Happy Street

Here's some cuteness I got in the mail yesterday:


I've already made up some little stories in my head about the adventures of Hedgie, Woolie the Sheep and their flock of chicks. The Happy Street Fabric is destined to become Passport Wallets, because isn't Happy Street what we're looking for when we're traveling?

I got these fabrics from Super Buzzy, one of my favorite on-line fabric sources. They are having a big Spring Cleaning Sale that I found out from my new favorite site, True Up. True Up is all about fabric. It highlights manufacturers, designers, self-printing options and sales. I love indulging my fabric geekiness there, although my PayPal account has felt its effects!

I'm getting ready to sell my bags at my friend Alizah's house this weekend. She has lovely jewelry so I'm planning on adding to my earring collection. I've been trying to figure out if I have time to include Hedgie and Co. in some new wallets...

P.S. Some of my things got a little blog action! My Owls of Athena Passport Wallet got a mention at Blue Orchid Design, and my Retro Blue Dots Brooch Clusters made it into a terrific collection of retro items at smashingmagazine.com. Yay!

I'm Back with a Stack of Fabric

Whew! We've made it back home from our long summer trek. We drove from Seattle to San Diego and back with lots of stops in between. The kidlings were great sports throughout the trip, sleeping in 7 different beds in 4 different states.

Here are some things I learned on the trip:

1. You aren't allowed to trim your child's hair in line at Disneyland.

2. Today's TV needs more shows like the original Muppet Show with its irony, puppet-y mayhem and non-destructive explosions.

3. Nerds candy + a car seat + twisty highways = a parent's nightmare.

While some people collect commemorative silver spoons or postcards on vacation, I collected fabric. Here's my spoils:


I got to visit Denver Fabrics, Rosie's Calico Cupboard Quilt Shop, Michael Levine and The Stitchin' Post. I loved them all, although Rosie's was the most jaw-dropping, with rooms full of fabrics all coordinated by color. Thanks to my mom and my husband for taking care of the kidlings so I could frolic with amongst the fabric!

Fabric Bonanza!

Yesterday I braved the pouring Seattle rain to buy some fabric at a yearly sale a lovely lady in my neighborhood holds. She is a fabric rep and every year she sells off her samples for $4.00 a pound! Looky-look at what some of what I bought!


The samples aren't that big and lots of the fabrics are discontinued, but I have plans to start making limited edition items for my shop and these samples will be perfect! While it makes better business sense to make lots of the same items, it's more fun to play around with new fabric whenever possible. My little samples just upped my chances for new fabric frolics without emptying my pockets (too much).

Another Crafty Saturday

This Crafty Saturday display is courtesy of my oldest daughter.


My kidlings spend a fair amount of time in my sewing studio rummaging through my big box of scraps. This Fairy Quilt is the latest result of their fabric forays. I love seeing bits and pieces of my bags in their creations. I'm also pleased that the kidlings like to sew - hopefully I'm following my mother's example and giving them a love of crafting!

My Quest for Tidy

I am on a quest to tidy my space. I love the sense of calm a well-ordered area gives me and yet I’m not neat by nature. I’ve been on the prowl to find tips to help me in my quest and yesterday I found a wonderful link on folding fabric. It inspired me to spend a couple hours refolding my fabrics and untangling my interfacing.

Here is before:


Here is after:


And this project only cost me a trip to the fabric store to dig around their recycling bin for cardboard bolt cores.

Let me know if you have any tidy tips to share with me – I desperately need them!

The siren call of a fabric store

I have a very difficult time driving by a fabric store without stopping. Some of my all-time fabric stores are Pacific Fabrics, a locally owned Seattle chain. Not only do they have a terrific array of fabrics and yarns, they also have lots of fun and useful classes. I took an upholstery course and transformed two chairs from scary 70s to retro 40s (I also got to use an electric staple gun which is always an empowering experience).

My latest visit to Pac Fabric garnered me some pretty fabrics that resulted in this:

The color combinations on the diamond fabric are so crisp and fresh. And I like the old-fashioned quality of the calico lining.

Where do you like to shop?

Longing for blue skies

As I was staring at my ever burgeoning pile of "To be made into something" fabrics, I realized that many of them had sky blue backgrounds. As much as I love Seattle's ever-changing weather, I'd like to have a nice stretch of blue skies for a while.