Great Prices on Cotton Blossom Yardage

Cotton Blossom: Circles

Cotton Blossom: Flower

Cotton Blossom: Checker Print

These three beautiful coordinates from the Cotton Blossom line designed by Bonnie and Camille of Thimble Blossom and Cotton Way fame (they also have a new line coming out soon called Bliss) are available at a wonderful discounted price both on our webstore AND our Etsy store! You can get a 1 yard or 1/2 yard bundle of these three PLUS some other coordinates but if you just want to grab a yard, why not stop by the Etsy shop and get one? Their listings are almost expired and I'd love to see these fly off the bolts before the end of the day. I think these would make up into some adorable tote bags and aprons for your home. Of course, there are always the many, many patterns we have listed on the webstore. I encourage you to go and CHECK IT OUT! We have five yards listed of each of these three and that means that on Etsy you can get up to 5 yards without having to request a separate listing! I hope you'll go check it out before this chance expires! Order before 3:00pm CST and your order will go out today!

Happy Stitches,

Anna

Got Voile? A commentary, sort of.

In fact, do you even know what the heck voile is? According to Wiktionary and Wikipedia:

Voile (noun) Pronounced "voy-el": 1. A light, translucent cotton fabric used for making curatins and dresses, from the French term which means veil. 

Does that help? Here is what I consider to be a wonderful example of using voile to make a beautiful top:

From the Noodlehead Blog

Isn't that top just beautiful? And who would ever guess that she just used a Simplicity pattern! Not me, that's for sure. When I first saw voile, it was introduced back in October at the Fall Quilt Market, I didn't really understand what it was. Regina (the other crafty girl) recognized it right away as a great light weight fabric for making clothes, curtains, maybe pillows, but most likely NOT quilts. (She started out making clothes before she got into quilting anyway.) This was a little confusing to me, I mean we were at QUILT market, but this was a new trend starting in October that is now super popular. Well, it makes more sense now since the temperatures are rising (every day) and the idea of making light weight tops is super appealing. SO, long story short, Crafty Girls Workshop is jumping on the voile bandwagon and planning to order some which will arrive VERY SOON! If you visit this link to see some of the options and want to add your input about which ones you like the best, please feel free! I have a few in mind already but I'd love to hear your opinion too.

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

Fabulous Friday

This post is going to be full of LOTS of different things so please bear with me, OK?

Friday Linky Parties:

You can see the badges in the right sidebar, but part of the reason I LOVE Friday is all the fun linky parties around Blogland! I've linked to Friday Follow at One 2 Try, Follow Me Friday at Trendy Treehouse and New Friend Friday at The Girl Creative! Friday is a great day to make new bloggy friends!! Also a new one for this week, Spring has Sprung at It's FUN to Craft.

Finish It Friday:

I managed to finish a couple of really easy and rather fun to make tote bags and I finished them on MONDAY! Don't ask me why I waited until today to post about them. Well, actually, I was going to wait until April for a surprise but just wanted to share today before I give them away. The first one, I made with Mill House Inn fabrics that my mom purchased. She wanted a tote that was small and had pockets for her cell phone and car key. I just LOVE this pattern for the Desk Deli Tote. It's supposed to be a reusable lunch bag but I found that the size and pockets make it perfect for a carryall bag and I use mine as a purse. We don't have the pattern yet because it's super popular and actually on backorder with our distributor! We will be ordering it soon though. This bag is so easy because it's made with mostly fat quarters! OK, enough rambling I'm sure you want to see pictures, right?

This is the one I made for my mom with Mill House Inn FQs

I made this one for my friend Lynda who looves shoes.

Can you tell that the batik fabric has flip flops on it? She also LOOOVES pink!

I think the fun thing about these totes is the way the pockets are made. You can customize them to the size that you want for your cell phone, car keys, pens, etc. There are some skinny pockets that were intended to use for utensils (since it's supposed to be a lunch tote) but I use them for my pens! The larger center pocket was intended for an ice pack, but that's where I stash my cell phone. Well, I'll be sure to announce when we get this pattern in and you can bet we'll list some kits to go with it!

Store Update:

Guess what!? If you are subscribed to our newsletter then you should already know this AWESOME news! (If not, visit the teal box in the right sidebar to sign up. hint: You'll get coupons!) The great news? BUTTONS! We have some wonderful and super cute buttons in our shop! Have you ever seen buttons with POLKA DOTS!? I hadn't until now and we have them! I just LOVE the red ones with white dots!

Click the image to view item in shop.

I suppose that's it for now. Thanks for reading all the way to this point! Please do sign up for the newsletter because there are A LOT of great things in store for the shop (including the Fab Shop Hop in JULY!) and I am sure you want to be the FIRST to find out about them!

Happy Stitches,
Anna

P.S. I just watched Julie and Julia last night and LOVED it! How cute! Didn't really inspire me to cook though, just to blog and sew more.

Do you do this?

image source

You've probably figured out by now that Regina and I really love to sew. Lately I've made myself stop using the computer around 12 noon and go into my sewing room to actually work on some projects. Yesterday I finished TWO really cute tote bags, one for my mom and the other for a dear friend (pictures of those in a couple of weeks.) I also realized I have a TON of fabrics cut and divided into little baggies that are ready to be made into quilts! That's because I went through a kit buying phase and after I had done that, I went through a "I'll just cut these and make them ready to sew" phase. Now I'm going through the "I really want to make these things" phase. Maybe it's the spring weather or something.

Do you ever do that? Go through certain phases and then get super productive and make a lot of stuff?

Here's the other thing. I have a mini laptop (since main computer is in another room) and I've set it up so I can actually WATCH stuff on it while I'm sewing! I love to have music playing or my new favorite is either a show on hulu or Netflix. Hulu is a neat website I found where I can watch previous episodes of fairly new TV shows. My recent favorite has been Fringe, which was written by the same people who wrote the Lost series. I've just gotten caught up on the last five episodes of the second season over the last few days. Also, Netflix, if you have an account with them, will allow you to stream movies or TV shows on your computer for no additional cost! I was able to watch all of Seasons 1 and 2 of the BBC TV show Robin Hood (so sad that was only a three season series!) And soon I'm going to hook up an external drive so I can watch DVDs on my mini laptop too. My latest discovery is books on CD. This was sort of one of those V8 moments. I LOVE to read. I have NO problem listening to books on tape or imagining what's going on, I've done this several times when I used to have a LOOONG commute to my previous job. So why not listen to books while I sew? While I was at a thrift store yesterday, I found a copy of John Grisham's The Brethren on CD for $2.99. Gee, for that little how could I go wrong? Well, I found out, it's not just a 4 CD set, it must have more than that but all that was in the case was 4 CDs! I just finished listening to the 4th CD and now I'm hanging!! I plan to take it back to the store tomorrow. But wait, I'm not finished!! I just stopped by my local library today and picked out THREE more books on CD today! And one of them is even about a quilter who solves mysteries (my other favorite sort of novel is mysteries). So I can listen to a book on CD about a quilter while I work on a quilt! I also checked out three books but those will be hard to read while I sew. :-)

Does this sound familiar? Do you like to listen to books on tape or watch TV or movies while you work on a quilt? Or do you prefer to listen to music or have complete quiet?

I'm just curious because I felt so much better when I asked around and found out I'm not the only one who sews without shoes on (the better to feel the pedal, right?) Can't wait to hear your replies.

Happy Stitches!

Anna

P.S. Don't forget to join the CGW Sew and Show group on flickr! I'm anxiously waiting to see what creations you've all come up with!

New Patterns Available!

We just received a GIANT order of patterns and I finally got them ALL listed in our shop! Go check them out and while you're there, consider one of those pillowcase kits. We've also restocked some patterns that SOLD OUT such as the Britches and Bloomers and the Reversible Pleated Top. Spring is the time to sew and we've got the patterns and fabrics to make some CUTE stuff!

A few of my personal favorites:

Baby Overalls (Boy or Girl!!)

FUNked Out Peasant Blouse

It's a Wrap Pillow Sleeves

Just click the pictures or the name below to go straight to the shop and order! I hope you have fun shopping!

Happy Stitches to You,

Anna

Pillowcase Tutorial!!

Yes, it's finally time. The pictures are all ready and the instructions are written. Here is the LOOOONG awaited pillowcase tutorial, created by Regina (the rather silent Crafty Girl). At the end of this post I'll include a link to open a PDF of this tutorial so you can save and print it and keep it close to your sewing machine (mine is in a different room from my computer.) That way you'll always have a quick go-to project for fast gifts. By the way, the fabric used in the pictures is Oz by Sanae! We have a lot of it in our shop in various colors for many tastes. We also have a KIT available, just tell us your fabric choices (anything from our shop) and we'll cut it and ship it to you right away!

Easy Peasy Pillowcase Tutorial

Materials Needed:

3/4 yd for case

1/4 yd for band

1/8 yd for accent band

1-1/4 yd lace (optional)

Fold the pillowcase fabric in half and straighten the edges. Remove the selvage from the edges of all the fabrics. The selvage is the tightly woven edge that is either white with the name of the fabric or may be the same color as the fabric but has very small holes along the length of it.

Step 1: Fold the fabric for the 2 bands in half lengthwise (wrong sides together) and press.

Step 2a: If you are using lace, draw a line 1/4" away from the raw edge of the accent band (lengthwise).

Step 2b: Pin your lace directly below this line. The header of the lace should be touching the line. Sew in place.

Step 3: Line up the raw edges of the accent band (with lace) and outer band, pin, and sew the accent band to the outer band using 1/2" seam allowance. (picture below)

Step 4: Lay pillowcase fabric out flat, right side up. Line up the raw edges of the band piece and the pillowcase body. Accent band and optional lace will be sandwiched between. Sew together with a 1/2" seam allowance. If you have a walking foot, this is a good time to use it. Trim the seam allowance to about 1/4" and finish the edge with a zigzag stitch over the edge of the fabric (this prevents fraying).

Step 5: Fold the entire unit in half lengthwise and pin together. Take special care to match-up the seams on the band section. Sew together using a 1/2" seam allowance.

Step 6: Trim the seam and zigzag stitch over the raw edge. Turn right side out and push out the corners. Press.

CONGRATULATIONS!!!! You now have a pretty pillowcase for your bed!

Note: If this tutorial is unclear or you have any questions, PLEASE feel free to ask either here in the comments or by e-mail. We'd also LOVE to see if you make any of these how they turn out!

PDF Version Here

Happy Stitches!

Anna

Survey Says...

Alright everyone, it's your turn to spill the beans, haha. Please share some info about yourself in the comments. I'd really love to hear about who reads this blog and get an idea of what I should post about in future posts. Please answer the following questions if you would:

1) Your name
2) Where are you from?
3) Which do you do more, sew or quilt?
4) Where did you learn to sew or quilt?
5) How long have you been sewing/quilting?
6) What is one thing you want to do but are afraid of? (Can be related to sewing/quilting or not)

I'll answer first:

1) Anna
2) From Iowa City, IA, but lived in San Antonio, Texas for most of my life
3) At the moment I think I sew more than I quilt but I dream about quilting. I LOVE to make tote bags and small quilts and someday might make some clothing.
4) My mother in law, Regina, (aka the OTHER Crafty Girl) taught me to make a pillowcase for my new home when I first got married. She trusted me to use her BERNINA! I was hooked and have been sewing/quilting ever since.
5) That would make it about 6 years (but I did scrapbooking and rubber stamping cards before that and I've always sort of been "crafty")
6) I want to make some clothes, and maybe even with button holes! I love the Classic Shirt pattern so I think that's where I'd like to start.

Now, will you join me in the Friday Free for All and tell about yourself? I look forward to your replies.

Happy Stitches,
Anna

Yes, she DOES sew

And yes, she IS obsessed with red and aqua! Look at these adorable pincushion cuffs I made today! I made one for myself and decided they were sew easy that I'd make another one for Regina at the same time! I used the Lil Plane Jane Aqua and Red and White Dot from Michael Miller. They were SUPER DUPER easy to make and so fun and fast! I dug around in some buttons I inherited from my grandmother and found a really cool white pearly one and one that had a little flower crocheted in the center. Can you see it in this picture?

The neatest trick I learned while making these was to add an old cut up credit card behind the pincushion part, on the wrist band to protect my arm from stray pins! Neat idea! Thanks KeykaLou Patterns for this great tutorial! It feels so good to have actually fininshed something from start to finish today. Yesterday I managed to get most of a quilt top finished too. I just need to grab some more fabric to finish the outside border, backing and binding, of course. I call it the Love U Charm Quilt because I used 1 Love U Charm pack and 1 yard of Bella Solid Mint for the sashing.

I think this will be a great blanket for a little boy (or girl), the fabrics are so fun and cute! I can't wait to go to Regina's tomorrow to get the rest of the fabric. That's the update for now. We have some yardage of Martinique coming in soon and Make Life from Sweetwater, which is going to be super adorable for those of you who enjoy scrapbooking.

Happy Stitches to You!

Anna

I am SEW proud to be able to link this up to i made it! Blog party Thursday over at Everything Etsy!

Also linking to V.O.T.W.

And while I'm at it, a jump on next week:

Can you tell I just discovered the LINKY LOVE of link parties??

Brrrr...It's COLD!

Yes, I know it's a cliche but baby, it's COLD outside!! I live in San Antonio, TX a rather southern part of Texas. We aren't used to temperatures in the 30s and we've had multiple days in the 30s! It's sort of crazy because this last summer we had multiple days where the temperature went above 100. Wow, what a contrast to now! So, when the weather gets cold like this, it makes me glad I have a quilt made of chenille and flannel for my couch to snuggle under, and some warm quilts to keep me toasty. It also makes me think of making...PJs!! We have a couple of great patterns for making PJs so I thought I'd feature them today.

I think this pattern for Jack & Jill Jammies by Idygo Junction is just adorable! It's great for both boys and girls and has several options. This would be a fast project to put together using some of our flannel/woven fabrics. We managed to pick a few bundles of wovens up at the Moda warehouse last year and I think they would be perfect and snuggly for your young one made into these jammies. Or, if you're like me and don't have any little ones running around (or at least none that don't already have fur coats) then you might be interested in putting together some jammies for yourself or your spouse. That's why the Sleep Well PJs pattern by Favorite Things would be perfect for you.Another economical option because it has both men's and women's patterns included! Think of all the variety you can get from one pattern! So with cold weather, you'll probably want to stay inside and yet still be productive and you can be by making PJs to keep you warm! If you order this weekend, they'll go out on Monday and you can probably get the pattern/fabric and maybe even get the entire thing finished by next weekend! I don't expect this arctic blast to last here in South Texas, but I think it's going to hit the rest of the country for at least a couple more weeks. Oh, and if you haven't ever really ventured into the world of garment making (because you prefer quilting) this would be a perfect time to try it. PJs are relatively straightforward in construction and if you make a goof, it won't matter as much because no one will really see it! If you do buy this and make them, we'd really love to see the finished product. I hope you'll take pictures and share them with us by commenting with your blog post link. Thanks for stopping by tonight and I hope you're keeping warm!

Happy Stitches to You,

Anna

Quilt Market is Approaching!

On Thursday Regina and I will be leaving to go to the Fall Quilt Market. Do I realy need to say it? We are SO excited! To share our excitement about the new products, patterns, ideas, fabrics, and fabrics and MORE fabrics we'll be seeing, I'll be posting a NEW secret item EVERY DAY, or sooner if that item sells. So help us clean out some of our inventory and get READY FOR QUILT MARKET!! Oh, and I think we'll be getting some awesome preview goodies at Sample Spree, which I think we might be willing to share with our fabulous quilting friends, that's YOU! So be sure to check back. I'm taking my new, PINK, mini laptop and my camera so that I can post pictures of the behind the scenes. I am totally excited to meet some quilting celebrities, maybe even Amy Butler or Joanna Figueroa! Or maybe even Bonnie and Camille who designed Simple Abundance and Cotton Blossom! Wow, that would be awesome! I wonder if they would look at me funny if I asked for their autograph! Hey, look------------->
I just posted a NEW secret item right now! Remember, if you purchase the secret item, you'll receive FREE shipping, (and if you order more than just item, we'll cover your shipping up to $5!) If you live outside of the US, you could be saving a bundle! Back tomorrow with some more Christmas gift ideas.

Happy Stitches,
(and happy shopping)

Anna

It's Raining!

Rain rain, I hope you stay,
I really want to sew today.
If you stay I don't have to mow,
Rain, rain, please don't go!

How's that for a great poem!!!!

It's raining and grey and yucky outside, but that's fine with me! I'm going to play with several different sewing/quilt related things I've been brainstorming (haha, no pun intended) about all week while I was "stuck" at work! Lots of ideas rattling around up there! Anyone else doing some fun sewing today?

Happy Stitches,
Anna

What's Cookin' at the Moda Bakeshop

Well, ahem, it looks like we are in tune with the universe here at Crafty Girls Workshop. A sweet and ADORABLE baby quilt tutorial was JUST posted on the Moda Bakeshop! (Sorry I tried to add a picture but Blogger is not cooperating this morning!) Well, it just so happens that we have this SAME exact fabric available in our shop! (I think this would be super cute using any of our Snippets bundles too.) Granted, it's not precut into cute little charm packs but charm packs of Sweet are pretty difficult to find now so might as well just buy it in the 1/4 yard bundles. You might notice that this pattern calls for an additional 1/2 yard for the binding and 2 2/3 yd for the backing which you can also find on our Etsy shop, OR you can always stop by our website to shop our OTHER shop and get more yardage if you need it. We have an awesome cherry red that would work great as a backing and a precious red with tiny pindots that would work well for the binding too. Oh, well of course I would just love this tutorial, it's from one of my favorite blogs, Crazy Mom Quilts, or Amanda Jean. She's just awesome in all ways possible. Again, sorry about the picture thing, I really tried to add some pictures, but blogger seems to have other plans today.

Happy Shopping!
Anna

P.S. There is still time to enter the giveaway, just comment on the Giveaway post (back a few days) I'll draw the winner at midnight (or before I go to sleep). Also, please add your response to the poll over there on the right ---------->

Destash Sale

I hope you all had a fabulous July 4th weekend. I had Friday off from my full time job and was able to spend most of the day scanning in some NEW items for the shop, almost 100 new items in fact. After spending a few months madly sewing like crazy (Thanks Regina for your lovely creations) the Crafty Girls have come to a conclusion, the people who read our blog and visit our shop already know how to sew! And all you wonderful visitors probably would rather purchase fabric and patterns instead of pre-made items for gifts. SEW, that is the new direction we are taking in our shop. To start off, since we don't quite have the capital to just run out to the Moda warehouse and buy bolts of fabric (although it is very tempting, let me tell ya) we've decided to DESTASH our own fabric. Now, there are several advantages to this, first of all, Regina and I are pre-washers. Meaning we pretty much always wash any new fabric we bring home. This is an advantage for you because when you purchase fabric from us, it is a particular length AFTER being washed/pre-shrunk! I don't know about you, but I've been very frustrated lately when I have purchased fat quarters (18"x22") and gone home, washed them and then found out they were actually closer to 17"x21" after washing! If we sell a fat quarter in this destash, it's AFTER washing, so you're getting a better deal. We've also gone through our sewing and quilting patterns and found several that we've never used, and no longer need to keep around, so we want to make them available to anyone who would like to make good use of them, and the price reflects that. This is a DESTASH sale, so the prices are very good, we didn't even mark any of our fabric over $8 a yard, now that's a steal! Some of this fabric is still out on the market but difficult to find, so you might want to check us out and snatch it up while you can! Oh, and did I mention that we have several charm packs for sale? I still have a few more to get listed today, but I've posted the ones I thought would be relevant, including a couple of Christmas/Holiday packs. Remember, it's time to start thinking of making gifts for your loved ones for the holidays. Our charm packs are a steal for only $7! OK, the down side, shipping. Yes, the cost of shipping is going up and it may seem pricey to spend $4 on a pattern and have to pay $2 for shipping, but we are willing to combine shipping. We'll even set up a custom listing for you on Etsy if you want to purchase multiple patterns (and fabric, and charms). This will make it easier to get a specific cost for the shipping. With the new flat rate postage boxes, it is a little easier to figure shipping costs, but it's to your advantage to purchase multiple items so that you actually save on shipping costs. So, go take a look at the new items in our shop. We still have more to destash, these items are really only the beginning, plus we will have some BRAND new patterns to list very soon! Thanks for visiting!

Anna
The Techy Crafty Girl
P.S. Tell your friends too, the sooner we sell this stuff, the faster we can get new items ordered to offer to you all.

SALE Pillowcase KIT SALE!

OK, this is the moment you've all be waiting for. Crafty Girls Workshop is celebrating one month on Etsy and to commemorate this we are having a SALE! All the pillowcase KITS are on SALE! They are $5 off the regular price which is like getting free shipping PLUS a dollar! We are happy to combine shipping. Also, if you just don't have time to make the pillowcase yourself, for $5 more per case, we can finish these before sending them to you! The fun part about making the pillowcase yourself is that you can have lots of fun picking out ric rac or lace or other embellishments to make them extra special. Remember, the kit comes with instructions. PLEASE check back soon because we will be posting some more items, we try to get new stuff on there every week if possible. So, visit our shop, if you purchase something and mention that you heard about us from the Crafty Girls Workshop Blog, I'll send you a special gift with your order. How's that for exciting!? Be sure to add yourself as a follower of this blog so you can keep up with shop updates. Thanks for stopping by and I hope to be doing business with you very soon!

Happy Stitches,
Anna
Crafty Girls Workshop

More Items Listed

We've listed several new items in the Etsy shop today. I'm sort of torn at this point. We've been listed on Shop Handmade for about a month with zero sales, but I listed several of our items on Etsy on Friday and this morning found out we had made a sale! So, we are considering switching over to Etsy permanently. But for now, we will have several items listed on both. Thanks for visiting and shopping with us. Please note, we are willing to make custom items if we feel we have the skills to make them, so please don't hesitate to contact us about custom orders. Also, if you live in or around the San Antonio, Texas area, we can arrange to meet you to deliver any item you purchase. That will save you the cost of shipping. Just send us a message on either Etsy or Shop Handmade to let us know you are local. Well, I hope you will visit us soon.

Happy Shopping,

The Crafty Girls

Open for Business!

Well, here we are. And who are we? Anna and Regina, two crafty ladies who love to sew and quilt. We decided to try turning our passion for crafting into a mini business. Our online store has officially been open one week today! So far we've listed items we've made with care to brighten up your home. Eventually, we plan to list collections of fabric with a pattern included, called a kit, so that if you feel confident in your sewing skills, you can make your own crafty creation! We want our store to be dynamic so that it will ebb and flow with our customers' needs. That is why we have this blog. We need to know what you need in order to be able to supply it to you. If you need baby items such as blankets, burp cloths, bibs, diaper bags, and baby clothes, we can do that. If you want a quick project to make for a friend, check our store. We are also going to post some great tote bags soon, since it's getting close to beach going weather. I bet that several of you would rather buy a kit with the fabrics already selected so that you can just open it up and start sewing. In fact, I've created a little poll over on the sidebar to the right so that you can let me know exactly that. I am curious to see how many people would prefer a kit over selecting the fabrics on their own or buying premade. Remember, Crafty Girls Workshop is a great option when you want to get a gift for a friend's birthday or shower. So, keep us in mind for all your gift giving needs! More coming soon, so check back tomorrow! Oh, and by the way, if you scroll down to the bottom of the screen, you can see exactly what we have in our store. See something you like? Just click on it to go directly to that item in our store!

Happy Crafting,
The Crafty Girls