Busily Preparing for Quilt Market

 It is like I don't know what hit me. I have so much to do and am slowly getting through all of it. I have completed most project samples for my pattern covers, which need to be done in a couple of weeks. It is so hard to find time to sew and then resew as things need to be redone. But here are a few of my projects:

I made this pattern of a baby bib/smock. This one is done in Vintage Baby, a Riley Blake fabric. I have my little baby, Macy modeling it, but she is too big for this size. I also made a larger one out of laminate, which I haven't photographed yet. So cute!! It is in a boy print. I love these bibs because they keep the food off their arms too. 

Riley Blake has a new line of chevron prints. They are so much fun. I designed this beach bag with an angled pocket on the front and back. It is all in laminates and so perfect for the sand and splashy areas. I need to reshoot it without the glasses. I think they are a little distracting. 

There we go. No glasses but weird straps.

I made the ruffle duffel (which has been selling like crazy) out of Dress-Up Days by Shari Butler. I just love it. And I love the chevron print pocket and bottom. 

I have so much more that I have made but haven't taken photos of yet. I'll post as I do, and I will post as  I have pattern covers available. 

I have also done so much work for Joel Dewberry lately, but I can't really show you because they aren't my designs to publish. But you'll see it all soon when I post his work that is displayed at Spring Market.

Fun stuff that is totally taking over my life right now. 

Too Much At Once

I wish I could say that I haven't been blogging as much as I would like because I have been on a cruise or have been too busy exercising or preparing healthy meals for my family. But sadly, my kids still eat too much pizza and I don't recall the last time I worked out (though some days I considered walking up the stairs with a big load of laundry good enough to call it exercise.) Instead, I have been buried in projects. I have been making samples for Joel Dewberry's pattern covers and working away on pattern design tasks.

I have also been in many fun boutiques recently in our area. I did the Holy Cow Boutique in Pleasant Grove Utah for the first time. It was a great success. I enjoyed it and the good people who came through there. I have more boutiques coming up, and it is very time consuming. 

Now I am on vacation with my kids, and I am working when they go to bed at night. I love my work so I am not complaining. But I wish they would be a little easier to manage since I am on my own.

On a personal note, my younger brother (just 31 years old) passed away in a car accident last week. So our vacation to my hometown was well timed but has had a very sad side to it too. I am learning slowly that filling my life with fun things and things that keep me busy all of the time is enriching and enjoyable but it doesn't always give me the flexibility that I need when tragedy strikes. And strike it will. There will always be sorrow and tragedy and accidents. And there will always be work and play and life. Somehow they aren't always timed to make life simpler when the bad and sad come. Simplify. Simplify. Simplify. Someday I will learn to simplify. We need to enjoy the little things and the day-to-day because we never know how much time we will have with our loved ones.

I Have Arrived!!!

For years now I have tried and tried to get into Swiss Days... a wonderful event over Labor Day weekend in Midway, Utah where there are MOBS of people and more crafts than anyone could ever need. But EVERYONE applies and not nearly as many as apply get in. 

Well, this year I had a breakthrough!! I didn't actually get accepted, but I did get accepted as an alternate. Can you believe it? I feel so lucky! They even said in this letter that I should not be disappointed. That this is a great compliment. And I agree. I didn't get rejected this time. This is HUGE. So I just had to share this news. Hooray for me.

Fabric... More Fabric... the Joel Dewberry Kind

So I spent the whole day on Tuesday at Joel and Laurie's home working with Laurie on several projects that need to be done as soon as possible so that they are ready for market. The fabrics are so beautiful, and these the the ones that I am working with. I have a lot to do, again. I need a time making machine. If you have one for sale, please let me know. I am so excited about all of this, but the lack of time makes me a little stressed. Why is it that when it rains it pours? Couldn't these fun, beautiful projects just trickle in? Oh well. I'll just do what I can to enjoy this.

Market Projects

Today I went down to Riley Blake to pick up some of the cute fabric that I will be using to make my Quilt Market Projects. I smell a ruffle duffel bag with this adorable line by Shari Butler. Hooray!

And this sweet little baby line has adorable cover-all bibs written all over it. How will I ever get these done? And I have several other lines to work with that haven't even come in yet. So much work. so much fun.

Gathered Around Purse

 I have been a very busy girl. This is a purse that I just designed for Riley Blake to be sold in kits in two different color ways. Very exciting. I have been working hard on it for a week and am relieved that I am mostly done but so pleased with how cute it turned out. Hooray!!

The craziest thing is that I have been asked to come up with several projects to be displayed at the Internatonal Quilt Market in May. I have a zillion things to do for Joel Dewberry's pattern design before then too so I am so so so busy. I don't know what to do with myself. Sheesh. Wish me luck.

Altering or Refashioning Garments

At the Sewing Summit, in Salt Lake City, in October, I went to a inspiring class by Melissa Esplin. She taught us about refashioning garments. She goes to thrift stores and finds things that anyone else might immediately dismiss and turns a man's shirt into a button-up skirt or completely changes the look of an outdated shirt. Her style is very different than mine, but her message rang loud and clear. I need to change the look of the clothes that I have bought for some reason and can't wear for whatever reason or don't like anymore. I have not yet totally changed anything from one kind of a garment to another, but I have done a lot of altering to make things more modest or to fit my taste more. Here are a few examples:

I LOVE this dress, but I bought it a size smaller than I wear. It was too short, and the neck was too wide. So I bought a small amount of black fabric that was the same stretchy "rayonish" feel of the dress and added some length in black. I topstitched and was very careful to make it flow and look right. Then I opened the neckline and took off about 5 inches of elastic for a smaller neckline. It fits perfectly now. I love it.

I bought this dress a few years ago and after the first time I washed it, it was too short for my liking. So I found two T-shirts that my son had outgrown and cut them. I added a small strip of folded white cotton between the addition and the dress and didn't even  bother to finish the bottom edge of the dress because it is knit and won't fray. I wear this dress a lot in the summer. It is so comfy and I don't have to worry when I lift my arms up that I am revealing too much.

Cute suit, right? I bought it right after I had a baby and couldn't even try it on because I was 3 or 4 sizes larger than usual. I bought it in this color and black because I liked it so much. When I finally lost my baby weight and tried them on, I found them to be WAY too low cut. They looked bad. I haven't gotten to the pink one yet, but I did make a change to the black one that has worked out very well.

I cut some fabric off an old black swimsuit that I don't wear anymore and applied a ruffle to the neckline. It added just a bit more coverage, and that was all I needed. I feel much more comfortable in the swim suit now.

This is my next project. I bought this Lands End dress and really liked it. But then I washed it and now it doesn't fit right. It is short and the neckline shows my bra straps. I also don't like the fold up sleeve. So I have some work to do. Wish me luck.