If Sew:

It's May already?

I do not know where April went to. I have neglected posting here for a few weeks...what have I been up to? Well, we went to the Maker Faire this weekend and had such a great time!  I'll post a few photos here later this week.

For now, I need to get caught up on April!  A couple of weeks ago we went to the Japanese Tea Gardens in San Francisco. I hadn't been there since I was a kid and I really need to get over there more often. It is so peaceful. Here is a few shots from our trip there.

I went to our local antique fair last weekend and scored on a bag of vintage quilt squares. I am working on a little craft project with them that I will post here later this week.

Fun in the yard

I'm not bragging here, but we have been having some beautiful weather in Northern California. We've been spending a lot of time in the yard, pulling weeds and planting and getting ready for summer. I had this idea to make my son a sand/rock table and my husband built this little table on the weekend. We found this little table out at the dumps, they have a recycled goods store out there which is so nifty. My husband added the sides and gave it a fresh coat of paint. My son is loving it!

And while planting vegetables we made this green bean teepee. Maybe this will encourage my son to eat green beans? I sure hope so.

Love me a gocco

A year or so ago I read about the Print Gocco online and became obsessed with finding out as much as I could about it. Being a stay-at-home Mom I do try to keep within a household budget and this purchase just seemed frivolous at the time. But I kept thinking about it, noticing all the cool projects other people were doing with their Gocco machines. Kirsten recently posted about recieving a Gocco for her birthday and that got me thinking again about all the fun stuff I could be making. I started checking out the Gocco Flickr group again and reading up on the supplies I would need. My husband caught wind of my re-emerging obsession and with my birthday coming up later this month, he bought me this from Paper Source and it arrived on Friday! No sense in waiting until my birthday when I knew it was coming. I ripped open the box and we set to work making our first print.

I am truly amazed at how easy this is and the professional quality that it produces. I can't wait to try it out with a photograph and of course, on fabric!!

Mr Pocket Pants

I love a quick easy project that I can finish in one day.

These were recycled from a pair of linen pants purchased for my husband from J.Crew many years ago. When he bought them they were long and I accidentally hemmed them too short. I loved the gray linen and just held on to them all these years.

They started out with just two back pockets, but my son said the pockets needed to be in the front so we added two more. Now there are pockets all the way around.

They are so soft, I think they will be perfect for the summer.

We stopped by the Vans outlet bought some new shoes for Mr Pocket Pants. He is very proud of his starry shoes!

Wonky log cabin tea cozy

My Mom and I took a "Wonky Log Cabin Tea Cozy" class at Sunflower Fine Fabrics last weekend. The class was taught by my friend Carolyn. This method of making a wonky log cabin is so much fun and a really great way to use up all of my scraps. We had so much fun!

Here is the other side.

I love the idea of creating free form like this, just using favorite bits of fabrics and sewing together without thinking about size or seams. Carolyn was saying that she finds this type of sewing very soothing and I really did too. I could have kept sewing these all day long.

Easter egg dyeing fun

We had fun dyeing some easter eggs tonight.

It all started out very carefully dipping one egg in at a time.

We had beautiful colors like pink, purple, orange and green.

But in the end, all the eggs were dipped in to every color. Miraculously, they turned lovely shades of blue rather than the brown I remember them turning when I was a kid.

Happy Easter!

Making progress

I thought I would just pop in with a quick post. I have not done too much photo taking of projects lately but I have been working on a few things.

My log cabin blocks are coming along. I have put on a few more strips since this photo. I am hoping to get a lot of work done on them this week and have some finished blocks to show off here soon.

I took a really fun "Wonky Log Cabin Tea Cozy" class today with Carolyn. My Mom took the class with me and we had so much fun. We went to dinner after and just got home so I haven't had a chance to take a photo of my tea cozy yet, but I will tomorrow. It is so cute.

And this photo is here just because I love it.

Echino Handbag

I took a handbag class with Nicole at StitchCraft last week and made this! This is my first "real" handbag. I really enjoyed taking this class with Nicole, I learned so much. I still can't believe we made this bag in only two two-hour classes!

I love this Echino fabric. It was hard to find because I guess its been out for a while. I finally found it at Monkeyfoot Designs and Kristen was so helpful and I received it super quick.

I lined it with a Kaffe Fasset fabric that I think complimented the outer fabric perfectly.  We got to put in a magnetic snap, purse feet and rivets. I really learned so much in this class!

The strap is a girls belt that I found at the clearance at Target. Nicole gave me the idea to look there and I would have never thought to use a belt for the purse strap.

On another note, I have finished all the cutting for my log cabin quilt and I'll begin sewing this weekend. Photos of that project soon.

Coaster Swap

Here are my finished coasters for the swap I am in hosted by Amy of Ibby Bee. My swap partner is overseas and so I am cutting it a little close as they are due on Sunday. I hope she likes them.

Happy Heart Day

Roses are red
Violets are blue
I'm sick with the flu
Happy Valentines Day to you!

I've got the flu bug that seems to be hitting everyone right now. I just wanted to pop in today to say Happy Valentines Day! I had big plans to make a cute little gift with Johnnie today and go and deliver them to all his Valentine buddies (all 3 of them). But we'll have to do it another day.

As I was laying on the couch miserable yesterday a package arrived in the mail from my coaster swap partner. Can you imagine my surprise when I opened it and found this from Felica at Fluffy Flowers? I love these owl coasters, they are so sweet, and the little stuffed owl is adorable.