I know I have mentioned this before, but I'll mention it again, I belong to a Flickr group that swaps Postage Stamp Blocks. Well, I haven't posted pictures of my finished blocks. The first set of 10 above are for me to keep and add to the 10 or so I already have. I strip/chain pieced these blocks to save time and these 10 are actually duplicates of 10 that I sent to swap. The 20 blocks pictured below are the ones that I sent to FairlyMerry (the group leader and swap mama) in order for her to swap them with the other members and then send back 20 different blocks to me. After this swap is finished I am hoping to have enough to put my quilt top together, Excited to get this one laid out and finished up. I am really looking forward to seeing what this one will look like finished. Oh, and before I forget to post this...I have a winner for the fabric bundle and book from Sew, Mama, Sew Giveaway Day! Random.org picked number 198, which ended up being Michelle Smith! I have already contacted Michelle, and since she has already returned my response, giveaway day is officially over. Congratulations Michelle, enjoy your fabric and new book!
Giveaway is Closed! Thanks to all who entered!
It is that time of year again, Sew, Mama Sew! Giveaway Day! Welcome to my blog and website and I do hope you like the giveaway I have lined up for you today! This giveaway consists of two prizes! First up is a fat eighth bundle of the lovely Cut and Sew fabrics by Robert Kaufman. This bundle consists of 10 super cute prints that I think are so appropriate for the occasion! Every sewer needs some sewing themed fabrics, don't you think?The second part of the giveaway is this great book, Inspired to Quilt by Melanie Testa. This book covers a variety of very interesting techniques and would be a great addition to your library, if you would so happen to win it!
How do you enter? It is easy, just leave me a comment, answering this question: "What is your favorite current television show?" Currently, I am loving Nashville, which is funny because I'm not really a fan of country music! If you would like a second entry, either be a current follower, or become a new follower of my blog via Bloglovin or your favorite reader, just leave a comment letting me know how you follow my blog!
This giveaway is open to US residents only, the cost to ship internationally is just too high, I'm sorry! The giveaway will close Friday, May 10, 2013 by 5 pm PST, and a winner will be picked via Random.org and announced by May 12, 2013. Please make sure to leave your email address, so that I have a way to contact you if you are the winner! Thank you for visiting and have fun blog hoping during this Giveaway week!
Hello! Thanks for stopping by my blog today! This is the last day of the UR Priceless Coin Purse Blog Hop, and I am happy to say that I am one of the participants. I signed up for this particular blog hop because I have never tackled a "frame" pouch or purse and really wanted to give it a try. This was a great way to get my feet wet and to join along with tons of really creative participants! I wanted to make sure and thank Madame Samm over at Sew We Quilt and Katherine over at Sew Me Something Good for hosting, organizing and providing/designing the pattern for this lovely blog hop. This is my only finished one (at the moment) and I am quite pleased with how it turned out! For my first frame pouch, I think it is quite cute, and was really a lot easier than I thought it would be. I started with some tiny half square triangles that I had saved from a previous project, stitched them together and created the front panel for this pouch. I believe the hst measured 1.25" before they were stitched together, so you can see they are quite small. After I created this piece, I ironed on the fusible batting and then machine quilted it. I then echoed the quilting on the back panel of the pouch, just to tie the whole thing together. Stitching together the pieces of this pouch was really easy, but I will say the size of this pouch is pretty small (a 3" frame) so it was more challenging than something larger. My experience sewing Barbie clothing from my childhood days came in handy here for sure!
What is up with all the fuzz on this thing?
I used a Liberty of London print for the interior of the bag, and continued the color scheme on the inside. I also wanted to use a busy print on the interior to in essence hide the stitching that does show from hand stitching on the frame. I think I was pretty successful in this aspect. Can you see the stitching? It is there, and it isn't that neat or pretty. Look hard and I bet you can spot it, it really is a hot mess in there, which is the only real downfall to these hand stitched frames. But honestly, I prefer not having to use glue, so you win some, you lose some.
I wanted to mention the hand sewn metal frame process. This was my first time doing this and I was really unsure as to how it would work out in the end, but honestly it fit much better than I ever would have imagined. A near perfect fit, I was impressed. I wasn't sure how to tackle it, so I just stuffed the top in the frame as much as I could and started stitching in the middle, and continued outwards to the sides, making sure the pouch was centered on the frame. It worked great, I used a medium needle with a big eye, and once you got the hang of it, it really went pretty quickly. Though it wasn't a perfect process. I started with a navy blue Pearl Cotton size 8, was almost finished with my first side and the needle pierced the thread wrong and broke it. No way to fix it other than to start over, take out the stitches and redo it. Before I started over I tested the thread I was using (by yanking it really hard) and realized it just wasn't strong enough for this application. Not having any other navy blue thick thread on hand I decided to quadruple up regular sewing thread. So that is what I did. Then once the frame was completely sewn on, I went back with doubled up thread and stitched the whole thing a second time for extra security. This wasn't ideal, but did allow for me to use a needle with a smaller eye, thus making the stitching process easier. Even with this one hang up, I think the pattern is great and made a cute little coin pouch.
I have another one almost finished, but alas had to go and get sick and wasn't able to finish it on time, bummer. Oh well, I'll show it off once I have it finished.
This photo shows the scale of this little coin pouch. Or I have enormous huge fingers...
Thanks for joining me today and reading about my version of this coin purse!
Happy Birthday to Me! Yes, today is my birthday and I am 32....Oh Lord! No it isn't that bad, especially since I spent most of this past year confused and telling people I was 32, so I kinda feel like I gained an extra year! HaHa! In celebration of my birthday, I decided to hold a giveaway for you guys! Yippee! I was lucky enough to win a Traveling Stash Box from My Crafty Crap a few weeks ago, and now it is my turn to pass it along to you guys! If you don't know about the Traveling Stash, Cherise at Sewingly Along does a fantastic job keeping track of all the boxes and giveaways. Basically it's exactly what the name says - a box of fabric and other goodies that's traveling around the United States. When you receive it, you can take out anything you would like, as long as you replace what you take out. What a great concept and great fun! The first two photos here are pictures of what I added to the box! Fabric yardage, some fat quarters and a bunch of other fun things! Patterns, a book, a magazine, an assortment of threads including some pearl cotton and a bunch of other goodies!
The next two photos show the fabric and goodies that are carried over from the other travels (a.k.a. things I didn't take and decided to pass along to you guys!) It was funny to me that I had some of these fabrics in my stash already, like the pink print on the top left! What are the odds?
As I was packing everything in the box, I apparently added to much from my own stash, so at the last minute I took out the two green prints shown in the photo above, because I was on the fence about keeping them originally and I couldn't fit/pack/shove them in the box! Sorry, those two prints that are marked above are not part of the giveaway. But, I promise there are a ton of great things in this box!
Speaking of the box, it is a USPS Priority Mail Medium Flat Rate Box stuffed to the gills, like really packed people. Like stand on it and push with all your might to get it closed stuffed, so it is pretty fun to receive this box and pull out all of the goodies!
So what do you have to do to win? There are a few rules you must follow in order to enter, simple, but you have to follow them! RULES: *Be an active blogger. Post about receiving and the giveaway on your blog in a timely manner. *There is a note in the box that logs where the box has been. Please add your info and place the note back in the box. *There is a list of Rules and Guidelines in the box. Please read and follow these and return the list to the box. *You may take anything you like from the box. Just replace every item with comparable quilt shop quality items equal to the amount taken. See guidelines. *Ship the box to the next person in a reasonable amount of time. *Due to the amount of postage shipping is only within the USA. Head over to Sewingly Along to see the full list of guidelines. Comment here for your chance to win, only one comment per person. Answer this question for me. Since it is my birthday and I'll be eating Chocolate Cake (my favorite,) what is your favorite type of cake? Giveaway is open until Monday, September 24, and I will announce the winner (drawn by random.org) the next day, Tuesday, September 25. Good Luck!
Last blog post of the year. Kinda sad the year is ending, but happy to start a new year, with real resolutions this time, and the opportunity to clean and refresh! I love new beginnings and the opportunities that they bring!
I wanted to end this year with a shout out and photos of all the lovely things that I have won this year (and never got around to blogging about.) Also included in this list are some of the lovely surprises I received this year from lovely friends, that I also never had the chance to show you guys. Not all of the lovely gifts that I have received are in this post, but I promise, I will share those in the upcoming weeks because they deserve their very own blog post!
First up will be my lucky winnings! The first Sew, Mama, Sew Giveaway back mid-year, I entered quite a few and I won this lovely Jelly Roll book from Tammie over at Crafty Tammie. She also included these lovely vintage sheet squares, that I will use in my vintage sheet quilt! The book has a lot of great projects, all featuring jelly rolls, which is something I have yet to purchase or own! The same Sew, Mama, Sew Giveaway day also provided me with this stunning Echino handmade handbag from the lovely Sara over at Sew Sweetness. It is a lovely bag, perfect size and weight, and I absolutely adore the fabric and lining fabric. Sorry the pictures make it seem so wrinkly, it wasn't, I promise! The lovely collection above wasn't so much winnings as being in the right place at the right time, or should I say purchasing at the right time! The two handbag patterns and 6 fat quarters are from the super sweet Karen of Venezie Designs. I was her 2000th customer, so along with my order, she included these fabulous goodies! Lucky me! If you ever need fabric, visit her shop, great selection and fabulous customer service! This super cute rainbow onesie was made by the lovely Kelly over at Blue Bird Sews. It was a giveaway in conjunction with the Stashtacular event. Ironically, I won this not long after finding out I was pregnant, so she made me one in a size that I could use sooner than later! Technically this was the first baby gift I received for my upcoming little one. Can't wait to use! This gorgeous set of slippers are handmade by the incredibly talented Aubrey over at Mauby's. She had a great pattern review of these slippers, and offered to make a pair for the person who could guess the shoe sizes of everyone in her family. Amazingly I guessed them all correctly and won these babies, which I wear every day now and just love! So comfortable and cute! Ironically this fabulous X-Acto knife set and perfect sized self healing cutting mat are from another win over at Crafty Tammie, the very same lady that I won the Jelly Roll book from! This is a great, very useful set, and I love the hot pink color! My last winning of the year, but certainly not the least, comes from the incredibly talented Debbie over at A Quilter's Table. She made this Christmas Mini X quilt from her own tutorial and gave it away for the second Sew, Mama, Sew Giveaway Day of the year. I was lucky enough to win, and it currently sits atop the antique sewing machine I inherited from my husband's grandmother. I have my handmade French Beaded mini Christmas tree displayed on top of a lovely quilt! I just love this little scene it creates! This adorable mug rug wasn't a winning, but rather a gift from the super sweet Stephanie of Spontaneous Threads. She and I are in several online quilting bees, the first being a Christmas Fabric Bee that wrapped up a few months ago. When it was her month, she requested that each member make a small 5" patchwork square, send it to her, and then she would turn it into something for us. I sent her the 5" left hand upper corner simple block with the two birds, and then she created this lovely mug rug from it! I just love it and have honestly used it for the past 5 months. It is just perfect, and I love how she quilted it. The fabric that she used for the backing and on the front is some of my favorite, so in all honesty, I'll probably use this baby year round! The last lovely gift I have to share today is this super cute pin cushion handmade by the truly talented Eileen over at Blue Bird Luxe. She and I are in the Quilting newBEES group together and after my month had come and gone, she sent me this beautiful pin cushion, in the same style as the block that I had requested from everyone. Don't you just love the hand stitching and the handmade label for the back. So awesome! I currently have this lovely pin cushion on display amongst my sewing things, I love it! I hope you all have a wonderful and blessed New Year!
It is that time to pick a winner for the Style Stitches Teardrop Bag! Thanks so much to everyone who entered, and left me such wonderful book suggestions! I have a lot of suggestions to look into, and I have already added "Outlander" to my cart at Amazon.com. I will be reading this series, it seems to be exactly what I was looking for! What was ironic to me was that a lot of you suggested great books that I have already read, you can't go wrong with The Twilight Series, The Time Traveler's Wife, Jane Eyre and Rebecca (one of my personal favorites!) On to the giveaway...
Number 3, is KRISTY, who said,
"That bag is absolutely beautiful! The fabric combo is perfect! (what is that clock print by the way?)
I would be sooo thrilled to win!!! Thank you for the chance!
Right now, reading for me consists of pattern books, my newest is Girl's World and my daily encouragement from Streams in the Dessert. Also reading The Story of Ping with my 6yo every day! ;)"
Congratulations Kristy! I'll send you an email for your information!
Thanks so much to everyone for participating.
Giveaway is now Closed, but feel free to still leave comments! Thank you!
This bag comes a month late (or is it two months now?), but heck, late is always better than never, right? At least that is what I have been telling myself a lot lately. I felt like this bag was actually really easy to construct, and the hardest parts were turning the darn handle and sewing on those side "hips." I have no idea as to how you would sew on those hips if you made the small bag, I made the medium one and that was tough enough.
Anyways, I don't really have any complaints about this bag, I think the instructions were very clear and straight forward, I didn't have any issues putting it together, and honestly it went together really quickly, which was also nice. I did find the handle extremely difficult to turn, but I think that even though this was difficult, I think it was the best option in this circumstance, and honestly when is a long tube ever easy to turn?
If you have stuck with my rambling this far, time for the giveaway! I have been extremely blessed lately and feel like spreading the love! I will be giving away this bag to one lucky person! You have two simple methods to enter to win, just be sure to leave a separate comment for each entry.
1. I am looking for some good summer reading, and would love a book suggestion. I just finished the "Girl with Dragon Tattoo" series, and I love a variety of subjects, but I LOVE time travel books, or a good love triangle. So for your first chance to win, just suggest a good book for me to read! Super simple!
2. If you are a blog follower, leave a comment saying so, or if you become a new follower, just let me know! Also super simple!
Easy peasy! This giveaway will close on Wednesday, August 10, 2011 at midnight! Looking forward to some great book suggestions!
A little over two weeks ago, I awoke one Saturday morning to find a very exciting email in my inbox. It was from the wonderful Katie over at Katie's Korner informing me that I had won her Accuquilt Go! Baby giveaway and would be receiving one with my choice of three dies! I literally was bursting from the inside! I couldn't believe that I actually had won one of these babies! I had been entering these giveaways for quite some time, but never thought I would actually win one! The best part? Accuquilt shipped this baby to me so quickly. I sent my information to Katie on Saturday and literally had this Go! Baby in my hands by the following Friday. Not even a full week! I had my choice of three dies, which actually was really really hard to pick, since Accuquilt has around 58 available for the Go! Baby. In the end and lots of lots of reading, I picked the Circles, Drunkard's Path and 2.5" Continuous Strips. I can not wait to make binding with the 2.5" strip one! I ended up picking both the circles and drunkard's path because I knew that cutting both of these things out by hand are a pain (especially the circles) and having a die to do it, would make them so precise! My son also felt like he had won the jackpot, as soon as I brought the box inside the house he started screaming "treasures, treasures!" As soon as the tape was ripped from the box, he discovered his own little present, a box full of those air pocket balloons, which resulted in hours of popping and so much cheap entertainment for a three year old. It is amazing the things that thrill us all, young and old!
Thank you again, Katie at Katie's Korner and Accuquilt for hosting these giveaways that real people actually do win! Be sure to stop over at Katie's blog and show her some love! Stay tuned during the next few weeks to see the things I make with my new Go! Baby. I can't wait to get creating!
Wow! You guys are amazing! I was thinking maybe I would receive around 200 comments for this giveaway, but you all blew me out of the water, 604 comments! Crazy! Mind blowing! Awesome! Thanks to everyone who entered and welcome to all my new followers, I am glad to have you! Time for the winner...
And Number 58 was...... SHOLA who said, "My fave movie of ALL time is 'Labyrinth' with David Bowie and Sarah Connoly!"
Congrats Shola! I have already sent the winner an email, but if I don't here from her by Monday, then I will pick another number!
Ironically, Labyrinth is one of my favorite movies too, and I know that I responded to more than one of you guys (who also said this was their favorite movie) that I thought David Bowie was super sexy in this movie! But since none of you responded back, I'm taking that to mean that I am the one weirdo in the world who thought that! HAHA!
I plan to do a post in the next week with the results of what you all said were your favorite movies! I found some clear front runners for sure! Also a few interesting choices!
Until next time..
and if you haven't seen Labyrinth, you should check it out!
Giveaway is closed! Feel free to comment, but everything after #604 will not be included in the drawing. Thanks to everyone who entered.
It is giveaway time here at Marci Girl Designs! I decided to play along with Sew, Mama, Sew! and host a giveaway in conjunction with their May Giveaway Day! If you are a first time visitor, thanks for stopping by! More importantly though, thanks to my blog followers and regular readers, your daily encouragement, ideas and comments mean so much to me! Awww...enough of the mushy stuff!
 Five fat quarters from Denyse Schmidt's DS Quilts line of fabrics. On to the giveaway! Here is what is up for grabs:
5 fat quarters of Denyse Schmidt's latest line of fabrics available at JoAnn's Fabric Stores.
1 Louise Pleated Wristlet PDF Pattern by Marci Girl Designs, emailed directly to you.
2 fat quarters of Heather Ross's latest Out of Print line from Spoonflower.
Awesome right? You can't even get those Heather Ross prints anymore, and the Denyse Schmidt prints are rapidly getting very hard to find! Even better, you get an awesome pattern (from my shop) that you can use all these great fabrics to create a super cute clutch for yourself, or an awesome lady in your life!
 PDF Pattern by Marci Girl Designs  Two fat quarters from Heather Ross's latest out of print fabrics from Spoonflower. The Details (How to Enter!) And yes, I will ship internationally!
1. Leave a comment, and in that comment answer this question, "What is your absolute favorite movie of all time?" (1 Entry)
2. If you are currently a blog follower, and have added your little photo to the Google Friend Connect widget to the right, you get an extra entry. If you are a follower through Google Reader (and I know there are quite a few of you out there) just add your photo to the widget and leave a comment that you did so. And if you want to become a brand new follower, just add your photo to that same little widget, and leave me a comment that you are a new follower! (1 Entry for Either of These 3 Options)
You have a total of 2 chances to win! Just leave a separate comment for each. Make sure you fill in the Email spot, so that I have a way to contact you if you win! If I am unable to contact you, I will pick another winner. The giveaway closes on Wednesday, May 25, 2011 at midnight. Thursday morning, I will pick a winner via a Random Number Generator, and will send you an email letting you know that you won, and requesting your mailing address! Good luck and thanks so much for visiting!
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