A Birthday Giveaway

GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED. THANK YOU FOR PARTICIPATING. WINNERS WILL BE CHOSEN SHORTLY.

Tomorrow is my birthday and I'm going to celebrate with you with a HUGE giveaway. You know that old saying "ask you and shall receive"? Well, there were many great people who answered and I am happy to be able to give away so many great items!

Here's how this will work. To be entered, simply leave a comment. Please make sure to leave a way to contact you. Oftentimes when people leave comments, there is no contact information from them, so if you want to win, make sure you leave me your e-mail. To gain an extra entry into the contest you can blog about it and let me know about the post in your comment. Please do not comment more than once on this post as it'll make counting very difficult for me! There will be around 20 winners, so the first winner will have their choice of prize and each subsequent winner will get to choose from the remaining list. You'll have from today (Friday) until Monday April 27th to enter.

Here are the prizes that have been generously donated. Please take the time to click through their shops and/or blogs since they were kind enough to participate in this giveaway.

1. Secretcake

About secret cake:
Buying and selling handmade, sustainable products has never been more pervasive. secret cake supports this movement by offering an eclectic mix of “rescued” textiles and notions for your unique, up-cycled creations. Please visit secret cake at www.secretcake.etsy.com and www.secretcake.blogspot.com

About the giveaway:
secret cake offers a colorful, spring-inspired grab bag of vintage fabric scraps and buttons. This grab bag includes cotton or cotton/poly blend fabric from upcycled bed linens in four different but coordinating patterns. Great for patchwork, pouches, covered buttons and other smaller projects. The grab bag also includes a half-dozen whimsical vintage buttons in pinks, yellows and greens. Enjoy!

2. Fortheloveofproducts at etsy is offering a $10 gift certificate to her store. "For The Love Of… products celebrate life's intimate moments by providing high-quality bath and body products dedicated to making even the smallest of daily activities pleasurable."

3.Mary offering bookmarks. She sells original artwork in her etsy store, which includes bookmarks, cards, and wallart.

4. Bitofwhimsy sells her original patterns for dolls and other stuffed animals. There are even cute boy dolls which makes this mama of a boy very happy! She is offering 3 PDF patterns to 3 different winners. Each winner will get their choice of pattern.



5. Mary of confessionsofacraftaddict is offering up 1 yard of this cute mermaid fabric. She tells me Joann's sold of out it 2 years ago and it is very hard to find! If you don't already read her blog, you should. Trust me. She makes the cutest things ever!

6. Rosalyn Scent is offering a body butter of your choice of scent. The mango sounds great to me! They carry a variety of bath, body, and fragrance products and there is a $10 off coupon on the home page.

7. MyHeartandSew is offering a $10 gift certificate to her etsy shop. Cassie carries the cutest fabrics and is a delight to work with. She is more than willing to set up custom listings for you, so don't be afraid to ask! She also accepts RME payments, just in case you have a little extra money sitting around in your account (wish I did!).

8. Shelly from Joyful Girl Natural is giving away a 2oz bottle of her Organic Shea Mango Lotion. She says her mom works with a lot of fibers and she loves the way it feels on her hands. She makes products when they are ordered for freshness and effectiveness. Also she can customize products to meet each customers skin care needs. She will work with her customers to assist in healing severe skin concerns, taking time to formulate a skin care regimen that will be healing for them.

9. Katie from Moonlight Bindery is giving away this very cute Moleskin with a Goccoed Snail on it. She will also be my booth-mate at the craft fair tomorrow!

10. Snugluv at etsy is offering a $10 gift certificate to her store. She stocks quilt kits, patterns, and handmade goods. She also blogs at snug-n-luv.blogspot.com.

11. Kiva from farmstandlady is offering these very chic "Little Black Dress" earrings. Visit her etsy shop for other great jewelry items.

12.Precious Patterns offer many different patterns which include but are not limited to baby items, toys, and shoes. If you need to make a gift for a baby shower, you should definitely check them out. Mary and Sara will be offering 1 PDF pattern from their store. The winner can choose the pattern of their liking. They are also having a giveaway this week. They are giving away their new Monkey Crayon Holder pattern to everyone who purchases two patterns or one combo pattern. All of their patterns are e-patterns sent to their email address within 24 hours, and they are always working on new pattern designs.



13. Gulfcoastcottagepdf is another great etsy shop. She has some of the cutest patterns for felt, everything from a robot to a doctor's kit. There is something for everyone there! Jen will be giving away 1 PDF pattern of the winner's choice. She's running a special buy any 4 patterns get a 5th one for free (just in case you can't wait to see if you're a winner).



14. Tara from tarabu is giving away a pair of surprise coffee cuddlers from this collection. Tara has many great things in her etsy shop. One of my favorites are her shawls, which I have seen in person and are fabulous!

15. Raesha is giving away a bunch of vintage sewing goodies. Raesha also writes a lovely blog, so if you're not a reader already, check her out!

16. jmilliesjustforyou In her etsy store you will find cute Japanese fabrics as well as other fabrics and patterns. She also runs a fabric co-op on yahoo which can be found by following this link. For the giveaway, Judy will be sending the lucky winner 12 strips 2 1/2" x 44. 5 of fabric by Tina Givens and one Phillip Jacobs print. This is perfect for getting started on a quilt or any patchwork project.



17. "Life in your Years" Earrings (Retail Value $14) by Sweet Tarragon

Danielle says "Celebrate life, the universe, and everything in it for Katie's
birthday or your own special day with these sterling silver earrings.
Ocean and brecciated jaspers offer depth and warmth, while tiny brown
goldstone beads offer a hint of copper shimmer. Approximately 1-1/2"
in length, including earwire. "And in the end, it's not the years in
your life that count. It's the life in your years." (Abraham Lincoln)

Your readers can enter "Birthday" in the notes to seller at checkout
for a 10% discount on their entire order through the end of the month
at sweettarragon.etsy.com."

18. And last but not least, I'm giving away a pack of 5" squares of fabrics from each of the Flea Market Fancy fabrics I own. I have more than this photo shows, but you get the idea.

So there you have it! Thanks for celebrating with me. And a big THANK YOU to all those who have donated their times. I'll be back on Monday with winner and an update about the craft fair. Have a great week!

attack of the messy house

Thanks for all the love on my tree quilt and a big hello to some new readers! Have you guys been following along all the beautiful quilts in the Blogger's Quilt Festival? There are some seriously beautiful quilts in there!

This week is turning out to be a crazy one. I have a craft fair on Saturday that I am feverishly preparing for. Sewing production line style is not the most fun, but it sure does work. Unfortunately my house is really suffering from neglect! Just a little glimpse into what my house is looking right now.

To begin, I'm a messy sewer. I go through all my fabrics, cut everything and then leave it out. Lest we not forget that I sew in my "dining room".

I can assure you that no dining has been going on in this room at all. Oh, can you see that little bit of green stuff on the table? Yeah, Moon Sand given to Isaiah for his birthday. He loves it. I can't say I share his affinity for it. And last but not least, our kitchen. Dirty dishes piled high.

This is when a dishwasher would really be useful! I'm just hoping to have the Merry Maids come knocking on my door saying that someone sent them to me as a gift! haha.

John also has a PET scan tomorrow, so that is adding a little bit of stress too. It's late in the day, so I'm sure I'll be thinking about it all day long. So any extra prayers our way would be much appreciated.

And if all this isn't enough, my birthday is on Saturday (same day as the craft fair). I am really looking forward to celebrating after this crazy week is over. I have something very exciting coming up for you all on Friday, so make sure you stop by to check it out!

Blogger's Quilt Festival

Have you heard about the Blogger's Quilt Festival? Amy at Park City Girl started this online Quilt Festival for those of us that aren't lucky enough to attend Quilt Market. I'll have to admit that I have more unfinished quilts than finished. In fact, I think I've made more actual quilt blocks for other people (between my two quilting bees) than I have made for myself. That being said, I do have a few favorite finished quilts, both of which live somewhere else than here.

One is a quilt I made for the Doll Quilt Swap and the either is a baby quilt which I sold on etsy (and like to imagine a sweet baby being wrapped up in!!).

So, go head over to Amy's blog and check out the list of participants. If you have some favorite quilts, you should join too. There's lots of cool giveaways!

soon to be quilt

February was my month for the Pieced Together Quilting Bee. I sent out an assortment of Flea Market Fancy fabrics and the solid white, blue, and red and instructed the participants to make an improvisational style block. It was so fun to get each block back and see what each person came up with. This will eventually be a quilt for Isaiah. I was originally thinking that I'd sash each block with white, but now I'm not sure. Any thoughts?

Hello again

Hi there friends! I didn't mean to disappear like that, but life has just been busy. Last week my sister was going home to NY and suggested that I come with her since I hadn't been home in almost 2 years. I was really starting to get homesick (well, have been homesick) so I decided to go. Isaiah came with me, but John stayed home since he had a doctor's appointment. We had a great time and it was so nice to just relax and enjoy being there again. Not to mention eating the best bagels and pizza, something Maryland is seriously lacking. I drove back with my mom on Friday night and my parents stayed the weekend for Easter. Now I'm trying to catch up on a messy house, which really needs a spring cleaning.

Of course, I am also stressing about my upcoming craft fair, which is now only a week and a half away. I have a lot of things "in progress" but nothing really finished. I just can't get into a groove. So to distract myself I finished up my April blocks for the Pieced Together Quilting Bee. Stephanie requested log cabins and this is what I came up with.

Erin is making a quilt she's calling "Squares and Rectangles" and I made these two blocks for her.

Now that I've crossed those off my list, maybe I can force myself to get something else done!

pencil pouches

It's been gray and rainy here the past few days and it had left me completely unmotivated. Add to the stress that my upcoming craft fair is only a few weeks away and I've lost my sewing mojo. Perfect timing. Today the sun finally came out and I made these 3 pencil pouches. I used the tiniest of scraps and some linen from a thrifted skirt. Simple enough, but I figure baby steps will get me going.

This year I finally joined a slow pitch softball team and tomorrow is our first practice. I can't even tell you how excited I am to be playing again, albeit a little nervous that I'll completely suck! Plus, I've only ever played fastpitch softball, so I'm sure I'll have a lot to learn about waiting to hit the ball. In any case it'll be fun. Hope you all have a great weekend!

Thrift Finds

I wanted to share some of my recent finds. I've had some luck recently, but I just keep forgetting to photograph them! First are these two adorable aprons. Normally I never find cute aprons, but lately there have been so many good ones at the thrift store! This pink gingham one is headed to my new etsy store, but I'm hanging on to this sheer one. I planning on using it as a curtain in my kitchen. Isn't it great? It was very hard to take a picture of though!

Next is this contact paper. It's still in its original packaging and I just love the print on it. I really don't need it, but I figured someone else might really love it. So that too will be on etsy.

Finally, one of my favorite finds ever is this "Kotton Kutie" paper doll set. There are 3 dolls, Kitty, Kathy, and Kris. I just love that they included a boy! The best part is that the clothing is made out of cotton. You cut out the outfits and "stick" them to the doll. On the back it even says to use your old scraps of fabric to create new outfits. How cool! As much as I love this, I really don't have the room it keep it, so you can find that on etsy too.

Also, today is John's birthday. It is so fitting that he was born on April Fool's. He really is a jokester (even though there's been no pranks today). I'm just happy that he is feeling so good and will be able to celebrate his birthday!

another belt bag

After making the last bag with the belt as a handle I knew there would be more on the way. This one is made with fabric from the Dogwood line, thrifted wool, a black corduroy, and a little touch of fabric from the 1974 line. I'm pretty pleased with the style of this one too. I was feeling ambitious and even added a zippered pocket in the lining. Hopefully my sewing mojo, which I've lost in the past few days, will come back so I can make some more of these!

BLQB blocks and john update

I am finally caught up on my blocks for the Busy Little Quilting Bee.

This block is for Jenny who is making two quilts for her daughters. This is for her daughter who likes diamonds and giraffes. I was going to try to add more diamonds, but those little suckers are tricky!

This block is for Betty who requested triangles. I basically drew out on a plain piece of paper how I wanted it to look and then just paper pieced the triangles. This could probably get really addicting.

These two blocks are for Valerie who is making two quilts for her family room. She sent all these gray and yellow fabrics and I think it quickly becoming one of my new favorite color combination.

I also wanted to give a quick update on John. He had a PET scan on Monday and we were really pleased (and relieved) by the results. He only has one remaining "lesion" and the scan showed that it is slightly smaller and less "intense" since he last scan. So he can continue with his normal treatment and by next week he'll be down to one doctor's appointment a week instead of the two he's been having. Very exciting stuff!

Meeting Heather Ross & Weekend Sewing

On Saturday I met up with Stephanie and Kristen to go see Heather Ross at a signing of her new book Weekend Sewing. We were all excited to go meet such a celebrity in the sewing world. She demonstrated the Little Girl's Smocked Dress from her book and it really made me wish I had a girl! Too cute! Anyway, it was so fun and we all chatted for a while afterward. She is just as nice and down to earth as she seems on her blog. We also got to see samples from her newest line Far, Far Away and it is just gorgeous. I cannot wait for this fabric line to come out. The fabric itself is actually made of two layers of fabric. It is the most wonderful feeling fabric and the prints are beautiful. Anyway, here is Heather and I. For some reason my fist is weirdly clenched. It's a very odd picture of me, but hopefully not too scary.

So more about the book. I have to say I really, really love this book. Yesterday I made the little boy shirt (Kai's shirt) for Isaiah. It only took a few hours (with lots of breaks in between) and it was really simply and easy. The only thing I have left to do it put on the buttons. Isaiah loves the shirt and it fits him perfectly. It's made with the Swim Class fabric from her Mendocino line.

I debated about buying this book at first because I already have so many craft/sewing books. But trust me, if you like sewing, then this is definitely a book that you'll want to add to your collection. It is great because I can imagine myself making every single project from the book, something that I could probably not say about the other sewing books I own. Not to mention that I was thrilled that there are projects for little boys in there. Her instructions are clear and easy to follow, plus all the diagrams are hand drawn, which I just love. Now Isaiah is demanding a pair of seahorse pants. Who am I to deny him a pair of handmade pants?

a new bag

Finally I have something finished to show! I made this bag over a few days. Truthfully, I could have finished it sooner, but I really wanted a vintage belt to use as a handle.

The fabric is from the Dogwood line by Michelle Engel Bencsko. It really is a beautiful line of fabric. I think the main reason why I love it so much is that I have a Dogwood tree right outside of my window of my sewing room and I watch the birds come to the feeder while working. Anyway, more about the bag. I used thrifted corduroy fabric on the bottom and a thrifted gingham fabric for the lining. Normally when I make bags I tend to use a lightweight fabric for the lining, but this lining is a home dec fabric weight. I found that I much prefer this because it give the bag more stability without having to add more than one layer of interfacing. I really love the belt strap too. I picked up a few more at the thrift store too, so I'm going to try them on some different bags. Maybe another bag with the blue bird fabric from the Dogwood line?

more wips and a St. Patty's Sale

I have been sewing a lot the past few days, although I don't really have anything finished to show. It seems the more I sew, the more my WIP stack grows. See, I have a craft fair coming up at the end of April and I'm starting to get anxious that I haven't sewn a single thing for it. I did this same fair in October and it poured the entire time. Even with the weather there was a decent crowd, so I'm hoping with nice weather (and tax returns, haha) that it'll turn out to be a good one. The thing I noticed was that it was a very family oriented community and lots of mothers were there shopping for their kids. There was a woman selling doll dresses and she was selling them left and right.

I figure instead of sewing clothes, which would take me forever, I'd make some doll quilts to bring with me. That idea flooded my brain with quilt ideas so now I'm hopping from one quilt top to another. Let's just hope I can finish them in time for the craft fair!

I almost forgot to mention that I've having a St. Patty's Day Sale in my etsy shop today. My Wristlet Pattern is on sale for $7.00 and most everything else has been marked down 20%.

More DBJ

Since that pile of fabric was sitting on my sewing table making me feel guilty, I figured I'd try to catch up on some of my Dear Jane blocks. Of course, that was the whole "reason" I started fabric shopping in the first place! I managed to make 7 more blocks and have 1 or 2 in progress. I think I'm around 20 behind now and it feels so good to be closing in. I'll have to make a trip over to Joann's at some point though because I'm almost out of red and aqua fabrics again! I think at the end of this I might own every red and aqua fabric made, which is fine by me!

new fabrics

Since I need 200+ fabric for my Dear Jane Quilt, I started shopping around to find some different red and aqua fabrics. The next thing I know, my cart was filled with fabrics that I "didn't need." And then I clicked checkout. How did that happen? Well needless to say, some gorgeous fabrics have a nice new home. Now, what to do with it all?? Oh, and that flea market fancy fabric? I was lucky enough to find 3 yards on eBay because the seller had several misspellings in the titles. Score!