The name says it all! My fabric, my family and other fun things in my life!
We had been outside sledding. Haley fell off the sled and lost a mitten. She was sooooo cold….so I took her inside to warm up. The fire didn’t seem to help one bit…
Good thing Grandma had some hot cocoa. It makes everything better! 🙂
A few more pictures are now in a flickr album. We’re having a grand time in Wyoming. Lots of snow and the kids are loving it all! If I don’t make it back on here in the next couple days, I’ll see you next year!
It’s the week of Christmas – and I’d say I managed to get approximately 1 to 3% of my gifts made this year. That’s pretty good – right? 😉 Of course, it doesn’t help that I keep adding to my list – even now – right before we leave town. Anywho….I can’t share what little I did get made, for obvious reasons. BUT I can show you one of my daughter’s gifts…because she is 5 and has yet to set up a google reader account. 🙂
It’s a patchwork scarf, in case you were wondering. I used a charm pack (or part of one) and some minky that I have. Thinking of listing a few of these as kits. Would anyone be interested in one? Or maybe I’ll have my class make them. Oh my gosh – there is so much to tell you about. Soon….maybe….probably….but in the meantime, here is another picture.
I’m certain that you’ll see pictures of her in it soon enough. Although then again, with my recent blogging history, you may not. Alright – we’re out of here for the next couple weeks. We have a new little niece that needs cuddling, snowballs that need throwing, and cookies that need eating. I really wish all of you the very merriest Christmas!
PS All orders placed by yesterday have shipped. I’m behind on updating the status of each order online, but fear not, everything is on the way. All orders placed starting today will be shipped when we get home. You can read my newsletter page here on the blog for the skinny. And more is coming….so stay tuned. 🙂
I couldn’t resist the siren calls of Anna Maria Horner’s Little Folks Voile. The prints all arrived and the solids are on their way. This is how happy I was when it got here! Seriously so excited!!!
(Back it up! Back it up! What is Voile? It’s a light weight woven fabric (this is 100 % cotton) that is has a wonderful drape (hangs nicely) and gathers particularly well. For this reason, it is used often in garments (such as dresses, blouses and skirts) and also curtains. The term apparently comes from old French and means veil. (Which is derived from latin and means covering.) The fabric is lightweight and a bit shimery and silky. The lighter prints are somewhat transparent, so you’ll want to layer them with another fabric (such as the solid colors, once they arrive) underneath if you’re using them for garment construction. You don’t need to do this with the darker prints, unless you want to!)
It’s true that I have a LOT to get done before Christmas – but I knew I had to test this out. So I made myself a shirt. I used Jennifer Paganelli‘s (Sis Boom) Meaghan Peasant pattern – but I modified it by extending the shirt top, rather than attaching a “skirt” portion at the bust line. Hmmm – I should have taken pictures. Anyway, I liked the pattern – so I’ll probably make it again and then I can take some pics. I wore the shirt tonight and it was comfortable! Oh, and the print is called Baby Bouquet in the Meadow colorway.
What I really wanted to tell you about was sewing with the voile. It really is so buttery soft. I know that because this is a new substrate (Anna Maria used this term often at quilt market – so I had to throw it in there. And by the way, Anna is not the only one introducing new substrates to the US fabric/quilting companies….more on that later!) many of you are questioning if you will be able to use it. What changes will you need to make? Will you need special presser feet or other tools? For this shirt, the only change I made was to shorten my stitch length. I started out with my machine’s normal length (which is 2.5) and felt the fabric just slipped around a little too much. So I took the stitch down to a 2.0. For me, this was the only change I made….well other than pinning well. And I suppose you should always pin – I just get lazy or in a hurry or something.
I will continue to work with this and let you know any trick and tips I come up with. I’m going to work with it on my serger as well as shirring to see what other adjustments (if any) need to be made. And if you’re ready to take the plunge and start working with voile yourself, use the code LITTLE for 20% off the voiles in my store for the next week.
All for now – but much more voile talk coming your way!
Dolce is Tanya Whelan‘s new line. Dolce means sweet in Italian and this line really is so sweet. Tanya is known for her romantic fabrics – and this is no different.
It moves from the shabby chic romantic to the retro chic Hollywood days of Marilyn Monroe, Rita Hayworth and others.
There are obvious art deco as well as asian influences – and I just love the results. Honestly, I may end up scrapping my Christmas to-do lists to start using this instead. 😉
I have all 26 prints in stock – and I’ve also made fat quarter sets of the whole collection and 3 colorways. The prints all mix and match nicely!
And the 20% off code DOLCE is good for the next week (through Dec 16th, 2009) on these beautiful prints. They are all listed here!
PS You’ll really want to visit Tanya’s blog. When you see that grey pillow on the top of her blog, you’ll understand why I’m about to tell my husband we need to repaint our bedroom.
After living here for over a year – the time finally came to complete window coverings in the “formal” living room. I knew I wanted roman shades. But I also wanted this to be quick, easy, and cheap! So I present to you
Step 1: Go to Home Depot, Lowes, Target, or wherever they sell window coverings in your area. Find the Roman Shades that fit your window demensions. Get the very cheapest ones – mine were on clearance at Home Depot for $5.21 each. Don’t worry if you don’t like them – they are going to be covered with your choice of fabric….so they will end up super cute and custom looking!
Step 2: Buy some Heat-n-Bond (the heavy duty stuff) at a craft store or I think they even sell it at Walmart. Cut strips that are the length of the roman shades and a couple inches wide. I used 3 strips per shade….one for each edge and one down the middle. Iron these in place on your shade. (Yep, I ironed it onto the bamboo – it worked great!)
Step 3. Cut your fabric a few inches wider and longer than the roman shade. (I had a center panel and outer edges for my project – but you can keep things simple and use one fabric instead!) Now you have a choice to make – to sew or not to sew. I opted to finish my edges by heming the sides and bottom. You could easily skip this, however, and just wrap the fabric around the corner and edges and secure with more heat and bond on the back side. Heck, I even think hot glue would work!
Step 4. Peel off the paper from your heat-n-bond strips and properly allign your fabric. Iron the fabric into place following the heat-n-bond instructions. If you are going to fold the fabric over the edge, be sure to let the shades cool so the heat-n-bond has time to set before flippig it over and finish the backside.
Step 5: Cover the valance too (if your shade came with one) in the same manner. I opted to use horizontal strips of Heat-n-Bond and wrapped the fabric up over the board that hangs the shade.
Step 6: Hang up your new custom Roman Shades!
Many people across the country are getting (or have already had) a lot of snow. We, here in Tucson, are not part of that crowd. SO I decided to make it snow on my blog to enjoy the season a little more. 🙂
In other news, I am now aunt to an adorable little girl born this past week. Today I hope to finish her gift and get it on the way. You’ll have to wait for pics until I know her mommy has the gift. (Wouldn’t want to spoil the suprise!)
By the way, I am loving the pictures everyone is adding to the flickr group! Keep ’em coming!
Check out this cute Sydney (ModKid) dress that Sarah made! She used Bloom & Grow fabric! Sarah is a digital scrapbook designer. I know a lot of you that read this blog are digi-scrappers – so check her out!
If I refuse to change my calendar does that mean it’s not December? Ugh! So much to do – so little time! Which is the reason I’ve been absent….working like mad!
We had a wonderful time with my husband’s parents. Played many games of Sorry, ate a lot of food and had a jolly good time! I think I have a picture or two of Thanksgiving – but haven’t downloaded the camera – and it’s not going to happen tonight. 😉 The turkey was delayed a bit so we ate rather late. I believe we were all starving….or at least as close as any of us dare! Turns out I didn’t have a roasting pan that was big enough for the turkey I bought… so my brother-in-law and husband went to the store to get a disposible one. The first place they went was out, and the employee informed them it was kinda late to be buying the roasting pan. 😀 They found one and we all survived!
Anyway – Nicey Jane by Heather Bailey is here and fabulous!
And there is so so so much more to tell you about – so stay tuned.
PS. Use the code NICE for a nice discount (20% off) if you’re buying Heather’s new line! (good until Dec 5th, 2009)
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Fabric Family and Fun 