shop talk

I have a couple of things to share that are going on over in the shop....

Edit to add: As of March 3rd, I am SOLD out of all my English lettering kits. Sorry! I do have a few kits left in Spanish. If you would like more information, please see this post for details. Scroll down to 'kit update'.

Thanks!

FULL kits for the colors quiet book are in stock! Yay! I've listed all the kits, so if the listing says 'sold out' I am sold out.
FYI #1: I only have FULL kits available right now. I don't have any 'just' lettering kits. Unless you want them in Spanish.
FYI #2: I am 99.9% certain I won't be offering lettering kits/full kits in the future. I've made my share of these kits over the last two years and am ready for some new projects for the shop. I may occasionally offer a handful of the kits but they will no longer be a regular item in the shop. Sorry! :)
 
After much deliberation, I've decided to offer my Owl Tote pattern for limited commercial use. I've been offering this option for a couple of weeks and so far it has gone well. The terms for commercial use are pretty typical; no mass production, redistribution, and you have to credit the design to me. To check out the full details check out the listing in the shop. (If you've purchased the pattern in the past, and would like to make these totes to sell e-mail me and we will work it out.)

I'm cleaning  out my fabric stash and listed the fabrics in the shop. Hope they can find a happy new home! I will be adding more fabric throughout the week.

Let me know if you have any questions! I hope everyone has a fantastic Monday.

Thanks for reading,

LeAnne

the quilting bug & a color story

I just finished another quilt and I love it! I love catching that little quilting bug...except this time I caught it big and it is not going away anytime soon. I have two more quilts in the rafters...and I can't wait to get started.

 Pattern - Baby Mine from Thimble Blossoms

Fabric - from my stash and scraps

This quilt goes with the crib bedding I showed you awhile back. When I selected the gray prints for the nursery, I was a little scared because the prints were darker and bold. (Mainly the houndstooth print.) I loved it but  I wanted to soften the look of the deeper grays. Then one day on Pinterest, I saw this color palette and knew it was the answer! In the end I left out the coral and my shades were deeper and darker but it was the inspiration I needed.

To make things better, instead of heading to the fabric store and spending money, I headed to my stash. (It is once again one of my resolutions this year to work through my stash.) I pulled out an amazing print from Sandi Henderson's Farmer's Market to be my 'main' print. I had been holding on to my last bit of this fabric for 'the perfect project' for awhile. Sad to see it all gone...it is a great print. (I also used it on my Swoon block and have a couple of pillows in the works.)

A lot of digging and cutting 5" squares later, I came up with a mix of prints from Sunkissed, Bliss, Farmer's Market, and who knows what else! This was the first time I quilted not using a 'line' of fabrics. It was a little challenging and took more time, but I LOVED it. I need to work out of a line more often.

I modified the pattern a little bit, I made the pink and white strips all the same size. This was also another attempt at free motion quilting. I am getting better! Still a long way to go, but much better from when I began!

The jumbo ric rac is the perfect finishing touch. Instead of sewing down the middle, I sewed following the curves of the ric rac using my darning foot.

 

In other 'nursery news'...I inherited this great mirror! Isn't the top to die for? Here is the question. Should I leave it the way it is, or should I be brave and paint/spray it a color? I've only 'sprayed' something once before. So just 'spraying' something is still a little nerve racking/leap of faith for me. :) Can you tell I am just jumping on the whole refinishing/painting furniture bandwagon? Am I still cool even though I just admitted that? ;)

Oh and in shop news. My cutting table looks like this:

Which means full kits of the my colors book are days away. Thanks for your patience. Sewing with two little ones under toe is tricky...

Happy Wednesday!

LeAnne

Valentine's Day

I love Valentine's Day. Not because of the flowers or cards, but because of the pink, red, and hearts...

Here are some photos from our day:

{Valentine decor} ...not much...I was slow on the decor this year. (OCD note: The perfectionist in me is screaming inside because of the extra space between all and you. The whole phrase wouldn't fit on one board so I made it work with two. I centered 'is all' on the first board not taking into account the extra space it would create.) Not a big deal...but just sayin'. ;)

 {Valentine Sugar Cookies} The frosting was 'hot' pink. And I mean hot pink....like 80's hot pink. I went a little overboard with the coloring gel...forgot how concentrated that stuff is.

{Valentine making supplies} My sweet mom gave our girls a Valentine Kit as their Valentine treat this year. It was a bag stuffed to the brim with dollies, fun paper, stickers, hearts, sequences, jewels, and all things that Grandmas seem to have in spades.  My favorite was the little book full of Valentine ideas. We will be doing some next year. We spent the morning eating pink M&Ms and making Valentines. Fun was had by all.

{The end result} Some one-of-a-kind Valentines and yummy treats to share with neighborhood friends!

Hope your 'heart' day has been a good one!

ps - Happy Birthday AZ, you are 100 today! Thanks for being a great place to live. (And coming from a girl from the East coast...that's saying a lot.) If you could ease off the heat this year just a tad we'd all love it. Last summer was a killer...

Thanks for Reading,

LeAnne

FYI: Lettering Kits

Lettering kits have been out of stock for awhile and I am getting quite a few emails asking when they will be back. Before I say anything else, I will be stocking a FEW (read: 5 or less) full kits very soon that will include a lettering kit. However, after that I don't know if I will be stocking lettering kits in the future. I have made many kits over the past two years and when I make them it is a full-time job for about two weeks. Also, JoAnn's has discontinued the Heat n' Bond Ultrahold 5 yard pack that I use. (I about died when I went to get some.) So the future of the lettering kits is very much up in the air. Just wanted to let y'all know. :)

Hope your week has been fantastic!

LeAnne :)