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...

Floppy Hats and Poofy Skirts

One of my Mom's best friends, Connie, recently married a man that she's totally nuts about... and... as luck would have it... her new last name is the SAME as our new fabric line, FLORA! How cool is that?

Needless to say, she's been all over these fabrics... sewing away... for her three cute granddaughters: Sydney (4), Callie (almost 3), and Chloe (1). Girls are so much fun!

For the hat pattern she used Sally Sells Sea Shells by the Sea Shore Sun Hat by Izzy & Ivy Designs which I found online here... The skirt pattern came from Flirty Skirts by Tanya Whelan which you can download for free, here... She made the hats as directed, but varied the skirts slightly in lengths of ruffles, etc., because the pattern was not available in Chloe's size (the littlest one, see below). She was just too darn cute to leave out... so I think it was worth the extra effort.

Connie said that as soon as she saw this line... she knew that it would be great for these two patterns. The colors really pop when they're layered like this.

Every year she helps with a golf tournament that her sons/son-in-law host in memory of their dad, to benefit the Southeastern Children's Home... so she's been working super hard to get them all finished up in time for photos! Sydney, the oldest of the three, liked it so much that she insisted on wearing it the next morning for church too.

Sydney also mentioned that she thinks it will make a great beach hat. :) Ha, kids are so funny!

Connie's next project is going to be a one-year anniversary quilt for her and her sweet husband, Bill. And she mentioned again, how she's super excited that me and my Mom decided to name this fabric line after her. :) LOL. Of course we did!!

And then to finish up... I want to tell Robin, the amazing photographer (and Connie's daughter-in-law) that we love the photos!!! Especially after I found out the back story. Ha! These were all taken in the parking area of Jason's Deli in Spartanburg! How funny! It's not exactly your ideal setting, but you'd never know it from these shots! Way to go, Robin!! (She has a great blog too, Out On a Limb, with more cute photos of her adorable family!)

So, if there's anyone out there who has made something using one of our lines, we'd love to see what you've come up with!!! Just send us some photographs and a little background info... and we'll put them up on our blog.

And on that same note... These are some driftwood sailboats that my sister's aunt by marriage, Ruth has made and sent our way, what an out-of-the-box idea, super cute!!