (the apple and strawberry are next). She's also working on a very colorful quilt which looks like lots of fun.

And I love this little plush scotty she made from Jenny Harris's free pattern. If you don't have it go get it! It's really adorable and I'm thinking it would work great as a pincushion too. Wouldn't that be fun on your sewing table (once you get past the fact that you're sticking pins in a dog)?

And I have received my latest installment in our Twelve Square quilting bee (which was originally named something that really irked a gal that had a similar group name so in the name of peace we have changed it because we are nice quilting peaceful types of gals with kung-fu grips.  Okay the last part is not true.).  This is from Jessica of Turkey Cookies fame and her theme is "Autumn".  I love these fabrics and I am formulating an idea for my block which I hope to implement within the week (I think it involves leaves but I'm not sure yet).

And I've added a link to my sidebar where you can go the the Save MEHC Facebook page and grab the link for your own blog (I really hope it works!). I'm hoping for some cuter graphics soon (will welcome any help in that department!) but in the meantime it's something.  And yes I know that it's totally snooty and self-aggrandizing that I picked the cover of the issue that I helped with.  :D

And if you love great fabric (snort! don't we all?!) I'm having another huge sale over at Fabritopia.  I did some math and realized I'm expecting 108 new bolts in the next few weeks and only have room for around 30 so I need to thin things out here.  I've actually talked Joey into letting me put shelves the whole length of the upstairs hallway so that will help.  I'm leaving the House by Annette Tatum sale up thru Friday so you get the sale price (6.50) then 15% off that (crazy!).  Oh, and I'm giving an Isn't Christmas Jolly? quilt panel with every order over 25.00 until they are gone.  Fun!!  I hope you're all having a great week!

Let them eat cake (wedding cake that is!).

I'm finally finished!!  I've made a flower girl's dress that would make Marie Antoinette green with envy and 2 dainty (yet sophisticated!) little junior bridesmaid's dresses!  I've made/altered countless bridesmaids's dresses for the bride during her teen years so it's a thrill to get to sew for her wedding (which is only two days away!).

Here's the flower girl's dress.  I used Simplicity 8953 for the skirt but used another pattern for the bodice.  The pattern is sized 4-8 but the flower girl measures between a 2T - 3T so I needed to decrease everything down to size teeny (my brain is hurting from all the math I've had to do in the last week!).

I even did the headband!  I picked up a little headband at the dollar store and then hot glued the white fabric onto it.  I tried making my own rosettes but I wasn't happy with the outcome so I ran up to Michael's for some silk flowers.  I hot glued everything in place and taught my kids a few new words every time I burned myself (I really want to kill that glue gun).  But I think it's gorgeous so "no pain, no gain", right?

Here's the big, fat sash in the back.  Lovely.  I took these pictures then called the flower girl's mom to come get it.  I wanted to say "Hi, I'm done with the dress.  Now please come get it before my cat barfs on it or the two year old takes the crayons too it!".  She's coming in the morning so I'm guarding it until then.

I just finished the junior bridesmaid's dresses about an hour ago and I'm breathing a huge sigh of relief. I've sewn for 3 weddings in the last 3 months and it's been a joy but I'm happy to be done for now.

I used New Look 6749 for this one but had to completely re-work the pattern to fit these little (and I mean little) gals.  The short dress on the right is 27 inches from top to bottom just to give you an idea of how small I had to go.  It was like making a Barbie dress.

Here's a close-up of the bodice. Those scallops took a lot of work to get them even and I really don't like sewing black on black with black thread. Everything just blends in and it's hard to see where one layer ends and the other begins. I used my cute little granny glasses to see real close (they kind of look like Dame Edna glasses with the little rhinestones!).  Oh but I got to use my walking foot to sew the lace layer onto the crepe fabric and it was wonderful!

I'm going to show you the invisible zipper because I'm so proud of it and I don't anticipate anyone coming up to me at the wedding and gushing "Oh my gosh! That invisible zipper is absolutely sublime!". But I figured anyone who's ever attempted one will appreciate this.

Sublime, right?  I use this great tutorial for installing invisible zippers and I love it.  I've used it for a few years now and keep a copy of it pinned to the wall above my sewing machine.  If you've never tried an invisible zipper this will really help out and you'll be kicking yourself for waiting so long.

In other new, it looks like David Walker's Robots fabric is starting to ship out so you can run over to the Free Spirit site and take a peek at all the great prints!  I will have it loaded in the store and ready to go the second that cute UPS guy gets here.  I really think people are going to go nuts for this fabric!

And I've started a Facebook page for all of us who want to join together to help save Mary Engelbreit's Home Companion magazine.  Maybe if enough of us raise a fuss, throw a tantrum, whatever...they'll hear us.  So please join and spread the word! 

I'm going to go put my feet up now.  Go try that invisible zipper!

Flash back to the 80's

I'm busy sewing for an upcoming wedding. The wedding's in 8 days and I have 2 junior bridesmaids dresses to finish and it's coming along smoothly in spite of the fact that I have to do a major "petit-isizing" on this pattern. But I've been using my walking foot and it's really an amazing thing. I'll share when I'm all done (hopefully it will be a happy post).

In the meantime, here are some pictures I dug up from the old embarrassing photo archives.  22 years ago we were newlyweds living in a little, one bedroom walk-up on Burnside Street in Portland. I wasn't much of a cook but I brought home the bacon and I could sew! Dig that mussed up 80's hair.

Here's the finished product. I had a job which required me to dress up a bit unlike my current still-in-my-pajamas-at-noon lifestyle. I got a lot of use out of this Laura Ashley pattern and this style was actually quite the rage. I had these darling green suede shoes that looked great with the dress (but what's with the off-white panty hose?).

I've come a long way baby.

In current news, I just received some of Sandi Henderson's sweet patterns and they are really a treat. Each one comes with a full color instruction book with lots of design examples. Really impressive. I've just loaded them in the store and my "spookysale" 15% off coupon is on until midnight tonight so you can get a great deal on them too!  Oh, and I have a bunch more INSA patterns coming on Monday so if you want to order them now I'm making them available (they'll ship out Tuesday).  Have a wonderful weekend!

Smock the vote

Well we got up and voted in the dark (in reality, not metaphorically).  We were 15th and 16th in line and by the time they opened the door there were countless people in line behind us.  I even saw my friend Patrick in line.  He's my favorite Walmart greeter and he's voting for the other guy.  I hope my guy wins or else he'll be like "Welcome to Walmart....loser." (he'll probably even make an "L" with his fingers up on his forehead).  I may have to start using the other entrance.

Anyway, let's talk about winners now!  The winner of Big Grand Finale Super Fun Pack of Fabric Goodness (or BGFSFPFG for short!) is Rebecca who left a comment on 11/2 at 4:04 pm.  Yippy for Rebecca!!

I've been trying to get back into the swing of things (or should I say sewing of things?) here.  I'm working on some pretty dresses (for a wedding!) and I'll give sneak peeks soon.  I hope you're all having a great week! 

Saturday Quilt Market finale

The winner of Thursday's beautiful quilt pattern is Allison (yes you, Allison!) who lives in a 100 year old house in Washington (perfect setting for a new quilt)!  Congratulations Allison!

Well I decided to save all my Bailey pictures for the last day.  There is so much talent in their family that I think they should start calling it the Bailey Quilt Market.  Elinor Peace Bailey did a great presentation on her new fabric line called Dance with the Fairies.  When I was downloading these pictures Skate saw this one and yelled "butterfly!".

Elinor brings a rainbow of colors wherever she goes. Here is a picture of her booth with the beautiful Beth (her partner in business). :) Do not try to adjust the color in your monitor, the picture is accurate.

Here are Beth and I teaming up to collect business cards for Heather's pattern give-away. I know, our enthusiasm is infectious isn't it? And the matching hair, pure coincidence. Really. Heather debuted her pattern line (Beth is wearing the apron) and I'm thrilled to have them in the store now!

Here are Heather (Elinor's daughter-in-law) and Laura Gunn (Elinor's daughter) at Heather's display in the Westminster section. Laura is working on a fabric line for the folks at Michael Miller and I can't wait to see it!

And here's a peek at some fabric I ordered. It's Robots by David Walker and I just love it because it's fun for boys (robots, rocket ships, planets, cool!).

And here's the big, end of the week give-away! Pay attention because it's a lot of stuff: 1 Sugar Snap by Melissa Averinos fat quarter stack, 1 Robyn Pandolph charm pack, 1 Fairy Frost charm pack, 2 gorgeous stacks (about 8"x8") of Elinor Peace Bailey's new fabrics, a huge stack of eye candy including a quilt pattern from Amy Butler and a bag pattern from Robyn Pandolph and paper dolls from Oliver and S. (plus a bunch of pretty brochures that are just plain fun to look at).  Good luck!

And remember, everything in my store is 15% off through this Friday (the 7th)!