Fabric Organization Wall

I've struggled with a good way to organize my fabric (mainly fat quarters and less than a yard cuts) for a long time.  So far this system is working.  This wall is opposite the wall where my embroidery machines are located. These are CD racks and the fabrics are organized by color and theme.

I am on the verge of ourgrowing this but for now this holds all my "small" pieces of fabric, you can see some cubies have more room than others.   The rest of my fabric (mainly large pieces) are in the cubeical bins below the CD racks and are also organized by theme or type as well

If you follow my blog, you might remember a picture of my sewing area last year where I had the racks on the ground  in the corner by the window.   When I started to run out of space, I had the idea to turn the cubeical bin (that was on the wall where the bed is now) on it's side and put the racks on top.  (Don't know why it took me so long to think of that!).  The CD racks are extremely sturdy and quite heavy so they can hold the weight of the fabric well.  I had a difficult time getting all three, it took me about 6-8 months to "find" them because I refused to pay regular price $40.    I actually found two at the Habitat for Humanity ReStore here in McKinney (9 months apart)  and the last one at a neighbor's yard sale last fall.

Here is a picture of the entire wall .  You can see how all of the posts I've done for the last month or so fit together.  The fabric letter banner, button wreath, lamp shade, covered cans, pillows on the bed, etc.  My space is still a work in progress but I think it's coming together nicely.  I got all my ideas from looking at craft rooms on Pinterest, I hope this inspires someone else. 

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you have a nice day!

Teacher Appreciation Gifts

After making the mousepad and tissue holder for my boss last week, I decided to make sets for a few teachers at Micaela's school since it's Teacher Appreciation Week.  I used the same tutorials but this time added embroidery to both items. 

Made this pink set for her main teacher, pink is one of her favorite colors. 

Close Up of the Tissue Holder...

Made this set for the music teacher.  I thought the music note fabric would be fun for her and I embroidered the letters in her favorite color purple. 

Close Up of the Music Tissue holder.... had to embroider this one vertically.

Thanks for stopping by.

Linking to Made by You Monday

Owl Bag for MIL

Made this Owl Bag for my mother in law for Mother's Day. I used the Lola Owl Pattern by Virginia Lindsay of Gingercake Patterns. The directions for easy to follow and the project was quick. Here is the bag. I used denim I had gotten from my mother's stash for the main fabric. The other fabrics are from my stash. The blue willow looking print I actually purchased with my mother in law in mind because she loves blue. I used double buttons for the eyes and simple white felt for the beak. Here is the back of the bag (the pocket is straight in real life, the angel of the camera and the stuffing I added for the picture make it look kinda crooked). After I sewed in the pocket, I thought about embroidering so I just added Mimi, the name Micaela calls her to the top.   The inside of the bag is lined in the same blue willow looking print and I added a silver magnetic snap by Everything Mary for closure. I had never used snaps like these before, they were super easy to install, there are videos on the website with step by step instructions.

I am looking forward to making more of these bags in other color schemes. If you decide to by the pattern please tell Virgina, Martha sent you. I hope you all had a great Mother's Day, I know I did. Thanks for stopping by.

Baby Shower at School

Micaela's teacher is expecting and today for the final day of Teacher Appreciation Week, we had a little baby shower. 

Here are the items I made.
A banner.  Did this with felt adhered to fabric using thermoweb.  Added on letters I cut out with Cricut using the Cuttin' Up cartridge and did a simple satin stich around the edge, then stitched each piece to ribbon. 

Here is a close up of the banner.

A pillow for the nursery, theme is lambs.

Here's a closeup of the lamb.  This is the first time I use this design and I think it's adorable, I wish I knew more people with this theme in their nursery.

The last thing was a simple diaper cake.  Instead of ribbon, I used the same fabric as the pillow and banner to wrap around the 'tiers' and embroidered it in the same font as the pillow.

It was so fun to make all these things, I wish I knew more ladies having babies!  Thanks for stopping by.

Linking to Made by You Monday

American Idol

So proud of Hollie.  Looking forward to her big welcome home back to McKinney.  She has inspired so many young people in our city, proud to welcome her home very soon.

Another Throw Pillow

Made another throw pillow for the guestroom/sewing room bed.  After this I think I am kinda done...lol.   I've had this in my head for a while and finally had some time to make it. 

This is made from a block in the quilt panel of the Brittish SEW fabric by the Henley Studio and Makower.  I got it at the Quilt Asylum back in the fall last year.  It coordinates with the fabric I used for Micaela's sewing machine cover.  I wish I could find more of this fabric and store it forever because I think it's so cute. 

The red polka dot fabric on the pillow is the same one I used on my sewing machine cover.  I used the same format as the M pillow next to it (I now realize I should not have them next to each other).  You can see the tape measure pillow on the left is made with some of the same fabric from the sewing machine cover too.  The black & white ginham pillows are actually made from dish towels I found in the dollar bin ($2.50 set) at JoAnn, I just sewed two towels together and I was done.  I've got to run, hope you have a great Thursday.

Mousepad & Tissue Holder

Made this mousepad and pocket tissue holder for my boss Julie's 50th birthday. The mousepad is reversible and has the same fabric as tissue holder on the backside.

I followed this tutorial at More Misadventures to make the mousepad but added the embroidered name and a layer fusible fleece to give the pad some body.  The leaf fabric is designed by Amy Schimler for Robert Kaufman Fabrics and its from the Animal Party Too collection.  I love it. 

Here is the backside of the mouse pad.  This fabric is called Save Energy and is by Michael Miller, I went bananas when I just stumbled upon it while searching for something else online.  This fabric totally represents what we do so I thought it was beyond perfect. 

Here is a closeup of the tissue holder.  I followed this tutorial at Skip to my Lou for it and it was super easy.  You can't tell in this picture but the inside of the holder is lined in a coordinating plaid fabric.  I wish I had thought of top stitching the edge of the tissue holder to match the mousepad but since I made the tissue holder first, it's too late now.

Hope you are having a great Tuesday, thanks for stopping by!

Received this gorgeous orchid & plant after speaking to the MISD PTA Council today during lunch. It looks so nice sitting on my desk! This totally makes my day! Always a pleasure speaking to a great group of residents that want to know about our programs!

BTW--  That is Mary Engelbreit artwork in the background.  I know it's not the usual decor for a government office--  All of the quotes & art portrayed are environment related.  Hope you are having a great Monday!

Micaela's Pin Cushion

Micaela loves to sew.  Her latest project is pin cushions, also known as bean bags to her.  She shops for fabric in my stash and comes up with her own combinations.  Lately she is making different pin cushions for different seasons/holidays-- (umm, I wonder where she get's such crazy ideas?). 

Here she is with her latest creation, a pin cushion made with Hello Kitty fabric.  The sewing part is less than 12 inches but she is so proud.  She carefully turns it right side out, makes sure the corners are pointy and fills them with walnut litter, then has me close them.  

She's discovered these are perfect pillows for Barbie too.  Here's Barbie resting in her birthday ball gown on one of the beds from my townhouse (circa 1978).  I think Barbie is going to get a stiff neck from laying on such a hard pillow but Micaela thinks Barbie will be okay.  Thanks for stopping by!

Button Wreath

Good Morning! 
I kept admiring all the cool button wreaths on Pinterest and decided I needed to make one. 

I started with a straw wreath that I had covered in black satin ribbon for Halloween and just started adding buttons and pins.  Let's just say I highly recommend a thimble.  When I started the project, I thought I would be done pretty quickly.  After a couple of days, I made a special trip to the store for a thimble because I could not find one at home.  This took me a while.  It's hard to tell in this picture but this wreath is 18 inches in diameter and is covered with buttons on the back too.  I literally put this together while watching the last season of the Bachelor.  (I try to do something productive while watching mindless tv shows). 

I used more than 1800 pins and almost 900 buttons.  My index finger hurt from pushing all the buttons into the straw but I love how it turned out.  I had a bunch of buttons already then had my Mom send me some of hers.  When I got her package, Mom sent some from my great aunt and one of her friends, so there is a nice mix of old and new including some orphan buttons from my own childhood outfits that my Mom made me (I guess those could be considered kinda semi vintage).

This wreath proudly hangs in my sewing area.  Slowly but surely my room is coming together. 
Hope you are having a great weekend thanks for stopping by!

Lamp in Sewing Room

The room where I sew is technically our 4th bedroom which is supposed to be a guest room.  Since most of our out of town family has moved here, it is rare for us to have guests.  I've sorta taken over the room with my sewing stuff but I am still keeping a bed and normal guest room things in the room.

In keeping with the red and black color scheme of the sewing stuff, I decided the lampshade on the bedside table needed to be redone to coordinate with the rest of the room.  This was an easy peasy project that I probably should have done a long time ago.  I took a shortcut and purchased one of the self adhesive shades, added the Sew Now Sew Wow- Alexander Henry fabric and a pom pom trim to the bottom and I was done.  I have used the Sew Now fabric all over the room, can you tell I love it?  

The fabric hooped on the wall is more of the 'sewing machine' black & white fabric from the spray cans I covered last month.  I am doing a whole group of fabric hoops on the wall but I am not quite done. 

The little table the lamp sits on belonged to my grandmother so it has probably been in the family for about 100 years (my Dad is 82).  Growing up, it was orange peach color, then I brought it with me to college when I got my first appartment; with me it's been several different colors.... now black.  The yellow crocheted doily on the table was made by my maternal grandmother, it's one of the only things I have that belonged to her.  Everytime I look at the table and doily, I am reminded of my hometown and family.  Hope you are having a great day.  Thanks for stopping by!

  

Fabric Banner

I made these  "Sew Much Fabric" ~fabric banner letters while I was off for a few days last week.  I made them to place above the racks where I store all of my fabric. They are an In the Hoop design from Pickle Pie Designs. The design calls for stringing the letters together with ribbon but instead I ommitted the ribbon and just hid a flat tac in the back layer of the letter to hang them on the wall.  These are super quick and easy to make.  I think it takes longer to hoop the fabric and cut around the letters than it does to sew them.   I'll show the 'fabric racks' where I store all my small cuts of in the next few days. 

Thanks for stopping by.

First Bloomers

I hope you are having a great Saturday.  I am enjoying my time off.  Today Micaela and I are headed to Shreveport for a girl trip, we are so excited. 

I could not go to Shreveport empty handed.  I've been wanting to embroider baby bloomers forever and finally had a 'candidate'.  These are for my dear friend's grand-daughter.  I still can't believe, I have a friend who is in my age range (forty-something) who has a grandchild.  I remember when the daughter, now the new mom was a toddler herself...

Here are the bloomers...

I embroidered the eyelet pair in a monogram font that I use all the time.  I thought the hot pink and black would be kinda fun.  I love this font, I've used it for aprons, and pillows and lots of other stuff.  

The second pair is denim and I used a firecracker font.  I thought these would be cute for Memorial Day, Flag Day and of course Fourth of July.  These were so fun, I wish Micaela was still a baby so I could make her some.  Thanks for stopping by!

Daffodil Bag

If you read my blog, you know I am into Daffodils.  Last month I made a bag to carry all my stuff to the Texas Daffodil Show at the Dallas Arboretum.  This is the bag.

I started by purchasing the daffodil design from Embroidery Boutique more than a year ago.  (that's how long I have been thinking about making this bag).  Then I purchased about 12 different fabrics in yellow and green.  I wanted a patchwork look, my inspiration was a bag made from a jelly roll (2.5 inch strips of fabric).  I pieced all the fabrics together and made up the bag as I went along.   I top stitched the strips with a decorative stitch and alternated yellow and green thread. I appliqued a free hand circle I cut from a lid (honest) with the daffodil applique on it and then top stitched it to the bag.    I lined the inside with one of the yellow fabrics, added a ruffle at the top, a velcro closure, and long strap so I could carry it criss cross.  Ta Da.   

Thanks for stopping by! 

Butterflies & Bees in our Backyard

Went outside to pull weeds and water this morning (I took a day off from work). Discovered the Augusta Duelberg plant was covered in bees and butterflies. I quickly ran in the house to get the camera, these are a few of my snapshots. I could have taken pictures for hours, the bees and butterflies just kept posing for me...

I am enjoying my day away from the office.  Thanks for stopping by!

Quilted Laptop Sleeve

A couple weeks ago we purchased a new laptop.  I decided it needed a 'homemade' sleeve using some fun fabric I found in the WalMart fabric department~~ of all places.  I followed a great tutorail by Sew Mama Sew that I found on Pinterest. 

I followed pretty much the whole thing but instead of using fusible fleece adhered to a contrasting fabric for lining, I used real fleece in a solid color.  I also did some "quilting" to sew the fleece in place.  (This is the same fleece I used to make the soccer blanket last year).   I also added two strips of velcro for fastening to allow a fitted closure if I had a few extra things in the sleeve.

The tutorial was very good and easy to follow.  I think it turned out pretty cute and I look forward to making a few more. 

By the way, if you haven't discovered Pinterest, its's quite addictive.  I have more than 2000 pins, everything from sewing ideas, to tablescapes, to paperscraps, feel free to follow me here.  Thanks for stopping by!

Micaela's Sewing Space

This is Micaela's little corner of 'our' sewing room.  We got her the mini cube shelf (Mini Cubeicals by Closetmaid from Target) for her birthday because she wanted a shelf like mine for her stuff.  She even helped assemble it yesterday. We had the little table but now her space is more like mine.  She loves it!  Notice the fabric in the top left cubby is her assortment of weenie dog fabric, we'll be making a cover for her sewing machine and some cute stuff for her room with them very soon. 

Thanks for stopping by!

Owl Sewing Kit

I am participating in a needle case exchange at one of my local quilt stores, The Quilt Asylum during the month of June.  I've been looking for patterns and found a really fun owl "sewing kit" one (in the hoop) at Embroidery Garden.  I had a super busy week and spent most of Sunday resting, cleaning and catching up...I took a break to sew and decided to make one to test the pattern. 

Here it is, I think it turned out pretty cute. 

When you undo the turquois knotted loop (hair elastic) around the buttons, inside the quilted wings you put your pins and needles, in the belly pocket seam ripper and little scissors and there are two spools of thread for the feet at the bottom. The whole thing is a pin cushion too and it's weighted with walnut litter which will sharpen your needles and pins as you (stab) it.   I really like it and plan to make more.  I  really struggled with the fabric choice because I don't have many small patterns that all coordinate (new excuse for buying more fabric).  This pattern was worth every penny!  Thanks for stopping by!

Painting Oreo's House

Linking to Metamorphisis Monday @ Between Naps on the Porch.

My husband built a dog house for our new dog Oreo back in December. He left the wood unpainted because he knew Micaela would have some 'input' on the color etc. Well, three months have flown by and the house was still plain wood. Everytime Micaela and I would go outside she would say, "Mommy, we need to paint Oreo's house".

Well the day finally came, we had a free day when it was dry and clear outside. We struggled but we managed to lift the doghouse onto the red wagon draped with a drop cloth. We painted and painted. We did a couple of base coats in a simple glossy beige paint and then moved onto painting flowers as Micaela wanted. She drew and I painted. We had fun. The wind helped us by drying the paint quickly but made it a challenge to keep the small acrylic paint containers upright. Oreo helped by knocking over the paint containers that the wind didn't move and running off with paint brushes...it was comical.

After several hours, we finished. Here it is... (this is right before we added the wood name letters)

Oreo didn't know what to think at first, he barely wanted to get close it it.

After much encouragement and a few treats he crawled inside. We think he loves his newly 'redecorated"' house.

Micaela is happy too!

Thanks for stopping by!

Easter 2012

Here's Micaela on Easter Sunday... can't believe she will be seven in just a few weeks. Our roses have a gazillion blooms!

Tornados in the area

April 3rd-- yesterday was an eventful day, lots of tornados in the area. Long story short, the tornados did not hit our area but I did get the opportunity to spend more than an hour in the storm shelter (aka music room) at the school with 120+ of Micaela's classmates. The kids did great and I was impressed about how well the staff had complete control over the kids.

I had just purchased a new umbrella and rainboots over the weekend. The umbrella came in handy for Micaela and her friend Caroline as we exited the school. They thought the whole tornado episode was alot of fun. God willing we will not have to go through that anytime soon.

Here are the girls as we left the school, they look like they just came out of a party with big smiles on their faces...