Friday Eye Candy

Oh what?!?  It isn't Friday?  Well I owe you one from last week - and believe me its not from lack of trying.  I tried to load these pictures to blogger (or even save a post) all day on Friday and all to no avail.  So my promise of fabric fun is coming a bit late.

 

I found a great fabric shop in Chicago that I wanted to visit - and I was really excited when I found out it was just a couple miles from my brother's house.  Unfortunately I didn't look it up sooner b/c they also have some amazing class offerings. Once I was there though I found amazing things I haven't been able to feel and see anywhere else (I do most my fabric shopping online and its hard to tell scale, how something feels etc from any description).  So while at the Needle Shop I was ecstatic to see Echino, and AMH's voile, more of AB's Love fabric and lots of amazing patterns.  I'm a bit on a budget b/c I haven't been making much lately (did you notice that too) so I bought only some 

Echino Scooters

And some AB Coriander in Blue

I finally got to touch AMH's voile fabric and I can tell you with much certainly there will be Voile in my future!  That stuff is AMAZING!  The hype I hear is real!  I really wanted to make AMH's new dress pattern, but as I've never made anything to fit my body (yet) I think starting smaller (with less expensive fabric) is in order first.  But let me just reiterate about her Little Folks - WOW!

Hope you had a fantastic Easter weekend.  We certainly did around here.  We had gorgeous weather, the message of Good News (He is Risen!  How great is that!) AND I had my MIL in town to help me with a different type of crafting, and its garden season again!  :)

Friday Eye Candy

Remember this bag of goodies?  (from the knitting weekend?!)

Well I showed you the yarn already...but the fabric I found in Summerville too was amazing!

Here's a peek...

Nicey Jane Fat Quarters 

(by Heather Bailey)

(I had no idea how much I loved this line until I saw it in person.  Now I'm trying to decide how much more I can afford to get my hands on.  Its just lovely in everything I've seen made with it).

I also got some Dolce

(by Tanya Whelan) 

b/c well fat quarters were buy 12 get a 13th free - and who can resist that (when you already have 10 in your basket?!?)  And the one on the far right is AB - of course!  :)

They also had this adorably cute car fabric (that I didn't realize was Riley Blake til I had it being cut)

I couldn't resist just in case I had a nephew (which I did!!)  So you will see this heading to Chicago as something soon!

Last but not least they had some AMH and AB in their 'sale bin!' *gasp!* so I bought all they had of both (less than 3 yds - for $3.50/yd!!  CRAZY!  I figure it will work well for a quilt back - if I ever to finishing one of those!  lol)

Hope everyone has a great weekend!  We have family in town - so maybe not too much sewing - but hopefully lots of fun!  :)

Happy Weekending!

Hob Lob

We recently had a major improvement in the Augusta area.  We got a Hobby Lobby!!  I found some cute fabric and added to the stash (very inexpensively!)

 

and some knit for a FUN pair of pajama pants...

 

Eric even enjoyed a trip in there to see what its all about (its so much bigger and diversified than a Michael's etc.  If you have one you should really check it out!)

Have a good weekend - and here's to more FINISHED projects next week!

Friday Eye Candy

A week late and a dollar short right?!?  Sorry!  I've had a pretty bad case of the winter blues - keeping me from sewing and posting to the blog - but I'm trying to pull myself out of it.  Maybe eye candy will help us all!

 

My very very FAVE from this stack (AB - shocking huh?!)

 

and finally some ADORABLE fabric from Fabricworm

 

Have a great weekend.  I am headed to the middle of nowhere for a quiet knitting weekend with some good 'fiber friends' of mine!  We have a cabin, 4 bottles of wine, no cable television and snow on the way!  We should manage to have a really great time - and in light of the fiber weekend - I'll share some yarn eye candy too ( my BFF bought me this so we can make Calorimetries together as she learns to knit!)

Happy Weekending!  :)

Forgotten Friday...

I'm sorry!  I forgot to post eye candy on Friday (and you thought I was good and didn't buy fabric - right?!?)  Well this actually came with my Hope Valley package - but it seems very different - so I kept it to entertain you at a later date.  This is my new 'pink stash'. 

 

The fabric on the far left is for the inside of my duffel bag (coming soon - I hope!), the middle has already been used in Josie's pillow (there is some left too) and the one on the right I just couldn't resist...I mean - brown and pink?!?  Those are MY COLORS!

(see...even in my wedding...those are MY COLORS!)

 

I think the wedding picture makes up for the tardy eye candy post (I hope anyway!)  Hope you had a great weekend!

Pretty Pretty Princess Pillowcase

Last week's secret project can now be revealed - our little JoJuice (and by our I mean Brandy and Dave's!) turned three on Saturday!! 

Her birthday party was an explosion of pink (including everyone's outfits, the food, the decorations, the presents - everything!  There are more excitingly pink details here...) but to make the princess happy with pink I had the perfect idea!  I had just gotten some Princess and the Pea fabric (by Heather Ross) and this seemed like the perfect opportunity to use some of it (fussy cut of course).  I used this tutorial and made her a pretty pretty princess pillowcase for her big girl bed!

 

I couldn't find a bag big enough to fit the pillowcase with a pillow in it - so needless to say she had NO idea what it was when she opened it and tossed it aside.  Good thing we had bought her Pinkalicious as well! She did take a minute to look through that.  :)  Later we put a pillow in and showed her what it was - then we got a good reaction!

 I think she liked it!!

 

 Playing with it is a good sign!

 

All in all I think it was a pretty good gift - and I sure enjoyed making it (I kept talking about using all that pink fabric for something!) 

This week is back to the regularly scheduled programming - I HAVE GOT to finish that quilt!  I am going to miss my New Years Resolution in the first month!  :)

Friday Eye Candy

This weeks fabric shipment (ha ha!  I talk about them like they just show up and I don't scour the internet over lunch and order them!)  Anyway...This weeks fabric shipment - included Denyse Schmidt fabric.  Her new line of fabric is called Hope Valley and I'm warming to it.

I ordered a FQ set in my favorite of the colorways (Fiesta!)

And I ordered some of the other prints that I really liked

See, I pretty recently started sewing a lot (and becoming obsessed with fabric), and I'm learning that fabrics are usually only printed once.  So - if you love a fabric line you gotta go ahead and buy it.  Or you'll miss it. (great marketing scheme - eh?)  And Denyse Schmidt has a huge following after her Flea Market Fancy line.  (that website is where they are petitioning the fabric company to reprint it b/c so many people - like me! - missed it or just want to buy MORE of it!  Sign it if you haven't so we can all have a chance to buy some more!)   I also missed her Katie Jump Rope fabric line too - (well, I can find a little bit of it for less than $10/fq - but not much).  So I took a chance on liking Hope Valley the more and more I see it too.  I think my favorite quilt (so far) made in this fabric is from Red Pepper Quilts.  I certainly didn't buy enough fabric to make that quilt, but I bought enough to experiment and see how I like it too. 

I hope you enjoyed the eye candy - and have a wonderful weekend!  I have to get the princess' present finished tonight and hope to have some sewing time when we get back on Sunday too.  The quilt top is starting to taunt me! 

Sublime Sunday

Sublime- adj. - supreme or outstanding

While the rest of the weekend wasn't so fantastic or outstanding, Sunday turned out to be pretty okay! After church (and cleaning) Eric decided to take me to lunch and then to the bookstore ...oh how I love Barnes and Noble!  With their large craft book section, Starbucks coffee and peace and quiet.  I just love spending hours there and Eric decided he would indulge me and take me to the bookstore.

It just sooooo happened though :)  that on the way to the bookstore, we passed a TJMaxx - and I thought - maybe - just maybe - they might have some Munki Munki.  (I know TJMaxx and Marshall's are owned by the same group and other sewing people (that I stalk their blogs online) had been finding some Munki Munki at Marshalls) - so I asked if we could stop for just a second for me to check the pajama rack.  He helped me search - and guess what we found!!!

Munki pajamas!!  I don't know if this is considered a 'good' print - but I LOVE pink and had been thinking about a pink quilt (remember?!)

  and now I am super excited to pull some Munki Munki into my pink quilt - for $14.99!!

Makes me want to start singing "You get the Maxx for the minimum, minimum price, never ever the same place twice."  lol 

Anyway - after we found our great surprise at TJMaxx I still got to go to the bookstore!!  And I found a craft book that I just HAD to have (have I maybe mentioned here before that I have a bag problem, a bagaholic if you will - well this book is PERFECT for me!!)  She reuses stuff and she makes BAGS!!  Lovely bags that I would carry - so I had to get it

I just can't wait to make something out of this book - but I can't even decide where to start!  After searching through all the craft books, I had to search through the magazines too - and then I found this gem!

TO justify my purchase, I had to convince myself there were two or three things in here I would make - but really I just want to rip out my unfinished Wicked immediately and use the yarn to cast on for this...

OMG!  Isn't it gorgeous?!  I mean, my hair will NEVER fall like that and have a perfect glow on my skin with a "come hither" look either - but the sweater...its GORGEOUS!  I am in love!

So what started as a pretty crappy weekend, ended on a very high note with my Munki Munki and amazing bookstore finds!  yippeee!!

(On a side note, as this is a crafting blog and not a shopping blog, I did sew this weekend - and knit too actually - but there isn't alot to show yet, before the end of the week I will post crafty stuff I've done, I promise!)

 

Friday Eye Candy and Choices...

Friday Eye Candy for this week just arrived yesterday!  I've been waiting patiently after a bad week at work for my retail therapy to arrive.  This fabric already has some plans waiting for it (which is a good thing...)

 Well - some of it I have plans for - the AB Pressed Flowers I have never been able to find in the pink colorway (my fave) so I had to have it - and the AB green dots set it off fantastically I think - so those were a bit impulse - but the Heather Bailey on the left has a plan for it

(sorry about the crappy photos - no light again)

This is the Heather Bailey and its destined to be a nursing cover for my SIL.  I didn't know she wanted one until Christmas and I've found a couple free tutorials and some great example pics and like this fabric combo.

And the best Eye Candy for last...

ahhhhh!!!  AB love (decorator weight) for a duffel bag.

Finally, my New Years Resolution was to make a quilt a month.  (gasp! - I know!)  I only made 3 in six months last year - but I think I can get the hang of it better this year and I have to start eating up some of this fabric I can't stop buying! 

So - I finished my Nest Quilt Disappearing Nine Patch Squares - but I don't know how I want to lay them out (is there a certain way you are supposed to?!)  Here are a couple ideas I've had...does anyone have more photos / inspiration / instruction for how I should do this?  Do you like either of these options?!  I need help here - getting the top put together and the back made is my goal for this weekend so I can stay on track with my "Quilt-a-Month" goal.

So...Option A

Or Option B

Whaddya think?!

Friday Eye Candy

I love Friday Eye Candy!!  Oh how I missed you when I was gone.  Getting packages in the mail filled with yummy goodness (whether it be yarn or fabric) always brightens my day.  That's why I like to share it with you on Fridays!!
I got these two packages before I left, but I kept them bundled up to open when I got home (as a Christmas gift to myself of sorts...)
Sew Mama Sew was having a sale...and I have this new Amy Butler Love pattern - I can't find a thing to match it - so I tried with some of these orange and purples.  Not so much - but gorgeous fabric nonetheless.

 

and I finally gave in to the one Munki Munki I just HAD to have.  I couldn't stand it anymore.  Aren't they too cute?!?

Goldfish in bags - ah!!

If I have a new nephew maybe his playmat will have these, or maybe I will hoard them for myself!  Who knows.

What I do know is that despite this terrible awful no good cold I have had all week I did manage to get SOME sewing done.  And this is a sneak peak at one thing I was working on...

Stay tuned...I'll share more!

Fabric - Friday Eye Candy! (sorta)

Earlier this week I decided I needed to organize my fabric. You might remember the yarn cabinet from the beginnings of this blog - well, I finally decided to boot the acrylic, the peaches-n-creme cotton and the UFOs from the cabinet to plastic bins and make space for fabric.

I have started to sew alot more, and digging through bins to find fabric was starting to get old. Not to mention its gorgeous to look at too - so it took its rightful place in the cabinet this week.


The first shelf is all my 1/2 yd (and less) cuts for random quilting and just general making of things. Arranged by color - this won't surprise most of you. Pinks, blues, cremes, greens, and brown and blacks.


The second shelf is fabric I have 'reserved' for projects. There is all my Red Letter Day (girl colors, and boy) for my niece or nephew's play quilt (after I know which its going to be!), and all my orange fabrics (for a Clemson quilt), some Christmas present fabric (won't reveal that here - as some of my readers will be receiving those!) and my new Amy Butler Love and AMH's Good Folks fabric stack. I am getting antsy to cut into that!


Finally on the bottom are my pre-cuts, my solids, my scraps and my larger cuts of fabric (probably gonna be quilt backs). (or at one delusion point in my life I thought curtains - ha ha ha!)


After this week of baby sewing (which I should have to show you soon!) I will resume my normal sewing and I can't wait to pick from the cabinet instead of wasting my time digging through bins! yeah! Have a great weekend!!

As promised

Eye Candy... compliments of Anna Maria Horner... Love!


This is my sunlit spectrum fabric stack - yum! Here they are laid out so you can see them. This is what I am hoping to make with them (but bigger, and for me...all mine!)


and finally my new favorites (that I found a dress I might have to buy more fabric for and make - here). yeah! Now, if only I was going to be home to sew this weekend.


Sadly, I will be doing this instead (well not sadly - it WILL be alot of fun - but its certainly going to limit my crafting... but fresh shrimp and grits is certainly worth it!)


Hope ya'll have a great weekend too!