one shabby chick

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!

 

Winners and the latest around here....

OK so we have two winners from the Paper Pieced Home Giveaway:

Winner of the book:

Patti McGarry from Pennsylvania

and winner of the pouch:

Bodil from Norway

I'm emailing you both - congrats!

I've been busy sewing and doing life here.

We had two kids go to prom a week ago (ahhhhh!!):

They all went as a big group and had a blast.

We were leaders at our annual spring break youth camp - we always have a blast and come home exhausted (it's two weekends in a row - senior high and then junior high).

(that's our elusive 3rd child - he's not a big fan of pictures)

And I've been sewing. A lot.

Our family is going on a mission trip with our church this summer to Mexico. Actually Kevin and I are two of the leaders on the team.

I'm planning on hosting a little fundraiser on Instagram to sell my handmade goods and all money will go to the trip. I'll post here when I get it up and going.

Anyway - back to the sewing.

I'm obsessed with this feather pattern by Christina - it's so cute! I'm going to have to put it to the side right now though - lots of dresses are in my future for this local shop.

And I whipped up a cute little basket from Kelly's tutorial - they really are fast and fun to make. I added in a few details - like leather handles and side seams.

I have two quilts over at Sarah's (aka Crinklelove) right now - can't wait to get them back - one is a very old WIP! She has a great special going on through the month of April! So I'll have some binding in my future too!

OK I'm off to SEW.....

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!!

A few winners and other news

Ok first of all I need to announce the winners of the Patchwork 318 books!

And the winners are:

Jess said...

Adorable blocks! I'm a fan of paper piecing as it's much more accurate for me. Thanks for the giveaway!

and

Pauline said...

I have been wanting to try paper piecing for a very long time but somehow I have not found the courage. I guess I am afraid to fail - although I have always managed to do whatever I set my mind to - so far. I know I should try a simple thing first and that is my 2015 resolution - I will start paper piecing in 2015.

Congrats! I'm sending you both an email!

I had my only craft fair of the season this past Saturday - it went well but I do have goodies left.

I added them to the shop yesterday in case anyone wants to hop over and take a peek.

I'm also working on a Sewtopia blog post for tomorrow with a fun giveaway for you all. Stay tuned for that!

Hope everyone is enjoying this time of year.

 

The news is pretty crazy these days and I'm trying to remember to be extra thankful for all the Lord has blessed us with and to keep sharing that hope and love with others.

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!!

Sew a Modern Home Blog Tour

I have known Melissa for a long time - she was one of the first bloggers I ever met online.

 

We were in a bee together called Common Threads. We have even had the opportunity to meet up a few times here in Hawaii and at Quilt Market.

She is an amazing pattern designer - Lunden Designs is her pattern company and she is constantly coming up with fun, modern patterns.

I was not surprised at all when she told me she was writing a book - she's full of amazing ideas.

And of course her book, Sew A Modern Home,  is no exception!

 

Photo Credit: Martingale/Brent Kane

I love the Pinky Patch Quilt - it would be a great way to use up scraps (or use fussy cut squares for a fun eye-spy quilt).

Photo Credit: Martingale/Brent Kane

You could use blues, pinks or even yellows for a fun baby quilt. 

I love the way her designs are very modern and can be changed very easily with your fabric choices.

The Birds of a Feather Place Mats would make a super cute pillow design too - I think I want to make a few for my living room using Cotton and Steel prints paired with a darker solid or text print. 

 

Photo Credit: Martingale/Brent Kane

I really love how many masculine quilt designs she has  - the Sharp Turn Quilt is a great design.

 

Photo Credit: Martingale/Brent Kane

You could use solids like in the book or you could switch it up with some fun prints and still have a very modern design - I love it!

This book is full of ideas for your living room, dining room, nursery, bedroom, guest rooms, kids rooms and even a picnic quilt!

There are also super cute plushie patterns - an octopus that is calling my name - it's adorable!

I'm so happy for you, Melissa - it's a beautiful book - congratulations!

The best part is one of you gets to win a Sew a Modern Home E-book from Martingale! Just leave a comment below and I will pick a winner on Monday, August 25.

There are more stops on the blog tour and more chances to win! Good luck!

 8/13/2014    www.lundendesigns.com
8/14/2014    www.veryshannon.com
8/15/2014    http://westcoastcrafty.com/
8/16/2014    http://bostonsewer.blogspot.com/
8/17/2014    http://oneshabbychick.typepad.com/
8/18/2014    http://cactus-needle.blogspot.com/
8/19/2014    www.fabricworm.com
8/20/2014    http://generationqmagazine.com/
8/21/2014    http://blog.shopmartingale.com/
8/22/2014    prudentbaby.com
8/23/2014    http://www.stitcherydickorydock.com/
8/24/2014    http://www.favequilts.com/

Woo hoo I'm back!

I know - it's been a while!

I am still here and still sewing - posting pictures all the time on Instagram in case any of you want to follow me on there (oneshabbychickhawaii).

I just haven't been into blogging. Part of the reason is my camera won't upload photos to the computer anymore but I finally bought a card reader so I'm back in business!

And my first order of business is to post about one of my favorite quilts.

I made this quilt last month when I traveled to Idaho for a little sewing retreat with a few of my buddies.

I had seen a few cross quilts on IG and Flickr (Ashley's and Rachel's) and had been dying to make one. Rachel has a great little picture tutorial on flickr that gives you all the sizes you'll need.

I had also been wanting to make a low-volume quilt and decided to pair it with my collection of Suzuko Koseki fabrics.

I cut everything out before I went to Idaho and even made some blocks beforehand.

So while I was there, I sewed the rest up, finished the quilt top and back and then left it at the Quilt Barn to get quilted.

(Amy and I had too much fun in Idaho)

I chose a super cute circle pattern and I absolutely love how it turned out.

Then I decided it needed to have a better photo shoot then just in the back yard so we ventured down to the beach this morning and took some pics.

My son was such a good sport!

I rewarded him with ice cream on the way home.

 

I entered this in to Amy's Bloggers Quilt Festival too!