handmade holidays show

Here is a sneak peek of some of the fun things Olliekate will be selling at our 2nd annual craft show. Along with many other talented women and crafters we will be hosting a handmade holidays show for our friends and community. I am really excited and looking forward to the start of the holiday season. Lots to do, lots to do! (can you see all the packing boxes in the background? We are moving right before the show!)
The monster hat is made by my olliekate partner Rebecca. This one is Kate's but you can get one for your little monster at the show and the key fobs were whipped up by me so you may never lose your keys again!

oh halloween, you're here again

It is not a real secret that Halloween is not my favorite holiday. Just was never into it, but I fake it for my kids because of course they love it. But I had to share these pumpkins with you because they typify my children to a tee. First up (going left to right) we have the 3 year old's. She drew this big happy face and I carved it. Perfect for a happy little girl. Then we move on to the middle child, 7 years old. Could I help him? No. Could I give advice on that mouth? No. Had to do it all himself and that pumpkin has a little mischievous side, just like him! And now the prize on the right: this is my oldests' pumpkin. Who decided that carving was "boring" and that he didn't want to carve his at all. In his language this only means, it is messy and if he doesn't do one he doesn't have to help clean it up. This concept applies to many things in his life. I am serious about this, he really thinks this way. Ugh. So we are saving it for dad to make something awesome.
Hope your Halloween is filled with personality , a little mischief and lots of happiness!

time is flying by

I'm still here, I swear and time is moving as quickly as the leaves are falling around here! The blog has taken a back seat as we are preparing to move in a couple weeks and busy with all that entails. A reminder though if you are in Asheville and interested in coming to our fall craft show~ send me an email and I will get the info out to you. It will be Nov. 15th.

Here are some shots for my sewing friends of a pillow I just finished out of the Anna Maria Horner good folks line for another flickr swap. Because I like a lot on my plate I guess! And our recent trip to the corn maze too. Hope your fall is off to a beautiful start...

embroidery

Recently I got an email from a sweet woman named Tasha who invited me to join a flickr group for embroidery. I wrote her back to say, that I didn't know how to embroider and had never really tried, so I didn't think I would be a good person for a hand stitched theme. Ever since I have been sewing, I have always said: I don't sew by hand. Truth is, I never really tried. When I put the binding on my first quilt, it felt so wonderful! Well anyway, Tasha was sweet enough to take my response as a chance to open me up to embroidery. She has the cutest little shop over at etsy that sells embroidery patterns. She sent me a pattern for a cute little dress along with some pointers and directions to get started. I like a good challenge and agreed to give it a go!And you know what? I really liked sewing by hand! It was relaxing and rewarding and a nice change from being on my machine. Now, I included my example below and I know it is full of mistakes: like stitch length for one! But remember I am a beginner but now I want to give her other patterns a try to make this cute dress series for my little girl's room!

So thank you Tasha for introducing me to a new hobby and your wonderful shop and blog. If you would like to check it out you can follow the links below. Here's to trying something new!

A Little Sweetness: find lots of sweet patterns and more
Tasha's Blog : for more embroidery inspiration

loving

Look how adorable this little burlap bucket is! I am loving it. Wondering what those initials stand for? Work In Progress, to hold all your unfinished projects and bring them along to work on. It is from this etsy seller: Maya*Made. And she sells her patterns here. May just have to be a little birthday present for myself coming up soon! So clever, love to see what others create, don't you? And that certainly reminds me of all the works in progress I have accumulating around here! Hope your week is off to a creative start!

And these adorable examples of what you can do with the pattern found over on flickr!

sewing in good company

Can you stand yet another picture of a quilted pillow! But, yes here they are. I had the fun opportunity to spend the weekend with my closest girlfriends...sewing! I made another round of pillows for our Olliekate November Handmade Holidays show. We had so much fun sharing all of our sewing ideas, I am always inspired by these women. I took my first real try at a string quilt method using this tutorial. It was pretty labor intensive but the effect is cool and once quilted I think it will make a neat pillow. I can't imagine making a whole quilt like it at this point though! Too bad the weekend couldn't last longer. Thanks for the fun time girls!

heather ross quilt

My Heather Ross mini quilt is all done, even bound! I love how it turned out and had this idea floating in my head for some time and happy to see it completed. Too many unfinished sewing ideas are swimming around up there! I decided to just quilt it randomly all over and like how it contrasts with all the straight lines. This quilt is for a swap that I am involved with and will be sent off to my partner. I wasn't sure how I would like to do a swap, but it was pretty fun! Just hope she likes it. You can check out some of the other quilts over here, or if you are feeling adventurous you can sign up for the next quilt swap. We also added a little something extra and I made this pin cushion in my favorite flower print from Heather Ross and one of my key fobs to go along too! Hope you are having a good day!