everyone needs a little spring

My ears are burning because they're talking about me over at the Jolly Jabber with a chance to win this:

Again, I'm so flattered I was asked to put this together! It was a lot of fun and I can't wait to start making some half square triangles for a zig zag quilt!  Sound fun?

Click HERE to purchase!

spring color fabric love

So we went out of town for spring break and the mail piled up! I had 3 packages waiting for me.  And after I took the pictures I realized I don't venture out much from my choice in bright happy spring-y colors.  And I'm totally okay with that! 

Some fabric for a new quilting bee I joined - I know I have too much already on my to-do list.  But I couldn't pass up an opportunity to quilt with some of my favorite people!  Love this Happy Mochi Fabric from Monica.

Then I got this little order I placed from Randi at Fresh Squeezed Fabrics.  The orange is a departure from my normal picks, but I like it.  The blue and green? Not surprising at all. (Riley Blake Chevron, Lizzy House Pearl Bracelets)

 

And then there's this.  Which I am dying over a bit!!

 

I've had that little link over there on my sidebar since I picked out the fabrics for the bundle and my month is finally here!  These fat quarter bundles are cut and shipping now!  Click here if you want your own!  I love the fabrics in person.  Even better than I hoped they would be!  I hope you like them too.  

{amylouwho} winners and other random stuff

Well, hello friends!

Melissa at the Polka Dot Chair was sweet enough to interview me for her blog today!  I met her in person at the Sewing Summit and we sat next to each other sewing on Saturday night!  It was really fun!  So if you are interested in an everything-you-wanted-to-know-about-amylouwho-but-were-afraid-to-ask type of post, you can read it HERE.

Things have been a little unorganized around my house lately. I don't talk about it a lot, for lots of reasons, but my husband is getting ready for a deployment and it means he is gone a lot for extended training trips. When he is gone I don't sleep enough and then pay for it the next day.  I'm not as motivated, productive, or as organized as I would like to be. So I'm finally getting around to posting the winners from last week's giveaways!!

With the help of Random.org..

The winner of Candy's Dyeing to Stitch is

#1
embquiltsaid...

1

This looks fun! I am actually working on my second ever Dresden plate but am going big lol loved my first one so much that I joined a snowflake Dresden plate swap - of course it uses a different template then my handy one AND oh yeah I've gotta make 12 sets! Then even though thanksgiving has passed I've caught the Dresden bug - gonna do the big turkey that is on the Missouri star quilting co YouTube page!

11:27 AM, November 30, 2011

The winner of a pair of earrings from Leedle Deedle Designs is

#10
tarasaid...

10

I like the dreamy double drop pearl earrings!

7:02 PM, December 01, 2011

Ladies - if you haven't heard from me yet, send me your contact info so I can pass it along!  Thank you!

And if you are interested in buying some really amazing earrings go to Leedle Deedle Designs, the coupon code AMYLOUW25 will give you 25% off your purchase!
*****
I have been doing some things around here, like painting my kitchen and an accent wall in my living room. I need to take some after pictures then show you!  I also managed to get my Christmas lights up on my house all by myself. I am woman, hear me roar! (or swear a lot).

I also picked out this fabric the other day to make this quilt.  I've always thought Amy Butler and Sandi Henderson's fabrics went well together.  Here's a perfect example!!

(L-R) Henna Garden, Full Moon Dots, Daisy Chain, Secret Garden, Daisy Chain, Daisy Chain, Henna Garden

I needed something quick and easy.  I'll let you know how it goes!

{amylouwho} thankful for fabric

I've wanted to share some gratuitous fabric shots with you so I thought I would do some thankful posts this week.  I really am thankful for fabric and all the possibilities it holds!

Here's some pretties I picked up while in Utah at The Sewing Summit.

I don't get to shop much at shops that have fat quarters, so it was nice to walk through Pine Needles and pick out a stack of fabrics based solely on color! I've been really into orange with aqua lately.  Glad I'm not the only one!

I almost died when I saw Sandi Henderson's Secret Garden fabrics in person at The Material Girls Quilts too.  The fabric itself is SO soft and I couldn't pass up this navy with the bright pinks and greens.

I've finished a project with it this past week that I want to share with you. Soon.  I have enough fabric left over to make something matchy matchy for my girls. (oh and yes, that is some henna in leaf. couldn't resist.)

I got this cute stack from the SLC Modern Quilt Guild dinner, Fox Trails by Shari Butler of Doohikey Designs.

And yes, foxes are the new owls I hear, so I'm glad I'm up to speed on the trend. :) I think the racoons are pretty cute too!

And then cute Leigh from LeedleDeedle Quilts, shared her awesome stack of Fandango that she won from Nadine during the shop hop!

I've wanted some of this for a long time.  Now I just have to decide what to do with it!

What are you thankful for today?

{amylouwho} the day I left for the sewing summit/or almost thrifting

Do you get stressed out when you are getting ready to travel? I do! I have weird travel dreams about losing my passport, being in Paris without enough time, missing flights, etc... It was no different this time around.

I was anticipating flying with babylouwho, leaving brother and sisterlouwho with mrlouwho for the weekend, doing last minute laundry, dishes and meal prep. It was a lot to get done!! I tend to procrastinate packing as well. I had my bags mostly packed on Tuesday night, so guess what I did on Wednesday morning, before leaving at 3:00 pm for the airport? Shopping!!!

I'm sure I should have been home packing and cleaning, but I had a couple of IMPORTANT things to take care of! First off, I stopped at Hancock's to pick up some of this awesome burlap printed with black velvet damask.

I posted a picture on instagram a week or so earlier and my roommate Darci asked me to pick some up for her. I may have bought a little extra for me as well. It's just so striking! I love damask anyway, but the texture contrast is amazing! I'm thinking it would make a cool boxy zipper pouch.

Next up, I had to stop at Ross. A few weeks ago I got a call from a very sweet friend:

Friend: Amy, Ross has queen sized Amy Butler sheets for 30$, they are turquoise and yellow and I thought of you! I hid them behind the others if you want to go and get them. 
Me: NO WAY!!! 
Friend: Well, I'm still out, if you want I can go back and get them for you. You can't even buy that much fabric for $30. 
Me: I KNOW!! Yes! Please!

She dropped them off a few days later. Are you kidding me?!? I love them. And what a great friend!!

And I'm going to use them on my bed!

A week or so later I went back into Ross looking for birdcages. I found one! So cute! And also saw THE MATCHING COVERLET to the sheets for $35! I stewed about them for a week and had to go Wednesday for fear of someone else buying it up.

YAY!!! It was still there!

And then on further inspection they had a cute twin sized duvet cover. It didn't really match sisterlouwho's bedding though, but it was only $15. And then I realized it was made from her LOVE line that I used for babylouwho's quilt.

She doesn't need a twin sized duvet though. Well, not now anyway. :) Sold!

I'm so happy with it all! 400 thread count, organic cotton, over 1/2 off the original prices ~ It's almost like thrifting!

I called Kim and told her about and she checked out her Ross and found some too - so hurry out if you're interested!

Have you found any good deals lately?

a trip to the fabric store

Joann's is over an hour from my house.  All this talk about Denyse Schmidt's new line there had me curious.  And I heard they might have some Farmdale . . . But I couldn't justify that long of a drive just to go to Joann's to look.  So I also went to Costco!  Because the nearest one is also over and hour away,  but just down the block from Joann's.

They did have the DS Quilts fabrics.  Well, some of them.  But not the dots which is really what I wanted.  But they did have the Farmdale!

I'll add these 2 yards to the yard I already have.  To have and to hoard until death do us part.

The patterns were cheap and I'm using them as templates so I don't have to reninvent the whole wheel, just part of it.

I want to make a yoked skirt like the ones I've been making for my girls.  And I have a tunic that I want to replicate, and this was the closest thing I've seen.  I'm hoping to be able to change the raglan type sleeve, to a set in one.  We'll see how that goes.... Wish me luck!

mission impossible: sewing room clean-up

Do you ever get to a point where you just can't take the disorganization anymore?
I had a little sewing night with friends last weekend and had to get my stuff together to take to my friend's house. WHAT A PAIN!! I couldn't find the things I wanted to take as I was searching through piles and making a bigger mess. Ugh. It was painful.

Here's what my sewing space looked like earlier this week:

messes always look better in black and white.

And I started grouping things together the other day. Pincushions, patterns, fabric, WIPs, mending, etc. Here's my fabric. Well, some of it.

Then I started folding it all yesterday and organizing by print. Have you see this method for folding fabric?  I LOVE it.  And now I want to take pictures like Darci did of her polka dot stash!

Do you have a fabric twin? I think Darci is mine. Every time I see something new in her photostream or on her blog, I die a little inside! Dieing of cuteness and adorable-ness. Like these pictures of the Denyse Schmidt fabrics you can buy at Joann's!

Here's to hoping I'll get my act together and then finish up some WIPs I have going!  I might be selling off some of my stash too, sooooo, stay tuned.   Nothing like pulling out all your fabric to realize you might just have a wee bit too much.  On the other hand, I've got all sorts of new ideas....

a sew & tell redo

Sew & tell was kind of messed up on Friday!!  The linky tool has changed a bit and I haven't been keeping up with it!  The links weren't showing up and I was gone all day and didn't know it until later!

I couldn't post without pictures, so here's some fabric I bought recently...

I decided it would be a good idea to re-open the linky today and repost the list so that you could all see the links, visit them if you want, and add to it if you didn't get a chance to over the weekend!  Sound good?

What are you going to share with us today?

PLEASE READ THIS POST IF YOU ARE NEW TO LINKING UP!  :)

NEW RULES FOR LINKING UP!  Please read carefully.  The delete monster will be eating non-compliant links.

1. Please write the post for sew & tell - or add a blurb mentioning sew & tell to a post written since the last sew & tell.  If you are linking to a post with your own tutorial, please make sure it was a finish from this week and that the completed project is shown first.

2. One linky per person. (please put multiple projects in one post.)

3. Link to your specific post.  (See here for permalink instructions - or email me.)

4. Link back here with a link or a button.

5. Be sure to visit and leave comments on other's posts!

fake it til you make it + pretty fabric +wip

I've been feeling a bit of a slump in my blogging.  So I decided I would do some easy fun posts to get me back in the groove.  It *might* be working.

Should I start with some gratuitous fabric shots?

I bought my ball gown fabric from Fabric.com. I needed to spend a couple dollars more to get free shipping. I ended up with 3 yards of the Henna Garden that I love so much. I might need to get more of the green.  I think these would make adorable dresses.

I also finally caved and bought some of Bonnie and Camille's Bliss. I had been eyeing it for a while and wanting to get on the red and aqua bandwagon.  It was Mary's mug rugs that convinced me. This was an add-on to another order to optimize my shipping costs.

Because these had finally come in!!

Thanks to Kathy at Pink Chalk Fabrics for emailing when she got them back in stock! I ordered it the same day. And due to my partially brain dead state, I accidentally had the order sent to my old address in Virginia. Luckily the post office came through and got it forwarded to the right place. TEN DAYS LATER. But at least it didn't get lost. Thank you Kathy for shipping it with delivery confirmation!

So I cut out and put together the main bodice of my dress. AND, the scary part, I tried it on. I think taking a smaller seam allowance is going to be the only size alteration I need to make - which is quite a relief! This nursing body of mine is not quite what I'm used to.

It doesn't look spectacular on the hanger, but today I'm going to add the ruffle and maybe even the sleeves! and then we'll see. I might also make it just a tad bit longer. I like to make my short-waisted self appear longer.

And just to keep it real, I cleaned off my sewing table and it still looks like this.

That black fabric in the bag is the fabric for my dress. I hope I won't look like I'm going to a funeral.  Especially since it's a BIRTHDAY ball!  Happy 235th United States Marine Corps!  Semper Fi!

i'm dying over this!

I love Sandi Henderson! It's true.  She may be #2 after Amy Butler.  (Their colorways often coordinate, did you know that?).  I like her Meadowsweet line, but couldn't get totally behind it.  AND THEN. And then she came out with Meadowsweet 2.  You might see why it's my new favorite!

 image via jaybird

See those blues and greens and pinks and yellows!! oh so lovely!!  The problem is, I don't need it.  I really don't.  And I have no time to sew with it because of all the other lovely projects I have in the queue.  But if I WON it, now, that would be okay, right?  You can enter to win a fat quarter bundle too at Jaybird Quilts.  But don't enter unless you REALLY want it.  Cause I really want to win.  :)  But you should check out her blog, if you don't already know about it.  She's cool!

Oh and do you love Tula Pink like I do?  I just saw these on her blog!

image via Tula Pink

AND YOU CAN BUY THEM!! Starting a fund right now.

Do any of you have any motivation techniques to get you going again?  I haven't sewn on my machine since the move.  I have lots of projects just waiting to get going, but I can't seem to make myself start cutting.  I hate those first cuts.  I don't like the pinning and measuring for fear of making a mistake.  Oh the agony!  I need help.

getting there, but not completely

Guess what?  I think I may be getting back to normal.  Do you need some evidence?

1.  I've ordered some fabric and have a plan.
How about this lovely stack I got in the mail the other day?

Yes, some LOVE-ly Amy Butler, and NICE-y Jane by Heather Bailey.  I'm working on bedding for Magpie and another dress for Miss Alison.  I'm using that same Simplicity pattern that I made the other dress out of.  But using several different prints.  I'm excited to show it to you!

2.  I actually finished the LOVE quilt!  YAY!! It's so cute, but I'm going to wait to show it to you.  I have a surprise!

3. I went kayaking last night with a bunch of ladies from church.  It was awesome.  North Carolina beaches rock!  I didn't actually get a picture of the water though, didn't want to risk dropping the camera in the water!

4.  I'm writing a post that isn't for sew & tell.  PLUS, I'm actually visitng AND commenting on blogs!  It's still hard sometimes when I'm on the computer and nursing or holding the baby.  It's hard to type one-handed, but I'm getting pretty good at it!

Now if I could just get my house put together so it looks like some organized grown up people live here.  Oh wait. . . did I say organized? . . .

gratuitous fabric shots

I got some fabric in the mail Saturday.  Hawthorne Threads has an amazing web site, and selection, and cost reduction when you buy more fabric!  (you can search by color and when you are looking at a specific piece you can click to find coordinating pieces - so great!)

Amy Butler - August Fields Home Dec

Love.  Not sure what I'm going to do with it.  I bought enough for curtains, or maybe a slipcover?

Amy Butler - Full Moon Dots in Lime, Lotus

Had to stock up.

Laura Gunn - Poppies

I got the stripe to go with the other stuff I bought a few weeks back.

I have also met a new friend.  She's amazingly talented and you should see her stash. I went to her house last week and was impressed!  Oh yea, vintage working sewing machines too.

Heather Ross - VW busses and bicycles

Bolts of this stuff.  No lie.  And when she came to see me last week she gave me some for the baby.

She doesn't blog, but I think she should (hint. hint.)

And she gave my daughter this adorable skirt that she won't take off.  Well, I guess she took it off, since it's on a hanger, but only because it needs to be washed.

You probably think I met her in a quilting group or the fabric store or something.  Nope.  COSTCO.  She commented on my bag.  Asked if I made it, and then what line of fabric it was.  I knew then she was a kindred sewing spirit!  Too bad I'm moving.  We've had so much fun!  She's having surgery this week, so keep a fellow sewing sister in your thoughts/prayers.

obsess much?

Maybe I should have said last week that I have entered the obsessive stage of pregnancy.

After finishing this bag for my friend, I had to order some of Laura Gunn's Poppy line too.  This is going to be awesome (I hope!).  The graphics are very large, I'm thinking of buying some to put on stretcher boards and hang in my house, like this.

I used a gift card to Pink Chalk Fabrics that I won during Jaquie's Joy in the New Year Challenge in January!  They were super fast and have a lot of the new prints available.

*****
Amy did an awesome post last week about turquoise!  I've been wanting to do one myself and when I saw her's I thought, "Yes, I need to do it."  I actually wrote one a while ago that was kind of fun, but I have some new additions to share.

(l-r, top to bottom)  milk crate (Target), free chair painted blue, free table painted same blue (ionic sky - Behr), KitchenAid measuring cups (now if I could just find the spoons!), breadbox (Target), little vase, colander. bowl, bistro chair (Rustoleum spray - Aqua).

I know Pantone has declared Turquoise THE color for 2010, but I've loved it for so long (well turquoise/lt blue/baby blue).  Not that I'm saying I'm a trendsetter, I just think if you like something long enough it will come into style - and then I find you want to buy everything up while it's hot and available!

*****
I love Michael Miller's Dandy Damask.  I think it's out of print.  At least I know it's difficult to find.  I won a gift card to Fabric Depot from Jodi@Pleasant Home sometime last year and finally used it!  I was so happy to find some more dandy as well as this Farmer's Market print (sheepish grin) in aqua.

I was originally thinking of doing a little baby blanket with it,  but now I think I just want to stare at it.

And then I bought some of the dandy in brown and green.  I used it in my bird quilt and loved it!  I thought I could do a boy blanket with brown minky...

and then, OOPS! I already had 2 pieces.  So now maybe I'll do the borders on my quilt with it.  Goodness, I have enough of it now.  I guess this would be a good reason to get my stash organized and all in the same place.  I seriously had forgotten that I already had a bunch.

*****
Ever since I watched North and South last week I've been reminded how much I love all the great British period dramas/love stories. I found this video. Now I have a list of more shows to watch (and maybe rewatch, but I'm not telling). I also probably don't want to admit that I ran across this clip watching random videos starring Richard Armitage.....

Do you have any current obsessions?  Please tell me I'm not alone!

motivation!

nothing like a lot of this:

keeping you snowbound, to feel extra productive!  We've been getting a lot of snow this year.  It's nice when I don't feel like I have to go anywhere!  I put dinner in the crockpot and had the rest of the day to do whatever I wanted!

So I got a little cutting done:

a long lost project finished up (this had been languishing in my UFO pile for years):

Really, why do I wait so long, it took me less than 30 minutes to iron this up again and stitch up.  I forget how tricky rayon is to work with, though.

and this little guy turned 2 on Sunday!

That cake was delicious! Duncan Hines Lemon (made with milk instead of water), lemon curd filling, homemade cream cheese icing. Mmmmmm.

At the moment he's really into trucks, Elmo, Veggie Tales, cake, smarties, and well, food in general.  He's also talking up a storm, having an opinion, and has learned to crawl out of his crib.  Uh oh!   He's such a happy guy, he's always excited to start the day. Makes it easier for me to want to get up too!  He is our sweet little guy and a true snuggle bug.  We are so lucky to have him in our family!

What do you do all day when you are forced to stay at home?

i've been a little busy . . .

I've been pretty busy vacationing and all.  It's been rough.

Feet in the sand.

Seal watching.

Pelican gazing.

Soaking up the salt water spray.

and that was just last Saturday at La Jolla cove!

Now that I'm in cold and gray Utah it's time to brighten up the days with some fabric shopping!!

My daughter spied a sample bag at the shop and wouldn't let it go.  I finally convinced her that it wasn't for sale and I bought the pattern:

it's interfacing printed with the pattern and instructions on it - I'll let you know how it goes!

and she picked out these fabrics! 

Are you surprised?  I'm in love with LOVE.

I bought enough to back and bind the baby quilt I'm going to make with the LOVE fat quarters I won from the very shop we visited today!  Material Girls is one of my favorite stops when I come to Utah.

I also picked up this darling skirt pattern!  I can't wait to make one!

I have more to share about my visit today - but that will have to wait until Sew & Tell!