A Little Bit Ambitious

This weekend (starting on Friday) is the first retreat for the San Antonio Modern Quilt Guild. I am so excited to be able to spend 3 and a half days sewing! (yes, I know I own a sewing studio and yes, I can sew whenever I want but I don't have to worry about meals or my puppy all weekend!)

Here are the projects I'm bringing with me to work on (sorry for the icky pictures, hopefully I'll have finished stuff to show after the retreat.) Do you think I'm too ambitious?

for my best friend's youngest son (and my Godson)

Paris, Birds, Pink and Brown how can I go wrong?

for the friend's oldest son (those are Robots)

Just for fun (and I've had it cut for over two years)

Something I started just a few days ago, a wonky boyish fabrics log cabin

I don't think it's too ambitious because I'll just be happy if I finish one or two. Hopefully I'll have lots to report on Monday!

Any big plans for this weekend now that tax time is over? (OK< did I just post about the weekend on a Monday?)

Happy Stitches,
Anna

My Design Wall

Here at the Studio, I am fortunate to have an entire wall for my design wall. After brainstorming about different options to make the wall useable (i.e. putting up insulation board etc) my dad found some acoustic tiles at Home Depot for about 43 cents each, yes I said 43 CENTS. So to cover an entire wall that is about 10 feet in length, it cost about $8.00! The acoustic tiles work well because I can pin in to them easily (just creates a pin shortage around the place) but I figured out that I could pin a flannel sheet to the wall and then just stick the blocks on that (DUH) maybe in the new year I will get some flannel yardage and consider actually using some sort of adhesive to attach it, but for now pins work.  SO, to get to the point, this has given me some room to put up projects I'm working on (and those of other people who create things in the studio). I've had this funny Hello Betty Honey Bun quilt up on the wall for quite awhile. Now that it's up there, the idea of putting ALL those tiny blocks together is sort of daunting. See?

And no, I haven't even bothered to count how many of those pieces there are. So the pattern is an Amish Brick pattern and the fabric is a Hello Betty Honey Bun, so I'm calling it Hello Brick Wall. I plan to add a small grey border and a large border in Jade, both Bella Solids that I LOVE. In fact, making all those tiny bricks was pretty easy, just strip pieced them, one 1 1/2" honey bun strip and a 1 1/2" grey strip made it pretty quick, then chopped them into small 2 1/2" units. Now I just have to sew all those together!

Well, since Blogger is being a real pain right now and not letting me add more than one photo (WHAT IS WITH THAT!?) I'll have to continue this post later. Geez!

Happy Holiday Stitches,

Anna

Cute and Quick Projects for the Holidays aka 12 Days of Craftiness

Ready for a trip around Blog Land? I have found some cute projects and wanted to share them. I won't be posting them all at once though. Hopefully I will be able to update this post with a new link every day for the next week or so.

1) Melissa from The Polka Dot Chair posted a tutorial for an AWESOME tote bag ornament!!

2) Lots and Lots and Lots of REALLY cool projects over at Whip Up's list of tutorials!
Knitting, crochet, sewing, and lots of other crafty goodness.


3) Cute SCRAPPY flower at Pink Suede Shoes! This would be cute done in red and green fabrics or maybe all white for a Christmasy theme.

4) For a new baby, why not make some of these cute baby blocks featured over at Moda Bake Shop? They use a couple of charm packs, so you could use some fun bright fabrics like Sugar Pop from the shop.

5) DuoFiberworks eBook Handwork for the Holidays - I'm in LOVE with the go fish game handmade!! Also, love the bean bag animals. OK, it's not a free pattern, but this could totally be worth it because you could probably make most of these items from your stash and only have spent the price of the eBook!

6) Here are some free patterns and tutorials from Duo Fiberworks too.

7) A couple of FREE patterns to make some cute mini quilts from Kathreen Ricketson's book Mini Quilts (also a great gift idea for a fellow quilter) plus another FREE quilt pattern from the book.
















8) Projects for gifts for guys? I always think guys are the HARDEST people to make gifts for but I found a great list of different ways to make iPad and Kindle covers and most are from UPCYCLED sweaters and stuff. COOL! You know, I bought a wool sweater vest thing from Goodwill not too long ago and had no idea what do to with it, except I knew I was going to felt it for something. Now I have some great project ideas.

By the way, Tipnut is one of THE best resources for TONS and TONS of ideas for EVERYTHING under the sun! I mean, I get the daily e-mail with TONS of ideas, including 25 recipes for Turkey leftovers and 45 different pumpkin spice bread recipes (I swear they are reading my mind) but also TONS of different sewing and crafting projects. I mean, TONS (did I mention they have TONS?) And usually it's all in an e-mail I get every day. I think EVERYONE should sign up for that e-mail because if you hate it, you can just delete or unsubscribe but they do all the work for you to find so many different projects and tutorials around the web and then compile them on a webpage and then send you the link in one e-mail! (And NO I am not getting any sort of compensation for this, I just LOVE Tipnut!)

More to come...

And if YOU find any cute tutorials around blogland, please feel free to share them in the comments!

Happy Sitches
Anna

Weekend Project Plans?

Anyone out there making plans to work on their projects this weekend or are you just planning to spend some time in the sunshine and not think about all those UFOs you have on your to do list? You know, I love this hobby of mine of making quilts and working on projects because it's not timeline based. If there is a deadline then it feels too much like work. I get to it when I can, and if I can't that's OK because it will still be there when I have the time. A lot of people in blogland have been commenting on that recently and I'm starting to jump in that bandwagon a little. It's slightly different when you have a business and want to make samples and display new fabrics and generate some buzz and enthusiasm but you know, even in the business world sometimes it's worth it to take a step back and re-evaluate if it's "fun" anymore. OK, that sounds sort of ominous. I have lots of plans for this weekend, I have to go to my house and work on finishing up painting the laundry room, the bathroom, maybe the loft, and allll the baseboards and mouldings around doors and windows. Yep, we're going to try to sell our house and these last three weeks have been a whirlwind of painting, carpet ripping, moving, packing, and commuting (I'm staying with family until things get settled). So, in the midst of all that, there hasn't been a lot of time for quilting, except I did work on the Oh How Charming quilt, and I'm working on a second one (Oh I think I mentioned that already). I'd really LOVE to go and get a pedicure or a massage or go shopping, but duty beckons and the house needs work. At least it makes the time I do get to sit and sew even more valuable and more relaxing because it's doing something I really really enjoy. So, tell me, what are YOUR plans for the weekend?

Happy Stitches,
Anna

Spring and Mother's Day Inspiration

I've noticed that most of the crafty blogs I follow sort of revolve around the next holiday and how to decorate or make gifts for those occasions. That's good in a way because now that I have everything in my Google Reader I can just see it all in one place! Here are some AWESOME links for Mother's Day projects but I think these would also be fabulous for just general spring projects too.


Dana's Fabulous Blog, MADE


Cute tutorial for a scarf over here at Ruffles and Stuff Grosgrain (she doesn't have a cute badgey thing, can you believe it?!)But she IS amazingly talented and she SHARES her talents! So have you seen any awesome ideas out there in blogland lately? Have you posted any on your blog? Please do share! Oh, and don't forget that some moms totally LOVE fabric and would LOVE to get a gift certificate to their favorite online shop (ahem). We have gift certificates available now! It's an option in the left sidebar of our shop. If you have any problems with them, please let me know ASAP and I'll work to resolve them. (Haven't actually had anyone test out the option yet.) And finally, some BIG news! I got a job! I've been "unemployed" since January, from the job that helped pay the household bills and as of Monday May 3, I'll be employed full time. This is a double edged sword because I am really enjoying a) sleeping late b) getting to do whatever I want all day long (yeah right) BUT I didn't enjoy the stress of wondering how we'd pay the bills every month. SO my main goal is to TEACH Regina (the other crafty girl) how to post so that none of our awesome readers feel neglected. I'll still be around, hopefully just as much, but if it's sort of quiet around here for a few days, at least you know why. I guess that's it for now. Hope you have fun checking out those inspiring sites!

Happy Stitches,

Anna

Found Something Cool to Play With

Until I have time for a more in depth post. Visit this to play!




Happy Stitches,
Anna

CGW Sew and Show on Flickr!

Edit: The badge is now available! It's over there in the sidebar with the nifty code thingy that you can just copy and paste! If you have any questions about that, please e-mail me. Click the link below to visit the flickr pool and join in! Thanks!!

Thanks sew much to Amy from Positively Splendid who has offered to help me with designing a badge for the NEW flickr group! When we get that finished you can bet it will be the next post, but until it's ready, PLEASE do stop by the CGW Sew and Show flickr pool and join in and post your pictures! I've already put in a few pictures of things that Regina or I have made and I hope they will inspire you too! The idea is to show what we've made using our fabrics or patterns (or both) and we'd love to see what you've made! Don't worry, we aren't checking receipts to see if you purchased it from us. That's OK if you didn't but the exciting thing about flickr is that it's all about pictures and you can add a description to your pics. So you can tell us about the item, why you made, and where you got the inspiration. If you used fabric or patterns from our shop, well, GREAT! If you have a pattern that you've used and think we should carry, let us know in the discussion portion of the group. Well, happy stitching to you!

Anna

In the Holiday Spirit

Yeah, I know it's sort of late to be thinking about making Christmas-y decorations but I can't help it. Lots of people around blogland seem to be finding the time somewhere to make such cute things! For example, Jodi, over at Pleasant Home has created some of the CUTEST table runners ever and with just simple strips! She said I could borrow her picture to show off her work. She takes such awesome pictures too! See!?

She gives pretty great instructions on her post about this as well, if you want to whip one up before all the great holiday parties you're planning to host! (I'm not going to host any until I get some new flooring and my downstairs painted, but that's another story.) Now, how does this relate at all to my shop you might ask? Heehee, I have to relate it back, well, wouldn't this tablerunner look SOOO awesome done up in some CUTE retro fabrics like we have in our shop? How easy it would be to cut them into 2 1/2" x 11" strips and one short stack would get you A LOT of strips! Here are some of my suggestions for cute fabrics for this from the shop.

Riley Blake Retro Christmas Short Stack (1 of 3 choices)

or

for a more traditional look

Studio e Christmas Short Stack

Remember you should be able to get several table runners from each Short Stack and if you were to add in a little bit of our solid white, Moda Bella Snow it would be a perfectly quick project. I think the best thing about those Riley Blake FQs is that because they aren't so traditional and they have snowmen, you can keep the tablerunner out way into January! Fun! Thanks Jodi for this inspiration and thanks for letting me borrow your idea. This is what I call collaboration! Oh and don't forget, if you want a variety, we do have the Create Your Own Short Stack option too! Then you can get 3 of the Riley Blake and 3 of the Studio e or add in some from Anna Griffin or even some of the red, white, and blue stars for a jump on a July 4th runner. (The combinations are endless you know.)

Happy Stitches to You,

Anna