May the blessings, bless us all!

You're probably thinking....

"hey! You're not supposed to start the Sew Along

 until January 2nd!"

Well I can't win any of the prizes,

 so I can start whenever I want....neener neener!

I made a set of 6 place mats for my wonderful DIL out of these

 bright modern prints from Robert Kaufman.

I used a pattern from my new book that I received just this week.

It's Sweetwater's Simple Home and it's 55% off

over at Connecting Threads.

It has 35 projects in it and I'm already trying to decide

which one to do next!

About 15 years ago we were at church one Sunday and a young girl was being baptized.

 Her uncle was there and asked the Pastor if

he could say something after the baptism was over.

So immediately after the baptism, the Pastor had the uncle

come up to the microphone to share what was on his heart.

You could see that this man was not used to public speaking

and that in the emotion of the moment, he had completely forgotten what he wanted to say.

He stood there quiet for a moment and then he said,

"May the blessings bless us all!"

It was so cute!

It was clearly not what he had intended to share

that afternoon, but we liked it so much in our family

that we say it often :)

So this is one of those instances where that quote

comes into play for us again.

My son was doing an estimate last week

and called me to ask me

if I knew who Robert Kaufman was.

Hello? Um YES!!!

Turns out that's where he was

and he mentioned that his mom was into quilting

and the guy hands him this fat quarter "mega" bundle

to give me!

Yeah....40 fat quarters!!!!

My wonderful son brought me this lovely stack

on Friday night and now I've made a set of

Christmas place mats for his little family.

So once again,

the blessings have blessed us all!!!

I wish you all a VERY blessed New Year!

2012 After Christmas Sew Along

Well here we go!

I'm so excited about all the generous people who are

supplying us with discount codes and fabulous prizes

to make this a really fun month of sewing!

Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!

The Details:

The fun starts Monday January 2nd.

#1. Sew anything you like.

It can be Christmas themed or not.

I'll be sewing Christmas decor for my home

since I never have the time to do that.

Most of us are constantly sewing for others

 and seldom get the chance to sew for ourselves.

You can even get a jump start on gifts

for next Christmas if you want to.

It's totally up to you.

#2. Every Monday, begining January 2nd for 4 weeks,

 I will post a link to a  flicker group

for you to share photos of your creations.

Each Monday there will be a completely new group

for that week only.

A winner will be chosen at random every Friday evening

and I will post the winner on

this blog on Saturday.

You can join in at any time!

That's it....easy peasy!

Just have fun!!!

The following is a list of fabulous etsy shops

that are offering discount codes

to all participants during the course of the Sew Along:

Zipit.etsy.com  (coupon code) SEWMUCH2LUV is good for 15% off her already amazing prices on zippers!

 I buy all my zippers from Zipit!

Yardbirdfabrics.etsy.com (coupon code) 20SEWMUCH2LUV is good for 20% off their entire shop!

  They have lovely fabrics! Make sure to check them out!

LittleRedCottage.etsy.com (coupon code) SEWMUCH2LUV20 is good for 20% off the entire shop!

She has the cutest buttons and trims!

Her prices are already great and she has so much cute stuff!

Swellcloth.etsy.com (coupon code) SEWALONG10 is good for 10% off the entire shop!

Check out the gorgeous selection of fabrics and try not to drool!

Bratpacksfabrics.etsy.com (coupon code) JANLUV25 is good for free shipping on orders of $25.00 or more! She has a fantastic assortment of fabrics, notions and diaper making fabrics that you won't want to miss!

Sweetbobbinsfabric.etsy.com (coupon code) SEWALONG is good for 10% off the entire shop!

She has great fabrics, including holiday fabrics

 and even diaper making fabrics!

 Please note: these coupon codes do not include shipping (except where expressly noted)

And now on to the prizes!

WEEK  #1

One lucky winner will receive this fantastic set of quilted

retro 50's coasters made by Regena of The Distracted Domestic!

She's got a really fun and informative blog so be sure to click the link and show her some love!

Week #1's winner will also receive a $15.00 gift certificate to Zipit!

It's really the only place you'll ever need for zippers!

How cool is that?

WEEK #2

One lucky winner will win this gorgeous 1/2 yard bundle of Riley Blake's Summer Song fabrics

from Bratpacks Fabrics on etsy!

You will receive 6 half yard cuts (3 yds total)

This fabric just makes me happy!

WEEK #3

One lucky winner will receive this Riley Blake's Rolie Polie 

of Lola's Posies by Lila Tueller (24) 2 1/2" x 44" strips

Week #3's winner will also recieve this quilt pattern

 by Cotton Way called Abudantly Blessed.

WEEK #4

One lucky winner will receive a $75.00 gift certificate

to the Fat Quarter Shop!

OMG!!!

Can you believe that?

I'm still amazed at their generosity!

Make you sure you hop on over to the Fat Quarter Shop

and start daydreaming about how you'll spend that $75.00.

Someone is going to win it.....it might as well be you!

And even if you don't win,

they are having a huge sale, so check it out!!!

Well, there you have it!

I personally can't wait to get started!

I've been cleaning out my sewing room and organizing my fabrics and patterns.

 I just love the idea of sewing for the pure joy of it

and not having any deadlines or pressure!

So if you're interested in playing along,

grab a button and spread the word!

And if you have the time,

leave me a comment

and let me know what you are planning on sewing.

week 1 link here

week 2 link here

I got sidetracked.....

It was my intention yesterday to clean up my sewing room

after all the sewing I've been doing for Christmas.

It's hard to even know what is under all the piles

of fabric that are covering every surface!

But I got sidetracked......

more than once yesterday.

Naturally.....

I decided to make these corduroy jumpers

for Evie and Sofie.

I used New Look 6016.

Then I realized that in the corner of my room

I've had these LARGE 24" pillows just waiting to be covered.

I was supposed to make the covers for my lovely DIL

months ago, and it just kept getting overlooked.

So it seemed to make sense to get them done

and make room by sending them to their new home :)

And then the mailman brought me these 2 gorgeous

sewing books that I purchased for 55% off

over at Connecting Threads.

So I had a bowl of pumpkin soup and some iced tea

 and sat down to drool over my new babies!

I'm embarrassed to show you what a mess I've got going on

over here. Looks like a fabric bomb exploded in here!

I'm hoping that later today I'll have a nicely organized

sewing room and I'll finally find my missing seam ripper!

How can I start the After Christmas Sew Along in this chaos????

What does your sewing room look like after the holiday sewing?

A Few More Christmas Gifties :)

This is my favorite time of year.

For our family, we don't see the Christmas tree until

Christmas Eve and we keep it up for at least 2 or 3 weeks after Christmas.

While others are taking down their decorations,

I get to really enjoy the beauty of it all

with no stress, just joy :)

I hope you have all enjoyed your time with

family and friends!

I just wanted to share a few more gifties

that I made and couldn't show until now.

I cross stitched the little Doxie and made it into

a zipper bag for my dear friend Amy :)

For my friend Denise, I made a "mug apron" organizer.

They are great for holding scissors, pens,  & crafting supplies!

I used Simplicity 2450.

For my beautiful DIL, I made these fun potholders :)

I just fell in love with the fabric!

Right now I'm working on getting all the info together for

the After Christmas Sew Along.

We've got some great prizes from some very generous people

so look for that info to be posted on Friday!

Now I can show you a some of my Christmas projects :)

Now that all the Christmas gifties have been recieved,

I can share the projects that I was busy working on!

I made these 2 messenger bags for my

beautiful daughter and beautiful daughter in law :)

I used this super FTS (fun to sew) pattern

by Keyka Lou! Her patterns are full of

photographs and although this messenger bag

has tons of wonderful details,

it really is simple to do when you follow

her easy to understand instructions.

You can click on the Keyka Lou button on the right

sidebar to go to her site and check out her

awesome bag patterns!

I also made the girls matching make-up bags

from my tutorial.

My nephew's girlfriend is a big fan

of Disney and she loves to bake!

 I wanted to make her

a Minnie Mouse inspired apron

that was fun and didn't look frumpy.

I used the "Pretty Ditty Apron"

by Jamie Christina.

She LOVED it!

Isn't she gorgeous????

(My nephew is pretty handsome too....just sayin:)

And for those of you who were sweet

enough to ask...

Yes! They boys loved their Octo's :)

I'm sure the light up laser swords may have

had something to do with that,

but they did sleep with them

and bring them to church the next day

wearing their Octo-Squad t-shirts!

Made my Nana heart happy :)

I'll show more projects and photos from Christmas

tomorrow. And stay tuned for exciting details

on the After Christmas Sew Along that I will

post about this week!!!

Merry Christmas from our house to yours!!!

Let me introduce you to the "Octo-Squad"!!!!

They stand ready to serve and protect!

They fight crime and injustice!

They have laser swords that light up and make sound effects!

(I was so excited when I found the swords at the dollar store!)

They have masks and capes with their initials on the back!

(the fact that their initials are the same

 as the boys who own them

is completely coincidental)

Meet George!

Meet Carl!

Meet Donald!

Meet Eddie!

For the Octo-Squad I used this free pattern from the Moda

website and you can find it here.

I even made Octo-Squad t-shirts for the boys!!!

I drew the Octopus on paper and then traced it onto

white fleece and used wonder under to steam it to the t-shirts.

Then I stitched them onto the t-shirts so that they wouldn't come

off in the wash. I used fabric paint for the wording.

I hope you all have a blessed Christmas!

I can't wait to get to church this morning and see the boys

in their new t-shirts!

Nana's super powers :)

Last year for Christmas I made 3 sets of tiny felt dinosaur playsets for my 3 oldest grandsons.

You can read more about them here.

I also made them canvas bags with their initials on them

to keep their tiny dinos contained :)

Last week while visiting the boys at their home,

I was told that some of the dinos

 needed Nana's super powers of restoration.

It seems the boys have been watching a show called

"Kung Fu Dino Posse".

I know right?

The kung fu hasn't worked out so well for these guys!

You might think it makes me sad to see them like this,

but just the opposite is true.

I love love love that they actually play with them!!!

I've got no problem making them a few new friends :)

You might be wondering how in the world

can I compete with the

Kung Fu Dino Posse?

Well you will just have to wait and see......

here's a sneak peek of the goodness to come!!!!

Hope you're all having a fabulous week before Christmas!!!!

Friday Night Sew In #9

First of all I just wanted to let you know

 that I have exciting news

about the After Christmas Sew Along!

I've already had some wonderful responses from some 

very generous friends

and merchants who will be donating

some of the prizes! 

I'll have more details soon so make sure and check back often!

In the meantime, grab a button

and share the fun!!!

The more, the merrier!!!

On Friday night I was planning on sewing A LOT......

but I ran out of energy after I finished sewing this

business card case for my buddy Marcia's birthday :)

As soon as I saw this fabric I knew I had to use it

to make something for her.

She loves pink and she loves to sew!

I finished the tiny binding by hand and then sewed on the snaps.

I also started machine quilting another Christmas gift,

but the recipient reads this blog,

so I can't even show the fabric or it will give it away.

I hope you all had a lovely weekend!