awesome friends!!

So, as you can tell by the title, I have some awesome friends!!!  This little blogging community has really been a joy for me!  I was, at first, somewhat of a reluctant blogger.  I figured, who the heck would want to read about what I was sewing or doing??!!  But I was lonely!  Not in the sense that I needed a friend because I have wonderful friends but I was lonely in a crafty way.  I didn't know or communicate with anyone that sewed or crafted!  I had no one to bounce ideas off of or to ask questions.  I figured even if no one was reading, that blogging would give me a way to hash out my ideas.  I am still amazed that anyone reads my little rants!  :)  Anyway, I started blogging despite my reservations and I am so very glad that I did!!

I have "met" some of the greatest women ever!  I love every one of my followers and readers and get so very excited when you guys leave me comments or send me an email!!  It really means so much!

I got so many sweet comments and messages for my birthday, thank you all!!

Two of my best bloggy friends sent me the most amazing gifts!

I got this lovely package from Vanessa!  Just look at all of those goodies!  The beautiful pin cushion is filled with pins and on my cutting table!  She also made me a fantastic patchwork pouch that is in my bag with all of may daily beauty necessities.  :)  There was also some beautiful stationary and the coolest stickers that I have ever seen!!  She packed it so beautifully that I almost hated to unwrap it all, almost!  :)  The super cute card was decorated with artwork by her daughter!

My friend Amy, who I am lucky enough to really know in person, brought me this fabulous piece of her amazing fabric!  She screen prints it with her own designs!  She is so talented and is an artist in every meaning of the word!

Pretty cool, huh?!  

So, I would like to get to know all my readers a little better!  If you blog, why?  If not, then just tell me something about yourself!!  And... if you want to know something about me then ask and I will answer! :)

Easter bags

I have been wanting to make my little girls some sort of bag to take on outings and in the car.  Something they can hold and carry around with toys and activities inside to keep them busy.  I had planned on just a simple drawstring bag (or maybe a great patchwork one) but the more I thought about it, that type of bag would be harder for them to carry into a restaurant or office or wherever we may go.  Then I remembered this bag!!!

I love Ayumi's blog!  She has tons of adorable tutorials and a really great sense of style.  I had seen the tutorial for the bento style lunch bag when she first posted it and loved it but just didn't need anything like it at the time.  Then Anna made one and I remembered how much I had loved it!  I filed the idea away again until this past Friday.  I figured that not only would it be a perfect solution for my car/outing bag needs but it would also make an adorable Easter basket!!

It is the perfect size for them!  The handles aren't too long and it holds a surprising amount of trinkets!!!

Adelaide is obsessed with the color yellow (because her hair is yellow), so this one is hers.

This one is Penelope's!  :)

It has this awesome drawstring closure which will really come in handy to keep the contents where they belong, even if the bag gets dropped or tipped.

The fabric is from Heather Ross' Far Far Away 2 collection.  I adore it!!!  I bought it when it came out over a year ago and had not been able to bring myself to cut into it.  I have to admit, even thought I think this was the perfect use for this beautiful fabric, that I was actually a little sick cutting into it!!

Ayumi recommends using interfacing if you are going to use a quilting weight cotton.  I did not interface because this fabric is a heavier weight cotton and linen blend.  I used osnaburg for the drawstring part and the lining and it matches perfectly with the base cloth for the prints.

I hope all of you had a fantastic holiday with your families and that the Easter bunny brought you lots of sweets!  :)

giveaway winner

Good morning!  Thanks so much for all of the lovely birthday wishes!  I'm happy to say that the winner of the ruffled clutch is #12, ladybug!!!  Congrats, I hope you love it, I am emailing you to get all of your info!

I will be back next week with some of the projects that I have been working on!  Happy Easter!!  :)

1/4" foot

I am in the process of making quite a few of Keyka Lou's easy reusable grocery bags for myself.  I have the ugly ones from the grocery store and they work but pretty ones would be so much nicer!!  :)

The handles are a great shape and have 6 rows of topstitching.  The topstitching serves two purposes on a bag like this, to reinforce the strength of the handle (when both carrying the bag and washing it) and to be attractive.  Herein lies the problem!  :)  Unless you are a super precise sewer and pretty experienced in topstitching, this can look sloppy and uneven.  So cheat!!!

If you are not a quilter, which I am not, you may not know about this awesome sewing machine foot!!  The 1/4" foot is mostly used in quilting to ensure accurate piecing.  I use mine, not only for piecing, but often times to ensure accurate topstitching as well!

Here is a solid colored handle that I am going to use on one of my bags.  It is much easier to see the stitching lines on this handle.

I use my 1/4" foot to sew the line of topstitching closest to the edge of the handle as you normally would.  Then, I use the guide on the foot to keep the next line of stitches evenly spaced from the first.  Just line up the guide with the first row of stitches!!

I use this technique any time I need really accurate, evenly spaces rows of stitches.  You can move the needle over on your sewing machine to adjust the spacing between the rows of stitches as well.  :)  Pretty neat, huh???  Here is another example of how I use this method.

This is the exterior piece on a crayon art folio.  I sew a line of stitches on either side of the seam that joins the 3 pieces that make up the exterior.  I just simply run the guide along the seam line.  Here is a picture of the finished art folio so that you can see what I mean.

I hope you all enjoy this little tip!!

giveaway time! :)

My ADORABLE friend Karen has had a blog makeover and to celebrate is hosting a giveaway on her blog!!!  Besides being one of the sweetest people ever (she made 13 dresses for the dress a girl around the world event!!!!!), she is also very talented!  Here are some of the adorable things that she has made.

she will be offering a tutorial for this one!!!

adorable art folio!!!

mug rug

Not only is she offering a credit for $25 to her shop but there is fabric involved in giveaway too!!!  you have to head over to her blog for the details!!!  Be sure to tell her I said "hi"!  :)

Even though this is her giveaway, I feel like sweetening the pot a little!!!  You see, It's my birthday today, so I feel like giving a little something away too!  :)  

If you would like a chance to win this fun ruffled clutch please follow the directions below!  :)  If you would like to make your own, I used this cute pattern.  

I'm going to make you work for it a little!  You have 2 chances to win.

1.  you must be a follower of my blog and leave me a comment on this post (please make sure I have a way to contact you if you win!!!)

2.  for a second chance to win, go to Karen's blog and become one of her followers and then come back here and leave a second comment on this post

I will leave the giveaway open until I wake up on Saturday morning!!  :)  Good luck!!!

***update***  this giveaway is closed!***

a pinafore

This is Adelaide's "I know you want me to smile so you can take my picture" look.  :)  A little crooked smile that always makes me laugh.  And, of course, she had to wear her kitty cat boots!!!

I made her a pinafore yesterday!  It was super quick and easy! I made a size 3 and so it's a little big.  It looks so cute and comfy and she absolutely loves it!  I let her choose the fabric and she went right for the cute teapots and cupcakes!

The pattern is Heidi and Finn's sweet pocket pinafore.  I LOVE that it is reversible!!  This kid is messy, so even if she gets something on it, I can just flip it over and have a clean, new dress!!  The other side is Michael Miller tea blooms.

Here is the back, I love how it lays but also allows for a lot of movement in play.  It is also easy to get on and off.

I think she may need some ruffled bottom bloomers to go under it for the summer!  As for now it will be super cute with leggings and a long sleeve t-shirt!

turning 4

My Penelope is turning 4 on Sunday!  I can't believe it!  It feels like it was just yesterday that she was this little peanut.  :)

I have never carried a baby to term, my body just doesn't seem able to.  I have been so lucky to have had 3 healthy girls!  This one scared us the most.  She had trouble breathing when she was born because her lungs weren't quite ready so they had to sedate her for a whole week.  I didn't get to see her until the day after she was born because they had to rush her to children's hospital in Boston.  I pitched a little fit and they let me out for a few hours to go see her the next day.  She finally woke up and they took out most of the tubes that were in her little body and moved her back to the hospital where I was.  I went home for one night, that night she stopped breathing for a minute.  I stayed at the hospital after that!!  She has been healthy ever since!!!

man I look tired!!  :)

Ok, enough background!!  :)  I had to make my birthday girl some fun presents!!  I got this print in the shop a while ago and knew exactly what I wanted to make with it!!  I had seen this neat tutorial when it first came out and had been waiting until I felt the need to make one!  :)  My little girls also love dolls so I knew I had to make her a dolly.  The head keeps falling off of her old one and I am getting a little tired of sewing it back on!  

The tutorial calls for upholstery weight fabric but since I had a quilting cotton print that I wanted to use, I placed a layer of white kona in between the printed cotton and the flannel.  Then when I cut into the flannel, I made sure not to cut the kona as well.  I figured that would give the stitches a little more stability, which is why I think upholstery weight was recommended in the tutorial.  

I bought one of these nifty chenille cutters and it made the process of cutting the layers of flannel a lot easier than if I had used scissors.  It was still really physical, I ended up with 2 bruises on my hand from pushing the cutter through the channels.  The binding was also a lot harder to sew onto the back because of having to get through all 3 layers of flannel.  Does that mean that sewing counts as exercise!!??  ;)

This is after washing it!  It is so soft and fluffy!  

lots of sewing means a more relaxed me! :)

YEA!!!  I've finally been getting to sew a little more!  I didn't realize how much getting to sew relaxes me until I didn't get too!  I guess sewing is my psychologist!  :)
I have been making lots of things for my girls and I am participating in my first swap.  I also joined in a really fun sew a long event for mug rugs.

I found this adorable shop on etsy!!  I LOVE her style and her fabric choices!  They are so soft and relaxing.  One of the cute items she has is a snack mat.  The perfect meddling of a mug rug and a placemat, just ideal for little people!  I shamelessly copied her snack mats for my girls!  Anna Joy also has a beautiful blog!

I also mentioned mug rugs!  For those of you that are not familiar with what a mug rug is, it's a large coaster / small placemat.  Just the right size for a beverage and a snack.  I have to warn you that they are quite addictive to make!! They are also a great way to use scraps!

I want them all over my house!!!  There is even a mug rug flickr group!  Be sure to check it out, there are so many amazing little quilts (mug rugs) there!
I also made another easy reusable grocery bag for my partner in the Potholder Pass 7 swap.  This is the first swap I've joined and am so excited to see all of the bags that everyone makes!  I will be so thrilled to get a bag in the mail!  Here is the one that I will be mailing out tomorrow, I hope she likes it!!!  :)

I added some hand stitched details and put pockets on both sides so that it is reversible.