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I know there was a time when I didn't tear my fabric stash apart looking for the perfect print to match the icing on a cupcake I didn't make.
Or dig through my china cupboard looking for my favorite tea set (Laura Ashley "Hazelbury") I never use. And then make tea that will be too cold and gross to actually drink by the time I finish taking pictures.
Or polish my favorite heirloom teaspoon for the first time in over a decade.
Or find my really pretty lace hankerchief to prop as a napkin ...
... 'cause we all know how TOTALLY PRACTICAL that is.
Nope. Can't remember. :)
Thank you so much for keeping me company. I always appreciate it when you visit. I love it when you take the time to comment. And I'm grateful when you let me know that my little blog makes you happy.
Amy and I had so much fun with the Holiday Tag-a-Long we did at Christmas we decided to do it again ... for Valentine's Day!
Here's the first one.
I need to thank Amy for cluing me in to the whole scalloped scissors thing. I got mine on eBay.
And the backstitch - although not my favorite - was necessary to create the delicate scrollwork. I also really like the red heart - it reminds me of enamel. I like to think Faberge would be impressed. ;)
This one was fun. I cut out a heart from freezer paper, ironed it to the fabric and just went all Colonial knotty for an hour or so with graduating shades of the same color family.
I struggled for a bit trying to come up with a good idea to finish it off and finally came up with the little bow.
I know ... predictable.
Reminds me of a friend's new pair of shoes.
And then finally this ...
It all started with a lovely print.
I got it from Shabby Fabrics a while ago, thinking it'd be great for fussy cutting.
And believe it or not, this was my first time ever tea-dying something. I usually go for whites. But the inspiration fabric has a creamy background and my white lace was too ... white. This lace just needed to hang out for a few minutes in a mug with a bag if Irish Breakfast tea.
I hope you enjoy these little romance-inspired tags.
You can see Amy's over at nanaCompany. (Love that girl!)
The tutorial & template is always available on my sidebar. And please remember to add your tags to our Flickr Group. We'd love to see what you come up with in the spirit of Valentine's Day.
Here's a little something I've been playing around with ...
You may think this is a confusing departure from my beloved "shabby chic" style.
You get no argument from me.
But I really do love these colors and prints.
It's weird, right? I can't explain it.
All I know is that I fell in love with "Japanese Taupes" almost a decade ago. I don't use them very much. I mean, I play around with my taupe stash all the time. But for some reason I don't very often sew with them.
I think maybe I feel a little like this ...
But I also have a growing collection of Japanese quilt/craft books & magazines - which I paw through pretty much daily - and I fantasize about emulating the style I see on those pages.
I guess you could say Yoko Saito is my Alice Cooper.
... (?!) ...
LOL!
Anyhow, I started playing around with Centenary - and a few older Yoko prints from my stash - the other day after my daughter asked me to make her something very specific for school (that's the only hint I'm giving you). My imagination took her request and ran with it.
If it turns out even half as good in real life as it exists in my imagination right now I'll be very happy.
But this is always the trickiest part for me - getting an idea out of my head without totally ruining it.
It was the first quilt Lecien commissioned me to make for their Fall 2011 Quilt Market booth.
I wrote a free pattern which is available on Lecien's website (scroll to the bottom).
You will always find a permanent link near the top of my blog's right sidebar under Tutorials & Free Patterns.
Well, almost a year and a half later it finally came back home to me.
Apparently it took a detour to a few trade shows in Japan and China. I'm really proud that my quilt was used to promote one of my all-time favorite fabric collections, "Flower Sugar". (Exhibit A - my Farmer's Wife quilt ... still patiently waiting to be longarmed ... )
Anyhow, I was a total doorknob when I made it because I forgot to take pictures before I sent it off for it's tour of duty. So I thought you might like an up close and personal look now.
I designed it specifically to showcase an entire fabric line.
I think this quilt would look great done in almost ANY collection - or even scraps.
It's also super easy to make bigger or smaller by adding or subtracting a few columns and changing the length.
I even turned the design into a great tote with a small-scale version.
We're in the dead of winter these days.
The bright, happy colors in this quilt really cheer me up.
Sew Deerly Loved and Shabby Fabrics both have really good selections of Flower Sugar fabric available, if you're interested.
I had recently mastered FMQing and I remember being so happy to make good use of my new top-stitching skill ...
I wrote a tutorial on how to do this very design. Again, the free tutorial is in my sidebar.
Well what do you know ... the only things between you and your own version of this quilt are a few clicks, a few hours (ok, may more than just a few) and a yummy stack of fabric. (And some fusible web, unless you prefer to hand applique ... and some batting, of course.)
Now you have no excuses to not quilt this weekend. ;)
For all you lovely people who are reading or have read my book, I have a little favor to ask.
Apparently, positive reviews really do help book sales ... like this holy-cow-make-me-blush-all-the-way-to-my-toes review over at Oh Sew Retro. Thank you, Mary!
If you would be so kind as to pop over to Amazon and write a nice little review about "S is for Stitch", I'd be very grateful. (It doesn't need to be long!)
There's also a "Like" button you can click.
Thanks a bunch! :)
PS: Still recovering from Sunday's Downton Abbey Episode ...
I'm very excited and proud to announce that Out of Hand has invited me to do a book signing this weekend.
Out of Hand - an amazing local shop where I always find beautiful and unique things like this and these - is hosting their annual Open House and I was honoured to be asked to participate.
I'll have a few original samples from the book with me too.
I finally got down to business and made pom-poms for my felt skate ornaments (pattern available here).
It's been years since I made a pom-pom.
I remember getting a pom-pom making kit for Christmas when I was 9 years old. It came with these great plastic pom-pom makers in 3 sizes and instructions on how to make little animals. That kit definitely contributed to my life-long addiction to crafting.
I have no idea what happened to them, but thank goodness for Clover - a few years ago they came out with pom-pom makers in 4 sizes!
I know, I know ... there are a few easy ways to make pom-poms by winding yarn around a fork or even just a piece of cardboard. I'm not a total tool snob. But I just really wanted to have these in my crafting arsenal. I hope my daughters will have as much fun with pom-poms as I did/do.
So now they can.
And those pom-poms really do finish off the skate perfectly.
Ok. I think that's it for my felt ornamenting until next Christmas. We finally took the tree down yesterday ... our record is Valentine's Day, so compared to that we're a month early, LOL!
Check back with me tomorrow ... I have a little announcement.
Hello my dear friends! I've missed you so much. Can't believe it's been almost 2 weeks since I was here. I didn't intend to keep away for so long. But I was out of town for a few days visiting my mom for her 70th birthday. Poor mom has to celebrate this wonderful milestone with her first cast ever - she slipped on some ice and broke her arm. But my daughters had no end of fun covering her cast with flowers and curli-q's and the like. Then my sister was here for a few days. (You remember Auntie Jill ... although we didn't have time to scour farmland & backroads in search of another elusive winged creature.)
There was also our 17th wedding anniversary - we celebrated by going to see The Hobbit. We don't get out on "dates" much so it was a nice evening out.
Plus I've been working very hard on a few new patterns. They've been taking waaaaay too long ... probably because I was so happily distracted by these ...
(Still not done the skates ... just have to stuff and lace ... and make pom-poms.)
So even though I don't have anything officially ready, maybe you will forgive my absence if I show you a little sneak peek of my favorite new design.
Last summer I was invited to join a sewing group of the most lovely ladies. We are the Applique Circle of Friends and we meet once a month. A few months ago (ok, August ... told you this is taking too long!) it was suggested that it would be fun to find a cute little notions pouch pattern that we could all make and then use to store & carry our supplies to and from our gatherings.
Of course I offered - or more likely begged - to have the honour of designing something. Collectively we decided on the right size & shape. A few design element ideas were tossed out. Then I went home and got straight to work.
I've turned this project into a class and taught part one to my Applique Friends a few weeks ago. Part two is later on this week. (Can't wait!)
If you are falling in love with the fabric you see in these photos, please don't be mad at me. It is called "Petit Fleur" by Lecien and it came out over a year ago so it's really hard to find. I just did a quick search and found a little bit here (one of my favorite online fabric shops) and here.
I used them for my book (the girl alphabet quilt) and I don't have much left. I die just a little bit every time I cut into them because I know once they're gone ...
But because this project is pretty small, I somehow managed to convince myself that the world would not come to an end if I just used a very teeny tiny wee little bit.
Happy New Year's Eve! Hope you have a fun night and a fantastic 2013.
I think we four are just going to hang out at home watching movies, eating popcorn and snuggling under a mountain of quilts. And as always, the last one to fall asleep wins. Smart money is on me. But only if there is something good on tv. And I have something to stitch. Otherwise I'll be out by 9:30. The winner will have to wake everyone up at midnight, do a little sleepy cheer and then make the children climb up the stairs to bed ... 'cause they are just not little enough to be carried anymore. I'm sure if I tried to carry even the little one, the attempt would end with both of us carted off to the emergency room - her with a broken what-cha-ma-call-it and me with a herniated something-or-other. Sigh.
It's a fairly small design, but it has been my portable project for the past few months 'cause I didn't get much done in Houston.
So I've been taking it with me on Saturdays while my daughter sees her math/english tutor. (She has a form of dyslexia which can make school a little tricky sometimes, so she benefits a great deal from a little extra-curricular support.)
But I seem to end up doing more chit-chatting than stitching while I wait for her. Oh well.
Anyhow, here it is all finished.
Those little hedgehogs crack me up ... aren't they just so cute?
I made a few changes, 'cause ... you know ... that's what I do. I used a lighter brown for the clock hands and hedgehog face outlines. I went with a plain stem stitch instead of a blanket stitch for the cuckoo bird window. I also added a little colonial knot to the center of the lazy daisy flowers.
The pattern also called for mostly backstitch. But as I've said before, my backstitch isn't anything to write home about, so I only used it for the very finely detailed lines (the pink deers & hedgehog faces) and used my favored stem stitch for most of the rest of it.
Now I have to do something with it! I was going to use this new fabric collection by Natalie Lymer of Cinderberry Stitches.
Especially this print ...
I mean come ON, right?! But I'd already done most of the stitching before I got the fabric and the colors don't work together.
However, it seems my 9 year old has called dibs on it. And she really favors these ...
I'll see what I can do. I'm thinking a zippered pouch of some sort.
Hmmm, this also means I need to find a new portable project for Saturdays ... that shouldn't be too difficult. :)
My history with figure skating holds arguments for me both loving and ... loathing ... things that evoke memories of this "romantic" winter pastime.
On the one hand, I took figure skating lessons when I was a kid.
For years.
On an outdoor rink.
Until I was 13.
And I have the badges to prove it ...
On the other hand, I'm not much of a cold weather, outdoors-y person.
On the other hand, if you grow up in Canada with parents who insist that you get fresh air & exercise throughout the year, skating is practically unavoidable.
On the other hand, I actually won a silver medal once. In like a real competition. And I have the medal to prove it ... my one and only piece of sporting hardware.
On the other hand, I never enjoyed skating. More like I hated it. My toes would freeze, my hands would freeze, my face would freeze, my snot would freeze to my scarf, my skates would hurt.
Did I mention it's cold here in the winter?
On the other hand, I'm an amazingly terrible athlete. I'm a non-athlete. Times ten. Times a million. Plus infinity. I'm not even an athletic supporter. So I've never been able to reconcile my skating accomplishments with my total and complete lack of athleticism. Maybe my parents paid someone off.
But on the other hand, at least I know how to skate. No triple axels or flying camels, mind you. I was never even CLOSE to being THAT good. But I can do the basics without falling down.
That's the only way to explain how much I really really love this felt skate ornament.
I think.
Or maybe it's just simply the cutest darn ornament ever!
Well here we are, the last week of our Holiday Tag-a-Long. Wow. Is it just me or did the last 4 Wednesday's go by really super fast?
So. I have a small confession to make. Remember how I said I wasn't going to buy any new supplies for my tags ... just use what I already had? Well, I kinda sorta cheated a little. I didn't mean to, but I met a friend for lunch last week. And the cafe was "conveniently" located next to one of our favorite shops that happens to carry some crazy beautiful embellishments, like these sequins.
Aaaagh! They're like jewels!!! And I didn't even buy them with my tags in mind. I just bought them ... just ... 'cause. I was feeling a little guilty 'bout that, but then my lack of discipline led to a lovely moment of inspiration for this week's color theme ...
Hot Pink & Kelly Green
Yeah, baby!
For some reason I had "Baltimore Album" on my mind and I've always loved this classic laurel wreath. I started with the embroidered branches, then added my pretty new colorful sequins, a few pink knots and some green leaves and voila!
It's a bit bigger than the template because I wasn't going to frame it. But it didn't look finished so I added the pink border and the ribbon trim ... which you can't really see except up close. But it makes for a more elegant finish.
I also thought a lot about embroidering the year or a monogram or a little festive word in the middle, but I couldn't make up my mind. So I left it blank.
Next was this stitched wreath with the teensiest little irridescent flower sequins ever.
I embroidered a simple feather stitch wreath and randomly added the flowers with greens knot.
It looked a little naked so I added the white knots in the middle. Not sure if I like them, but they're staying. And solid pink for the entire tag was too much for me, so I added the green fabric and then covered the seam with a pretty white ribbon/bow.
Last but not least ... I used the fabric as the feature.
I was just going to add the 2 ribbon stripes and be done with it.
Sigh.
But it reminded me too much of the ugly tube socks I used to wear for gym class. NOT the look I was going for. So I girlied them up with little embroidered bows and some sequin hearts.
We hope we've inspired you to make some pretty tags too. Or that you've at least enjoyed seeing our creations. If so, then we have succeeded in our mission to spread some pretty, crafty holiday cheer. Thank you to everyone who participated! Please keep adding your lovely tags to the 2012 Holiday Tag-a-Long Flickr Group.
But you know what? I've decided to sell my tags. I know, you might think I'm crazy. But I've already had my fun designing and making them and for me, it's always more about the making than the having. I've listed them in my shop as their original sets, if you're interested. UPDATE: SOLD OUT!
So. I mentioned a few weeks ago that we're building a house.
Not much to report except this ...
(Yes, Canadians build houses in the snow.)
We are the proud owners of a great big giant hole in the ground.
In case you're wondering why, it gets so cold here in the winter the frost penetrates 4' (1.3m) deep into the ground. So according to the law here, a foundation/basement needs to be at least 5' below grade.
What's a basement, you ask? I'll show you when we have one.
Also, if you don't know what a basement is, consider me jealous because that means you live somewhere warm.
On the other hand, we don't have poisonous insects & reptiles here ... I've never seen a cockroach or a rat or a salamander in my life.
Like ever.
Sigh. I guess that's what you might call a silver lining. But if you can see a palm tree outside your window, please go give it a hug from me.
Before I show you my tags, I need to quickly tell you about a giveaway. It's for my book, which has started shipping to shops! (I will have a limited number of signed copies available in my online shop soon.)
A few days ago I was wasting valuable time doing critically important research on Pinterest and found myself making a Lovely Lavender board.
'Cause I love lavender. (Don't you just love it when people state the obvious?)
And while saving humanity with said ground-breaking research, I came across a few images that caught my eye ...
(Click on the photos to link to the sources.)
So my theme this week is decidedly non-traditional ... Lavender & Turquoise.
See? Pinterest is NOT a colossal waste of time after all ... ;)
My first tag was totally easy-peasy. Just glued on a bow & buttons.
I originally had a purple bow on this tag, but after my Pinterest exploration I switched it to turquoise. I think it looks more interesting.
Ok. This next tag nearly did me in! LOL!
I won't bore you with the gory details about all the incarnations that poor English paper-pieced, appliqued hexagon flower went through. But I'm so glad I stuck with it and I'm really happy with the final result.
Those little hexies measure 1/2" per side. So I had to widen my tag to 2 5/8" to fit the flower.
You know, I thought my hexagon flower was going to be my favorite tag. It SHOULD have been my favorite. But this little lovely has stolen my heart.
I pieced together strips of fabric, embroidered the lavender sprig and then fused on the turquoise ribbon.
I started this tag thinking the stripes would be horizontal. But after stitching the lavender, it all of a sudden wanted to go vertical and I could not change it's mind. So I said, "Ok, be who you want to be!"
Love it. :)
Click here to see another batch of to.die.for tags from Amy. Warning: The gingerbread man could give you a cavity just from looking at it ... it is sweeeeeeeet!
So ... how are your tags coming along? The 2012 Holiday Tag-a-Long Flickr Group contributions continue to come in and there's lots of inspiration over there!
I gotta start by saying thank you to everyone who has joined Amy's and my little Flickr Group and added your photos ... please keep them coming!
This week my theme of red, white & linen was inspired by a recent trip to Ikea.
Now, I don't normally do Scandinavian with my decor. But ... I dunno ... maybe I'm maturing or broadening my horizons or something. A little. 'Cause when I walked through the Christmas section at Ikea - you know, the impulse shopping trap they set up just before the cashiers - I must have been in some kinda mood because there was something so very appealing about the clean, understated simplicity of it all.
So. I came home and went straight to work.
It was surprisingly easy to find the fabrics I needed.
Don't think you can get any simpler than a little stick person feathered tree in a mist of snowflake knots.
Then I found this pretty linen with large white dots. And I still had some sequins lying around from making these.
I filled in the spaces between the dots with red stars - double cross-stitches.
Then added sequins & beads to each dot.
And then kept adding more sequins to the remaining empty spaces.
And then finished it all off with a running stitch around the edge.
And then added a little lace tab.
(Too much?)
Last but not least, my favorite of the bunch. I'm calling it my haberdashery tag.
I have a few old keys that were left in our house by the former owner, threw in some lace, a few buttons, a red bow and a few pieces of fussy cut fabric.
Voila!
I stitched the lace and fussy cut pieces to the tag first before I assembled the tag, and then just glued on the buttons, bow and key after I turned the tag right side out and stitched the side closed.
Thanks Ikea!
You never disappoint. :)
Remember, you can get a free downloadable PDF for the tag templates here and find a tutorial on how to make a basic tag here. And check out Amy's tags here!
LOL! Ah geez. That cracks me up every.single.time. It just never gets old. Even after all these years.
I was in the middle of writing a lengthy description of that scene when it occurred to me it MUST be on YouTube. You have no idea how hysterically funny that is to me. I swear, I could be in the crabbiest mood - but if you start quoting Ramses ...
Lemme 'splain.
My brother and I have used that quote since ... well ... ever since we were kids to express a final, unwavering commitment to accomplish something important.
Or mundane.
It doesn't really matter.
You can say it for no reason at all. Just because it's fun. You should try it. You'll see what I mean. Like the next time your husband (or any family member) says he's going to ... I dunno ... make a cup of coffee or let the dog out, say it. Let me know what happens.
And of course it must always be said with the distinct Yul-Brynner-as-Ramses accent. AND you have to point like he does too or your declaration doesn't count.
Sorry. Got sidetracked from the point of today's message ... which is this final and unwavering commitment: we are building a house.
And in like we start in a few days. I know. It's a pretty big deal.
Let me clarify that the actual digging of the hole starts tomorrow. But this major undertaking of ours started almost 2 years ago. And we've been working with an architect since March. So tomorrow might sound a bit sudden to you, but there's an entire novel's worth of back story ... trust me on that one!
We've never built before.
In fact, we're still living in the first house we bought - a year and a half after we were married.
No, I'M not going to pick up a hammer myself and make a holy mess of things.
I've lived with myself long enough to know I'd be all, "What do you mean Martha Stewart's craft glue and a few safety pins aren't enough to hold up 3 stories of house?"
Or "Can't we just skip all this boring code regulations stuff and get straight to the decorating?"
Or "OMG, HURRY! CALL 9-1-1!!! Why? 'Cause I'm seriously injured, that's why! Look, I got a sliver. See? Here. No, it's right HERE. See? SEE? Look, it's HUGE. OUCH, don't touch it! It totally hurts. Where are the sirens? I don't hear any sirens. Did you call yet? Listen, if I die from a horrible infection that won't respond to antibiotics it will be TOTALLY your fault for not seeking immediate medical attention for THE MOTHER OF YOUR CHILDREN!"
Nope. We are way smarter than that. Almost 17 years of marriage smarter. So we found ourselves a pretty awesome guy who knows what he's doing to build it for us.
See, we've been living in a cute (on the inside only - exterior is deteriorating faster than our children are growing up), fairly old (built in 1952), kinda small (1150 sq ft) and very poorly insulated bungalow for 16 years. It was great when it was just the two of us. Fine when we became parents for the first time. Still adequate with two little ones. Sort of.
But now? Mmmm, not so much. We only have one bathroom. And it's all of 5' x 7'. So when you minus the space taken up by the tub, sink & toilet, there is only just barely enough space to turn around but definitely NOT enough to do the hokey pokey. I suppose that only matters if one is so inclined to do the hokey pokey in one's bathroom. I am not. But still. Some day I might want to. And knowing that I don't even have the option has been difficult to live with all these years.
Traffic jams in the kitchen are routine. You can't boil the kettle AND run the dishwasher at the same time ... unless of course you need a reason to risk life and limb by braving a trip to the bowels of the basement to turn the breaker switch back on.
We DO have his and hers closets ... but his is in the bedroom and hers is in the sewing room. We need space heaters in the winter to keep our house from turning into a cryogenics lab. I could go on ad nauseum about all the reasons we're going to put our marriage to the ultimate test (so I've been told).
Suffice it to say, it's time. HIGH time if you ask anyone who knows we've been looking for almost 10 years. We just finally realized that what we want doesn't exist for our budget. So we've compromised and are moving all of 15 blocks away. To a lovely treed street in a lovely neighborhood. We'll be happy there. We are happy here. We will just be happy-ER there ... where we don't have to file into the house one by one down a narrow hall. Or schedule showers/laundry/dishes to avoid running out of hot water. Or where someone can have a nap while someone else is practicing piano/violin. You know, those sorts of creature comforts. Not to mention we will no longer need to consider selling one of our children to pay for the winter heating bills. I know the poor little dears will sleep easier without that threat hanging over their heads.
This build is expected to take about 10 months. At the moment, I plan to share the process with you. Even if it's just to explain why I don't have as much pretty, crafty, sewy stuff to show you.
So. Let's just see how things go, shall we? I'm sure I'll have some good stories to tell you now and then. In truth, I'm very excited and looking forward to this whole thing. I've heard many horror stories and been warned about how hard/stressful/disappointing/exhausting it can be. But my rose-colored glasses are firmly in place. And I don't plan on taking them off.
February 14, 2013 
