one shabby chick

Good Neighbors Pincushion Party

Amanda (aka Crazy Mom Quilts) was one of the first blogs I ever followed way back when. She makes the most amazing quilts and her love of scraps is well-known. I love her use of color and just her fun style.

So I knew her fabric line would be just that - colorful and fun! And it is!

I decided to do some scrappy pin cushions to help celebrate the launch of her new line, Good Neighbors by Connecting Threads.

These are 1.5" squares that I pieced together, quilted, backed with some faux burlap from Connecting Threads and then stuffed with some wool scraps and batting. Scrappy fun!

I don't think you can ever have too many pin cushions!

So if you would like to win one of these pin cushions and a charm square set of Amanda's new line, just leave a comment below (sorry my international friends, but this giveaway is limited to US and Canadian addresses only).

And there are so many cute pin cushions in our party! I LOVE Vanessa's (she has an awesome tutorial for it too). Go check them out:

9/1/2015 Amanda Jean – Crazy Mom Quilts
9/2/2015 Anna – Noodlehead
9/3/2015 Mary – Mary on Lake Pulaski
9/4/2015 Svetlana – Sotak Handmade
9/5/2015 Debbie – Esch House Quilts
9/6/2015 Holly – Bijou Lovely
9/7/2015 Carla – Grace and Favour
9/8/2015 Faith – Fresh Lemons Quilts
9/9/2015 Vanessa –  V and Co.
9/10/2015 Anna –  Thimbleanna
9/11/2015 Krista –  Poppy Print Creates
9/12/2015 Erin –  Why Not Sew
9/13/2015 Lee –  May Chappell
9/14/2015 Alex –  Tea Ginny Designs
9/15/2015 Cheryl –  Nap Time Quilter
9/16/2015 Penny –  Sew Take a Hike
9/17/2015 Amy –  During Quilt Time
9/18/2015 Debbie –  A Quilter’s Table
9/19/2015 Anne –  Spring Leaf Studios
9/20/2015 Melissa Corry –  Happy Quilting
9/21/2015 Amber –  One Shabby Chick
9/22/2015 Nettie –  A Quilt is Nice
9/23/2015 Adrianne – Little Bluebell
9/24/2015 Cindy –  Live a Colorful Life
9/25/2015 Amy –  Diary of a Quilter
9/26/2015 Chase –  Quarter Inch Mark
9/27/2015 Rene –  Rene Creates
9/28/2015 Erin –  House on Hill Road
9/29/2015 Nicole –  Modern Handcraft
9/30/2015 Teri –  Connecting Threads

Thanks for letting me play along Amanda! I know this is the first of many awesome fabric lines :-)

Thanks

Wow - I guess you guys are still here! Thanks for that! I loved reading all your comments!

And the winner of the pouch is....

Janine who said....

Glad to see you back! I don't blame you about instagram taking over blogging desires. It's SO easy to find instant visual representation and I love that I can peek into the worlds of my friends who aren't close by. And your projects look fabulous as always! Wish I could sew but after many failed attempts I'll stick with my knitting and just enjoy your bags to put it in ^_^

{Janine, will you send me an email with your address?}

Yesterday was my birthday and for the past two birthdays I've done a little challenge on Instagram. A lip sync challenge. I'm doing it again this year so if any of you feel inclined to join you can find the details here on my Instagram account.

It's pretty fun to get over your self-consciousness and do something a little wacky and fun. Go try it! I'm even bribing you all with a tote :-)

I've been sewing up lots of knife pouches...

and I still have a few more to make!

And then it's on to dresses and skirts for a local children's boutique.

Hope you all have a great weekend. I'm starting mine off with a birthday dinner with my family (and this cutie).

Finding my voice again

So yeah, it's been awhile. AGAIN.

Instagram has taken over any blogging desires I've had. But I'm realizing that as much as we can connect with people on Instagram, our voices don't really come through like they can on a blog.

So I'm back here....I love looking through my blog and seeing all the years gone by. And I want that to keep going. So I'm going to try and post at least once a week - that's a goal for now :-)

We had a pretty packed summer. Our family went on a mission trip to Mexico.

Actually Kevin and I were the leaders of the team (along with two young guys). I gotta say - it was one of the hardest things I've done...be a leader with my family there too. Cause I had to be mom to my kids but also mom/leader to 13 other kids too.

But it was an amazing time and I'm so glad we all got to go. I know we want to go back soon.

It was so fun being able to speak Spanish too.

We had some pretty rough living conditions but the kids (all of them) never complained and just went along with whatever we had planned. We had a great team.

I loved being able to spend time with this guy too - he was the hardest worker. I honestly didn't realize how neat it would be to go as a family.

Only problem was this little person developed a huge fear of flying which made airports the WORST!

She was ok after she got on the plane - just the anticipation was horrible. And a nightmare for her parents who were supposed to be in charge of the rest of the team too.

We did lots of work on the place we were staying and a few local projects too.

I mostly cooked. and cooked. and cooked. Lol! But I had so much help from the local missionaries and another family that came down there to help us (they were the biggest help ever).

We are back now (well, we have been for a while) and I'm back to sewing all the orders that piled up while I was gone.

And some fun stuff too!

Some baby items for Mai.

And some pouches are in the works for my shop.

And if you've read this far...and are still following me here - you deserve a prize!!

So leave a comment and I'll pick one of you to get a zip pouch filled with treats! Just say hi!

 

The Paper Pieced Home (and a giveaway)

I absolutely love paper piecing (but it wasn't always that way).

I remember when I first started out, I was so nervous about it - probably because I was in an amazing bee with a bunch of paper piecing geniuses!

And I'm still pretty bad at translating my ideas to actual patterns but that's ok - because I have friends who are amazing at it and have patterns and books to help us all!

The Paper-Pieced Home: Quilting a Household One Block at a Time

By Penny Layman

Interweave/F+W

Penny is one of those friends and I can't wait to meet her in real life one day too. She has a pattern company with Kerry called Sew Ichigo and she just wrote the most fabulous book - The Paper Pieced Home : Quilting a Household One Block at a Time by Interweave.

I was thrilled when F + W asked me to review her book - it was an instant YES!

She has the BEST tips and techniques at the beginning of the book to help you even if you are new to this technique.

And my favorite part about the book? This great cd that you can put in your hard drive and print out pages as you need them!

This book is packed full of patterns and project ideas - there are so many, it's amazing!

I chose to do the Stack of Books block - it reminded me of the first block I ever made for the Ringo Pie bee (which Penny and I were in together).

I used the block as the front panel for a tote bag - isn't it so cute?!

This would be adorable as a library bag. The leather and sparkle canvas handles were a fun touch.

I also used the little mason jar block in the book and made two little zip pouches.

I used a stamp I have and made them little "aloha" jars. There are so many ways to use the projects and blocks in this book!

And the best part of this post - I have a copy for one of you to win too!! The book giveaway is for US addresses only (sorry international peeps). Leave a comment and tell me where in the US you live and you will be entered to win!

But I do have a giveaway for you international peeps!  I'll send one of you an aloha zip pouch! Just leave a comment telling where you live and you will be entered to win as well!

I'm one of the last stops on this book tour but here's a list of the entire tour if you want to check out everyone's amazing projects:

The Paper-Pieced Home

Blog Tour Schedule 

3/16       McCall’s Quilting / Sewing Machine Block

3/17       Love of Quilting / Review

3/17       Sandi Sawa Hazlewood  of Crafty Planner / Watering Can Block

3/18       Quilty Pleasure (Quiltmaker blog) / Review

3/18       Imagine Gnats / Rotary Phone Block

3/20       Verykerryberry / Lion Block

3/21       Artisania / Cast-Iron Skillet Block

3/23       Where the Orchids Grow / Lamp Block

3/24       Katie Blakesley of Swim Bike Quilt / Layer Cake Block

3/24       House on Hill Road / Oven Mitt Block

3/24       Lee Heinrich of Freshly Pieced / BBQ Grill Block

3/26       Pink Penguin / Allie-Gator Block

3/26       A Happy Stitch / Giraffe Block

3/27       Bijou Lovely / Jar Block

3/27       Two Little Banshees / Saucepan Block

3/27       Charise Creates / Espresso Mug Block

3/30       Karen Lewis Textiles / Couch Block

3/31       Poppyprint / Clawfoot Tub Block

3/31       One Shabby Chick / Stack of Books Block

3/31       During Quiet Time / Sleeveless Dress Block

4/06       Pat Sloan The Voice of Quilting / Author Podcast Interview

Good luck everyone!

 

Comments are now closed!

Sew Pretty For Little Girls Blog Hop

I am thrilled to be a part of the blog tour for Alice Caroline's new book, Sew Pretty for Little Girls.

In the UK it's actually called Little Lady Liberty (which I love). But the US title is Sew Pretty for Little Girls.

It's full of fun sewing projects for the little girls in your life.

And out of Liberty fabrics? What could be better?!

The book is broken into three main categories: Blissful Bedrooms, Twirly Girly Garments, and Pretty Little Things. 

My first project on the to-do list is from the Pretty Little Things category: a sweet belt for my little girl.

She picked out a Cotton and Steel octopus print which is very similar to Liberty lawn and will work fantastic in the project - just need to find the time to sew it up!

I love all the pretty projects in this book that are perfect for little and big (like me) girls!

How cute are these lampshades?

and the floor pillow would be perfect in the living room to curl up on.

I love fun and practical patterns and this book is full of them!

 

How cute is this little doll?! I love it!

 

The best part is there is a fun blog hop and a few chances to win a copy along the way! Go check it out:

Mon 2nd – Alice Caroline

Wed 4th – Crafting Not Cleaning

Thu 5th – Sew4Home

Fri 6th – Bloom

Sat 7th – A Spoonful of Sugar

Sun 8th – Fabricworm

Mon 9th – Pieced Brain

Tue 10th – Pretty Nostalgic

Wed 11th – Olivia Jane Handcrafted

Thu 12th – One Shabby Chick

Fri 13th – Sew Creative

Sat 14th – The Last Piece

Mon 16th – Victoria Findlay Wolfe Quilts

Tue 17th – Sew Crafty Jess

Wed 18th – Stitchery Dickory Dock

Fri 20th – Molly Flanders

Sat 21st – Fabric & Flowers

Sun 22nd – A Bright Corner

Mon 23rd - Follow the White Bunny

Tue 24th  - Straight Grain

Wed 25th  - Sew Justine Sew

Thu 26th  - Tracey Jay Quilts

Fri 27th  - Feather’s Flights

Sat 28th  - Monkey Do

Sun 29th  - Miss Print

Mon 30th  - This Blog Is Not For You

Tue 31st  - Sew Scrumptious

Wanderer by April Rhodes

I was thrilled when April asked if I wanted to play with her new fabric line, Wanderer.

(photo credit: April Rhodes)

I absolutely loved her first line, Arizona, and this one is just as spectacular!

I actually ended up doing a few projects because I had so many ideas.

The first thing I made was a little dress using a modified version of this dress.

I even used a little Arizona in the bottom hem.

I absolutely love patchwork so I made a pillow using 2.5" squares with this method.

And then I quilted it using matchstick quilting.

I stuffed a very big pillow in there. So it's nice and fluffy.

I used some Cotton and Steel double gauze for the back which matches perfectly with the gold colors in Wanderer.

I think that's one of my favorite things about this line - such a unique color way and soooo pretty!

As soon as I saw April's photo print in Quilt Market pictures, I knew I wanted to make a tote with it.

And lucky for me, Anna just came out with a new tote pattern!

So here's my Caravan tote:

I just need to add snaps to the front pocket.

I love the Serape print too - it's so colorful and really pops!

I used leather handles and a really pretty dark grey dot that I picked up at Dry Good Designs when I was there in November.

Metal zips - a little more effort but so worth it!

And I used her awesome border print for the inside of the zip pocket. 

There are still a few more stops on this awesome tour:

Sunday Feb. 15 - Nicole Morgenthau - finchsewingstudio.com

Monday Feb. 16 - Holly Hughes - hollygetsquilty.com 

Tuesday Feb. 17 - Shannon Cook - veryshannon.com

 

Wednesday Feb. 18 - Becca Bryan -  bryanhousequilts.com

 

Thursday Feb. 19 - Rochelle New - luckylucille.com

 

Friday Feb. 20 - Kate -  http://seekatesew.com

 

Saturday Feb. 21 - Me :-)

 

Sunday Feb. 22 - Caroline Hulse - sewcaroline.com

 

Monday Feb. 23 - John Adams - quiltdad.com

 

Tuesday Feb. 24 - Maureen Cracknell - maureencracknellhandmade

 

Wednesday Feb. 25 - Delia - deliacreates.com

 

Thursday Feb. 26 - Kelly - cutcutsew.com

 

Friday Feb. 27 - Christopher Thompson - thetattooedquilter.com

 

Saturday Feb. 28 - Jen - www.littlewifepowerhouse.com

 

There's also an amazing prize you can win!

 

 

To win :: follow April (@aprilarhodes) on IG and repost any of the Wanderer Tour photos with #wanderertourgiveaway and she will randomly choose a winner from the hashtags pool on March 1st!

 

Good luck!!

2015

Well, that was nice two month break huh?! Lol! First of all:

If you follow me on Instagram you know I haven't taken a break - I tend to OVERgram there. Just wish that would translate to blogging as well.

I do know there are people in the world NOT on Instagram - ha ha! I just take most of my photos lately with my phone so it's so easy to post them there. We do have plans to upgrade our camera soon so you might see more blog posts again! I still love this space so it's not going anywhere.

So what should I share first?! What I've been making these last few months?

I started a new Single Girl quilt (pattern by Denyse Schmidt) using an assortment of blues and greens from Cotton and Steel's latest collections.

I'm really loving this color way right now. Whipped up a quick baby quilt (well, top) last week in the same colors.

I've been making knife pouches....

and coffee bags...

and little dresses...

but what I really want to do is sew ALL THE QUILTS - lol.

I also sewed up some little sock sacks for a few knitting friends (pattern here)

and I finally used this amazing fabric I found on Etsy a while back and made some clutches/project pouches which I sold on Instagram (thanks everyone!).

So I've been keeping busy! What have you all been up to?

 

Winged Blog Tour

I'm so excited to be today's stop on the Winged Blog Tour.

I first discovered Bonnie Christine on her blog, Going Home to Roost and fell in love with all her graphic designs. Seriously - her blog is AMAZING - go check it out!!

I was thrilled when she started designing fabrics for Art Gallery Fabrics.

Her newest collection is Winged and it is so gorgeous.

I love her use of color and all the fun designs she incorporates into each print.

Here are some thoughts from Bonnie on her inspiration for this line:

i have always noticed the very first butterfly each spring. it has been one of the sweetest sightings for me each year. it means a new season is upon us, warmer weather is on it’s way and fresh blooms will be emerging from the ground. it also evokes this feeling within me of inspiration- like all things are possible. the butterfly’s journey from caterpillar to butterfly is one that i’ll never stop marveling at.

this feeling of spreading one’s great wings and soaring is one that connects with me deeply. a long time ago i decided that i would pursue my dreams no matter what. i would make great sacrifices, journey into the unknown put my heart and soul on the line to live my creative dream. that is what winged is about. spreading your wings and flying into the unknown.

I know it might be cold in some parts right now but maybe seeing these pics will warm you up just a bit!

I used two of the prints from the Winged line - Bird's Peck in Dalia and Mimicry in Hazel.

I paired them both with some soft caramel leather and make a couple of large clutches.

This fabric is feminine but at the same time very modern and is beautiful for so many applications!

I've used it in quilts, little girl skirts and tote bags and zip pouches.

Bonnie even has a free quilt pattern here that you can download.

I'm so excited to see what Bonnie has in store next - she's truly a talented designer and I'm so honored to be a stop on her Winged Blog Tour. 

Go check out Rossie's hexagon pillow from yesterday and tomorrow Katie Covertino is continuing the tour on her blog, June-Park.

You can see the full blog tour list right here!

318 Patchwork Patterns

I am so excited to be on the blog hop for 318 Patchwork Patterns.

I remember the first time I heard about this book. It was the first year of our Ringo Pie Bee and everyone was talking about it. I tried to get my hands on the book but never could.

I am so glad World Book Media decided to reprint it (and in English!).

This book is packed full of amazing paper pieced patterns - they can be hand sewn and are also adaptable for paper piecing/freezer paper piecing.

I chose the Christmas blocks and at first was thinking I'd just choose a couple blocks to add to my Ringo Pie Christmas blocks.

But then I saw the reindeer and Santa blocks and decided I would make a few reindeer and have Santa in the back guiding them all.

I turned it into a cute Christmas table runner.

I chose a Constellation print I found on Ebay as the background to represent the night sky and I freezer paper pieced the blocks.

I enlarged all the pieces by 300% and printed them on freezer paper.

Kerry has a terrific tutorial on her blog about paper piecing.

I have to admit - my blocks are not perfect. I do not claim to be a perfect piecer. But I think they look good and I had fun bringing it all together. And that's the most important thing.

I quilted it using very "organic" lines and bound it with a cute star fabric and some of the red Suzuko Koseki fabric I used in Santa's suit.

Want to know the best part?

I have 2 copies to giveaway!! Why 2?

Well, I had pre-ordered the book before I found out about the blog hop so Zakka Workshop has a copy to give away and so do I!

Leave a comment letting me know your experience (or lack thereof) with paper piecing and you'll be entered to win!!

Thanks to Zakka Workshop for sponsoring this blog hop!!

Check out the full blog hop and more chances to win:

·      October 20- Kerry from http://verykerryberry.blogspot.com/

·      October 22- Penny Layman from http://sewtakeahike.typepad.com

·      October 24- Angela Pingel from http://cuttopieces.blogspot.com

·      October 27- Amy Sinibaldi from http://nanacompany.typepad.com

·      October 29- Amber Carrillo from http://oneshabbychick.typepad.com

·      October 31- Latifah Saafir from www.thequiltengineer.com

·      November 3- Charise Randell from http://charisecreates.blogspot.com

·      November 5- Leila from http://wheretheorchidsgrow.blogspot.com

·      November 7- Amy Friend from http://duringquiettime.com

·      November 10- Faith Jones from www.freshlemonquilts.com

·      November 12- Caroline from www.sewcanshe.com

·      November 14- Rashida Coleman-Hale from http://iheartlinen.typepad.com

 

Comments are now closed! I'll announce the winners tomorrow! Thanks!!

A winner

I'm always a little behind in picking winners for giveaways. The winner for Melissa's book is:

Ashton McClelland said...

This would be perfect for my home. I consider myself a modern seamstress and I am currently looking for home projects I can refresh my home with! Thank you for the chance at winning this awesome giveaway!

Congratulations! We should have the book emailed to you shortly!

School is in full swing now so I'm grabbing time to sew when I can in the afternoons.

Finished up a baby boy quilt for Tini Manini (a local children's boutique):

And started a new quilt using Katie's star technique:

I have WAY too many in-progress quilts right now - it's kinda ridiculous!

Ok I'm off to make a dent in my to-do list!