Multitasking

Birthday Quilt In Progress

In the Office with Mama

Samantha’s Artwork

HELP! Jedi Have Locked My Head in a Box!

Bare Feet and Grass Stained Knees

Daddy & Daughter Birthday Celebration

From 2012 Project 365

Have you heard about the wonderful things happening over at Hopeful Threads? Kristy has such a heart for people in need, especially children, and she is doing a fabulous job of encouraging those of us who love sewing and are blessed with much to take a few minutes each month to give back. On the first of every month, Kristy posts a new charity sewing project on the Hopeful Threads blog. Participants from around the world join together in contributing their time, talents and fabric to help those who need what we can give.

Last month, I set aside a day to sew up a dozen bloomers for the January project. Annabelle’s Wish had a special request for bloomers to go with the many dresses that are donated during the summer months to the little girls in China’s orphanages. One day of sewing time and a few yards of fabric was an easy thing for me to give even on a tight budget. This month, Kristy is encouraging you to find a fundraising project that you can contribute to, whether it’s by creating a handmade project to be auctioned off, bidding on an auction or by skipping that latte and giving the dollars instead. (That last suggestion was not really from Kristy. It was all me, and really for me.)

Also, this month, I’m joining in as a Hopeful Threads supporter! (Kristy and I are working on a really exciting plan for a project that we’re hoping will happen in a few months, too, but it’s a secret for now. Shhhh . . . ) In addition to asking you to skip over to Hopeful Threads and start using your sewing talents to give back, I’m giving something to you: three chances to win two of my patterns! You have to go read Kristy’s post to find out how to enter: FD Giveaway.

Every man shall give as he is able, according to the blessing of the LORD your God that He has given you. Deuteronomy 16:17, ESV

Pecan Pesto & Whole Wheat Pasta

Can We Play?

Say Cheese!

It’s Mine!

Running in for the Score!

Sean

Saturday Morning Breakfast with My Big Boys

From 2012 Project 365

Why, yes, I am a little behind on my 52 Projects already. I’ll be making up for it over the next week with Samantha’s birthday present! It’s going to be so cool! In the meantime, though, projects #2 and #3 are new winter PJs for Charlie and Jamie.

They’re apparently very comfy PJs! At Fall Quilt Market, the folks at Shannon Fabrics stopped by my booth and asked me if I’d ever tried sewing my knit patterns with their Cuddle Fabric. I hadn’t, but I was willing to give it a try. They shipped me a box of some of the cutest prints last month! You really have to jump over to their site and see their selection: Cuddle Fabric Prints.

I started out with my Charlie Tee pattern and my AJ Bottoms pattern. I did have to make some minor modifications to get them to work with this fabric. It does have stretch to it, but it’s not quite as much as a cotton knit. (Cuddle Fabric is a polyester plush fabric similar to Minky, Moda’s Snuggles and Joann’s Soft & Comfy.) Once I widened the necklines and narrowed the neckbands on the tees and lengthened the waistbands on the pants to allow for the difference in stretch, they turned out really nicely. My boys certainly think so!

Have you seen the new look over on my main webpage? Cynthia of Webwurkz did an absolutely amazing job with the updates that I needed.

The biggest part of the update is to my Patterns page. When you click on it now, it takes you to a page that shows you all of my current patterns.

When you click on each pattern, you’ll find a pattern description, photos and a box where you can click to order the paper pattern or the pdf pattern. AND, when you purchase the pdf pattern there, you get it instantly! No waiting around for me to email the pattern. Gotta love instant gratification, right?

Quiet Sunday Afternoon with a Good Book

Dash!

Summersaults are So Much Fun!

Winding, Winding, Winding . . .

Monkey Business

More Love for Katie!

Rock, Paper, Scissors, Shoot!

From 2012 Project 365

Free . . . Five . . . Go!

Time to Do the Dishes

Uncle Charlie: “Hold Ka-e!”

Spinach, Mushroom & Rice Lasagna

Hugs for Katie

Ice Cream for the Birthday Boy!

Celebrating Jamie!

From 2012 Project 365

Squeee! A copy of the latest issue of American Quilt Retailer arrived at my door just a few hours ago and guess what I found inside?

Did you guess yet?

Fishsticks Designs patterns!

Want to see?

It’s in the center spread . . . in a really exciting article that editor, Susan Fuquay, wrote all about the trend towards sewing for the guys in our lives. Of course, that’s exciting because my patterns were featured, but it’s also exciting because it means that designers and manufacturers are designing for little (and big) boys!

Wait! I have more for you! Becky at AQR was so sweet to send me pdf versions of the full article so you can see the whole thing and read for yourself! How cool is that? Here’s Page 1, and here’s Page 2.

My friend, Leigh, issued a challenge over at my home-on-the-internet, Make-Laugh-Love, to complete 52 handmade projects this year. Since I sew all the time, that’s not really a problem for me. I have noticed, however, that I sew a lot for business and sometimes overlook sewing things just for my family. That realization motivated me to jump into the challenge, but I’ll be working towards completing 52 handmade items this year specifically for my family.

Project #1 is a pattern that I’ve done zillions of times, but it’s what was on my list. Jamie got a pack of 24 twistable crayons from his big brother for Christmas, and he asked for a crayon roll to store them. These are so nice for little ones (and for mom) because they can see which crayon (or marker, or pencil) that they need right away, and they make cleaning up after creating quick and easy!

Jamie begged me to buy this football fabric for him the last time I took him to one of our local quilt shops with me, and he was really excited that we found something to sew with it!

One project down, 51 to go! This is going to be fun!

Charlie at Sunset

Back to (Home)School

No Hummus Left Behind

Freshly Baked Bread

Hangin’ with Big Brother

A Little Paint and a Trip to IKEA

From 2012 Project 365