Handmade for the Holidays and a Cushion For Christmas Blog Hop

After two days of cutting fabric for 9 hours straight my right shoulder and feet are killing. Have a hard time walking. We are about 1/2 done with the Black Friday orders. I will be making a push today to get as many more as I can cut. We will be shipping over the next 4 days or so.

For the next 22 days I will be featuring a different shop each day for buying handmade items to gift to your loved ones. I am going to do the best I can to support my friends and customers by buying handmade wherever possible. Can anyone make an Ipod touch? My daughter needs a new one. :)

First up is Silly Mama Quilts. You recognize that name you say? Yes, well you probably do if you have been around here for long. Here are a couple things you might not know about my sweet friend Brooke.

1. She is the most encouraging person I know.
2. Even when I am grumpy she is sweet to me.
3. She never forgets my birthday or Christmas and gifts me with her sweet creations on a regular basis.
4. If you went to Market and saw Ann Kelle's or Tamara Kate's booths you saw a bunch of her handy work.
5. She doesn't know I am doing this and she will probably be shocked.

Okay on to the pretties...

How about this gorgeous diamond table runner made with Reminisce:

An adorable iPad cover for a boy:

Or maybe a fun Holiday decoration for yourself:

Like I said I am going to be doing a post everyday until the 22nd. If you own a handmade business and want to be considered for inclusion in my little gift guide just send me an email with a link to your shop.

Speaking of pillows/cushions. My friend Ms. Midge is starting a blog hop today all about cushions (pillows) She has some great sponsors (us included) and a great line up of bloggers showing off ideas for making cushions. Take a hop on over and check it out.

Happy Monday ... my 600th post and giveaway.

Hi Everyone,

This is my 600th post! Three years and 2 months that is how long it took... I can't believe you all are still hanging out with me but I am so glad you are.

One of the sweet friends I have made along the way is Terry she moved here last year and happens to be an old friend of my Quilted Fish team mate Jana's ... here is the adorable quilt she made from Peak Hour

and what a great picture too...

I love having the flickr group so that I can see all of the lovelies you make. Thanks for participating everyone!

Now that I have made a decision about the shop (even though it is scary) I actually got a good night's sleep last night. We are putting in an application for a retail space. It is perfect and when I saw it I knew it had to be mine. More info about the shop later.

So it is 600th post / belated 3 yr blogiversay celebration week. We will do 3 givaways this week (3 for 3 years) starting today. These will be fast and merciless get your comments in quick because you only have 2 days. I will end todays on Wednesday morning when I announce the next giveway so you have today and tomorrow to enter. I will give away a full fat quarter bundle of Avignon for todays giveaway .. look at this great picture Brooke took:

And a little something she is whipping up with it:

Awesome right? This is not the whole collection though. You will receive all 18 prints if you win the giveaway.

To Enter:

Leave a comment telling me what kind of notions that you specifically go to a quilt shop for. Since I know most of us use those 50% off coupons form jo-ann for our notions...what don't you buy from the big J but buy from your LQS? Please do not enter by saying "Please enter me in the giveaway" you actually need to answer the question even if it is only one word like "Patterns" okay? Seems fair to me :)

See ya on Wednesday with the next Giveaway....

XXOO

Phew Friday Fun Day... And Another Giveaway

Hi Everyone,

Thank goodness it is Friday, ya know what I mean? What a crazy busy week! The Fun in this Friday is this amazing magazine that Amanda put together. It was photographed at the UP House. So cute! And it features projects from some of my favorite people like Brooke, Sally, and Jana.

And the Giveaway today is being hosted by Melissa at Happy Quilting. It is Fat Quarters of The Woodlands gotta love those fun prints. And don't forget to go back to the post yesterday and enter the giveaway for Pear Tree.

Okay for everyone that is wondering about my hint yesterday. The guesses are cracking me up but the rumor of my Pregnancy  is greatly exaggerated. That one made me laugh out loud! No I am not having a baby next week but someone did a (eh hemmmm) few years ago... my mom! My birthday is next Saturday. This is one of those big ones that ends in a 5 or a 0 ... this time a 5. I am that fortunate girl that gets a pumpkin pie for a birthday cake every year and I get to make it myself too :) Sometimes my birthday is on Thanksgiving day itself. So we are celebrating all week long (it just so happened a lot of my sponsored blogs are having giveaways that I am sponsoring in the next week and a half) so stay tuned for all the presents you get on my birthday ... hehe :)

Friday Fun Day, Blessings, and The Giveaway

Hi Everyone,

For fun I thought I would show you a few Sneaky Peekies of some things from the Newsletter (it will be out Tuesday).

Melissa's Original Reversible Bag Pattern. This will be so awesome for Christmas gift giving...

There will be a super little pattern tip from our friend Sunni.

And I know you have seen this already but it's so gorgeous I just have to show you again:

A tutorial from Brooke on how to make my table runner :)
PS. go take a look at her blog today she is working up something with one of the fabric collections I have coming for the shop.. yum yum!

There will also be a tutorial from Jackie for this adorable Christmas Wall Hanging.

In this month of Thanksgiving I also want to tell you how blessed I am to have such wonderful friends. Melissa, Sunni , and Sasha are new friends but no less cherished (lucky me I get to meet Melissa this week). Brooke, Sally, and Jackie are old friends (I met them in January LOL) but we are soul mates and I always know they are in my corner as I am in theirs. I am so blessed.

One more very special friend is my friend Becky. I met Becky through this blog. She is a new quilter and we hit it off instantly. She was the one that introduced me to Mixed Media Art and we share books across the miles. I love this girl! Here is a piece of art that she made that showed up across the miles for me one day:

She is such a doll! So all of this to say Happy Birthday girlie! Hope you have a wonderful one!

On to the Giveaway... in honor for Brooke I am giving away a six fat quarter pack of Primitiva that I picked up at Sample Spree... yay!

Fun stuff!

All you have to do is leave a comment here telling me what you feel most blessed for. Giveaway runs until Friday 11/18 at midnight.

Have a wonderful day and go thank a Veteran or Soldier it's only fair!

Market - The People

Hi Everyone,

Here is my second post about Market... tomorrow you get to see what I picked up at Sample Spree... The people are the most important part though right? So without further ado... here are some of the people we rubbed shoulders with: (excuse the photo quality they were all taken on my cell phone)

Sally and Brooke at the Airport. I came in a little earlier than Brooke so Sally and I were there waiting ... we screamed her name as she came toward baggage claim LOL



Candice- one of our besties from The Quilted Fish's creative consultant team... waiting in line for Sample Spree

In Sample Spree with Amanda Herring (The Quilted Fish)

Ack look at my hair...oy I hate having my picture taken... I love Kate Spain though ... sweetest girl ever.

I was bending down... she liked that... Mistress Hoey is so adorable. I couldn't believe she remembered me :)

Sally and Khristian A. Howell she is so sweet and wait til you see what she has coming for spring it will knock your socks off.

Sally and Natalie of Cinderberry Stitches she is adorable and now when I read her blog it is in her cute accent :)

 

Sally and Lynette Anderson I have a story about her read below. 

Everyone was wonderful I hate having my picture taken... and why oh why did I wear something like that on the first day of the show??? I am so stupid... okay enough...

Poor Lynette Anderson and her husband were on my flight from Houston to DFW it was an hour late and they missed their flight home (so did I) it was much worse for them than any of the rest of us. They live in Australia and Qantas has been on strike for a few weeks. So all  of the passengers have been backed up trying to get home. The last I saw them the ticket agent was saying the first flight out was next Sunday (6 days) Lynette's husband was going to miss a lot of work it was really really bad. So here is praying that they got home sooner.

Okay ... back tommorrow with my haul from Sample Spree... hope you are having a wonderful week.

Talk soon!

It's My Party and I'll Craft If I Want To...

Okay it isn't really my party... it is Amanda's but since she is letting us Creative Consultants help host it all around the country and the world... well you get the picture.

This is Delighted... just in case you haven't seen it around here enough :) What you can't see from the pictures is how amazing this would be for Christmas decorations. It would also be oh so adorable for any room in the house but especially a spunky girl... and this adorable bunting panel....

Imagine the Tea Parties!

All of the girls on the design team are celebrating in their own way today. Sally and Brooke have party posts up already so when you are done here you should go over there and check it out. Really if you aren't following the other girls on the team you should think about doing it... they are so amazing and creative. Here is the entire list:

Amanda (AKA the Queen)

Sally

Brooke

Jackie

Candice

Jana

Stephanie

Johanna

 

While Sally was here last week we recorded a video for you so you could have instructions for the craft we are making. It is a Bottlecap Pin Cushion and she and I decided to add a ring to it. Here is the video.. you will get to hear my voice instead of just reading my typing... and the music is from Sally's band's first album... so cool!

This was done in one take so please be kind LOL

What would a party be without a goodie bag to take home? So yes, Virginia, there is a giveaway. I will be choosing ten people to send a bottle cap pin cushion kit to. All you will have to supply is the glue and fiber fill. I will even send you a ring in case you want to make a ring pin cushion like we did in the video. One lucky winner will win a fat quarter pack of one of the colorways of Delighted of their choosing. All you have to do is leave a comment on this post and I will pick the winners on Monday 10/24


... in shop news Lark did not come yesterday but it will be here next Monday... what did come yesterday is the most beautiful solid fabric I have ever seen... Free Spirit Designer Solids are gorgeous. They have a soft satiny finish to the hand that is just to die for. The colors are vibrant... honestly the prettiest solids I have seen. I will have them up in the shop tomorrow.... just a few colors to start but I will be ordering more.

Friday Fun Day Giveaways Galore

Hi Everyone!

So today one of the blogs I sponsor is hosting my giveaway for this stack of eight fat quarters from Little Apples. This one is a short turn around so be sure to go over and enter today. It is only open until Sunday morning.Maureen is a super talented lady. I wish I had her photography skills :) I started sponsoring her just this month and I love all of her fun projects. So go here to enter the giveaway.

Don't forget to go over to Sally's blog and enter to win one of those adorable designer aprons of hers.

My other friends Caren and Brooke are having a giveaway on Caren's blog for something fun you need to go over there and enter too.

More on the Kindle cover tutorial later this afternoon.

'Til then...

I've Lost My Mojo and Newsletter Sneaker Peekers

Hi Everyone,

That day again... Newsletter day...

This is a working picture of Sasha's Hanging Sewing Tools Organizer... gosh I love those fabrics. This is perfect for those of us that are horizontal surface challenged.

This is Sally's Simple BowTie Quilt. I am in love with this one and think she needs to send it to me LOL Just kidding Sally don't really do that.... I will be there in October to pick it up in person LOL

So if you don't want to miss these and those adorable projects I showed from Brooke (go say "hi" to her today it is her birthday) the other day, go sign up for the newsletter. (Upper right corner of the blog.)

I just started sponsoring this blog. Maureen is a super designer and has so many fun projects on her blog I know you will enjoy her. You might have seen her pillow project in the latest Fat Quarterly. Today she shared another super fun tutorial for an upcycled pillow. Honestly go look you will enjoy it.

I've lost my sewing mojo... Do you ever have one of those sewing days? Yeah I know you do... I had one yesterday nothing I did came out right.... my Kindle cover tutorial is going to be a few days late because the original model was fine but I wanted it to be a little bigger and the bigger model became this:

After spending 5 frustrating hours on this yesterday I didn't have enough time to write my tutorial. So if you give me until Monday I promise I will have it posted here on the blog... it might not be blue to match Sally's pillow from last month's newsletter anymore but .... here is to getting my Mojo back :)

Have a super Wednesday!

Talk soon....

Sneak Peeks and Other Random Stuff

Hi Everyone!

Sorry for being so quiet this week. It is a bad idea to take 2 days off when you work for yourself you end up making up for it for a week :)

This is a sneak peek of a Little Apples Tutorial that Brooke is working on for the Newsletter. Precious!

And here are a couple pictures of a Taza project she is working up for you too.

Dang that girl is prolific!

All of my testing Guinea Pigs you should have an email in your box from me about the site. Scary but exciting!

I hit 500 followers while I was away this weekend and I will be hitting my 300th post in the next week or so. You know around here that can only mean one thing.... PARTY (with lots of goody bags) stay tuned for that.

Now it is time to get out of my jammies and get started on the day.

Talk soon!

I got nothin'....

Hi Everyone,

I have bloggers block... seriously I have been so busy with the shop since Friday that I haven't sewn a stitch.

So instead I am resorting to stealing photos from Brooke ... okay I didn't steal it. She sent it to me. These are two more sneak peeks of her Tutorials for the newsletter this month. Above is a Dazzle table topper. She is a machine I tell you. I also tell you I am sooooooo lucky to have her as a freind and colleague.

Look what she made with the Terrain bits I sent her... sooo pretty!

I am also hoping to have a tutorial from one of my other friends that you have heard a lot about here. Maybe I will get to show you tomorrow. Next month I promise a Tutorial from me... really I need to get off my behind :) Oh my goodness... where does the time go?

Talk soon!

A Sneaker Peeker

Hi Everyone,

Here is a sneaker peeker of just one of Brooke's tutorials that will be in my newsletter this month. Isn't she the bomb? I mean really? Don't miss signing up for the newsletter (in the upper right hand corner of the blog) if you don't want to miss out on this and a few other things up my sleeve. As always it will be out the last day of the month.

I got no sewing done this weekend. I was totally bombarded with orders and some of the bolts of Pernilla's Journey are more than half gone already. This fabric is so amazing in person. It is so soft and drapey that it feels more like lawn or voile than quilting cotton. It is amazing! I need to take more pictures of it. Sometimes I completely mis-judge what people are going to buy and this is one of those times. I guess because the green and black are the ones I love I thought everyone would... but I think I sold more of the Chocolate over the weekend. The pink elephants are more than half gone already so I might have to see if I can order another bolt... they are so stinkin' cute!

Heirloom is gorgeous as we all knew it would be and it has almost a linen feel to it... smashing!

Sorry for all of the wordiness today... Have a great Monday!

Talk Soon.

Sneak Peeks

Hi Everyone,

 These are sneak peeks of adorable projects that are going to be in my newsletter this week.

If you didn't know about the newsletter it is a way of me bringing you fun projects and exclusive content that you don't get to see on the blog. It comes out just once a month (so no spamming your inbox) and it has fun projects and tutorials, some by me and some by my amazing creative friends. The two projects above are by my wonderful friend Brooke (you met her last week when she guest hosted my blog) and I have one coming from my sweet friend Sasha too (I will sneak peek you on that one tomorrow).

So go sign up for my newsletter (there is a link at the top of the blog on the right) so you don't miss out on these fun projects.


Wrenly will be here today ... oh happy day :)

Winner over here.....

Hi Everyone,

Thanks, again, to Brooke for hosting our giveaway last week. Normally I answer all of the giveaway comments but the task was too daunting by the time I got back... so I let them slide this time. You still love me though right?  

Mr. Random Said:

And number 16 was:

memmens said...

Wow another lovely giveaway - thanks. I would make skirts for my girls, with different panels in, think that would be gorgeous.

June 17, 2011 8:08 AM

Congratulations memmens I will be emailing you in a minute for your snail mail addy...

I have tons of sewing to do today... it might have a little of this in it:

And I might or might not have gotten some just to giveaway to some lucky someone soon... just maybe...

Talk soon...

A Favorite...

Hi Everyone!
I am Brooke from Silly Mama Quilts and Julie's friend! I have the awesome priviledge of hosting here for the next few days!! Be sure to check back for some fun stuff while Julie is gone!
Today I thought I would share this great ruler with you. My VBF bought one for me and I LOVE it! Click here to see the Guideline's website with all they offer. I enjoy using this ruler when cutting lots of strips the same size, as the guide underneath holds my fabric in place and it doesn't slip. Do you have a favorite go to tool? I would love to hear from you!

The Plan...

Hi Everyone,

First of all I wanted to show you this gorgeous quilt that one of my shop patrons made. She married Kumari Garden and Kumari Garden Holiday so beautifully in this don't you think? Here name is Carly and her shop is called Quiltville. She not only makes quilts she designs them and has her wonderful patterns for sale in her etsy shop. You should go take a look I think you might find something you can't live without. I know I have.

So what did I mean by "The Plan"? I will be gone this week starting on Wednesday. It is a wonderful and exciting week for our family. Our amazing son, Michael, is graduating from High School and having his Eagle Scout Honorarium this week. We are so stinkin' proud of him :) It is really hard for me to be away from the shop right now that it is just getting going but this is so important.

Doesn't he look handsome?

I am so proud that one of my good friends has agreed to step in and guest blog for me while I am gone. Brooke is an amazing creative lady and I know she has some fun things up her sleeve for you. So I will be back tomorrow but then I will be incommunicado for a few days. I know you won't forget me right?

Hugs to all!

Talk soon....

A tour of sorts...

Hi Everyone,



Since I have been so busy with the shop I haven't had nearly enough time to sew and the few things that I am working on I can't show (surprises) I thought I would give you a tour of some of my friends handmade goodies.

Above is a mug rug that my new friend Sasha made with some fabrics she got from my shop. I love how she mixed the Prince Charming with the Silent Cinima they go so well together. She got the idea from my friend Brooke's tutorial last week on The Quilted Fish Blog. This was her first attempt at free motion quilting. Didn't she do a fabulous job?

Speaking of Brooke ... here is a mug rug she made out of Kumari Garden Holiday. This proves that my imagination is lacking because I seriously thought you needed huge blocks to show off this fabric. This is so lovely. It can be found in her etsy shop.

 My friend (and Quilt Market Roomie) Sally has been busy. A mug rug and pillow from Little Apples and a quilt from Silent Cinema (and more) you should see her blog today she has been busy! Don't hate me for stealing your pictures Sally :)

Hoo's In The Forest is in the shop and it is cuteness overload as Sasha told me this morning :)

Talk soon!