Fun Fabric Animals

I found these cute little handmade fabric animals while going through the old baby toys I saved; they belonged to my children when they were babies.  I kept a lot of the toys thinking someday my grandchildren would want to play with them and I was right.  My first granddaughter, now 5, loved each and every one of them; she played with the toys whenever they came to visit until she outgrew them.  Now she has a 7 month old baby sister who is ready to start enjoying all of the baby toys, which is why I dug them out of the closet.  We will have another new grandchild who will be born in October, those much loved toys are going to get quite a workout, talk about recycling things.

Back to the fabric animals, I made them for my daughter while I was pregnant with her, in those days we didn’t know if we were having a boy or girl so I chose a yellow and white gingham check print for her curtains and bedding and used basic colors for toys and clothing.  I designed and made the little animals from original 1970’s fabric scraps leftover from sewing projects my Mom and I made for our craft shows.  Because they had hand embroidery for their faces and paws they were too delicate and probably not safe for a baby to play with, I hung them on the wall over the crib to add color to the walls and also hung them over her baby brother’s crib when he came along a couple of years later.  I remember making and hanging several more animals but so far I haven’t found the rest, too many house and storage moves, they are bound to be around somewhere, I am sure the rest will be found in due time. I need to look for the old pictures of my daughter’s room to see just how many of the animals have gone missing.

It was a great trip down memory lane, one I wanted to share with you once I came across those cute little animals and realized how popular they are again.  Soft stuffed animals seem to be all the rage among the newer creative sewing community, which means my cute little critters are in vogue, who knew?!  I think I will make a whole set using updated fabrics; maybe my daughter will want to hang them on her daughter’s wall.

Thanks for letting me share my journey into a past creative project; I hope you enjoyed taking a visit with me into the world of 70’s fabric toys, I believe 2012 will be yielding some newer soft stuffed animals to keep their retro buddies company in the very near future.

See you soon, Laurette

Parisian Pillows

I finally have a couple of creative projects to share with you, I finished two home décor pillows inspired by the  “Tres Chic” fabric sent to me by one of my readers.  It took me so long to get something sewn, I had a really difficult time trying to narrow down what I was going to make from the  fabulous Paris inspired print, it sparked a ton of ideas all taking more fabric then I had.  I finally decided on a set of pillows, a bulletin board and a matching lamp shade.  There may end up being more projects with the leftover scraps, we will see how it goes and how far I can stretch it by adding in other coordinating fabrics.  It took forever to post these pillows because they did not photograph well no matter what I did with them; I finally threw them on my sewing chair in disgust and walked away.  Upon my return I decided I would just leave them there and take the photo that way, I did my best but the pictures just don’t do them justice, but you get the idea anyway.

First up is a pillow featuring some cream twist satin cording to highlight the “Tres Chic” fabric in the center of the pillow.  I used my stash of coordinating Waverly fabrics around the main fabric to give it some dimension and interest, a very classic design.

I made the second pillow slightly larger using black piping around the center panel and some black beading on each end to give the pillow a little different feel, a bit of classic bling this time, truly “Tres Chic”.

Thanks for letting me share my Paris inspired project with you instead of the landscaping project I originally planned to post.  I will get around to that at a later date, it has a ton of before and after photos which will take me some time to write and format. 

My husband and I are getting ready to take a little trip so I may be away from my computer for a bit, or maybe not, if I decide to take my computer and post from the beautiful California coastline where we will be staying.  Stay tuned and keep watching; you never know what I will share with you next. 

See you soon, Laurette

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“Tres Chic” An Afternoon in Paris

Corner Café 

Winners - Spring Splash Give-away

A big thank you to those of you who took the time to enter your comments or send me e-mails with all your wonderful ideas for the fabrics I recently won in a blog give-away.   

Some of the consistent ideas for creating projects with my winnings were; all kinds of different purses, tote bags, zip bags and baby quilts.

The items suggested which were unique or different I did not think of were; a name badge/passport holder, a journal cover, a ruffled throw pillow, a themed wall hanging, quilted chair back covers, traveling studio bag, a quilter’s apron and my all time favorite, a sewing machine cover.  All great projects and very creative; from those suggestions I plan to make a quilted sewing machine cover, a quilter’s apron, a journal cover and a name badge holder.   With the larger panel I will be making a decorative wall hanging using mixed media techniques and embellishments. 

I am going to be very busy all spring and summer working on the Vintage Notions fabric projects and the Tres Chic Paris home décor furnishings.  Between all the sewing, landscaping, painting and furniture refinishing I need to do, I will have plenty of inspiration for my blog posts clear through to fall.  Keep an eye out for all these great projects as they roll into my creative blog.

My winners:

Quilting Grandma from Kansas won the fat quarter prize for her sewing machine cover, quilter’s apron and decorative wall hanging ideas.

Sheila Galindo won the little bird stationary set for her name badge/passport holder and journal cover ideas.

Thanks so much ladies for sharing your wonderful, creative suggestions with me, I can’t wait to get sewing.  Up next on my blog is a landscaping project my husband and I finished last weekend, lots of photos with this one.  See you soon.  Laurette

Spring Has Sprung

As you can tell my theme is “Spring” right now, probably because, here in Hollister, California, we really did not have much of a winter, at least we had little to no rain compared to last year at this time.  We did have lots of freezing cold days which put frost on the ground and froze the bird baths and fountains but not much else.  Most of the plants and tress kept right on blooming right up to December and began an early bloom in January with unusually warm weather.  This past week we soared up to a warm 80 degrees, so strange for this time of year.  Because of the early warm weather my plants and trees are already blooming beautiful spring flowers.  I know many of you are still stuck in deep winter waiting for your spring to arrive so I thought I would share some of mine with you until you get it in your area.  Here’s hoping it lifts your spirits and brings a smile to your faces.

So far, every year the first thing to bloom in my garden is my yellow roses, I have one full blown rose and one rose bud.  The other colors are following behind with some buds beginning to form. I have no idea why the yellow one is always first, but I really enjoy seeing its bright sunny color on our terraced hill.

Some of these beautiful blooms are set in pots around the yard and some are growing up on the terraced hill.  Aren't they lovely with all their spring colors showing?  I think I love spring time almost as much as fall with all the bright colors and wonderful scents floating through the air.

Thanks for letting me share my lovely California spring with you, I hope it lifted your spirits just a little bit and made you smile.  See you soon.  Laurette

Spring Splash Reminder

Just a quick reminder, there are only a few days left to comment on the Vintage Notions project suggestions. Remember… I am looking for unique ideas for creating projects with the Vintage Notions fabric I recently won in a blog give-away. You still have an excellent chance of winning since there have only been a couple of entries.

To enter just click on the February 25th achieve blog titled “A Splash of Spring Give-away” and click on the comment button to leave your suggestions.

The deadline for entries is midnight, west coast time, March 9, 2010 (this Friday)

I hope to hear from more of you by then, don’t let me down. See you soon. Laurette

Give-away posts:

A Splash of Spring Give-away
Vintage Notions
I Won! I Won!

"Tres Chic" An Afternoon in Paris

Recently I received a surprise package in the mail, it was a beautiful Paris inspired fabric produced by Waverly Fabrics; one of my all time favorite home décor fabrics to work with when making elegant items for interior decorating projects.  It was a real surprise because I had not ordered it, with a little detective work I figured out who sent the lovely fabric; I was thrilled and pleased that it was one of my special readers, Kelly, who took the time to pick out a fabric for me she thought I would like and use.  Boy was she ever right, the fabric sparked hours of creative play time in my studio as I pulled out coordinating fabrics (also by Waverly) trims, patterns and my sketch journal.  I now have a huge project pile of fabric and notions all ready to create some Parisian home décor projects.

These are some of the coordinating fabrics I chose to color compliment the French fabric, the colors are cream, taupe, tan, charcoal and black; very elegant and being used in all the current decorating shows on HGTV (my favorite TV show for decorating and inspiration).

Some of the notions and trims (bling), I will be using on things like pillows, lamps, bulletin boards and a few other small projects made from the leftover scraps.

It looks like I am going to have to push back some of my other projects so I can begin creating with this gorgeous fabric and notions.  A big thanks to Kelly for thinking of me, I can’t wait to start sewing and posting the projects so you can see what I made, watch for them all during the spring months.

Wow, my project list is getting longer and longer, so little time and so much to create; I am one lucky gal who will never get board, thank goodness.

Thanks for letting me share my spring surprise with you, look for those Paris inspired projects as I finish them.  See you soon.  Laurette

Inspiration Fabrics:

“Tres Chic” by Waverly (Paris Print)

“Pen Pal” Mardi Gras Collection by Waverly (French words)

“Classica” Collection by Waverly (Large Stripes)

“Collection” The Alexander Henry Fabric Collection (High Fashion Ladies)

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A Splash of Spring Give-Away

Vintage Notions

I Won! I Won!

Corner Cafe

When we moved from our long time home, we moved into a newer home which had recently been updated, most of the work had been done in the kitchen.  Black granite had been installed on all the counter tops and back splash along with black slate tiles on the floor, the original medium oak cabinets were left in place.  I came from light bright almond tile counters, light almond appliances and mid tone oak cabinets.  My kitchen was an old world Tuscan/wine theme with all the colors of Italy.  My new kitchen just did not fit that look so I changed it up to a corner/café/coffee shop theme, incorporating the black and oak with stainless steel appliance and brushed nickel cabinet pulls.  We added a large granite and oak island to match the rest of the kitchen, with some lovely high ladder back stools at the island.  I re-covered the cushions in a dark red fabric and added some darling fabrics featuring the coffee/café colors I was basing my new kitchen update on; brown, black, slate gray, tan and red.  The new fabrics pulled all the colors together giving the kitchen a more cohesive look.

These are some of the fabrics I used for my place mats and kitchen curtains. The larger prints became individual quilted place mats which I lined with Insul-Bright to protect the granite counters from heat damage.  The smaller prints became the café curtains hanging over the kitchen sink.

The cute little hot pads are reversible and were made from leftover scraps from the place mats; each one is lined with Insul-Bright so they could be used to protect the counters and tabletops from damage. All the little touches really pull the whole room together, of coarse I still have a few more small projects to finish in the kitchen but it is getting there and feeling more like home everyday.

FYI: For those of you who don't know; Insul-Bright is a needlepunched insulated lining which reflects heat or cold back to the source. It is machine wash and dry and easy to sew through.  I love this stuff and use it for hot pads, place mats, oven mitts, ironing board overs, casserole cozies and many more projects. 

Thanks for letting me share my own little café/ coffee shop makeover, I have many more projects to share with you in the coming months, keep watching for several room makeovers, painting projects, landscaping adventures and of coarse lots of sewing and craft projects.  See you soon.  Laurette

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Paisley Crazy –Room Makeover

Black & White Bling

A Bit of Bling

Fabric Organization

Spring Studio

On a recent trip to Monterey (California) I stopped to do a little shopping before heading home.  One of my stops was the local Michael’s craft store, we don’t have one in Hollister, I always stop and shop if I have the time.  While walking the isles my Husband and I came upon the silk floral display, the beautiful spring and summer flowers were showing all their bright pretty colors.  I could not resist picking up some new silks to brighten up my black & white studio.  I know, I know….most interior designers hate silk (fake) flowers and plants but I happen to love them, at least the ones which are made well and actually look real.

The silk flowers I chose for my studio are super fun with polka dots all over them, they don’t look real and I did not want them too, they were chosen strictly for their fun factor and cuteness.  A touch of spring has sprung in my studio giving it a pop of color and a bit of a lift on those still cloudy days, at least until the sun can shine everyday, all day long and I can add live spring flowers into the mix.

I did pick out some truly beautiful silk hydrangeas for new spring arrangements for my Mother’s grave site, I should have those finished and delivered in time for Easter. Of coarse real flowers are always better on display, but sometimes, due to weather, location or time, silk flowers and plants are just right for any occasion.

Consider adding a splash of spring color to your own creative spaces and home décor by incorporating some pretty silks; brighten things up while you wait for the real spring flowers and plants to arrive.

Thanks for letting me share a splash of spring with you.  See you soon.

Laurette

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Fall Floral Arrangements

Stairway Garland

A Splash of Spring Give-Away

Hello everyone, I am sorry I have been away for so long from my blog posting, I have been helping our very dear friends with a really difficult move.  I was far away from my computer everyday and too tired at night to sit and write anything you would want to spend your time reading.  I am finally back in the office so here is a new post for you to read which should actually make some sense, I hope.

As promised I am having a special give-away contest with an early spring theme.  The contest goes like this; I am looking for ideas to help me figure out what to create out of the Vintage Notions fabric I recently won on a blog give-away.  I will be giving away two gifts, one for those of you who would like to sew/craft with fabric and a second gift for those of you who do not.

This is the fabric I won, there are 18 fat quarters and one panel; I want to make as many different items as I can from them.  All ideas will be considered, I will choose two from the comments section to win a fabric stack or the cute spring journal, notepad, pen and nail file set.  You don’t have to sew to win something.

Prize #1 is this spring fat quart set of 8 mid tone fabrics.

Prize #2 is a cute spring bird set containing a journal, note pad, pen and a jewel studded nail file. 

I am really looking forward to your suggestions as to what to make with my new fabrics; they are sitting on my cutting table waiting to be turned into some fantastic creative projects.

Here are the rules:

One entry per person

You must specify which gift you would like to win

You must have a mailing address within the USA to win.  

Deadline for comment entries is midnight, west coast time, March 9, 2012.

Please leave your first name and the first initial of your last name with your comment so I can contact you when you win. (It will be posted on my blog so you can contact me with your shipping address.)  Sorry about all the rules, a necessary evil.

Thanks for hanging in there with me while I was away from my studio and office.  See you soon.  Laurette

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I Won! I Won!

Vintage Notions

Vintage Notions

The new fabric line by Amy Barickman, The Dressmaking Collection, produced by Red Rooster Fabrics and the book, Vintage Notions, also written by Amy, has finally arrived.  I won the fabrics and book from a contest sponsored on the blog of Betz White.  I was so excited to receive them; it was like Christmas morning as I opened my box of fabrics and my new book.  Everything came wrapped in tissue pattern pieces, how cool is that, perfect for any dressmaker.  As my eyes feasted on all the wonderful vintage inspired fabrics my mind began to spin with all the fun projects I could create with my new fabrics.  The biggest problem will be figuring out what to make first and if I will have enough fabric to make everything I want to make, so many projects and so little time, what’s a girl to do.  I can assure you every last scrap will be used with nothing going to waste, let the fun begin.

So many fun prints and patterns to work with, 18 fat quarters and one really beautiful coordinating panel, something you rarely see, the entire fabric line all in one quilt shop or in one on-line store.  I am very blessed to have then all.

Some of the possible projects for these wonderful fabrics are a quilted purse, an apron, pillows, zip cases, needle cases, book covers, e-reader covers, wall hanging or lap quilt….hmm what else?  If you have any ideas I did not mention please use the comment section to leave your suggestion and if I pick your idea and make it, you will get a special gift from me.  The gift will be announced in the next posting along with the deadline for submitting your suggestions. Here is a hint, think spring time.   I will be working on the Vintage Notions projects throughout the spring and summer months with supporting blog posts so you can track everything I create as I go along. 

**Due to the difficulties of shipping I can only ship inside the USA at this time.

The Vintage Notions book, An Inspirational Guide to Needlework, Cooking, Sewing, Fashion and Fun, is such a lovely book, I can’t wait to read every page, not to mention creating some of the retro inspired projects and recipes. Thanks to my new book and fabrics I won’t run out of inspiration through the coming months and into the fall.  Of coarse there are still all those unfinished projects from last year and the already planned ones for this year.  I believe I am going to be a very busy lady indeed.

*On a very special personal note;  I just found out today there is going to be a new grand baby this coming fall.  My son and his wife are expecting their first child.  I am thrilled, lots of special gifts to make for my new grandchild, I can't wait, the new baby will make it three very special grandchildren, I am beyond blessed.

Thank you for letting me share my newest book, fabrics and my special news with you, watch for the give-away details in my next post.  See you soon.  Laurette

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I won! I Won!

Colorful Fabric Zip Bags

Quilted Valentine Table Runner