Notes from the Patch

Just a quick note

It's been a busy couple of weeks around here with a trip to Los Angeles to the gift show, hosting a bus load of traveling quilters, vending at this weekends quilt show (Strawberry Patches is open today from 11-4), and back to the south land tomorrow for the big CHA craft show. I'm looking forward to February and hopefully a little more normal pace. 

If you're local and have a few extra hours in your Sunday I recommend that you treat yourselves with a trip to the fairgrounds. Our local guild has put on a great show with some inspiring quilts and awesome vendors. They are there from 10:00 to 5:00. Then stop by Strawberry Patches to redeem your quilt show coupon of 20% off on any one cut yardage purchase.  

Encourage one another,

Living on the edge

These came today.

Encourage one another,

Tutorial Tuesday #42 Gift Wrapped Pillow

 

Just hours after I posted last weeks tutorial I got the idea for this pillow. So instead of letting a perfectly good idea go to waste here is

Gift Tags Part Two

Today I give you the (poorly written) instructions for my little pieced pillow. You may want to go here for the instructions for making the tags.

Writing these instructions reminds me of the time we were selected by American Patchwork and Quilting as one of their top ten quilt stores. Part of being in the magazine was to design and make an original quilt. I slaved for weeks over the drawings, pattern and  fabric selection. But when it came time to write the instructions I just threw up my hands and boxed the whole daggedgum thing up and sent it off. Bless their hearts. They wrote the most fabulous, clear instructions for me. I am forever grateful!

Anyway... 

...from a twelve inch square of fabric

measure over 3 1/2" from the left and down 3 1/2". Cut. Cut. (What did I ever do before computers and these cool little arrows? Oh, yeah I had someone else do my dirty work for me. I almost forgot).

Cut two strips 2 1/2" x 14" for contrasting "ribbon".

Attach 5/8" ric rac to each side of one of the ribbon strips using your machine's quarter inch foot. Notice the edge of the foot is traveling along the edge of the fabric and the stitch is right down the middle of the ric rac. It's all so easy when you put your good tools to work.

Attach the strip to the small 3 1/2" x 8 1/2" piece by putting right sides together and raw edges even. You will want to sew with the strip on top so you can see to sew just to the left of the seam that attached the ric rac. That little stitch is you friendly guide. Just follow along all the way to the bottom of the pillow piece and you'll be just fine. Cut off the left over ribbon strip and save it. You'll need it to join those two top pieces in just a minute. Press seams toward the ribbon.

Sew the 8 1/2" square to the other edge of the strip (bottom part of photo below). Then join the 3 1/2" square to the 8 1/2" strip with the remaining leftover piece (top part of photo below). Heck, just look at the pictures!

Trim both pieces with your rotary cutter so everything is nice and square and neat..

Sew ric rac to both sides of second strip.

Join top to bottom sections by sewing the two sections to the 14" strip. Same drill. You'll follow right along the stitch that attached the ric rac.Trim and press seams in, toward the ribbon.

Finish your little pillow as you normally would.* You can add a ruffle if you want or cording. I just hot glued the tag on, but you could sew it if you'd like or maybe use velcro.

I think these would be fun for birthday gifts, or graduations. Put a babies birth date and weight on the tag, a wedding date, get well wishes. The possibilities are endless.

Gosh, you could just say hello...

or goodbye...

Encourage one another,

* What's that? You'd like to take a pillow finishing class? The uber talented Annette will be teaching a pillow finishing class at Strawberry Patches next month. Check the newsletter or call the store for details. Your pillows will thank you!

More new Moda collections

Here's more of the new fabrics from Moda that I ordered last week:

This is Sweetwater's first children's collection,

a beach inspired group for both boys and girls.

Lucy's Crab Shack is due to arrive in June.

Also arriving in June is a Christmas group called Sentiments by 3 Sisters.

Vintage inspired prints with a traditional flare.So pretty and sophisticated.

It seems like I've been doing lots of shopping lately with a full day on Friday at the LA GIft Market for some great gift items. I found absolutely amazing things and will share them as they arrive over the next two months.

Encourage one another,

I'll be back tomorrow with another Tutorial Tuesday Post. Two in a row. Crazy I know.

 

I'm definitely a work in progress (or is that a piece of work?)

Thursday I got up an hour early to make my list. My schedule was tight and it needed to be mapped out perfectly.

• 8:00 -9:00 Standing nail appointment. Arrive ten minutes early so to be finished early
• 9:20 pick up cookies for the bus load of women coming at 11:30
• 9:30 - 9:55 Help finish cleaning the store and prepare for the twenty women coming for Bernina Club
• 10:00 - 11:30 Bernina Club. Stay on time to get them finished up (without rushing them) before the bus gets there.
• 11:30 - 12:30 Host twenty five happy, shopping, traveling quilters on the way to Road to California
• 12:30 - 1:30 Clean up after Bernina Club and forementioned shopping frenzy
• 1:30 - 3:45 Pay bills, post office, bank and all the stuff I do on a daily basis
• 4:00 Standing hair appointment

Doable, tight but doable.

Lets be real here friends. I have this Type A Personality and when things are this tightly scheduled and don't go exactly as planned I've been known to, em... lose it.

Here's how my day went in reality:

• I was ten minutes early for my nails but my manicurist was ten minutes late. I could feel my blood pressure rising as I waited. I politely let her know I was on a tight schedule and bless her heart she made up some for lost time. However as I grabbed my handbag to rush out the door I messed up two blankadeeblank nails and had to have a redo.
• Arrived at the bakery at 9:30 to be told the cookies weren't ready and that I would have to come back in 30 or 40 minutes (By this time I was on that dreaded road to no place good).
• Got to work to prepare for Bernina Club and got a call that one of my employees was ill and couldn't make it.
• Happy customers were beginning to congregate outside and patiently watched as we ignored them and continued to scurry about trying to get everything ready.

By this time my panties were in such a bunch! But then:

• We opened the doors to welcome the most wonderful friends who love our store and their sewing machines. They were all eager to show what they had completed since our last get together. They encouraged one another and celebrated when someone else won the coveted door prize they each had so hoped to win. Many of them had arranged busy schedules and driven long distances to be there (and I was acting like a ditz).
• The bakery delivered my cookie order along with an apologetic slice of cake and an iced tea.
• One of my employees offered to come in to fill in for the sick helper and my staff couldn't have been more wonderful and gracious (unlike their not-so-fearless leader).
• The bus full of quilters were so complimentary and appreciative of our hospitality and couldn't wait to return.

Long story short, the day turned out just fine. Wonderful in fact, despite my crappy attitude. If there is a moral to this story I guess it would be, don't sweat the small stuff. Everything will turn out just fine despite the bumps along the way. It's the people in our lives that makes the journey worthwhile. 

Sometimes I just need a chill pill.

Encourage one another,

 Hey, if you love to make lists you might like Teuxdeux. Just be prepared for the inevitable changes in plans! = ) Happy rainy weekend!

 

 

Sneak peak

I spent a few hours with my Moda rep on Tuesday. He had lots of Christmas for 2012 to show and this:

It's Vintage Modern by Camille Roskelley and her mother Bonnie.

What would you do if you had decide between these 40 beautiful prints? Hard. I know.

I did what any savvy buyer would do, I took the easy way out and bought them all! All ten flannels too!

We'll be kitting this 71" x 86" quilt when the fabric arrives in May so let us know if you're interested.

                                                            photo by Camille Roskelley

The perfect blend of vintage and modern

                                                                       photo by Camille Roskelley

in today's hottest color combinations.

                                                          photo by Camille Roskelley

Oh, the beautiful possibilities!

Next time I'll show you what's coming from Sweetwater.

Until then...

...Encourage one another,

                                                

 

No time to chat

 

Yikes! We're buried here!

Encourage one another,

Tutorial Tuesday #41 - Valentine Tags

I swear sometimes my projects seem to take on a life of their own. I start out with one idea in mind and before I know it, I've taken a sharp turn and ended up somewhere totally unexpected. So was the case with this little project. I thought I'd make stuffed hearts using some really cool ribbon that I'd saved and somewhere along the way got an idea for fabric tags instead.

I love tags. You know those paper ones with the brown reinforcements and string ties that you get in the stationary stores? Love those. So I thought it would be fun to make some out of fabric but make them big enough that they could double as little Valentine cards. Just something that a friend could hang in her sewing room or over her desk. A lasting momento of friendship.

I must say here that this is a pretty lame tutorial. Just really a bunch of photos for hopefully some inspiration. What you decorate your tags with will totally depend on what's in your stash boxes, bags and bins.

Here's what I did:

I started with Peltex Double Sided Fusible Stabilizer and ironed fabric to each side. Peltex was the perfect choice for this project because it's thick and firm enough to support my embellishments. You can even sew through it if you want. It was the first time I'd ever worked with Peltex and loved how easy it was.

 I traced my tag shapes onto the fused fabric and cut them out.

Because some of the fabric I used was a loose weave I thought I would seal the edges so they wouldn't ravel so I painted on Mod Podge Matt around the cut edges. 

Then I just rubber stamped a message or design on the front of my little tags and decorated them with some flowers and odds and ends I had laying around. I mostly just hot glued everything down. Each tag took just a few minutes to make although deciding what to do took awhile, but that's the part I love the most - getting out all my treasures, sifting through boxes of buttons and ribbon, trying to find that perfect thing.

I've had these little decorative drawer pulls forever and never knew what to do with them. What I thought I wanted was a big eyelet but didn't have any so the drawer pulls seemed perfect.

I just poked a little hole through the Peltex and screwed the knob onto the tag.

 

 

Here's one with an eyelet after a quick trip to Michaels. Bill helped me drill a hole through the Peltex big enough for the large eyelet.

I antiqued the edges by blotting the edges with a rubber stamp ink pad.

 

If you'd like to make your own you can go here for the tag pattern.

Encourage one another,

 

Simple pleasures

So how goes your January? It's half over already. Can you believe it? Time flies when you're having fun I guess.

I've been having fun decorating the house for Valentine's Day. Just the kitchen table really, but it's enough to make me hap, hap, HAPPY!

I love filling old candy jars with Valentine candy.

Actually I just pick out all of the Christmas green candies from my jars and wa-la instant Valentine's Day! See...

Thank you to whom ever picked holiday colors. It wouldn't have worked so well if Valentine's Day followed Halloween.

This year I threw a red and white quilt on the table for an extra pop of color and bought a few additional candy jars (like a needed an excuse).

Got out mother's cake plate, which I adore, and lots of paper doilies. What would Valentine's Day be without paper doilies?

I found this old jar on a recent trip to Aguora Hill Antique Mall. It shows a bit of wear but then who wouldn't at that age?

I can just imagine it filled with chocolate bon bons in some French sweet shop and the village children coming in to buy a francs worth of candy.

At my house they'll get Dum Dums! That just seems wrong somehow.

I put out some of my little Disney French Limoge boxes  too. They make me smile (especially when I just went to this sight and saw what my old collection is worth - not that I would ever sell it but note to children). Yikees!

That's me and Bill, my Valentine for 44 years!

Little signs that cupid's been here. Please ignore the holly berries on my "Valentine" cake.

I've been working on some valentines too. I'll show you those next time.

Until then,

Encourage one another,

Valentine's Day

What are you making for your valentine this year? Pillowcases, PJ's, zippered pouches, sachets, pincushions? Inquiring minds want to know!

I love surprising people with a little something I've made at Valentine's Day. It's so unexpected. A perfect way to say I'm thinking about you without knocking yourself out (I'm all about that).

Anyway, we have a great selection of red and white and Valentine's Day themed fabrics - some of the best we've had in years!

Hopefully I'll be sewing up some valentines this weekend. I'm excited. I see a creative mess in my future! WhooHoo. It's been way too long!

Encourage one another,