In which I may or may not return to blogging...

Ummm, hello? Been awhile, eh?

I'll just say that the last 2 years have kicked my butt. Adding a third chiclet is crazy! We finally have our bearings, and pretend like we know what we are doing. (psh..)

So, school lets out tomorrow, and all 3 kids will be home all summer long! Wah! Oh, I mean, Yah! Really, I'm ambivelant about it. On the one hand, they can be really great together, and keep eachother entertained for hours, on the other hand, it's easy to see them shanking eachother. We shall see how it plays out. Bets, anyone?

{chevron ruffle pants available in my shop}

I'm still sewing about 10-12 hours a week. The biz has grown a bit, and is steady now. Which leaves less time for sewing frivolous projects, but means more "mad money", so I'll take it!

I've got some exciting projects coming up this summer, so I'll try to post, but I'm not feeling any pressure, since I've abandoned you all long ago! (crickets chirping) I also plan on reviewing some patterns that I've sewn up recently, so that should be fun!

Peace out!

Holy Hiatus!

Life's been marching on! Little Miss will be one in 6 days. The last year has gone by in a whirl...

It's hard to believe a year ago she was a round ball of pumpkin inside my tummy!

 

She's so independent, agile and daring. We adore her...

Having her party tomorrow! With a spooky theme. Should be fun!

I'll take pics (we got a new camera- thanks, in-laws!)

-S

Snack bags...snack bags... and more snack bags...

A little over a year ago, I bought a snack bag pattern off of Etsy. It was fairly easy to read and use, and I found myself making these reusable snack bags for my girls'. And my girls' friends. And the lady at the park's kids. And then the entire preschool! They are quickish to make- but require Ripstop Nylon (not available in all fabric stores). I put out a little flyer for back to school season this year, and have made not less than 30 sets in the past few weeks. I'm SO ready to move on. Still haven't made any for my kids this season, though. And the orders are still pouring in. Eesh. I have so much other fun sewing I want to do...

Got this lovely half yard set of Jennifer Pagnelli Poodle in Aqua. From my favorite etsy shop SewLoveFabrics. Love. Every. Single. Listing.
Want to move into her fabric studio and bury myself in the fabricky goodness. Yes, I just said fabricky.
More about poodles later this week. Lots more.
-S

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

Where have I been?

Yup, at the beach. Don't be a hater. It was lovely.
I've got lots on the burner: 3 sets snack bags, 1 custom baby quilt, 1 t-shirt quilt, 1 diaper bag, 3 huge ruffle ribbon orders. And one poor 9 year old baby blanket that met the playful personality of a golden retriever. When it rains it pours, right?
Oh yes, while I was in the San Diego area, I went to Maisonette. It was heaven.
-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

I wish...

Photo from seattle. See the Space Needle? Cool!
• Summer here was over. Becase I am over it. 116* today. For reals.
• I could sew a butt-hole. I mean a button-hole.
• My camera wasn't malfunctioning (somebody had a few too many jello shots on Independence Day, and may have dropped it)
• School was back in session. My kids are so over eachother.

Hmmm, I can actually control two of those thing.

So- tomorrow I am going to the camera shop to drop off our camera for a tune-up. And I'm GOING TO FIGURE OUT HOW TO SEW A BUTTON-HOLE!

Too bad I can't photograph it. Or maybe that's a good thing, because I think it's going to be ugly.