2011

1. yellowbagblog, 2. quiltandme, 3. puddle, 4. wallets7, 5. racerback, 6. lemonslices3, 7. knot shorts3, 8. happy camper, 9. onmybed2, 10. tote1, 11. mugs2, 12. hood, 13. sunburst-pillow-tute

2011 was a great sewing year looking back:

• made a queen size quilt
• two new patterns, go anywhere bag and 241 tote
• lots of fun tutorials: madras tote, sunburst pillow, boys wallet, quick tee, fabric tray, child's messenger bag to name a few
• fun ringo pie quilt block challenges
• a little collecting and re-decorating
• getting more comfortable drafting my own clothing patterns

Thanks for joining with me on this journey, it has been one I never expected traveling, but have found so much joy along the way.  

I'm very thankful for all my friends and everyone who stops by this space, here's to 2012! 

i learned how to knit

Hope you all had a great holiday and enjoyed lots of time with family and friends.  You'll never believe it, but yes, I finally learned how to knit.  My Aunt Mary sat down with me and showed me a few of the tricks.  I learned how to cast on and made it through quite a few rows  before screwing up.  But man, it was really fun and I'm glad I got a good start.  I'm really excited to pick up a pair of needles of my own this week.

It was pretty fun learning and messing up, and of course it was really fun being corrected by my cousin's 10 year old daughter who already knows how to knit a pretty mean scarf.

Can you believe it Shannon?  Now maybe I don't have to drool over all these luscious knit things and can actually give them a try myself... mayyybe.  Yay!

merry christmas

Hope you all have a safe and happy Christmas with your friends and families.  I'm looking forward to spending lots of time with my family.  Looking back at my reflection from last year at Christmas, it still couldn't be more fitting.

Simplicity Skirt Sew-along Linky Party

A few people have asked if I was ever going to do a linky party for my Simplicity Skirt Sew-along I hosted a few weeks ago, so here we are!

Hopefully I know how to do this, so if you have any questions let me know.  I can't wait to see you made!!!  PS. If you link up I might just be able to do something special for those who enter, like a cool giveaway or something.  Thank you!

i sewed

Yep, I did.  It's been a while.  Believe me, every night after I get the girls in bed I've thought to myself, this is the night.  But days and weeks passed.  Life happens.  You know the drill.

But last night I actually sat down, my handmade gift list in hand.  It's long and ambitious, I'm 100%  sure I won't get to all of it.  I looked through my fabric stacks.  It was fun, I actually hadn't looked at them in so long, it was fun to see what I really had.

Topping my list was a long overdue request, kind enough to be extended until Christmas.  A pair of purple and blue zippy wallets.  Sweet and simple.  I used some precious scraps, one liberty of london purple flowery type print, the other a scrap of vintage barkcloth given to me by my friend Erica.  A couple hours later, one item off to check off my list.  Feels really good.

Now onto the rest, eek!  Hope your last minute holiday shopping and making are fun.

2nd chair

No, not talking about the fact that I was second chair in our high school saxophone section.  But those were some pretty hilarious memories. More like I finished re-upholstering the other chair for my dining room the other day.  The second chair went together much faster that the first, guess a little practice never hurt anyone.

Quite a few people had questions on my buffet from the other chair post.  It's the dumont buffet from west elm. I got lucky and snagged it up when it was on sale and I had my coupons in hand.  The perfect mix of modern and Scandinavian style, I agree.

The prints on the floating shelf are: pink triangle print by twoems and the midwest by brainstorm

Part of my cathrineholm collection (more on that later), and a lovely little yellow dansk enamel pitcher.

I'm pretty much done decorating my living room/dining room area.  I had picked up a really cool glass door cabinet at an estate sale a couple months ago, just need to figure out if I'll be painting it.  Anyway, hope to give you the full tour after Christmas.

feeling a little Christmas-y?

Although I haven't done any Christmas crafting or sewing yet, I thought I'd share my Christmas type tutorials here again if you're getting in that Christmas groove.  Who knows, maybe you're already done with your Christmas crafting?  After all, there's only 18 days before Christmas...

[Snowflake Pillow Tutorial]

[Christmas Stocking Tutorial]

[Pocket Advent Calendar Tutorial]

And just for fun, a little Christmas pinterest inspiration never hurt anyone...

                                                                     Source: nanacompany.typepad.com via Gail on Pinterest

                                                               

Source: sometimescrafter.blogspot.com via Anna on Pinterest

                                                                       Source: creaturecomfortsblog.com via Gretel on Pinterest

                                                                            Source: weheartit.com via Kari on Pinterest

Thanks for reading everyone, I will be making something new soon, I've taken a long break, longer that I ever though I would or could. So it'll be nice to get back into the swing of making. Your comments, support, and friendships mean so much to me.  Thank you.

hand printed fabric swap

I was lucky enough to enter myself into Leslie's (Maze & Vale) hand printed fabric swap a month or so ago now.  Lucky, yes.  So far the two pieces of fabric I've received are just incredible.  Seriously, somebody has to get them a fabric deal, like now.  There's something so awesome about hand printed fabric though, I love it's qualities.  Modern, clean, natural are all words that I think of when I see hand printed fabric.  This is my loot so far:

Jesse Breytenback of South Africa

Leslie Keating (Maze & Vale) of Australia

I had purchased one of Leslie's designs from her shop and then she also threw in some fun extras too.  :)

So here I am in my own little corner of the world hoping I'll be able to come up with a cool enough design to make my swap partners happy, man, it'll be tough though.  Good thing I've got my gear all lined up and ready to go:

And if you're thinking about printing some of your own fabric I definitely recommend Printing by Hand by Lena Corwin.

Oh, and here's a little roundup of techniques that Leslie had, too.  She shares some really great examples of what others have done using each technique:
screenprinting (multiple color)
screenprinting
stamps & leaf printing
blockprinting
potato prints

And I won't forget to show off this little prize that Jesse sent with her package, I almost bought some from her etsy shop too.  I'll be saving this for something special.

Thanks you swappers, I'll be excited to show off what other prints I've gotten and tell you about what I made soon!