I'm still here! Summer news

So many things going on this summer! It's time to move again and well be in our new home in less than a month! They sent me this photo of my kitchen in progress and I was dying with excitement! Counters go in today!

Five years ago this month I turned this blog into a sewing blog! This quilt was one of the first things I stumbled across in the budding sewing blogosphere. So it's only taken me 5 years to finish it but I'm hoping to have it done soon!

 

Let's be honest, I haven't been a very present blogger this last year. But with the start of a new school year with two kids in school I'm wondering if I might just be able to be more regular about it. I hope so!!

Until then, I'm going to be a little absent while I pack up my fabric house and get settled. Not that it would be different from the rest of the year!

See you soon!

sew & tell v3.16 - ruffles make everything better

Hey there! I realized that I finished this project up during the holidays and never posted pictures.  I made myself a new bag.

I'm not going to lie, I'm a little tired of this bag pattern.  As much as I love it, I think I've made so many of them that I'm a little burnt out.  Plus, I had bought this lovely Secret Garden (Sandi Henderson) in Utah in October to make it with.  I've had ideas about embellishing my signature bag with some ruffles, but wasn't sure what I wanted to do exactly.  And the reality is, the bag is super functional, and I love that about it.

Then one Sunday my cute friend had a leather bag with a two toned double ruffle across the front.  I had found it! I took a picture on my iPod and figure out what to do to make it work.

 I really love the way it turned out, I might do a few things different the next time, like gather it a little less, it was hard to sew on without a walking foot.

I love this fabric! It's Sandi Henderson's Secret Garden.  The interior and contrasting ruffle and strap is one of my new favorite tone on tone prints - Garden Gate (I think).  It reminds me a bit of Henna Garden, another favorite.

It's has a great drape and I bought enough to make some dresses/skirts for sister and babylouwho. I may have just bought some more this past week in different prints.




Your turn to share!  Show us what you've got finished!
Linky Rules.  Please follow along for a fun party!

1. Please write the post for sew & tell - or add a blurb mentioning sew & tell to a post written since the last sew & tell.  If you are linking to a post with your own tutorial, please make sure it was a finish from this week and that the completed project is shown first.

2. One linky per person. (please put multiple projects in one post.)

3. Link to your specific post.  (See here for permalink instructions - or email me.)

4. Link back here with a link or a button (HTML on my sidebar).

5. Be sure to visit and leave comments on other's posts!

Please put your (blog)name instead of your project name, it helps us get to know each other better!

sew & tell v3.13 - giant vintage star

Welcome back everyone!  I hope everyone had a joyful, restful and happy holidays!


I wanted to share with you a quilt I made for my sister-in-law for Christmas.  I decided that I really wanted to sew something for her and asked my Tweeps (twitter friends) if anyone knew of a quick easy quilt I could put together in time for Christmas.  Jeni at In Color Order suggested her lovely Vintage Star Quilt Tutorial.  It was a match made in heaven for the fabrics I had in mind.

I had the 4 Amy Butler prints (Daisy Chain) for quite some time, but alone, they just weren't doing much for me.  Which may be why I had never used them!  When paired with some AB Lotus Full Moon Dots in Lime, and 3 Sandi Henderson prints (Henna Garden in Chocolate and Leaf and Garden Gate in Fuschia), I was in LOVE.  Seriously.

I was worried that the Kona snow I was using for the background would be too stark, but I actually really like it.

And I think the quilting on those sections really pop.  I love a nice wrinkled fresh from the dryer quilt!

The back is a Robert Kaufman Pimatex Basics.  I was able to pick it up at my local Hancock Fabrics.  Even though they had already closed, I was able to sweet talk my way in to make the quick transaction.

I machine quilted on the binding.  I had never tried this before, but I was kind of in crunch time mode.  Jeni also has an awesome tutorial for machine binding.  It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be, and I wouldn't have finished the quilt in time otherwise!  I still enjoy hand stitching the binding, but in a time crunch, I'm totally not going to shy away from this.

This quilt was a first for me in another way.  Started and finished within 3 weeks.  It's a Christmas miracle!!  I'm pretty sure she liked it! Which always makes me happy!

Did you do any gift sewing? What have you got to share with us today?  Can't wait to see what you all have been up to!

Linky Rules.  Please follow along for a fun party!

1. Please write the post for sew & tell - or add a blurb mentioning sew & tell to a post written since the last sew & tell.  If you are linking to a post with your own tutorial, please make sure it was a finish from this week and that the completed project is shown first.

2. One linky per person. (please put multiple projects in one post.)

3. Link to your specific post.  (See here for permalink instructions - or email me.)

4. Link back here with a link or a button (HTML on my sidebar).

5. Be sure to visit and leave comments on other's posts!

Please put your (blog)name instead of your project name, it helps us get to know each other better!

{amylouwho} thankful for fabric

I've wanted to share some gratuitous fabric shots with you so I thought I would do some thankful posts this week.  I really am thankful for fabric and all the possibilities it holds!

Here's some pretties I picked up while in Utah at The Sewing Summit.

I don't get to shop much at shops that have fat quarters, so it was nice to walk through Pine Needles and pick out a stack of fabrics based solely on color! I've been really into orange with aqua lately.  Glad I'm not the only one!

I almost died when I saw Sandi Henderson's Secret Garden fabrics in person at The Material Girls Quilts too.  The fabric itself is SO soft and I couldn't pass up this navy with the bright pinks and greens.

I've finished a project with it this past week that I want to share with you. Soon.  I have enough fabric left over to make something matchy matchy for my girls. (oh and yes, that is some henna in leaf. couldn't resist.)

I got this cute stack from the SLC Modern Quilt Guild dinner, Fox Trails by Shari Butler of Doohikey Designs.

And yes, foxes are the new owls I hear, so I'm glad I'm up to speed on the trend. :) I think the racoons are pretty cute too!

And then cute Leigh from LeedleDeedle Quilts, shared her awesome stack of Fandango that she won from Nadine during the shop hop!

I've wanted some of this for a long time.  Now I just have to decide what to do with it!

What are you thankful for today?

teacher gifts

I whipped these dishmats up the night before the last day of school.  I love a quick, easy and unique teacher gift. In another life when I taught school, the handmade heartfelt gifts were always my favorite.  I hoped my daughters PreK teachers would feel the same way. 

I reeeeeeeeeeaally wish I'd ordered some more of this Meadowsweet 2.  Sandi Henderson, if you ever read this, I love you for making such amazing fabric.

And thanks again Kim for the amazing chenille.    If fabric addiction were illegal we'd both be in jail. Kim is my 'supplier'.

This time I put some cotton batting in the middle to give it some heft and absorbency.  Then a little stippling and a super easy rustic serged edge.

And you don't really need any wrapping paper for presentation.

fake it til you make it + pretty fabric +wip

I've been feeling a bit of a slump in my blogging.  So I decided I would do some easy fun posts to get me back in the groove.  It *might* be working.

Should I start with some gratuitous fabric shots?

I bought my ball gown fabric from Fabric.com. I needed to spend a couple dollars more to get free shipping. I ended up with 3 yards of the Henna Garden that I love so much. I might need to get more of the green.  I think these would make adorable dresses.

I also finally caved and bought some of Bonnie and Camille's Bliss. I had been eyeing it for a while and wanting to get on the red and aqua bandwagon.  It was Mary's mug rugs that convinced me. This was an add-on to another order to optimize my shipping costs.

Because these had finally come in!!

Thanks to Kathy at Pink Chalk Fabrics for emailing when she got them back in stock! I ordered it the same day. And due to my partially brain dead state, I accidentally had the order sent to my old address in Virginia. Luckily the post office came through and got it forwarded to the right place. TEN DAYS LATER. But at least it didn't get lost. Thank you Kathy for shipping it with delivery confirmation!

So I cut out and put together the main bodice of my dress. AND, the scary part, I tried it on. I think taking a smaller seam allowance is going to be the only size alteration I need to make - which is quite a relief! This nursing body of mine is not quite what I'm used to.

It doesn't look spectacular on the hanger, but today I'm going to add the ruffle and maybe even the sleeves! and then we'll see. I might also make it just a tad bit longer. I like to make my short-waisted self appear longer.

And just to keep it real, I cleaned off my sewing table and it still looks like this.

That black fabric in the bag is the fabric for my dress. I hope I won't look like I'm going to a funeral.  Especially since it's a BIRTHDAY ball!  Happy 235th United States Marine Corps!  Semper Fi!

i'm dying over this!

I love Sandi Henderson! It's true.  She may be #2 after Amy Butler.  (Their colorways often coordinate, did you know that?).  I like her Meadowsweet line, but couldn't get totally behind it.  AND THEN. And then she came out with Meadowsweet 2.  You might see why it's my new favorite!

 image via jaybird

See those blues and greens and pinks and yellows!! oh so lovely!!  The problem is, I don't need it.  I really don't.  And I have no time to sew with it because of all the other lovely projects I have in the queue.  But if I WON it, now, that would be okay, right?  You can enter to win a fat quarter bundle too at Jaybird Quilts.  But don't enter unless you REALLY want it.  Cause I really want to win.  :)  But you should check out her blog, if you don't already know about it.  She's cool!

Oh and do you love Tula Pink like I do?  I just saw these on her blog!

image via Tula Pink

AND YOU CAN BUY THEM!! Starting a fund right now.

Do any of you have any motivation techniques to get you going again?  I haven't sewn on my machine since the move.  I have lots of projects just waiting to get going, but I can't seem to make myself start cutting.  I hate those first cuts.  I don't like the pinning and measuring for fear of making a mistake.  Oh the agony!  I need help.

sew & tell - another bag!

Do you ever have those weeks where you feel like your schedule is barreling down on you like a tailgating semi?  Well, that's what I've felt like recently!  I actually finished this bag Monday morning - I was on a roll after my bag finish from last week.  Unfortunately, I haven't gotten anything sewn that I meant to the rest of this week.  And I have several blog posts I wanted to share, but are still in my head....

I spent most of my week planning a big activity for the teenagers at church to have a gingerbread house building contest.  I spent most of my time tracking down candy and making royal icing.  It turned out to be really fun, for which I am glad, but I spent all day Thursday recuperating.  And I haven't been through my blog reader practically all week!

This bag is for my SIL who just had her third baby and 1st girl.  She picked this fabric out when she was here last spring, and I finally got it finished!  Now, to get it in the mail.  Always a challenge!

dang it! something just happened and this got published before I finished writing it! Anyway.....

This is the dahlia print from Sandi Henderson's Farmer's Market line.  I just love it!

Medallion bloom on the inside - One of my all-time favorite prints.  It's so cute in orange.  I've started using grosgrain ribbon for the key hooks.  Not only is it faster, it feels a little sturdier and is fun to find matching colors or polka dots!

*****
For the time being, I think we will keep Sew & Tell on Fridays.  It was kind of split, and the button says Friday right on it, so we'll just leave it alone for now.  Thanks for your enthusiasm for this weekly get together!  I really enjoy it as well.

Your turn to share your finishes from this week!!
Please follow these guidelines (links will be deleted otherwise)
1. Link to your specific post (email me if you have questions about that.)
2. Please mention us here and link back to this post so everyone can join in.
3. Pat each other on the backs in the comments!