Craft Secrets

So i have had a few secrets up my sleeve, in my head, shared only with, but a few......and today --ONE gets released! Into the big, bad Crafty World! oh, i am soo happy that i finally get to announce and disclose and Share with everyone!!! Do you know how hard it is to keep something so fun from others? {sure ya do}
Anywho.....sies...... 

pst- I have a craft on Parasol Magazine.


oh my heck!!! I know, isn't that fun!? I think it is. I am so excited. He is the one that i shared---i know, me a sharer---but, get over that and just be excited for me would ya?

OWL QUICK STITCH

I'll let ya leave and spread the secret....go on, be a gossiper, chatter, gab, and brag me girls.....

oh, here are a few of his other friends:

they can be found in the shop---Quick Stitches.

pst--Guess what? I have another secret--oh, it's a goodie too--it will be disclosed next week.......shhhhhhh

Happy Halloween

and don't forget the

Cupcake Giveaway.....

Romancing a Cupcake GIVEAWAY

http://www.romanceinthebackseat.com/cupcakegiveaway.htm

Don't go all freaky on me girls. Just cause it says naughty in the backseat.....This is fun stuff! well, reading...not the...ok enough of that....I am a reader {not of the romance kind, but i'm game}....are you? Would you like to play along? Go to the link below the picture or on the side bar and play along. {wait till you read the rest though}  There are some 'good', 'yummy' prizes to win!!! Who's not up for yummie goodies?

What do I have to do with this...you ask? I have prizes!!!! Oh, and better than that, i have 2 prizes!!!!! 
I of course have cupcake items and would love to share them with you.

Prize #1

Cucpake Hotpads

 set of 2

Close-up of pinkie goodness. yum.yum.

Prize #2

PDF Pattern

of all the cupcake goodies

Rules:
* play along
* Follw the link for more info on rest of the goodies
* comment on this post until the 30th October
* Tell me what your favorite cupcake is
* come back on the 31st to find out the winners

WOW, it is giveaway month isn't it?! Gotta love that.

Halloween Quick Stitch Freebie

Just a quick note for all the Halloweenie Crafty girls out there.

Did you see on the side bar a link for the quick stitch bat?

He is a freebie!!!

 Go on and click on over and make yourself one. 

You need a bit of felt and some cotton too. 

Throw in a needle and thread and a pile of polyfil and you are ready to go!!!

and just so you didn't think that i re-nigd on my quilt to do list---i quilted! This cute little baby sized quilt is for a friend....still working on the binding. I know- just a tease. 

It did make me get most of the quilting/sewing stuff unpacked from the weekend retreats. Not planning on another for a bit of time, waaa, so we must set it up at home so there can be some more sewing going on... of course.

Here I go again......

on my own......going down the only road i've ever known.....

That would be the road to retreats. Boy, this month was a great one wasn't it? Sewing, Quilting, and Retreating!!! Overflowing with goodness, and friends of course. So this is the place out in Duchesne. Way in the middle of nowhere---but what does that matter when you have good company, and your sewing machine along side? I think i went outside twice. Once when I got there and once when i left. hee hee.

For some reason i only have this picture of the girls. There were 5 of us, so me and the other--janis... are hiding.

ok. really there was an additional lizard who decided to take a little swim in the sink. Does he count? He didn't bring his sewing items....so no. he doesn't.

I wore my comphy pants and my snuggle soft slippers. mmmmmmm

Take a look at the bed. I was all snuggled in goodness. A num, num, num, num......cookies...

Speaking of numminess. My mom has been collecting these for me from a local quilt shop- one for each month. I had a pile waiting to be done....and i done them!!! yay!! cupcakes!!

I have more nummies to share, of the quilting related items, but no pics yet. Soon, soon.

Goal this week: quilt, quilt and then quilt some more!!!! I know, i have sewed, sewed, and sewed some more and now i have a pile of quilting. So i must now quilt.  So don't miss out on seeing the goods.

Speaking of seeing the goods......guess who is going to see the Free Pattern Goods from the store?

That would be

alexandjess

Who guessed: 60

I will be emailing you the reminder. yay for you!!

Now, i know you are all happy for her, but are dying to know how many little rolls there were in that jar. How about 82!!! I know, everyone was so low. Not sure what happened there. I am sure that if you were able to hold and admire and gander just a bit at the jar that you would all get it right.

I only surround myself with smarties.

Scrappy Needle Keeper Tutorial

In keeping with the tradition and the need to play along with others, I couldn't pass up doing a tutorial for Sew Mama Sew They are having a Stash Busting Tutorial Month!!! lot's of goodies over there....as always.

After thinking and thinking----i came up with a needle case. These are so handy girls. They are relitively quick and perfect for putting in stockings, presents, or just plain'ol send them along with other goodies kind of thing.  Let's get started shall we?

SCRAPPY NEEDLE KEEPER TUTORIAL

Go through your sewing trash. Mine is a box that somehow fills up quickly...does yours? don't mind the wrappers and other goods....just the fabric scraps. that is all we need.

Grab yourself a handful and sort them just a bit. Luckily i was working on a project so there was a bunch of co-ordinating scraps. yay!

For this needle keeper you need a base or foundation fabric. Mine is a piece of white sheet. Use muslin or whatever scrap you've got hanging around. You need something light and no or little pattern.

Cut this piece 6" X 8 1/2"

Grab one of the scraps and lay it in the center---Right Sides UP!!

Place another scrap across the first one- right sides together and stitch 1/4" along the cut edge. Flip back and iron. Notice how mine is short just a bit on the bottom. No biggie.

See that little left out spot? It is going to get some covering. Lay the next piece right sides together and sew along that edge.

Fold back and iron.

This next piece I am going to take the full width, making sure it is moved far enough on the fabrics that it covers and doesn't leave anything left out. Cover up that salvage notes, unless you are using that as your design. man- why didn't i think of that?

See? After you sew it- and turn it- and iron it- It looks great! On to the next piece.
Continue laying them down and working out the edge of the one side.  Don't worry about those extra long pieces hanging off the edge. They will all get trimmed later.
Now that you have one side finished, go to the other side and continue with the same process.

If you run into a piece that has no nice straight sides- cut it!

You will end up with this real wonky, crazy, pieced thing that has unruly sides! isn't it lovely?

Turn this with all the right sides down. Now that you can see the correct shape-- trim it.

Ah, so much better :)

Now, cute it up.

Run it through the sewing machine. Stitch along both side of the seam. I used my foot as the guide and tried to be consistant. whatever.

Finished.

In the center of the rectangle edge you need to pin the button loop. I am using a 1/4" wide X 3" long bias tape- pre made.
Now you need a piece for the inside of the needle keeper. Girls, i kept using the scraps and made a scrappy inside. Cut it to 6" X 8 1/2"

Lay the inside right sides together with the outside finished cute piece.

Stitch all the way around the outside edge. 1/4" seam. Leave a 2" opening for turning of course.

Trim the corners, and then turn it right sides out.  Push those corners out nice like and iron that baby flat!

Because of the inside foundation piece you are sewing to, there isn't any need for batting. It keeps it's shape real nice like.

Coax that turning hole inside nice and then iron that flat. Sew all the way around the outside edge 1/8". Go slow it is a bit thick--but this will secure that button loop and close that turning hole.

oh. we're getting there!

Fold in half and iron. This will make a marking crease for lining up the inside felt.
Cut the felt page to 6 1/2" X 4 1/2"
Center the pages and Pin in place. Sew a straight line from the top to the bottom. If you need to make a pencil line to follow- do it. See mine?

Now all you need is a cute button!!!!  Fold the needle keeper in half and pull that button loop over. Take a pencil and mark right where it is.

Hand stitch your button on--only catching the top layers. You don't want those threads to show on the back...or if you do--machine stitch that baby down!

Girls---that is soooo K -U T E!

Outside

Inside

Side-side

More Scrap Buster Ideas

And,Don't forget to play along---

Guess the number of salvage rolls.....

Wanna play a Game?

We played this game at the retreat and thought to myself. Hey, i have pictures {not the jar itself anymore-someone won it, yay for you!} .......why don't we play a game today?

Wouldn't that be fun?! yup. i know it.

So, it's a game similar to how many candies...except you are to guess how many salvage rolls!!

I slaved over these girls! rolling and tying, rolling and tying, repeat, repeat, repeat. They are so cute in the jar though aren't they? Would make a cute sewing room decoration.  Or you can go ahead and roll your little heart away and have them for everyone at your own party {in mini jars of course}
let me give you some sizes here to help out the guesses:
The jar is around 9" tall by 6" fat. 
The rolls go up to the neck of the jar.
Does that help?

Leave a comment with your number guess of course

and i'll pick a winner--monday.

Winner will recieve:

YOUR VERY OWN CHOICE OF Pattern

from the store!! 

The pattern will be emailed directly to you on monday.....so you HAVE to have a linkback to you or leave your email or something i can track you down with!{please?}

I have a few crankies to show off from last week. Check out the cute basket blocks! yay for angie.

Look at this finished one. Just lovely in the dusty shabby chic rose cottage type colors. nice to the eyes. {that's alot of adjectives}

And one last thing while you are thinking up a number....have you gotten your craftzine from parasol yet? soooo worth the $2 for an instant download. full of great interviews of interesting crafty gals, and a few little projects for you to do on your own.

now, off to counting you go...... 1,2,3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10.  11,12.....do,do,do,do,do,do,do,do seven!!

{sung in the semame street tune --that is not the answer though, nice try}

Pinkie Goodness

I got some quilting done last week....this is for my favorite aunt. Can i have one? is it fair? well, it doesn't matter because she is....and not just because i told her to look at the blog to see the quilt {she dropped it off and took a plane to Virginia}. She really is my favorite.  really. ok. enough already. isn't it cute and pink?

The backside is a pink and check yummy flannel. so nice and soft. I did a different quilt design on each row. Can you tell? It's kind of busy isn't it?  The quilt is an extra long twin i think. this cute stuff went on forever!

I even did a real binding on it too!!!! i heard that gasp....you are surprised, i know i was.

 hey jana? you like? :)

This here is the last pair of christmas blocks from the swap. They are from chelsye. She even sent a mini box of chocolate. ...hmmmmm not sure where those went. hee hee

I also got one package from the shop swap. This here is from Arti. She sent baby booties, a soap saver, some fabric {love it}, a pair of earings, and some tatting flowers. I love them all and they be very useful.

Here is the second mini charm quilt that i didn't show yesterday.

ooooo. i can't remember who it was. i totally wanted to give them the inspirational credit for this one. I CLEANED!!! i know. miracle of miracles. I did the boys room. I even wiped the baseboards, windowsil, and shelves. We got rid of 1 big bag of clothes{donate}, 1 piece of furniture, 1 big bag of garbage, swapped the clothes for the winter, 1 fish tank- gone, and hand vacumed the corners and edges. It feels so nice. took 2 hours to feel that way, but i am thinking it was so worth it. 

little steps girls. that's all it takes.