I'm back

I'm so glad I made it past that craft show! I've been taking it easy this week catching up on the housework and getting things listed on Etsy (still working on that actually). The show went pretty well although not as good as last year. It was worth my while for sure and now my Etsy shop will be stocked up.

Last year, my big seller was baby quilts but this year I didn't sell ANY baby quilts! weird. So the big seller this year was Kindle covers. You just never know! that's what makes these shows so nerve-wracking. Anyway, I had a great time and I'm sure I'll do it again next year. :)


I did make one thing this week, a Divided Basket for my sister-in-law's baby shower on Saturday.

I love, love, love how it came out!!!

And I knit up a simple cozy hat for the new little one too.

I'll be back soon to share some more quilts that I didn't have time to post before the show.

Etsy Favorites

Today, I'm sharing what's in my Etsy favs right now.

Have a great weekend!

Another year older

One of the nice things about living near lots of family and friends is that you get to celebrate your birthday multiple times! This year, I've been spoiled rotten. Last Saturday it was homemade chocolate cheesecake, last night we had butterfinger ice cream cake and tomorrow, homemade cinnamon rolls (I'm not much of a cake person)!
My hubby surprised me with these ear rings that I had favorited on Etsy recently. There are lots of pretty things in that shop.

(Photo from Lightborn)

Mom took me on our annual birthday lunch/fabric shopping outing. My mom is such a generous person! That little yellow polka dot was on clearance for like $6/yard, I totally should have got more than 1/2 a yard!


Yesterday, I started trying to quilt my Croquet quilt but very mysteriously the top thread broke about 4 times in a 25" section and now the thread is catching somewhere and making a big mess. It worked just fine the last time I used it and the only thing I did differently this time was use a different thread (Aurifil) when I usually use gutermann. I quickly gave up but am going to do a thorough investigation on it this morning.

I hope everyone is having a great week!

it went well!

I had a fantastic day at my local Etsy Handmade Harvest show! I was quite nervous actually, would I sell enough? what would people buy? I just hoped I would do as well as last year. Turns out I did double what I did last year! It was a ton of fun too.
Here I am getting things set up. Sister is helping.

And so is little Jack.

It's so funny what you think will sell and what actually sells. I thought this feather table runner would be the first thing to go but it never sold! I'm seriously thinking about keeping it for myself though. :)

My booth was a tad bigger this year than last year which was nice because it gave people more room to get in and hold quilts up and really look around. My booth neighbors were selling handmade soaps so I had lovely scents drifting into my booth all day. Bonus!

I didn't get any good pictures after the show started but it was packed! A great turn out for sure.

So, this little baby quilt was the first thing that sold!

I used up almost the last bit of my Heather Ross Far Far Away 3 fabrics and bordered it with Yarn Dyed Essex Linen in Flax.

Rapunzel made it in there too (she's from Far Far Away 2).

And two large pieces of girls playing horses and golden flowers made up the backing.

LOVE how adorable this quilt is! Very earthy feeling with all the linen.
More quilts to show later this week!

hi

Happy Wednesday to everyone! I'm feeling chatty today. :) I had a random thought pop into my head today when I was making lunch. I started thinking about all my favorite Hugh Grant movies. Him and his British accent are so cute! My absolute favorites are, in no particular order, About A Boy, Music and Lyrics, Bridget Jones' Diary, Two Weeks Notice and Love Actually. It must be because it's a cloudy, cool day and that makes me want to watch movies (even though I rarely do). Also, with the holidays coming I like to plan some serious downtime. What are your favorite cozy up-downtime-happy feeling romantic comedies?

Hey look! I've been knitting!
After seeing Sarah's Avery I knew this was the project to get my knitting mojo back on track. I'm thoroughly enjoying it. The Tweed Katmandu Aran isn't the best at showing off the stitches but whatevs, it was what I had in my stash that I knew wouldn't scratch my neck too bad and the color will go with everything (I'd say it's a very dark charcoal gray with flecks of blue).

Also, I thought I'd share a mosaic of all the different quilts I've made over the past 2 months to prepare for the Etsy craft show.

This isn't actually everything but most of it. You can see bigger pics of each on Flickr.

whew!

I can breath again! Etsy Denton Handmade Harvest where I had my own booth selling my quilts was yesterday and now it's over! I'm really happy with how it went but for two months I sewed sewed like a crazy person to get ready for it and now I need a break.

I didn't sell a ton of stuff which I expected but I definitely did well enough and I'm pretty happy with how it went. Actually, I sold a little bit of everything: a couple of baby quilts, one lap quilt, several table runners and mini quilts and even a few patterns. The great thing about it is now I can list everything else in my Etsy shop where I know it will sell.
Of course, my hubby woke up that morning with a kidney stone so that added a bit of extra stress I hadn't counted on! Luckily it all worked out and there were plenty of family members to take care of him, help me set up and take care of Jack. My hubby has been doing fine but you know how those things go, not very fun!
I really hope to be back to weekly-ish blogging soon. Now that my shop is full (well, once I list it all) I feel like I can take a break and relax and focus on the upcoming holidays which I am so excited about!
In fact, after I post this I am going to go download Avery and start knitting it tonight!

MIA

Okay, sorry for the absence! I have a good reason. I'm working my butt off to get ready for a local Etsy craft show:

I am soooo nervous about it! will I have enough quilts? will I even sell any? ahhh, why am I doing this to myself?!

I have managed to sneak in a tiny bit of gift sewing. One for a dear friend moving out of town and the other for the sister-in-law's birthday.

These are little pouches I made using the method I learned from Denyse Schmidt at last year's Blueberry Hill Sewing Weekend. These were super fun and easy to make and a great diversion from all the quilts!

Someday, when I'm not spending every evening sewing bindings on, I want to knit this, this and this.

Introducing....

My new quilt pattern Play It Up! I am so proud of how these quilts turned out! The blue/green quilt is a large lap size quilt and the pink/brown one is a baby sized quilt. I really wanted to show the variations in color schemes that are possible just by using a darker or lighter solid between the colors.

I'm always looking for patterns that show off the gorgeous designer fabrics that are out there and I really think this one accomplishes that. I mean, that is one of the big reasons that I got into quilting....the fabrics are so amazing and I just want to display them all over the house! This is pattern is definitely doable for a beginner as well.

The pattern is a PDF file listed in my shop.

I hope everyone has a lovely weekend! I am just about to bind off my Shalom Cardi so I will update on that soon!

Birthday Contest

I would say a 30th birthday calls for some celebration and a contest, don't you? I certainly don't feel thirty. There are so many things in my life I am grateful for right now, I feel really blessed!

THE PRIZE

I've been hoarding these gorgeous skeins of Louet Gems Pearl in Crabapple. It's a really happy pink but not too bright. These will make a gorgeous scarf, shawlette or pair of socks!

HOW TO WIN

Okay, it's simple. I need your opinions! I'm thinking about changing my banner for my Etsy shop and I want to know which one you like best.

Current banner:Possible banner #1

Possible banner #2

Possible banner #3

Just leave a comment and let me know what you think. I will draw a winner on Wednesday, Sept 15th at noon CDT.

I hope everyone has a great weekend! Take a moment and remember the 3,000 lives that were lost 9 years ago.

My New Endeavor

Here is what has been consuming my time for the past month or two!

I am proud to present my Etsy quilt shop!

I was talking with a cousin of mine about how much I've been enjoying making quilts recently and she suggested I start an Etsy store. After much thought and planning I decided to give it a go.

I think I may have mentioned this to you before but I really owe it all to my mom. She was really into quilting when I was young (still is today) and not only did she teach me the "proper" way to do things but she also let me have free reign in her sewing room to experiment with my own way of doing things. Up until the last few years I didn't have the capacity to do much sewing (you know, college, travel, making a home with the hubby) nor did I have any clue about the amazing fabric designers that were out there making modern, stylish material. It's really been fun rediscovering my love of quilting!

I promise you that this is still my knitting blog and it will remain so with the small addition of my Etsy store in the side bar (I hope y'all don't mind).

So, that's it! Thank you so much for reading this blog (I don't say that nearly enough)! I hope everyone is having a lovely fall weekend!

Etsy Find

In honor of the big shopping day, I thought I'd show you one of my recent Etsy finds.

When I saw these car littler bags I knew they would make great practical gifts for several family members! And a little gift for myself as well. I mean, I'm already paying shipping, right?

Both of the above things are found at Allyson Hill's shop. The shipping is fast and the service is friendly! She has a really cool blog too.

Personally, I'm trying to spend as little time in the mall as possible this year. I'm just not a big fan of crowded stores is all. Already I've done more online shopping this year than before; it just takes a bit of planning ahead. Of course, I still have those hard-to-shop-for people. Who doesn't!?

Happy shopping everyone!