Quilt Expo 2011- Part 6 - Sew much fun !

No quilts in this last post. Just utter fabric fun. Enjoy !!

Cute handbag, love the colors

Guess which of these cups came home with me
 The first to guess gets a custom fabric flower (pick your favorite color)

Journal/notebook cover

Gorgeous fabric bowl and fun display dolls

I fell in love with those awesome "girls"

A different take on baskets

Lace and ribbon angels

Super sweet little wallet

Incredibly colorful pillows

If you missed the previous posts about the expo you can  find  them all here: 

Part 1 : Colors

Part 2 : Liberated

Part 3: Technique

Part 4: Fun

Part 5 : Nature

I hope you enjoyed the tour as much as I did

How you can help Vanessa and family

Dear readers,
I just found out that sweet Vanessa from V & Co is in a family crisis. You can learn all the details here. So if you want to help, head over to her store. She has lovely patterns like this adorable play food cake and some fabric bundles for sale. Time to shop.

strawberry shortcake with detachable frosting

  

  

  

Window on the east quilt

The biggest project I tackled while I was in Delaware this past weekend was in one the the boxes on the top shelf of a fabric cabinet. The left one to be precise. Almost 2 years ago, my mom came with me to a quilt store and fell in love with a display model. She decided to buy the pattern and a kit of fabric so I could make a wall hanging for her.

The fabrics from the kit were OK. But not a great match. Wrong pink, wrong black, wrong style. Month after month I have been musing and looking for the right fabrics. The last piece of the puzzle is that gold and pink zinnias fabric I found at the quilt show 2 weeks ago.

Bottom left - the zinnias

The top is pretty much finished. I just have to "clean up" (thread clipping, pressing) then it's sandwich, quilting and binding. I confess: I love it. But I also have to confess a few no so lady-like words escaped my lips while I was trying to get all those mitre corners to line up properly. Glad my little bug was not around at the time :)

First BIG stashbusting project  well on the way 

A ruffled apron, a sweet promotion and a giveaway

Exciting news:  Linda from Craftaholic Anomymous trusted me again to test patterns for her Etsy pattern store the Ruffled Begonia. Her newest pattern is for a darling ruffled apron: Sydne. It is so adorable and practical as it has pockets too. The pattern is designed for beginners but also has options for more advanced sewers. 

Imagine all the possibilities ! Your favorite colors or fabrics in a cute and useful accessory. You can only be a fabulous hostess/cook in this!

I already made 2 - Hey I'm stashbusting here  :)

The promotion :  

Linda kindly offered a 10% discount to my readers for any pattern purchase at  the Ruffled Begonia until April 6th. 

Email me for the discount code. 

You can purchase the pattern at Linda's Etsy store: 

  

And the giveaway: 

If you love this apron,  you can win it. 

How to enter:

• Mandatory : you have to leave me a comment telling me which colors or fabric line you would use to make a Sydne ruffled apron and  be a Google Friends Connect (GFC) follower.
• Bonus entry: if you are currently or become a Facebook follower, leave a second comment saying so.
• Double bonus entry: You are currently or become a GFC follower of Craftaholic Anonymous (leave an extra comment)
• The giveaway will run until Tuesday, April 5th midnight EST and the winner will be announced on Wednesday the 6th.

Drawstring marble pouches

Ok, I admit. I create mostly for ladies and girls. I'm having a harder time with guys/boys things. But I recently came up with this idea for a friend's little boys: Marble pouches. Very simple but sturdy cotton pouches with a drawstring. I hope little boys still play with marbles these days.

And since there are 4 boys and I didn't want to create a problem with picking who get which print, I used the same print for each and embroidered a monogram. All different but all the same.

Ready, set, sew

- Posted from my iPhone

Out of town and not around

I'm on my way to Delaware where I will enjoy friends and crafts and be a free spirit for a weekend of sewing retreat. My sewing machine is packed, along with all the sewing essentials, a good selection of fabrics, threads, and a plan for the weekend: sew, sew, sew. Oh and have a good time.

I may or may not post this weekend. But I'm sure of one thing: I will have a heap of things to share when I get back. However,  there may be some delays in the sharing due to some health concerns. Let me explain:

I have been not feeling too great lately and have to have a little surgery to take care of the cause of my ailments  (ugh!) . I'm not looking forward to go under the knife - but it is unavoidable. The surgery is this Wednesday with still a million things to take care of to be ready. I've prepared a few scheduled posts to bridge the gap but depending on how fast I'm recovering there may be a bit of a blogging hiatus. I can't wait to be back to my normal self and enjoy the Spring.

So I'll be back, soon. I just don't know how soon. 

Quilt Expo 2011- Part 5 - Nature

Capturing the essence of nature is no easy feat. Those quilts are like paintings out of fabrics.

  

Karen Amelia Brown - Desert Roses

Marsh Vogel - Estes Park Flower

Alice Magorian - Honu

Susan Granchio - Pistache

Susan Granchio
Bridal Vail Falls Yosemite Valley

Rebecca Ludwig
Red-crowned Cranes at the Water's Edge

Cathy Kleeman - Fading Gloey

Fabric auditions

I've had a couple of requests for a Layla bag (what a surprise right ?) and the first step is a good fabric selection. So I'm auditioning color combinations for the various intended recipients. The first selection is for one of my sisters, the second is for {moi} and the others are for friends. 

Quilt Expo 2011- Part 4 - Fun

Quilters not only bring art and colors, they bring humor and quirkiness to their pieces. These are examples of creativity made fun. I smiled and laughed.

Marilyn Goldstein - Happy Hour

Frankie Payne-Ewers - African Dolls

Marylin Goldstein - Out for The Evening 

Stephanie Strunge - Night Garden

Clara Murphy - Harvest Canning Jars

Didi Salvatierra - Barnyard Babes

Amy Doigan-Selmanoff - Oh, Flush It!

Kathleen Awalt - Crazy Houses

Princess Fiona's Spring wardrobe

Princess Fiona hasn't gotten a new outfit in a long while. Well that was until last weekend. I started sewing a summer dress for my little bug and there was just enough scraps to make a couple little outfits. I wish I was a bit better at handling knits. Only one top turned out "wearable", the other 2... let's say I'm learning from my mistakes :).