Union Jack Love

Union Jack Love, originally uploaded by threedancingmagpies.

Max and I have started to make plans for updating his room a bit. He spent a lot of time in England when he was a toddler and our friends from GB visit a lot. They have given him large fatboy like posters which we have framed with the various soccer clubs in the colors of primarily red and red,white and blue. He is now playing soccer year round and thought doing his room in the colors of red, white and blue would be cool. In addition to the soccer stuff, we both love the Union Jack. He is also a HUGE Red Sox fan, so some baseball stuff and Red Sox garb will all work great together.

I have bought this pattern and think it might be time to bust it out. I also picked up some of the Liberty Boxers at Target and think a pillow like #19 would rock. The idea of painting a Union Jack on a piece of wood and hanging it up above the bed is something I think is going to happen! The inspiration is spinning around my head . . .

First things first, I think I need to finish the quilt I started with stars and some baseball fabrics and solids in Red, White and Blue. Then I can go from there. We have some England football jersey's to hang and can surely round up some Red Sox stuff. I think it is going to be a fun summer project to do together!

Burlap and Linen

I have been drawn to burlap for a long time and have yet to do anything about it! Then the Urban Home swap came along and I had to be prepared! The partner pairings will be handed out today, so the timing for my new package of linen and burlap could not have been better timed! I have been loving the Maya*Made baskets and have had the pattern for awhile. Now I have the burlap so nothing should be holding me back. I am thinking that once I make one, perhaps I can do a little something for my partner.

Linen is also something I love to use and receive in swaps. Especially linen paired with patchwork. I have been getting linen at JoAnn's and then using Essex cotton as a faux linen, but decided it was time to have some in the stash in fun colors. I just needed a little nudge and this flickr picture and recommendation from Penny at Sewtakeahike. Looking in Penny's photostream alone has me in linen project heaven. I think it is going to be fabulous!

Finally I have been busy getting ready for Ellie's birthday and Easter . . . convenient this year because she turns 3 on Easter Sunday. I am making all her gifts except the American Girl Bitty Twin that her grandmother picked up for a joint gift to both kids. I almost have a matching dress made for both girl and doll and will share a photo soon, they are too cute! I did finish off a little sample stitching piece I have been working on to hone my skills a bit and thought why not make it into something. So here is another gift for Ellie and her bunnies!

The pattern is a Sublime Stitching Pattern from the designer Black Apple. It is a great pattern and I hope to stitch them all up! Ellie was given a pink snuggle bunny as an infant and it quickly became her comfort item, she doesn't go anywhere without bunny. I searched many a store and finally found a second bunny or as we called it "back-up bunny". Which turned out to be a bad plan. She quickly caught onto the two bunnies and has to have both bunny and "udder-bunny"! Everynight and many times during the day, she puts a hand towel on the bunnies and puts them to bed. I thought that making the stitching into a bunny blanket would make a great birthday gift. We will see, Miss Ellie is a creature of habit and might just not give up the hand towel!

Finally I was able to ship off a box with some project kits today for my SIL's upcoming birthday. She has been sewing up a storm since the holidays and her gift I was making her for last year's birthday is in a UFO pile somewhere, I thought perhaps she would enjoy a gift she would actually see! So she will have a coaster kit, a needle book kit and also an apron panel with the directions and pattern pieces coming her way. I think she will love them. The apron panel is available at KC Custom Fabrics.

Think I have a problem . . .

Must.

Stop.

Ordering.

Fabric.

Little Folks in Voile

Have to try some dresses in this, really love this one!

Needed the Hope Valley Print on top, but as long as they were sending a package . . .

This was actually a must have- can't wait to stitch on the printed line fabric from Girl Friday. Needed the Hope Valley because it is my new fav!

Alexander Henry's What is your Number - LOVE this! Thanks to Jo the fabric bounty hunter for the tip on this one!

Not really sure on the why for this one . . .

Once or twice a year I have been snagging some Japanese craft books for inspiration. Have made many simple clothes items for the kids. Loving these and can't wait to get started with some designs!

Potholder Pass II - Ready to ship

Hope you like them partner . . . I must say I had fun making them and really wished I had made a set for us! Also everytime I look at them I am realizing I LOVE Hope Valley in this colorway.

Here are the Potholders. I would love to link to the quilt where I was inspired to raw edge applique the squares, but it has been removed from flickr and I can't remember the blog . . . oops! They were fun to make! Then the plastic grommets are from my favorite quilt shop, KC Custom Fabrics. They come in great colors and are easy to use!

Then with the extra inch and a half strips, I decided to make a couple of dish towels for my partner to round out the package. I loved using long patchwork strips and then topstitching. In the past when I have made these, I used a bunch of scraps, I actually love the way these strips look and will make some more for sure!

This swap was a lot of fun! I can't wait to see what we get in the mail!

Ellie's birthday is coming up and here is a sneak peak of what I am working on. Next up is a matching dress for the doll she will be getting.

Knitting Needle Case

Spot for Double Points and Scarf Needles, originally uploaded by threedancingmagpies.

My knitting needles are out of control and scattered all over the house and on loan to friends. I stopped using my needle cases over the last few years, as they have become a little dated both fabric wise and function wise. Large and chunky stitches have become mainstream to knitting and my cases were geared for lots of skinny needles. I have been thinking about making a new case for awhile, but this week actually did. The case has a space for all kinds of straight and double pointed needles. The back row holds longer needles all sizes and will even fit size 19's! Then the second row holds double points and scarf needles. The little pocket holds a tape measure and a few notions. I want to rework the design to include a zipper, but I think most likely I would always make a matching zipped pouch to accompany a needle case. I know with my own knitting bag, I really need a zippered pouch for stitch markers, pencil, scissors, small ruler, measuring tape, etc. I put most of my straight needles in the case right away and it works great! I love having organized needles and know that when I need to grab a needle, I can find it! Now if I could only figure out a pouch for my jumble of circular needles . . . .

Happy St. Patrick's Day

Happy St. Patrick's Day everyone!  Hope your day was filled with everything green and wonderful.  We had some leprechauns visit in the night . . . the kids were checking the bathrooms all day for more green!  This evening we enjoyed the great weather by a cookout of our favorite Irish dishes and lots of green beer and hard cider.  

Buggy Barn Class at KC Fabrics

Photo of the pattern I choose to make.  I will leave off the circle/small star applique

Spent an afternoon with four fun ladies on Saturday and we embarked on making various Buggy Barn quilts.  The technique is basically a whack a stack and then you do a little shuffle . . . 

I should have brought my camera to the shop, but I did manage to make three blocks myself and here they are 

Isn't it amazing how different fabric changes the look of a pattern so dramatically? I love them both.

A few butterfly quilts in process, a basket made from log cabin blocks and a house with flags quilt. The fabrics the group has chosen are very different from the quilts pictured in the Buggy Barn books which really was fun to see them come together. I hope to see all of the quilts when they are finished.

Liberty of London - Toddler Fashion

This is quite the look, right? Although I was looking for and expecting fun accessories for me and the home today at the Target launch of their Liberty of London items, I was thrilled to find (I actually unpacked a few items from the boxes the Target employees were putting out) lots of toddler fashion! We are going on vacation in a couple weeks to Mexico and everyone but Ellie was set with warm weather clothes. I was about to order her some swim suits and a couple cute dresses on-line. So imagine my surprise when I found these . . .

The best part all four dresses and two bathing suits cost less than the one dress and suit I was going to purchase and I LOVE these! When in England I always wanted to spring for something from Liberty, but beside the occasional piece of fabric, never have. Okay back to the bathing suit shot. It was the first thing we tried on and then the battery on the camera went! So she kept the suit on and ran around our very warm house, while the battery charged. She added the boots and fleece when she decided to go out and grill with daddy. He sent her right in and questioned my parenting skills, dressing our almost three year old like this! After having a dance party in the bathing suit with the boys, she let me try on the dresses. I think they are all keepers!

And yes to family and friends who are wondering, I do LOVE having a girl.

The reason for the Target run was really to check out the Liberty stuff and get some file folders to stay organized for next years tax gathering shuffle. It must have been my lucky day, because who would of guessed they had Liberty file folders . . .

Oh Mr. Postman . . .

Look what came in the mail . . . 

A wonderful pillow by Amanda at Sasikirana - she paired some favorites up to make an amazing pillow. The linen with the Hope Valley is delish and then add a Echino print for the pillow back and wowza, I am over the moon! I love all the details, the tag, the binding, just everything. Speaking of someone being over the moon for this pillow . . .

Ellie declared it her "piddow" and didn't put it down for the first 24 hours! Finally I got it from her and am holding auditions in a few spots in the house. It will either grace the couch in the living room or the guest room bed! We love it- thanks again Amanda! Also a big thanks to Heather and Kerri for putting on such a wonderful swap. Now that I have done quite a few swaps, I must say the quality of the swap they put together is really fantastic and appreciated! Speaking of appreciation . . .

I WON something. I haven't won anything for as long as I can remember. Maybe ever. Heather has a wonderful giveaway to celebrate her first year of blogging and I was actually one of the winners. Look at the CRAZY generous bundle of fabrics that came my way. I am in awe, thanks so much Heather! I must say you got me started on a awesome path. Tonight at BINGO night at Max's school, I won a CAKE. We never have won one before, but I think our luck has finally come in. So thanks again for being you and getting my winning streak going!

Finally, I got a wonderful package from Munki and they will hit the seam ripper soon. Here are the three new Munki Munki prints for spring and they are to die for - Fairground, Phones and Rollerskates. I plan to use them for a giveaway to celebrate a new look on this blog. We will be working with a designer to help us and then really hope to make the blog useful to our ETSY supply and jewelry customers. I will keep boring you with my adventures in creativity as well!