VW-esque, tutorial-ish & a laugh

I have a couple amazing ladies to share with you today.
First up A little piece of Heather! I don't know about you but I love the pieces of Heather I always feel lucky enough to find :) Which Heather? It doesn't matter you pick! These are some awesome VW-esque vans by Heather Ross, that I sent off in a pay it forward to my friend Mel of Mel's Own Place. And the ruffle is one of my favorite Heather Bailey prints! I've decided I love making these aprons I've got a tutorial-ish post about them here that I may try to fill out more but alot of the "pattern" is super variable, which is nice :)
Next awesome lady is Camille! The Thimble Blossoms wonder is amazing! She's having an
awesome giveaway that is perfect for anyone wanting to get to know her stuff a little better. She asks about dreams in her post and it gets you thinking about 'em...
that and she also mentions Neil Patrick Harris which makes me crave some of his legen... wait for it... dary, legendary shows! I watched Doogie Howser growing up and spent a set of weeks with my sil (I can't remember how many but lots of 3am nights laughing out loud in her bed.) marathon watching How I Met Your Mother! He makes me laugh. She makes me dream.

Thanks Camille. Thanks Heathers :) I hope to have many more Heather and Camille moments to come!
Oh, and tell me if you try out this shirt panel apron I'd love to hear how it goes!

Here's an awesome giveaway by an inspiring lady!

Let's go with... Fussy Cut Friday!

Since it's not Wednesday I couldn't call this post Worktable Wednesday but never fear the alliteration doesn't end with Wednesday and since I fussy cut some awesome fabric this morning, Fussy Cut Friday, felt fabulously, fantastic!

This is part of what I'm working on today! There is also a birthday to handle (my Layna Belle is 7!), cake to make, friends to help, and little boys to keep out of the cake :)
But before all that let's bring a little fabric happy to our day!
OK seriously who doesn't love fussy cutting? At least after the fact. Laborious? Sometimes. But it's so cute! What's your favorite piece?
I love that I'm getting to use swimmy, my gnomes, the sweet little princess, and her froggy friend in this exciting new project! (Thank you Heather Ross)
So what's my fun little project? Not telling. :) Atleast, not yet!
Happy day everyone!

Oh the games we play!

This post shall be alternately known as - The best chess board ever!

I love board games and learned to play chess with my dad one New Year's Eve way back when. I thought my girls deserved that same opportunity when I was wonderfully gifted a set of chess people from my mother in law! Sadly they had no board to play on or maybe not so sadly!
I made this awesome fabric chess board in an afternoon.I love it and you can have one too!

All you have to do is find a 19-20" square-ish board
5-6 - knobby legs (if desired)
2 - fat quarters of contrasting fabric for squares
(Maybe a little more if fussy cutting is required... you'll need 32 - 2" squares of each color so, you decide)
1 - fat quarter for the border
Mod podge

Cut 32 - 2" squares from each of your contrasting fabrics to start. That's the hardest part right there! So easy!

For the board you'll want to start by screwing the legs on however you need to one in each corner and 1 - 2 in the center.
Then coat well with white paint.
To figure out the placement of your squares you have to options. Eyeball it, or measure. Dang. It's alright, the measuring's not so bad.
Here's what you do figure out the basic width and length of your board (Most likely the same if you're using a square :) ) subtract 16 (the total size of the chess squares) from that number and divide the resulting number in half. That is your border width.

Here's an example.

My board is approx. 19 1/2" wide and tall (not exact and it varies. All you need to know is that apparently I'm very bad at routing wood. Oh well, it's still cute!)
19.75-16=3.75
3.75/2=1.875

Haha, so I decided that meant I had a border just a little over 1 3/4" wide :)

So, choose 1 corner, this is your starting point. Measure in according to your measurement from the above formula. For me that's the very scientific number of a little over 1 3/4" Make a hash mark, now measure from the other side of the corner and make another hash mark.

Now using a large square quilting ruler, line it up in the corner using the hash marks and draw a 16" square in the center of your board. Depending on how exact your measurements are, it should be pretty well centered.

Now using thin layers of mod podge start applying your fabric squares alternately along the bottom edge of your drawn square. Don't worry about glue showing it's all going to be covered in the end.
Continue apply fabric chess board style until the 16" square is filled and all your fabric is on the board.



Now for the border.

Take your last fat quarter and fold the corner over diagonally to find the square and press in place.










Then pull the top point down diagonally to match it's opposite corner and press in place. You'll have a triangle with a wide strip across the base.

Rotary cut and trim the wide strip and just the very edge of the base of the triangle.
You are not cutting any folded edges! Only trimming the already cut edges to make a nice clean square!
Then cut a 1 1/4" strip from the base of your trimmed triangle.

Yay! This is your non-pieced, non-mitered border! Beautiful!

To apply the border put mod podge around the edge of your fabcric squares. Remember not to worry to much about the glue. Just coat the area with a thin layer then place your fabric border evenly around the squares you should be able to adjust the fabric placement before the glue dries.

Ok, here's the best part about this project. Check out the awesome fabrics I got to use!

I even snuck a little gnomie in there with my bikes! I love these fabrics and now I get to play with them all the time! What a great way to highlight such special fabrics!

Hope you enjoyed this little tutorial!
Now go play a game!

p.s. Just a side note I'm considering doing something so I can cover the top with resin and make it all glassy and shiny. Wouldn't that be awesome!

Christmas leftovers... of the non-food variety

I love getting rid of Christmas leftovers! My counters are clean and now my sewing table! Almost, here's the story :)

I've had this top for a year now. My mom made it last year and decided she didn't want it... I do! I love the shades of red and green in this fabric! I'm pretty sure it's mostly a line, but I honestly don't know which one.Feel free to help me out here if you recognize any fabric!
I got it before Christmas last year and it's been sitting in my to-do box since then till the beginning of last month I was going to finish it and have it on my table for Christmas this year! Well I basted it and then it sat on my table waiting, again :)

*Flash Forward*
(nice special effects, huh!)

I got up this morning and thought I'm gonna sew before my baby gets up! Well, what lay before me but the unfinished table topper...
Calling #3,655? ding! You're up!

It takes so little time to stipple a little topper! It makes me think, "Sheesh, why did that take so long?" Well, I finished that and went to get my binding and

I don't have any.

Dang.

Back to the box.

Still Designing! Still happy!

I've been thoroughly busy and thoroughly enjoying this holiday season! I am also thoroughly glad it's over! My husband kissed me at midnight on New Year's Eve and I swear at that moment a weight was lifted off my shoulders!
I could look around and think clearly. I have no deadlines pushing in on the year yet. I'm learning to be a mom to my boy (this is a total adjustment, and I'm still figuring it out... it'll probably be that way forever :) ) and I felt the need to do things I enjoy again! It was so wonderful the New Year seemed to have washed away all the stress that had been hanging around for the last 6 months or so!
Seriously starting mid September through, well, January (and even March if you include my birthday, but we don't really want to do that!) is birthday/ Holiday season at our house. Don't ask me why I planned it that way. I didn't. But every 2-3 weeks starting in September someone is havin' a party whether it's a birthday or a Holiday! It's fun but totally crazy!

Anyway here's some sewing sneak peeks of what's been happening during the last little while!
Sunshine thoughts in this project :)
Lots of embroidery love here!
And this is a snippet of a pillow that inspired a new pattern idea!
(Now we have to see if I can get it written down. The problem is definitely not a lack of ideas!)
Anyway there will be more to come! There have been presents made and crafts that are super fun to play with!
But for now, here's one of my little sweeties,
wishing us all a Happy New Year!
I hope it's filled with friends and fun and sewing and peace (and quiet :) ) and all your grand plans fall into place for a magnificent 2011!

Always choose a business name you can spell!

Here's a pic because it makes me happy but... I just giggled.

When I wrote my last post title it said Still Desinging! Still happy! look at it closely... OK.
I love to sing. I sang Oh, Holy Night for our church this year for Christmas, and I've started a childrens choir among other singing and musical adventures. But that title made me laugh because when I very first thought about starting a business I had business cards all made up and professionally printed and when I handed it to my first friend she was looking it over and all excited with me then she gets a funny look on her face and says "whats a de-singer?"
In all my proof reading I hadn't noticed my misplaced g I was so embarrassed!
Needless to say I've tried very hard to train my fingers to type designer correctly since, I type and write it a lot now!

So my New Years tip of the day,

Always choose a business name you can spell!