All About Babies

Today’s creative project is baby burp cloths, with an 8 month old granddaughter and a new baby arriving in the fall, I thought it was time to get sewing for the little ones again.  I felt it was appropriate to begin with all those necessary little generic layette items since we don’t know yet what the sex of our fall baby is.  Burp cloths were up first, with baby kimonos, bibs, blankets, toys and quilts to follow as time allows.  I love to sew for babies and toddlers the fabrics are so much fun to work with; you will be seeing quite a few projects over the next couple of months as I gather together my completed projects for the baby shower.

I had a great time shopping in my fabric stash for the retro prints I used on most of the burp cloths.  The fabrics remind me so much of the ones I used to make things for my children when they were babies, except the prints then were the originals, these are replicas of those.  The retro fabrics I chose are not gender specific and can be used for either a boy or a girl.

I played around with different kinds of fabric mixes with printed cottons for one side with either flannel on the back or terrycloth toweling.  On one of them I used the same flannel print on both sides. I sent one of each kind over to my daughter’s house to try on her 8 month old to see how well they work and wash up; they are still in the testing stages, so far so good.

These six will go into the basket of goodies for the baby shower; they are a mix of cottons, flannel and terrycloth toweling. As soon as I find out the gender my projects will get much more specific, but for now I get to sew for the baby as my creative spirit speaks to me.

Thanks for letting me share my baby burp cloth project with you.  I have several summer patio sewing and painting projects coming up very soon as well as the kitchen/family room makeover posting, I misplaced some photos which is putting me a little behind on that one, but it is on the way.  See you soon.

Laurette

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Project Progress

I thought I would share with you some of those pesky little unfinished projects I managed to complete, they were just hanging around in my project boxes collecting dust, now they are finished and ready to be sold or given as gifts.

First up, some cute little zipper bags made in a few fun animal prints, etc… I just love making these; they sew up pretty quickly once you get everything cut and pinned.  I already gave away several zip bags as gifts; I guess I will just have to make more.

I made this sweet little light weight pink blanket for my newest grand-baby, her Mom thought she needed something to cuddle with in the night which was soft but not very heavy.  The blanket is made from two layers of super soft embossed flannel without the traditional batting sandwiched in the middle.

These flowers were not in my project boxes but they were hanging around my studio waiting for me to do something with them.  I finally found the time to create some floral arrangements for my Mom’s grave site for Mother’s day.  I did not need to do very much with them since they were already very pretty.

Last but not least were some standard size pillowcases in fun girly prints.  They were so quick and easy to make, about an hour, each one has its own personality. Check out my Paisley Pillowcases Tutorial from the October 2011 archive file if you would like to make your own pillowcases, you can also join the One Million Pillowcase Challenge, details and the website are also listed on the tutorial.

Another unfinished project was the painting of our kitchen/family room and our front door, which we managed to complete this last weekend, multi-tasking all they way.  It felt great to finish the project we started last spring, now it looks more like home; just three bathrooms, the laundry room, the hallways and two bedrooms left to paint, yikes, that’s still a lot, oh well, progress is still forward movement.  I should have the posting for you in a few days as soon as I take the after photos and format everything, watch for that one probably early next week, Monday, I hope. (The fabric shown here was the jumping off point for the kitchen and family room paint colors)

Thanks for letting me share my completed projects with you, maybe it will inspire you to dig through all your UFO’s (unfinished objects/projects) and make some progress of your own.  See you soon.

Laurette

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Finding Fabrics

Last week during a visit from my oldest sister, who lives in the mid-west, she and I spent lots of sister time going to all our favorite places together.  One of our outings was fabric shopping at my favorite quilt shop, Homespun Harbor, during their close out sale.  We both were able to pick up quite a bit of beautiful fabrics to fill in some of the missing elements of our individual fabric stashes.  A good fabric stash is now very important for me because there is not another local fabric store, I will have to go one town away to shop for quilt fabrics and two towns away to shop for garment fabrics and notions.  No more popping into the shop to pick up thread, elastic, zippers or more fabric when I am in the middle of a project, now I have to plan a day trip instead.  

Anyway….. back to our shopping trip, fat quarters were on sale for $1.00 each (for those of you who don’t know what a fat quarter is, it is fabric which measures 18”x 22”, a regular ¼ yard of fabric measures 9”x 44”, quilters use them to make quilts and other small projects, there are whole books dedicated to sewing with fat quarters) they were a fantastic price, they usually start at $2.50 and up depending on the shop.  I don’t use as many fat quarters as my sister, she bought more of those then I did, but I did manage to pick out a few of my own which I like to use for children’s Christmas stockings, table napkins and wine bags, at a buck each it was a real steal.  I also purchased some basic solids at a wonderful price as well as some retro print fabrics for dressmaking.

I was thrilled to get these retro inspired fabrics at such low prices, some as low as $3.00 a yard for very high quality cotton fabrics, the average price is normally $10 to $12 per yard.  Some of these prints will be made into dresses, tops, aprons or purses, scraps will be sewn into zip bags and other accessories, no wasted fabrics here.

My sister purchased these classic fabrics for me as an early Birthday present.  The set tied with the black bow is a kit which includes a pattern for a table topper and a table runner, the table topper could also be used as a wall hanging.  The other set is the complementary fabrics to the kit which would allow me to complete a wall hanging and a table topper, one for each of us.  I love those fabrics and can’t wait to work with them; they are already on my cutting table ready to be made into some fun projects.

Our day was filled with a whirl of colors and fabrics but it was bittersweet in the loss of such a great shop.  To cheer me up we went on an exploration of a newer shop which opened, one town away, in San Juan Bautista.  The shop, Family Treads, is a darling place with some of the same types of fabrics and notions I like to create with; I think I will probably visit there often as travel time permits.  It was great fun to explore the lovely fabrics and chat with the other ladies about their projects, we both had a really good day and we were all shopped out by late afternoon.

Thanks for letting me share all our fabric finds with you from my visit with my sister.  Our trip inspired me to get back to sewing and creating more colorful projects, look for those to begin in my next posting.  See you soon.

Laurette

A Farewell to Homespun Harbor

After many years of owning a successful, thriving quilt shop in Hollister, California, the owners, Dennis & Ghleanna recently decided to close their shop and retire to sunny Florida.  Our much loved couple has been in the business for over 20 years and they are now finally ready to slow down life and take it easy for awhile.  Even though they are closing up shop this week they are not leaving the business altogether, they will continue their on-line sales probably some time around September with a website re-vamp featuring fabrics, kits and other goodies, I will let you know when they have it up and running so you can check out their site.  I am sure I will continue to purchase fabrics from them on-line; Ghleanna has such a fantastic eye for picking out just the right line of unique, bright and cheerful fabrics, I know she will have just what I need.

Dennis and Ghleanna, I will not only miss your fabulous store but I will really miss your warm, kind and caring friendship, you both always perked up my day when I entered your shop, you will truly be missed by all your loyal customers and friends.  I wish you the very best in your new life, keep in touch.

Laurette

Spring Shed

Hello everyone, I am back, I wasn’t sure if I was going to be able to continue writing a blog with all the crazy events going on in my life. There are still lots of stressful and non-stressful things and events happening over the next couple of months but I found I really missed my creative life.  I didn’t feel like myself without being in my studios creating and sharing all my projects and adventures with you.  I have so many summer painting projects planned for the house and outdoor garden area, not to mention all the great colorful sewing projects waiting on my sewing counters.  There is going to be so much to share with you, I will just have to figure out how to find the time to create and write around all the rest of the craziness of my life.  I thought I would start off with the outdoor shed project we did at the beginning of spring, the one I kept promising to share with you, there are a ton of photos, enjoy.

This was the area we chose to place the shed, it was a pretty space but one which could not be seen from the backyard or out the windows, kind of a blind spot.  I hated to demolish it but it was the only spot large enough to hold the shed and not create an eyesore when looking out any of the windows.

The first thing we did was to remove the storage box, then dig holes on the hill so we could transplant the tree and plants up there instead of dumping them into the green-waste container; the hill is beginning to fill in nicely with all the extra plants, no more baron land. Then it was time to level out the area, but first my husband had to remove a bunch of very hefty roots with a pick ax, they were a good two inches in diameter from the tree next door.  They were heading under the concrete towards the foundation of our home, yikes, that was not a good thing, problem solved.

All leveled with top soil and ready to go.

Floor and outside shed frame are going up, a snap and lock kind of thing with a few nuts and bolts to hold it all together.  A super quick process when you go by the numbers.

Here the walls are going up starting with the back wall, then each side, leaving the front open for the doors. The blue tape had the numbers on it for easier piecing, kind of like making a giant jigsaw puzzle.

Time for the roof and doors to be installed by my husband and son-in-law.  I was able to help until we got to the roof, way to heavy and I was too short to lift it up so we recruited some help for this part, thank goodness my son-in-law had a few minutes to come over.

My very happy husband with his new storage shed up and ready to use, did I mention he assembled it in an hour and a half, wow!  I think that is a new record or something, I was a very proud wife.  Now we have all the storage we need for our outdoor furniture, cushions, umbrellas, pillows and extra folding patio chairs, finally.  Our new home was a little short on storage, I was very happy we were able to find the space and solution and get it done so quickly.  Another problem solved, just a few hundred more to go.

Thanks for letting me share our spring shed project with you as I return to my creative life again.  I hope you enjoyed all the photos and it inspired you to tackle a problem solving project of your own.  I am not sure what is up next so I guess you will have to keep and eye out to see what else I may be sewing, planting, painting or decorating.  See you soon.

Laurette

FYI

Some of my regular readers may have notice my absence from the creative blog world lately.  I will admit life has been a bit stranger then usual with a large amount of unforeseen events keeping me out of my studio, away from my creative projects and my laptop, hence no new posts.  Because I wish to keep my blog fresh, fun and creative I have not been able to write on a regular basis sharing what is happening to and around me.  Don’t get me wrong, not everything is not as I wish it to be, just some of it.  I did manage to plant a few new spring flowers, continue work on our terraced hill in the backyard, re-configure our patio furniture and potted plants to create a better traffic flow on our outdoor patio, buy some new fabric to recover the patio cushions and hang an elegant chandelier over the dinning room table (all with the help of my handsome husband).  Those are just the few things happening in my creative life, the rest is the stressful part, with health issues and family drama keeping me from writing about the fun parts, when I manage to squeeze them in.

One of my pet peeves is following a blogger who just suddenly quits writing and disappears without a word leaving me wondering what the heck happened to her, so I decided I would let you know I am taking an undetermined break from writing my blog, due to all those stressful events.  I really don’t know if and when I will return to posting but I am pretty sure I will find my way back to it when things settle down again.  For those of you who follow me on a regular basis please don’t forget me, keep checking periodically to see if I have returned, and for those of you who follow me by e-mail alert, you will be the first to know when I am active again.

I will truly miss sharing all my colorful, creative ventures from my studio with each and every one of you, thank you for following me this past year as I made my way through this special journey.  Keep watching for me, I plan to return, see you soon.

Laurette

Bling Those Shoes - Part 1

While on vacation I purchased these darling Anne Michelle shoes for an obscenely small amount of money.  Can you guess what I paid for them?  Wait for it…..here it comes….a whopping $5.00!!!  Can you believe it?!?

I was so excited, but not for the usual reasons, I did not buy them to wear, I bought them as project shoes.  Ever since I saw several of the shoes Marisa made over, on her New Dress a Day blog, I have been dying to try bedazzling some bling on a pair of stiletto shoes of my own.  I just needed to find a pair with a reasonable price tag, just in case I messed them up.  Even though my knees will no longer let me wear high heals like that, I still love the look and the endless creative possibilities.  I think I may have found a use for all those lonely stilettos stashed in the back of my closet.

I adore the shiny black of the shoes and the darling bows but I feel the bow and high heals could use that certain something extra……a substantial amount of bling should do it.

I could not wait to get started; I purchased two boxes of crystal gems, one for each shoe, right after buying the shoes.  After looking at the amount of gems used on Marisa’s tutorial I knew one box was not going to cut it, I am not sure two will do it either, I guess I will just have to see how far I can get with one box each, I have to start somewhere.  I will let you know how it all comes out once I finish the project.  I’ll bet you thought I was going to show you the finished shoe, not just yet.

Thanks for letting me share my cute new project with you, watch for part 2 to see my completed bedazzled shoes, coming your way in the very near future.

(I apologize for the strange multiple font sizes in one of the paragraphs, the blog program seems to have some kind of glitch going on I cannot figure out how to fix.)

See you soon, Laurette

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