Merry Christmas from George, Michael and I! This Christmas George is dressed up as a lump of coal! His friend Lucky the penguin is playing the part of Santa!
George is a wiggly lump of coal, he moves around a bit too much to be believable!
How do I get out of here?
Well, I guess it's not so bad!
Merry Christmas! Hope you all have a wonderful holiday!
Wednesday, December 25, 2013
Friday, December 20, 2013
Favorites
1. Circles of Mermaids, 2. Snow Star, 3. www.flickr.com/photos/krousegirl2/11453214245/in/faves-je..., 4. Selvage Spiderweb Quilt, 5. From Russia with Love (& Tractors) quilt detail, 6. M's Christmas quilt, 7. Pineapple Blossom, front, 8. Fall Quilt #2, 9. Handed this quilt over to my beautiful niece, Gianna, yesterday as she turned 8 months old! Made after Jolene's (blue elephant stitches) gorgeous triangle quilts. Backed in grey damask minky.
Every week I go through my favorite photos on Flickr, and choose nine sewing/quilting related projects to showcase here. These photos and projects are not my own, you can find the original images and creators by clicking the coordinating links! If for any reason you do not want your project featured here, please email me and I'll remove it!
Happy Friday!
Every week I go through my favorite photos on Flickr, and choose nine sewing/quilting related projects to showcase here. These photos and projects are not my own, you can find the original images and creators by clicking the coordinating links! If for any reason you do not want your project featured here, please email me and I'll remove it!
Happy Friday!
Wednesday, December 18, 2013
Camp Stitchalot
Happy Wednesday! This week is absolutely flying by! Before we get too far from it, I want to chat about my trip out to Michigan earlier this month for Camp Stitchalot! As I've mentioned before, Camp Stitchalot is a retreat hosted by Brenda of Pink Castle Fabrics and Rossie of Fresh Modern Quilts. It's held at the Hankered Inn in Pleasant Lake, MI. They're being held about once a quarter, so make sure and check out the upcoming camps!
This year's camp was so much fun! It was a really nice group of ladies! Anna and I drove up Wednesday so we could check out Pink Castle Fabrics! We arrived at the Inn on Thursday and get right down to sewing! I worked on another mystery pillow!
On Friday, the rest of the campers arrived and a few of us whipped up some Lined Drawstring Bags! We use Terri's add-on tutorial for the outside pocket!
Debbie taught us to make quilted potholders in the evening! They came together so, so easily! No binding and no turning under/topstitching! I used Color Me Retro for mine so they can hang in my kitchen! You can find instructions for making them on her free projects page!
I worked a little bit on my Scrappy Trip Along Quilt, but for the most part I worked on Christmas gifts! I got them all done at camp, but I'll have to wait to show them!
On Saturaday, Anna show us how to make her 241 Tote Pattern! I have made this one many times (here and here), so I didn't make one. See everyone's fabric choices made me wish I had brought fabric to make another one though! Check out this one Marcia made using Nordika!
In the afternoon, it was my turn! I chatted a bit about color and warm/cool combinations before we dove right into making our mystery pillows! It was so fun to see how different everyone's pillows were, depending on their fabric choices!
Flatter by Soak helped keep everything smooth before we did some cutting on the bias!
Maureen made a very festive pillow!
Ashley choose a fuschia, teal and mustard palette!
Debbie went with deeper tones for her pillow!
Rossie added some fun patchwork and quilting to the back of her pillow!
Annika pulled colors from a special print that she used for the back of her pillow!
Thanks to all the lovely campers, my fellow teachers Debbie and Anna, and our hosts Brenda and Rossie for a great camp! If you live in the Midwest you've got to make it out to one of these camps! They're a blast! For more information on future Camp Stitchalot events, see here.
Happy Sewing!
This year's camp was so much fun! It was a really nice group of ladies! Anna and I drove up Wednesday so we could check out Pink Castle Fabrics! We arrived at the Inn on Thursday and get right down to sewing! I worked on another mystery pillow!
On Friday, the rest of the campers arrived and a few of us whipped up some Lined Drawstring Bags! We use Terri's add-on tutorial for the outside pocket!
Debbie taught us to make quilted potholders in the evening! They came together so, so easily! No binding and no turning under/topstitching! I used Color Me Retro for mine so they can hang in my kitchen! You can find instructions for making them on her free projects page!
I worked a little bit on my Scrappy Trip Along Quilt, but for the most part I worked on Christmas gifts! I got them all done at camp, but I'll have to wait to show them!
On Saturaday, Anna show us how to make her 241 Tote Pattern! I have made this one many times (here and here), so I didn't make one. See everyone's fabric choices made me wish I had brought fabric to make another one though! Check out this one Marcia made using Nordika!
In the afternoon, it was my turn! I chatted a bit about color and warm/cool combinations before we dove right into making our mystery pillows! It was so fun to see how different everyone's pillows were, depending on their fabric choices!
Flatter by Soak helped keep everything smooth before we did some cutting on the bias!
Maureen made a very festive pillow!
Ashley choose a fuschia, teal and mustard palette!
Debbie went with deeper tones for her pillow!
Rossie added some fun patchwork and quilting to the back of her pillow!
Annika pulled colors from a special print that she used for the back of her pillow!
Thanks to all the lovely campers, my fellow teachers Debbie and Anna, and our hosts Brenda and Rossie for a great camp! If you live in the Midwest you've got to make it out to one of these camps! They're a blast! For more information on future Camp Stitchalot events, see here.
Happy Sewing!
Monday, December 16, 2013
Giveaway Winners
Thank you all who entered both the JOURNEY giveaway and For the Makers giveaway! The winner of the JOURNEY e-book is #115, oceanmoonww!
The two winners of the For the Makers ornament kit are #37 Am L, and #25 Crickets Corner! Congrats! Look for an email from me!
Cheers!
The two winners of the For the Makers ornament kit are #37 Am L, and #25 Crickets Corner! Congrats! Look for an email from me!
Cheers!
Friday, December 13, 2013
Favorites
1. DUDQS finished, 2. finalfront, 3. Maple Leaf Rag Quilt, 4. Flocks of HSTs, 5. Magic stars quilt no. 2, 6. Nov 2013 - Front of Prism Quilt, 7. Stamps and Money Quilt, 8. New Cushion, 9. Four more ovals to fill in
Double favorites this week and next to make up for the two Fridays I missed! Enjoy!
1. chopped vegetables pillow, 2. Flying Geese, 3. Assembled top - Quartered Log Cabins, 4. icicle quilt top finished 2, 5. A Making Rows Quilt, 6. improv double wedding ring, 7. "Crossroads" Car and Carriage Quilt, 8. liberty-birdseye-no-hats, 9. Hayloft Door Quilt
Every week I go through my favorite photos on Flickr, and choose nine sewing/quilting related projects to showcase here. These photos and projects are not my own, you can find the original images and creators by clicking the coordinating links! If for any reason you do not want your project featured here, please email me and I'll remove it!
Happy Friday!
Double favorites this week and next to make up for the two Fridays I missed! Enjoy!
1. chopped vegetables pillow, 2. Flying Geese, 3. Assembled top - Quartered Log Cabins, 4. icicle quilt top finished 2, 5. A Making Rows Quilt, 6. improv double wedding ring, 7. "Crossroads" Car and Carriage Quilt, 8. liberty-birdseye-no-hats, 9. Hayloft Door Quilt
Every week I go through my favorite photos on Flickr, and choose nine sewing/quilting related projects to showcase here. These photos and projects are not my own, you can find the original images and creators by clicking the coordinating links! If for any reason you do not want your project featured here, please email me and I'll remove it!
Happy Friday!
Wednesday, December 11, 2013
For the Makers Review & Giveaway
For the Makers approached me last month about trying out a few of their DIY kits, and I happily agreed! For the Makers is a fun design lifestyle company that produces monthly craft-based subscription boxes. Each month there's a new collection/box that features four high-quality, fashion-forward DIY pieces based around a monthly theme. Beyond that they have individual DIY kits for sale.
I love crafting in general but sewing, quilting and knitting take up the vast majority of my crafting time these days. My kits arrived on Black Friday which was perfect timing with the long holiday weekend! I spent Saturaday relaxing and getting my craft on. The great things about these kits is they have nearly everything you need to complete the craft. The only additional thing I needed for either kit was scissors! This was great for me because my craft box is buried in my closet, and I had no desire to go shopping for supplies on Black Friday!
First up I tried out the Geometric Ornaments kit. There is a photo tutorial to accompany each kit on the For the Makers website, which is a lot easier than simple step-by-step instructions. I am pretty excited about how fancy my finished ornaments look! There are supplies to make plenty so I think I'll make some as gifts too.
Next up I tried the Clay Ornaments kit. It even comes with a little wooden rolling pin to roll out the clay, too cute! This project made me feel like I was little again, playing with clay. I cut and baked my ornaments and then it was time to paint. They had plenty of cute ideas on how to paint them, and I came up with a few on my own. I'm not a great painter, but they still turned out super cute! I think these would make cute package toppers. I'll definitely hang some on our tree too!
I was impressed by how nice these kits were! I had no reason to think otherwise, but the materials were very nice and so were the finished projects. These kits would make very sweet gifts! Check out all their fun kits here, and their gift subscription service! Thanks For the Makers!
GIVEAWAY:
For the Makers would like to give two of you a Clay Ornaments kit! Giveaway will run until Saturday, December 14th at 5pm CST. Leave a comment to enter, let me know your favorite kit in their shop! Giveaway is open to U.S. residents only. Good luck!
I love crafting in general but sewing, quilting and knitting take up the vast majority of my crafting time these days. My kits arrived on Black Friday which was perfect timing with the long holiday weekend! I spent Saturaday relaxing and getting my craft on. The great things about these kits is they have nearly everything you need to complete the craft. The only additional thing I needed for either kit was scissors! This was great for me because my craft box is buried in my closet, and I had no desire to go shopping for supplies on Black Friday!
First up I tried out the Geometric Ornaments kit. There is a photo tutorial to accompany each kit on the For the Makers website, which is a lot easier than simple step-by-step instructions. I am pretty excited about how fancy my finished ornaments look! There are supplies to make plenty so I think I'll make some as gifts too.
Next up I tried the Clay Ornaments kit. It even comes with a little wooden rolling pin to roll out the clay, too cute! This project made me feel like I was little again, playing with clay. I cut and baked my ornaments and then it was time to paint. They had plenty of cute ideas on how to paint them, and I came up with a few on my own. I'm not a great painter, but they still turned out super cute! I think these would make cute package toppers. I'll definitely hang some on our tree too!
I was impressed by how nice these kits were! I had no reason to think otherwise, but the materials were very nice and so were the finished projects. These kits would make very sweet gifts! Check out all their fun kits here, and their gift subscription service! Thanks For the Makers!
GIVEAWAY:
For the Makers would like to give two of you a Clay Ornaments kit! Giveaway will run until Saturday, December 14th at 5pm CST. Leave a comment to enter, let me know your favorite kit in their shop! Giveaway is open to U.S. residents only. Good luck!
Friday, December 6, 2013
JOURNEY: Swift Hat + Review
Happy Friday! I was absolutely tickled pink when Shannon Cook and Jane Richmond asked me to review their new book, JOURNEY. This is the second book they've teamed up to publish under their company, Marian Rae Publications. Make sure and check out their first book, ISLAND!
Anyways, back to JOURNEY! I totally geeked out about participating in this book tour. I'm still so new to knitting, it was incredibly validating to do this. My love of knitting is only growing with each project, and this book has me wanting to add every project to my queue. JOURNEY features six knitting patterns, three each from Shannon and Jane.
JOURNEY was inspired by the journey of self-discovery, independence and the path back to yourself. This really spoke to me, because knitting has been a way for me to re-discover my love of crafting and simply enjoying doing something creative. So, it was a match made in heaven!
I decided to knit up the Swift hat by Shannon Cook first! I choose to use Madelinetosh Pashmina in Dahlia for extra warmth and softness. Mmmm, cashmere! I only used a little over 160 yards for this hat, so I have plenty leftover for another project! The hat had a bit of bumpy start, between using a stitch marker that was too large and forgetting to pass a couple stitches, but once I got into a groove it was smooth sailing from there! In the end it was totally worth it, I love my finished hat. It's going to get tons of use!
I learned a lot making this hat. I had never knit anything using such small needles (size 2.5 and 4) or that weight of yarn (sport). It was definitely different! In the end though, it really wasn't bad! It was weird switching between this project and my other work in progress, for which I'm using super bulky yarn and size 17 needles! I learned how helpful using lifelines can be, and now feel like I have a better understanding (through some practice) of how to pick up dropped stitches. You can find my Swift hat on Ravelry.
When I first checked the forecast for Tuesday (aka the only day this week I could take photos), I was a little nervous because it was supposed to rain. I was hoping it would just be a light mist but still be bright and overcast. Just my luck, that's what I got! We had dense fog, a few drops of rain, but it was still nice and bright. I took these photos with my trusty 50mm and new 35mm lenses, with the help of my wireless remote and tripod.
It's going to be hard to choose what to make next, but I'm thinking the Spate fingerless mitts are at the top of the list! I'm thinking Malabrigo Rios in Pururas will be perfect!
All six JOURNEY patterns from left to right (starting at the top), Onward shawl, Spate fingerless mitts, Climb socks, Antrorse pullover, Inland cardigan, and Swift hat. The book was photographed by Nicholas Kupiak, who also did the photography for ISLAND.
Ready for more eye candy? I love this video they put together for the book. Leaves me feeling inspired each time I watch it!
Happy Knitting!
Wednesday, December 4, 2013
Upcoming Classes at The Sewcial Lounge
Happy Wednesday! Hope you all had an enjoyable weekend! Ours was great, we stayed home, relaxed, and ate lots. I'm about to hit the road with Anna for Camp Stitchalot today, I just wanted to quickly chat about a few other classes happening soon!
There are still spots in the early session (4pm-6pm) of our Block of the Month Club at The Sewcial Lounge. We had such a great time with this class last year, we're happy to be offering it again! This year it will be 6 two hour sessions, so we'll meet the 2nd Thursday of every month January-June. In the end you'll have 12 different quilt blocks and instructions to put them together into a sampler quilt!
In January I'll be teaching a new class at The Sewcial Lounge, the Equilateral Triangle Pillow class! In this class I'll show you how to cut equilateral triangles without a special ruler, and how to piece them. We'll finish our piecework into an envelope pillow! This class is being held on Thursday, January 16th, 2014.
I'll also be teaching a Quilting Basics class on Wednesday, December 11th, Drawstring Bag class on Wednesday, January 22nd and a Zipper Pouch class Wednesday, January 29th. All fun classes too! :)
More information on all these classes and to sign up, go here.
There are still spots in the early session (4pm-6pm) of our Block of the Month Club at The Sewcial Lounge. We had such a great time with this class last year, we're happy to be offering it again! This year it will be 6 two hour sessions, so we'll meet the 2nd Thursday of every month January-June. In the end you'll have 12 different quilt blocks and instructions to put them together into a sampler quilt!
In January I'll be teaching a new class at The Sewcial Lounge, the Equilateral Triangle Pillow class! In this class I'll show you how to cut equilateral triangles without a special ruler, and how to piece them. We'll finish our piecework into an envelope pillow! This class is being held on Thursday, January 16th, 2014.
I'll also be teaching a Quilting Basics class on Wednesday, December 11th, Drawstring Bag class on Wednesday, January 22nd and a Zipper Pouch class Wednesday, January 29th. All fun classes too! :)
More information on all these classes and to sign up, go here.
Friday, November 29, 2013
Black Friday Pattern Sale
I thought it was about time to have another pattern sale, and what better time than around Thanksgiving? The best part is, you don't even have to leave your house! You can take 25% off your entire order in my pattern shop using code THANKS25 at checkout this weekend! That includes paper patterns, PDF patterns and George Bunny Pillow Panels! Starting now through Monday! Shop here!
Hope you all have a safe and happy weekend!
Thursday, November 28, 2013
Happy Thanksgiving!
Happy Thanksgiving! It wouldn't be a holiday without me embarrassing George by dressing him up and taking his picture! It's become quite a tradition, and I'm always looking forward to scheming his next adventure! Don't worry, he's well paid! Our turkey gets all the carrots today! :)
What are you looking at?
How do I get out of here?
It's not so bad in this bowl.
Time for a carrot?
Seriously, where are the carrots?
Happy Thanksgiving!
What are you looking at?
How do I get out of here?
It's not so bad in this bowl.
Time for a carrot?
Seriously, where are the carrots?
Happy Thanksgiving!