Pleasant Surprises....

I entered a contest a little while ago to design Amy Butler's name tag for one of her quilting shows. It was hosted by Kelly of I Have a Notion. Unfortunately I didn't win :( .....

but I received an AWESOME surprise in my email after reading about the winner. One of Amy Butler's assistants asked for all contest participants addresses. I immediately sent my information gitty in anticipation of a small gift from Amy herself. I thought if I was really lucky they might send a pattern, but figured I would get something smaller. A few days later I got the package in the mail and this is what I got!!!

Can you believe it!! THREE patterns and a fat quarter of fabric. The patterns are for the Nappy Bag, Weekender Travel Bag, and the Mini Dress, Tunic & Tops. I was blown away to say the least. What a fabulous prize for not even winning the contest! I am so excited to dive into these patterns. I am a huge fan of Amy Butler's and after this incredibly nice gift I am even a bigger fan.

Thank you to everyone at Amy Butler!!! You made a fellow crafter one happy camper :)

Hope you have had some pleasant surprises recently!

Take care mucho,

-Natalie

I snuck this last one in....

So before the summer ended, or more accurately before I started to work again, I snuck in one last project. I had gotten another fat quarter pack sent to me from the Fat Quarter Shop (I am part of the Michael Miller club, so I get one monthly- it's awesome!) around the same time the Old Red Barn Co. blog was having a sew along. I didn't have my act together to participate with the sew along, but did take the idea of the quilt and used it up with my fat quarters. It was super easy and quick! Two very good and instantly rewarding factors that I always welcome.

I took the 12 fat quarters and cut all of them into 2.5 inch strips (lengthwise). I then sewed 5 of the strips together and cut out 2 squares out of each 5 strip set. I made 30 squares (making a 5 block x 6 block quilt). The extra 2.5 inch strips were used in the binding adding a little solid blue (which I also used for the entire back) to the binding to make it reach all the way around the quilt.

I LOVE the way this one has turned out and my friend has already claimed it for her birthday present. It will look great on her couch!

Have you come up with any fun quilt or craft ideas to use up your fat quarters? I could use some ideas because I have 2 packs waiting patiently to be cut into and made into something. Any and all ideas are welcome :)

take care mucho,

-Natalie

Look What I Got!

Today I received a nice surprise in my mail box. Cheryl created the cutest quilt for me. I love the color scheme and the ric rac border accent.

She also included some goodies in with the quilt. How great is Cheryl?

Totally made my day. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

Hope everyone one had a pleasant surprise today :)

Take care mucho,

-Natalie

Back to School

So I have been completely MIA due to the fact that it is back to school which means back to work for me :( The past two and a half weeks have been without a lick of sewing which makes me very sad. I was used to my days full of sewing all the projects I have piled up. I just haven't had the time or energy. This summer really put me in a bad routine, which of course I didn't realize until I had to wake up early on a regular basis.

The good news is I do have a project that I completed right before school started which I finally took pictures of.....

This is a little backpack that I made for my cousins little girl who has started pre-school this year. Quite a big milestone for the little one. I thought it would be pretty easy to come up with a pattern on my own and for once my predictions were right! I am working on putting together a pattern for this project because it really did come together quickly and without a glitch (first time ever!) So as I am getting used to working again it has been coming together little by little. I hope to have it up by the end of the month. So look back if you are interested in making one for a special someone in your life.

Take care mucho,

-Natalie

Doll Quilt Swap #7

I was lucky enough to enter the 7th Doll Quilt Swap before it filled up. Our swaps are supposed to secret so I can't say who this is going to but this little quilt will be heading out on Monday to its owner.

My partner stated that she really liked japanese prints so I thought of a little coin quilt to highlight some that I had in my stash. This is what the front of the quilt looks like.

I decided to make a simple back with some more japanese prints.

I wanted to do a little different quilting so I thought it would look nice to use decorative stitching. I hope the recipients enjoys this along with some other fun sewing goodies I will be putting in the package.

Check out the Doll Quilt Swap Flickr group to see what everyone else is swapping.

Take care mucho,

-Natalie

Vintage revamped

A few weeks ago along 14th street in DC (yeah it's cleaned up quite a bit) there was a "Dog Days of Summer" sidewalk sale. So as we walked along we noticed that the local theater was having a HUGE garage sale of items from their shows. I got a very cute, small vintage suitcase. It wasn't looking so hot inside but I knew that it would be a nice fixer uper. I totally forgot to take a before picture but here is what it has turned into....

I had this guitar fabric (I think it is Alexander Henry) sitting in my stash for the longest time waiting for its perfect project. I used timex for the inside so that it was nice and sturdy. I glued it all in with some incredibly tacky glue I have had sitting in a box. I ended up keeping the outside trim the same, but spray painted the middle. I didn't change the color drastically because I liked the khaki color to start with. I did however want to cover up some of the scratches that it had. It has been years since I used spray paint and I have forgotten how much fun it can be.... and not to mention super easy!

I also ended up picking up a little tea cup. I had seen teacup pincushions popping up all over the place on Flickr so I wanted to try to make one of my own. Simple and easy project. Plus it was only $1.50.
I used some mini dress form japanese fabric and added the mini pom pom edging left over from another project. I really like the way it turned out and it already is in a good home next to my mom's sewing machine. She always gets little goodies from me :)

Have you tried to revamp anything vintage? I feel as though I have to raid my local thrift shop a bit more frequnetly to see what else I can spice up.

Take care mucho,

-Natalie

Swimming fish....

I had a previous post about my Heather Ross fish fabric quilt. I came up with the circle pattern and really liked the way it turned out... and now I have finally decided on how I was going to quilt it and it's all done!

I have seen the "pebble" quilting out on many blogs and thought this one would be the best quilt to try it out on. I liked the circles and thought it might look kinda like bubbles to go with the blue water.

If you haven't tried "pebble" quilting I highly recommend it. It is really easy and it's impossible to mess up. It did take up a lot more thread than stippling would but I thought it was well worth it.

Do you have any favorite quilting designs? I am really enjoying exploring new and non-traditional techniques.

Take care mucho,

- Natalie