Juicy Bits

191: I will blog tonight

I've been telling myself that all day, and while it's technically now tomorrow, I'm on it.  Obviously.

A while back I promised to share the results of all serger-sewing-fun I had this summer.  These dresses are my favorite.

One is for Aurora and the other for her best friend who just happened to move half-way around the world this summer.

They are made from recycled t-shirts that I mostly got at the Salvation Army Thrift Store.  A few pieces are old dresses or t-shirts that Aurora used to own and probably had  stain or something on them.  One is even from old PJ pants of mine.

I knew I was going to do very piece-y stuff in bright colors and I found this etsy seller for inspiration.  The patterns are my own, and obviously that took the longest time.  The actual sewing of the dresses is quite quick.

 I got very addicted to shopping at the thrift store.  I went there at least 3 times and spent more than $30 on t-shirts, most of which only cost $.99 each.  You do the math.  I now have big bins of t-shirt scraps to work with.  Luckily I feel pretty certain I'll make more.  She loves the style and wearability of the dress.  I've also made her another and Theo a couple of pieced t-shirts.  I'll try to get pictures of those.  I love Theo's t-shirts because boys clothes often bore me.  And I might want to try some adult sizes, but it's harder to come by big enough pieces.

 

And now I frequent the thrift store on half-off day.  I just can't get over buying Gap jeans for the kids for $.99.  They both now have several pairs of jeans in too big sizes.  I have to scour the racks, but I always find some good stuff.  And I did get quite a few props for her Harry Potter party.  By the way, it's over (thank goodness) and it was a smashing success.  Whenever I have the photos edited, I promise to share.

JT

139: in the house

That's right, Timber is in the house!  Or rather, shops.  But it could be in your house if you bought some, and now you can.

These photos are from Mary's blog showing Timber on the shelves of Tumbleweed Quilts. 

It does seem to go nicely with the Hope Valley.  Definitely great company to be in.

So I don't know everyone who's got it on the web.  If you're a shop owner carrying the whole line and want me to add your name here, I'll update once in awhile.

I do know the following have/had most or all of it:

Hawthorne Threads

Fabritopia

Fabric Worm

JCaroline

Venezie Designs

Sew Mama Sew

Hart's Fabric

Calico House - Lincoln, NE (402)489-1067

I shall attempt to get a flikr group up soon so you can show me when you start sewing...

JT

128: on the vine

This is a flashback to my crochet obsession.  It's seeming short-lived.  Really I'm not over it, but it's definitely been put on the back-burner.  I have all the yarn for a gorgeous blanket, but haven't even started one square.  Maybe at Christmas.

Anyway, I did finish this vine-like scarf, garland, neck-thing-y, whatever you want to call it.

It's a total copy.  Check out Kanokwalee on etsy.  Goregeous right?

This is the style I copied.  

I asked her if she sells patterns and she doesn't (yet) so I made it up on my own.  Of course I would never offer a pattern for someone else's design, so if you're interested, ask her to consider writing one up.  I would totally buy that.  

Or, even less work for yourself, buy one from her shop.  What a great holiday gift.

JT

109: no restraint

I can't help myself.  I remember being younger and being amazed how much fabric my Aunt could buy before using all her other stuff...but now I'm just the same.

Anyway, I was working on a project recently and wanted a little bit of a solid fabric to go with it, and I discovered I really don't have any.  Literally, I had like 6 different pieces of solid color cotton and considering how I have hundreds of prints...that was just a shame.

So when another blogger posted about Kona solids at Fabricshack.com for $3.99, I decided the time had come.  And I ordered a whole palette.  Apparently I kinda focused on blue.  I'll have to balance it more later.  

It's so fun to look at all the colors and to know when I go looking for something, I might actually have something usable in my stash.

Some of the colors were strange...which, of course, I expected.  I think my least favorite is "pistachio".  And I must say "denim" is not remotely denim colored (although it's a pretty enough blue).  The lovely people at Fabric Shack were kinda enough to label all the colors as I had requested.  Coal, teal blue, chartreuse, and squash are just yummy!

JT

104: gotcha

Ha!  I knew I would draw out all you lurkers.  Yay!  And please don't think I have any problem with lurking.  I do it all the time.  Who has time to leave comments everywhere they go?  But if you don't say "hi" once in awhile, how will I know you're there?  And how can I check out YOUR blog?  (If you have one...not required, if course)

Anyhoo, I promise that all of you who spoke up, now officially have a shot at the quilt.  That is, if I get it done.  I'm trying, but really just haven't had much time.  We're going away camping for a few days, but hopefully when I get back I can really get cracking.  Do check back at the end of the month...

So, I did indeed go shopping a yarn store.  Boy was THAT overwhelming!  I really needed to have gone in there with much more of a plan.  I have grand ideas of trying a blanket, but wasn't even sure what material or weight of yarn I wanted.  I ended up just buying some stuff that "called" to me (or rather, that I couldn't stop petting) and hope to sort of audition some of them for the blanket.  

Without checking myself, I would have walked out of there with skeins in a dozen different shades of green. 

Speaking of which, do you know "skein" is pronounced.  I didn't.  Well, until Martha told me, that is.  I think it is seriously the only episode of her show I've ever seen.  Tivo somehow miraculously knew I would be interested in her "yarn" episode a week or so ago.  Um, yes.

The best part to me was when someone was show Martha her Amigurumi stuff and she had a super-cute cupcake with a face and Martha said, "So it doesn't make any sense, but it's cute?"  Too funny.

Well, the yarn store just happens to be next to one of my favorite quilt stores., Pennington Quilt Works.  I was terrible at resisting there too.

Here's some random fabrics I bought.

And here's a peek at fabrics I'm already gathering for Aurora's 5th birthday (in September).  I'm going with a peaches and cream theme.

JT

101: Quilt Market part 5: shopping, quilts, and big news

This is the last installment in my Quilt Market adventures.  Just some little loose ends to cover.

I'll start with the "big" news.  I've signed with Windham Fabrics to produce my first line of fabric, Timber.  To me this news is just HUGE!  It was a long process to get it all together for Quilt Market and I'm so happy to be moving forward.  I had  tough time deciding which company to work with because really every single person I met with at market was super nice and I could imagine working with them.  But I went with Windham, and I couldn't be happier.  I wish I had more to show you on the topic, but it will be a while longer.  Bear with me...soon I promise...

Anway, the rest of the loose ends are about Quilt Market itself.  Like how I went vintage fabric shopping with Heather Bailey.  OK, OK, maybe not some much "with" as "near".  We just both happened to browsing on of the few booths actually selling fabric at the same time.  Some seriously cool vintage feed sacks and the like.  She was, of course, lovely as we rummaged through the piles together.

These 4 pieces/sacks are what I landed on.  I have plans to make a pillowcase dress for Aurora out of the bottom one.

Anyway, there were several quilt shows (and even a costume/fashion one) on display.  Here are just a few of my favorites:

Spring in Japan - by Akiko Kawata

Grandmother's Quilt - A Cathedral Window - by Manon B. Gagliardi

The Kiss: An Homage to Kilmt - Mary Barry

Cinda's Circles - Karen Pharr

When Sun Departs - Laura Stauffer

Winter to Spring - Kathy York

Blue Ridge Springtime - Sandra Werlich

Sedona Dream - Janet Lasher

English Garden Romance - Tracy Anna Bader

Guys, thanx so much for all the well wishes about my Market endeavors and such.  I mean it!

JT

89: all grown up

This is my new love.  

Isn’t she beautiful?  Seriously, I don’t think I’ve ever thought a bag was more gorgeous.

She was a saw-her-in-the-window-and-simply-could-not-pass-her-up purchase.

Generally I’m not that much of an impulse buyer, but I had encouragement from a good friend.

I did have a hard time with how much she cost.  I feel I’m all grown up now because I’ve bought an expensive bag.  I don’t think I’ve ever bought any kind of bag before that cost more than like $30.

Are you seeing all that amazing embroidery and the cute bird?

I got her in a Brighton store, which I’ve never even been in before.  And, get this, she’s a registered handbag.  With a serial number and everything.  All that means to me is if she gets dirty in the next 2 years, they’ll clean her…..for free!  That was my big concern with the cream colored canvas, so yay!

Now I wish I could carry her everywhere and I didn’t have to bring a diaper bag half the time…

JT

86: the weekend

Well, I guess I should say "The Weekender", since I don’t really have anything to share about this weekend except that I’m sick.  Boo hoo, me.  Seriously, though, it sucks.  I haven’t been this sick in a while.  But Aurora rebounded fast so I’m hoping to be better before I know it.

 

I spent some of this week working on this big consignment sale I take part in twice a year.  It rocks.  I probably should have told you before it was over, but if you live in the area you should check it out next time.  I usually consign some stuff (a ton of work to get it all together, but this time I got rid of a lot of stuff and made more than I spent!) and volunteer so I can shop first.  It’s very well run and there’s a TON of great clothes and toys.  I kept buying dresses for Aurora that she totally didn’t need, but for $3 who can pass them up?

Anyway, this is my version of The Weekender bag by Amy Butler.  It’s a little misshapen since I made it a while ago and it’s been crammed full several times.  For me this is totally not a weekend bag.  More like a good overnight bag.  Even then I can barely fit everything in.  But I’m an overpacker.

 

I must say, I did NOT enjoy sewing this bag.  It’s not fun at all.  It’s somewhat difficult, but as I feel I’m a pretty accomplished sewer, it wasn’t so much that it was hard to follow or anything, it just took a lot of work.  It’s really the cording that does it.  It’s hard to get it in the first time and I think most people have to go back and stitch it again to prevent other unsightly stitching from showing.  I felt like I was making the bag smaller and smaller!  Of course, in the end I love how it looks.  Just another case of suffering for beauty. 

But I doubt I’ll make another.

 

What did you guys do this weekend?  Hope it was a good one…

 

JT

83: welcome spring

 

Today I'm sending out lots of good weather vibes.  This week we finally had our first spring-like day where a jacket wasn't needed.  And then yesterday, for the first day of spring, I woke up to........ you guessed it, snow.  Ugh.  But it didn't last long and it's looking like it's gonna stay relatively nice for a bit.

One thing I've found out about NJ is often we don't have much of a spring.  It goes from snow to summer very quickly.  And sadly, what we do have I can't even enjoy too much because of allergies.  I'm hoping I can medicate enough this year that it's bearable.  Last year nursing prevented me from doing so.  But if I sound a little loopy on here, you'll have to tell me to take it easy on the zyrtec, k?

Anyway, this cute little box is one I picked up in my antique shopping this winter.  I couldn't resist.  I probably paid way too much and when I got home I noticed a little chip, but I don't care.  I love it.

JT

82: NJ Quilt Festival

I went to a quilt show here in NJ with some of the ladies in my quilt class.  As always it was inspiring and a just a bit intimidating...

These are some of my favorites:

(Dad's Plaids by Elsie Campbell)

(Spring Break by Joanell Connolly)

(Spring Storm by Vanessa Brisson)

(Ishi-Datami by Cynthia Vogt)

(detail of Tree of Life - with Bugs by Jan Hutchison)

(Silverlight by Betty Busby)

(Lollipops and Friends by Megan Johnson and Jeanne Bancroft)

I put the artists names where I knew them.

And, of course, there was much shopping to be done.  It made me realize it's been awhile since I've been in an actual brick and mortar quilt store.  I'd better get on that.

But, here's my haul of fabrics:

I got a few other do-dads, but they're nothing exciting to look at.

JT

81: let me eat cake

I love cake.  LOVE it.  I mean, love, love, LOVE it.  A lot.  Oh wait have I told you this before?

Anyway, I have been pretty good about my eating habits lately.  (Well, we'll ignore the movie theater snacks last night.)  I've officially shed all of my baby weight.  Yay me!  Of course, I've since gained a couple back, but still...

But I'm really just itching to let go.  Basically even though I plan it out so I have "bad" days where I go a bit crazy, I can never just let go and eat everything I really desire (read: lots of cake).  I know all too well how easily 10lbs can pile back on.

I'm not particularly looking for diet tips here.  I've learned what works for me, and while I wish my metabolism was fast enough to allow for more junk food, most of the time I can handle it.  

But tonight I was just looking a these cake stands I got at a yard sale, and thinking, man, I could totally eat a whole cake myself right now.  :)

JT

75: may all happiness dwell in your heart

What a wonderful sentiment.  Makes me smile just to read it so I guess it kinda works, huh?

Recently I was antique store shopping and I got sidetracked by all the gorgeous cards.  But what could I buy for myself?  Surely not happy birthday or happy valentines day.  Then I stumbled on the general good wishes category.  Perfect.  

No, I'm not beneath buying warming fuzzies for myself.   Somebody's got to do it.

I have envisioned a beautiful, colorful inspiration board as really the only decorating I've done in my studio.  So I thought some lovely vintage words of encouragement would be a nice touch.

Please don't be surprised when I post about the wonderful board I just finished...like a year from now.  You know how I am about these things.

I have only the best wishes for you all...

JT

66: santa mouse and his merry wife

OK folks, I'm dying of the cuteness here.  

Generally I think I'm unsuccessful at the yard sale/thrift store thing because I'm SO picky about the aesthetic value of every little thing.  I can rarely see something and appreciate it for it's funky retro vibe alone.  It must be "pretty" to look at.  Does that make sense?  So, a cool vase that helps make someone else's home look overall amazing, I wouldn't buy cause I don't LOVE it by itself.  Which means if I want to fill my house with fun stuff that I love, it's going to take me forever to do it!

But I digress, because I do indeed think these little guys are amazing!  I went to an antique shop with a rare hour to look around and I mostly wanted vintage Christmas decorations.  These were the only two I came up with, but I know they'll make me smile every year.

Also for christmas I got these darling little elves.  If you remember, I mentioned I was wanting to start a collection.  Now I have.

Oh, and thanx so much for the help on the glitter houses.  There were some good suggestions.  I particularly liked littleglitterhouses.com for useful information.  If you're interested in more, I'll leave you to look back at the comments, since just about everyone left their info there.

And after the kids holiday portraits, I promise to stop posting about Christmas.  I know it's enough already.  :)

JT

50: gadgets and gizmos

I'm not an overly high tech sewer.  I have a really nice machine, but other than that I mostly just use the basics.  I'm quite used to "making do", since for a very long time all I had was a basic hand-me-down machine, scissors and an iron.

But, now I do use a few gadgets that help me out.  Since I just got a new one, I thought I'd share a few with you...maybe they can help?

First up, I just got a hem roller attachment for my machine.  I had visions of how easy this was going to make my life.  I just made 18 napkins for Thanksgiving, that each had 4 sides to be hemmed.  It really did help and was worth it, but it did take some getting used to.  It's not like you just start feeding the fabric through and it works like magic.  You have to take a little time to get it set up on each side, but then it works well.  It's something I can totally do myself just by "eyeballing" it, but it did save me from having to stop every 8-9" to re-roll the hem.  I can imagine it will be VERY useful on a much longer edge.

Now for some of my favs:

I love my silletto.  A lovely little pointy thing that I use to stick under my sewing machine needle so I don't have to endanger my fingers.  It's great for when you need to be very precise.

I don't know how I ever lived without pattern weights.  There are store-bought ones and even homemade ones I made out of washers.  They save you so much pinning time and you can cut so fast with a rotary cutter.

 

And last, one of those non-stick ironing sheets.  These really rock for when you're using any kinds of fusible web.  You don't need to trim the edges you can just iron it right to the sheet and then peel it off.  And then trim it all at once.  Plus no messes on your ironing board!

 

 

I'm sure there are more I'm so used to using that I've forgotten about them, but that's a good start for now.

JT

P.S. Yes, this is post #50 for me, but it's going by without any fanfare.  Maybe I'll have another giveaway when I hit six months.  But thanx guys, for making this so much fun!

43: collections

I've decided to collect vintage juice glasses like these I recently bought.

I have mixed feelings about collecting stuff. Really I love collections, especially of cool, vintage, or funky stuff. Like a restaurant with a ton of eclectic salt and pepper shakers- that makes me smile. And finding that one perfect thing that fits into your collection is such a coup.

But generally I think the idea of collecting is a bad one. You just wind up with a bunch of STUFF. And I think we all have too much stuff, don't we? Who has the space to properly display or use a good collection? I guess I just have to be very choosey about what to collect...so it's given it's proper love and attention and not relegated to a box in the basement.

Over the years I've collected various things:
Matchboxes (no, I never smoked...)
Broadway musical posters
concert t-shirts
that I've since given up on. They're just not as important to me anymore.

Two things I have collected and still do are FABRIC (never would have guessed, would you?) and fairies.

Fairies truly delight me, but I have so many now that I'm VERY picky about which ones I get. Some day I'll go around and photograph all the little wee people that inhabit my house. I've gotten so many as gifts that I've put a ban on them. Occasionally they would be perfect and I was happy to have them, but more often than not, they just weren't my taste. I only want pretty fairies, with pretty faces, that are not overly gaudy or girly. You'd be surprised how hard that is to come by.

So, I'm thinking the glasses are a good thing to collect since I'll actually use them. I generally like things to match and be more modern and simple looking than vintage mis-matched stuff, but I figure juice glasses used in the kitchen are casual enough. And I smile when I take them out. So now I have something specific to look for when going to a thrift store. :)

Another thing I like to collect is holiday decorations. I try to buy xmas tree ornaments as souveniers when we go on vacation. And there's something about halloween that makes me like folk art style decorations. I want to collect some of these adorable little statues by Lori Mitchell. They put out different ones each year. They kill me with their cuteness...

What do you collect?

JT

39: home sweet tree

I feel like by the time I get around to showing you the whole playroom, you'll already have seen just about everything in it.  Hopefully this won't diminish the impact too much...

This is the tree mural I painted at the bottom of the stairs.  (Sorry for the picture quality...as you can imagine the lighting isn't ideal, so this space is going to be a challenge to photograph...I might have to actually bust out my tripod.)

As you can see, it's tucked into a little corner with the usual basement distractions, but I think it's a nice welcome into the space...

I also painted a couple of chairs.  Well, I personally didn't paint the actual chairs, but I picked the colors and then did the decorating part.

They're thrift store finds, and while there are actually 3 of them, I didn't decorate the spare one.

They've finally made their way to their new home and hopefully the girls are enjoying them at their awesome new art desk!

Of course my little imp had to get in on the action.  She was there when I bought them and insisted on helping with the painting, which she did a fine job of...

JT

38: extreme makeover: the toy castle edition

Well, it's not quite "extreme" but it is a toy makeover...

(side note:  I wonder how many of my posts I start with "well" or "so"?  I bet a lot.  I feel like I need to write as if we're already in the middle of a conversation.  Not sure if that's weird or not, but it feels natural so I'l go with it.)

I bought this admittedly cheesy toy castle for a whopping $1.41 at thrift shop.  I saw much potential.

 

Really I know how short lived the love of certain toys can be and Aurora has been wanting some of the little My Little Ponies, so I figured this would make a cute home.  I could revamp it a bit and since I didn't add another big heap of plastic to the world, not feel bad when she's over it in 6 months.

I used ribbon, scrapbook paper, mod podge, and some fancy felt stickers.  I wasn't going for longevity and it's already lost a few sparkles, but I don't mind at all...

JT

23: take me home with you

I love party favors.

I think they might be my favorite part of planning a party (notice I said favorite part of planning, not of the party…that’s supposed to be enjoying my guests, although sometimes I’m too exhausted to do so ☺ )

I had my own wedding planning business (I still miss it and think I might go back to it sometime soon) and I always made sure they weren’t an overlooked element. These were little bottles of olive oil with rosemary (a Martha Stewart idea) that I did for one.

But other than big weddings or goody bags at kid’s birthdays I find they are sadly overlooked. I think mostly people don’t want to spend money on something their guests won’t really appreciate. Not me. I want to spend money on them. Lots of money. In fact I’ve been known to limit my guest lists, just so I can do more.

I really love the way they all look lined up. Or even at each plate.

(Pictures from The Knot)

I did these little boxes for a girlfriend’s bridal shower. She has lived in paris so I wanted a French theme. They had hand milled French soaps inside...mmm…they smelled so yummy.

These are the goody bags from my daughter’s pink and brown teddy bear picnic birthday party. They had homemade teddy bear cookies with bear stickers etc. I can’t tell you how much I wanted to buy everyone a copy of the Teddy Bear Picnic book, but I had to admit that was a bit much.

And, for her monster themed party this year I found these at Michaels.

So far I only have 11.

Guess how many kids she’ll be inviting to the party?

JT

shiny happy hooks

These beauties are my new hooks. (There are 2 of them)

Well, not so much new as new to my walls. They were a Christmas gift from my sister, but I finally hung them up. They’re from anthropologie. I couldn’t figure out what to do with them since they’re so pretty I didn’t want them in my closet, but I did want to actually hang stuff on them. I decided they were perfect for my studio to hang recent bag creations on.

I’d better get sewing…

JT

relaxing in the OBX

We just got back (and by "just" I mean in the last month) from a wonderful vacation in Duck, NC...aka the Outer Banks. We rented a lovely house by the beach and proceeded to hang out by the pool and almost never go to the beach. But we KNEW it was there so that made it all the better.

While there my sisters and husband and I tried our hand at hang gliding. Not as easy as I'd hoped, but fun nonetheless. (Yes, that's me.)

And, of course, while there I had to do a bit of shopping. I came up with 2 things I just love. First is this delicious mirror.

it was one of those stop-your-tracks-this-is-just-perfect moments. It was purchased at Urban Cottage, a cute little store with many things I could see finding a home in our house. But the mirror was a missing element in our bedroom, which I would really love to get cracking on the design of before the end of the year.

Also, at an art show I fell in love with the works of Donna Silvestri and her On U Jewelry. This is the necklace I finally settled on after quite a long time of trying them on.

I love that she thread/braids them with brown cord...it makes them a bit earthy. I also wanted her Lola Love ones, but I found them a bit short for me.

I did also get a few prints at the art from from Serious Whimsy (P. Carter Carpin).

The first is an addition to my son's nursery. The other two or for the basement playroom/tween hangout I'm designing for my nieces. (more on both later...)

Finally I will leave you with a few beach-y pictures of the kids...

JT