Geranium Festival Recap


Yesterday was a beautiful day. The sun was shining a little breeze was blowing - it was a great day for a craft show. I was at the Geranium Festival in McDonough, GA with my friend and fellow crafter, Jenn from Two Cute Creations.
We had a great time and met some fascinating people.

It got a little steamy in the afternoon, but the crowds and the kids were out and having a great time!


This was Jenn's first craft show and she did pretty well with her super adorable pillowcase dresses!


My favorite though were her crayon keepers! Any mother will tell you that crayons are hard to keep track of, but these super cute crayon keepers inspire the little ones to put their crayons away!


All in all, the show was worth the effort and hopefully we will be back next year and be on the main street so we can meet even more fabulous people!

Geranium Festival this weekend!

I will be kicking off the craft show season at the Geranium Festival in McDonough , GA tomorrow. You will find me on Hazelherst St with my good friend Jenn of Two Cute Creations. Come on out and see us!

A week's worth of work

Well, I have had a few custom orders come through this month.This window seat with matching throw pillows is one of them. It is by far the most detailed and expensive job I have had yet. Of course, any time you start getting into upholstery fabric and foam you are going to spend a lot of money.
Anyway, this is also the first time I have worked with piping. I was a little intimidated by it at first, but I was pleasantly surprised at how easy it was to work with. I'm thinking I will probably use it more often. I think it would look great on some bags.
The cover for the big cushion turned out to be the easiest part of the whole project. Getting the cover on the cushion was tough. The pillows gave me problems too. See the green fabric? It's gorgeous, but it's a loose woven fabric. Hence, it unravels easily. Hence, you need stabilizer to work with it. Hence, I failed to do so the first go 'round. Hence, every seam I sewed busted. Hence, I had to start all over.
So 2 pillows that shouldn't have taken me more than an hour to do, took me three days. Why 3 days? Well, I had to go and get more fabric. When I finally got the covers made and I went to make the buttons to tuft them, thats when I realized I had bout 2 different sized buttons. So then I had to make another trip to the store...for 2 buttons. Argggg.
It is all finally finished now, and I think it turned out great. I just hope the client likes it.
Now on to the second of two t-shirt quilts.

How to make a new ironing board cover.

Ironing boards get really gross really easy. All that starch attracts dust and grime like a magnet. Of course, the odd accident with iron-on fusible web or interfacing doesn't help it either. It also doesn't help that an ironing board may turn into a makeshift table that holds juice cups, dirty diapers and the morning cup o' joe.
So, from time to time you may need to think about a new ironing board cover.
Why not make it pretty and make it yourself. It's super easy to do and takes about an hour.

Here's what you need:
2 yards of cotton fabric ( I used a cute pillow ticking I found)
2 yards of 100% cotton low-loft batting ( twin size)
7 feet of ribbon
cotton thread
knitting needle
safety pin
 

First, fold your fabric lengthwise with right sides together. Then, lay it on top of your cotton batting. Smooth everything down. Next, lay your ironing board on top of the fabric. Measure 4" out from the edges of your ironing board and cut through all the layers. Secure with pins.

 
Next, sew all the way around the cover with a 1/2" seam, leaving a 6" opening at the bottom. Trim your seam allowances and turn the coverso that the right sides of the fabric are out. Smooth out.

 
Starting at the bottom, without closing the opening, sew a 1 1/2" casing all the way around the edge of the cover. Make sure to leave the opening open. 

 
Take the ribbon and create a loop and safety pin it together. Slip the knitting needle through the loop. Then use the knitting needle to thread the ribbon through the casing leaving a tail at both ends of the opening.

 
Place the cover over the ironing board and iron it to smooth out any wrinkles. Then fit over the board and cinch tightly with the ribbon and tie in a knot to secure.
Voila! Enjoy your new cover!

Back in the Saddle again...

Here's the thing about being a mommy. It doesn't matter weather you have a "real job" or if you stay at home. Your children ( those sweet, angelic, peanut butter covered faces) will consume all of your time and energy. And this is exactly what has happened to me. I'm not complaining. I love it as a matter of fact. I just wanted you to know what was going on.
We have been pre-school shopping. My kids will be 4 this year ( I can't believe it!) and I have been researching preschools like there is no tomorrow.

You would not believe how time- consuming that is.
I have also had several BIG custom orders come my way and I have been trying to get ready for those. Special orders must be made, designs must be drawn out, and the sewing room must be cleaned.
Throw in a family visit and an upcoming craft show and an even more upcoming consignment sale, and you have yourself one busy woman.
But I am back in the saddle. The sewing machine has been oiled, the studio has been cleaned, the scissors have been sharpened and I am back. I'm warming up with a new batch of wristlets,
which will then be followed by a few new purses, and maybe some aprons...I'm not sure on those yet. I am planning on making one of these sweet tee-pees for my kids though.
They are gonna love it!
So, anyway, keep an eye out. I'll be around.

Stewed Chicken


I just had to show this off. My dear sweet hubby journeyed into JoAnn's by himself with our two 3 year olds and went shopping in there for my birthday. It makes me swoon just thinking about it. But one of the most awesome things he got, besides an extra big roll of batting was Linda Huber and Bonnie Collins' book Chicken Buffet. It is an awesome book with 12 blocks of named after different chicken dishes ( this one is Stewed Chicken!). There is Fried Chicken, Chicken Divan and Chicken a la King, just to name a few. I took a little time today to whip up this pillow. I'm absolutely in love with it and I can't wait to make some more!