F.C. Gallian Studios

I am so thrilled to share a brand new etsian, who happens to be my best friend from "home". Faith and I have had lots of laughs and tears together and she is truly a beautiful person and a very talented photographer.

If you're searching for a special something for Father's Day, or just love beautiful photos, head on over to Faith's new esty shop: F.C. Gallian Studios!

Best of luck and love to my buddy in her new endeavor!

Hooray for Handmade!

Did you take my advice and enter some giveaways on Sew Mama, Sew! 's May day of Giveaways??? If you did, chances are you won something! It took me some time, but I tried to visit every blog that participated and ended up winning 6 prizes!!! WOoot Wooot! Here are just a few of the handmade goodies I received...

This ADORABLE pleated purse came from Mary, on her blog, Life on 19th.

Mary's blog has all kinds of neat handmade ideas and a yummy looking homemade pretzel recipe you should check out this week!

Look at the hand-embroidered detail on this little pillow! So sweet! It came from Stephanie on her blog, Be Overjoyed. Stephanie has advice on ways to live abundantly through handmade, organic, etc.

Someone must have known that I needed new pillows at my house, because I also won this pretty linen pillow on Liz's blog, ollie*kate. Liz has a cute etsy shop and does all kinds of applique and sewing!

And, it was a delight to meet Brittney of B.Originals! She designs beautiful announcements and stationery and treated me to this set of 12 personalized notecards in my favorite colors! Visit her etsy shop, boriginals.etsy.com

My First Apron

Here it is, the first ever apron by me ;) This was my first time to use a sewing pattern and it was a pretty good experience. The apron design is by Tanya and Linda Whelan, called the Stella Apron, "Guaranteed to Make You Feel Cute While Baking a Pie". I love it! I'm ready to start another one so I can get these in the shop!

My only "Blah!" moment was using bias tape. I had never worked with bias tape before and the directions were tricky...even though I have bound many quilts. I found it to be really tricky when trying to get an even fold over and topstitch. Do you have a bias tape trick or recommendation? I'd love to hear it!

Now, all I need is a cutie model to wear my apron so I can get a good picture. I don't think Titus is up for the challenge...he's grumpy....and too short ;)

A Quilting Bee

I recently joined a flikr group, called "Sew Kid At Heart". It's a quilting bee of 15 members from all over the world. I'm so excited to get going with it. I've received fabric from three members already, including Miss Kerri's cutie aqua, red, and linen choices.

We're making a quilt block for each member to create a quilt for a special kiddo in our lives. I just finished a quilt for Titus, so I decided to just tackle one that I had in my head for awhile now. I chose an aqua, tangerine, and celery color palette and spiderweb block. I figured the spiderweb would be a great one for a quilting bee, because it gets very time consuming to make block after block with all those little strips and steps. It's nice to break up the "work".

Here is the sample block I made and the piles of strips I cut for each member of the group...

I'm also excited that we decided to make a softie "buddy" for one partner within the group. Titus' softie will be coming from New Zealand, and I'm making one for a little girl in Germany! Cool, right?

I'm planning to get going on some aprons today for Pocketful of Pinwheels on etsy. I am expecting a fabric order of some brand new Dance With Me fabric by Jennifer Paganelli! I'm excited to see it in person! Go see what Ravenhill did with hers!

It's a good day.

You know, I can usually say I've had a good day even when something crazy happens, like yesterday when my kiddo REFUSED to be strapped into his carseat....kicking, screaming, pinching....making all the old bittys at the quilt shop comment on the fussiness of my kid....it was still a good day (cause I went Clementine's instead and purchased more awesome Pop Garden).

However, today is a GOOOOOD day. It's the 5th anniversary of the day I married my buddy, Jeremy. He's a good sport and a really good husband and father. I love him bunches. And, he's taking me to the Cheesecake Factory tonight....but you'd rather hear about fabric, right?

(ignore that weird black spot on my forhead...it's on the scan)

It's also a good day because I went to the mailbox and saw so many goodies had arrived! I recently swapped a sewing machine drawing with my new blogger/quilter friend, Kerri of Lovely Little Handmades. (She also has the cutest cutest things for wee ones in her etsy shop MayaElise Boutique!)

In return, she made the sweetest red and aqua mini quilt for my sewing room! It's the cutest quilt I own now! Look at this sweetness....


She loves Pop Garden too, so I sent her some of the red and aqua daisy. I think she wins the award for sweetest new friend though, because look what she slipped into my parcel...I'm not going to lie...I peed a little. :)

There's out of print fabrics out the wazoo...Johnny and Buck... Heather Ross Dogs, Gnomes, Mushrooms, Goldfish, Volkswagon Vans, polkadots, stripes...Little Red Riding Hood!!!....hedgies...birds!!!!!! OH MY! Thank you, Miss Kerri for being so precious to share such a bounty with me! It will be used lovingly!

Take a minute to check out Kerri's blog and shop! She is super talented and has great taste. If you have some baby showers to attend soon, she's your gal. She has made the most beautiful custom items.

And, finally...thanks to one of my dear friends, Cherie, a.k.a. The Queen of Free...it's been suggested that I add something new and super cute to Pocketful of Pinwheels...here's a sneak peek! That Cherie is always up to great ideas...! Visit her blog for splendid ideas on how to get something for nothing and save on your everyday shopping ;)
I'm off to finish daily chores and spend time with my little guy before his sitter comes for the evening :)

MAY GIVEAWAY DAY!

I apologize...I should have shared this sooner! I've been spending the morning and afternoon entering giveaways on blogs all over the world....well, entering between playing with Titus and cleaning.... Head over to Sew Mama, Sew! to see a looooong list of blogs participating in giveaways today.

I missed the boat on this one...didn't get my blog entered in time...I'll give away something again soon :)

Have fun!

Flowers for you

Just a quick post to share some flowers with you...I hear it is supposed to rain here today, so enjoy some beautiful Indiana Peonies from my garden! Peonies usually mean the Indianapolis 500, and warmer weather, so I was excited to see them bloom this weekend.



There were plenty blooms to fill two vases, so one for you, and one for a friend :)





And, I listed "Little Red" today in the shop....go check her out :) Also blogged about here.