>Great Prices on Cotton Blossom Yardage

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Cotton Blossom: Circles

Cotton Blossom: Flower

Cotton Blossom: Checker Print

These three beautiful coordinates from the Cotton Blossom line designed by Bonnie and Camille of Thimble Blossom and Cotton Way fame (they also have a new line coming out soon called Bliss) are available at a wonderful discounted price both on our webstore AND our Etsy store! You can get a 1 yard or 1/2 yard bundle of these three PLUS some other coordinates but if you just want to grab a yard, why not stop by the Etsy shop and get one? Their listings are almost expired and I’d love to see these fly off the bolts before the end of the day. I think these would make up into some adorable tote bags and aprons for your home. Of course, there are always the many, many patterns we have listed on the webstore. I encourage you to go and CHECK IT OUT! We have five yards listed of each of these three and that means that on Etsy you can get up to 5 yards without having to request a separate listing! I hope you’ll go check it out before this chance expires! Order before 3:00pm CST and your order will go out today!

Happy Stitches,

Anna

Got Voile? A commentary, sort of.

>In fact, do you even know what the heck voile is? According to Wiktionary and Wikipedia:

Voile (noun) Pronounced “voy-el”: 1. A light, translucent cotton fabric used for making curatins and dresses, from the French term which means veil. 

Does that help? Here is what I consider to be a wonderful example of using voile to make a beautiful top:

From the Noodlehead Blog

Isn’t that top just beautiful? And who would ever guess that she just used a Simplicity pattern! Not me, that’s for sure. When I first saw voile, it was introduced back in October at the Fall Quilt Market, I didn’t really understand what it was.  A friend of mine recognized it right away as a great light weight fabric for making clothes, curtains, maybe pillows, but most likely NOT quilts. (She started out making clothes before she got into quilting anyway.) This was a little confusing to me, I mean we were at QUILT market, but this was a new trend starting in October that is now super popular. Well, it makes more sense now since the temperatures are rising (every day) and the idea of making light weight tops is super appealing. SO, long story short, Crafty Girls Workshop is jumping on the voile bandwagon and planning to order some which will arrive VERY SOON! If you visit this link to see some of the options and want to add your input about which ones you like the best, please feel free! I have a few in mind already but I’d love to hear your opinion too.

Happy Stitches,

Anna

>Found Something Cool to Play With

>Until I have time for a more in depth post. Visit this to play!

http://www.wallwisher.com/embed/craftygirlsworkshop

Happy Stitches,
Anna

>Fabulous Friday

>This post is going to be full of LOTS of different things so please bear with me, OK?

Friday Linky Parties:

You can see the badges in the right sidebar, but part of the reason I LOVE Friday is all the fun linky parties around Blogland! I’ve linked to Friday Follow at One 2 Try, Follow Me Friday at Trendy Treehouse and New Friend Friday at The Girl Creative! Friday is a great day to make new bloggy friends!! Also a new one for this week, Spring has Sprung at It’s FUN to Craft.

Finish It Friday:

I managed to finish a couple of really easy and rather fun to make tote bags and I finished them on MONDAY! Don’t ask me why I waited until today to post about them. Well, actually, I was going to wait until April for a surprise but just wanted to share today before I give them away. The first one, I made with Mill House Inn fabrics that my mom purchased. She wanted a tote that was small and had pockets for her cell phone and car key. I just LOVE this pattern for the Desk Deli Tote. It’s supposed to be a reusable lunch bag but I found that the size and pockets make it perfect for a carryall bag and I use mine as a purse. We don’t have the pattern yet because it’s super popular and actually on backorder with our distributor! We will be ordering it soon though. This bag is so easy because it’s made with mostly fat quarters! OK, enough rambling I’m sure you want to see pictures, right?

This is the one I made for my mom with Mill House Inn FQs

I made this one for my friend Lynda who looves shoes.

Can you tell that the batik fabric has flip flops on it? She also LOOOVES pink!

I think the fun thing about these totes is the way the pockets are made. You can customize them to the size that you want for your cell phone, car keys, pens, etc. There are some skinny pockets that were intended to use for utensils (since it’s supposed to be a lunch tote) but I use them for my pens! The larger center pocket was intended for an ice pack, but that’s where I stash my cell phone. Well, I’ll be sure to announce when we get this pattern in and you can bet we’ll list some kits to go with it!

Store Update:

Guess what!? If you are subscribed to our newsletter then you should already know this AWESOME news! (If not, visit the teal box in the right sidebar to sign up. hint: You’ll get coupons!) The great news? BUTTONS! We have some wonderful and super cute buttons in our shop! Have you ever seen buttons with POLKA DOTS!? I hadn’t until now and we have them! I just LOVE the red ones with white dots!

Click the image to view item in shop.

I suppose that’s it for now. Thanks for reading all the way to this point! Please do sign up for the newsletter because there are A LOT of great things in store for the shop (including the Fab Shop Hop in JULY!) and I am sure you want to be the FIRST to find out about them!

Happy Stitches,
Anna

P.S. I just watched Julie and Julia last night and LOVED it! How cute! Didn’t really inspire me to cook though, just to blog and sew more.

>Do you do this?

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image source

You’ve probably figured out by now that Regina and I really love to sew. Lately I’ve made myself stop using the computer around 12 noon and go into my sewing room to actually work on some projects. Yesterday I finished TWO really cute tote bags, one for my mom and the other for a dear friend (pictures of those in a couple of weeks.) I also realized I have a TON of fabrics cut and divided into little baggies that are ready to be made into quilts! That’s because I went through a kit buying phase and after I had done that, I went through a “I’ll just cut these and make them ready to sew” phase. Now I’m going through the “I really want to make these things” phase. Maybe it’s the spring weather or something.

Do you ever do that? Go through certain phases and then get super productive and make a lot of stuff?

Here’s the other thing. I have a mini laptop (since main computer is in another room) and I’ve set it up so I can actually WATCH stuff on it while I’m sewing! I love to have music playing or my new favorite is either a show on hulu or Netflix. Hulu is a neat website I found where I can watch previous episodes of fairly new TV shows. My recent favorite has been Fringe, which was written by the same people who wrote the Lost series. I’ve just gotten caught up on the last five episodes of the second season over the last few days. Also, Netflix, if you have an account with them, will allow you to stream movies or TV shows on your computer for no additional cost! I was able to watch all of Seasons 1 and 2 of the BBC TV show Robin Hood (so sad that was only a three season series!) And soon I’m going to hook up an external drive so I can watch DVDs on my mini laptop too. My latest discovery is books on CD. This was sort of one of those V8 moments. I LOVE to read. I have NO problem listening to books on tape or imagining what’s going on, I’ve done this several times when I used to have a LOOONG commute to my previous job. So why not listen to books while I sew? While I was at a thrift store yesterday, I found a copy of John Grisham’s The Brethren on CD for $2.99. Gee, for that little how could I go wrong? Well, I found out, it’s not just a 4 CD set, it must have more than that but all that was in the case was 4 CDs! I just finished listening to the 4th CD and now I’m hanging!! I plan to take it back to the store tomorrow. But wait, I’m not finished!! I just stopped by my local library today and picked out THREE more books on CD today! And one of them is even about a quilter who solves mysteries (my other favorite sort of novel is mysteries). So I can listen to a book on CD about a quilter while I work on a quilt! I also checked out three books but those will be hard to read while I sew.

Does this sound familiar? Do you like to listen to books on tape or watch TV or movies while you work on a quilt? Or do you prefer to listen to music or have complete quiet?

I’m just curious because I felt so much better when I asked around and found out I’m not the only one who sews without shoes on (the better to feel the pedal, right?) Can’t wait to hear your replies.

Happy Stitches!

Anna

P.S. Don’t forget to join the CGW Sew and Show group on flickr! I’m anxiously waiting to see what creations you’ve all come up with!

>New Patterns Available!

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We just received a GIANT order of patterns and I finally got them ALL listed in our shop! Go check them out and while you’re there, consider one of those pillowcase kits. We’ve also restocked some patterns that SOLD OUT such as the Britches and Bloomers and the Reversible Pleated Top. Spring is the time to sew and we’ve got the patterns and fabrics to make some CUTE stuff!

A few of my personal favorites:

Baby Overalls (Boy or Girl!!)

FUNked Out Peasant Blouse

It’s a Wrap Pillow Sleeves

Just click the pictures or the name below to go straight to the shop and order! I hope you have fun shopping!

Happy Stitches to You,

Anna

>Pillowcase Tutorial!!

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Yes, it’s finally time. The pictures are all ready and the instructions are written. Here is the LOOOONG awaited pillowcase tutorial, created by Regina (the rather silent Crafty Girl). At the end of this post I’ll include a link to open a PDF of this tutorial so you can save and print it and keep it close to your sewing machine (mine is in a different room from my computer.) That way you’ll always have a quick go-to project for fast gifts. By the way, the fabric used in the pictures is Oz by Sanae! We have a lot of it in our shop in various colors for many tastes. We also have a KIT available, just tell us your fabric choices (anything from our shop) and we’ll cut it and ship it to you right away!

Easy Peasy Pillowcase Tutorial

Materials Needed:

3/4 yd for case

1/4 yd for band

1/8 yd for accent band

1-1/4 yd lace (optional)

Fold the pillowcase fabric in half and straighten the edges. Remove the selvage from the edges of all the fabrics. The selvage is the tightly woven edge that is either white with the name of the fabric or may be the same color as the fabric but has very small holes along the length of it.

Step 1: Fold the fabric for the 2 bands in half lengthwise (wrong sides together) and press.

Step 2a: If you are using lace, draw a line 1/4″ away from the raw edge of the accent band (lengthwise).

Step 2b: Pin your lace directly below this line. The header of the lace should be touching the line. Sew in place.

Step 3: Line up the raw edges of the accent band (with lace) and outer band, pin, and sew the accent band to the outer band using 1/2″ seam allowance. (picture below)

Step 4: Lay pillowcase fabric out flat, right side up. Line up the raw edges of the band piece and the pillowcase body. Accent band and optional lace will be sandwiched between. Sew together with a 1/2″ seam allowance. If you have a walking foot, this is a good time to use it. Trim the seam allowance to about 1/4″ and finish the edge with a zigzag stitch over the edge of the fabric (this prevents fraying).

Step 5: Fold the entire unit in half lengthwise and pin together. Take special care to match-up the seams on the band section. Sew together using a 1/2″ seam allowance.

Step 6: Trim the seam and zigzag stitch over the raw edge. Turn right side out and push out the corners. Press.

CONGRATULATIONS!!!! You now have a pretty pillowcase for your bed!

Note: If this tutorial is unclear or you have any questions, PLEASE feel free to ask either here in the comments or by e-mail. We’d also LOVE to see if you make any of these how they turn out!

PDF Version Here

Happy Stitches!

Anna

>Survey Says…

>Alright everyone, it’s your turn to spill the beans, haha. Please share some info about yourself in the comments. I’d really love to hear about who reads this blog and get an idea of what I should post about in future posts. Please answer the following questions if you would:

1) Your name
2) Where are you from?
3) Which do you do more, sew or quilt?
4) Where did you learn to sew or quilt?
5) How long have you been sewing/quilting?
6) What is one thing you want to do but are afraid of? (Can be related to sewing/quilting or not)

I’ll answer first:

1) Anna
2) From Iowa City, IA, but lived in San Antonio, Texas for most of my life
3) At the moment I think I sew more than I quilt but I dream about quilting. I LOVE to make tote bags and small quilts and someday might make some clothing.
4) My mother in law, Regina, (aka the OTHER Crafty Girl) taught me to make a pillowcase for my new home when I first got married. She trusted me to use her BERNINA! I was hooked and have been sewing/quilting ever since.
5) That would make it about 6 years (but I did scrapbooking and rubber stamping cards before that and I’ve always sort of been “crafty”)
6) I want to make some clothes, and maybe even with button holes! I love the Classic Shirt pattern so I think that’s where I’d like to start.

Now, will you join me in the Friday Free for All and tell about yourself? I look forward to your replies.

Happy Stitches,
Anna

>Yes, she DOES sew

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And yes, she IS obsessed with red and aqua! Look at these adorable pincushion cuffs I made today! I made one for myself and decided they were sew easy that I’d make another one for Regina at the same time! I used the Lil Plane Jane Aqua and Red and White Dot from Michael Miller. They were SUPER DUPER easy to make and so fun and fast! I dug around in some buttons I inherited from my grandmother and found a really cool white pearly one and one that had a little flower crocheted in the center. Can you see it in this picture?

The neatest trick I learned while making these was to add an old cut up credit card behind the pincushion part, on the wrist band to protect my arm from stray pins! Neat idea! Thanks KeykaLou Patterns for this great tutorial! It feels so good to have actually fininshed something from start to finish today. Yesterday I managed to get most of a quilt top finished too. I just need to grab some more fabric to finish the outside border, backing and binding, of course. I call it the Love U Charm Quilt because I used 1 Love U Charm pack and 1 yard of Bella Solid Mint for the sashing.

I think this will be a great blanket for a little boy (or girl), the fabrics are so fun and cute! I can’t wait to go to Regina’s tomorrow to get the rest of the fabric. That’s the update for now. We have some yardage of Martinique coming in soon and Make Life from Sweetwater, which is going to be super adorable for those of you who enjoy scrapbooking.

Happy Stitches to You!

Anna

I am SEW proud to be able to link this up to i made it! Blog party Thursday over at Everything Etsy!

Also linking to V.O.T.W.

And while I’m at it, a jump on next week:

Can you tell I just discovered the LINKY LOVE of link parties??

>Brrrr…It’s COLD!

>Yes, I know it’s a cliche but baby, it’s COLD outside!! I live in San Antonio, TX a rather southern part of Texas. We aren’t used to temperatures in the 30s and we’ve had multiple days in the 30s! It’s sort of crazy because this last summer we had multiple days where the temperature went above 100. Wow, what a contrast to now! So, when the weather gets cold like this, it makes me glad I have a quilt made of chenille and flannel for my couch to snuggle under, and some warm quilts to keep me toasty. It also makes me think of making…PJs!! We have a couple of great patterns for making PJs so I thought I’d feature them today.

I think this pattern for Jack & Jill Jammies by Idygo Junction is just adorable! It’s great for both boys and girls and has several options. This would be a fast project to put together using some of our flannel/woven fabrics. We managed to pick a few bundles of wovens up at the Moda warehouse last year and I think they would be perfect and snuggly for your young one made into these jammies. Or, if you’re like me and don’t have any little ones running around (or at least none that don’t already have fur coats) then you might be interested in putting together some jammies for yourself or your spouse. That’s why the Sleep Well PJs pattern by Favorite Things would be perfect for you.Another economical option because it has both men’s and women’s patterns included! Think of all the variety you can get from one pattern! So with cold weather, you’ll probably want to stay inside and yet still be productive and you can be by making PJs to keep you warm! If you order this weekend, they’ll go out on Monday and you can probably get the pattern/fabric and maybe even get the entire thing finished by next weekend! I don’t expect this arctic blast to last here in South Texas, but I think it’s going to hit the rest of the country for at least a couple more weeks. Oh, and if you haven’t ever really ventured into the world of garment making (because you prefer quilting) this would be a perfect time to try it. PJs are relatively straightforward in construction and if you make a goof, it won’t matter as much because no one will really see it! If you do buy this and make them, we’d really love to see the finished product. I hope you’ll take pictures and share them with us by commenting with your blog post link. Thanks for stopping by tonight and I hope you’re keeping warm!

Happy Stitches to You,

Anna