Whew- what a break!

Wow- has it really been over 2 weeks! Time has flown by here. Girl #1 started kindergarten. We love it. She even takes the school bus. She's growing up so quick! I know how fast it goes, so I'm really trying to enjoy the baby stage with #3. She's all over the place, crawling, standing, couch cruising. It's exhausting, and really putting a damper on the sewing. My machines are in the "studio" aka guest room, which is through our laundry room. Totally not within arms reach of our very mobile baby.

I've been sew busy lately, too! I finished this custom quilt for the preschool director.

It's for her first grandbaby, and I sewed it with so much love. She had been hanging on to the Alexander Henry "Dick and Jane" fabric for ten years! Her daughter loved it so much, that she commissioned me to do a crib bumper and sheets to match- such a fun project!

It's hand tied with pretty pink crochet thread on all of the joints.

This is a poor picture of the back, but it's white minky with a focus strip of the "Dick and Jane" fabric.

In other sewing news- I'm teaching 2 classes at Quiltz this fall! The first one is the Hippy Chick Skirt pattern by Pink Fig, and the second is Serger Basics. I'm super excited about it- if you live in the Phx area- stop by and say "Hi!"

-S

Maybe I should move to Australia?

No luck on the button hole.
My camera however- that's a different story. After spending a good chunk of time googling, calling, researching and generally messing around with the contraption, I figured out how to make it work-
JUST USE IT UPSIDE DOWN.
Seriously. I have to aim, focus, shoot and use the menu- all while holding it upside down. It's a nicer model Canon, and it would be at least 120 to fix it- so guess what?

I'm moving to Australia. Just kidding. I'm just practicing using it the new "right" way before we go to the beach in a few weeks.

Ruffle coin purse

I've been working on a few new products for fall. I'm thinking of retiring the BlueberryKisses etsy shop. I've already reserved one under my new dba name Hustle Mama, as well as a BigCartel shop. I've heard lots about the difference between the two, and am intereseted to see how BigCartel evolves over the next few years. I used some of my free custom printed twill tape as the edge tag (does that have a technical term?) I love this stuff, and love twill tape in general. I can't say enough nice things about working with Jon at twilltape.com. Plus, I ordered this on wednesday afternoon, and got it friday. For reals.

In Quilting News:
My I-Spy squares came! There are some really great funky fabrics in the mix! I'm excited to get started on it. Trying to finish the New Wave first.

Didn't fix this pic- still upside down.

My aunt had picked up some great FQs for me in Seattle of foods for my I-Spy project. I decided to turn around and use them as a thank you to her for putting my whole brood up for a week. I thought they would be such fun cloth napkins! They are turning out really lovely, and I think I'm going to make some for us to use at home. What a great way to go green!
I cut 4 ea from each FQ- 9"x10.5". You cou;d make them bigger- but I thought this was a great everyday size. I used a .5" seam allowance, turned, pressed, and then top-stitched with a decorative stitch. I use any excuse I can find to use the fancy stitches that came on my machine. Trying to finish up a few projects today-

(Another great hostess or thank-you gift)

Turned this pile of white bar towels into safari themed powder room towels for my MIL.

-S

Nice weekend...

We took the big girls to the circus yesterday- they had so much fun. I hadn't been in years, and it was just as awe-inspiring as I remember! We decided to try out the new Valley Metro Light Rail to get us down-town. It was fast and fun- although we saw a few shady characters.

I've had a few projects in the works, and it feels nice to do some leisurely sewing. I have almost finished this table runner. I sewed a few bands of ribbon, and a band of  twill tape onto one of the panels. I love the textural look of it.

 I am so excited about my TwillTape.com gift certificate that was part of my awesome Skirt Week prize package. I've ordered from them before, and the shipping time, quality, and value can't be beat!

I made it to practice using my walking foot, something I've never done. It wasn't as hard and scary as I thought it would be. The hubs loved it- I was surprised, he usually doesn't say much about my sewing projects.

Speaking of Hubs, this was his Father's Day present. He also loved it. Easy, and adorable,
something we'll appreciate for years to come.

A little sewing ADD

Since finishing the aprons (she loved them- sadly I didn't photograph them...), I 've decided to do a little selfish sewing. I've had this on the back burner for months, and figured it was time to give it a whirl. It's coming together really nicely.

This was when I had it layed out on the table. I actually couldn't decide on only 12 fabrics, so I have 14. It looks like it's going to end up about twin size. I've got two of the columns together, and am hoping to have the entire topped pieced by the weekend. I'm a little stuck on how to quilt it. I really want to stipple it, but haven't used a free-motion foot before. I've put together some small projects to practice on, and may share them later this week. Most of the fabrics I've chosen are Anna Maria Horner's Good Folks and Flower Garden. A smidge of Amy Butler and Kafe Fassett.

Speaking of quilting, I've got almost all of my I-Spy quilt blocks cut.

These are just a few of my fabrics. I loved the cacti (coming from AZ) however I saw them in the last swap. No biggie, I guess. I also loved the puddles. How random!

I may or may not enter this skirt in Skirt Week. I used this tutorial from Ruffles and Stuff. It was fun and easy! I added a little more volume, because I wanted it a little fuller. It looks really cute on. If I don't finish what I really want to enter (Seersucker and Amy Butler! Just stinks of mint juleps and country clubs- love it!) I will probably enter this one.

Have a great week!

-S

Skirt Week: Update

Gosh, has it really been 5 days?
An update:
I was the very last one to make it into Obsessively Stitchings I-Spy Swap Numero Quatro. I am so excited! I've never done a quilt before, but think that one made entirely of 4" squares seems pretty straight-forward to me. I've long had this one on the radar. I actually have all of the fabric ready to go, I just need to go to the quilt store to buy a plastic template. Can I use anything else, does anyone know? Speaking of the quilt store, I was talking to the owner, and she told me they are getting Anna Maria Horner's voile in the shop! Swoon! Not until fall, but-ohmygosh! So excited.
I've been busy finishing up the children's aprons (I'll have to post pics, because they are really very cute!), sewing for Skirt Week, and trying to survive the heat. Not only did we get shoved into triple digits really quickly, but WAAAY into triple digits. 111 today. Yes, degrees. The girls and I have been swimming daily, but really...It's not that fun without pina coladas.
I'm sooo looking forward to our vacation to Seattle next month. There are some wonderful fabric shops, and the whole mindset in the Pacific NorthWest is just so refreshing. It's just the girls and I (hopefully my mom, too!), but it's somewhere we try to go every year. Hope you have a fun vacation planned for this summer! : )
-S