more fabric love (and a winner)

Thank you again for all the support on my new pattern!

So without further ado... a big congratulations to Mary for winning the Rouenneries Deux layer cake and pattern!

I decided to give away an extra copy of the pattern, and Jenny won that one!  (I'll be emailing you ladies)

I look forward to seeing both of you, and any one else in our quilt along group.  It's a casual quilt along, that you do at your own pace; I really just wanted a place to be available to answer people's questions and see everyone's work.  Kelly did do an awesome job testing for me, and gave me very valuable feedback for clarifying, but if any of the rest of you have a question or just want to show off, that is a good place to go.  I won't be giving explicit cutting or piecing directions; we'll basically be sharing our work.  So if you love the pattern, and want to join with us... please do so. :)  (AND -- for any of you paper pattern lovers, I called a printing company yesterday to figure that out; they will hopefully be available soon).

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For the first time this week, both my children are sleeping. 

I didn't know what to do with myself; I just knew I had to stay QUIET so as to not jinx it (seriously, Scarlet has been cat-napper extraordinaire, and Steiger hasn't been napping at all).  

Cutting is quiet, and since I went on a teeny tiny fabric binge this month, I started cutting.

These aren't all the exact fabrics I'm cutting right now, but some of them are in my pile. 

I've decided I'm going to make a Spring quilt, and I'm going to name it "Favorite Quilt."  If the fabric doesn't make me feel happy, it doesn't get included.  

Anyway -- my mouse might have got me in to a little bit of trouble.  (side note to my Honey -- they were all really good deals... extra coupons on top of sales kind of good deals, and it motivated me to pull out more things to destash, so it's like breaking even if you really think about it -- and I promise I'll wait a long time before I do it again...yes, I feel guilty...)

Lots of pretty blenders... if you're curious about any specific ones, click on the picture and I'll name them for you in flickr (or leave a comment if you don't have a flickr account).

But who doesn't love a rainbow, right Kelly?

I practiced incredible restraint with the Pez prints, and only got a FQ bundle with a few selected half-yard additions.

I just love these Michael Miller "Falling Flowers."

(and again Honey -- I wanted to get all the color ways, but stuck with these four; you should be proud because they were on sale and I have had them in my virtual cart for a couple months).

I snagged a few pieces from Heather Bailey's re-release of Fresh Cut (oh how I wish that woman would release a new line... and soon!)

And of course, I had to get some Flea Market Fancy Legacy. 

My fabric.com history told me I hadn't placed an order since October of last year (!!!), which really I just used to justify my bad behavior. 

I've decided next year I'll need to give up buying fabric for Lent.

♥

(but they're so pretty)

the way it goes... (and destashing)

No binding done.

No sewing done.

Sicky baby girl snuggled all day long. - check. (She's actually not doing too poorly, just a bit needy)

The hubs came home from work today puking; I'm hoping my super duper ex-teacher immune system will come through for me as it has so many times before.

I also managed to list a few destash items.  

You can find them here: 

Great deals, I'll refund shipping overage charges if you want multiple items -- but these were just fabrics I bought that I had great plans for, but I'm finally accepting the reality that it's not going to happen.  I've got a few more to pull out of the closet and get listed... enjoy shopping in the mean time!  

I'll post the winner for the Rouenneries Deux layer cake and French Kisses pattern ASAP, but I need to count comments!

Join us in our flickr group in the mean time. :)

a pretty little dress

Before I get carried away... some logistics:

Thanks for all the love on my first pattern. :)
My giveaway for a Rouenneries Deux layer cake and a copy of the pattern, French Kisses, is going on here until Wednesday.

Secret Garden version of pattern -- back from Eileenquilts.com and ready for binding!

On Wednesday, we'll be starting our Quilt-Along.  Really I just want to see how everyone's quilt looks, because I have yet to see a fabric group used in real life or in computer form that doesn't look good (like look at this progress from Kristy, in Patty Young's Lush).   I also thought it'd be handy to have a place where I can help give clarification and what-not.  I won't be giving explicit cutting or piecing directions, as they're all included in the pattern (with lots of diagrams if you're feeling intimidated), but I'll be around to help answer questions, make sure you have enough fabric if you want to change sizes, that sort of thing. :)

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Now -- on to my post for today.

I made Scarlet a little dress.

Amy at PeekaBoo Pattern Shop needed her new pattern, the Natalie, tested.  And she needed it in the 6 mos. size.

"I have an almost six month old, and I've been wanting to learn how to sew her clothing," I thought.  So I volunteered.  And I made her this dress.

There were a couple tricky spots for me to figure out (it's been a LONG time since I've sewn clothes, like since junior high long time, and I haven't worked with knits), but it still turned out pretty cute.

I changed a couple things, and would change my methods again were I to make it again, but it was still fun, and I felt accomplished. :)

And it fits her pretty well too!

The fabric is a pink knit I got at JoAnn's, and a piece from Laura Gunn's new Garden Walk (Wee Sprig I believe it's called... in pink).

It's fun having a baby girl to sew little baby girl things for.

I love her expressions

So I hope you don't mind seeing pink around here more often. :)

I'm sure I'll branch out eventually.

(and her fuzzy hair and her sticky-outy ears). :)

But why mess with a good thing, right? 

(Baby girl got sick last night, pukey sick, for the first time.  I felt clueless about what to do!  Steiger didn't get his first pukes until he was 2 1/2, and it's only been once - yes, we're lucky - she did OK last night, and has kept her breakfast down so far this morning and is sleeping now, I hope we're through the worst of it!)

And I hope I get my binding done! :)

Linking to Quilt Story's Fabric Tuesday. :)

Giving away French Kisses (my first pattern!)

Giveaway is closed, but you can still comment if you'd like. :)
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In my ongoing effort to make quilting sustainable, I give you my first pattern, French Kisses -- all published and ready to go!



And I feel really grateful...

Grateful I will no longer be agonizing over how to design the cover (which I hope you like)

Or grateful I'm not sitting at the computer editing...

Or grateful I'm not still trying to figure out EQ7 and come up with cute virtual quilt options (like this one in Vintage Modern)...

You know, it's just exciting to be "done."

This quilt measures 64" x 80" -- so it makes a good twin or big throw size.  You can see that it very nicely covers my tall husband while he snoozes on the couch.

The design is a result of day-dreaming while Scarlet was eating, and we were the only two awake in the house.  It dawned on me that two of my favorite block designs could interact nicely.  Rouenneries Deux had yet to be released at the time, but I thought it might be a good design to justify adding to my French General stash.

 

I already had some Secret Garden stashed, so I made some test blocks (and then kept going) until I had enough blocks to make a quilt for our bed (this one is actually on its way back to me now from Lindsay, and I can't wait to see it -- and sleep under it)

"The hubs" got me a FQ bundle of Rouenneries Deux for Christmas, and as soon as the yardage was released, I went about to finishing this quilt.  

Lindsay of Eileen quilts did the long-arm quilting for me, and it is so beautiful; I love the big roses all over.

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I have made this quilt design twice now, and my friend Kelly tested it for me.  The blocks are big, come together quickly (remember I made both of these with a newborn not yet sleeping through the night... which she's still not doing, but she's cute nonetheless), and have lots of movement.  It's also got a great spot for fussy cutting or big focal prints (though you might need to figure in extra fabric, depending on how you cut it).

This one was made by Kelly at KelbySews

You'll notice in Kelly's quilt (which uses a layer cake of "It's a Hoot" by Momo for Moda), that she used the light gray as her solid.  When you're using a layer cake, you'll want to choose your background fabric to contrast, even a little, all the prints.  Because "It's a Hoot" has the white prints, the gray worked well.

Stained Glass French Kisses by Kelly at KelbySews

So if you like it, and want me to do your math for you, or just need a way to use up an extra layer cake or fat quarter bundle (yes, fat eighths should work fine, but I didn't create explicit directions for them) you have, then I'd love for you to buy my first pattern.

There are directions for using either a layer cake or fat quarters, and I've included a bonus layer cake pattern (called "Just Hugs"), because hey, we all love a bonus (and it was a cool design).  

The pattern is a pdf file that will be emailed to you immediately after purchase, and includes detailed and diagrammed instructions for how to cut and construct your own.  I did not write up the directions for the larger size, but if you'd like to join our quilt along, I'd be happy to help you with the math for adding blocks (you would pretty much just double the fabric if making the size I made in Secret Garden pictured above). 

To celebrate and launch my new pattern, I'm also giving away this layer cake of Rouenneries Deux, along with a copy of the pattern (and I'll probably give away another copy of the pattern too).  

To enter the giveaway:

- Leave me a nice comment {can be about the pattern, how to potty train an almost three year old boy who is as (cute and) stubborn as his father, how cute Scarlet is, how cute I am, how your day is going, whatever}.

- Pin, Blog, or Facebook with a link to my pattern for a second entry and leave a comment telling me so.

 I do hope to have this as a paper pattern, but honestly don't understand all the goings of getting a paper pattern published yet, but I'm learning!

Thank you, and I hope you all like French Kisses. 

♥ ♥ ♥

P.S. -- If you buy it and then win, I'll refund your purchase. :)

Linking to AmandaJean's Finish it up Friday.

Breakfast at Tiffany's finished quilt - and 5 months big

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My Scarlet turned 5 months old last week.
And I'm taking the opportunity to tell about her, and finally blog about a quilt I finished back in January.

I was making Steiger a big boy bed quilt for Christmas (which I still need to blog about), and decided Scarlet needed a quilt for Christmas too.  I had this one basted for over a year, and because I was still on the feeding every 3 hours around the clock schedule with Scarlet, I decided an almost done quilt was the perfect one to finish. :)

I made this quilt by using the "Rob Peter to Pay Paul" die on my Go! Cutter.  (You can read my full review here), and I love this die and design -- but will change a few things when I use it again.  Because I don't pin these curves, all the bias edges stretched a little, and it was difficult to get it to lie truly flat.  I solved this by minimal quilting (just followed the line of the petal shape), but would have done little petals in the print pieces too if I had a smoother surface (maybe spray basting would help this?)  I will make sure to starch the pieces before cutting next time -- I'm thinking that might get things a little more flat.

The back is pretty flowers.

It's a beautiful quilt though, and getting a lot of use.  I LOVE the chenille border (and not just because it makes sewing the binding on really easy -- the stitches disappear in to the chenille, so a machine sewn binding is still so pretty).

Now about my little Miss.

We took you to the doctor last week Scarlet, and you are 15 lbs, 2 oz, and 26 1/4" tall.  You are actually in the 90th percentile for height, and even though I am only 5 feet tall, because 100% of your nutrition has come from and through me, I'm taking the credit... (it's the last time I'll be able to do so, since you'll be starting solids soon, and every one will think it's your tall dad that has made you tall). ;)

It's hard to write about your traits without comparing you to your big brother, but you two are definitely different... but you hold your hands the same way he did.  

He is one of your favorite people.  

This was your face when you saw him run over to you while you were lying on your quilt.

For about a month, you were only waking up once in a twelve hour night, and Mommy was loving it -- but either your ability to roll around (you're a tummy sleeper, like your brother was), or your increased activity, or growth spurt or little teeth popping in, or something has you up more often lately.  I don't mind as long as you fall back to sleep (which you did last night... thank you baby).  You're a thumb sucker too, which I suspect is part of why you used to scream when swaddled... when you were born, you had one hand by your face... I'd guess you've been sucking your thumb for quite some time. ;)

You like me to sing you to sleep.

You will sit and watch for a long time, and be happy about it.

(I love your squishy little tummy baby girl)

You really are an "easy" baby.  And oh so charming.  You use as few words as possible, and really only cry when you're wanting out of your car-seat, or Mommy kept you up too long, and you got overly tired.  You usually ask to be held about fifteen minutes before you're ready for your next nap.  You spend a lot of time in your pack in between, and even let Mommy do dishes or shower while you're awake (a luxury your brother never afforded me).

You love your nightly massages, and stretch your little legs as long as you can, and smile and coo.
You watch us move around the room, and flirt with whoever isn't paying attention to you by smiling at them.  Because I'm usually studying you, I tell those people that you are smiling at them so they'll return the favor.

You and Steiger play together all the time.



You roll on to your back easily, but have trouble getting back to your tummy.  Sometimes Steiger will help you get back around, and you don't mind.  The other morning, he was holding you on the couch while the two of you were watching Curious George, and when Mommy brought the laundry back out, he had laid you down and was snuggling next to you.  Thank goodness he put you to the inside.  He loves you as much as you love him.  ♥  I'm hoping to do everything I can to keep it that way.

Your eyes are blue and you are definitely a fair little white girl.



We hope you keep your blue eyes; everyone tells you how pretty they are.

You are unassuming, watchful, charming, and curious... and have seamlessly welded yourself in to our lives.  And oh how we love you for it.

(linking to Megan's Sew Modern Monday and Quilt Story's Fabric Tuesday)

(and if you're curious, there's a picture of Steiger when he was about the same age in this post.)

"Pottery Barn" pillows

My cousin is getting married at the end of this month... I knew that.
My husband's birthday is March 1... I knew that too.
My cousin's bridal shower was March 3... knew that.

BUT -- somehow, I didn't put together that March was THIS MONTH of all things.  Oh yes, I remembered Jay's birthday, but still, I manged to not quite grasp the fact that March 3 was this Saturday, and oh yea, I hadn't got a gift yet.

Being's that this was Friday when I finally understood that the shower was the next day (my mom asked me if I had RSVP'd yet), and the shower was a brunch in the morning, getting in to town to get a gift wasn't going to happen (especially being that they were registered at stores that are 90+ miles away).

OK - So I figured I'd make her a couple pillows.

To further complicate things... she didn't actually register for any textiles, so I couldn't copy her color schemes that way.  Knowing that she works at Pottery Barn though, I pulled out my latest catalog, and figured that she'd like the colors from their latest issue... a lovely mix of taupe, cream, gray, and with touches of steely blue and a bit of green.

This was me working on them late at night (Scarlet didn't go to sleep until 11:45 pm... yes, she has teeth coming in)



Triangles.



And I only had one pillow form on hand, but this is a really cute panel from French General's La Petite Ecole line I cut up and framed with some Kokka.  Looked very Pottery Barn to me.



All wrapped up and ready to go Saturday morning!



And she seemed to like them very much.  And was even impressed with my little gift tag. :)

for a quick laugh

I'm sure you've seen these before...

Even if you don't have grandkids, it's pretty funny.

a little makeover

I try to do this every year.

This year was a little late, for obvious reasons.

I've been in love with this peachy/strawberry/corally color lately... so I went with it.

This was my first one -- I liked it, but something felt off.

This was #2 -- felt a little more balanced, but still not right.

This was #3 -- I finally figured out how to use the frame feature, but it was heavy to the left.

Ah -- shrink down the quilt blocks, balance out the photo size a bit -- ♥

So what do you all think?  (just tell me I picked the best one so I can get back to sewing)... ;)

I'll actually be doing other makeovers at home too.

Starting, I think, with this framed little window-box type thing that is painted a garrish gold.  It will be going in Scarlet's room (after we put the wall in Steiger's new room)... I see Robin Egg's Blue perhaps.

Making over a baby girl's nursery is thrilling and scary at the same time; I'm just hoping my mom will give input... she's much better at this sort of thing than I am.

Anyone else like me?  Great with fabric and not so much with decor???

I think this will be my inspiration...

from Riley Blake's Marguerite line coming soon

I also really want to figure out how to make one of these for Steiger man too... (from Sweetwater)

And we need to get the garden ready for planting... hmmm, this weekend is looking busy.

Oh! It's the hubs' 30th birthday today (yes, that does make me a cougar)  ;)

I love that handsome bloke.

Happy Birthday Honey.

We are more grateful for you than you know.

(and y'all just have to see this picture of him from when he was little... you see where Steiger gets his good looks, no?)  My mother-in-law says it's eerie sometimes when she's with Steiger, because it's like having little Jay all over again.  

Thanks for passing those good genes on to our kiddos honey. ;)  And Happy Birthday.