The After Christmas Sew Along!

"After Christmas"??????

It's not even Christmas yet!

You're probably thinking that I'm crazy right about now,

but there is a method to my madness.

If you are anything like me, you are WAY behind on your Christmas crafting and sewing again this year. And all those really fun projects that you wanted to make for yourself and your own home got pushed to the backburner while you try to crank out those Christmas gifts for everyone else.

I've been ooohing and ahhhing over all the cute table runners and Christmas quilts I've seen all over the sewing blogs and wished in my heart

that I had the time to make one or two of them for me :)

That's when the idea hit me!

Instead of an After Christmas Sale......

why not have an After Christmas Sew Along!

It's the perfect time of year to pick up holiday fabrics and notions at rock bottom prices and after Christmas you don't have the stress of getting things made by a certain deadline!

So here's the plan:

The fun starts January 1st and runs through the 26th.

I will set up a flicker group for you to show off your fabulousness :)

And YES...there will be prizes!!!!

Every Friday in January I will pick a winner at random from the flicker group and I'll post the winners the next day.

Even if you don't win a prize from me,

you'll finally have some new Christmas goodness for yourself!!!

So who is with me????

I'll post all the details next week so stay tuned

and grab a button for your blog to share the love :)

For all the details click HERE

Double the fun!

What a fun project for a rainy day :) I had made a tiny version of this hat a few months back for little Ms. Evie to take on her trip to Michigan, but she's grown quite a bit since then and she needs a larger size. And now that the cold weather has actually come to Southern California, little Ms. Sofie needs a warm hat as well. I'm going to give them their hats this week instead of waiting for Christmas since we are having cold days and very cold nights right now. I can't wait to see them with their new hats on!

The pattern I used is McCalls M4682 view C. I made some big flowers to add some extra girly goodness :) Having 2 baby girls to sew for is really double the fun!!!

2012 Tiny House Quilt Along

I have been drooling over all the gorgeous quilts I've seen on many different blogs that are the result of "quilt-alongs". I really wanted to find one to join in 2012 so that at the end of next year, I too would have a lovely new quilt just for me. I stumbled across this fantastic idea for a quilt that will be made up of 365 tiny 3" houses made from scraps so that no 2 are alike. These little houses are stitched together by hand so that's perfect for me to do while the hubs watches TV in the evening. The houses will be sashed together into a large quilt with one large house in the center (since 2012 is a leap year). This idea is the brain child of a very talented crafter named Jeanneke. Her blog is written in both Dutch and English. If you want to play along, just jump over HERE and click on her email near the top of the page to let  her know that you want to join in the fun! On December 15th she will send you the pattern for the tiny houses. I can't wait to get started :)

Friday Night Sew In #8

Last night was the first of two FNSI's for December.

It was fun and productive!

I now have both little jackets done for Sofie and Evie

 for Christmas.

Evie's jacket is size 6 months and Sofie's is size 1.

Sofies's jacket is corduroy on the outside and soft flannel inside.

I used the same "Little Uptown Girl" pattern

by Make It Perfect.

I really love this little jacket :)

This time I left an opening on the bottom hemline

to make turning the jacket easier than pulling all

the bulk of the jacket through one tiny sleeve.

I closed the opening with a slip stitch.

I'm hoping to get a photo of the girls

in their jackets after Christmas.

I can almost see their cute little faces smiling back at me!

What did you work on?????

Have you joined the "Occupy" movement?

 Yesterday was my day to "Occupy Your Sewing Room" :)

It was fun to set aside a day to get some projects done.

I made this little jacket for my youngest granddaughter Evie.

I used "Little Uptown Girl" pattern by Make It Perfect.

The pattern comes with all the sizes from 0 to 5

which is awesome

but I have to admit (I'm lazy) and I don't enjoy tracing

all the pattern pieces onto wax paper before I can actually cut.

The way the pattern is done there are pieces on both sides

of the paper so you can't cut into it even if you wanted

the pattern for only one size.

It went together fairly quickly, but this pattern is for an intermediate to advanced sewer.

You have to have some knowledge on how things go together and how to finish certain things.

 At the end of the project you sew both the outer

jacket and the lining together.

Then you pull the jacket to the right side

through one of these tiny sleeves.

It kind of reminded me of childbirth.

I love the finished project! I can't wait to see Evie's little face

smiling back at me from under that hood!

I have to cut the entire pattern again in the next size up

for little Ms. Sofie :)

Last year I made this fun Christmas apron for my daughter.

And yesterday I made this sassy Christmas apron for my daughter in law :)

I used the "Pretty Ditty Apron" pattern by Jamie Christina.

It's such a figure flattering apron.

I just might need to make one for myself next.....

It makes me happy to think of them making breakfast on Christmas morning wearing

these fun aprons :)

All in all it was a productive day!

I still have so much to do!

Hopefully I'll have more to show you tomorrow because tonight

is the Friday Night Sew In!

Are you playing along????

Just stitchin along :)

Is it possible to fall in love with a pot holder?

Because I have to say....I'm truly "smitten" with this pair.

I don't know if you know this or not,

but I have a few chickens and roosters that show up

in my kitchen decor.....

just a few.....:)

I made all of these to list in my Etsy shop tomorrow morning.

The others that I had in the shop have already sold

and the 2 I made last week are spoken for.

After I list these, that will be it for this year

in the shop. I need to focus on Christmas gifties

for the family and friends.

I also had an order for 30 tissue covers

for a purple and gray wedding.

My customer told me that she is making favor bags out of muslin

and stamping the word "love" on the front.

So when I went to the fabric store, I grabbed a bolt of muslin

and started browsing around for things that would co-ordinate.

She likes vintage, so I thought using muslin colored linen

would tie in with that vintage feel and do my best

to find purple and gray fabrics that would appeal

to a lot of different personalities.

Hopefully she'll be happy.

Tomorrow I'll be "occupying my sewing room" all day.

I have projects already cut and ready to sew.

Also, the Friday Night Sew In is this week so that will give me

another opportunity to get some serious sewing done.

What are you trying to get done before Christmas????

What are you up to????

I don't know about you guys, but I'm behind on my Christmas sewing schedule (as usual) again this year!

I found out about this fun blog event from my buddy

Cherise's blog "Sewingly Along".

What a fun way to spend an entire day sewing for Christmas

 and having a chance to win some fun prizes as well!

 First prize is a jelly roll of Strawberry Fields!

I so LOVE that collection!!!!

Click on the blog button on my sidebar and jump on over to

Cat Patches to read about the simple rules to play along

and lets all get some of those projects checked off our lists!