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!

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