Done!

I finally finished up the commission project from my etsy shop for the quad handprint pillow covers.  FOUR OF THEM!!  I even got brave and added a hidden zipper closure to each!!  Found a great tutorial on Sew Mama Sew's blog.  It was alot easier than I thought it would be and they turned out so beautiful. It's zipper closures for all of my pillows from now on!!!

And now they are on their way to Illinois to be enjoyed.

Hope everyone is getting all their handmade gifts ready for the holiday season.  I for one am way behind!  We had alot of drama in our household last week - Total of 3 dr appts, one of which was an allergist for Miss Em.  Then on Thursday Emma sprained her ankle in gym class and my mom went into the hospital because of a blot clot in her leg and lung.  All at the same time on the same day!!  It's been trying but we are starting to see an upside!  Emma's finally getting the hang of walking on crutches and Mom is home resting.  Needless to say, I'm a bit worn out!

So it was good to get these pillow covers finished so that I can move onto the next commission project.

Take care!

Jenn

Almost not enough room!

Laid this quilt out over the weekend....had to move to the livingroom to make sure I got all the pieces where they needed to be.  Took 3 hours just to lay it out and then get it all stacked and pinned back up for assembly.

So far as of Tuesday night, I've got 5 - 4 row units sewn together and pressed.  MIGHT get to sew them all together for a total of 20 rows tonight, but with it being Halloween, that might not happen.  We'll see.

I'll leave you with another parting Halloween picture........Peter Pan by night, but Roy Rogers by day!

Happy Halloween Ya'll!

Jenn

All we need is a little pixie dust....

Costumes for Halloween....
One Peter Pan and Wendy, coming right up!

It was a VERY productive weekend

Just as the title says.......it was a VERY production weekend.  It rained ALL.DAY.SATURDAY.  It was heaven!

Getting back in the GAME

I'm sure you can all agree with me that sometimes you just have to stop, totally reorganize and start the whole quilting/crafting process over with.  Sometimes I get in so deep and my room gets so out of whack that I just have to stop, clean up/reorganize, and start the process over again.

So that's just what my dear mother and I did this weekend.  I'm just sorry to say I didn't take any before pics.  Seriously, I was quite ashamed.  BUT...so super proud to show you all the AFTER pics.

Ok so first we'll start off with my little "studio" where I usually sew.  It's an enclosed porch I think, so it's a very odd shape and a bit narrow, but it's nice to be able to close the doors and not have to look at it when it gets out of control.  In those cases, I tend to branch out to the dining room table!  And that is just what's been happening the past month or so and I'd just about had it!  But check it out - finally hung up my thimble case and all of my thimbles that I've been collecting for about 20 years.  The pie safe was made by my best friend's dad back when I graduated college.  I would have opened the doors to show you my fabric stash but then again, too embarrassing.....  And the new little table over the is where Miss Emma sews.

 This side of my studio is where I do all my sewing.  I love how neat and organized my table is now!  Let's see how long I can keep it that way!

 Onto my dining room.  Behind those doors is my studio.  So to keep me from overflowing to the dining room again, I took one of the leaves out of my table.  Keeping it alot smaller so as not to be tempted to junk it up. Plus it just makes for alot more room around this area.  I also got to finally showcase this cute little quilt I made from a vintage sheet pack I bought off etsy a while back.

 Now this area in the next two photos would be my mad obsession for vintage bed sheets all grouped by color!  I love them so much that it's going to be hard to cut into them.  Maybe I'll just look at them a while longer.

 Other side of the closet.  I plan on keeping all my extra fabric in here for stuff I'm not currently working on.  I'm trying really hard not to junk up my studio again.  That and the fact that I don't want my family or friends turning me over to that Hoarders show!

 Finally, here's a cute little Halloween table runner I was able to whip up for my step-mother all because my studio was back in order and a much more comfortable place to sew.

So til next time......I'm going to get back in the game and start cranking out some major quilting projects!  Wish me luck!

Jenn

Rainy Days and Mondays........

So, yes it's been since May since my last post, but not because I'm lazy or anything.  Alot of my absence is due to some life changes that couldn't be helped, and then a larger part due to this darn blogger changeover in the format that my new posts come up in.  Has anyone else had problems?  Driving me crazy.  Slowly I'm adapting.  Otherwise, I'd never post again and that's just not going to happen!  I've got too much cool stuff to show you guys.

So today was Emma's first day of 6th grade.  Man where did the time go?  Especially this Summer.  The kids and I had some great times and built some lasting memories.  But now it's time for school to start up again and get us all back into that routine.  Except this year we have an added adjustment to our routine. Emma is riding the bus!  YIKES I know!  This is the first time in her life she has had to ride the bus to and from school.  The district changed our start and end times so that I just can't manage to drop her off and still make it to work in time.  However, I am able to SEE her get on the bus then dart off on my way to work, and provided that I have already taken Malek to daycare 45 minutes before.  That gives me time to get him dropped off and back at the house to walk Emma to the bus stop just up the street. Or at least stand in the driveway and watch HER walk to the bus stop.  Man it's tough letting go.  I cried the whole way to work simply because I wasn't able to DRIVE her to school myself.  I can only imagine what I'll be like in two years when I have to take Malek to Kindergarten!?!

Here's a little of what's been keeping me busy this summer............
Little getaway to Sea World in San Antonio....

Emma celebrated her 11th birthday.....

And then I did a little sewing.............

 This will be a graduation/going to college present for the son of a very dear friend.

And these little piles turned out to be 18 novelty pillowcases for the October show.

This cute little notebook cover was made from a tutorial from Rachel on Stitched in Color.  Her directions were so super easy that I made this one in about 2 hours.  Think I'll whip up a couple more for the craft show in October that I'm participating in.  So cute!

So I guess that's about it for now.........School's back in session, we've got a new routine at home and there's plenty more sewing to be done for the October Craft Show!


p.s....and did I mention??  It was POURING down rain this morning when I put her on the bus!  Just my luck!

Still Sewing...

What can I say, life has gotten in the way of my blogging, but luckily not kept me from sewing.  This is a quilt that a friend of mine at work commissioned me to make.  Put the last stitch in the binding at about 11:30 last night.  I really love this pattern too.  The fabric line is Going Coastal by Emily Herrick for Michael Miller.  I bought all the fabric, with the exception of the Kona charcoal, on Etsy.  It measures about 36 x 48.  That is the one thing I'm horrible about is measuring my quilts when they are finished.  I just approximate the measurements based on how big I had wanted the blocks to be from the start.  Maybe I should add that to my NY resolutions next year! Enjoy!  And have a great Memorial Day weekend!  Jenn

Countdown to Craft Fair 3/31

Looks like I'm just about ready......

Craft Fair - Here I Come

Man has it really been over a month since my last post?? I'm so sorry to have been gone for so long. Work has just been crazy lately. Really, belts are a big thing in fashion these days!!

Anyway, what has also kept me from posting is the fact that I'm going to be participating in my first Craft Fair on March 31st!!! I'm so excited and so is Emma. She's my right hand girl and partner in crime.

Here's a little sneak peak of just one of the categories of handmade goodness that I'll be selling. I've been sewing night and day getting prep'd for this thing. It's exciting and nerve-racking all at the same time!

I can't wait to get all of my stock finished so that I can show you more pictures. But til then, I'll leave you with a flyer about the show. I hope some of you locals can stop by, say Hi and see what it's all about. You should be able to click on it to view all the details. If not, just drop me a comment and I'll email you all the deets!

Back to the sewing machine.......Jenn

Little Entrepreneur

It seems that my girl is becoming quite the little businesswoman at age 10! I made her a simple little tissue holder the other day and since then, she has sold over 22 to her little friends & teachers at school! Get this...she's even charging a small fee for the tissues too! So this is starting to be a thriving business for the two of us. We're saving the $ we make to pay for a booth at a big craft show in October at one of the local high schools. She is super excited and so am I. Now I just have to get started on the stock we'll need for the show. Oh we've got some great ideas! Cross you fingers we can pull this one off! Here is a sampling of some of the ones I've made so far. We're even coming up with a little catalog of fabric pics they can choose from!

Halloween Tops Done

Ok...so I'm either a few months behind or alot of months ahead of schedule. I choose to think I'm AHEAD of the game this year! ;)

Here at the Halloween quilt tops for the kids. All ready to be sandwiched together and quilted. Had a burst of energy last night....and a good movie on (The Notebook - LOVE!!!). That always helps!

I'm also working on getting ready to quilt a top my 85 year old grandmother pieced together by hand!! I got it all pressed last night and it too will be sandwiched together soon. I've been cutting 5 inch squares for her since Thanksgiving and I think besides this top, she might have enough for another 2 tops ready to be pieced!

3 Years Ago Today....

This little dude joined our family.

And today, he's still got the biggest piece of my heart!

Happy 3rd Birthday Little Buddy!! We love you so much!!

Pillowcase Palooza!

It all started with these two little lovelies.....

This pile turned into.........

This pile, which turned into..........

THESE!!
Not sure why blogger won't keep this one turned the right direction....but you get the idea! Quite the productive weekend! I love the assembly method. Did each step to all cases involved which made the process go alot smoother. That's a total of 12 pillowcases in 2 days!! And really I cut everything all on Saturday and only assembled 2 Saturday night. Did the other 10 on Sunday! The kids are stocked for pillowcases for awhile!

Hope I stay on track - I'm loving this momentum!!

Take care - Jenn

I am alive

First off - Happy New Year 2012....and only 10 days late!

Well, I've finally decided to pull myself back up by the bootstraps and start sewing & blogging again. The pics below aren't anything real recent. Mostly Christmas presents. But I did want to share pics of my "sewing studio" that we cleaned out and rearranged a couple of weeks ago. I finally got in there last night and cleaned off the last of the junk from my sewing table. I'm all ready to get back in there and start cranking out some fabulous 2012 projects! And by the looks of my ironing board, a new cover should be the first project on my list!

First up though are some pics of a couple of table runners that Miss Em did for her Nana and Grandpa & Mary for Christmas. She did the tops and I quilted them. They all loved them!! She was so proud and I was too!

Here's Nana(my awesome mom!) with her Cherry table runner.

Here is Emma's Grandpa (my dad) holding up the table runner she made for him and Mary.
This is a little lap throw that I made for Mary out of her signature color - red! I quilted it in a very simple X pattern thru each of the blocks.

Now - here's the part that I'm REAL proud of....You should have seen the disaster BEFORE! I was really too ashamed to even take pictures of that nightmare.
I moved my sewing desk to the other window and as usual, have my little tv over in the corner playing none other than my super favorite sewing movie - Little Women!

Here's a picture of the left side of the room with my GROWING stash of vintage sheets and my awesome pie safe that one of my best friend's dad made for me a long time ago. And don't you know it's STUFFED full of fabric. It took my mom almost all day swapping out the VHS movies from there and putting them into the little white dresser below and taking that fabric and much more from various nooks and crannies and filling that cabinet. The drawers in that dresser were really too shallow for the amount of fabric I hoard, I mean have! But they fit VHS tapes just perfectly!

And last but not least...here is, what else, MORE FABRIC!

But at least everything has a place and so now I'm ready to start sewing again! I have vowed to work on Christmas projects throughout the year instead of waiting til December 24th again! First I'll start with a project list.....more to come!