studio tour

I've been busy cleaning, straightening, rearranging and redecorating my sewing space. I thought this would be a good time to give you a little tour, before I mess it all up again! It's not a huge space, but it's all mine & I love it. The first thing I did was pull my two IKEA tables away from the wall to give me one big workspace in the middle of the room. This way I am not staring at the wall all day while I sew! I don't know why I didn't think of this sooner!

 Do you like my pretty bunting? I found it in a little town in England when we were there and I thought it would be so festive in my studio.

The next thing I did was recruit a hunky ladder climber (thanks honey!) to hang all of my wonderful mini quilts gallery style up near the ceiling. This is my new view when I sew! So much better than before. Only 2 of these quilts were made by me. Others were received in swaps and gifts from fellow quilters near and far.

 Oh and do you like those big ceramic buttons next to my clock? I thought they were a fun addition (and yes, that's my hunky ladder man in the hallway!)

 This side remained basically the same, my comfy sofa and my duck pond quilt. This last picture is a bit dark, thanks to the beautiful sunshine streaming through the blinds. I took down my valance which had faded terribly through the years from the sun.

And that's ellyn's place! What do you think? I can't wait to get back in there and mess it all up again. Happy long weekend to you!

long awaited cake post

It's been a long time since Ally decorated a cake! Yesterday she and her friend Chloe decorated a cake for Chloe's mom's birthday. What a team!

 Chloe "helping"...

 Isn't it a beautiful cake? Those roses turned out so amazing. Ally said she wasn't sure she remembered how to make them. I guess she did!

 Nice job girls!

Happy Birthday Ana!

back to school sewing (for me!)

Yesterday was the first day of school for Ally.... Junior year of High School! GO ALLY! Here's her first day of school photo shot...

 It's so cool, I say goodbye and she hops in her car and drives herself to school. Then she texts me the minute she's there safely because I'm neurotic and need to know. Then I go back to bed. No, not really. But I am still in my pjs! And this morning, pjs and all, I headed straight to my sewing room to make myself a shirt. This is the pattern I picked up at Joanns yesterday...

McCalls 6566.  I bought it for several reasons. 1) It looked quick and easy. 2) it didn't have any buttons, buttonholes, zippers (and you know I am capable of doing all of those things but I just didn't feel like it. So there.) and 3) I thought if I made it I would look as skinny and sexy as those babes on the cover. Ok, maybe not. And you certainly won't be seeing me in tight, zig zaggy pants like the girl on the right! But she does pull it off nicely.

I will tell you that I had the shirt entirely put together (including cutting out the TWO yes TWO pieces!) in about 30 minutes. Simple! I made the plain view (B) but left off the little pocket, just so I could see how it fit. View C has an adorable ruffly flounce on the back (because we all need a little emphasis in that area, don't you think? ) and A has a cute lace panel on the front. I will most likely make this again.

It fits very loosely. They always say that and then the finished tops end up being snug on me. I measured myself and made the correct size and it's, um, big. I will probably make it one size smaller next time. Anyways, here it is finished...

 I used a lightweight drapy cotton. The pattern says it will work in woven or knits... the woven is just fine. It does look cute on me even though it's, um, big. I tried to take a picture of myself in the mirror to show you but that didn't go so well...

and yes, that's a laundry basket behind me on the bed. My staging and photography skills need a little work I think.

What did you make today?

a fun swap!

My bloggy friend Maria and I organized a swap this summer just between the two of us. I received word this morning that she had received her bundle from me... finally! I received hers about a week ago but was waiting to blog about it until hers arrived. Here is what I sent off to Australia for her to enjoy...

I had so much fun putting it all together.... a little zipper pouch and needle book, some homemade buttons, a fabric bundle, some sewing stickers. And this little stitchery mini that was so much fun to make...

Here is the bundle that arrived at my house....

 It's hard to see but the fabric and trim it came wrapped in is just adorable, and will, no doubt, be appearing in a future project! The pretty postcard is hanging on my inspiration board now. Inside is this beautiful sewing portfolio...

Look at all those awesome zipper compartments! And inside, bright beautiful yo-yos, gorgeous buttons made by a friend of Maria's, quilt labels, a fun schnibbles pattern, a sewing brooch for me to wear...

 Thank you Maria! I will use and enjoy all of it and will think of you every time I do.

pictures from Ohio

My brother sent these pics with instructions that I blog them immediately! Apparently (according to Ally) he is sitting at the computer hitting refresh... so here goes....

 Two of my favorite girls in their matching Ohio State shirts. Apparently there is some brainwashing going on. They think if they buy her clothes she will choose to permanently leave her mommy and daddy and Texas. Ha!

And a picture of the sweet sleeping Mackenzie with her Dora quilt...

looks like it works!

I can finally show you this...

A while back I teased you with this quilt photo....

 I couldn't show you the quilt because it was for Mackenzie's third birthday and I knew they would see it here if I posted it! Well, Ally gave the quilt to Mackenzie, so I can show it to you now. I made it with some more of my lime and gray swap blocks....

Some of those grays look blueish.... sorry the color is off! Mackenzie's room is lime green and purple so I think this works. Oh, but as far as she's concerned this is the back of her quilt. You see, I put Dora the Explorer fabric on the other side. Mackie is a Dora freak! When she opened her quilt (I was watching via Skype) she spread it out on the floor, Dora side UP and danced around on it! So the quilt is a hit. Maybe once she outgrows Dora she will flip it over and notice all the pretty blocks on the other side? Maybe not! Doesn't matter to me, I'm just glad she likes it. Happy Early Birthday Mackenzie!

Halloween mini quilt

I had so much fun making my Lil Twister quilt that I wanted to do more. I was excited to find out that there are smaller templates. I bought the Itty Bitty Primitive Pinwheels pattern/template by Primitive Gatherings. I'm not sure how they got away with selling this, surely it breaks some copyright rules? I don't know. But I was happy to have it. The finished squares that make up the pinwheels are one inch. ONE INCH! Am I crazy? Perhaps. I spent an afternoon making up this little square...

 The whole square measured 6 1/2 inches. Yikes! It was fun to do, but lots of tiny squares. I am not always a terribly accurate quilter, but I was very careful with this and it turned out great! One tip.... I used lots of Mary Ellen's Best Press and steamed the heck out of this baby so it would lie flat.

I thought maybe it needed a solid orange border? I posted the above picture on Facebook and a friend said "it needs a piano key border". Seriously??? How tiny would those piano keys have to be? As I reached for my orange solid the guilt hit me. She was right. It was crying out for a piano key border. Sigh.

So I did it! The keys are 1/2 x1 inch finished. Maybe if you blow this picture up you can see the little spiders I fussy cut for the corners too. I suppose now I need to layer this up and quilt it..... the finished block is 12 inches square.