Tag Sale

Let the de-stashing begin!

As we got ready to move I went through my 'stuff' and decided it was time to let some things go.

I have a ton of pre-cut squares accumulated for different projects. It's all high-quality Moda and other quilting fabrics. It's just that my project list has grown so deep, I decided to pass along some of the projects to others. I grouped the squares in groups of 175-300 squares either by collection or by color. That's enough for a throw-size quilt or a couple of baby quilts.

I also found five kits to make this flag quilt that I'd assembled for a boutique a couple of years ago.

It's a fun, quick project and can be laid-out vertically (as seen) or horizontally.

Also included: my remnants to make this pink cowgirl quilt.

I made this one for American Quilting last year and had all the fabric to make one for myself. (A lot of the blocks are even pieced already!) But I don't need another girl quilt at the moment, so I'm willing to pass this on to someone else!

I drastically reduced or eliminated the secondary shipping costs, so if you buy more than one thing, the shipping doesn't add up. Feel free to email/convo me with questions!

PS Many thanks again to Martha for making "tag sale" sound so chic. So much better than 'rumage sale.'

Are you getting in the mood?

One of my favorite parts of this time of year? Valentine's Candy.

Especially Sweets Cherry JuJu Hearts.

I have this little jar by my sewing machine for when the craving hits.

I'm waiting to see how long before my kids figure out the latch. :)

A few more things to get you in the Valentine's Day mood:

(only a couple of weeks away after all)

Some recent Lecien purchases from Fat Quarter Shop.

(I'm trying to put together more I-spy collections, pronto.)

This little pile from AQ.

The cherries and dots are Mini Muu and cute plaid is by Marcus Brothers

And this little vintage inspired beauty is now in the shop!

This quilt is made of over 75 different fabrics to make it scrappy

and with lots of reproduction prints and chenille to give it a vintage feel.

The back is an old-fashioned toile with children.

There are also kits to make your own.

But there are only 3 and that's it.

I'm almost done getting ready for my
De-stash Etsy tag sale this weekend.
Watch for listings starting Saturday!

Have fun 'getting' in the mood at your house!

I'm a Happy Camper

Finally the Happy Camper quilt is finished!
Uh, I think I started this one back in October.

This one is not for me again.
Another one for American Quilting - the shop where I work.
Now I need to finish cutting kits.
Then I'm going to get caught up on some of my own projects!

The back. A little random.

But those truly look like Happy Campers, don't they?
Don't you just love American Jane?
I think this is the 7th American Jane quilt I've made.
So, yes. I'm a little obsessed.
I hope she makes more vintage kids stuff again!
But until then, I've got a bit of a stash of her stuff to keep me going for a while.

Kits will hopefully be available from American Quilting next week.

(If I can get my rear in gear and finish the pattern. Rarr.)

Speaking of American Quilting, did you know they are hosting a retreat in the middle of February? There are details here. If you can't come to the whole retreat, there is space to sign-up for the individual classes. There are some seriously talented teachers this year! I'm going to take wonderful Nanette's Kettles class! I wish you could all come with me.

And, I'm going to learn how to make these purses.
Awesome.

Stuff both light and heavy

Winter. I am enjoying winter more than I usually do. I think part of it has to do with not quite as much snow to shovel this year and the joy I find in not feeling guilty about yard work this time of year. (Means more time for sewing.)
In other fun news, I got to meet Amy of amylouhou this past week. It was so much fun! She was in Utah for a couple of weeks (she lives in Virginia) and the stars aligned somehow and we were able to meet up at American Quilting for a quick visit. I was there during my son's pre-school time and she had a mother and two small kids in tow, so ours was not a lengthy visit but it was still very fun. I love the experience of meeting people in person who I kind of feel like I already know because they have a blog. So often they are real kindred spirits. Hopefully our next meet-up will be more in depth. And hopefully I'll be looking at the right camera when we take the next picture. The funny thing? By sheer coincidence my mom was also in the shop at the same time, so our moms took our pictures together (mine didn't turn out as well, so I swiped Amy's) and we had a nice little discussion of the vast number of Amy's in our generation. (On a side note - when we moved to our new neighborhood we started attending a new church congregation closer to our new house. Out of the roughly 80-90 adult women in our congregation there are 8 Amys!)
Last for now, remember the Robot quilt? All last week I meant to get it submitted to Craft Hope for Haiti and being the dork I often am, I missed the deadline for submissions. So I've listed it in my etsy shop for now and will donate 100% of the proceeds. If it hasn't sold in a week and a half I'll submit it when they start accepting donations again.

UPDATE: Mr. Roboto is sold! Many thanks again, JJ. Money officially donated tonight. The Haitian orphans thank you too.

Hasn't the response to this crisis been amazing and inspiring? It's been gut-wrenching to watch and read the coverage of what is happening there. Puts our lives in perspective doesn't it? Makes the stuff on this blog kind of stupid and shallow.

I've been thinking lately about tragedy in light of Haiti and my friend Sarah's passing, among other things. Although I've never questioned God's plan for his children, I am starting to see why he allows tragedy into our lives. It truly is the glue that draws us together. If everything were always easy, we wouldn't need each other or forge the kinds of bonds that are created in adversity. Just seeing what is happening in Haiti, I'm sure there are many who are saying, "Why would God let this happen?" when really, He is giving all of us an incredible opportunity to reach out to others and through that process, feel more of his love. It's quite amazing.

I've been amazed by how my children are concerned by what is happening in Haiti. What an opportunity to teach them about sacrificing for someone in need. I need to run with this. I would love to find something concrete they can do themselves. If anyone knows of anything I would love to hear it. Other than that, emptying piggy-banks is not a bad option either!

International House of Fabrics

Check out this pile. I'm in love.
After seeing the apron I made for Christmas,
my mom dug out the other long-forgotten Danish fabric.
And now we're both plotting what to do with it.

These two at the top are my favorites. They're so Cath.

I still want to make an homage to Cath quilt and all of these would be perfect.

Or they would look great in Union Jacks! Decisions, decisions.

I also love this nubby red gingham and the turquoise, red, and green plaid.

We are trying to figure out who in the world made these beauties. In 2001 my sister's husband was playing American football in Germany so my mom decided it would be a good time to visit Europe. As I mentioned she found these fabrics at some little fabric place in Denmark. There is no printed selvage edge or any kind of label. So they are a mystery. But they are right up my alley, eight and a half years later.

And while we're on the subject of fabric, here are a few recent additions from Japan. I am doing a custom quilt for a friend who lived in France this past summer, and where else to find adorable French-themed fabric, than Japan. Of course!

And these elephants. Just because I liked them.

Two years ago my husband had a business trip to Tokyo. It was his first (and only) time ever going to Asia and we thought it was pretty cool. He kindly asked me if there was anything I'd like him to bring back for me, and thinking only of the food and the fact that sushi rolls don't really travel well on an airplane I said, "nothing."

D'OH!

It was a month or so after he returned that I discovered Japanese prints and patterns and all the other sewing lovlies that come from there. I could have had him just fill his suitcase with all kinds of goodies. (Besides the plastic ninja swords he brought home.) The thought still makes me cringe sometimes. Especially when I pay those shipping fees.

So there you have it.

A post about fabric.
I promise I don't talk to everyone I meet about the wonders of fabric.
I'm not as obsessed as I sound on this blog sometimes.
But you people get me. So thanks for listening.

Perhaps the easiest burp-cloth tutorial ever.

This is so easy it's going to knock your socks off.

Buy cloth diapers. I found these at Target.
I always wash and dry them before I start sewing to pre-shrink.

Then measure the space that you are going to want covered by fabric.

I think I chose to make my cover 4" x 17".Now you will need a really high-tech tool called a cereal box.
Cut your rectangular template to your desired size.

Find a cute piece of fabric slightly larger than your template.

Cut it down to about 3/4" bigger on every side.

Put the template shiny side up on the back side of your fabric.
Spray a little starch all around the edges.

Press all sides down over the edge of the template.

I love this method because I don't have to use that little slidy-sewing ruler.

Much, much faster and with a nice crisp edge.

Carefully tuck the edges in slightly on the ends, so they won't stick out when you sew them down.

Remove the template and save it. I've used mine over and over.
Pin the fabric right side up to the cloth diaper.

Carefully sew down the outside edges.

If you want to embellish a little, now's your chance.

(You could also tuck ric-rac or something under before you sew down your fabric.)
I like using grosgrain ribbon because it only requires strait lines and has a nice finished look.

Tuck the raw edges under and pin in place.

Sew all edges down, just like the fabric.

And that's it! You're done!

Now you can make dozens of them and impress all your friends
at baby showers with your amazing domestic skills!

And remember, don't stress too much about perfection.
Their main purpose after all is to clean-up curdled baby barf.
But that baby's mother will thank you for giving her such a
stylish accessory to protect her formerly spotless clothes.

You could also make a coordinating diaper clutch.
Wouldn't that be fancy?

A recent finish

The store where I work was running low on baby boy quilts.

So I jumped at the chance to reunite with my old buddy David Walker
(of Robots fame) and make something using some of his "Oh Boy!" collection.
I decided to go with something quick that would show-off individual prints
so I made a quick disappearing 9-patch. Love that pattern.

We also threw in some spaceships and robots just for old time's sake.

The back.

I need to take this into American Quilting this week.
The kits will be available through them by next week.

A lovely holiday weekend (Martin Luther King/Civil Rights Day) here in the States. Today I spent the day finishing unpacking our craft room. Yes! I was so sick of boxes a while back and so ready to start sewing again after the move, that I made the space functional, but still had about 4 boxes (mostly of kid's art supplies) left to go through. Today I finally did it. No more boxes!! Close to organization!! Maybe even close to photo worthy soon! :) Also, I've been sucked into the book, The Hunger Games. It was close to a miracle that I forced myself to put the book down and get some work done.

New I-spy Charm Packs available

Finally, new vintage-inspired, I-spy Charm Packs are available here!
There are pictures of the original I-spy quilt here and here.

I no longer have the quilt or the borders and back I used for the original quilt so I stopped making quilt kits.
I'm toying with the idea of a new incarnation, but that's as far as I've gone.Yesterday I discovered I couldn't find my keys right as I was supposed to take the morning car-pool to school. So I had to swallow all pride and call my neighbor at the literal last second to drive. All other excursions were put on hold as I scoured the house for my keys. After a couple of hours of looking (and cleaning - which was a nice by product) I realized I was home-bound for the day. So I finally tackled some of my etsy projects. This one was almost ready to go, but it felt good to get it done and pictures taken. I am also planning a destash Tag Sale at the end of the month, so keep your eyes peeled for some screaming deals. Also some other new listings this month!

And in other good news, my husband found my keys in the pocket of the apron I wore the night before when I made dinner. I am generally in the habit of never putting my keys in an apron pocket, but there they were! And my husband is generally not in the habit of wearing aprons at dinner, but last night he did. Whew!

More baby gifts and other winter fun

A few recent baby gifts.

I've been on a burp-cloth making kick lately.

A good scrap buster and a cute gift.

Next week I'll share my favorite quick method for making these handy gifts.
Also included with this one is a handmade taggie-like blanket backed with minkie.
I won't be sharing how I made that because I don't want the creators to sue me.
(But they're super easy.)

This set included a nursing cover.

Also a quick, handy gift for a new mom.

(But I'm always a little worried about giving
it unless I'm sure they're nursing.

I don't want anyone to think I'm a lactivist.
But me, I was a nurser so I love those things.)

And just in case you were in the mood for some winter scenery,

here are a couple of shots from a recent venture up the
near-by canyon that was last seen in it's fall splendor here.

We got in a little sledding, a little snow-ball throwing, and a lot of good, clean air. And fun.

Many thanks again for your kind words and thoughts on the Ireland quilt and it's recipients.
You are all so kind.