Deluxe Pincushions!

I've seen pictures of Deluxe Pincushions floating around Instagram and I fell in love. The project comes from the book Sew Organized for the Busy Girl* and I just love all the ways it can be customized. I made my first one as a gift for a friend on Instagram. I haven't done much patchwork but the tiny squares are so easy to match up and kind of sent me into a spiral of wanting to do tiny patchwork squares on everything. I had this piece of camera fabric that I've been saving and figured this was the perfect project to showcase a piece of fabric. Due to some ... Read More

Hexagon Bee Pouch

Ever since I tried foundation paper piecing I've been itching to do more. There are so many amazing patterns out there, Swoodson Says has a great post with free patterns if you're looking for one to try out! I had made this bee, the pattern is free from badskirt, and I wasn't sure what the final plan was for it. I had this crazy idea to make it into a hexagon pouch and it was mildly successful but I found some serious problems along the way. I probably should have done a prototype first using something that wasn't time consuming like paper piecing, but what fun is ... Read More

August TSNEM – Sewing With Knits

I've been really proud that I've managed to try something every month so far, though this one was a close call. I got the email from Stephanie at Swoodson Says asking for my link this month and I realized I hadn't tried anything. I recently was given a really big piece of knit fabric and since I have never sewn with any knit fabric before, this was the perfect chance. Stephanie has plenty of experience sewing with knits and she gave me a few tips and pointed me in the direction of this skirt tutorial from Delia Creates to try out. My machine has a really nice ... Read More

That’s So Kawaii 2 Swap

I realized I never shared yet another swap I did, the It's So Kawaii 2 swap on Instagram. The goal was to send cuteness and I had a lot of fun with it. My partner liked MINI Coopers, llamas, and fun colors. I drew a little cartoon-y MINI and embroidered it onto a coffee cozy. I also made a llama mug rug and a little zipper pouch. I've had these lace zippers for months and have been really nervous to use them, but I finally bit the bullet and did it. It wasn't the most amazing job, but it worked! I have been wanting to do more paper piecing ever since I ... Read More

A Rainbow Quilt!

I got really amazing feedback on my post about giving up on a project. It felt like a weight was lifted and I was finally able to start something new. I talked to Evie about what kind of quilt she would want me to make and originally she said pink, but then changed her mind to wanting a rainbow quilt. I know I want to make quilts for both girls so I decided to cut two blocks of all the fabrics and then make them each rainbow quilts using different designs. Since I almost exclusively buy 1/8 yard cuts of fabric which is 4.5", I decided to do 4" blocks. To ... Read More

Crafting Con Swap!

One of the reasons I do so many swaps is to motivate and challenge me to try new things. A lot of the cross stitch patterns in my shop came about because of swaps and lately I have been using it to push myself more with sewing. CraftingCon is a sewing based competition with different nerdy themes. There was a swap on the Facebook group and I couldn't resist signing up. My partner loves Alice in Wonderland and I was right in the middle of my Tsum Tsum cross stitch madness and decided to make an Alice pattern. I wasn't sure what to make, but when Faith from ... Read More

Best Birthday Ever Swap, Part 2

For the Best Birthday Ever Swap, each person has 3 partners. We didn't start until April but split the year into different quarters. My first partner had a birthday in June and then my next quarter was the beginning of July. So I had a busy couple weeks, but now I'm done until the final birthday in October. When I got the partner information and saw Tsum Tsum listed, I immediately started designing cross stitch patterns. In case you've managed to completely avoid this phenomenon, Tsum Tsum is a game but also a series of plush toys of Disney characters. They are ... Read More

Another Best Birthday Ever Swap Package

My first Best Birthday Ever Swap partner had her birthday this week and I had a ton of fun putting together this package! The swap package had to include something handmade, craft supplies, and then a little gift that was bought. For the craft supplies my partner said she loved Japanese import fabrics, so I sent her a package of charm squares with the fabrics I got from Bunny's Designs Fabric Supply. She also said she was obsessed with her planner, pink, and glitter so I sent some fun washi tape and other glittery items. I figured if I was going to go pink, I ... Read More