Own worst enemy sometimes.....

I've been thinking about doing a pattern for my tote bag for a while now. I started working on it tonight. I was half way through the assembly and picture taking when I realized that I messed up the dimensions. I'm almost to the point of giving up on this because I've made around 5 tote bags and none of them are the same size and all of them start with the same amount of fabric. *face palm*

I'm not really worried about it though. I think I will be able to get it together the next time because I finally visualized the math formula involved. The trick now will be to articulate it so other people can make their own adjustments.

In other news, I was going to clean up the craft closet a little bit this evening, but I was immediately distracted. ("Squirrel!") Look at this Nicey Jane fabric! I've been wanting this fabric for so long and while at market I was able to get two kits made up of fat sixths pieces. I'm not sure that it is the entire line, but it is still a good portion! Isn't it beautiful? I don't care if it isn't the newest line because I still love it. Now I just have to decide what to do with it.

This is how I'm my own worst enemy. I have about a billion things to do, and here I am looking at fabric, dreaming up the perfect use for it. If I was independently wealthy I would spend my days making pretty things. Sometimes it is frustrating how much I divide my time up. There is so much I want to accomplish, but not enough time. I suppose that sometimes ideas are the burden of a genius. *hahaha* Really though, how irritating it is to have so much ambitious without enough time to do everything...stupid responsibilities like work get in my way.

Tonight I'm going to step back from it all, and make a list per suggestion of a great friend of mine. I'll order it, and then start knocking things out tomorrow evening.

Drawsting Studio Give Away

Remember how I said I received wonderful fabric the other day thanks to my awesome Heartsy deal? Well the Drawstring Studio is now having a give away on their blog. While I hope I win, of course, I'm letting you know now that you don't have very much time but if you hurry you can enter to win the drawing as well.

New Fabric!!! -Drawstring Studio

A week or two ago I saw a deal on Heartsy.me for Drawstring Studio fabric shop on Etsy. First, if you haven't found Heartsy.me then you need to visit this link and sign-up to get the deals! Second, Etsy is the place to buy and sell your handmade items.  I love Etsy so much, and am working towards opening my own shop in the near future.

So the Heartsy deal was for $30 worth of fabric from Drawstring Studio for only $14. At first I thought I was going to hold out for a cute elephant fabric I saw on their blog, but I quickly changed my mind when this fabric was listed!

I was able to get both yards of 54" home decor weight fabrics for only $14 thanks to the heartsy deal! My shipping was even covered. For people who don't necessarily look at decor weight it usually is more expensive than quilting cottons because of the weave and the width. If I had to guess it is usually more than $12 a yard, and even that is cheap. But Drawstring studio had one of the fabrics for $10 and the other for $11.50! Amazing! They even sent me a fat eight of a "MoMo" fabric, along with a coupon for 10% off my next order.  It is super awesome.  ...Maybe I will be able to get a little bit of the elephants later. (It will be a great "hope chest" fabric.)

Oh yeah, I'm going to use these fabrics for pillows on the couch. Soft, more comfy pillows. That is a project for later in the month though.

Key Lime Pie

My boss shared the easiest Key Lime Pie recipe ever!  So I made two pies, one for a co-worker's birthday and one for Josh. 

Key Lime Pie

Ingredients:

2 cans of sweetened condensed milk

3/4 cups of lime juice

graham cracker crust

whip cream

Directions:

Mix the sweetened condensed milk and lime juice, and then pour into the graham cracker crust. Let it set in the refrigerator for about an hour. Served cold with whip cream on top.

Hints:
*If you get the pie crust with "2 extra servings" you will need to add more milk and juice. 

*I made 2 pies and it took about 3 pounds of the quarter-sized limes to get 1 1/2cups of juice.

Also this week, I made a quick reversible table cloth using the Joel Dewberry "Aviary 2" bird print in black. It is a sample I made for the shop's Michael Miller Clubhouse that I'm participating in.  Josh and I don't actually have a dining room table or any other table that it can go on so I folded it in half and think it looks alright on the back of the couch.  I'm not sure that it will stay there, but it will definitely go on trial as soon as we are done using it in the shop.

This "Aviary 2" fabric is what I was hoping to use for the curtains in the living room. However, a lady came into the shop today and bought the last 8+ yards on the bolt so I'm either going to have to order it or wait to see if something else comes out that I like just as much.  I'm thinking I will probably wait since I have so many other projects going on anyway. Although, if anyone sees it for a really good price please let me know.

Finished Four Patch Posy!

I finally finished my four patch posey quilt using Tula Pink's Marie Antoinette line of fabric! 

I also used the pink feather from "Plume". Oh and my setting triangles were "Plume's" main print, with the be flowers and birds! If fact, the only fabric not Tula Pink in this quilt is the little frame of dark pink between the feathers. For that I used Marcia Derse fabric, and it matched so perfectly I wish that I could put both in my drawer for them to make little beautiful babies! Okay, I realize how crazy it sounds, but I love it when my favorite designers make things that go together perfectly without even intending it!

In other news the winner of the Jennifer Paganelli Fabric is.... Andrea! She was comment number eleven so I will be contacting her to make sure she gets her beautiful new fabrics!  Speaking of beautiful new fabric... I received a package today, but I'm not going to tell you exactly what it is yet. I will show you tomorrow. :)  

And speaking of packages I should be receiving another package this week containing felt sheets. I'm pretty excited about it as well because it will mark the start of Christmas preparations! Can you guess what my theme is going to be?

Marie Antoinette! However, while I won't be using all of the bright colors in the fabric line, I did talk to Josh and he said it was okay to get a pink Christmas tree! I'm pretty happy, excited, and spoiled. I want our first Christmas in our own place to be out of this world fantastic!

Blogger Meet-up and Jennifer Paganelli Give-Away!

While in Utah I went to the Quilt Market Meet-up for bloggers.  If you follow my Facebook at all then you'll remember how desperate I was to go to this, and how I "bribed" my way into the door at the last minute!  Oh I am so glad that I did!  Other than meeting new people, and putting a face to the blogs I read, two great things happened while I was there!

Number 1: I won a door prize!  I received an copy of "ReSew" personally autographed by the author, Jenny Wilding Cardon!  If you can't tell by the delay in my posts please understand that I'm still catching up from Market, not to mention starting new projects like the Etsy Craft Party, so I haven't had time to make anything out of this book.  However, I have glanced through it, and I'm anxious to make a dress I saw somewhere near the middle.

Number 2: The second thing that happened to me was Jennifer Paganelli saving my reputation! I had been outside talking to Josh on the phone, and all of a sudden the wind picked up. My dress started flying up, and it was definitely a Marilyn Monroe sort of moment, just not quite as sexy or graceful! As I hurried for cover back in the restaurant who should be standing in the doorway ready to help me in other than Jennifer Paganelli?!

At first I didn't even know it was her. I just started talking with her, glanced down to read her Market badge (like most of us had), and then about had a conniption when I realized who had saved me! That is right people. Jennifer Paganelli saved me from showing my goodies to the world!

After I met her, I figured there was no way the day could get any better so I said good-byes and made my way back to the hotel. Mind you I changed into my "street clothes" before venturing out into the wind again.

Now in honor of my meeting fabric royalty I'm going to host my first give-away! 

I've picked the last 5 fat quarters of Jennifer Paganelli fabric out of my stash. Don't worry, I will soon have more on the way because I found a great deal on "Honey Child" on Etsy.  (Please forgive me for being to selfish to share the link with you on this one until I get my sticky little fingers on it first! *laughs*)

How to win....

Each comment is a separate entry. You can have up to 3 entries.

1. The Freebie: Leave a comment about whatever you are thinking about doing after leaving a comment. 
2. Facebook:  Post about this giveaway on Facebook. Then come back here and leave a comment saying you completed the task.
3. Blog: Put this on your own blog. Then come back here and leave a comment with your blog link.

Okay I changed my mind... If you click to follow my blog using Google Friend Connect over on the left side of the blog then you can have a 4th entry.  This is really easy to do, especially if you already have a Google account, just be sure to leave another comment letting me know you are following me.

*Since this is my first give-away I've decided not to open it up to international readers, unless you happen to have a shipping address in the United States.


*I will use random.org to determine the winner.


*Also be sure to leave an email address or someway to contact you in your comment so that I can let you know if you won.

This give away will close on Tuesday, May 31st, Thursday, June 2nd at 11:59pm central, so be sure to comment before then. (Comments after the cut-off will not be eligible for the prize, but are still welcome because I love hearing from people!)

Good Luck!

A Bobbin, A Bobbin

Before I could sew anything this evening I had to clean my machine. My goodness, I don't remember the last time I did it, but as you can tell by the globs of lint, it was past time to dust it off!

After cleaning, searching for empty bobbins, and finally getting the machine threaded I was able to finish my four-patch posy blocks. I had planned on getting this quilt done last month. However, I put it in a project basket after taking it to demonstrate at the guild meeting in April, and out of site out of mind it went.

Since this quilt was just for fun anyway, I'm going to leave it on the design wall for a day or so. I don't like the distribution of dark pink in the quilt, so I'll spend some time staring at it tomorrow. It is to late to set it together tonight anyway.

Here is a fun song to wind up the evening...

Stitch, stitch here.

This is what I started with this evening after I made dinner (and blogged about it).

After cutting and sewing for at least four hours this is what I have to show for it.

I tried it on before putting the sleeves on and I decided I like it without sleeves better.  Besides that, it is a little difficult to put over my head already without the extra hassle of sleeves.

I'm going to take my dress form, shirt, and all into work with me tomorrow to have Chris double check my progress and see if there is a better way to do sleeves.  This shirt isn't perfect, but as a first try I think it is acceptable.

Technical Info

Machine: Bernette 55 (used straight and zig-zag stitches)

Pattern: Simplicity It's So Easy #2322 (I simple pattern I picked up at Joanns.)

Thread: Aurifil Mako 28 #2024 (This wasn't the "proper" weight of thread, but it was the only white Aurifil thread I have right now so I used it because it is the best. It looks like I'll be putting in a thread order at Pine Needles in Minnesota later in June. First I'm holding out hope that I'll be able to buy a few sets while at Market, but I'm not sure what they will have available there this year.)

Fabric: Denyse Schmidt's new line made exclusive for Joanns.

P.S. This is my second time using my dress form for a real project. It is nice to know that it has this small chance to actually fulfill its purpose. *smiles*

Denyse Schmidt at Joanns

It took me a while to decide if I was going to purchase the line of fabric that Denyse Schmidt made exclusively for Joanns. I love Denyse Schmidt, however, I think that is was a bit of a sellout point. (Understand that I'm also partial because I work in a fabric shop, and favor keeping my job for a while.)   Either way, I gave in once I saw the fabric in person. My picture, as always, doesn't do it justice because it's so dark.  I bought 6" of three pieces just to play with, and then I bought 2 yards of this piece to make a shirt.

I've tried making a couple clothing pieces in the past, but I never loved them. I'm hoping I can make a shirt out of this fabric that I'll honestly look forward to wearing. To put the best foot forward I picked out this easy pattern to get started with.  I figured if I could make it well with sleeves then later this summer I'll adjust it a bit to have short sleeves.

In other news, I finally finished by grandma's apron. It only took a couple hours, but it was a long couple hours because I really hated the fabric.  I also picked out nearly all of the floss colors for the crib-quilt. Once I got it all home I decided that I would really like to start working on it so I basted it, hooped it, and started the quilting process. I figured that I could easily stitch on the inside and outside of each box for starters and the go back later to add cute pictures in each square.

I pledge...

I've seen several people take the Progress Pledge and decided I would give it a try.

I, _Trina _, pledge to talk more about my processes, even when I can’t quite put them in the in words or be sure I’m being totally clear.   I’m going to put my thinking and my gut feelings out there. 
 
Really it shouldn't be that hard since I love sharing pictures of everything already.  You can visit R0ssie Blog for more information on the pledge and a list of other participants.

Right now I'm working on a sample for SewFlakes. I've been begging my boss for a while now to purchase more solids. Her "breaking point" was when I pleaded for the Bella solid jelly rolls from Moda and the Kona Solid charm packs from Robert Kaufman.  I swore that I would make the sample if she would just order enough to get started. Well the fabrics finally all arrived yesterday afternoon!

This is what I have so far. I'm only using one charm pack minus one of the squares. I'm not sure how big it will be because I haven't decided on the border yet. However, to make it useful I'm going to make it crib/toddler bed size, and put it away for my "hope chest". The last thing I need is (another) a purposeless quilt.

I was kind of hoping to get it finished tonight, but I lost momentum after Josh got home from work. Since I wasn't suppose to start anything else before finishing my grandma's apron I suppose this won't be done until this weekend., but either way it will be finished soon. I'm anxious to see the finished project, especially in real lighting.