Catching Up!

Aeroplane Bag Pattern, a photo by Jeni Baker on Flickr.

Happy Wednesday! Happy Spring Day! And Happy Birthday! Another day older today, hitting the big 2-4! Michael was able to come home at noon! We had lunch at Dumpling Haus (so yummy!), and relaxed.  It was perfect.  My parents are coming in from Ohio this weekend and I can't wait!

Aeroplane Bags PDF sewing pattern, a photo by sewsweetness on Flickr.

I plotted lots of fun new projects today! On Monday, my friend and new sponsor, Sara of Sew Sweetness Patterns launched her newest pattern, the Aeroplane Bag! She very kindly used Color Me Retro prints for the bags, which come in two sizes! I am so excited to sew one up! The larger size (in blue) is big enough to fit a mid-sized sewing machine, so I'm making one for my Featherweight!! I had to go with the red colorway for mine!

You can find the Aeroplane Bag Pattern in Sara's shop, along with her other bag patterns!

The Staple Dress Patter, a photo by Jeni Baker on Flickr.

I also dove headfirst into The Staple Dress, a new pattern by April Rhodes!  She has been posting photos of these dresses and the process of putting together this pattern for a while and I knew right away I wanted to make it! I've got my pieces taped together, a test fabric picked out (yay for thrifted chambray!), and fabric ordered for another! Amanda and I are going to tackle it tomorrow over Skype!

You can find The Staple Dress Pattern on April's blog, here.

Color Me Retro Laptop Case, a photo by Jeni Baker on Flickr.

Last week Amanda and I had a "skype and sew" date! It didn't start that way but we both ended up making laptop cases! We happen to have the same computer so that made it nice and easy! It's basically a giant zipper pouch with little gussets and extra padding.  I used Color Me Retro and Pure Elements in Fresh Water for the outside and Floral Elements in Lapis Lazuli for the inside. It was so much fun! I'm looking forward to working on our dresses tomorrow!

Quilted Grocery Bag Holder Tutorial, a photo by Jeni Baker on Flickr.

I wanted to talk a bit about the quilting that I did for last week's Quilted Grocery Bag Holder Tutorial.  I don't remember what sparked it, but last week I got the itch to try something different with my quilting.  The grocery bag holder seemed like the perfect guinea pig project and I knew just what I wanted to do, feathers! I remembered that Angela Walter's had a new Craftsy class, Free-motion Quilting with Feathers, and knew I had to take it.  This was my first practice and I'm so happy with how it turned out.  I'm not sure if I have the patience to do this on a big quilt yet, but it was a lot of fun! I still can't believe I actually quilted that! Angela makes it really approachable, and I'm excited to practice more!

Pincushion by Holly, a photo by Jeni Baker on Flickr.

A very fun package arrived in the mail from my friend Holly of Bijou Lovely! She made me this fabulous Color Me Retro pincushion! I am a big collector of pincushions and this one is just so darn cute! She took really beautiful photographs of it, you can find them on her blog, here.  I love it so much! It even has one of her awesome leather tags on the back!

Be Inspired Print by Holly, a photo by Jeni Baker on Flickr.

As if that wasn't enough Holly included lots of other sweet goodies, bunny fabric, chocolate, a beautiful scarf, and one of her Be Inspired prints! You can get your own in her shop, here!

Thank you Holly, your package was such a bright spot this week and today! You know me well! :)

New Embroidery, a photo by Jeni Baker on Flickr.

I started a new embroidery this past weekend after seeing this print on Pinterest.  This quote really resonated with me, I knew I had to have it on my sewing room wall. I'm using a vintage sheet for the background, I like how the embroidery sort of melts into it.  Only a tiny bit is embroidered, so it will show up a bit more!

Color Me Retro in Stitch Magazine, a photo by Jeni Baker on Flickr.

I was so excited to see the new Summer issue of Stitch Magazine on newsstands today! I have been itching for this issue to come out! There is a beautiful project by Berene Campbell of Happy Sew Lucky in it using Color Me Retro! Isn't it sweet? I love it! Makes me wish Summer was closer!

Berene sells super cute patterns and kits in her etsy shop, here. I made a blue Babushka ornament from one of her kits a few years ago, seen here on my tree! So fun and easy!

George, a photo by Jeni Baker on Flickr.

George! Always looking for treats!

Today I love the..
Smell of: Dumpling Haus!
Sound of: George running around
Taste of: Chocolate
Sight of: Sunshine
Feel of: A relaxing day

Good Things about Today:
- Having Michael home!
- Happy Mail!
- I didn't have to cook at all!
- Chocolate!