Friendly Friday and Catching Up (Again)

So I've been a little busy lately, duh, when is anyone ever NOT busy? Since I actually managed to get a new job that starts on MONDAY (gulp) I've been trying to get my house in order before I'm gainfully employed and unable to spend all my time cleaning house (yeah right). Yesterday was the second half of a wholecloth quilt class I took at one of my Local Quilt Shops (LQS). This quilt and quilting technique is just simply AWESOME! Guess what? After only two morning classes and some mad quilting in between, I've got a FINISHED quilt! Want to see?

Here it is in all it's crinkly goodness. I LOVE this quilting technique, the result looks like PLAID! Isn't that sew cool? Hmm, did I mention this before or anything? Oh, and yes, I used ALL that thread I showed in my other post. Here are some more fun pictures of the quilt.

Close up of the binding and piping, plus the back!

A far away shot, sort of

So  now that I'm done tooting my horn about this quilt, here's a question:

Would you like me to create a tutorial about this technique? It's TOTALLY easy! It's two pieces of fabric, 1 1/2 yd each and some for the binding and piping. That's pretty much it for the materials, how cool is that!?

Please let me know if you want me to do a tutorial, because if so, I'll probably have to make another one (OH DARN) in order to photograph the process. Oh, and I figured out a sort of nifty faux mitered corner technique for the binding. (Very proud of myself about that) Did I mention that this quilt is done ENTIRELY on the machine? Even the binding!

OK, enough about me. What are y'all up to today? I think I'm going to try to work on my sewing room spruce up some more, but later.

I'm linking today's post up to the usual Friendly Friday linky parties. See sidebar for links.

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

Spill the Beans Sunday

Source

True Confessions of a Crafty Blog-aholic

Hello, my name is Anna and I am ADDICTED to crafty blogs! So I finally figured out how to use Google Reader. Not that I didn't really know how to use it, just that I forgot it existed. Turns out ALL the blogs I've ever chosen to follow for ANY reason whatsoever have been logged on my Google Reader account! That means that when I log in to my account I can see them, ALL the Crafty Blogs I've sorted into the Crafty Blogs group are now nicely organized and I can read new post after new post after new post and go on a linky crafty world spree! So, I was working on reading all the 300+ NEW posts (seems I forgot about it again for a day or two) and in the mean time I found oh, four or five NEW blogs to add to my reader! That means that for every two or three new posts I actually read, I was adding another new blog with more NEW posts! Crazy!! Now, it's a good thing I'm doing this at the odd hours of the morning because if it was during the day I would REALLY feel like I was wasting time. But at this time of the morning, when the dogs are sleeping, hubby is sleeping, it's just me and the world of crafty blogs, hmm, I can get lost in inspiration!

But wait...There's MORE!

I have another confession:

I was organizing the shelves where I store most of my fabric and projects and I FOUND fabric I actually FORGOT I had! Is that horrible!? (Or just normal for a fabric-a-holic like me) I actually FOUND a few layer cakes from lines I REALLY love! I also found some charm packs and lots of patterns I had sort of just stuffed on the shelf for some odd reason. So, now that I've finished with folding the bigger pieces of fabric, I'm working on the declutter and actually sorting stuff in my Spring Studio Spruce Up. I hope that very soon I'll have some pictures to show you of my uber organized Spruced Up Sewing Space.

Your turn to SPILL THE BEANS!

What is YOUR addiction?

Fabric, beads, buttons, scrapbook paper, all of the above?

(Oh, don't get me started on my scrapbook paper addiction!)

Please share in the comments, you can post anonymously, don't worry, we won't tell your significant other.

Just remember: What happens on Crafty Girls Workshop Blog stays on Crafty Girls Workshop blog (unless you want us to share!)

Happy Stitches,
Anna

Spring Spruce Up: Progress Report

Well, I really wanted to draw a "winner" from the people who posted their links or commented on last Saturday's blog, but since it was just a small group, I've decided that you are ALL winners! So, I'm going to send you a very special Pin Cushion custom made by ME! How about that? Please e-mail me your mailing address at anna@craftygirlsworkshop.com if you have decided to join in the Spring Studio Spruce Up.

IF you are just joining us today, no problem! I'm going to do a BIG drawing at the end of the spruce up and I'm going to give you an extra entry for each comment on blog posts between last Saturday and May 1 (the end of the Spruce Up). SO there is still time to join in!

MY Progress Report:

I've drunk the fabric folding kool-aid (you know that already if you've watched my view-torial) and I LOVE it! I DON'T love having to re-press all my fabric again, but it's worth it to be able to get much more fabric on a shelf! That means, MORE room for MORE fabric!! Have you drunk the fabric folding kool-aid and tried it out? If so, please tell me and if you'd like to send me a picture, I'll post it on THIS blog. Before and afters are great, but just afters are great too.

I also tried to ribbon storage idea of wrapping ribbons on wooden clothes pins and storing them in jars. I LOVE it! Yes, I had to hunt around town for those wooden clothes pins (NOT the kind with the wire thingy) and then I had to actually wrap the ribbon the pins, but it was fun and since I don't have an overwhelming amount of ribbon, I think it looks pretty cool.

Other than that, not much else has happened on the storage spruce up front. I went to a wholecloth quilting class on Thursday and these are the fabrics I brought for my quilt. They are from Meadowsweet by Sandi Henderson (and yes, we have them in the shop!) The big flower is one side (1 1/2 yd) the pink flowerish pattern is the other side (1 1/2 yd) since it's a wholecloth quilt there isn't ANY piecing involved! All we did was bring it to the class already sandwiched with the batting (I used fusible, which I LOVE) and then she showed us how to do this really cool technique to quilt it which ends up looking like PLAID!! I'll have to show you when I get it done. I have to bring it already quilted to class next Thursday so we can put the binding on, which I'm going to use the orangy-pink fabric and we'll add a piping, I'm using the stripe. FUN, FUN! Oh, and I get to use ALL the threads I have in the picture, that's the fun part!

Now it's time to LINK UP your Spring SPRUCE UP! If you've taken any pictures and posted them, please link up below. If you don't want to post pictures, just add a comment to tell me you're participating. (Does anyone think I use capital letters too much? I can't help it I'm EXCITED!)

Happy Stitches,

Anna

Spring Spruce Up: Fabric Folding Tutorial

I wanted to post the video directly here in the post but it's not working! So try clicking here for a direct link to the video on my flickr page.

Sorry about that!

Here's a little video-torial I created to show how to fold fabric for storing on your shelf. I hope you enjoy it and find it helpful. Thanks to the Happy Zombie (Monica Solorio Snow) who posted this first in a photo tutorial.

Happy Stitches,
Anna

Linking up to:

Friday Follow, New Friend Friday, Feature Yourself

Spring (Studio) Spruce Up (part two): Sort and Organize

Why is it that the entire feel of a room can change if you change the name? If I call a room my sewing space or sewing room, it feels normal and sort of plain, but if I call it my Sewing Studio that completely changes the feel for the room! Just a random thought to start off my post about organizing.

You know, in honor of Earth Day this Thursday (April 22nd) I think it makes sense to be sprucing up our studios or some part of our homes. It's a perfect time to air out your linens that have been stored away in favor of heavier blankets, and to rexamine the items in your home/sewing space. I figured out how to do a mosaic! Here's a great website for that.

1. Fabric storage, 2. my sewing table feb 09, 3. Craft Space (new home!), 4. magnetic board on inner cupboard door, 5. my desk, 6. Ribbon storage, 7. buttons 002, 8. A corner in my studio, 9. craft room glitter shelf

These were just gathered from the first 10 pages of the over 9000 images in the Craft Rooms group!

I found some totally cute storage cubes (collapsible) at DOLLAR TREE!

All of these for just $5 total! And they match my room colors, isn't that too cute?! The rectangle ones have dividers on the inside I think those will be perfect for organizing small notions and the others will be great for FQs and precuts.

Here are some other great ideas for storage:

Ribbon Storage in jars (with great tutorial)

Fabric Folding tutorial (Happy Zombie)

Video Rack turned Ribbon Holder (French Picnic)

Tipnut Buncha Links Organize Sewing Rooms and Crafts Supplies (They did all the work for me!)

General Decluttering Tips (Tipnut again)

Organize a Craft Space (Home Made Simple)

Wow, these pictures are so inspiring! I'm very determined to get my sewing room organized from top to bottom this week so I have some great pictures to post on Saturday!

Question(s) of the day: How to do you store your fabric/papers/thread/buttons?

Do you organize by color? By size (yardage)? By collection? Theme such as holiday? Come on! Spill the beans!!

Happy SpRiNg SpRuCe Up!!

Anna

Spring (Studio) Spruce Up Inspiration (part one)

I'm not sure why, but I'm a super insomniac tonight and you get to benefit from it! I've been blog hopping and found some great ideas and inspiration for sewing rooms. Did you know there is a group on Flickr just for pictures of Craft Rooms (a small group of only 4,330 members!) AND Sewing Rooms (over 1000 pictures!) If you just go and type "sewing rooms" in the search box it finds all sorts of great pictures!



Hmm, I have some more ideas but I think I'll save those for tomorrow's post, I can't wait! In the meanwhile, don't forget to link your post with pictures (before OR after is fine) on my linky post from Saturday! You will be entered to win a Goody Bag from Crafty Girls Workshop! Oh, and tell your friends!! I am determined I'm going to figure out how to make one of those neat-o mosaic thingys for tomorrow's post of great storage ideas! I have two ideas for storing ribbon, oh, actually, make that three I just remembered another one I can grab. Oh, and Kim over at Everything Etsy had a neat post a little while back about crafty spaces. Hope you'll check it out! Have a great Monday!

NOTE: You can post ANY Spruce Up to the linky page, I don't mind if it doesn't relate to a crafty/sewing space. Any sort of before/after will do and be inspiring to those of us who need to spruce things up a bit.

Happy Stitches (and Sprucing Up),
Anna