Confessions

I have SEVEN confessions

1. I haven't posted in 6 months and I don't care. I love that I am no longer obsessed with the virtual reality of this blog.

2. Remember a l.o.n.g. time ago when I reupholster our couch?  More about that here.  Well, just this week I finished the cushions.  Yes. 2 years later.  But I'm truly done now. No corners cut.

3. I love my wall hangings painted red. I might really like the color red in decor even though I am most definitely a BYU fan through and through.

4. I still have done absolutely nothing with my I-spy fabric. I've been too busy.

5. I'm almost thinking of making a $4 pattern of my heart oven mitts.  MANY people have asked for a tutorial.  And that would be SO nice of me, but I have too much on my plate right now to go to that much trouble just out of the generosity of my heart. Sorry. I did say confessions right?

6. I went a little crazy this summer and made 7 Ruby Lou dolls, 13 George the Puppy, and 2 camo pillowcases for my nieces and nephews.

7. I took my first engagement pictures this summer and I think they turned out great!

For those of you in the i-spy swap...don't be alarmed if i haven't posted pictures of your fabric. I'm only waiting on 2 now, the 2 with the mail issues...

I just haven't posted pics because we decided to move last week and we're moving next week! We've been 'a little' busy. I'll post when I mail them out. (hopefully Tues)

Jenn

3 more in

These ones in from Kell. (right? sorry, since I don't know most of the i-spy swappers, I'm not 100% sure on names 100% of the time) Anyway, I really like the hot air ballon one. Great colors and tons of summer fun!

These ones from Alicia. I like the ball one and the cowboy. Why am I drawn to boy fabric now that I finally have a girl??
These from Heather K. I think the school one is great. It totally reminds me of those notebooks with the black and white cover. Of course now I'm pretty sure you can get those in just about any color.
Only a couple more to come in and then everyone will be getting their fabric back!

Anna in the spring

I must say I love Anna Maria Horner's stuff. It is so unique and generally cheerful. I've been working on this dress for the last 8-9 months...FINALLY finished it, just in time for spring.

Cinderella and 3 more

A few months ago I made the a costume for Kay. She was going to be in Cinderella as the fairy godmother. She invited us to go see the play last Saturday. It was wonderful. We took the boys, that was their first play ever. I think they enjoyed it. It was very satisfying to see my work on stage. I must say, she looked great! (if' you're wondering, it's the salmon one)

These are from a friend of mine, Audre. I'm so glad she could join the swap since she's been collecting I-spy fabrics for about a year on her own to do an I-spy quilt. Now she can have so many fabrics so much faster (and cheaper!). I really like the raccoon fabric. It looks like the raccoon is about to jump out of the fabric.

I opened my mailbox and saw 2 packages. Oh how I have been loving getting the mail. These are from Katie. She also threw in 20 random squares from her scrap pile. So everyone will be getting a bonus surprise. When looking through the 'scrap' pile, I wished I could have them all. They are SO cute. No one will be disappointed I'm sure.

I love the blueberry one. It looks very real.

These all the way from Canada. Deanna sent these. It's a bit hard to see detail with the picture, but the car one on the top right is my favorite. Love the colors and the images are so cute.

Quite possibly my favorite

Amanda K. sent these in and I think I have found my very favorite of all. The spider.

Do I like real life spiders? No. I actually have a little fear of them. One time I swear a spider was trying to corner me in my living room. No joke. I had a face off with it and it lifted it's little pincers in a complete war stance. Thankfully, Erick killed that one for me when he came home from work.

So, no, I don't like spiders, but I guess it's just the mom of boys in me coming out. Or maybe it's the fact that fabric (sewing) is typically such a domestic, girly, sort of thing and yet there is a SPIDER on fabric. Ironic don't you think?

I-spy fabric

I looked in my mailbox today and got DOUBLE packages. I was really excited. I mean, I'm excited every time I open my mailbox these days, but two in one day?! Double excited!

These are from Clancy. I must have been hungry, or maybe it's because I was tempted to buy 10 zillion of these at costco the other day, but don't those little sheep remind you of the monther's cookies with the sprinkles on them? I love those. And, that fabric is so adorable. I think my favorite (fabric that is, because nothing can beat those lard bars as my dad always calls them) is the scooter. I have never seen anything like it. It's so unique and fun.

These are from Kelli. I didn't realize this until I got her package, but Kelli and I are friends from high school. We used to swim together on the team. That was a fun discovery to me. I don't know why it took me so long to figure that one out. Anyway, I was immediately EXCITED about the little black and white crowns, loved that one. The other one that was just cool, is the scissors. I really like bright colors so maybe that's the reason I'm drawn to that one.

More Fabric

These are from Karrie. When I opened up the envelop, the first one that struck me was the pigs. I love it. Then when I was looking at them more closely, I fell in love with the cowboy print.

My little guy turned 3 today. It seems like he's been 3 forever. He's growing up too fast! We had a simple little family party tonight. And he opened a couple of little gifts.

This is how I feel when I look in my mailbox and find fabric...

Here's some fabric from Jenn T. She was SUPER nice and cut 13 fabics. Talk about BONUS! My favorite out of these is the pears. The umbrellas are a close second though. I'm getting more and more excited every time I see fabric coming in.

More fabric

I-spy fabric swap is full.

And, I got some more fabric today.

I love opening my mailbox lately.

Here's fabric from Sarah. My favorites are the chairs and the little outfits. I LOVE the outfits.

First fabrics are IN!

The first few fabrics have come and I'm so excited!

These are from someone who wishes to stay un-named (I'll explain more about that in about a week) My personal favorite is the zebra.

These are mine. I love the little city with streets. The ghosts glow in the dark!
These are from Kristen in Alaska. My favorite is the money one.

I-SPY SWAP

to join an I-spy swap

This is now full and closed.

Who: anyone who wants to participate and can cut 4x4 squares. There's only room for 6 more people

What: an i-spy swap is easy! All you have to do is choose 10 different i-spy fabrics and cut 20 4x4 squares out of each fabric. Basically, you'll be cutting 200 squares out of 10 fabrics. Fat quarters work great.

I-spy fabrics are generally novelty cotton prints that are FUN for kids to look at. (no flannel)

You'll send all those fabrics to Jenn with a SASE to get your 200 fabrics back.

When: Send all fabrics in by March 26th get fabrics back by April 3rd. If you're from over seas, send your fabrics in a few days before March 26th.

Here's some fun ideas for i-spy quilts

source

Connie at Green Apple Orchard

A few more details as written by Connie:


1. Cut 20 4" squares out of each of 10 different novelty print fabrics (quilting quality cotton wovens - no flannel). A 1/4-yard cut or fat quarter will get you 20 4" squares, so you will be purchasing a total of about 2 1/2 yards of fabric. This is NOTHING when you consider all of the fabrics you will be getting back.

2. In order to avoid duplicates, everyone will need to search out unusual or obscure prints. Look for things that aren't available at chain stores like Walmart, Joann's or Hobby Lobby. Pick fun prints that you love!

3. Remember that we are looking for fabric with objects on it, not printy-prints. (A fabric with FLOWERS on it is very different from a FLORAL PRINT.)

4. No "licensed" prints: No Disney, Spongebob, Dora, John Deere, L.A. Lakers, etc.

5. Remember seam allowances! Be sure you can tell what you are looking at within a 3 1/2" x 3 1/2" square. Nobody wants only half of an object in their square -- cut them well! (Depending on your fabric choice, you may need to buy more than 1/4 yard in order to get an object into each cut square.)

misc doings

Here are a few miscellaneous things I've made in the last few months and weeks.

These are oven mitts. I love them! These are a great and easy gift idea!

In the fall we did quite a bit of camping with the boys. I made them matching camping pillowcase. They adore them and will hardly let me take them off their pillows long enough to wash them. I LOVE making these pillowcases. They whip up so fast and they turn out so professional!

A beautiful patchwork stocking. This was a lot of fun to make and a great use of scraps.

For Mandi aka Sister G.

I made Mandi a green wrap shirt. This color is perfect for her bright and happy personality.

I also made her this simple black skirt with pockets. It is just below the knee and has a slight a-line. She is currently on a mission for The Church of Christ of Latter-day Saints. This is a classic piece for any missionary wardrobe! I hope she likes them!

Chair Reupholstery

Back in the summer, I was contacted to reupholster this chair. I personally like the green.

Maybe it was a bit worn out and a bit abused and old, but I liked the retro green.

Anyway, my client wanted it reupholstered and had a red gingham fabric chosen for it. All in all it turned out really well. My client was very happy with the way it turned out and was excited to add it to her living room set!

Here's a little Before

...and After

The J.J. Handbag

I recently designed and made this darling clutch for a class that I taught. I love how it turned out.

It's just the right size for the essentials: keys, lipstick, money. Being a mom, I usually have a HUGE bag full of diapers, wipes, bottles, snacks, change of clothes, emergency bribes....I'm sure you can relate. But when I go out on a date with my husband or just go somewhere by myself. I really don't want a huge, messy, bag on my shoulder. This bag is perfect.

and it's reversible.

My friend Jan, over at Bumbletees kindly named this bag for me. The J.J. Handbag. I'm now officially a handbag designer.
I'm almost thinking of making a tutorial for it.

Halloween Lanterns

I made these yesterday at a halloween craft party. They were really easy and really cheap to make. All you do is find empty glass jars around your house, mod podge tissue paper onto them and then cut out these already made faces and mod podge those on too. Stick a tea light inside and you're done.

2 posts, 1 week, what the?!

It's not that I haven't been sewing while on my 'vacation' from this blog, it's just that I don't usually take pictures, don't usually feel like posting about it, and don't usually have time. I had a client a couple months ago want this cute poncho/cape thing. Maybe if I had girls I would know what to call it?
Everett was a star model, although he kept saying, 'mama, this is for goils'. I'd say, I know, we just need some pictures, he did great!
It was reversible with hood.

Perfect fit for 2T.

I love the HUGE covered buttons.

something to blog about

Hello everyone! No, I'm not 'back' from vacation, rather, here's something I did today that I've been wanting to do for a very long time!

I made Halloween pillowcases for my boys! Everett was so excited to have the spider pillowcase.

Happy Halloween season!