I finally got an apron! I also made one for Alan’s Mom. I traced the boys hands onto a piece of paper and transfered it to a large sponge. Picked up some fabric paint and voila! I was originally doing to make dishtowels, but figured I need an apron. Here is Alan’s Momma’s apron. Forgive the poor image quality, I used my iphone and failed to turn the lights on in the kitchen. But I did sneak in a nap while the boys slept.
In this month’s issue of Martha Stewart Living, I learned how to transform traditional doilies with a dip in dye. The color makes them look fresh and modern. This technique made my Mother’s Day gifts present perfect and earth and wallet friendly too. (I picked up the craft ribbon at Target for $.99)
Wrap Start with a box wrapped with white paper or treats rolled in parchment ( I upcycled a paper bag from the grocery store). Trim the doilies to size and attach them to the packages with double sided tape of glue stick. ( Scotch makes a nice no clump glue stick)
Cut and Layer Trim the doily so that only center remains, then place it over a larger doily. ( I liked mine without the layering) Of course Martha’s were about 10 shades deeper in color.
Mom, your present is ready for pick up : )
Little Blue and my Summer Garden Quilt are ready to get packed up for their new owner, a newborn baby girl. I can’t wait to finish what Im working on now and get it up on Etsy. My current embroidery project is rather large…. Hope to post pics SOON!
My girlfriend and I headed over to Joann Fabrics this morning to check out their Pre-Easter sale. Simplicity patterns are on sale for $.99! We even did our homework and checked out Simplicity Patterns Online first, so we didn’t have to try to read pattern books with two toddlers tearing down the store. I spent $3.18 on $45 worth of patterns and Alyson spent $20 on $92 worth of patterns and other sale items in the store. The sale goes on through this Saturday the 3rd. They had some great home decor stuff including this nursery decor pattern pictured above.
I have been pretty busy this weekend finalizing some sewing projects and getting my Etsy shop up and running! I am so excited to be a stay at home Etsyian! I’d like to thank Ashley for creating my custom logo design, I just LOVE it! and a big thanks to all my friends and family with all of the encouraging words along the way. Lastly, thanks Mom for giving me the sewing bug!
Heres a Sneak Peak:
I haven’t really been hiding, just preoccupied. The best kind of preoccupation possible, spending time with family and the needle and thread. Jason and I headed down to Miami ahead of Brian the week before last to celebrate My Mom’s birthday. He met up with us over the weekend. As always we had a great time. It makes me so happy that he knows and loves his grandparents. I consider us very lucky to be able to see them as frequently as we do. Jason started hugging on Nanna and saying cheese (above) and I of course went for the camera. The two were “winding down” for bed time. We totally spoiled him, allowing him to watch an hours worth of movies in bed AFTER bed time and things have not gone smoothly since then. The time change doesn’t help either.
Since we’ve been back I’ve been spending all my free time embroidering my last piece for the etsy store. I’ve decided to launch without it. Tonight, I meet with Ashley (Lemon and Lavender on my blog roll on the bottom left) for drinks and logo design. Shes been working on stationary design, invitations and announcements and I’ve just expanded her work into logo design. Stay tuned…were getting close!
I am enjoying sitting at the machine working on the last items for my Etsy Store. These were a recent gift for a new mom and good friend. The front is 100% cotton and back a terry cloth. Even though the cotton can be washed, I would use the front as a drool catcher and the back for eating. I don’t have anymore of this fabric and I may or may not incorporate applique on the next batch, I like how the new fabric looks without. If I can get my hands on the same fabric there will be more of these in the future.
The Sunday before last I helped my niece clean out her room. I wish I would have done before and after shots with the room. She did a fantastic job of sorting and getting rid of things she didn’t need or want. She donated a TON of stuff. I would give her bins of sorting assignments and fill them up when she was done. I would quickly ask “keep or toss?” before throwing the item towards its new fate. I found her Jesus bear, which I knew was similar to Jason’s Mine in that she loves it and slept with it for many years. Clearly her dog got to it. When i picked it up I saw her look at it to which I said “repair or toss?” Repair! she said with certainty. So above is the before and below is the after. I looked at two Joann Fabric’s (including their catalogs) and a Walmart to find the same fabric and I couldnt. So I picked my favorite fleece and gave it a Jesus shirt and pocket(the original had a back pocket in the same spot). I hope she likes it.
I am getting close to opening up my etsy store. I already have two crib quilts awaiting the arrival of the tags I bought here. I also have two of my swarowski crystal breastfeeding reminder bracelets to put up. The above fabric is going to give me two aprons, a crib quilt and four bibs. I so enjoy sitting at the machine and creating these one of a kind pieces and can’t wait to open up.
American Patchwork & Quilting is challenging you to join efforts to Make a Pillowcase and Make a Difference. A pillowcase can provide comfort for a cancer patient, hope for a foster child, encouragement for a battered woman, or beauty for a nursing home resident…and make a difference in your community.
To participate, find a shop hosting One Million Pillowcase Challenge events in your area. If there is not a participating shop in your area, you can mail them to a nearby participating retailer or donate them locally.
Here is a link to free pillowcase patterns. Once your pillowcase project is complete and donated locally, you can log on to enter how many pillowcases you made. Above is the pillowcase I made this evening, the dark purple is a hard to see ruffle that I love! I’m going to try and make a few more to help them reach their goal of ONE MILLION Pillowcases!
