Pretty Little Pouch Swap

A woven pouch I created for the Pretty Little Pouch Swap – pattern coming soon!

Grab 'n' Go Wristlet

My original wristlet pattern featuring a charming pleat detail and two sizes.

Double Wedding Ring Quilt Along

Quilt along with me and make your own double wedding ring quilt.

Box Pouch Tutorial

All the details you need to make a cute and functional box pouch.

Quilted Hexie Pouch

Check out this free pattern I created for Bag Lady Week at Obsessive Crafting Disorder

Showing posts with label Fall. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Fall. Show all posts

Monday, October 31, 2011

Happy Halloween!


I love New Orleans because almost everyone dresses up for Halloween...on the street, in the workplace, and everywhere in between. We have an elaborate costume contest at work every year, and the company pays for catering so our entire office of 70+ people gets to hang out in the break room in our crazy outfits. There's an Individual and Group costume category, and they sweeten the pot with cash prizes for the winners.

My good friend Sherie and I are practically joined at the hip - our coworkers tease us because our personalities are so similar and we're always together - where you see one, you usually see the other. Last year I actually went as Sherie for Halloween - I wore a nametag with her name written on it, and told people "I'm Sherie today. I'm going to talk a lot and not get any work done." (she's actually a really hard worker - I just like to mess with her) So all things considered, we felt it was only appropriate to dress as a pair this year, and we went with Salt & Pepper because it's funny on a number of levels, lol (Sherie's always making fun of my pale legs).

I made our costumes out of some 72" wide felt and elastic (for the shoulder straps). We both wore black leggings, a tshirt to match our "shaker dress", and some chef hats I put together using this tutorial (I narrowed the band to 2") You can't really see, but I spray basted some black felt circles on the top of the hats as our shaker holes.

Oh, and the best part? We made our grand entrance before the entire office and panel of judges to the Salt & Peppa song "Push It"? Sherie might have done the hand-behind-the-head-hip-swirl move, and I may or may not have done a slow-mo sliding entrance followed up by the Running Man.

You gotta have some fun in this life, ya know?

Thursday, October 6, 2011

Pumpkin Patch Table Runner

Remember these blocks? Well now they've turned been into this:



I've had this idea in my brain since last Fall (linen background and all), but after I caught a glimpse of Aneela's adorable (and almost identical) runner, I almost didn't go through with it because I didn't want to seem like a big fat ripoff!

...but eventually, after a lot of debating, I decided to finish the pattern because I know I didn't copy anything, and I wanted to share a fun fall project with you guys!

Also, I designed the back so that you can reverse the runner if you so choose (always convenient when there's a food stain, lol!)

The downloadable pdf is below. You're welcome to use it for your home or for sale in SMALL quantities, but please don't mass produce this for profit. Thanks :)
Pumpkin Patch Table Runner

Friday, September 30, 2011

One more thing...


Keep your eyes peeled, because I'm going to be posting a free pattern sometime next week to keep you busy while I'm gone to the Sewing Summit ;)

What could it be? Will there be more? All in good time....

 Baby Punkin'


Big Mama Punkin'

Thursday, October 28, 2010

MQG Retreat: Last Project - Apple A Day Tote


I was going to post this tomorrow, but I'm too excited to wait!

Isn't it great to finally make something that's been floating around in your brain forever? I have this irrational fear that I'm going to think of something awesome and then forget about it before I have a chance to make it....which is why I keep a notebook with me at all times - so I can frantically sketch my ideas before I get distracted. It would be so much more convenient if I could just think things into existence...BAH!

This idea popped in my head as soon as I saw the Farmdale line, and I wanted to make this tote much sooner so I could start taking it to the market back in September, but you know how that goes. I don't care so much for the rooster prints in that line (they give me nightmarish flashbacks to the abundant number of country apple & rooster themed kitchens I saw growing up in Kentucky), but I love the apples. Apples are so tasty. And cute. And fragrant. You know, people never really think of apples as a fragrant fruit, but they really are. I was in the produce section of Whole Foods the other day, and when I walked down the aisle where piles upon piles of shiny, delicious apples were stacked, the whole area smelled so sweet and wonderful. Mmmmm. My favorites are Cortland and Honeycrisp...what about you?






And in case anyone's wondering, here are the dimensions I cut for each piece:

Exterior: 15" x 20" (1/4" seams)
Lining: 15" x 20" (I used 1/2" instead of 1/4" inch seams so the lining wouldn't be all up in the exterior panels' grill)
Straps: 4" x 36" (I'm pretty tall so I need long straps...plus there's nothing worse than a bag riding up into your armpit)

Leave a comment if you'd like me to scan and upload the apple & leaf templates I drew. They're not pretty because I free-handed them on a piece of graph paper, but it'll save you a little work!

I also used interfacing on all the pieces...lining, exterior, handles and even the leaf & apple pocket. After I'd cut out the pocket pieces, I drew some quick lines with chalk to mirror the sketchy lines of the apples on the Farmdale print. Then I stitched over them with lime green, green, and bright red thread. Once that was done I sewed the pieces together, turned it right side out, and secured it on the front panel. It's big enough to easily hold any cell phone or a small set of keys. Voila!

Wednesday, October 6, 2010

Why Fall is my favorite season (...and another giveaway!)

*This giveaway is closed and the winner has been announced*

Can I share one of my favorite pictures with you? Yes?! Why thank you!


I snapped this during an impromptu birthday trip to Washington D.C. three years ago. About a month before my birthday, my husband and I found round-trip tickets from Chicago to D.C. for $99/person, and a crazy thought was born in our brains. What if we flew into D.C. for just one day? We could take the 7 am flight, run around all day (because almost everything in the capitol is FREE), and then fly back home at 8 pm. Even better, I had a very close college friend who'd interned in D.C. for a spell and knew her way around the city. I hadn't seen her in almost 2 years and really missed her, so I called and convinced her to drive up from Indianapolis and participate in our madness. So one crazy Saturday in November, the three of us woke up at the crack of dawn, grabbed our backpacks, hopped on the train to Midway, flew to D.C., and ran around to Arlington-Jefferson Memorial-Lincoln Memorial-Washington Memorial-Vietnam Memorial-National Gallery-Smithsonian-WWII Memorial (which made me a little misty-eyed because my grandpa always wanted to see it but passed away before he could). It's memories like these that make me glad my husband and I made a "5 year" pact before we started trying for children. We've grown so close and have gotten to do so many wonderful things during that time. I love that we'll have so many precious memories of running around in our youth to look back on :)

I think I love Fall because it makes me sentimental. I remember how Ray and I used to go pick Cortland apples at a little orchard outside Chicago, how much I loved bundling up in thick wool sweaters on crisp city nights, the sound of crunchy leaves blowing & scraping on the sidewalk, and growing up in Kentucky eating comfort foods and drinking warm spiced cider at my grandparent's house in the mountains. Ahhhh. Fall.

Whenever I first saw pictures of Anna Maria's new fabric line, I instantly thought of the coziness of Fall. Isn't she a genius with color? The Swept Away palette in particular caught my eye. It reminded me of the leaves turning...which is why I dug out that tree picture from Arlington National Cemetery.

I wanna share the Fall love, so I'm gonna be giving away a fat quarter bundle from the Innocent Crush line!!! I'm gonna wait and do most of my buying once this line arrives at my local shop, but I had to have some FQ bundles from Pink Chalk Fabrics to tide me over in the meantime ;) Why not share?

The winner will be receiving the Swept Away FQ bundle, which includes the 11 prints seen below!!!


TO ENTER:
  1. Leave a comment.
  2. For an extra entry, become a follower and leave another comment! (if you're already a follower, leave a comment telling me so)
  3. For a 3rd entry, share your favorite fall recipe! Either leave the link or do a quick recipe copy & paste job in the comments.
This giveaway is open to International entries, and the winner will be announced Monday, Oct. 18th.

THANKS FOR PLAYING! :)

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