Flowers for Sarah from Kiss Kiss quilt...

I love this story a lot! Just so sweet and tender. I love babies lots, and I love sewing for them! Nicke from kiss kiss quilt (love that name) made this darling quilt for her daughter Sarah. It helped her heal her heart after a miscarriage. I am glad she got her babies, they are darling, you can see them here.

Four years and three days ago, we found out I was pregnant with our sweet little miss S.  We were so excited.

I had a miscarriage a few months before I got pregnant with Miss S.   I had so many fears about having a miscarriage and when it happened I was devastated.  I was so worried that I would never get pregnant again, that we would never be able to have children, that something was wrong with me, so when I got pregnant again I was overjoyed and very worried.  I was so afraid to experience a second miscarriage.  Going through the first one was very difficult. Thankfully, I had a wonderfully supportive husband and I had Bob Marley.  That song gave me so much peace when I was really freaking out.

I was so excited to meet her!  I wanted to pour all of the love I had for her into this quilt so that when she was born and used it, she would always feel special and loved.  The design is very simple, just some large pieces stitched together.  I wanted a quilt for her that was very simple and dainty.  To the simple top I added ric-rac, appliquéd flowers and leaves, then added a ruffle for the binding.  

sweet.simple.perfection.

 Each flower and leaf was lovingly attached to the quilt by my own two hands.

 And lastly, a little note for my sweet little girl.

"...love you angel face."

Throughout my pregnancy I called her angel face.
I remember rubbing my belly often and whispering to her "i love you sweet angel face."
She was the angel that healed my heart after my first miscarriage.  

a side note... 

she sleeps with it every night.
she calls it her super duper extra special blanket.


and one more thing.

I still call her angel face.  

It fits.

xx nicke

Wreath quilt block tutorial and Fabric Tuesday....

We made this quilt block for sew sweetness' 12 days of Christmas sampler quilt along. Go check it out, if you make all the blocks in the series, you could have a darling Christmas quilt! I would love to make it, maybe next year!

We are making this Modern Christmas Wreath, ready, set, go...

 Pretty easy peasy, you can whip this up really fast, my girls want me to do a whole quilt!

 Step 1- download leaf and bow template HERE.  Cut 4 scraps of green larger than your leaf template.

Step 2- Following the instructions on your fusible interfacing, iron the shape outline to the backs of your scraps.

Step 3- Cut the shapes, and remove backing from interfacing.

I made a fold in the middle of my 12.5 x 12.5 square to see the exact center. Then I just eyeballed the leaves so the tips met, being careful of the center mark to guide my placement.

Next stitch down leaves. I used a sulky green  thread. I think is looks shiny and pretty, I also used a blanket stitch.

Follow the same process with the bow and fusible interfacing. I made the top of the bow lay just on top of the green stitching on the top of my leaves. Stitch down your bow.  

That is it! You have a sweet little modern Christmas wreath. 

On to fabric Tuesday. Make sure to click here if you haven't posted before. We love all the projects posted here each and every week, and appreciate all of you making it such an inspiration to us and others!

Tutorial: Hope Canvases

Welcome to another Holiday Giftt Tutorial, this week's guest is Corey from Little Miss Shabby.  Seriously, we have been so pleased with the amazing tutorials so far and I love Corey's idea, so original!  Corey is uber talented, check out her Scrapbuster Block Tutorial, Princess and the Pea Quilt Top and not to mention she's a part of the Sew to Swap book!!  Go Corey!!

Hey everyone! I am very excited to be guest posting over here today--thanks so much for inviting me Heather and Megan! =) You will usually find me blogging over at Little Miss Shabby--I'd love if you'd pop over and visit. =)

This year the hubs and I are hosting my moms side of the family at our house for Christmas--think lots of people--40ish give or take. So, I am in Christmas decorating mode--plus my girlies are at such fun ages this year for Christmas (6 & 3)--everytime I start decorating something they think it's so much fun--which in turn, makes it a blast to decorate. I've had this Christmas canvas project in the back of my mind since I made this canvas a couple months back:

I came up with an easier way to make these canvases--you can whip these up in just an hour or two! So, lets get started.

Supplies needed:

{4} 10 x 10 canvases (I picked mine up at Joann's)

Fabrics (I used 9 total--3 red, 3 green, 3 aqua)

Lightweight Fusible Web (I used Heat n Bond Lite about a 20" square)

Begin by deciding on your font (I used Fat Freddy at size 700). You can use any font you might have handy on your computer--sizewise you want one letter to pretty much fill up your sheet of paper, widthwise especially. And, find a snowflake that you like--I just googled "snowflake coloring page" and came up with lots of options. Print everything out.

Next trace everything onto your fusible web--make sure to use the reverse of your letters. Cut everything out approx 1/4" away from the traced line. Next, iron the letters onto the reverse side of your fabric and cut out on the traced line. For the snowflake, since I wanted a patchwork snowflake, I cut out {9} 3.5" squares and made a quick 9 patch block--I pressed all seams open. I used this patchwork block in place of a solid piece of fabric to iron the snowflake onto.

And then, all you have to do is iron the letters/snowflake onto the canvases--I used medium heat/no steam and tried not to move the iron around too much so it wouldn't scuff the canvases. And Voila! cute Christmas canvases.

You can use this same technique for so many other projects--how cute would a set of canvases above the your kidders bed spelling out their name be?!?

I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday season! Thanks again Heather and Megan! =)

Thanks Corey!

And here is the list of tutorials, so you can get caught up and see what you have to look forward too :)

November 7th: Amber from A Little Bit Biased Tutorial: Holiday Table Topper

November 14th: Quilt Story :) Tutorial: Winter Tree Table Runner

November 21st: Bev from Flamingo Toes Tutorial: Linen Jewelry Travel Bag

November 28th: Corey from Little Miss Shabby 

December 5th: Jeni from In Color Order

December 12th: Melissa from Happy Quilting Melissa

December 14th: Gentri from Little Lulu's Nest

December 19th: Erin from Why Not Sew?

Hypernoodle fabric giveaway....

Did you see our new sponsor...

How cute is her shop?

We wanted to welcome Michelle and mention her awesome Black Friday sale she is having tomorrow...

•  1 day only (Fri, Nov 25th)
• Coupon codes will be listed in the "Current Specials" section on our website 
•  Free Shipping on any US order of $75.00 or more (Nov 25th only) 
•  Also--every order placed during the Black Friday Sale on the 25th is automatically entered into a special  Give-Away-(details on this will also be in our "Current Specials" section)

What exactly is a Hypernoodle?

Are you a craft or sew-o-holic who has 2 or more projects going at the same time? Yes

Do you have so many ideas for new projects you don't know how you'll ever complete them all?

Do you have projects waiting in your "to-do" bin that you just know you'll get to one day?...

Then YOU my friend, are a hypernoodle!

Be sure to head on over tomorrow for some fun fabric shopping!

Awesome Holiday Tutorials Feature!

With our fun Holiday Guest Tutorials it was too hard to resist asking Jenelle from Echinops and Aster to share about her holiday how-to series.  She's going to give you the short version on her awesome series so make sure to check out the whole thing for yourself!  Thanks so much Jenelle, we love your tutorials...I especially love that garland!

I am so excited to be joining in the fun today at Quilt Story and to have the chance to share my tutorials from the Holiday How-to Series with you! Thanks so much to Heather and Megan for inviting me over and for organizing their own great holiday series. With so many amazing ideas, I am quickly adding to my holiday sewing "must make" list.

I organized the Holiday How-to Series to be a month-long crafty celebration of the upcoming holiday season. During this November, I have been posting an original holiday-inspired tutorial each Friday that shares some of my favorite handmade ideas and techniques for the season. This week is the final week of the series and we'll be sending it off in style with a great gift-related tutorial (in case you'd rather skip the crowds this Black Friday). Plus, there will be an awesome giveaway from Sew Lux Fabrics! I hope you'll have the chance to swing by to check it out, but in the meantime, I thought I would share some pics and a little bit about the other tutorials in the series.

I always find that when I make holiday decorations and gifts, it helps me to get into more of a festive spirit as I look forward to getting together with family and friends to open gifts, feast, and have fun! Each week I have tried to bring a little of that spirit into the tutorials, focusing on different ways to deck the halls or make a truly unique gift. During week one, I introduced the Merry Mushroom Felt Ornament pattern. This easy to sew ornament has a lot of personality and is really fun to customize using simple embroidery. As I have been making my mushrooms this year to give as gifts, I have been thoroughly enjoying adding little flourishes and choosing specific colors for each of the people on my list.

During week two, I shared my tutorial to make the Embroidered Snowflake Table Runner. This is a really great project for anyone wanting to jump into quilting or embroidery for the first time or for those wanting to make a festive project that isn't a huge time commitment. I had so much choosing the fabrics for this project and really wanted to make mine more winter-themed so that I could continue to use it well past Christmas (although I am dying to see this made up using some of the great Christmas fabric that has come out this year!).

Finally, during week three, I introduced a project that would be amazing to make collaboratively with your favorite people this holiday season. The Homespun Holiday Garlands are designed to introduce some new craft skills into the mix (needle felting anyone?) while also making it possible for crafting pros and beginners alike to work together to make a beautiful finished product. This is also great scrap busting project that can be made using stray yarn and left-over strips of fabric, which means more money for your gift-giving or crafting budget, which we all like. :)

I hope that you have enjoyed seeing some of the projects I have been working on and posting tutorials for this November. Please feel free to stop by to check out the last tutorial in the Holiday How-to Series this Friday and to get all the details on each project shown here. Have a wonderful (and crafty) Holiday Season!

Fabric Tuesday #62, link-up!

Welcome to Fabric Tuesday!  Yay!

How are your Thanksgiving plans coming?  My parents and a couple of nieces arrived tonight for the festivities!  Then in a couple of days about 22 more family members will be in town (but at hotels).  I'm convincing myself they want to see us, but I think the Phoenix weather is far more inviting than Salt Lake's!

Let's jump right in and I'll show you some great link-ups from last week:

Mendocino Free-Style Stars from Erin of Why Not Sew? 

Ruby X Mini Quilt from Debbie of A Quilter's Table

Applique Tutorial from Sara of SewSara

A Christmas Pillow Cover from Tanya of Craft Couture by T.C.

A Mini Holiday Quilt from Crafty Garden Mom

Starflower Mini Quilt from Kirtsen of Gemini Stitches

Helicopter Quilt from Karen of Sew Much 2 Luv

Time to link-up!

Click here for the rules!

Tutorial: Travel Jewelry Bag

We've got another tutorial today from our Holiday Gift Tutorials series and it's Bev from Flamingo Toes. Anytime Bev agrees to help us on a project I get all giddy because she's amazing.  It is very hard for me to pick a favorite of her projects, but here are a couple of my recent favorites, her Retro Christmas Dish Towels, Stitched Furniture Silhouettes and Anthro Weights and Measures Bracelet.  I strongly encourage you to stop by Flamingo Toes after you check out her fabulous Jewelry Bag Tutorial!! 

Here's the schedule:

November 7th: Amber from A Little Bit Biased Tutorial: Holiday Table Topper

November 14th: Quilt Story :) Tutorial: Winter Tree Table Runner

November 21st: Bev from Flamingo Toes Tutorial: Linen Jewelry Travel Bag

November 28th: Corey from Little Miss Shabby

December 5th: Jeni from In Color Order

December 12th: Melissa from Happy Quilting Melissa

December 14th: Gentri from Little Lulu's Nest

December 19th: Erin from Why Not Sew?

Hello Quilt Story Readers! I am so excited to be here sharing a Handmade Gift Idea! My name is Bev and I blog over at Flamingo Toes.

   

 I'm here today with a gift idea for the gals in your life! It's a pretty Linen Jewelry Travel Bag!

This is a pretty quick tutorial! It's really fun to put together too! Here's what you'll need to make one: 1/2 yard for outside fabric 1/2 yard for inside fabric 7" circle of fusible interfacing Cording or Ribbon for Tie Begin by cutting out your circles. Out of each fabric cut 1 - 18" circle and 1 - 15" circle.  

 On the wrong side of fabric of the small outer fabric circle, iron the circle of fusible interfacing in the center.  

 Place the small circles right side together and sew around the edge with a 1/2" seam allowance. Leave an opening for turning, clip the seam allowance all the way around and turn right side out. Press. Repeat for the large circle. Topstitch around the outside just inside the seam, making sure the openings are sewn closed. On your large circle, sew a circle 1 3/4" from the edge, then a second circle 2 1/4" from the edge. This will be your casing. (If you are using wide or really thin ribbon, you can adjust this.  

 Pull the outer fabric away from the lining inside the casing. Make two small slits in the outer fabric only. Treat these with Fray Check.  

 Place your small circle, outer fabric up, on top of the inside fabric of the large circle. On your small fabric circle, sew a circle just over the edge of the fabric batting in the center, sewing through both circles.  

 Draw 4 lines through the inside circle, like a pie. Sew down these lines. This will create the little pockets along the sides.

Here's what the back looks like.  

 Feed your cording or ribbon through the casing, leaving just a little bit through each hole. Knot the ends.

Make a little fabric rosette out of your inside fabric. Sew it to the outside just below the casing opening.  

 That finishes off your little bag!  

 Inside there are 8 little pockets that you can stash earrings in, you can put bracelets or other larger things in the center section.  

 This little bag would be great for makeup too!  

 I hope you like it! I'd love for you to come check out Flamingo Toes sometime - you can see my other Tutorials here! You can find other sewing projects, plus lots of jewelry knockoffs to go along with your new little Travel bag! :) And on Black Friday I am having a HUGE Giveaway Day with 20 giveaways totalling almost $800! I'd love for you to come by!

   

 Thanks so much Heather & Megan for having me over!! :)