Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Breezy Pinwheels




So I know it's just a quilt top, but knowing me the way I do, I'm pretty certain it won't get quilted until after the holidays. In fact, I'm pretty surprised I was able to find the time to finish up the top this time of year. But I didn't want to wait to show you, because I think it could be my favorite quilt.



I took the red pieces out of my layer cake of Sherbet Pips and I think it turned out to be a really sweet color scheme. And then those little pinwheels remind me of spring, something I'm ALREADY longing for!

How adorable is Aneela Hoey's next line coming out this February, A Walk in the Woods?!


Since I just finished up this quilt top, I'm thinking something different for this line. Maybe little matching messager bags... I've been thinking about putting together a tutorial for a child sized one.

Friday, November 18, 2011

Winner! and 100THANKS

And the winner is of the crochet ear warmer is...


#8 Angie Schlenz!
Congratulations Angie! And yes, I do remember meeting you once apon a time :) Check your inbox for my email.
Thank you guys so much for entering the giveaway and reading my blog and being my friends and giving me someone to connect to from here in lonely stay-at-home mommyland! I started this blog because I needed to reach out and know that there was a few people out there who would notice my creative adventures.
I wish I could make crochet ear warmers and send them out to all of you! But since my time and budget won't allow for that right now, I am offering a discount to my favorite followers. Just type in this coupon code when you are checking out at my etsy site
100THANKS
To recieve 20% off!
This coupon code will be valid for this weekend only, so hurry over!


In case you were wondering how I chose the winner, I used this sites random number generator, but for the life of me I couldn't figure out how to post the results on my blog.

Tuesday, November 15, 2011

100 Follower Celebration Giveaway!



110 followers to be exact. I'm pretty excited about this! Who knew that people would actually want to read my ramblings? I want to thank you guys for being such great followers by doing a little giveaway!

If you head on over to my etsy shop you'll notice I listed some crochet ear warmer headbands for sale. I'm loving crochet and I think these ear warmers are way cute. The big flower and fun buttons make them super fashionable right now.



So, in celebration of passing the 100 mark on my followers list and finally having something to list on my etsy site, I'm going to give away not just one but TWO crochet ear warmers! One lucky winner will receive a Mommy and Me ear warmer set. One ear warmer for you and a matching one for your special little girl.



The child size should fit a little girl 3 to 10 years old. It has two buttons in the back to adjust the size. The adult size is also adjustable.

OK, are you ready? Here's how to enter my giveaway...
Leave me a comment after this post and tell me a little something about yourself so I can get to know all my followers better. What's your favorite craft? Are you working on any fun projects right now? Something simple but something fun. On Friday I'll use a random number generator to pick one of your comments and the winner for the ear warmer set! Be sure and leave your email address so I can get ahold of you to let you know you won.
This week while you're waiting to hear how lucky you are, go check out my etsy site and my other ear warmer options. I'm offering these custom order, so you can choose a color to match your favorite winter coat or sweater.
Thank you so much guys for sharing with me this fun passion of creating. And stay tuned, I have a super cute quilt top just about finished!

Friday, November 11, 2011

Mushroom Christmas Tree Ornament

Pretty cute, huh? It was actually made to be a pin cushion way back in the spring, but it never made it to the blog. It sat there looking sweet on my self in the office for a few months, then the girls got ahold of it and played with it for awhile. Now I've taken it back, hung it on a bit of mini rick rack and plan to make a few more to hang on the Christmas tree this year.

No, my Christmas tree is not up yet... we actually LIKE Thanksgiving around here. I had to dig out this mini tree from the basement to showcase what it will look like, in a few weeks, hanging on a Christmas tree.

I have a tutorial put together for you. I've also copied a pattern sheet to scribd that I'll link to. I have only recently discovered that scribd charges to download things unless you upload something yourself. I wasn't aware of this (probably because I am always uploading its never been a problem for me to download) and I apologize. I am on the hunt for someone new to use in the future who doesn't charge. I actually already downloaded this pattern a few months ago on scribd, so it's there now for those of you who can download it. I'll have my hubby (he's the one who knows how to work all that for me) download it to a better site ASAP.

But here's a few pictures to help you put it together. You'll want to first cut out 5 mushroom cap pieces out of polka dot fabric (The fabric in the picture is pink. I made a cute pink one too, but I'm going to let the girls hang on to that one. Pink doesn't match my current Christmas decor).
You'll then sew these pieces together, like I've shown below...
Once you have the mushroom cap pieces all sewn together, you'll sew that to the mushroom cap BASE. I cut my base and stem from felt. It is stiffer and you don't need to worry about fraying.
Here's a picture of me sewing the cap to the cap base...
I then cut a little hole at the bottom of the cap base. The stem of the mushroom will cover the hole so you don't need to worry about sewing it up. Just make sure you don't cut the hole to big that it won't be covered up by the stem. Now stuff the cap through the hole with a bit of fiberfill stuffing.
Now hand stitch the two short ends of the stem piece together...
and then hand stitch the stem base to the bottom of the stem...

Ugh... ugly, ugly stitches there, but you get the idea. Now stuff your stem with some fiberfill stuffing. You'll then hand sew the cap to the base with a whip stitch and sew a bit of rick rack to the top to hang your ornament. I also added a couple little felt leaves to the top... that's just because I wanted to hide my imperfections where the cap pieces came together at the top. You can do that do if you like the way it looks, or leave it off if you are better at stitching than I am :)


Mushroom Pattern

Thursday, November 10, 2011

Now in 3D!




3D is the hot thing right now, right? 3D movies, TV's, video games... I know my kids love it. Personally, 3D just gives me a dull headache for the rest of the day.



But these cute 3D pinwheel blocks are no headache :) I love the way they are turning out! I'm not going to go into too much detail about how they are made, because I am using THIS pattern to make them, but I'll tell you they are fast and easy, and a layer cake and a bit of white is all you need.



I did do a search for 3D pinwheel quilts and I found this really fun one...



I think I like it even better than mine because you don't have to sew those little triangles... they are just folded! There is a tutorial for this one on her blog HERE!

Tuesday, November 8, 2011