Testing a Cheater

This was my first go at making cheater cloth. I used the same squares but I changed the design and colors a bit. The design is a mash up of Amish folk designs with licorice candy cross-sections. I think it would make an excellent purse as well.

I’m going to embroider this and make a baby quilt for a friend. (Welcome baby Hailey!!)

Please if you have the time could you vote for this in the Spoonflower weekly contest? Go to it via this link.

I named it “Plain & Fancy Cheater” and you may have to click through several pages to find it. There are 8 pages of quilts to go through. To vote, click my quilt and a green border will appear around it. Then you will need to click through the rest of the pages, scroll down to the bottom and click the button to cast your vote.

Thank you much!

STUFFED

My make-your-own dolls are in the current issue of STUFFED magazine July 2010. The fabric is printed by Spoonflower and is shown in the photo. Go here to see the Spoonflower link.

I guess I need to write up a step-by-step tutorial for these girls now.

I hope everyone is enjoying their summer! My days have been filled with creating fairy homes, swimming, scavenger hunts, and snack time treats.

In Thick

It’s Summer! This is my busiest time – I watch 3 girls ages 9, 8 & 7 plus my 7 year old. We’ve got lots to do which translates =  no time to post.

I’ll try to say hello now and again with a picture here and there of what we’re up to. Until then – catch ya later gater.

It’s a Shirt. It’s a Dress. It’s a Shress.

Last year our dog, in a sudden fit of exuberance, tore my husband’s shirt sleeve. I put it away into my pile of perfectly-good-clothing-that-I-could-someday-do-something-with. Well, last week I finally did something with it and made a tunic dress for Tootie.

I got the idea after seeing this photo posted on Wee Wonderful’s flickr album. I thought, “I COULD DO THAT!” only I didn’t shout. I would’ve been shouting to myself and that would be plain weird. However, I may have whispered it. Not that that is any less weirderer.

Anyhoo, I made a dress thingy for Tootie and I’m really pleased with how it turned out. Sadly, I have no idea how it came to be because I totally made it up as I went along. Tootie likes it too which is HUGE. HUGE, I tell you because she doesn’t like anything I do normally. She even wants me to make another one. H has donated another shirt to the cause – this one in green gingham. I hope I’ll be able to redo what I did.

Spoonfollower

LOOK what I've been up to! A new blog. As if I needed another thing to do…however, it was needed! I’ve been thinking about it for quite some time. I wanted to create a site like Decor8 or Design*Sponge or Creature Comforts but that only featured fabric for sale through Spoonflower Marketplace. I don’t know about you but I get lost in all the design choices that are offered for sale there.

I feel the same about Etsy and I really enjoy when people post their favorite finds as Decor8 does on Fridays. Soooooo, I did it. Here’s how it works. Very simple really. I pick 3 designs and post them every day. There isn’t any rhyme or reason to it, just what catches my eye at the moment.

Eventually, I may do an interview as well, or feature projects made with Spoonflower printed fabric. Who knows? It’s exciting to see new and interesting fabric designs. I hope you enjoy my picks too. If you stop by please leave a comment and let me know what you think. Speak up if you have any suggestions or ideas and perhaps a comment about the fabric I’ve chosen. Here’s the link: http://www.spoonfollower.wordpress.com

Diggin’ Around

Literally. I’ve been digging in the dirt. I’ve been talking about planting  trees in our backyard for a couple years and I’m finally doing it. I’ve dug 6 holes so far. I changed my mind after digging one hole so I had to dig another. I timed myself and it takes me 30 minutes to dig a hole approx. 3 ft in diameter and 2 ft deep. The soil is clay but we have a great compost pile that has over 16 years worth of lawn clippings and yard waste and I use that great organic soil. I’ve been able to pull about 20 wheel-barrel loads and haven’t put a dent in the compost pile.

What trees did I plant?  Apple! Dwarf Fujis and one other variety for cross pollination.  We’re smack in Johnny Appleseed country. I know these trees will work. That photo was taken 4 years ago at a local orchard in the Fuji grove. Our new trees will be just like those; small but mighty. At least I hope.

1993

17 years ago today.

This was taken in the limo. We were on our way to the reception. I love this. In this shot we’ve been married a whole hour or so and both of us are into our own thing; me adjusting my headpiece in the mirror and Stephen DuPree playing with all the buttons and such in the limo.

Happy Anniversary sweetie.

broken

Apparently, I broke my blog. It all started when I wanted to add some image links to the sidebar and it went downhill from there. I’m hoping to get the tutorials and everything else back up sometime soon. I used to be good at this whole blog thing but now I’m all rusty and fumbly. No promises as to when everything will be back and hunky-dory.

In real life news I bought 3 apple trees, 2 raspberry bushes and a snowball hydrangea. I’ve been a busy girl digging holes in my backyard and I have more yet to plant.

Quick hello

I’ve been spending time with my family, doing lots of Spring cleaning, a tiny bit of sewing and I’m slowly recovering from a candy coma. Hope all of you are doing well. Happy Happy.

waiting for the mail

I just ordered a bunch of fabric from Spoonflower. I ordered Fish Bowls, Chinese Kites and Wishing Fish Background (which is the background for Chinese Kites).

I plan on making several Oliver + S Popover sundresses with my ordered fabric. There are some adorable examples of the sundresses on April 1930′s blog.

I also designed a new fat quarter panel for my Make Your Own Joybucket Dolls. The new design includes step by step instructions. This isn’t available for sale yet. I want to work with it first. I also have a coordinating stripe that can be used as a backing fabric for the dolls. This IS already up for sale – Kokeshi Girls Stripes. I ordered both of these as well and will update here once I get it in.

Finally, I ordered my Modern Ovals wall calendar. I figured I should have one for myself. The photo below was taken by Spoonflower. They printed it up for one of their contests. You can purchase one for yourself here.