sew & tell - more from my mom

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Hey!  It's me!  The owner of this blog. . . Remember, Amy?  Amylouwho?  {chirp chirp} No? Doesn't ring a bell? {Is this thing on??}   Well, that's okay, I've been away for a while.  Thanks again so much to Penny @ sewtakeahike, E. @ pinksuedeshoes, and Nicole @ Who does these things?  They did a great job - and don't be too sure that you won't see them again!  I still have a lot of unpacking to do, friends to make, weight to lose and child-rearing to tend to.  I do think I've carved out a little space to do some sewing, so that's good!

We are attempting to settle in, and it's not as easy as I thought it would be.  The kids alone are taking longer to adjust.  And they are not only adjusting to a new house, but a new baby sister, new friends, and new everything!  Well, except Target and Costco - two constants that always feel like home!  :)

Speaking of feeling like home...

My mom was working on this little table topper when I was at her house in January.   It's a disappearing 9 patch with an adorable brown and white polka dot sashing separating the blocks.  The main fabric is Santorini by Lila Tueller.

I liked it when I saw it, but it didn't grab me at first. Then she sent these pictures of it completed the other day!!  Oh my!! It's so pretty!  I love how the brown sashing mimics the stained glass look of the fabrics.  And that green border - I just love that bright green!

Too bad for me, I didn't speak up soon enough.  She donated it to her guild's auction the other night.   :(  It would have looked so cute on our new table in our new dining room!  double :(  !

I should learn by now that I'll pretty much like anything she makes!  And yes, that's more quilting by my aunt.  She's good.

Don't you think my mom should start a blog??  I've told her she should, but I guess if she doesn't I can always share her stuff here when I haven't got anything of my own...

What sewing project did you finish this week?

Please refer to the sew & tell page if you have any questions or wonder why your link may have been deleted.

1. Link to your specific post about a sewing related finish you had THIS week.

2. Please mention sew & tell in your post and link back to this post (link or button) so everyone can join in.

3. Pat each other on the backs in the comments!

can't breathe. . .covered in boxes. . .

Just wanted to pop in and say hello!

image via Big Apple Boxes

This is pretty much what I have to do to get a smile on my face while we are unpacking all these wretched boxes.  It's not so much the unpacking that is bothersome, it's that it takes so long because I have another job that takes all my time: namely feeding, dressing, refereeing, bathing, protecting, and toting around 2 other kids.  Oh! and then there's that newborn!  Who I would just like to curl up with on the couch and not do anything else expect stare at and examine every little feature on her.

The bright side is, I unpacked my fabric and it was so happy and lovely to see again.  AND this house is much more spacious than our last place.  I love it so much!

Anyway, hoping to get back to normal again here soon.  I'm finding it hard to sit and have both hands free to type, download pictures or even think straight.  Currently, all 3 of my kids are napping.  That's why you get to hear from me!

I hope you've enjoyed our guest Sew and Tell-ers!  I have, they've done an amazing job.  Expect to see some more guests throughout the summer.

xoxo

PS - go check out pinksuedeshoe's PINK WEEK GIVEAWAY!  If you enter and win the clutch, you have to give it to me for referring you over there.  No pressure.  :)

sew & tell - christmas in june and a winner!

If you are new or need a refresher for Sew & Tell guidelines you can click on the tab above for details on linking up!
 
It's me, Nicole, again.  I had to come back to announce the winner, of course!  Let me start by thanking everyone for all of your wonderful comments.  You're all so nice!  And now for the winner:

Annelies from Sew Blessed

Congratulations!  She mentioned that she is going to be a Grandma soon, so double congratulations. :)  Annelies, please email carseatblanket@gmail.com to claim your prizes.

Since this is Sew & Tell Friday, I thought I'd better show something I made this week instead of just announcing the winner and leaving on a high note.  I've wanted to be a quilter since I was very young.  My Great Grandma Rhoda Lee made quilts that were pretty unbelievable even before I knew she was only using scraps and doing everything by hand.  Her favorite quilt was the Lone Star.  It required the most skill and she liked to show off. :)  When I really started quilting last year, one of my big goals was to make a Lone Star.  Thankfully I discovered a method that made that quilt a possibility.  I use a lot of Quiltsmart patterns and their Lone Star is one of my favorites - no bias cuts, everything lays flat.  Yay!  I bought a room full of Riley Blake's "Be Merry" Christmas fabric last January at 70% off and here is my first project using it:

I took it to a long arm quilter and hurried to sew up a back for it before I ran out of the house.  Shocking surprise, I made the back piece a few inches too short.  Booooo!  I had to pay a little extra and buy a piece of sorta-matching fabric...  

The tree fabric is flannel.  Somehow it made the back even cuter.  I love this little quilt!  It's making me so happy. :)

I hope no one is grossed out by a Christmas Project in June.  It's not too early, right?  Okay, it is. 

What have you been sewing this week?

Please refer to the sew & tell page if you have any questions or wonder why your link may have been deleted.

1. Link to your specific post about a sewing related finish you had THIS week.

2. Please mention sew & tell in your post and link back to this post (link or button) so everyone can join in.

3. Pat each other on the backs in the comments!

sew & tell: car seat blanket pattern give-away

If you are new or need a refresher for Sew & Tell guidelines you can click on the tab above for details on linking up!

Welcome to Sew & Tell Friday!  I'm Nicole and I'm filling in for Amy this week.  I really love Amy's blog and all of a sudden I'm nervous about ruining it with this post. Stay!  Stay...

Almost two years ago I made a car seat canopy/cover/blanket for my sister-in-law for her new baby boy.  It was pretty poorly made (no pattern), but so much fun to give something useful, that I wanted to make another one.  My friend, Kristi, and I made some changes based on mostly her experience (I have one kid and she has a dozen... or three, it's hard to tell when they move that fast).  We rounded the corners (no more dragging the blanket on the ground), hid the Velcro closure under the handlebar of the car seat, and put elastic at the "head" of the blanket so that it wouldn't blow up (not an explosion, which is what I think of every time I write those words) in the wind.  Since coming up with that new design we opened an etsy shop and I've since made over a hundred car seat blankets.  How about a collage (not of all of them- yikes)?

And for boys:

Most of you who read this blog know that you could make one of those, no problem.  And you're right!  So how about a giveaway of our pattern and some pretty glass-head pins?  Now you won't have to waste fabric figuring this out.  To enter, leave a comment on this blog.  For a second entry, go to our shop, browse, come back here and mention in your comment what your favorite item is.  The winner will be announced here next Friday.  Good luck, everyone!

Now, off you go to encourage all your sewing-blogging friends. :)

What have you been sewing this week?

Please refer to the sew & tell page if you have any questions or wonder why your link may have been deleted.

1. Link to your specific post about a sewing related finish you had THIS week.

2. Please mention sew & tell in your post and link back to this post (link or button) so everyone can join in.

3. Pat each other on the backs in the comments!

Sew and Tell- Reversible Twirly Skirt

If you are new or need a refresher for Sew & Tell guidelines you can click on the tab above for details on linking up!

Hello everyone, it's e from pinksuedeshoe. I'm filling in for Amy for sew&tell this week while she lives out of a suitcase and waits to move into her new house.

Last summer I was poking through my little stack of fabric (it is now a much bigger stack of fabric) and while sifting through my fat quarters I hit upon an idea. I thought that there must be a perfect way to make a little skirt for my then 6 month old daughter with a few fat quarters. So one afternoon I made this pattern up. I love it for several reasons:

• It's reversible so it's two skirts in one.
• It's fast, easily less than an hour- for TWO skirts!
• There is absolutely NO wasted fabric. And all you need is two fat quarters, a little trim and some elastic.
  

And as if that wasn't enough, a year later and my daughter can still wear it! I sewed up a new little skirt this week so I could write a tutorial, which is posted over on my blog.

It's a great little twirly skirt and will fit little girls from about 6 months to 18 months. Just by changing the trim you can customize this skirt for any mom and baby. You can use ricrac, ribbon, lace, ruffles, little pompom's, you name it. A few weeks ago I made this same skirt for Amy's baby Maggie to match her big sisters (Amy posted pics here) so I added a little extra fabric trim to the bottom. Come visit me at www.pinksuedeshoe.com for the full tutorial!

What have you been sewing this week?

Please refer to the sew & tell page if you have any questions or wonder why your link may have been deleted.

1. Link to your specific post about a sewing related finish you had THIS week.

2. Please mention sew & tell in your post and link back to this post (link or button) so everyone can join in.

3. Pat each other on the backs in the comments!

New York Beauty

My mom left last week.  The day after the movers took all our stuff I had to take her to the airport. :(  I hate that we live so far away and she can't come over and hold the baby all the time!  She was so much help.  Thanks, mom!!

She also gave into my begging to get her quilt finished!  I'm bummed I didn't have time to get it posted for Amy's Quilt festival, but at least you guys can see it.

My aunt quilted it and dropped it off to her at the airport when she was catching her flight to come visit us.

I just love these colors.  And the points on this thing are so precise!  She's good.  Someday I'll have to have her show me how she did it.  I know it was paper-pieced, but I've never done anything like that.

She finished the binding while she was at my house (and look at that awesome backing fabric!).

We were going to have a binding party and I was going to finish the baby's quilt.  But mostly I just sat around and nursed and did laundry.  Booorr-rriiinnng.

I almost thought about throwing this in one of my moving boxes, but as it is her pièce de résistance, I just couldn't do it.

Sew and Tell is on for tomorrow!  pinksuedeshoe will be guest posting for me, and if you are familiar at all with her blog - you know it's going to be fun!