Little wooden spools

I found myself browsing a sweet little antique shop the other day when these little wooden spools caught my eye. The owner of the shop had a whole basket full... 1$ each. I could have grabbed the whole basket but I was feeling frugal and rummaged around until I was happy with 5 little wooden spools.

I brought my little treasure home, cleaned them up, dug out some scrapbook paper and little scraps of trim and ended up with these...




They make me happy :)


I was inspired by these from Nanacompany...


...so pretty!

Well I finally did it. I've been saying I'm going to do it for almost a year. I quit my fun little job at the quilt shop. The little job that I looked forward to every Wednesday and Friday evening. The little job that gave me a reason to put on some make up and a new outfit. I needed to. I need to be home with my children in the evenings. The boy started 4th grade today and P started 2nd, and this evening I'm on my way to meet C's new preschool teacher. Last year homework was piling up and things were getting really stressful around here. For some reason it never seemed like it was just Wednesday and Fridays. Sometimes I'd need to fill in an extra shift, sometimes the weekly shopping needed done... some weeks it seemed like I was gone every night. Quitting is a sacrifice for me. I like to work and I like to quilt. But I'm not bitter or angry. I am excited for this school year. I am excited to be around more for the kids, excited to give my mother and mother in law a break from watching the kids, and excited to have some Friday nights to spend with my man ;) One more year and C starts Kindergarten... it will go way to quickly.

P.S. When I got home the night of my last day at work my husband and kids made me this cute cake. I love my family!

P.S.S. The quilting and sewing will continue, as well as the blogging... I've accumulated way to many projects working there the past 4 years.

Ruffles

Aren't ruffles on a quilt adorable? They make this simple little quilt look so sweet and soft.



My super cute quilt model did a great job helping me display this quilt top for pictures this morning!




I have a handy little foot for my sewing machine that will ruffle the bottom fabric while sewing it to the top. This quilt took me no time at all to put together. If you can get your hands on a ruffle foot for your machine I highly recommend it.

I also found this FREE pattern on Riley Blakes Cutting Corners blog this morning. Love the little ruffles in the center of the squares!



I'm thinking about using this cute little stack of Halloween fat quarters with this pattern. What do you think?



Ruffled strip quilt pattern - Gathers & Giggles by Sew Much Ado
Halloween fat quarters - Matilda by Cosmo Cricket for Andover Fabrics

Inspiration

Look what I found at Barns and Noble yesterday. I was super excited, I didn't think I could get it in the states without having it shipped. It is as fantastic as everyone says it is!


My favorite project... these adorable little felt puppies! They remind me of the little felt animals I made.


I think I'll just have to get a subscription after all. I wonder how to get my hands on issues number 1 and 2?

The Family Reunion Dress

Can I put pictures of a wrinkly dress on my blog? I know a few bloggers who would think not, but frankly I want nothing more than true to life on this blog. P LOVES this dress and wore it all day. I suppose I could get it off her tonight, iron it up and take some more "professional looking" pictures of it, but with the joys of summertime and the kids home from school...I just don't have the time or energy.

And I think she looks beautiful in it.



The style of the dress and the weight of the fabric is prefect for summer. It's like muslin with adorable little poodles and dots that looked "stamped" on to the fabric.



I dug through my button jar and chose mismatched buttons for the back. I thought it looked cute that way and saved me a few dollars (and a trip to the store with all 3 kids... priceless!)



The pattern is The Family Reunion Dress by Oliver + S. I was so thankful to have found this Family Reunion Dress sew along! There was a couple spots in the pattern that had me stumped, but the pictures and extra discriptions helped me out a bunch.