Sew La Ti Embroidery:
ramblings

Year end finishes

I finally put together my quilt top from A Notion or Two. I have had these blocks hanging around since my month in February :) I love them all together. I have to admit I am a bit scared to quilt this one, I'm just going to have to jump in and do it.

I have been taking a break from things, after all my holiday shows and getting ready for Christmas I was completely worn out and ready for a break. By a break I really mean I haven't been sewing things to sell. I have been working on unfinished projects that have been waiting to get done, and I have alot! I probably won't even get them all done, oh well!

I also feel like I need to finish things I started here. I'm going to finish posting about SPARK, San Francisco, and the presents I made for my kids for Christmas.

What is it about after Christmas that makes me want to clean up everything and start fresh for the new year? That is how I am feeling with everything in my life. We are still trying to get everything cleaned up and put away after Christmas, our kids always get too much, we have to get rid of things to fit the new stuff.

Speaking of getting rid of stuff, there is still alot of sale goodness in my shop, thanks for all that have purchased things! I have been trying to get rid of some things I had hanging around for awhile to make room for some new things I have ideas for. I actually am really excited to get back to work, but I have told myself that this week while the kids are still out of school, that I am also having a break.

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and I wish you a Happy New Year!
patchwork

I finished up these patchwork tote bags a bit ago. These were a happy accident. I was starting to clean up my fabric area and I had a whole bunch of upholstery fabric scraps that I just couldn't bear to part with. I added doilies and ribbons and lace to them too, I am happy with the outcome.

I am busy getting ready for next weekend, I have two shows, Oh Sweet Sadie, and The Avenues Street Fair.

Today I am thinking:
Why every time we get Casey's paycheck is it immediately gone? Seriously, what the crap?!
Being poor sucks, but hey we have lots of love around here :)
I'm glad our fridge and pantry are full of food, which makes me think of the delish freshly cut watermelon, I should eat some of that.
That my newly cleaned and organized fabric shelves are beautiful and they make me super inspired to sew.
I am making lasagna for dinner, yum!
It's kinda nice having the girls back in school, I think they like the routine, and I like that they don't argue and pester each other as much :)

I hope you are having a lovely week!
lots of projects

Does anyone else work on lots of different projects at the same time?
I think I have sewing ADD or something. I use to be able to sit at my sewing machine working on one project for hours and hours at a time. Now I am doing good if I can work on something for half an hour maybe an hour and then get up and clean something or check my email. And then I can sew again for a bit and then I can get up and clean something again or help my kids out, my days go in cycles like that. And I usually have about two or three projects going at the same time so if I get bored of working on something I can switch. In this picture you can see two different quilts in progress and pillowcase dresses in the top corner laying on top of the pillow.

Am I the only one that does this?
Getting back in sewing mode

I am trying to get back into sewing mode. I have been taking a break for a few weeks, but now I have to get to work, I have shows coming up and things that I need to stock up on.

It's grey and rainy here today, the rain smells lovely, I usually like rain in the summertime, but I was a little disappointed at the weather today. Casey had to drive to Bear Lake for work and I had the thought of going with him and spending the day at the beach, the kids would have loved it. But the weather wasn't the best for hanging out on the beach :(

I've been cleaning and organizing areas of the house, on Saturday we had a yard sale and made a bit of money and got rid of alot of stuff which always feels good.

My brother redid our tile by the backdoor. It was white and I hated it, I would clean it and then two seconds later it would be dirty. So now it is a tan color and it looks so much better and I won't have to be bugged by the dirt because I won't be able to see it. :)

The girls are still getting use to spending so much time together :)

I swear when something in our house breaks, it tells everything else to break soon too. First it was the furnace, then the swamp cooler, the toilet, and now our washer is leaking. The joys of home ownership :) All that aside though, I really do love my home.

Nutella makes everything delish. We've been eating pretzels, graham crackers, and smores with it, yum!

Now I must go start a new sewing project and maybe wash the dishes.

What have you been up to?
Do mosquitos ever keep you up at night?

Last night Casey went to bed a bit before I did. When I got in bed, I was laying there and Casey starts scratching all over, swatting the air, and slapping his face. I observed this behavior for a few minutes, then I asked if he was awake and if he was okay. He said that there was a mosquito that was biting him and buzzing in his ear. He got up, put anti-itch cream all over and came back to bed. We lay there for ohhh, a good half hour in which I finally started hearing said mosquito. During this time Casey covered himself entirely in the sheet with his face poking out, kindof amusing. Casey had had enough and jumped out of bed declaring that he was wide awake because of this damn mosquito (yes I just typed damn) All I could do was laugh and tell him that the mosquito found him to be delicious. He ran to find our electric bug swatter pictured above, and started swatting it everywhere a bit violently at 1:13 this morning. I was hysterically laughing, he killed the mosquito and we went to sleep, finally :)

Yesterday I decided to make a baby quilt, I just have to finish hand sewing the binding down. It was a rather satisfying project that used up a good amount of my stash for one project, I see more of these in the future, next time will be a boy one.

I'm always telling my husband that I am not going to make anymore fabric purchases, easier said than done, especially when I have mula I made from the farmer's market :)
Here is a bad picture of some recent fabric purchases, no sun here today, it's seriously been raining so much here, we'll get like a day or two of sun and then it starts raining again, it feels more like a really rainy April then June.

I'm really loving the bird cage fabric from Laura Gunn
and I seriously splurged on the Japanese fabric on the right, how could I resist fabric with button cards printed on it? I purchased it here.
Kay, I just checked to make sure I linked it right and now there is more cute stuff that wasn't there when I made my purchase! Why does that darn japanese fabric have to be so cute?

I hope you are having a nice day and that the mosquitos won't keep you awake at night :)
weekend events

This weekend I finished up a couple of projects that had been hanging around for awhile.
I finally decided to finish this quilt. I love how it turned out! It was just scraps of fabric and some stuff I had either had around forever or was given to me. I think I have a thing for simple, scrappy, patchwork quilts

If you've been reading for awhile maybe you remember me writing about making myself a skirt for myself from Anna Maria's Seams to me book. Well, I had put it together months ago using the directions exactly and it was HUGE! At the time I didn't feel like dealing with it so it has been sitting waiting to be fixed. I was tidying my fabric up and found it the other day and finished it up and I am in love with it! It is made with some of my very favoritest vintage linens.

Yesterday we ditched church (shhh.) We drove up to Park City to go the the opening day of Park Silly Sunday. We were taking a chance on the weather, it has been unusually rainy here in Utah, which made for a beautifully green mountain drive. Seriously I was in awe of the mountain beauty, (imagine listening to Elvis going on a pretty canyon drive) On the way my husband passed the exit so it took a little longer to get there and we started seeing lightning, then it started raining hard, and then there was hail, seriously crazy for this time of year! By the time we got to the market it was fine and actually it hadn't rained much in that area. We got to stroll around, eat kettle corn, and then as we were leaving it started to rain, so we were running back to the van laughing in the rain. It was quite an adventure!
Why the picture of the coolest little mushrooms ever you ask? Before we left Park City we stopped by The World Market where I found these Chocorooms, I bought 4 boxes of them, wouldn't they be the cutest on cupcakes? And they are yummy!

I hope you had a lovely weekend!
First finished quilt and other stuff.

I finished, I finished! It just came out of the dryer and I LOVE it!
My very first all the way finished quilt!
Sorry, I had to take a picture of it in the shade, it was way too sunny on the wall I like to take pictures on.

The back is even cute! Now what quilt shall I finish next?
Maybe my Mod Sampler. I just have to put the outside sashing pieces on it and piece the back for it.

We weeded, tilled, and planted our garden on Saturday! We timed it perfect, as soon as we got done, it started sprinkling a bit. It might seem really late, but this is Utah people :) I think our last frost date is something like May 15th. I love having a garden even though I still don't really know what I am doing. We planted tomatoes for tomato basil sauce, little tiny orange tomatoes, which are my fave, three different kinds of peppers, beans, cucumbers, basil, thyme, and some marigolds. At the back, we have a row of raspberry bushes that we planted last year that are doing really well, we had a couple die last year after we transplanted them from my parent's, but we had quite a few shoots this year that we moved, hopefully they will work, we should have moved them a couple of months ago. We also have oregano and chives.

And we have a friend in the garden too. Yesterday we took the kid's to A Night at the Museum, the kids liked it, it was a good show. All in all we had a nice weekend, which was needed, we had a crappy thing happen last week that effects our family in a big way, but we are okay. This is where I should insert that our little family is amazingly blessed because we are, even when crappy situations get thrown at us. Enough of that, on to the happy quilt!

Today I cut my strips for Dana's quilt along. I'm so glad I chose these fabrics, I love them.
Now I must go for I have children in need of being picked up from school soon.
I hope you had a nice Memorial day weekend!
weekend finishes

I made this pillow as a late Mother's Day present for Casey's Dad's wife Jody. I'm seriously addicted to these Dresden plates, so much fun!

And I finally got Sage's quilt all ready to quilt. I think I finished this top in November or December, I'm such a procrastinator. It may be awhile till I have time to quilt it, but this is progress :)
Other goings on this weekend:
it was beautiful and I think spring may have actually arrived here in Utah, yesterday we drove to Casey's Dad's house and spent the afternoon outside visiting, eating, playing farkle, and I brought my crocheting so I got some granny squares done.
Saturday we went to IKEA and spent an undisclosed amount of money on new rugs (yay!), and a few other things.
Casey and I went to see Iron Man 2, it was good and Robert Downey Jr. is delish :)
My weekend projects

I accomplished quite a bit this weekend. I made a mini quilt as part of my youngest daughter's birthday present. It was my first attempt at actually quilting something. In the past I have just tied my quilts. Who knows if I did it right, I just went by what I have read online. I think it turned out pretty cute though! I had a return customer, and writer of the blog Stephmodo request some shirts for her cute daughter. So after I made those (which she posted about on her blog), I had a request for one so I made up a whole bunch of them ( 26 to be exact). Aren't they the sweetest? I was going to make different styles than just the birds, then decided to make it easy on myself and just do the birds, anyways every time I make something with a bird on it, it sells.

This weekend I also did some much needed housework, hours and hours of it. And I still have more to do, I have been neglecting housework lately, I can't do that anymore, it drives me nuts! I have been in the spring cleaning mood I guess because I want to go through everything and get rid of stuff, after I get all my craft shows done I'm having a yard sale/craft show. Getting money for my unwanted stuff is the best!

On another note, my husband likes to play his music for the kids, and all three of my girls rock out to it, this weekend my 4 year old was singing Dirty deeds done dirt cheap by AC/DC, it was too funny! Oh the innocence!
Spring

Spring flowers for a shirt for myself

Flowers for new bags that I am working on.
I'm so ready for spring!

Things that have made me giggle this morning:
Sage took her Book of Mormon for show and teach today at preschool, I'm glad she likes her scriptures :)
On the way home from preschool Sage was eating some jelly beans she got and the first one she said tasted like soap, I hate those kind, why do jelly bean makers even make that flavor, I am not even sure what flavor it is actually supposed to be. That's why I only buy the Starburst jelly beans.

Is Easter really 10 days away? I better get working on my girl's Easter dresses! I'm making them embellished slip dresses, oh the sweetness they will be!
Current Project

I am currently working on a batch of purses, the first picture is the ones I cut out last night and the second gives you an idea of what they will look like. I am excited because I haven't made a batch of purses in awhile and I have some new applique ideas. I think I am starting to get out of my sewing slump, finally it feels like it's been forever. It's a good thing cause I have to be ready for 4 that's right 4 craft shows! Am I crazy? This sewing habit has been a good thing for our family, doing our taxes made me realize that we actually had less $ last year than the year before, I thought we had made more, maybe I'm just doing better with what we have. Maybe we're just blessed, maybe both! But me selling my things is great for many reasons, one because it keeps me busy, which I need and it brings in a bit of extra $ which is great, and I love just hanging out at the farmers markets, people watching, chatting with friends, meeting new people. I can't tell you how excited I am that the farmers market season is around the corner! Anyways enough rambling, I have to learn not to spend so much time on the internet! Have a great day!

Guess what tommorrow is? My 50th post giveaway!
Various things

Last night we went to visit Casey's Mom, we had a few minutes to kill while we waited for her to get off work so we went to a store called Dilly-Dally's, it's sortof like a glorified dollar store. Anyways, I found these colored masking tapes for $1 each, I was pretty excited. I know pretty silly that $1 tape makes me happy :)

I've still been grannying here and there. And I am happy to report that I found lots more yummy colors of cotton yarn at Hobby Lobby, YAY!

And I have been working on pinwheels.
I've also been busy getting ready for my spring shows. Yesterday I started a batch of 72 onesies, I am hoping to finish them up today.

On another note, please keep my family in your prayers, my Brother and Sister-in-law had their 3rd baby on Sunday night, and little Hallie has to have heart surgery in the next few days. She has a valve in her heart that is collapsing. Their first little boy Chet had the same heart condition and he had to have surgery too. Apparently Hallie's condition is a bit worse than Chet's was though. She is in good hands at Primary Children's Hospital and we are praying that everything will go well.
My new valentine birdy ornaments

I finished these little birdies today. For the Art Market on Saturday. I get so excited when I have a show coming up because I get to share my creativeness with others and make a bit of $ too. The best is when I see people using my things. I was at Costco one day and saw someone with one of my purses, it made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.
A new yummy garland

The other day I received a package in the mail from my friend Dana.
It had all these yummy scraps of fabric from Moda's Swell line, yummy!

It totally made my day, it was unexpected and such a sweet thing to do.
I had been thinking and thinking what I could make with them. Then I knew, this cute scalloped garland from Sweet Jessie. And the colors are perfect for my kid's playroom.
I love how it turned out! Also, did you notice the Darth Vador Potato head in the window? That's what I get for marrying a nerd. It goes so well with all the girly things :)

And look at this awesome chalkboard I found at one of my favorite second hand shops, the second I saw it I knew it was perfect for the playroom!

Thanks again Dana for all the yummy scraps!
piles

Piles is what describes everywhere around my house as of late. The above pile is a pretty one at least, a batch of dish cloths waiting to get the rest of their tags. I have other piles, like dishes, and laundry, and toys, and piles on the kitchen island. And piles and piles of cut out sewing projects.
I haven't been getting much done for the past two weeks, I have been sick with a cold turned sinus infection, I think I am finally on the mend though, still sick, but feeling more like myself. So, this finished project makes me super happy. Being sick and not feeling like doing anything but napping and playing Dr. Mario on the Wii kinda drives me nuts. I like getting stuff done so when I can't I kinda feel useless.

I have some fun news! I get to sell my things at Fleaology on January 21st!
it's located at
Olson's Garden Shoppe 1190 W 400 N Payson, UT
10am-5pm