Notes from the Patch

Never a dull moment

Here it is Thursday and I'm just now beginning to feel slightly caught up after our crazy shop hop weekend. My house is still a disaster and the storeroom at the store looks like a bomb went off in there, but today I cleaned my office, filed a months worth of paper work, ordered a bunch of fun buttons and cool do dads and took a long deep breath. As fun as it is to put on a party of that size, it sure is good to get back to my "normal"!

 

Tonight I'm playing with surprises for Bernina Club on Wednesday and Thursday and making a final decision on what new recipe to try for refreshments. Oh, and packing my suitcase for Portland. Quilt Market is next week!

Encourage one another,

Chalk Talk

I've been wanting to try some fancy chalkboard printing for a while now, but since I hadn't planned ahead, when I pulled out my box of chalk, all I had was colored chalk. 

Dang.

Before making a trip to Office Depot I took one more look around hoping to find a stray white stick hiding somewhere. What I  found was this.

After all, I do work in a fabric store and this IS chalk. kinda. So what the hay. Thought I'd give it a go.

Oh, my gosh - my printing isn't the best but it totally worked!

The two things I hate about trying to print with chalk sticks is that my hand gets tired and crampy holding those short stubby little pieces and because chalk sticks are fat and blunt it's hard to get any detail. And if I can be totally honest here, there is a third thing that I hate about writing with chalk - it's when kids come along and run their fingers through my hard work to see if it will smear. Duh...it's chalk... OF COURSE IT SMEARS! (Look with your eyes little people)! Sorry but it ticks me off when they do that!

Anyway. These pencils are harder than regular chalk so they don't smear at all, but they are soft enough to get that "chalkboard look" I was after. I may never be able to erase it completely - that is definitely a possibility, but I'm thinking if you were to do a wall or a decorative board that might be just fine since it can be a bit time consuming.

I'm sharing this with you today because I accidentally stumbled upon something that I am totally thrilled about and just wanted to share. All my chalkboard printing will be done with fabric markers from now on.

This weekend is our big Heart of the Valley Shop Hop and we have been prepping for weeks. My team has been so supportive and giving of their time. They each share my vision and are proud and excited  to show you what we have planned. We have some wonderful home grown surprises in store for you (all 100% organic of course) and we sure hope you'll come!

Encourage one another,

What I've been up to

I wasn't going to make "party favors" for this weeks Bernina Club because our Make It - Take It is a bit over the top but decided at the last minute you can't have a proper party without party favors.

I whipped out fifty of these babies, all from my stash, proving once again that it IS necessary to have all. this. stuff!

#soproudofmyself.

Today is Sunday April 14th- the first day of the rest of my life without a second house to clean. So what am I doing on my day off? DOING DISPLAYS AT THE STORE!! #soexcited

Probably Absolutely my favorite thing in the whole world is doing displays. There is nothing I love more than putting on my grubbies, cranking up the music and puttering with displays. I really have no idea what I'll end up with (that's half the fun) since I usually just pull junk er props from the storeroom and see where they take me.

Here's hoping your Sunday is filled with fun creativity!

Encourage one another,

          

The way I see it, this is the very best "problem" we could have

I got home after Bernina Club last night and got to make more of these

and more of these.

Then after only four hours of sleep,  got up extra early to make more kits for these -

our make-it-take-it project for March (tutorial to follow). Although we always plan enough kits and goodies for extra guests, we didn't anticipate such an overwhelmingly wonderful turnout! (You guys are just awesome)!

This morning before I hit the shower and head out the door for our Thursday morning Club, I linger over an extra cup of much needed coffee and thank God for your friendship and continued support.

We do love spoiling our customers!

Encourage one another,

Next Bernina Club is April 17 & 18. We hope you can join us - we already have it planned and it's going to be good! = )

It's all in the detail

We recently received these gorgeous mother of pearl buttons.

I seriously doubt that I will ever be able to use mine - they are just too pretty the way they are.

We get a lot of requests for good sew in labels and these remind me of ones you might see in fine couture creations.

And these ribbons? They made the drive to Los Angeles worth the trip just to find these. (This is how I get my jollys folks).

The letters are stitched in - not printed.

They remind me of these antique french laundry tags that they would sew into garments to identify your laundry from someone else's.

I'm thinking any of these magnificent accoutrement's would make a wonderful gift for someone who appreciates fine detail.

Encourage one another,

 

 

Tutorial Tuesday #54 - Hair Bows Revisited

The recent arrival of  these

 

inspired me to make these...

Which brings me to this question for you:

a. Does the fabric (in this case, the ribbon) inspire the project?  or

b. Does the project inspire the material selection?

For me the fabric, ribbon or embellishment almost always speaks to me and tells me what it wants to be. (I guess you could call me a fabric whisperer - or maybe you could just call me weird). Da-know.

Encourage one another,

You can find the tutorial for these hair bows here. Since this ribbon is narrower (7/8") than the ribbon in the tutorial you will measure and mark every 4 1/2" instead of the 6".

          

 Today I am sharing my DIY project on JoJo and Eloise

                          

Dynomite!

So cute

 

so zig zaggy!

 

Encourage one another,

Confucius Says...

When I first saw these adorable felt fortune cookies on the cover of Mollie Makes magazine I knew I had to make them. (I buy Mollie Makes at Barnes and Noble).

One thing led to another and before I knew it I had whipped up fifty of the little suckers for Bernina Club favors. They were so fun to do - even after fifty!

I inserted a printed paper fortune into each cookie predicting that club members would receive a discount on a future purchase. 

Although Mollie Makes also included a pattern for the take out boxes I took the easy way out and purchased mine at Paper Source. They are the perfect size for my diminutive cookies.

Confucius says: these would make fun favors for a New Years party, birthday parties, Chinese New Year, bridal or baby showers. You can customize the paper fortunes  for any occasion.

The idea and recipe for the individual cheesecakes that we served were from Pinterest.

I'm loving the canning jar craze right now and it's a great way to serve a large group.  You can check out this and other fun ideas here on my Pinterest board.

I'm linking up with my friend Beverly at My Sew Sweet Studio for Try Pinterest Thursday.

Encourage one another,

The past week in review

I've been quiet lately, I know. Here's what I've been up to.

Last week I:

1. Watched my car's odometer click over 100,000 miles. I've never driven a car this long. I really hope feel it's just getting broken in. #fingerscrossed

2. Made fifty two treats for Bernina Club.

3. Worked on the final design of our Shop Hop quilt. #challenging

4. Cooked a super healthy Sunday night dinner and threw it in the trash. (Sometimes you need a little fat in a recipe to make it edible). Had a fudge bar instead.

5. Stayed in my PJ's all day Saturday sewing and nesting. #myperfectday

6. Unpacked box after box of fabric and ended up moving half the store so I could put it all away. # ohmyachingback

7. Picked a winner to our Pillow Pop giveaway. Congratulations to Jan Richards from Washington! Thanks to everyone who entered!

8. Had my teeth cleaned, bladder scanned and roots colored. #goodnews #badnews #muchneededmaintenance

9. Ate oatmeal everyday for lunch. There's nothing better on a cold day!

10. Played with our pretty new felted wool balls.

11. Saw another Oscar nominated film for best picture (that makes five out of nine - we never see that many).

12. Stocked up on those cute little colored clothes pins - we finally got some in.

13. Easily found at least one thing to be grateful for everyday.

How about you?

Encourage one another,

 

 

Super Sewing

Prepping for some mindless Super Bowl sewing.

Will you watch the game? Sew? Or like me, do both?

Encourage one another,