back to school dress

A poolside sewing tutorial from my dear friend Heather taught me how to make this oh so sweet and simple pillow case style dress. I used the unicorn print from Heather Ross's Far Far Away line and the coordinating orange floral for the bow. I sewed this for Kate before her first day of preschool this week. Got to go back to school in style, right? I just wish I had tried this pattern at the beginning of summer. Hope your end of summer or back to school season is going well.

Happy Weekend!

little goodies

My youngest turns 4 in a few days. So amazing, so fast it is going. We had a little party to celebrate and it was a good opportunity to get me out of my sewing/blogging slump! Little goodie bags made from all of my favorite polka dot fabric stash. I filled them with crayons, lollipops and little homemade coloring books. Lots of fun and worth the time. Loving Handmade, especially for our most special memories. Hope your summer was great, sent the kids off to school this morning and getting back into the swing of things!

::feed your soul::

Hey there! How are you? We are super crazy end of the school year, 3 year old is out of school, a million things going on busy but .....I had to share this: I recently came across this site online that has free art prints that you can download and print for FREE! There are lots of super cool ones, that I plan to print on card stock and hang on our wire clothespin thing we have in our house for pictures. Might have to knock off a few preschool pictures, shhh!

Check it out here: Feed Your Soul: The Free Art Project

works in progress

I have been sewing a bit the past few days after I bought some really nice linen from Sew Mama Sew. It is a nice heavy weight that would be good for home dec. projects. I have been wanting a new bag for a while and decided to use the linen to make a patchwork tote with some of my favorite fabrics. It is still in progress b/c the handles are too long and the whole bag is kind of huge so I am not totally done...yet. But on to the linen, which I love the look of in sewing projects. I practiced some sketching with thread (for lack of a better name) on linen with fabric scraps. It is fun to do and the possibilities are endless. Simply, iron on your fabric that is backed with fusible interfacing to the linen in the shape you want. Using your darning foot, you stitch the outline of the shape as you would with a marker or pen. I like the whimsical look of going around a few times and using a dark brown or black thread looks best. Now these are just rough examples but I have a fabric canvas idea brewing in my head that could look pretty cool. Here are some more ideas from flickr of what you could dream up: here and here.My 3 year old is sick today so sewing will slow a bit! She is listening to a book on tape right now which has been one of my best parenting finds since my oldest was little. Great in the car or in the house, they love it! Have a great day!

::weekend in pictures::

decisions

inspiration

stumbled upon

entrepreneurs

Hope your weekend was wonderful too!

::happy monday::

(from decor8 blog)

pillow swap 3 : modern simplicity :

The pillow swap that I have mentioned in the past is hosting sign-ups right now over on flickr. If you are interested in joining this fun group of sewists and getting a pillow in return, head on over and sign yourself up quick! And don't worry you will have lots of time to make your creation. I think they don't have to go out until the beginning of June. I have participated twice over the past year and have really enjoyed the group, the discussions and the pillwos I have received from other members. Will have to share those pictures here soon! This picture is the mosaic I made for my partner to see my style so they can get to "know" me a bit before they start. The top picture is the pillow I sent out for the last swap to my partner.
Are you in?

I have been very absent lately and I guess that is just the sign of a full life right now! We are busy with soccer, being outdoors and enjoying spring and did I mention soccer!! But it is all good and I hope you are too. My creative side is missing as well. I haven't used the sewing machine in many weeks. What is wrong with me? I have a list of things I want to make but no desire. I even have new fabric to use. I hate when the creative bug eludes me but hopefully it will come back. Not everyone around my home has lost their creativity. This is the latest house my hubby has built and we recently sold. It is a great mix of cottage and modern I would say and a really nice couple has moved here and now calls it home. He loves what he does and although I am very biased, I think he is really good at it too!

Hope to have some of my own creations to share soon, I really do!

wonderful wednesday

Those were the words written on the board when I went in to do my weekly volunteering in the 2nd grade. I love it! When I dropped off my daughter at her preschool just before that, her teacher was lying under the table with a group of kids. I asked what in the world were they doing? "They are painting the bottom of the table and studying Michelangelo", she said!

Loving teachers and all they can bring to a child's life!

Also loving these new favorites on flickr. Inspired by the springy-ness of all the colors as I see blooms outside and birds at the feeder. Hope your day is wonderful too!

olympic education

As we are about to say farewell to the 2010 Winter Olympics, I have to admit that I watched the games almost, if not every night. I haven't missed much because I really love the Winter Olympics and I think my enthusiasm has caught on around here. My boys are now using sleds as snowboards and begging us to take them to the local ski mountain. Shawn White has become somewhat of an idol to them over the past few weeks. I tried to think who I worshipped like that when I was their age. I never came up with anyone actually, but I was never into sports like they are at this age. But mostly I love the feel of nations coming together, the thrill of all the sports and hearing the stories behind the athletes and their amazing journeys of success and even defeat. I wanted to share this site because we came upon it and have all learned quite a bit. It is on NBC and gives short videos behind the science of the Olympic sports. It was cool to see how the kids were putting it all together in their heads as they learned that snowboarding is all about math and physics. I think the school points were boosted a bit! Watch it with your kids, I learned a ton too! NBC Learn

the pillow swap 2

Last year sometime I participated in a pillow swap group over on flickr. There was a small group of sewers with very similar tastes and we did a blind swap for pillows. This year the little group has really grown and I was happy to sign up because it's lots of fun and I love a surprise! This is my pillow that I completed and will be sending out to my secret pal this week. This pillow got me back into sewing after my back surgery and it was a great project to warm my machine up again. I just hope she loves it!
I used lots of varying prints in blues and turquoise then stippled it and added a binding. It measures 20"x20"- big! If you are over on flickr and want to join a swap, I encourage you to try it. There are lots of different ones to try and everyone is sew nice! You can go see the other pillow creations in the group here.

:over the weekend:

photo from Heather Ross blog

Happy Monday! We had an enormously busy weekend! My oldest turned 10 on Saturday, I can hardly believe it. He celebrated with going to the movies and we had 5 boys sleep over. It was fun and wild and "sleep" was not a big part of the night! And Sunday was a mother blessing for my good friend who is about to welcome her second little boy into the world. So wonderful to be a part of all these boy celebrations and have some mama time too!

And I spent just a few moments loving these new fabrics from Heather Ross. You can purchase them over at Spoonflower. They are so darn cute!

Hope your week is off to a great start!

design & target

Lately I am sure everyone has seen the plethora of designers that are making their way into your local Target. First when I saw Orla Kiely, I was really quite excited because one of her bags has been on my want list for a few years. (still on that list) But then yesterday I saw a new commercial for Liberty of London. They are one of the oldest fabric designers from London and make beautiful and very soft and very pricey fabrics for sewers and home goods. But wait, what is this? They are coming to Target too? I couldn't believe it! I am not above shopping for them there either, because quite honestly that is more in my price bracket than $25 yard for fabric. They come out March 14th but in the meantime, head over to this site and you can download some of these gorgeous prints for your desktop as well as have a sneak peek at what will be in stores. What do you think about all these designers moving to the big boxes? Is this a sign of these economic times or do you think it is nice that normal pocket books can get in on some great style?

i heart valentines (and chocolate too!)

A little craft I saw online for this valentine's day. My 3 year old and I had fun making these for her class. And eating some m&m's along the way.

To make: buy matches at your local grocery store and empty them for a later time. Fill each with candy of your choice. We used m&m's but convo hearts would work good I bet.
Cut a piece of paper about 4"x2" to fit around your box and secure on the back with tape. I used 2 different paper strips ones so I could put a name on it. Another cute idea would be to tie ribbon around them but Kate did not want this, I lost that creative battle! Close the box and voila: instant cuteness.

Happy Valentine's Day! Remember those you love in your life!

2 quilts done for 2 happy boys

Last summer I went on my amazing sewing getaway with my dear friend Lillian. Where I made the tops of 2 quilts for my boys. I am happy to say that today they are finally done and on their beds keeping them warm at night. The funny thing about these quilts is that it was supposed to be just one for my oldest Aidan, but when I walked in the door from my trip that summer my younger son quickly asked me: " what did you make for me?" I instantly pulled out the 2 quilt pieces and said "this one is yours!". I didn't have the heart to tell him that I had only made his brother one this trip. So I made the back of Aidan's quilt into the front of Gray's and now had lots more work to finish them both!

And then came a move, my back troubles and back surgery and recovery and those quilts sat and sat and sat in a box for the past 6 months or so. I decided to send them off to The Back Porch Quilters after I have heard Dana over at Old Red Barn Co. speak so highly of Rhonda's work.

I sent them off at the end of December and happily received them last week all done and so beautiful!! Her work is flawless and at .01 per square inch it is affordable too. It was so worth it to have these quilts done for me this time with all we have had going on. I needed to feel like something was getting done. Since I still can't sit at my machine for too long, the thought of quilting these big quilts was impossible! Grayson's is a double and Aidan's is a generous twin.

It feels good to see your hard work complete. I had a nice time by the fire over the snowy weekend sewing the bindings on too. It was relaxing and so warm under those quilts all weekend. Perfect!

::over the weekend::

There was lots of this...

And even a bunch of this too...(more on that tomorrow!) Hope your weekend was warm and cozy with the ones you love.

lovely fabrics and a giveaway too!

(Playground Palette)

Recently I bought a little bit of Anna Maria Horner's new line called Little Folks. It is made out of voile which is just so lovely and light weight. Kind of like the lawn cotton from Liberty of London. When you are lying around healing from back surgery, it can be very dangerous not to buy a ton of fabric while surfing the web! There is not much else to do! But I was good and just got 3 fat quarters thinking I would make a scarf. Has not happened yet, but it will!

I ordered from Harts Fabric and was very pleased with their prices, customer service and fast shipping. Today they are having a giveaway on their blog for a free yard from the Little Folks line! So go check it out here and sign up to win!

As for me, I am s.l.o.w.l.y healing from surgery and getting better each day. I am dying to be able to sew again and have stashed a million new project ideas in my head! The body knows what it is doing but sometimes the mind gets impatient waiting! See you soon. Hope you have a great day!

:corners of my home:

I created 2 pillows last month to sell at our holiday craft shows. I was pretty happy that they did not sell because they work just perfectly on my new couch! To make these pillows, I sewed a large panel of different widths of some of my favorite greens that were cut in strips. I also included some solids from the Amy Butler collection. Her solids are really nice and come in a beautiful variety of colors. I then took my large piece of sewn strips and made a sandwich with some natural cotton batting and solid cotton for the backing. I stipple quilted the whole thing. Then, I cut this into two squares: one measures 20"x20" and the other is 16"x16". I thought I would like to add a bit of applique to one and chose this bird template, found here. Easy enough to cut out and stitch on. Finished them both by sewing the backs for the pillow and voila!

I enjoy using quilting in small projects like this that still keep a simple, modern design. I am lately becoming green obsessed and these pillow add that touch of color that our sofa needed!

:welcome 2010:

Hello and happy new year to you! I am dusting off my blog after quite a few busy and tossed up weeks around here. The holidays behind us and a new year is here. I hope that you all had a great one.
As I am facing a surgery next week for back problems I have been having over the past few months, I have resolved to get my health issues solved, my life back on track and enjoy what this coming year has to offer me and my family.
My creative life has been on a pause button and will be until I am feeling better. Here is a glimpse of some of my favorite projects from 2009. Lots of new ideas to come this year too. I look forward to highlighting other creative people out there that inspire me to try more and experiment with possibilities! The web has so many amazing artists, bloggers, etsy sellers and more to offer!
So here's to a new year of discovery, good health and lots of creativity! Thanks for visiting. I wish you the best!