I put together a little mosaic including some of my handmade shenanigans from this past year. Shortly after starting, I was finding it hard for me to choose -- it has been such a wonderful year of making for me! To help, I decided to create my mosaic ROYGBV style!



This year creating and blogging has been such a joy for me! As my two year blog-anniversary is quickly approaching, I feel so grateful to have this place and so many wonderful blogs to follow! I am inspired by all of you!! I've been spending lots of time dreaming up projects for the new year and am looking forward to seeing all your lovely creations, as well!

I thought it would be nice to share a few photos of recent pins and photos I've saved for a little sewing inspiration for 2012. All are from Anthropologie, my most favorite site/store! The things I own from Anthro are my absolute favorite possessions, but besides that, I find it such a source of creative inspiration in making my own handmade items. I have a folder on my computer just for adding the amazing images from their site that I want to remember. I thought you might all find these beautiful stitched up items inspiring, too!!

How about you? Do you have a favorite place to find inspiration for your own crafting and making? Please do share!

I hope you all had a fantastic holiday!!!! Tonight is actually the big Christmas party on my side of the family, so I'm not yet ready to do any kind of post holiday recap. I am however ready for a little sewing time, but that's not happening yet either. So, today I have something else to share...

Last night while scrolling through my reader, I saw something exciting and very share worthy -- A new competition is just beginning! A Fabulous Fabric Bundle Competition hosted by Laura at QuokkaQuilts and sponsored by Fat Quarter Shop.

I wasted no time and got right to work on mine! You all must know how I love joining in these type of events by now! I'm always such a fan of these colors together, so I didn't have to spend too much time thinking about that. And lately, the more I see Domestic Bliss, the more I love it, so I started with two of my favorites from that collection and before I knew it, I was finished! What do you think?



The rules ask you to go to The Fat Quarter Shop website and choose 12 coordinating prints and 3 solids from their selections. I simply created a new folder on my computer and started saving the fabric I loved. I didn't stop at 15, I chose more like 30 and then made some cuts. I used Big Huge Labs Mosaic Maker to create my fabric bundle mosaic, choosing 4 columns and 4 rows. Because that makes 16 photo slots, I simply added the Fat Quarter Shop logo to the the bottom right corner. Here it is for you, if you'd like to do the same thing. I have a thing about symmetry and balance, so I think it helps finish off the mosaic nicely. And look, my fabric selections match it! :)

Now you have the opportunity to choose and potentially WIN not your own Fat Quarter bundle of fabric, but a WHOLE HALF YARD of 15 fabrics of your choice - 12 prints and 3 solids, courtesy of the wonderful Kimberly at the Fat Quarter Shop. To read all the info and rules, please visit Laura at QuokkaQuilts! I can't wait to see what everyone else comes up with!

It's time for a Giveaway!!!



My sponsor The Intrepid Thread is a family owned and run business. They carry Fat Quarters, Half Yards, Yards, and Yardage, as well as patterns and embellishments. Their designer fabrics include many of our favorites -- Amy Butler, Joel Dewberry, Anna Maria Horner, Riley Blake, and Aneela Hoey just to name a few! The owners work extremely hard everyday to bring their customers the best fabrics, at the best prices, with high quality customer service!

The ladies behind The Intrepid Thread wanted to do something extra special for this holiday weekend, leaving me the honor of offering some brand new beautiful fabrics to give away!!!



The Prize!

The Intrepid Thread is generously offering the blue and teal colorway of the brand new Impressions 2 Collection by Ty Pennington! That's thirteen Fat Quarters of these gorgeous designs!!! You can view this entire new line in their shop right here! 

Aren't they beautiful!



Enter to Win!

Here's how,

1. Simply add a comment to this post. (one entry) If you want, you can even let us know what your new favorite fabric line is?!
2. Follow The Intrepid Thread Blog. Just let me know that you follow their blog by making a separate comment to record that entry.(one entry)
3. Followers of my blog or Facebook page get an additional chance, as well! Just let me know that you follow me by making a separate comment to record that entry.(one entry)

That’s 3 possible entries! Enter now through 10 o'clock pm (EST) Monday, December 26th. I will announce the winner this Monday morning in a new post here on the blog.

* Note * This giveaway is open to EVERYONE! If you're a "no reply" or an anonymous commenter, remember to include your email address in your comment so that I can contact you, should you win!

Thank you all and a huge thanks to The Intrepid Thread!!!

With this last Christmas pillow, phew, I am done! And I can happily say that Christmas-y goodness can be found in nearly every corner of our house this year.



For this pillow I made a large colorful dresden using a few new fabrics, but it's actually made up mostly of the large scraps that were left from several projects I have finished and shared here these last few months.



When I look at it, my eyes wonder around each fabric piece that make up the circle and I think of all of them -- my bottled rainbow quilt blocks, my daughter's Little Red costume, the apron I made for my sister in law, the stockings I just finished, and scraps left from my other Christmas pillows.



I fussy cut the center medallion, that to me looks like a colorful, lovely snowflake and went with an aqua snowflake fabric to finish off the back.



I think the scalloped shape of the center mimics our other favorite holiday pillow quite nicely!



Tomorrow I'll be hosting a four day giveaway for some brand new gorgeous fabrics, sponsored by The Intrepid Thread! You can take a peek here at the bundle!

And with that, I want to wish everyone the Merriest of Christmas's and a wonderful holiday weekend!!!

Remember my Tilly Dresden from back in October? Well, I thought it would be fun to share a little update on this project, since it was one of my very favorites from the year!

Jan, Daisy Janie, had asked me a while back to make a few flower themed items for her Fall Quilt Market booth and of course, I was over-joyed and said, Yes! I received the gorgeous fabrics and got right to work!



My contribution was a large Tilly Dresden Pillow front, Jan finished it off, and I made these Tilly fabric flowers from the scraps. I am still planning a tutorial for these, I promise! It seems like a better suited idea for Spring, don't you think?



Doesn't her booth look fantastic!



Jan took some beautiful photos of the items I made herself, and I'm excited to be able to share. You can see many more of this pillow here and of her other Tilly pillows here. They are all very inspiring!



And, how beautiful is this window shot!? It was nearly impossible for me to choose just one to share today. You can see why for yourself right here.



I'll be having a Tilly giveaway here sometime soon! So be sure to keep an eye out!!

This weekend there wasn't much time for sewing, except for the little bit of time I found late Saturday night to begin one last Christmas sewing project. I had stashed a few more holiday prints last week -- some Colorful Christmas, along with a some Hooty Hoot Jacks. All are Riley Blake, all from The Little Fabric Shop!

I hope to make up a few little bags for my son Jacob with most of these. He is a collector of all sorts of little things and I think he would especially like these Jacks fabrics!



I'm still deciding what to do with my colorful Christmas dresden? I scrapped my original plan and now I am thinking a large floor pillow would be fun to have. I'll be sure to show what this becomes later in the week, or possibly tomorrow!



These little hands will be here for just three weeks! I plan to squeeze and hold and tickle and love on this little girl as much as I can up until that very last moment!! Little hands, there's nothing better!



Did you see the Pink Chalk Studio Handmade with Love Holiday Tutorial contest? About a week ago I discovered it and decided to enter some of my tutorials from the year and guess what?!? I am SO excited that my Holiday Garland Pillow made the top 15!!!



My pillow is in the Deck the Halls category. There are some super great tutorials in the final fifteen, so be sure to check them out! And now it's up to the readers to determine the winner in each category and the grand prize winner. Pretty please take a minute to go vote for your favorites in each of the three category. Voting ends this Wednesday!

Wishing a Happy Monday to all!!!

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend! I am sure you're all very busy today!! I have SO much planned today myself. On Monday I asked the question in my giveaway post, "I'd love to know what your favorite thing to make for holiday decorating is?" Your answers were sweet, with many stories of family traditions. I am big on traditions, too. We have several of our very own and the crafting traditions we do together are still my favorite holiday moments. Thank you for sharing yours with me and for visiting this past week!

During the week, I shared a new holiday decorating craft of my own each day. A new Funky Christmas pillow, an embroidery hoop Glittered Snowflake Mobile, another new Christmas Bunting Garland, and my first go at Quilted Christmas Stockings. I hope you might take a moment to check them out! We've certainly had a lot of fun with our Christmas making and decorating this year!



And now, a giveaway winner!

Thank You to all of you who just found my blog this past week and to those of you who entered my giveaway! I read on the Sew Mama Sew Facebook page last night that 535 bloggers participated in Giveaway Day, that's pretty amazing! I'm so glad I joined in!!! From the 1143 entries that came in, Mr. Random says our lucky winner is comment #986, Tamie! I hope you enjoy your Sherbet Pip winnings! I will be in touch shortly! For those of you who still dream of stashing a Sherbet Pips bundle, my sponsor Skye Reve Fabrics has them for a great price right here!

Thanks again everyone!!! Happy Weekend!

Yesterday we had such a wonderful day celebrating my little girl's birthday! Thank you for all her birthday wishes! We also spent some time together in my sewing room stitching up these quilted Christmas stockings for my brother and his fiance.



I had never made stockings before, but I found it really quick and fun. I even made a felt pattern to tuck away for any matching stockings they may need made in the future. :)



The fronts are quilted, with a layer of soft, cotton batting and the insides are lined. That was definitely the trickiest part for me. I had to think carefully of how I would need to do that... Yes, the lining needs to be inside out on the outside, right sides facing, with an opening for turning... It gets confusing for me. How about you?



The backs are both finished in the Cheery Circles Dots prints by My Mind's Eye for Riley Blake. I picked up both from my sponsor Pink Castle Fabrics -- they're still available right here for a great price!



The fronts are made up in a simple scrappy patchwork with some polka dot prints, some of my favorite Little Apples prints (on sale here :) and a little of my new favorite, Sundae in Ruby!



I think two more may have to be made before Christmas -- one for Kevin and one for me!!!

Come on in... Yes, crafty folks live here!



Well, at least I hope this newest new bunting/garland hanging strand of colorful, Christmas-y goodness explains that well, just as you first enter this house.



To make this one, we used some adorable store bought felt, fabrics, yarn and sweater ornaments, bias tape, and Christmas fabrics.



I recently picked up a triangle template at Joann, which made making up these triangle bunting pieces so quick and easy!



I think this marks the end of garland making for me for the rest of the year! I might have to do a little re-cap, but I do believe that there is a different garland hanging in all but the kitchen, the bathrooms, and our bedroom. This last one, Haila and I made together! Sort of...



And, now it hangs happily in our hallway.



Haila asked if this little angel could be her's or her or both? Of course, I said yes!



After all, today she turns FIVE, you know!!



We're off to continue the Christmas crafting today and to celebrate our little girl, who suddenly seams much too big!

When I first saw this snowflake mobile on Posie Gets Cozy, I had to have it! And then I heard that little whisper, "Maureen, don't do it. You can make something similar. Don't spend the money, it's not even free shipping...." So... I convinced myself that I could whip something up, with some things that I had on hand. And, then I decided it should be sparkly, too!



I had originally set out to make this a simple tutorial of sorts, laying everything out for careful picture taking and instruction writing. But oh was this project anything but simple! If you've ever attempting to make a mobile like this, then you know! I actually have made something similar and had completely forgotten what a pain it is to get a mobile balanced. So therefor, a tutorial just wouldn't be right. For such a simple idea, it was so challenging and I won't be making another ANY time soon!



In case any of you are still interested, after that uplifting intro :) -- For the basic how-to, you'll need a variety of wooden embroidery hoop sizes (you'll only use the center circle of each hoop), string, scissors, and lots of sparkly or paper snowflakes. I pretty much tied on every snowflake ornament I had. I do love the sparkle!!!



The only thing left to add now is some handmade paper snowflakes of our very own and I think it will be perfect!



A pain in the butt to make, but still pretty!!!

Just after finishing up my orders, I decided to make yet another Holiday Garland Pillow -- this one's for us! The kids love this pillow, they really do, so I was happy to make one of their very own. I am sure it gets annoying to watch 99% of what I make head out the door this time of year and I think they handle it so well!



I put together a very simple tutorial right here, if you're interested in making your own. I think this new scrappy one is my 6th and will be my last! I have so many ideas that I am afraid I won't be getting to this year. There is just never enough time!! Is there?



Lately, Lily isn't ever too far away from me. She's such a sweet girl! When my son had the 24 hr flu the other day, she laid with him all day long. She even followed him into the bathroom each time! She either has an amazing sense to want to comfort or each day she decides which one of us will be sitting most the day and makes her decision. Ha!



I tired to get photos of her batting at my needle. It was the first time she ever did this! It made me so nervous, my gosh! In this photo she just looks completely upset that I woke her.



I made this pillow of all my ribbon, ric rac, and felt scraps lying around. I think it looks festive and fun!



I finished the back off with some of my cute Riley Blake fabric with mittens, hot chocolate & snowflakes. I love this fabric!



It's a little funky, but we like it!