Ya'll Are a Crafty Bunch

You know how we relentlessly ask you to send us photos of the projects you've made with our fabric...

Well, it turns out that many of you have actually done so. Some pretty cool stuff has been showing up in our inboxes recently, and we're really exited to share some of them with you today.

The first set of photos was sent to us by Corinna Hyde of Corinna Couture.

Corinna's name may sound familiar to many of you, as we have mentioned her on our blog before. Corinna is awesome because not only does she make and sell these adorable dresses and skirts, (check out her etsy shop) she was also kind enough to whip up some sample dresses for us out of our Birds and Berries line for use in our market booth.

I totally want one of these dresses, and I don't even have kids yet.

But the craftiness doesn't stop there. Feast your eyes on these little gems...er eggs...sent to us by Amanda Murphy of Amanda Murphy Designs.

Amanda used our Flora line to make her Easter Egg Table Topper come to life, which I think was a great decision...for obvious reasons.

You can view the whole table topper here...but wait there's more! This pattern is actually a free tutorial that she's posted on her website. She shared the directions in multiple posts, which can be found here, here, here, and here.

I love this pattern for a variety of reasons, but the most important is the fact that you can use your sewing machine to appliqué the eggs onto the background. I think this table topper may have to make an appearance on my next Easter table scape.

And last, but most certainly not least, we've got Laura Piland's "Bloom" quilt.

I love the vintage chic feel of this quilt. In fact it almost looks like something you could buy from Anthropologie. And the story behind this quilt is equally cool. Laura is new to the wonderful world of quilting, and by the looks of it, she's a natural. Anyway, she made this quilt for a friend who was moving to a new...very far away town as a reminder to always bloom where you are planted.

I know...it melts your heart doesn't it. What a great friend!

Thanks again Corinna, Amanda, and Laura for sending us your awesome projects! We love seeing pictures of all the amazing and creative things that people are doing with the L+J fabrics.

I'll finish off the post with one last plea...Please send us photos of your projects! We know you're out there...and we know you're crafty. You can either e-mail us via our contact page on the website, or post it to our Facebook Fan Page. Thanks!

Little Carrie's Christmas Presents

Yes, I've been doing a horrendous job keeping up with the blog. I've been meaning to post this for a long time now, and I should seriously be ashamed of myself for blogging about Christmas presents in May… but you know how it goes… the road to hell is paved with good intentions. :)

Carrie sewed together presents this year for all of the women in our family… because she's sweet. And I have to say, they are quite nice.

Since childhood, Carrie has been the messy one.

But something has changed here in the last few years and she's gotten to be quite meticulous… sewing together intricate little bags, baby quilts, pot holders, purses.

We're very proud.

(I'd be a little more proud if she'd make me the skirt that I've been asking for for the last year…)

Julie Rocks (Part 2)

Have we mentioned that Julie Sebire of Narioka, Australia rocks? Well...she does...and for the second time, she has blown us away with her awesome project for the Moda Bakeshop.

A few weeks ago we got word from Julie that she would be contributing yet another pattern to the Moda Bakeshop AND said project would be made out of our new line, Flora! And thanks to my new obsession with making bags, I was pretty anxious to check out her Hexagon Flower Bag for myself.

The bag itself is a really nice size. I also love that it allows you to play with multiple fabrics, rather than committing to just one or two...giving it a nice patchworky feel!

And after reading Julie's full tutorial on the Moda Bakeshop, I think I may have to add her bag to my ever growing list of projects I plan on starting.

Be sure to stop by Julie's blog, Narioka where she's got many more project ideas and copious amounts of photos for inspiration.

Thanks again for sending these beautiful photos of your Hexagon Flower Bag, Julie! We love that you love Flora as much as we do.

Adventures in Sewing

My interest in crafting and sewing started early.

In fact, some of my earliest memories involve reams of colorful construction paper and copious amounts of scotch tape…my mom always encouraged us to be creative!

It wasn’t long until I got bored with that and graduated to using fabric and thread. And while I’ve always loved sewing (or anything creative in nature), I never really ventured past simple patterns with straight lines and easy seams.

For a long time, anything with buttons or zippers was way out of my league…until now! Our last line, Flora, has really inspired me, and in recent months, I have developed a new appreciation for my sewing machine.

Since my new obsession began I have whipped up a tote, some makeup bags, 3 journals, 2 teddy bears and a super cute clutch.

In fact, Lauren and Mom were so impressed with the clutch and the teddy bears that they insisted I share photos of them with all of you.

So there you go! I am really proud of these creations, and if you ask me, the Flora fabric adds a little something extra (and I’m not just saying that because it’s mine).

While it’s fun to share our projects with everyone, we would LOVE to see the projects that all of you have made using our fabric!

So if you’ve made something using Botany, Hideaway, or Flora, and you’d like to show it off, please don’t hesitate to send some pretty pictures of it our way. We’ll be sure to show them off on the blog and the facebook page. Happy Sewing!

The clutch is Amy Butler's pattern: "Perfectly Pleated Clutch" from her book Style Stitches. The teddy bear was altered slightly from Joel Dewberry's "Teddy Bear" pattern in his book Sewn Spaces.

Drum Roll Please....

Congrats to Paulette and Gwen who will be receiving two huge bundles of fabric in the mail very soon! Whoohoo!

WINNER #1

Paulette Doyle said: Thanks so much for the chance to win a gorgeous bundle of Flora!! LOVE it!

WINNER #2

Gwen Windham said: What gorgeous fabric—- I HOPE I win!!!! :-) I really enjoyed reading your blog, and wanted to tell you that you have the cutest little Westie! My sister has a Westie- his name is Willie– and he is the sweetest thing… He “sings” when you tell him to– the cutest thing I’ve ever seen! :-)

Thanks for sharing! :-)

And let me take a moment to say... Gwen, you're my kinda girl! :) I LOVE EMOTICONS TOO!!! They allow the writer to add so much more feeling... and emotion into their writing... like never before. :) Emoticons opened up a whole world of possibilities for me!

AND... they allow you to write mean, nasty emails to coworkers without sounding too rude. For example... I might want to say... "Hey George, The burrito that you left in the fridge last week is now disgusting and moldy, and if you don't do something about this, I'm going to tell on you."

Totally rude right?

But let's change this up a bit... "Hey George :) , The burrito that you left in the fridge last week is now disgusting and moldy 8O , and if you don't do something about this, I'm going to tell on you. LOL :P "

LOL's help too. ;)

So for all the other Emoticon-aholics out there... Here's how you make them...

SMILE :)
GRIN :D
SAD :(
EEK :o
SHOCK 8O
CONFUSED :?
COOL 8)
MAD :x
RAZZ :P
NEUTRAL :|
WINK ;)

I found these here...