a quilt giveaway and a fabric giveaway. . .

Pink Fig Design is giving away two finished quilts!! Hop over to enter!

and wouldn't these prints make some great Summer skirts and sundresses for my girls? Go to Retromummy to enter this one!

you know you're a crafter when . . .

I was sorting my purse and diaper clutch for an outing the other day and smiled when I realized how many handmade items were laid out on my counter. The purse, diaper clutch, cheque book cover, reuseable shopping bag, and "dirty dipes" wetbag were made by me; the keychain wristlet and tissue case were gifts, and the wipes case was a craft project with my daughter one day. I LOVE handmade :) And here's a pillow my daughter and I made for a birthday girl this week. It's hard to see in the picture, but the birthday girl's name is accross it. The fabric is a super-soft flannel from Moda's Woodland Bloom.

my first knitting project . . . sort of . . .

So a group of friends and I get together for coffee once a week and over the years we've tried to make some of these nights productive ~ scrapbooking, card making, sewing, quilting, and our latest endeavor was knitting. So I picked out a sweater pattern for Justin and got started. I soon came to realize though that this is not my favorite thing to do, and one evening a week was not getting this project done anytime soon, or at least before he'd outgrow it. So when we went to visit my Oma recently, I was thankful for her willingness to take over the sweater for me. I had managed to get the back piece and half an arm done, but in no time at all, my sweet Oma had the whole thing finished and on its' way back to me. Thanks Oma for doing a beautiful job on another sweater for one my kids!

paci leashes . . .

My kids have all used a pacifier, and one thing I always make sure to use is a soother strap. I just don't want to take the chance that they lose it on an outing; or if it falls out of their mouth in the church nursery, the babysitters won't know who it belongs to and my kid will be the one screaming when I come for pick-up because they want it back.

Yes, my kids have all had a soother at one point and been addicted to them ~ but I'm still battling the dental and jaw problems from being a long-time finger-sucker, so my theory is that a soother is an easier habit to break. Plus, I really love being able to quiet them quickly when they hurt themselves or if they start losing it in the middle of the grocery store.

Anyways, the straps at stores are often velcro and I have gone through some of these in less than a month because the velcro wears out, or sewed them closed which created problems when the soother needed replacing. But, my solution came when I discovered how easy it was to order clips online, and make them myself. And I can even buy snaps with engraved images on them like butterflies, cars, and animals and match them up to the fabrics.

Now I've found another way to use up scrap fabric, and make cute straps that are usually only found in boutique kids stores. I've listed a bunch of them in my shop if you need some for a little one in your life.

And if you'd like to win one, I'll be giving some away to fans of my Facebook page.

doll quilts . . .

Doll quilts have become a fun mother/daughter activity around here lately. My two oldest girls are almost as crazy about beautiful fabrics as I am, and sorting through the scraps and small pieces of fabric is a great way to spend some quality time together :) And it's kind of funny how opinionated they are on which ones go together, and how to lay them out. Here's some fun ones that we put in the shop.

WAHM giveaway event happening today. . .

There's a big giveaway event going on today, filled with lots of beautiful handmade items. I've contributed two prizes ~ a burpie/bib/paci clip set and a second bib/paci clip to the event.

If you'd like to enter, just go to the WAHM Giveaway Photo Album at Bumbledoo. You can enter as many or as few as you want. All you have to do is "like" the WAHM that is sponsoring the giveaway, leave some comment love for that WAHM, and then report back to Bumbledoo under the picture that you did! Bumbledoo will start drawing winners at 9 pm EST. She will also have a couple of gift cards to her store up for grabs!

the Tweet Tweet quilt . . .

Today begins an online blogger event called the Blogger's Quilt Festival. I thought about which quilt to contribute to this event and kept coming back to this one ~ my Tweet Tweet quilt.

The fabric is from Tweet Tweet by Keiki for Moda and I actually won it from a generous giveaway event sponsored by one my favorite bloggers ~ Heather from House of A La Mode (you should go check out her blog and drool over all her beautiful creations!).

I really LOVE these prints ~ so many cute things to look at. I held it up for my youngest daughter and it was like a whimsical I Spy quilt ~ she just kept picking out items, animals, and cute little things on it.

This is definitely one of those quilts where the fabric created the quilt design. I just couldn't cut those larger scale prints into little pieces and lose all the great detail in them. And because I was using fat quarters, I had to improvise on what was the best way to lay them out.

I don't have a person in mind to give this one to right now, so I've put it in my shop.

Now go check out all the other beautiful quilts in this event!

aprons in action . . .

Vesuviusmama was the winner of the apron and purse in my Fall into Fall Giveaway, but since she has two boys she was happy to receive two aprons instead. Here's what she had to say about them. . .

And when we got home today, there was a surprise in the mail. I won a giveaway from Rebecca at Our Busy Little Bunch in the Fall Into Fall Giveaway, and she sent aprons for my boys. Of course, they wanted to cook right away, so we scoured the cupboards and found the fixings for oatmeal raisin cookies, which we took to our Cub Scout Den meeting tonight. Thanks, Rebecca, the aprons are fantastic - I love the design, the durability, and the fabric!

name pillowcase . . .

This was a request from my daughter for a birthday party she went to yesterday ~ a pillowcase with the birthday girl's name on it. It was also a great way for me to practice using my blanket stitch on my machine ~ this is my first project where I successfully used it.

math used to be my strongsuit . . .

I'm working on a custom order right now with some Wee Woodland fabric ~ I ordered a fat quarter stack of the flannels so I could get all the prints and have been trying to figure out the math to squeeze two baby quilts out of it. I have some additional half yard cuts for the bindings and think I may be needing those for the blocks too . . .

and this was a half hour window of "happy" for our little guy yesterday ~ he gets these windows between his not wanting anything to do with me cause he's too busy playing with his trucks, and his not-so-fun adjustment from two to one naps lately ~ don't you just want to squeeze those little cheeks?!

boys aprons are in the shop . . .

A fun little photo shoot with some cutey pie nephews and four aprons are in the shop! Thanks for your help sis!

giveaway winners . . .

So after adding up all the unique comments (162) plus followers (63) plus Facebook fans (93), I had a number of 318 entries. Off to the random number generator I go . . . and back to my spreadsheet . . . and the winners are . . .

Vesuviusmama (apron and purse) and Kristin (book and charms)

Thanks everyone for entering and supporting me as I opened up my Etsy shop! Today I listed my first girls' apron, and a batch of boy aprons is ready to go in the shop; I just need to get some pics with a couple nephew's first.

Fall Giveaway Day!

And the winners are . . . Vesuviusmama (apron and purse) and Kristin (book and charms)

Let me introduce myself! I'm a stay-at-home Mom of four beautiful kids and for the past decade I have been sewing and quilting as a part-time hobby. Well, now that my youngest is a year old and sleeping throught the night (finally!), I've decided that I have the time and energy to sew and quilt for people beyond my own family. So I'm joining Etsy and today is opening day at my shop! Please take a look at some of the quilts I've made for it so far, and I'll be adding new items soon!

I have two giveaways up for grabs ~ first up is some handmade items ~ one of my Criss Cross Applesauce purses AND a childs aprons (these are my next items that will be going in the shop!) ~ there's lots of prints to choose from (just check out my last post) and for the apron there's boy prints too!

My second giveaway is for Amy Butler's InStitches to inspire some sewing in your craft room! I'm also throwing in a Fairy Frost charm pack from Michael Miller fabrics ~ it's a stack of 50 5" squares ~ enough to complete a small project!

How do you enter? Just leave me a comment! I'd love it if you visited my shop and told me what your favorite item is or what you'd like to see next!

If you follow my blog publicly or "Like" my Facebook page, you'll automatically get some bonus entries!

Winners will be chosen by a random number generator on Oct 15th.

THANKS so much and GOOD LUCK! And head over to the giveaway page to enter some more!

in production . . .

So I have been sewing, really! It just doesn't look like much, yet!

Fall Into Fall Quilter Bloggers Giveaways . . .

Want to win something homemade or something to use in the sewing room? There is a BIG giveaway day coming up and I'm going to be hosting a giveaway too! I've been working on some projects to start an Etsy shop, so what better way to share what I've made with you, than by giving something away too?

So, if you want to win or host, click on the scarecrow to get taken to all the details and make sure you don't miss out on Oct 1st!

a quilt for our little guy . . .

Instead of taking a book along camping, I brought Justin's quilt so I could finish hand-stitching the binding. It is so nice to see this quilt finished and in his crib now! This was the last in the trio of quilts I had been working on ~ Meagan's and Carter's were finished in July.

I'm linking this up to Sew & Tell Friday ~ go check it out for some sewing inspiration!

sewing for the boy . . .

A couple bibs and soother straps for Justin . . . I decided that I need to make a conscious effort to sew more for my own kids and enjoy some handmade stuff around here than always just making for baby gifts and birthday presents for others. And Justin was in dire need of some more of these, so they'll get used lots!

toy shopping for kids made easier . . .

Over the years, we've given our kids lots of gifts - Christmas, birthdays, and other special occasions. I am a bit of an "over-thinker" when it comes to gift buying. I'm quite picky, and like to find the "perfect" item. The toys that last and get played with the most always end up being the ones with the most "imaginative play" ability. So when I found out about this online toy store called Ebeanstock, and started looking through the way everything is organized by gender and age, I was interested. They even sell one of our favorite toys for the same price as in the store locally. And I really prefer to shop online than dragging all my kids out shopping or finding a time to go without having to take them all with me. Ebeanstock also has a policy of testing out all their toys by moms before they list them on the site.

Some of my favorite finds were this from the baby toys, this from the toddler toys, and this from the kids toys. I'm looking forward to being a part of their motherboard and getting to test out one of their toys for them ~ I can't wait to see what they pick for us!

little girl baby bibs . . .

One of my favorite baby gifts for Justin was a little sailboat bib with snap closure. It's just the right neck size, has a bit more coverage than most bibs, is really cute, and extra special because it's handmade by a friend. So when we got the call recently that a new little niece was born, I right away got to work on a couple little bibs for her. And it was a great excuse to try out my new toy, a pair of KamSnap pliers. They are super easy to use, and I have a big selection of snaps to choose from ~ lots of different colors and engraved pictures on them. I used some butterfly snaps to finish off these little bibs.

Petal Knot Dresses . . . and little petal knot purses . . .

Have I mentioned that I sew for fabric? I came accross a request for some custom petal knot dresses on a forum that I frequent, and couldn't resist answering. It turns out that the person asking also happens to work at Joanne's Fabric and since we don't have any close by, I was more than willing to make the dresses in exchange for some fabric from the store. She picked out a great assortment of knits and flannels for me, and I'm hoping to get working on some projects with them soon! The pattern that I used for these dresses is Portabellopixie Claire and the matching little purses were made using the Luscious Bow Tote pattern (I scaled it in half and instead of a bow, I made petal knot straps and knotted them). It was especially fun working with someone else's fabric combinations; each one is so different but so cute! These little sets will be on their way tomorrow and I'm hoping that some little girls will get lots of wear out of them!