just wanted to pass along the Craft Hope for Haiti link! Craft Hope just opened up an Etsy shop so that crafters can donate items, with 100% proceeds going towards Doctors Without Borders. if you would like to contribute an item or make a purchase, please check out their site for more details! i’m hoping to donate something this weekend!
one of the blogs i came across last year that i love following now is True Up. When they decided to host a fabric meme, i decided it would be fun to play along, because, well, who doesn’t love drooling over fabric!! 2009 was definitely a year of exploration for me in my sewing room! it’s truly hard to believe that my husband bought me my sewing machine as my Christmas present just two years ago-honestly, what was i doing before that?! the funny thing is, i had wanted it simply so that i could hem up my own pants rather than pay a tailor! never in a million years did i imagine that sewing would become such a huge part of my daily routine- i’m sure he didn’t either! and i’m betting that hubby also didn’t realize the amount of money that would go into this hobby or the fact that it would overtake rooms AND closets in the house!! (love you honey…and, oh yeah…when are we moving into a bigger house?!) 
FAVORITE QUILTING WEIGHT COTTON COLLECTION: Tanya Whelan’s Dolce Collection. the second i saw this line i fell IN LOVE!! i WANT each print in every color, and then some!!
FAVORITE HOME DECOR WEIGHT FABRIC: Anna Maria Horner’s Drawing Room. the sketchbook print is my fav and i have (or you could possibly even say hoarding!) the pink and natural ones in a special hiding place in my sewing room that noone can choose anything to be made from! (is that wrong?!)…and i still need to get my hands on some of the blue one!
FAVORITE TREND (MOTIFS): well, if you couldn’t tell from just the first two responses, it is BIRDS!!!
FAVORITE TREND (COLORS): my always go to color trend is typically browns and pinks, but right now i am absolutely LOVING the turquoise/red combos! i just got some of Patty Young’s Flora and Fauna in the turquoise hummingbirds and i haven’t been able to bring myself to cut into it, it’s THAT pretty!
FAVORITE OVERALL DESIGNER: as i’m sure most people will say, tried and true, Amy Butler!! i also love that now i can get stuff for the house already made in her prints-seriously contemplating redoing the master bedroom and bathroom!!
FAVORITE NEW DESIGNER: Studio E Fabrics. i’m not sure how new they are, but i just discovered them over the summer, and love the Nature-ology collection!
FAVORITE NOVELTY PRINT: Monkey N Round by Erin Michael for Moda (or anything Sock Monkey for that matter…but, all i have left in my stash is the Goodnight Monkey!)
FAVORITE GEOMETRIC PRINT: Sugar Snap Kimono by Melissa Averinos
FAVORITE ORGANIC PRINT/COLLECTION: Flock by Cloud 9
FAVORITE JUVENILE PRINT- BOYS: if we have a boy, (unless i change my mind by that time!) our nursery will be made from David Walkers, Robots!
FAVORITE JUVENILE PRINT- GIRLS: but i’m secretly hoping when the time comes we’ll have a girl because Tina Givens Fairy Tip Toes makes me real happy, and i can only imagine sitting in a nursery made entirely out of this line!!
FAVORITE FABRIC SHOP: locally, Artful Quilter (they just moved, so they aren’t as close as before, but i hear the new shop is even bigger! could only mean trouble!) and online, i love Hawthorne Threads. they were originally on Etsy under Fabric Supplies, but their new shop i have to say is pretty cool! love the fact that you can click on a print, and instantly find coordinating prints/colors that’ll match it! they also do a tiered pricing system, so the more you buy, the more you save-and the best part is if you shopped with them on Etsy, they transferred your fabric history over to their new shop!
hope everyone enjoyed their holidays! 2009 seemed to end in a flash, and to be honest, i couldn’t have been happier! (one of these days i’ll eventually get around to writing a post on some really awesome christmas goodies i received!)
we finally got around to taking down all the christmas decorations over the weekend, and it already feels like 2010 is flying by! since i spent the last several weeks kind of taking it easy from the sewing, there’s not much to share project wise on my part, so i’ll leave you with a super quick and easy snack-pretzel buttons! i recently saw them on tastespotting and remembered how much i enjoyed them, so thought i’d pass along the fun!
all you have to do is get grab some pretzels (squares or rings, either will do), some hershey kisses (possiblities are endless…you can even use rolos or dove chocolates), and some m&ms to top with (i actually made a few topped with mini marshmallows and one of my nephews loved these more than the m&m ones! and of course, no pics of those, they went pretty quick!)
top a pretzel with some chocolate, pop it into the oven at 200 degrees for about 5 min (don’t put for much longer, you just want the chocolate to be soft, not completely melted!!) and once it’s done, top with an m&m (or whichever topping you prefer!) tastes great when they are fresh from the oven and ooey gooey, but if you’re giving them away, you can always wait for the chocolate to set, or pop in the fridge for the chocolate to harden back up again. either way you eat them, they’re addictive!!
this is what the neighborhood looked like this morning. the dog is faring better doing his business walking along the street than trying to hop through the 2 ft plus that is in his usual common area!
last night, walking was pretty brutal. the snow was up past my thighs, so trying to trek through gave me a workout! i don’t know why we bothered walking Kiko on a leash! but, we were worried he’d have to much fun and try and run off! needless to say, when we did take him off the leash, he just stayed right by our side!
so, what was the final result on the deck this morning?
our poor patio set is almost hidden underneath all the snow! (you know every year we keep saying that we need to store the set before the snow comes…ah well, another year where we forget to winterize!)
well, they forecasted right! we’ve been getting snow since 9pm on friday and it’s not supposed to stop till sunday! there’s prob a good, nearly, 2 ft of snow out there, and they’ve already closed the schools in the area on monday and tuesday ( and since wednesday was already the start of the holiday break, the kiddies are out until after the new year! LUCKY THEM!!)
this was probably not the best weekend to get snowed in, seeing that it’s the last weekend before Christmas, and good grief, i had things to do OUTSIDE of the house! ah well!
in any event, we took the pup out for his usual walk this morning and boy did he have tons of fun!
and of course we tried staying somewhat warm while the snow burned our eyes!
and just to give you an idea of how much snow we’ve had, here’s what the deck looked like at 10 am:
then at noon:
and then at 4:30 pm:
AND it’s STILL coming down!! i am not looking forward to the slushy mess that this is going to create in our backyard once the snow has melted, and furthermore, not really looking forward to all the shoveling that is about to take place!! frankly, i’m still just surprised that this is the second snow that we’ve gotten in december already! it’s been a LONG time since we’ve gotten snow this early!
just thought i’d post some small side projects i’ve been working on!
when i saw this pattern, i knew i wanted to make a dress out of it, but had noone to make it for since it was newborn size. luckily, one of my friends who was pregnant decided to pop out a baby girl! (she and her husband wanted it to be a surprise, otherwise i probably would’ve made her a dress a long time ago!) she had the baby at the beginning of December, and i had this stash of this Heidi Grace fabric that i thought would be perfect- especially with the holidays coming up! i ended up only doing the bias tape on the bottom hem of the dress (ran out…but i don’t think it made much difference to the dress without it!)
my niece started preschool a few weeks ago, and one of the items that they recommended bringing in was an art smock- or, an old tee. i figured, what fun is a ratty old t-shirt, so i scrounged around looking for some free patterns and came across this one. (that was my first time checking out that website, but if you are looking for some fun tutorials and have time, check that website out!! lots of great ideas!!) the tutorial was super easy, and i opted not to put ruffles on it. i used some leftover Barnslig fabric i had (time to make another trip to Ikea!!) and red bias tape for the trim. and, of course, embroidered her name on it! since we also needed something to transport her things back and forth, i made a matching tote bag!
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