i have to say...

no post monday

Well, I suppose this is a post, but not a regular one.  No time to download pictures and all that's required for a post.  Will be back tomorrow with a fun little tutorial!

I forgot to mention in my Saturday Shop Notes post that Ruby pre-cuts are lining my shop shelves once again.  The last time I had some of these they sold very quickly, so I wanted to make sure that I mentioned it.

Have a lovely Monday!

shop notes: new patterns

There are two new apron patterns in my shop and they are simply too cute!  I have made the Pretty Ditty apron (pictures coming soon!) and the Cupcake apron is on my list.  Christmas gifts perhaps?

Have a great weekend!

my best bits

Today I am sharing my best bits:  those pieces of fabric that I won't cut into or can't use because I love them SO MUCH and want to keep them intact.

I have a couple of Robert Kaufman kitchen prints that have been sitting on the top of the stash pile for a long time.  The apples and the mixers are my favorite kitchen-y fabrics, and although they have made their way into a couple of projects, I think these ones are with me for the long haul.  Using them in a project and not having it turn out amazing would be unacceptable.  Seriously, that would not be OK!

The Heather Ross Lightning Bug bikes was one of the first prints I ever bought from an online shop.  Once I discovered craft blogs and online fabric stores, I was hooked!  That's probably obvious since I have my very own shop now.  After buying this fabric I went into my local fabric shop to ask if she had any Heather Ross fabrics, and the owner had no I idea what I who talking about.  This was around the time Flea Market Fancy came out, and she had never heard of that line either.  That seemed amazing to me!

The rose print was a piece I bought at Joann's to make an apron for my handmade shop.  The apron sold immediately and I was left with a 5" X 23" piece, so I went back to Joann's only to find it had sold out.  Believe it or not I still look for it when I am there, even though I know it's pretty much impossible to find it there again.  A girl can dream, right?

Those are my best bits.  My absolute favorite bit is this one:

I love everything about it!  If only I had bought enough for kitchen curtains!  Wouldn't that be adorable?

What about you?  Do you stash fabric (or anything else) because you love it so much and can't part with it?

Thanks to Mary @ Molly Flanders and Suz @ Patchwork And Play for hosting "My Best Bits"!

links to share

***Do you like Larabars?  Did you know you can make them yourself?  Recipes here.

***Be sure to check out Jeni's Project Monochrome.  She is always so inspiring with color!

***I love this photographer's photos!  It's all about levitation!

***The Long Thread has a great lunchbag tutorial.  So cute!

***These washi-tape boxes are just adorable.  So cute for storage or for gift boxes!

Have a lovely day!

quilts for two little boys

I love bindings! 

Especially polka dot bindings!  

I made these two super-simple quilts for two upcoming babies.  Really, you can't get simpler than colorful squares:

I used Sarah Jane's Children at Play collection.  When this line arrived I cut myself a fat quarter set immediately so that I wouldn't end up selling it all before I added some to my own stash.

Boy, am I glad I did!  This line had legs and pretty much ran out of my shop!

Warning: blurry photos ahead!

This is my favorite set of colors.  Those aqua paper hats are just perfect:

Here I love the pinwheels.  And the polkas.  And the yellow paper hats:

These are both now ready to be packaged and mailed to their newborn owners  I hope they get lots of snuggly time in these little quilts!

What about you?  Are you working on anything crafty?

 

one quilt top ready to go

I finished my quilt top surprisingly fast and that makes me happy!

There was a lot of arranging that went on in the layout, as well as quite a few piles to be sewn, so when I finished in good time, I smiled.

As you can probably see, I do not cut threads as I sew.  In fact, you can count on me to have a giant pile of thread at the time I get the quilt ready to be sandwiched.  Procrastination is in my genes, I think.

This quilt top features Sandi Henderson's beautiful Secret Garden line as well as some Kona Solids.  The cutting was done with an Accuquilt Go! Baby, and I must say that I am hooked.  Perfect squares are a dream to sew with.

One question: any suggestions on what color thread to quilt this with?  Normally I use white or natural, but I don't think those colors will work here.  Any tips appreciated!

Happy sewing!

a bit of free time

Some free time came my way so I was able to lay out my quilt. Let me say that this one took a while to  reach a look that I like.  Putting together the plus signs was a little confusing and I kept finding that I needed to move things in order to make it work.

I will say, now that it's laid out and partially sewn, this one is loaded with color.  Hopefully not too much!

As soon as this one is together, I will post a picture.

Happy sewing!

a new project for my girl

My oldest daughter just started vet school and she moved into a new house, which, of course, means that she needs a new quilt.  I had initially planned on sewing up a t-shirt quilt for her and her hubs, but something pretty for their new place seemed the way to go.

I used my new toy to cut these squares: an Accuquilt Go! Baby Cutter.  It made the cutting process quick and simple, and I love that!

Hopefully I can post some progress before the end of the week, but a friend and I are teaching a sewing class tomorrow night, so it may be next week before I can realistically get to the sewing machine.

We will see!

***Sandi Henderson's Secret Garden and Kona Solids are the fabrics that I used.

the last weekend...

...before our lives get serious again. 

It was great!

My hubs and I got to spend a little time alone, seeing an Alison Krauss concert at Red Rocks and just generally messing around for a couple of days.  It was much needed time together!

We also went to a Hot Air Balloon Festival in Colorado Springs.  This event is the only time of the year that I am actually functioning and dressed at 5:30 in the morning.  The event started at 7:00 AM so it has to be that way.  Lots of coffee got me through.

We could only talk one of our kids into going with us.  Apparently my kids get the distaste of all things "early-morning" from me.
Hot-air balloon events are so full of fun color and pattern. 

It's really amazing to me that people actually get into these contraptions.  There is no motor or steering wheel, just wind and hot-air to guide the balloonists where they want to go.  The baskets are so tiny and it just freaks me out to think of being up in the air in one.

We completely enjoyed the weekend and then spent Monday cleaning and just generally getting ready for school to start this week.  My boys will be attending a Classical Christian School for some of their classes while doing some at home, and Aubry will be doing homeschool with me. 

I am ready for a routine again.  All of our summer free-time seemed to be losing it's charm lately and the thought of having time slots for things is relieving.  It's funny how we change with the seasons, isn't it?

Have a lovely Tuesday!

Be sure to check out Faith's blog on Monday when she posts her first installment of Mini-Quilt Mondays.  She will be posting each Monday and having space for everyone to post their own links too.  This should be inspiring and fun!

Have a great day!