I'm 30 now, and a Hexy Pillow

Monday was my birthday. I have left my 20's behind, and now I'm 30. I'm not really sure how old I feel. I suppose at a certain point I just stopped thinking about.

The best part about this birthday was that my friend, Kim, informed a bunch of people about my birthday, and so I received several birthday cards and fabric-related packages in the mail!! One of them was even someone "famous" (well, to me at least...). If I was explaining it to someone who didn't sew, it would be like Julia Roberts sending you a birthday card. "Julia Roberts knows my name?? Julia Roberts knows my name!!" lol. That was a pretty unbelievable day, I was definitely on cloud 9!

I am so thankful for everyone that I've met through sewing and blogging. SERIOUSLY. Even though I haven't met any of you in real life, I feel like many of you have become really good friends. My facebook is slowly filling up with people that I sincerely enjoy talking with, about the thing I love most to do! And anyone who sends me comments or reads my blog, I appreciate all of you, too! I don't think I've ever really fit in with any group throughout my life, but I definitely feel like I do now!!

I know I haven't been posting a ton of projects to the blog lately, but I'm really busy working on several tutorials, one of which I hope to finish up tonight (it is *so* cool, I can't wait to show you!). And after this, I have to get working on my Christmas tree skirt. Busy, busy! If you sew, I know this is a busy time of year for you, too.

I needed a bit of a breather this week, so I whipped up this little pillow. I have the quilt pattern for Seville by Cluck Cluck Sew (available from Pink Chalk for $8 via instant download). Now, I'm sure we all have about a gazillion quilts on our to-do list, and this was on mine. The thought occurred to me the other day that I don't necessarily have to make a full-sized version of every quilt I like, so I thought I would make a mini quilt. At first this was supposed to be a wall hanging, but it turned into a pillow!

Seville quilt pattern by Cluck Cluck Sew

I just isolated one segment of the quilt, then chopped the corners off the block to make the hexagon shape. It's a really easy quilt pattern, and very well written. I would definitely recommend it for a confident beginner. The fabric that I used is Circa 50 by Birch Fabrics, and I used gray Kona for the sashing.

The back of the pillow was just some randomly-placed strips from the scraps that I had left. I sewed it up and stuffed it with some fiber fill, hand sewed the opening of the pillow closed (I am so bad at hand sewing, I suppose I should make myself do it more often), and it was good to go!

Thanks for reading, and talk to you soon!!

'12 Days of Christmas' Block 11: Wreath

This post is part of the '12 Days of Christmas' Sampler Quilt Along series. For tutorials on how to make the other blocks, please see the block schedule here!


I can't believe this is the last week of the quilt along blocks! Today's block is the wreath, made by Heather and Megan from Quilt Story. Heather and Megan design quilt patterns, as well as have a weekly linky party every Tuesday. Check out their blog for more information! And check here for the wreath tutorial!


Please stop by the '12 Days of Christmas' Sampler Quilt Along Flickr Group to post your completed blocks, or any questions you might have along the way!

Last-Minute Table Cloth

I hope all my friends in the U.S. had a wonderful Thanksgiving! Did you eat enough? Shop enough?

We had dinner at our house for the first time. I wanted to use the Anna Maria Horner fabric below for a tablecloth, but my friend Kim told me it was too good to chance having food spilled on. ;-)

So I ran out to Joann's on Wednesday and got 4 yards of this mod blue fabric...pretty cool, plus I wanted to get something multi-purpose (i.e. something I could use for any gathering, not just Thanksgiving or Christmas). I just hemmed the edges and threw that sucker down on the 2 tables that we had pushed together.

BEFORE: Kitchen (yes, my kids had to get in all the 'before' photos from when we first moved in, lol)

To throw a wrench into everything, my husband decided to paint the kitchen and replace the cabinet door hardware the week of Thanksgiving. He stayed up 3 nights in a row until around 3am, but I think it was worth it...the photo above is the 'Before' shot, and the photo below is the 'After' finished results. I love the kitchen, it's so much brighter now!

AFTER: Kitchen

I also got a couple of great after-Thanksgiving fabric deals too, which made me super happy! You can find deals in the Black Friday thread on this Flickr Group. What deals did you get?

Denyse Schmidt Daisy Mae Fat Quarter Set!

This is one giveaway you cannot miss! My fabric partner-in-crime, Kim from My Go-Go Life, is having a giveaway of the complete line of Denyse Schmidt's Daisy Mae fabric line! These colors are just fabulous...especially the blues!!

Pop over here to enter the giveaway!!

Fabric Covered Earrings Giveaway!

I just have to share this giveaway from my friend, Lindsay, from Lindsay Sews and Craft Buds! Lindsay is giving away some awesome fabric-covered earrings from her Etsy shop. All of the earrings are being made as a means to raise funds for an adoption. Check out the giveaway here, and you'll also find a coupon code for the shop!

'12 Days of Christmas' Block 10: Stockings

This post is part of the '12 Days of Christmas' Sampler Quilt Along series. For tutorials on how to make the other blocks, please see the block schedule here!


...and, catching up with the blocks, block 10! :-)

Today's block is from Sarah of Fairy Face Designs. I think this block is so fabulous, and my favorite part is the string that the stockings are strung up on! You know you want to make this block, and you can find the tutorial instructions here!

Please stop by the '12 Days of Christmas' Sampler Quilt Along Flickr Group to post your completed blocks, or any questions you might have along the way!

'12 Days of Christmas' Block 9: Ornaments

This post is part of the '12 Days of Christmas' Sampler Quilt Along series. For tutorials on how to make the other blocks, please see the block schedule here!

I'm a little behind on posting the blocks, I'm so sorry! Thanksgiving preparations, in addition to lots of sewing, in addition to kids getting sick, is putting me a bit behind.

Block 9 is from Jessica of Sew Crafty Jess. She made a really spectacular block with these ornaments, which you can find tutorial instructions here.

I can't believe next week is the last week of blocks! It really has gone by too fast.

Please stop by the '12 Days of Christmas' Sampler Quilt Along Flickr Group to post your completed blocks, or any questions you might have along the way!

Thanksgiving Dinner Winner!

Woohoo! Thanks to everyone who completed oven mitts or hot pads for the Thanksgiving Dinner Challenge! I loved seeing all your work (and I hope you can keep your mitts clean...mine are okay so far!!).

The winner via random.org was #8, Rachel from Pleased As Punch, the mitts pictured above! Congratulations!!

'12 Days of Christmas' Block 8: Noel

This post is part of the '12 Days of Christmas' Sampler Quilt Along series. For tutorials on how to make the other blocks, please see the block schedule here!


Today we have a really cool text block from Lindsay of Lindsay Sews and also Craft Buds! I have never used text in this way before, but I think she did a really great job of laying out the instructions, that I will have to be trying this soon. I wish there were about 2 more months left until Christmas so I could get my holiday sewing done (well, not really, my kids are already looking forward to it!).

Please stop by the '12 Days of Christmas' Sampler Quilt Along Flickr Group to post your completed blocks, or any questions you might have along the way!

Link Up! Thanksgiving Dinner Challenge!

Welcome to the Thanksgiving Dinner Challenge! It is time to link up your completed oven mitts or hot pads! As a reminder, if you've completed more than one set, please link up each one individually (in order to be counted as more than one entry).

The linky party will be open through end of day Thursday (November 17, 2011). I will choose one entrant at random for the nifty gift certificate!

I can't wait to see what you've made!!!

Some Knits for Myself

I just got some jersey knits in the mail yesterday from fabric.com. I love that website...they had the jersey knits on sale last week, so I picked up a bunch at around $3/yard. What a great deal, since Joann has them for around $10/yard (I think).

And when I bought them, I certainly did have a project in mind! I got this Aurelia Cardigan sewing pattern last week from Pink Chalk Fabrics. I like the ruffle detail a lot, and I thought it would be great to pair the jersey knit with some great cotton woven prints from my stash. Isn't it cute??

I'm hoping I can finish one up before Thanksgiving...which knit color do you think I should try first?

Echino Oven Mitts

Front of the mitts

I finally finished up my oven mitts! You may recall earlier in the year when I made these 'Nest' patchwork mitts as a gift. Since we moved, I've been using a couple dish towels to pull hot things out of the oven, and let me tell you, me + oven + towels = gonna get burned...real soon.

Back of the mitts

BTW, I hope my pictures are okay, my Canon camera decided to go bonkers on me...it keeps telling me there's no card, even though it's in there (an unlocked), I've even tried other cards...I don't know what I'm going to do. It's really annoying. So I had to use my old camera.

I used 3 different Echino fabrics for the mitts...both mitts have the patchwork Echino on one side, and I also used a piece of Echino airplanes and Echino buses for each individual mitt. The interior of the mitts is a hot pink bed sheet that I got a lot of use out of, and the binding is a nice purple Kona. I didn't have any of the heat-reflective batting, so I used 2 layers of regular batting instead (I already used the mitts to take a super-heavy ceramic baking dish out of the oven, and I came out unscathed, so it's fine).

Close up of the quilting

My favorite part of the mitts is the quilting I did around the airplanes and the buses. At first I didn't want to do the airplanes like that because there were so many, but I'm glad I did...geez I'm so lazy, lol!!

Don't forget that there's still time to get some oven mitts (or hot pads) done for the Thanksgiving Dinner Challenge!!

'12 Days of Christmas' Block 7: Tree

This post is part of the '12 Days of Christmas' Sampler Quilt Along series. For tutorials on how to make the other blocks, please see the block schedule here!


Today we are on to block 7, which the wonderful Jennifer from Ellison Lane Quilts designed. It's a beautiful scrappy Christmas tree. Click over here for the full tutorial!

Please stop by the '12 Days of Christmas' Sampler Quilt Along Flickr Group to post your completed blocks, or any questions you might have along the way!

See you on Thursday for block 8!

Reader Survey

First of all, a friendly reminder to come back this Thursday for the Thanksgiving Dinner Challenge - get your oven mitts and your hot pads ready! It's still not too late to finish a project! I finished my oven mitts this afternoon, but I'm afraid my camera bit the dust, so I'll have to wait until I get some batteries for the back-up camera to show you the mitts. Grr. :-P

Also, if you have a free minute, if you wouldn't mind filling out my reader survey! It's completely anonymous. Just a few short questions about what kind of sewing you're interested in, and what you'd like to see on my blog in future. I really appreciate you taking the time! :-)

Take My Survey!

'12 Days of Christmas' Block 6: Snowflake

This post is part of the '12 Days of Christmas' Sampler Quilt Along series. For tutorials on how to make the other blocks, please see the block schedule here!

Oh gosh! I'm (nearly) a day behind on posting this block! Where did the day go...

Anyway, today is a super-selvage block by the Master of All Things Selvage, Riel from The Q and the U! I'm going to admit that I have never made anything with a selvage, but this is going to be my first for that! Hop on over to see her block instructions!

Join the Flickr Group for block discussion, or if you have any questions along the way when making this block! I have really enjoyed seeing the creative blocks!

The next block is coming on Tuesday! Halfway there!

Mod Podge Fabric Containers

AFTER: Amy Butler wooden containers

I made this Mod Podge project a couple of months ago, but I've been so busy with the move, that I sort of forgot about them. But I wanted to tell you how I made them, because they were super easy (and oh so cute!).

BEFORE: Free wooden containers

This is a photo of the wooden containers before I got my hands on them. My grandmother's friend gave me a bunch of random kitchen items for our new house, and I almost didn't take these wooden containers because they're just not my style, but then I thought...what would happen if they met some Mod Podge?

I used some glossy Mod Podge and a paint brush. I cut some squares of Amy Butler Love fabrics, by laying my containers on each side, tracing around the edge, and cutting each piece. Because the sides were different sizes than the front of the containers, I had to measure out each piece.

I brushed on a layer of Mod Podge directly on top of the wooden sides, pressed the fabric down, then followed up with 2 layers more of Mod Podge (with approximately 20 minutes of drying time in between layers).

Since I didn't use any type of sealant spray, my boxes were still a bit tacky a couple of weeks after I made them. I was just sure to keep them separated and not touching anything else during that time. If you want to be able to use them right away, just spray them.

About a month later, they are not sticky at all. My only misstep is that since the boxes were dark in color, my fabrics might have done a bit better if I had perhaps used white interfacing behind them. But I'm pretty happy with how they turned out (if you couldn't see by the photos, I am using them to store my personal stash of candy, lol).

Looking for Guest Posts!

Hello readers! I am looking for guest posters for my blog, for January 15 through February 15. I will be having a series on my blog called Drop the (Fabric) Pounds. I am looking for well-written and well-photographed tutorials giving step-by-step instruction on how to make a sewn project or accessory.

To see an example of a very nicely written tutorial, please check out my friend Katy's Sherbet Pips cosmetic bag!

If you do not have a blog, I will still be able to accept a tutorial from you, so long as you can produce it in Word or some other program, and copy/paste the content to e-mail to me.

If you are interested, please e-mail me at sara@sewsweetness.com with a little paragraph explaining your idea. I'll continue taking ideas until December 1, 2011. Think outside the box! :-)