Fabric Scrap Giveaway!

Someone once told me that they wished they could crawl up and live in my scrap bin. Well, now's your chance (er, sort of)! My scraps are starting to explode out of the large bin I hold them in and it's time to make room for new scraps. Please leave a comment for your chance to win a priority mail flat rate box stuffed to the seams with both large and small fabric scraps (and some fat quarters too!), including but not limited to these wonderful designers:

Anna Maria Horner, Tula Pink, Amy Butler, Heather Bailey, Momo, Sandi Henderson, and more!

Leave a comment by May 31st telling me what you would like to make with these scraps: doll quilt? patchwork belt? applique? The possibilities are endless! I'll draw one random winner on June 1st and will ship the scraps off on June 3rd. I will ship internationally.

Be sure to check out the other great giveaways going on right now over at the Sew Mama Sew blog. Good luck!

Scenes from a Tuesday

It's Tuesday already and it's only Tuesday, know what I mean? I hope you enjoyed your weekend, and if you're reading this in the States, your long weekend (for most of us anyways). Living in DC, Memorial Day weekend means a lot of bikers. I wonder if bikers look forward to this weekend every year - riding along side a half million other bikers all at once. I imagine they must. I attended one bbq on Monday and did finish my dress in time. But wouldn't you know, I didn't get any pictures. The dress is Simplicity 3503. I'll write up a full review when I get a picture, but for now let's say I felt very tres chic and plan to make another dress from this pattern.



After the bbq I began preparations for my friend's baby shower this weekend. I decided to make some fabric bunting in hopes that my friend will be able to use the flags later in the nursery (the nursery colors are green and yellow) or for birthdays or other baby events. What a fun project it was to make! Tonight I plan to cut out my fabric for Simplicity 2584 and hope that I'll be able to finish it in time to wear to the shower on Saturday.


One last note before I go, be sure to stop by tomorrow as I'll be participating in Sew Mama Sew's big May giveaway with something fun for you to win.

Summer Dress Sewalong - Planning

If you haven't started thinking about a dress you'll make for the Summer Dress Sewalong, don't worry, there's still plenty of time. I'm heading off to Joann's in a little while to take advantage of their sale on Simplicity patterns (5 for $5). On my wish list is:



Simplicity 2584. I've already seen a couple of these made up in solid colors and they're just gorgeous (see here and here). I love the neckline detail.



Simplicity 2586. This looks like a very basic design, but I think the quilted trim on View C is an interesting detail.



Simplicity 2702. I was sold on this dress when I saw it featured in the latest Threads magazine.



New Look 6457. I bought some fabric a few months ago with this style in mind. More on that later though!

Although it's a long weekend, I don't think I'll have a lot of opportunity to get a lot of sewing done. Weekends tend to fill up so fast! I'm hoping to finish one dress that I started earlier this week just in time for a Memorial day bbq on Monday. What are your weekend or sewing plans?

Sewing machine cozy

Back in this post I mentioned that I had plans for all of my fabric. What I meant was that I eventually plan to use the fabric, but sometimes, I admit, I don't have a specific plan for the fabric. I definitely didn't plan on using a charm pack of Wonderland by Momo fabric I had on hand for a sewing machine cozy, but I'm so glad I did!


I love love love the Wonderland fabric line. This sewing machine cozy is the perfect way to show off the gorgeousness of all those prints and I'm pretty sure my machine is happy to be so beautifully covered. How can you not smile at those cute scissors and dots in such pretty colors? Every time I walk by my sewing room now I slip my head in for a quick peak. I know some people just wouldn't understand, but I'm pretty sure you [readers] do.


For the cozy, I simply sewed together seven rows of charm squares, attached two side panels of the some pink and purple dot fabric from Anna Maria Horner's Garden Party line cut to size (measure the width and height of your machine and add an inch or two for seam allowance and ease), and hemmed. Voila! Now I'm happy that I can look at those pretty prints on a regular basis and my machine is happy that it's now dust free.

P.S. Have you taken a look at the beautiful summer dresses in the Summer Dress Sewalong flickr pool yet? Remember, you can enter dresses anytime, I'm just featuring them on this blog the week of June 15-19. I need to get sewing!

Summer Dress Sewalong

So, it must be all of the quilting, but I think my [clothing] sewing block might just be about over. Over the past couple of weeks I've been filled with ideas and inspiration, namely for some summer dresses. Several of you mentioned an interest in playing along in a summer dress sewalong. I hope that by doing so, we can motivate and inspire each other to make at least one fabulous summer dress for our wardrobes this season.



The details: Sew a summer dress (or two or three or four!), post a picture of it in the Summer Dress Sewalong flickr pool, and I'll feature it on this blog the week of June 15th through the 19th. If you don't have a flickr account, just send me a link to your blog post with a picture of the dress. A few additional items: If you've already made a summer dress, it counts, as long as you made it this year! Also, dresses for children count too! Oh, and I'll probably throw a door prize in for a randomly chosen player.

I plan to post pictures of my inspiration and dress sewing process at least once a week between now and June 15th, and I encourage you to do the same. Happy dress sewing!

Fruition

Fruition: 1) Pleasurable use or possession; 2)The state of bearing fruit.



I've been wanting to make a Blossom block quilt ever since I saw this picture on flickr almost two years ago. I wanted one of my own so much that I immediately bought the materials. A few days ago I started the quilt. I've pieced together the top and just need to quilt and bind it. Further proof that I do have plans for all of my fabric, some of those plans just come to fruition quicker than others.

Weekend = Possibility

I love waking up early on Saturday mornings and thinking about all the potential the weekend ahead holds. It's a kind of quiet excitement. Do you feel that way too? My weekend is looking wonderful so far. First on the agenda, a run (as soon as I finish this post). Next, I plan to finish up my friend's baby quilt. I ended up leaving the stripe in; the solid green was just too bright.


What else will I do? A game of golf tomorrow, lunch outside, a dress to be sewn...Speaking of dresses, I've been thinking about hosting a spring/summer dress week at the end of May/early June to motivate us (cough cough - me) to finally check off those dresses we've been meaning to make. Anyone want to play along?

What does your weekend look like?

Blocks to get through sewer's block

My absence from this blog was at first do to the warm sunshine that appeared a few weeks ago, but is now only a memory with the week of rain we've had. Then I was busy preparing for the transition to a new job. But now, the excuse is that I have sewer's block. I enter my sewing room, look at my fabric, look at my patterns, and just have no idea what to sew. So, what to do? Why, sew blocks of course.

Here is my contribution to the Pieced Together Quilting Bee for April:


Erin requested rectangles and squares. I think this quilt is going to look great.

I also started a quilt for my childhood friend who is having a baby boy (if the sonogram is correct!) in July. I'm using the Hopscotch quilt pattern from Super Simple Quilts #1. So far it has been super simple, though I think I might substitute the horizontal green stripe fabric for a solid green to add a little more oomph. What do you think?

More blocks to come!