Long Time, No Post!

Hi everyone!

The start to 2011 has been a busy one!  I've been focusing on keeping this blog going and hope to share some more paper-y projects around here over the summer. :)

Chrissy

Inspiration (Sewn Spaces Swap)

Just sharing some inspiration for the Sewn Spaces Swap ... we'll be making sewing machine covers for a secret partner!  :-)  Some of my current faves ... anyone notice a theme?!

1. do. Good Stitches quilt, 2. Tea Cozy - front (2010 UFO #3), 3. DSCN1107, 4. Pillow Talk Swap #2, #3, #4,  5. Sunday Stash #81, 6. scrappy log cabin bag, 7. Fresh & Funky Bee - August Quilt Progress, 8. VQB_AugustFabrics, 9. Sewing Machine Cover, 10. stroller quilt, 11. DSCN0871, 12. DSCN0659

Also ... starting a Pinwheel Quilt Along at the Sew Lux Blog ... check it out!

February Bee Blocks

Hiya!  Its a rainy, rainy day today and I've spent most of the afternoon working on updating Sew Lux and getting some things ready for when our next bolts of fabric come in.  Can't. hardly. wait. :-)

I wanted to share the bee blocks I made in February.  I made three of these wonky blocks in these awesome Kaffe prints ...which inspired by the wonky Castle Peeps quilt top I shared last time. I am looking forward to seeing how this turns out.

I also made some disappearing 9 patch blocks - a new block for me - for the do.Good Stitches Faith group.

 I also worked on this 4-patch block for the Fresh & Funky bee.  I was a little scared about all these small squares and the grid lining up but it turned out just fine.

This weekend I've been working on wrapping more of my fabric into mini bolts and just cleaning up my space in general.  I have lots of projects ... for paper and fabric ... swirling around in my head and hopefully this week I will get to some of them. :)

Hope you've had a fabulous weekend! Talk to you soon!

In Stitches

Hey y'all!  Hope your weekend is going swell!  I am headed to a conference with my students tomorrow, but managed to sneak in a few sewing projects that I've been wanting to get to. 

First up, a hexagon project with some lovely Tea Garden fabric.  Aren't these birdies adorable?  I blogged about this project on the Sew Lux blog here.

I also managed to piece a small quilt!  This was so fun using these little Castle Peeps fabrics.  I used a wonky log cabin block and I was a little concerned it was going to look terrible in the beginning, but now I am really loving it.  I have a 3 x 4 set of 9" finished blocks. Any thoughts on a quilting design?

The funny part about this quilt was that I pranced downstairs to show the mister and he was like, "when did you get that fabric? ... the middle ages?!"  Let's just say he's not a fan of this one, but whatever!  I plan to put it in the shop when I get it finished up and I am sure that it will be perfect for someone's little king of the castle! :)

Have a great weekend y'all!

I'm still around!

Hey y'all! Sorry that I've been so neglectful of my little blog lately.  I've been working on a lot of things ... unfortunately, mostly work things, but I do have several things to share with you tonight.  :-)

First up ... a birthday card that will be headed to my niece once her gift gets here.  I decided to go a little crazy with the patterned paper and not be so matchy-matchy.  It's all Betsy's fault.  She makes be.a.u.tiful things and I love her use of patterned paper.  This card seems a little off-balance, but I doubt my little recipient will notice! :)

I also squeezed out one more "hello" card with those great Studio Calico papers.  (See the others here.)  My mister thinks they are kind of silly since they just say "hello" but whatever.  Sometimes that's all you need.  :)

I do really love that paper and color combo.  Must try making those embellies myself.

I've also been busy sewing some hexagons.  Lovely, no?

Check out my tutorial here. :)

I promise not to go 2 more weeks without another post around here ... Have a wonderful weekend! :)

Happy Heart Day!

Hey y'all!  Just wanted to stop in to share some Valentine's Day cards I made with my February Studio Calico kit.  I made three similar cards and love the aqua blue mixed in with them.

Here's the first ....

And the second ...

And one more ...

What do you think?  Hope you are all having a sweet day! :)

Hello x 3

Happy Friday!  :-)  I was so glad to have this week behind me ... how about you?!

I wanted to stop in and share a few cards that I made a bit ago using some goodies from a recent Studio Calico kit.  I love these flowers from Sassafras ... I really should try to make some myself!  But, I went with papers that coordinated with the colors in the flowers and I must say I love the aqua/teal/orange combo ... not one I'd normally have as a go-to combo, but I love how these turned out.

Here's the first of the trio...

  And the second ...

 And the third ... 

Which one is your favorite?  I had to laugh when I showed them to the mister, who just said "hello" in a mocking voice.  Whatever!  Sometimes you need a card just to say hello. :-)

So, "hello" to you all!  Hope you all have a lovely weekend! :)

A Card & A Little Inspiration

Hiya folks!  :-)  Just wanted to share a card I made the other day as well as a little inspiration to get you sewing for those of you who like stitchin' it up!

Unfortunately, I needed a sympathy card the other day.  I have a hard time making these cards and so I definitely don't have a stash of these hanging around.  I put my January Studio Calico kit to work along with a nice sentiment set from Verve on this one.

I kept the layout and everything simple and I think the colors are nice and calming.  I hope it was well-received despite the occasion for sending it. :)

On a happier note, we've got a fun fabric & sewing pattern giveaway on the Sew Lux blog.  Check out this awesome bag pattern from Clover & Violet.  Isn't it pretty?  I think it looks great in the Fandango collection for sure!

You can enter to win the pattern and the fabric needed (a charm pack & a yard of fabric) by commenting on this post AND on Clover & Violet's giveaway post - there will be a winner from both blogs!


Thanks so much for stopping by! :-)

Finished Quilt of 2011 Numero Uno

Hey y'all!  Got big plans for the big game tomorrow?  We are headed to a party and are excited to watch the game with some friends :-)

I wanted to share the first officially finished quilt from 2011 ... I am calling it the Mini Mod Pod since its a half-scale version of the original pattern.  I used fabrics from the Sew Lux shop and wrote in more detail about it over at the Sew Lux Blog.  Check it out ...

Thank you for stopping in! :-)

Oh How I Laughed ...

Hi!  Been awhile since I've been around on here, but I am sure like most of you can relate, it's been a busy January.  Lots of things going on with work and the start of a new semester is always a bit time intensive.  But, I hope to get back into the groove of things and not bring home much work this week (we'll see) ...

I wanted to share a quilt I started on ... its almost done, just needs binding.  I used the Designer Beads Red and Designer Beads Mist and really like how this turned out.  Here it is pieced ...

Here it is in the quilting procress ...

I will share it in its entirety after I finish the binding and talk about the pattern I used, etc.

I also chose the word "renovate" as my "word for 2011."  Well, that certainly also includes my sewing room!  I have been slowly working on moving things around.  And one of the things I decided to do was put my fabrics on "mini bolts" after seeing this post.  Well, I promptly ordered a 100 comic book boards.  And here's the difference (just the middle shelf, obviously)...

And the reason behind the title of this post ... well, I just had to laugh at myself for only ordering 100 boards.  Who did I think I was kidding?!  C'mon now ... I have wayyyyyyyyyyy more fabric than 100 different prints! That is 100 boards just on the middle shelf. And let's not even talk about the 6+ shelves in the closet that I haven't even touched!  Oh. my. goodness.  I am definitely ordering more book boards and am looking forward to having my stash organized.  I will share when its finally completed.  :-)

Also, one of our Sew Lux customers shared her room redo with us ... it turned out so lovely. Check it out here.

Well, that's it for now.  Thanks for stopping by!  I do have lots of projects in the works to share soon ... my Project Life for 2011, other small quilts and projects, bee blocks, cards, etc.  So, I will see you soon!

Fun with Vintage Ads

Happy Monday!  I am thrilled to have an extra day in the weekend before heading back to the "same old, same old" tomorrow. :-)  Yesterday, I mentioned that I had made some cards with some "vintage ads" ... so here they are ...

This first one is for a bridal shower event.  I thought it the picture was funny as well as the text.  I mean, who wouldn't love to get some dinnerware with "phenomenal break-resistance?!"  :-)

\

The next one I just had to make for a friend of mine who recently had a baby.  Now, I don't have kids and certainly don't mean to spark a debate with this statement ... but apparently, breast feeding can be pretty difficult.  I thought this might at least give her a good laugh.

The inside has a funny sentiment ... 

Both of these ads came from October Afternoon's Homemaker line and all the papers were included in the January Studio Calico kit, which I will definitely be playing around with more! :-)

Thanks for stopping by! :-)

January Bee Blocks Part 1

Hi and happy weekend y'all!  My mister is watching football, so I am taking the opportunity to give my sewing machine a workout!  :-)  My local shop had my machine serviced and ready to be picked up in less than 24 hours!  I was excited I didn't have to wait long.  In fact, since picking up my machine on Thursday, I have pieced and quilting a small (baby sized) quilt, pieced another small quilt, and made a few bee blocks.  I will share my quilts later this week.  I wanted to stop in and share my do. Good Stitches blocks for January. 

The do. Good Stitches bee is a Charity Bee and each circle works on a different project each month.  This month, our quilter asked for some blocks to make an X-string quilt.  The tutorial we are using is here.  I must admit, I was a little nervous about this block, but it turned out well and I had fun making them.  It's definitely not something I might have tried on my own, but I may now that I know its not as hard as it looks! :-)  Here are my blocks ...

We were to use a nautical theme in terms of colors.  I hope that my fabric choices will blend in well with the rest of the blocks.  I think I have enough shades of blue that they can fit in with many other prints.  You can see that I have a lot of polka dots prints in my stash!  Shocker, I tell ya.

We got some new blender-type (tone-on-tone) prints for the Sew Lux shop the other day.  I introduced them earlier today on the Sew Lux blog.

Thanks for stopping by!  I will be back tomorrow with some funny cards I made the other day using some repro vintage ad paper.  See ya soon!

Here's the latest ...

Hey y'all!  Only two more days left in the week!  :-) Already looking forward to the weekend around here! How about you?

I mentioned that I recently finished quilting a quilt for a friend of mine.  Dianne has been collecting fabric for and working on this quilt for awhile now (but I won't mention how long ... wink!).  As a fellow Wolfpacker, I love the color scheme she chose!  This quilt turned out to be rather large ... basically a full-size quilt, so she asked for some help in getting it finished.  I think it turned out really nice and I enjoyed working on this for her ... minus the moment that I got my finger too close to the needle while in the throws of free motion quilting! :-)  Here are a few pictures of it.

For the top, she used a mix of black-and-white and red-and-white prints and then that pretty big black-and-white floral for the backing.  Here's the quilt all rolled up - lots of interesting prints in this quilt!

After finishing this quilt, I decided I finally had time to take my sewing machine in for some TLC.  My beloved Bernina really, REALLY needed a good cleaning and tune up.  Although, I must say that I had a little moment of panic/separation anxiety when I dropped her off today!  Is that crazy or what?!  I don't think I've been without a working machine in my house ever!  The tech seemed to think that he'd have it ready by the end of the week.  Crossing my fingers .... I'd hate to resort to hand piecing for all the projects I want to work on! :-)

I also wanted to share a quick card while I was here .... I have a (different) friend who is dealing with a lot of changes ... and we all know that change can bring on the stress big time!  I made this cute card to send her a little pick me up.

Love these punny sentiments from the Skipping Stones Designs stamp set.  My mister thinks they are corny, but I don't care!  :-)

That's about all for now ... I updated our Sew Lux blog too if you feel so inclined to check it out!

Happy Birthday Swap Card

Hi everyone!  We got some wintery weather yesterday and so I enjoyed a day off today!  We're on a 2 hour delay for tomorrow, so I will get a little extra sleep again tonight!

I wanted to stop in and share the card I made for the PTI swap I am participating in on SCS.  I decided to make a birthday card, since everyone can use those!  Here's what I came up with ...

I used a few different sets here.  The present image is from the Tiny Treats: Christmas set and the sentiment is from the Enjoy the Ride set.  I colored them with Copic markers to match the paper (Basic Grey, I think, and some dots from PTI). I think it turned out really pretty and I hope my fellow swappers will like it as well!

I finished a large quilt today for a friend of mine ... I will take some pictures and share tomorrow.  See you then!

Hello there!

Hi and welcome to my *new* blog ... well, its just a new location for the blog!  :-)  After closing cmh Designs, I thought it would be great to start losing the business name and really moving on.  Not to mention, the "lux crafts" goes a little better with my newest venture, Sew Lux. 

Part of this change also has to do with my "word" for 2011, which is "renovate."  This year, I will be renovating a lot of things ... cleaning up (and out) my craft/sewing room, organizing some parts of my house (the tupperware cabinet!), and just reprioritizing how I spend my time outside of my real job ... renovating my priorities so to speak. 

So ... If you've been following along at my original blog, I am glad you stopped by ... I hope you'll update your Google Reader, etc. to check in with me.  If you're new ... well, you didn't miss anything ... I moved all my posts over here too!  :-)  Either way, thanks for stopping in!

I also wanted to share that my new blog's fabulous look is a result of the talented Erin from Erin Bradley Designs.  She makes some pretty graphics, I tell ya!  She also provides excellent customer service!  I also used her fab graphics for our Sew Lux blog and Sew Lux Etsy store!

I wanted to share a set of cards I made for a customer just before Christmas ... I believe she gave them to her mother-in-law and I sure hope they were well-received! :-)  Here's the set ...

I love the colors in these and the layout is really simple for mass-producing these babies!  And now that I am "free" of the greek letter shirt business, I will really get to start using my embarassingly large stash of patterned paper! ;-)  There is a PaperCrafts call with a deadline on Monday ... so I am sure there will be lots of cards to come soon!  I also have an embarrassingly large stash of fabric ... so get ready for some fabric projects too!  ;-)

I really hope all of you are off to a fabulous start to this new year!  Talk to you soon!  :-)