Spoonflower Fabric Sneaky Peek

I finally did it! After months upon months of contemplation, I finished my first Spoonflower design and sent it off to be printed. Here is a little sneak peek of the artwork I scanned and sent in:

Yep, Snow White. I know that Little Red seems to be the reigning champion of popularity, but I am quite partial to this ivory faced, dark haired beauty (not that you won't see any Little Red from me in the future if all goes well!) Does this scene look familiar? Every artist has their muse, and mine was this japanese kawaii print which is probably one of my favorite fabrics of all time.....

Unfortunately it is out of print, like most of my fave fairy tale fabrics. I wanted to create something similar to the Cosmo japanese prints but with my own artistic style. It has been so much fun to create again! I am a bit nervous to see how the lines and color translate onto fabric, but if it works out then I can see this becoming an addictive little hobby. Look out Little Red, Alice, Thumbelina, Goldilocks and Cinderella! The fabric should be here in about two weeks!! Yay!

I am also making some progress with the hexagon top for the Pillow Talk Swap. Speaking of addicting, these hexes are just that! And I love the fact that I can just pack the project up and take it to go. I was toying with the idea of doing an all Flea Market Fancy hex pillow (my partner loves the line, but who doesn't?) but so far I am liking this one - I call it the Hexagon Hodge Podge. Or should I go back to the all Flea Market idea?? Luckily there is still time!

Oh, and I apologize for the crappy photos. It is crappy weather here in the Pacific Northwest and I can't get decent lighting to save my life.

And by the way, True Up, which is my favorite digest in the crafty world, has a great giveaway going on - japanese fabrics. I'm entering for sure!

Sometimes I knit...

I haven't had much time for knitting these days......or sewing for that matter. Add to the list cleaning, laundry, dishes, oh and sleeping! This little pea you see here is a very busy girl! And she is not even crawling yet. I am really in for it.

While I was pregnant I spent every evening after my hubby went to sleep sitting in bed knitting, and this little sweater was my proudest accomplishment from that time. It is knit top down and the sleeves are added later so all in all it was fairly simple to do. The pattern is the Easy Baby Cardigan by Diane Soucy and I found it for free on Ravelry . I really loved the yarn used too. It is the Desert Bloom colorway from the Taos line by Crystal Palace. I got lazy and haven't yet added the ties, but it fits her and I am hoping to get some wear out of it all winter.

A Quilt only a Mother could love.....

Okay, maybe I am exaggerating. This was the quilt I made for my mom's birthday last week. It is actually the first quilt I had ever started - I began it back in the spring before Lucy was born. I love Anna Maria Horner's Good Folks line so much and it seemed to fit my mom's personality well. Plus, she is the reason I am back to sewing again so I wanted to give her my first quilt as her birthday gift.

Ahh, the first quilt top ever! I am sure many of you can relate to this: I was so eager to jump in I really had no idea what I was doing. I have learned so much about quilting from the start to finish of this project that by the time I even finished the quilt top I was totally dissatisfied with my work I thought about tearing it up many times. But, in the end, it is pretty and my mom loves it. Oh, and if you are wondering, the pattern was a free one from Anna's website, the Folk Dance quilt (the flaws in the quilt are a result from not reading her pattern, the actual pattern is fabulous if you follow it correctly!)

Here is a view of the back. Very simple patchwork piecing and I quilted with a simple quarter inch stitch on either side of the zig zag seam. The quilt was hand bound on the fly to finish it in time for her birthday. It feels so good to finish one, and my mom really loves and appreciates it. That makes it all worth it!

I heart the mailman...

Sorry, I know this is really boring, but do you ever get one of those awesome maildays where everything arrives at once? It feels like a holiday! I was never too excited before when the mailman came - mostly only bills! - until I started swapping and buying fabric online. Now I can't wait to see if something fun has arrived.

So here are some new additions to the family! I have been spending so much of my fabric budget on Munki and Japanese prints lately that I knew I would have to wait before getting the entire line of Amy Butler's new Love line. But I couldn't resist getting the sunspots print in every colorway - I think it is definitely going to be the most popular of the line, because like the full moon dots from her Lotus collection, they will make great coordinates. The elusive Pool Floaties and Inchworms were from a swap - thank you Meagan! Lots of Munki Munki Christmas flannel and brides, goldfish and chairs, along with some Paula Prass Cobblestone half yards from Kerri's Etsy shop sewdeerlyloved. I love them so much! The Christmas flannel has plans for some fun holiday projects I have been dreaming of, and the other Munki will surely make it's way into this project I started a few nights ago.

It has been so much fun cutting into all this gorgeousness! Although I still haven't been able to bring myself to axe the Field Trip! I hope Lucy cooperates and lets me get in some sewing today. The "crying it out" experiment is going reasonably well if not a bit heartbreaking. Thank you all for your words of encouragement. We have a very busy weekend at the winery we need all the sleep we can get around here.

In other news, I was very flattered to receive a message from Sew Hip magazine out of the UK asking me if they could use the photo of me in my Socialite Dress for a pattern review in their magazine! I am not sure when it is due to be published but they are sending me a copy so I will share it with you then.

I will be getting around to my giveaway within the next week and a half! I think you will really like it! Here's a hint - anyone who has signed up to follow me BEFORE the giveaway is announced will get an extra chance to win!

Liquid courage....

Yes, that is a glass of red, red wine in the corner (my husband made it!). After my first evening of letting Lucy "cry it out" for the first time, it was needed! (Not that I needed an excuse!) And, it was also needed perhaps to cut into some of my precious Munki! And Mark is working at the winery late again tonight - harvest time - so I got a nice relaxing evening to sew.

I decided it was time to take action instead of watching my Heather Ross continue to pile up. Let me tell you, cutting into those Recess girls hurt a bit as they were my only tiny squares. I guess Field Trip is next!

I'm planning a simple Nine Patch to showcase these beloved prints. I have so many log cabinish WIPs I wanted to do something different for this one.

OK, back to sewing, but stay tuned....I am about to unveil my mom's finished Birthday quilt which has been six months in the making, as well as my first Spoonflower fabric design - and I am planning a really fun giveaway!

Going a Little Hexy

So this is what I have been up to this week....

It is pretty addictive! I don't know why I was so intimidated to try this - they are super easy! I found this online tutorial, and here is a link for the hexagon template (mine are 1.25 inches). What a great way to use up scraps. I also dove in and fussy cut a few of my favorites, like the Munki Munki kittens and dogs and my new Cloud Nine Happy Garden birds.

What will I do with these, you ask?

Well, I joined the new swap group, Pillow Talk (see the button to the left). I am so excited - this will be my first swap piece ever. I am thinking these hexes are going to make their way into my pillow. If you were my partener, would you prefer a hodge podge of hexes or should I go for a color theme?

Also, does can anyone tell me how to respond to people's posts on my blog? I just can't figure it out!

Also here is a new pic of Lucy - 5 months old! She has her first hair-do (I did NOT do this to her, my silly friend Kari did!) and she is eating her first veggies, carrots, which she loves! And yes, that is my gi-normous sewing mess in the background!

Sunday Stash, Birdie Quilt and a lot on my crafty plate!

Fabric for Birdie quilt, originally uploaded by Lucy & Norman.

So this is a project that has been on the back burner for quite awhile. I just love all the cool bird fabrics out there and decided to start collecting them with an all bird themed quilt in mind. The quilt I am planning I found on a tutorial at Amanda Jean's great blog. I got inspired to show you this after talking to Meagan yesterday, and seeing that she was planning the same thing. I just love it so far, but at this rate it won't be finished until 2012!

Oh well, I just love starting things but sometimes have a bit of trouble finishing them. At least I have come to terms with this flaw.

Here is a scary list of just how many WIPs I have on my crafty plate:

1. Bird Quilt

2. Mom's Good Folks Birthday Zig Zag

3. Old Red Barn Co Wonky Log Cabin Flea Market Fancy Quilt

4. Pillow Talk swap pillow

5. Hand Stitched swap piece

6. Summer's wedding quilt

7. Spoonflower fabric design

8. Sunrise circle sweater (knitting project)

Ouch! That doesn't even include all the projects I have brewing in my head, or all the things I need to whip up for the births of about six babies coming up! Does anyone else have too many crafty things going on?

At least it is fun! My mom's birthday is the 17th of October and I am almost finished quilting it. The FMF quilt is coming along well - I have about 12 blocks done, but I think this will be a big one so I am keeping at it. I should definitely be farther along with Summer's disappearing nine patch, but the backing is arriving next week so I guess I'll get going on it then. Luckily the swap pieces aren't due for quite awhile and the Bird quilt I have just resigned to being an ongoing project. I am not even going to tell you how many various knitting projects that are collecting dust!

Here are a couple of the birdie blocks I have done so far......

Aren't the little owls so cute?