Happy Friday! Before I get going here, I want to thank everyone for the great response to the July Blogger Bundle. It is a beauty and I am happy to announce that Kathie L will be receiving a bundle in the mail soon. She won the drawing for the giveaway! Yay for happy, squishy mail – it’s coming your way Kathie!
I actually do have a finish to share – not a quilt finish but something to check off the WIP list nonetheless. I began making a pair of pants in May – Well, I actually bought the fabric over a year ago and it sat on a shelf until May. But then Me Made May rolled around and I got excited about making some clothes. I got these nearly done in May – they only needed to be hemmed. It took me until mid-July to hem them. Why?? Now it is too hot to wear pants. Silly me.
So these were a very easy make. The pattern for these was Vogue 7294. The pattern was from 2001 and the pants had a high waisted cut. I took a few inches out of the rise so they would hit me below the waist. There isn’t a waistband – just a simple elastic waist. I don’t tuck my shirts in so this won’t be an issue.
The biggest issue I ran into was the fabric I chose for the pants. It was not a good choice at all! It is too light weight and it frayed continually, making it a pain to sew with. I did the best I could, making sure to finish each seam with a zig zag stitch to help with the fraying. My plan is to hand wash these (in the washing machine – my washer has a “hand wash” cycle) and hang them to dry. I really have no idea how long they will last? For all I know, they may disintegrate upon first wearing.
I was concerned that this lightweight material would make the pants look like pajamas. To be honest, they do look a lot like pj’s. But I like them anyway. They are comfortable and they have pockets in them!! However, I am afraid to use said pockets because of the lightweight, easily frayed fabric. Yikes, these are going to be some high maintenance pants! 😉
In closing, does anyone need a good book to read over the summer? I just finished two and both of them were excellent. The first one was The Spool of Blue Thread, by Anne Tyler. I am a huge fan of Anne Tyler’s. She writes such great stories about regular people. I love how she develops her characters. The reader always comes away feeling like he really knows those people. Great read!
The second book I read is the The Book of Unknown Americans, by Cristina Henriquez. It iss a timely novel about several families who came to the US from various countries such as Mexico, Puerto Rico and Venezuela. The relationships between the families, their history, and a love story between two young teens make this book hard to put down. Have you read anything good lately? I am ready for another book.
Hope everyone has a great weekend. We are having lunch with my in-laws on Saturday and then we will be home all day Sunday. Supposedly it isn’t supposed to be over 90 degrees this weekend so that will be a nice break from this crazy heatwave.
Linking to lots of linky parties. See them at the top of the page, under Link Ups.
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It is time for another Blogger Bundle and I am so excited to share it with you! The July bundle was curated by Kim Soper of Leland Ave Studios. Kim is an award-winning modern quilter, a blogger as well as being a stay at home mom to three boys. Once an attorney, she decided to stay home to raise her boys and like many of us, she looked to sewing to fulfill her creative need. Kim’s “about me” page is great and I encourage you to take a minute and read it, if you haven’t already. I especially like the part about how she came to name her business Leland Ave Studios.
Lincoln, designed, pieced and quilted by Kim Soper.
You might know Kim from her Mr. Lincoln quilt which was awarded People’s Choice at the 2017 Quilt Con. That is how I first became aware of Kim and her work. I’d like to share the blurb she wrote when she submitted this quilt:
This quilt (passion project!) developed out of a desire to create an entirely improv-pieced, recognizable image without use of template, paper-piecing or applique. Using an iconic image of Lincoln that had been converted to WPAP (vector-based geometric pop art) by Ihsan Ekaputra, it was constructed using 6-inch blocks. The backing fabric is a repeating pattern of the original image of Lincoln. The binding is a nod to the vector-style of art on which the quilt is based. The end result is a quilt that is both identifiable as the intended image, and distinctly my own.
To read more about the process she used to design and create this gorgeous quilt, click here.
Following that, I began following her to read the weekly interviews she has been posting since the beginning of 2018 in The Creativity Project. Oh my gosh – talk about a dose of weekly inspiration. The series is wonderful and while I have enjoyed reading interviews with creatives I am already familiar with, I have really loved meeting many whom I hadn’t been familiar with. I am grateful for the work Kim has done to create this weekly series.
Suffice it to say, Kim is a huge inspiration to many in the quilting and creative community. I was so happy when she agreed to participate in my Blogger Bundle series this year. Want to see the bundle she curated?
Kim wanted a modern collection that had a summer vibe. I think she definitely got it! Both of the florals are from a new collection called Indigo & Aster by BariJ. She pulled in more fuchsia with the piece on the far left from Alison Glass’ 76 collection. To keep it bright and summery, Kim added Squared Elements in Mandarin, from Art Gallery Fabric. Finally, she chose a neutral and added the black and white polka dot made by Red Rooster Fabric. This might be my favorite move on Kim’s part. It moves the collection away from the femininity of the floral and adds whimsy to the bundle.
Once again, I have so enjoyed working with a quilt artist and seeing how she gathers fabrics from various lines in my shop and uses them together. Kim made a really cool, non-quilty, project with this bundle. Head on over to see what she made. I just love it!
As before, this bundle (in either fat quarters or 1/2 yard cuts) is on sale in my shop for 20% off today through Wednesday of this week. Also, there is a giveaway – one lucky winner will receive a fat quarter bundle to use however they please. Normally the blogger who curated the bundle hosts the giveaway but this time, I will host it. Kim is getting ready to go on a vacation to Italy with her family and we decided it would work best if I held the giveaway. She has enough going on getting ready for their trip.
To enter, please comment and tell me what you think of the bundle – why do these five fabrics work so well together? Also, to be eligible to win, remember to follow me on here the blog, or on Instagram or Facebook. The giveaway is open through Wednesday of this week, just like the sale! If you purchase a bundle and then win one (which has happened in the past) I will refund your purchase price of the bundle.
Thanks so much to Kim for the bundle she has curated for my shop. I hope you are enjoying these collections as much as I am!!
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Hi Everyone – I am back from our back-to-back vacations! Both trips were awesome but as always, home sweet home! After a relaxing time away, I am ready to jump back into my blogging/sewing/shop routine. Today I have a really special post to share with you. I would like to introduce you to Heidi Emmett. Heidi is a really talented pattern designer and I am proud to carry a number of her patterns in my pattern shop. To do justice to this introduction, I need to tell you a bit more! Heidi lives in Grass Valley and we are both in the same quilt guild. Heidi makes both quilts and garments, designs clothing patterns, teaches sewing classes at an annual retreat up at Lake Tahoe and is generally a creative maker at heart. She also owned a brick and mortar fabric shop in Grass Valley for quite a few years. She is a person with what seems like unlimited energy and is constantly making or designing something. About a month ago, she and I chatted at a guild meeting and we were brainstorming ways we could work together since we both have so many common interests. As a result, I have begun to carry her patterns in my pattern shop. She had purchased some of the Sarah Golden linen blends from me at the quilt show last May with the intent to make one of her Terrific Tabard vests. Today she will share the vest she made and explain the process she used to make it. I hope you enjoy the post. If you have any questions for Heidi, be sure to leave them in the comments and she will post a reply to you there. I hope you all will enjoy getting to know Heidi as she is a creative force to be reckoned with!
I’m going for a whole new look (than the cover shot above) with the linen blends I got from Bernie’s Etsy shop. Let me show you what I did to create a sophisticated and smooth Terrific Tabard. I started with two linen blends from Bernie. I absolutely LOVE linen! And these two linens by Andover Fabric are neutrals that will work with ANY other palette of colors. The piece with the columns of lines is called Lines (appropriate enough!) and the piece with the checked pattern is called Squares on Tailored Cloth. Both were designed by Sarah Golden and are available in Bernie’s shop.
I went to Quilt Market in Portland, OR this past May and was able to buy a modern black and brightly colored panel by Marcia Derse. This panel won’t be available in stores until October. I immediately thought to use it as a part of my Tabard vest!
Fortunately, I also snagged some very small pieces from Marcia’s newest collection, again available in October. The linen fabric is just perfect with these prints.
Most of my patterns have tissue pattern pieces included (I always include a range of sizes in one pattern). Notice I have taken a lengthwise fold in some of the tissue (closest to the side, not the center). I did this because I want to insert some improv strips to add color and visual interest to the vest.
I love lots of bold color and plan to use bits of the smaller Marcia Derse pieces to create a long strip of fabric. Remember when I cut out this piece I pinched out some, so now I have to fill it back in with something.
I first cut the panel apart near the pinched out area all the way up through the shoulder area. Tip: Always cut wherever you pinch it out, then you can replace that space with your accent fabric and bring it back to size again. It is a fun and creative trick.
I cut up a few of those colorful pieces and sewed them together and then stitched them to either side of what I cut apart.
Always line up other seams and plan to have extra on either end to trim off. I do not like to run short. I will just snip, snip, the orange fabric in line with the shoulder seam.
While I let the fashion layer dictate what each section will look like, I always, ALWAYS, strive for a long and lean look. I want your eyes to see the whole design in an up and down fashion as this tends to be much more flattering than looking side to side.
Preparing the embellishments for the back of the vest
When I created the back piece, I wanted to add some embellishment to it as well. For this, I used an applique process rather than slicing and inserting a strip. I cut the pieces I wanted and folded the raw edges under and pressed them. Next I pinned them in place and top-stitched around the edges to attach them to the back as well as finish those raw edges. I didn’t fuse them first though you certainly could if you preferred that method.
After stitching the front pieces to the back, in most other “quilted” version of Terrific Tabard, I would be layering the vest with batting right now (sometimes even before the shoulder seams are stitched together) and quilting all three pieces. Then the vest would be finished off with quilt style binding (albeit much narrower than a quilt binding). These instructions are included in the pattern. But THIS vest will have no batting. I chose to line it traditionally which means no binding necessary! This version really goes together quickly.
Front and back lining pieces stitched at the shoulders
The two front lining pieces are “Grunge” in black. The back piece lining is a very old (no longer being made) Kaffe Fassett stripe. To line this I pinned it, right sides together, and stitched all the way around using a 1/4″ seam allowance. I made sure to leave about a 6-8″ opening on one side so I could turn it right side out.
Grading a curved seam.
Very carefully grade the seams on the curved portions. Grading just means trimming one piece smaller than the other. When you turn the whole piece inside out and begin to press, press, press (that’s the secret to a beautifully lined piece), all the rounded edges will fall into place as you press. Tip: On dark fabrics use a press cloth (a piece of muslin works) on top of the fabric before you press. Sometimes you get a shine, even on linen.
Handmade buttons by Sandra Bruce
I have a rather large collection of buttons. Here is a group of handmade polymer buttons by the talented Sandra Bruce. I love to buy the buttons I like, knowing that someday, I’ll have the perfect button for a project. Forget buttonholes. I use strips of fabric that have been folded and pressed and stitched into place.
The polymer button I chose for the front is very intricate and it’s really BIG, but I think it blends in nicely.
The two side buttons are from my glass button stash. I know, I know, it’s a sickness, but one I don’t want to get over. Ha, ha.
It’s finished!!
I love my new vest. I can’t wait to wear it (not sure when since it is still summer!), but I’ll be ready when cooler weather comes.
Here is the finished back side of the vest. I love the look of the larger scale linen print slicing through the narrower lines.
Worn with just one lapel folded out.
One last way to style this Terrific Tabard, fold back the lapel on just one side.
If you like what you have seen, please join me at Designs by Heidi for more fun and creative happenings. I love sewing “Art to Wear.” You can also follow me on Instagram to see the latest patterns and classes I offer. Thank you again Bernie for letting me join in with you all at Needle & Foot.
Just checking in before we leave for another trip! We had the best time ever in Vermont. The weather was horrible with record breaking heat and humidity – truly awful, but who cares? The kids have A/C in the house and I was really there to spend time with my grand daughter so it was all good.
We had such a nice visit – lots of water play, time at the lake and hikes to the river. I was really surprised to see how adventurous this little girl was. She doesn’t balk at anything. From playing in the freezing cold river to swimming in the lake, she was up for it. This girl is on the go constantly.
Julia spent time reading books to her and sharing ice cream with her. The baby was cutting some molars and it was bothersome. Julia made popsicles for her with pureed strawberries, banana and some yogurt. What a nice auntie! They were close buddies by the end of our week there.
I am hoping as she gets older, she will remember us from visit to visit. We do FaceTime quite a bit which will help. It is hard to be a grammy from 3,000 miles away.
I really enjoyed rocking her which she will only do when she is super tired. I had the treat of rocking her to sleep just once. She is usually far too busy for that.
Organizing for the next trip!
We got home Friday night and I spent Saturday catching up on orders that came in while I was gone. My husband has this week off so we are going to spend the first half of it at the beach. We are back Thursday afternoon and then life goes back to normal. Like I said in a recent post, I miss my sewing room!! I don’t have any hand stitching to bring with us but I am going to do some free motion doodling. I have two quilt tops I need to quilt so this will be a good time to practice drawing out some motifs.
Hope your summer has started off well! Back soon – hopefully with a project of some sort to share!
I miss my sewing machine. I have not spent much time with her and I suspect she misses me just as much. It is a combination of things – we are having a patio built and, while I am not doing any of the building, somehow it seems to take up some of my time. Maybe because I am so excited about the progress (we have wanted this for a very long time) and I keep going out there to watch the next step. Yesterday they poured a large portion of it and I spent most of the morning watching. Poor guys probably are sick of having an audience. Beyond that, June has been riddled with migraines. I don’t know why (that is the million dollar question and if I had the answer I would be one happy quilter). But it has been a bad month with 9 migraines so far – along with each one, there is usually one more day of feeling wiped out. So 18 days out of 26 haven’t been great. All this adds up very little sewing.
I will share something that I am playing around with. I decided to make a new tablecloth for our outdoor table. We have coffee out there and dinner when the weather isn’t terribly hot. I only have one tablecloth and it is getting a bit faded. Time for a new one. The tablecloth is quite large – I think the diameter of the table is about 70 inches. Add in the drop and enough to turn a hem, and it means cutting a circle with an 84″ diameter.
I decided to use a wide back fabric so I wouldn’t have to run a seam to get a wide enough piece. Lucky me, I have a few wide backs in the shop from which to choose! I picked this cheddar yellow print that was designed by Mary Fons. It is cute and sunny, nice for an outdoor tablecloth. Since I had a tablecloth that was already the correct size, I used it as a template and cut my piece about two inches bigger all the way around. I didn’t mark anything, it was easy enough to just eyeball it. (By the way, even after cutting this large circle out, I have a lot of fabric left over – being 108″ wide means lots left for other projects!)
While I had it on the ground, I decided to just keep going and I brought the iron over and started to turn the yellow fabric under and press as I went along. This worked really well – I kind of wondered if it was bad for the carpeting but didn’t seem to be a problem. Actually I think I secretly wished I would burn a hole in the carpet because it is all worn and needs to be replaced anyway. Alas, no such thing happened and for now, the ugly carpet remains.
After I got the first fold pressed, I pinned everything in place. Then I felt ok about picking it up and moving it. I took it to the regular ironing board and steamed a good crease in the hem, folding the raw edge in as I went around.
I wanted to use a decorative stitch for the hem. Mainly because my Janome has five billion decorative stitches and I never use them. I chose a Mettler variegated thread and a cute pattern that looks like ribbons. It looks really cute but wow, it took so long to go all the way around! Probably about 1 1/2 – 2 hours? It also took a crazy amount of thread. Speaking of thread…..
As I was hemming the tablecloth, I noticed my needle would come up and have fuzz all over it. When I finished, I took the top plate off and look at the mess of fuzz! I was amazed. I haven’t used a ton of Mettler thread and have to wonder if this is typical? I had cleaned it out prior to this project so the fuzz was only from hemming the tablecloth. Anyone have experience with this sort of thing happening? Kinda makes me even more of an Aurifil fan.
Ok – now that it was hemmed, I decided it was a bit boring. Applique came to mind but I didn’t really feel like doing anything very fussy. Then I thought about embroidery or some sort of big stitch design (like Sashiko) but I know myself and it would take too long. By the time I finished we wouldn’t be eating out on the deck anymore…..
So I thought about the gorgeous floral collage quilts by Laura Heine and took that as inspiration. I gathered lots of floral scraps and applied fusible backing to them and started cutting out flowers – and more flowers – and even more.
Julia and I started to play with arranging them around the hemline in a collage – our only aim was to distribute colors well and to keep the border about three inches tall. We have 1/4 of the border pinned.
It was clear I didn’t have nearly enough blooms so back I went, fusing and cutting. This is quite fun so I am enjoying the process. I haven’t yet fused any to the cloth yet. I want to get most of the way around the cloth before I commit. It is great practice because I have a Laura Heine pattern I want to make so this gives me a bit of an idea how I will go about it.
For now though, I have set everything aside. Julia and I are taking off for Vermont!! We are both so excited to go see family and to play with that grand daughter of mine. Projects will have to wait. Flowers will remain unfused and the tablecloth unfinished. Time for some grand baby time!
As an FYI – the shop will remain open but orders placed from June 28 – July 6th will ship on or about July 7th.
Wishing everyone a wonderful week and I will be back in a week or so!
Newsletter!
Have you signed up for my newsletter? It is published every month or so and is full of information about my shop, new arrivals, sales, and events. Click here to sign up!
Hi Everyone, I know many quilt bloggers have been really frustrated with the comment problem on Blogger since the new privacy legislation came to be. I use WordPress and didn’t have this issue but I have heard from many bloggers about the irritating change. Apparently there is a workaround. I saw this tutorial over at Just Let Me Quilt and thought I would share it just in case you haven’t seen it yet
Hope this is a help to you and it gets you back on track with comments and replying to comments!
Here we are in the last half of June – this means it is time for the blogger bundle of the month! If you are reading about these bundles for the first time, I started this project in January. Read about them here and here. The previous blogger bundles will be available in my shop through the end of 2018 – it is really fun to look at the variety of fabrics others have curated into collections. Click here to see all of them!
The bundle for June was curated by Paige Alexander of Quilted Blooms. I cannot remember exactly how I learned of Paige’s blog but I do know I have read her posts since the very first one. I believe a blogger (maybe Cheryl Brickey?) introduced the me to Paige and suggested I check out her work. I did so and never left! Paige’s style is very modern and also relatable. I am not sure if that is the correct word but I love her work because I understand it. Her quilts are meticulous, clean and very effective.
Pieced and Quilted by Paige Alexander
Above is Paige’s Cursive quilt, She made this about two years ago and it has been juried into several shows and won several ribbons. It is one of my favorite quilts she has made. Partly because she constructed the background, quilted it and then did the appliqué. Look closely and you will see she quilted line after line of the alphabet in cursive. This was a genius technique. I really encourage you to check out her work if you are not yet familiar with it.
June Blogger Bundle
On to the bundle! Paige selected a grouping of summery pieces that all hail from Windham Fabric. As we head into summer, this fresh palette of green, orange, yellow and pink are akin to a bouquet of flowers. She chose pieces that are really cheerful and bright – I love each one of them!
I think this bundle would be excellent used together in a project or added to your stash to give it a bright pick-me-up! Paige has been working on a piece with these fabrics and I am really excited to check it out – I had a sneak peek a few weeks ago and it is going to be really pretty! While the project is not yet finished, Paige is sharing her progress with us today. Make sure to take a look!
June Blogger Bundle
As with prior blogger bundles, this one is now available as either a fat quarter or 1/2 yard bundle in my shop. I have placed it on sale, 20% off, for the next couple of days. Sale ends Friday. Paige is hosting a giveaway for one lucky winner (US only due to postage expense). Be sure to go to her site to enter!!
I hope you are enjoying this Blogger Bundle series as much as I am. I have learned so much about color choices through working with these talented quilters!
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Honestly, I cannot remember the last time I sewed a pair of shorts? Its been a long time, like a really long time! Maybe sometime in the 1980’s or so? Anyway, during one of my obsessive trips to a thrift store, I picked up a Simplicity easy-to-sew pattern for pants, shorts and a skirt made with woven fabric and a knit fold-over waistband. I have a knit skirt like this and it is really comfortable. I was a bit curious about making this combination of woven and knit fabric and decided to give it a try.
The first (and only) hurdle was deciding what size to cut. I am sure I am not alone when I say I dislike measuring my hips and waist. The number is never what I think it should be, which is to say I think I should be the same size as when I made that last pair of shorts. Ha. Guess what? I am not. When I took measurements and looked at the pattern, it indicated I should make the shorts as a size 14. The vanity running through me said, well that is clearly a mistake because I don’t wear that size. Truth be told, I almost cut the pattern out as a 10 (which is my ready to wear size). Vanity runs strong and deep my friends. At that point, I had to have a very firm talk with myself. It went something like this: What does it matter if you cut a size 14? Well, of course it matters – it means I have gone from a size 10 to a 14. No, no it doesn’t and if you cut these at a size ten, they won’t fit and you will be so irritated. On and on we went, the two of us inside my head. Finally the pragmatist won and the vain side lost. I cut them as a size 14 and here I am telling all the world about it – well, at least the portion of the world who reads my blog.
Shorts that actually fit!!
Guess what? The shorts took maybe an hour to make and THEY FIT GREAT!! Shout that to the world – in handmade shorts, I wear a 14 and I made a pair that fit!!!
Woven shorts with a knit waistband = comfortable!
I debated whether to actually take a photo of the waistband but decided I should because I am being all mature and accepting of whatever size I am and the waistband is the cool part of the shorts. (If that isn’t a run-on sentence, I don’t know what is.). I love the fabric I used – it is from Alison Glass’ Handcrafted line of batiks and is called Artifact in Navy. (Click the link if you want to check it out in the shop.). Overall, I love these and will wear them a lot. My only disappointment is I didn’t put pockets on them. I like having a pocket for my phone and car or house key if I go for a walk. I think I can put a patch pocket on the back side still and that will fix things right up! The next pair are going to be in knit fabric for top and bottom. I want to see how that changes things up. I suppose my take away from this project has to be that the numbers are just numbers. My hips are what they are and if you want something to work, just follow the size and measurements as laid out on the pattern. They didn’t put those numbers there to make me mad, rather they put them there so I could be successful with the project.
Community Service Quilt, Pine Tree Quilt Guild
One other quick sewing project I did last week was to bind a quilt that someone in my guild made for Community Service. This project was pieced and quilted, it just needed someone to bind it. I happen to enjoy binding so that was an easy one to help with. When I got it home, I saw the binding was made and was quite narrow. The maker cut a two inch strip where I usually cut 2 1/4 and sometimes 2 1/2″ strips. I decided to machine stitch it to both front and back sides so it would be really durable.
As I came to the end of the binding strip, I realized it wasn’t going to be long enough. I should have checked it before I started but I made the assumption that the maker had done that. Looked like it was going to be a scrappy binding. I found a little print that seemed to work with the polka dot binding provided with the quilt. It all looks fine.
Pieced binding for the win!
I especially like the backing for the quilt. It is a nice denim with a printed pattern. This quilt will last for a long time. It is earmarked for the local foster youth program. When the kids age out of the system at 18 years old, our guild gives them a quilt to add to their belongings. This one will work for a guy or girl.
Delicious boysenberries, or are they?
Last story of the day….. on Saturday, over the weekend, I was picking berries early in the morning. It was gorgeous out and there are a zillion berries right now. I popped one in my mouth and guess what? There was a beetle on the underside of the berry. Ugh! It was horrible. There I was having my zen moment picking berries all alone and all of a sudden, I was spitting beetle out of my mouth. Yuk!!! I will be a little more careful before tossing another berry in my mouth. 🙂
Reminder – I will be back on Wednesday this week with the June Blogger Bundle. It was curated by Paige Alexander of Quilted Blooms and I am really excited to see what she has made with the fabrics! See you there!!
Linking to Cooking Up Quilts, Lets Bee Social, and TGIFF. Info is at the top of the page, under Link Ups.
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How was the weekend?? Mine included almost zero time in the sewing room. But that is fine – it was a really nice weekend filled with little projects and lots of family time. We were fortunate to have unseasonably cool weather over the weekend. As I get older (which in and of itself is a mystery) I have become much less tolerant of the heat. Anyway, it is going to be up into the low 90’s this week so we chose to spend the weekend outside.
I hung two baskets of flowers (which I purchased – rather than plant myself) in the trees along our front lawn. They look really pretty and appreciate being in a mostly shaded spot.
As long as I can remember to water them, we will be in good shape!
Our property includes a portion of a large (6 acre) pond. Technically it is called Pine Lake but it feels more like a pond to me. 😉 Ray and I had coffee out there early Saturday morning and he did a little fishing. There are a lot of bass in the pond though he tossed them back this time. It is so peaceful up there in the mornings and we forget to go and use that space.
Now that finals are done and summer is here, Julia spent a lot of time training and working with Olive. She discovered that walking Olive in the evenings is a frustrating experience because Olive is really ornery. She does much better in the mornings. These photos from Friday night are so funny. Olive wasn’t having any of it.
She is a really sweet animal though. Her personality is just precious.
We were up at my mom and dad’s on Sunday morning and I brought home plants. They have a gorgeous yard and it is like shopping at a nursery. There are always starts of something or other and my father digs them up for me to plant. I came home with Bells of Ireland and a large succulent of some sort. Julia came home with small succulents to pot for her room.
Our lower patio project is really coming along. The contractor and his team were here all last week working. It is a big project and will be another couple of weeks before it is done.
In need of more shelf space for my shop downstairs, I gave a desk to a friend which freed up some room. Then I tore apart the room and rearranged things and added a long shelf. I will show you a picture when I get it put back together. My husband was really helpful with this and gave up several hours to work on it with me. It is going to be more spacious and perfect timing since I have quite a bit of fabric arriving this week.
Finally, I want to share this picture of my sweet grand baby. She spent the morning “gardening” with her mama and found a strawberry. She couldn’t believe her good fortune!! Julia and I are taking off for Vermont at the end of the month and we are giddy at the prospect.
This week I have lots to do! All fat quarter bundles were on sale over the weekend so I have orders to pack and ship today. I have a set of Chemex and French Press cozies in process and want to get those finished up and listed in the shop. I am meeting with a rep for Free Spirit on Tuesday afternoon. I have been debating adding a new manufacturer to my list of accounts and Free Spirit would be great as it would enable me to carry some Tula Pink, Anna Maria Horner and Denyse Schmidt (to name only a few). Also I have a twin size quilt from our guild’s Community Service group to bind as well as my Twisted quilt to layer and baste. What are your plans? Monday is a great day to set a plan for the week. Hope you had a great weekend and this is even a better week than the last.
Newsletter!
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Thanks everyone for playing along and for all of the sweet notes on my 4th Anniversary giveaway. I loved reading all of the comments. If you have a minute go back and read them. What a fun group of people you all are! Can you believe I didn’t mention anything sewing or quilting related when I was talking about the significance of the number 4?? Fat quarters, four patch blocks, four sides to a square? How did I skip over that??
Anyway, winners have been picked. Congrats to Susan S, Jinger, Cedarfork Sarah, and Janna. I have emailed each of you so if you haven’t already, please send me your mailing info. Bundles will go out next week.
Flash Sale!!
Also wanted to let you all know that all fat quarter and 1/2 yard bundles in the shop are on sale today and tomorrow only, for 20% off! Woohoo!! Organic bundles are included and bargain/clearance bundles are excluded. If by chance you want one of the floral bundles, shown in the giveaway post, email me or leave a comment and I am happy to cut you one – I don’t have them listed individually in the shop.
Have a great weekend everyone. You’re the best!
Newsletter!
Have you signed up for my newsletter? It is published every month or so and is full of information about my shop, new arrivals, sales, and events. Click here to sign up!
