Wednesday, May 30, 2012

Life is ...


And these came from my front yard! Here's the thing, though. We've lived here two years, and I've never seen cherries on this tree before. We moved here in July, 2010. No cherries. Unless there were cherries, and the birds got to them before I did. Or, maybe I was just distracted. But last year, you'd think I'd notice a tree full of cherries. Do cherries skip a year or two between baring fruit? I don't know. Any way, I'm thrilled to have a cherry tree. Although, technically, I'm not even sure it's really mine. It could be Frank and Linda's next door. Frank mows the lawn right up to the edge of the tree, on his side. So maybe that's his way of saying, here you go, have a cherry tree. In reality, Frank doesn't talk much. And when he does, it's usually something disparaging about my cats. I guess I could ask him. Or, I could wait until he's gone on some errands, then haul out the ladder and pick the tree clean. Now I know why they call those trucks with the basket on the hydraulic thingy cherry pickers. 'Cause you need one to pick cherries.



Tuesday, May 29, 2012

I Love Patchwork for Ten Cents!

I told you how much I love Zakka Style! Well, I was super happy to see this offer for Rashida's other book in my email:

Here's the link so you can get your own!  http://www.interweavestore.com/Sewing/Books/I-Love-Patchwork-eBook.html?SessionThemeID=22&a=swp120529A

(I don't know how long this will last, but it worked for me!)

Poop, looks like it's back to normal price. If I find any more good deals, I'll let you know.

I Love Patchwork! eBook: 21 Irresistible Zakka Projects to Sew

With this easy-to-download eBook, create sophisticated patchwork projects in the popular Japanese zakka style of the art of seeing the savvy in the ordinary and mundane by combining linen and print fabrics using simple quilting techniques.

eBook
Sale: $0.10 
Was: $19.95
Availability: Download Now


Winners! (for real, this time!)

Back at my own computer now!

Here are the winners:

Diane N
Chancy
Christine
Bellashea
Kiza

Congratulations and thanks for your patience. I've emailed everyone except Bellashea (contact me ~ don't have your email!)

Sunday, May 27, 2012

Winners!!

This is the post where I announce the winners from the Sew Mama Sew Giveaway day. Slight problem, though. We're house sitting at a friend's, and the only computer I have access to has all sorts of parental blocks and controls on it (apparently, this blog of mine might be a bit too racy for the under 18 crowd.) Of course, I could just call my friend, ask for the secret code and get on with it, but she's in the middle of the wilderness, trying to get away from it all. It'd be rude of me to entice her back to her technology. So, please be patient, and I'll announce winners tomorrow afternoon, when I  get back to civilization!

Thursday, May 24, 2012

Rummage Sale Goodies

If you're here for the Sew Mama Sew Giveaway, go here! (Or, just scroll down a bit!)

Two weeks ago, I went to a church rummage sale with my MIL. Now, I love me a good thrift store, but I had no idea what a treasure trove these church sales are! Oh my goodness. I was absolutely giddy when I found this beauty:


The Bakelite Tray, in great condition, with keys!!




All she needs is a good cleaning on the outside (any ideas how to?) and she's ready to go. But what to put in her? (and I think she needs a name, too.) The initials on the case are V H (very Heather?) Help me name her!

Currently, she's holding these:






Also from the rummage sale. The whole lot of knitting needles? $1. Amazing.

I bought loads more stuff, but don't want to bore you. We'll save it for another day. Have you had any great finds lately?


Monday, May 21, 2012

Sew Mama Sew! Giveaway Day

Many will enter, some will win....

Actually, with so much fun stuff being given away, many will win. I hope you win a bunch. Me, I'd be happy with one. (my friend Marissa wins like 4 or 5 things during each giveaway. My friend Laura, at least one or two. Me, nadda. Maybe this is my time!)

But, enough about me. What about you?

In honor of giveaway day, I'm giving 5 lucky people my custom Subway Art. You'll receive a hi res digital image of a 16" x 20" subway poster, in your choice of color. What you do with it is up to you. You can have it printed at a place like Costco or Shutterfly, or, my favorite,  you can have it made into a canvas and hang it in your studio! (Groupon and Living Social have deals on these all.the.time.)




So, what do you need to do to win? Leave me a comment, telling me why you read blogs. Is it for the witty banter, the eye candy, tutorials? I want to know. And/or you can tell me, now that I got you here, how I can keep you here! I'll choose 5 random winners on Saturday morning, May 26th.  For an extra chance, feel free to become a follower. Leave me a separate comment telling me ~ welcome!

Oh, if sadly you're not a winner, these posters are available in my Etsy shop. Just saying.

Thanks so much for stopping by! Good luck this week. I hope you win a ton of stuff!!

Sunday, May 20, 2012

Zakka Style

When it comes to craft books, I like to try before I buy, usually taking books out of the library for two, three, maybe even seven times before I decide to purchase. Zakka Style hasn't made it to my library yet, but just seeing all of the cool projects on blogs and during the Zakka Style Sew Along made me want it. Lucky, lucky me, I won a copy from Prudent Baby!



The book arrived Wednesday. So much cuteness. Out of the 24 projects, I can really see myself making a good 15 or so of them. That's pretty good for one book! The projects are mostly small, and look relatively easy, so for the investment of a few hours and a little bit of fabric, you can have something fun for yourself or a friend, or both!


This is the first project I made, a sweet little sewing pouch. 





I got to use some of my favorite elephants and hippos! A perfect little kit for hexies or binding. (I think I've pretty much given up on embroidery for now ~ although it would be perfect for that, too.)


The sew along is doing a quilt next. I might skip that one for now. But the project after that, the Stem Messenger Bag looks awesome. Maybe I'll get started on that early. Like I need another bag. 

Saturday, May 19, 2012

A lot of little things...

I've been trying to catch up on some "obligation" sewing before I embark on a new (bigger!) project. A very nice lady contacted me about making a t shirt quilt for her son who is graduating high school next month. At first, I was going to decline. I know my limits (somewhat) and didn't want to take on this quilt if I didn't have time. But, things opened up a bit and we're in business. Before I get immersed in this quilt, though, I wanted to finish up a few little things.


I started up my vintage sheet bee, Bee Vintage, again. Can't believe it's been a year since we finished our last round. This time around, we're doing two blocks per month, finishing in October. Everyone agreed that they wanted a shorter time frame. Year long commitments are just way too long. To start us out, Sheetal asked for the flying death circle of geese. Have you tried this one yet? You can find the pattern here. I shouldn't have had so much trouble with this block. I've made it before. My first quarter turned out too small (damn you fit to printable area! Always print this with no scaling.) So, I started over. All the while I was piecing the next two quarters, I kept thinking I was doing it backwards. Yes, indeed I was. So my geese circled counter clockwise instead of clockwise.  Fortunately, Sheetal didn't care, and I finished out the block.


Jenny asked for "stacks" any which way we liked. I originally intended to have this with three vertical stacks, but I like it much better with a quarter turn, and horizontal stacks. Hope the gals like these!


In a moment of weakness, I signed up for a swap. This was a siggy square swap. I have a couple dozen signature blocks from other swaps, not really enough to do anything with, so this seemed like a good idea at the time. I needed 57 blocks for this one. We used this tutorial. To speed things up, I used some older Amy Butler charms that I had already cut into quarters (with a few Kaffe thrown in) I also used this tool to make the triangles go a little faster. I've had that ruler forever, haven't used it in years, but it was exactly what I needed.


This really wasn't anything I needed to finish. As I was sifting through my black and white fabric, I found about 1/3 yard of this print. I think I made Katie a skirt out of it a few years ago. Cottony, gauzy ~ perfect for a summer infinity scarf! These are so easy, so quick, and the results are beautiful.

So, that's my little round up. Many more things to chat about. Some interesting things coming up! Talk to you soon!

Tuesday, May 1, 2012

Project Bag Tutorial!

It's up at Sew, Mama, Sew!




Run over there, check out the tutorial, and then run right back and tell me what you think! (only if you think it's fabulous, of course!)


If you're visiting directly from Sew, Mama, Sew! welcome! I hope you'll stay a while!