My Patterns
Oh, Boy! It’s the Oh, Boy! Boxers!
Next up in my collection of new patterns is the Oh, Boy! Boxers. In sizes 2 all the way to size 14, your little and big boys are going to love having a collection of one-of-a-kind boxers! (The fun fabrics in my samples are all from Michael Miller.)
These boxers can be sewn with a traditional fly, with a faux fly or (the quickest option) no fly at all. The pattern works perfectly with your favorite cotton quilting fabrics, as well as lightweight cotton jersey knits.
I designed the pattern with a comfortable, easy fit, so they can be worn as underwear or as loungewear. (They make great summer PJs when paired with my free The Tank pattern, too!)
This is one of those basics patterns that I hope you’ll find yourself turning to over and over again.
Don’t forget to check back tomorrow — I have one more pattern to introduce before releasing the whole set of new ones!
The Playdate Bag Messenger Bag for Mom, Backpack for Tot
Oh, I hope you all love this one as much as my family does! The Playdate Bag pattern is one pattern that creates two bags–a messenger bag for mom and a backpack for her toddler. My daughters have already confiscated two of my original messenger bag prototypes for themselves, and I had to hide the backpack that you see on the pattern cover from Charlie so that I could take it to Quilt Market with me!
The Playdate Messenger Bag is packed full of features for its small size. Outside, you’ll find a large back pocket with a smaller pocket hidden just inside—the perfect spot for keeping your cell phone safe but easy to grab when you need it. Inside, there are compartments for all your other on-the-go needs, including a cushioned storage spot for your tablet or e-reader.
The Playdate Backpack is sized just right for toddlers to preschoolers and features comfortable, adjustable straps. Inside, your little one will find his crayons organized and ready for creativity and plenty of space for other toys.
All of the fabrics in my cover samples are from Riley Blake Designs. The adorable fabrics on the backpack are from Kellie Wulfsohn’s Peak Hour collection, and the oh-so-modern messenger bag fabrics are a combination of Chevrons and Solids.
Do you have a little one who would love a new backpack? Or, maybe you need a new bag for yourself? Or, could it be that your preschooler needs a backpack and you need a new bag? Why buy two patterns when you can get them both in one?
All of my new patterns are set to be released next week! More previews coming Monday!
The Everyday Camp Shirt & The Which Way Out Jacket . . . In Big Kid Sizes!
Next on my list of new pattern releases: two of your favorites . . . now in sizes 5 to 14 for your big kids!
The Everyday Camp Shirt is such a great choice for boys of any age. My boys wear them for everything from days at the zoo to Sunday mornings at church.
Allen and Jamie are wearing samples sewn up in the plaid and floral fabrics from Deena Rutter’s Stars & Stripes fabric collection for Riley Blake. I love how you can get completely different looks with this pattern just by changing the fabric or the buttons and snaps. We think these shirts have a decidedly western flair to them. (Jamie plays the part well, doesn’t he?)
And, the Which Way Out Jacket in corduroy and flannel (or twill and quilting fabric, or PUL and minky, or . . .) is exactly what your big boys and big girls need to top off their fall wardrobes. (Yes, I know summer is barely here. That means you have plenty of sewing time before fall arrives!)
Allen’s Which Way Out Jacket has an outer layer of gray baby-wale corduroy, and the reverse layer is Michael Miller’s Gray Camouflage on cotton flannel. It’s a fairly lightweight jacket that is still nice and warm.
What fabrics do you think your big kids would love in an Everyday Camp Shirt or a Which Way Out Jacket?
All of my new patterns are set to be released next week! More previews to come!
Spring Market, Michael Miller PUL and the Green Beginnings Cloth Diaper
Those of you who sew cloth diapers are going to love this news! Michael Miller Fabrics is releasing PUL! Excellent quality PUL in adorable Michael Miller prints! How cool is that?! I think those of you who don’t sew cloth diapers are going to love this PUL, too, though. It’s the perfect fabric for anything that needs to be waterproof, it has a great soft drape and feel to it, and it’s so easy to work with.
Michael Miller Fabrics had the cutest booth at Spring Market. My booth was right across from them.
The circus theme was so much fun, and there were elephants! No, not real elephants, but huge, adorably dressed almost-lifelike elephants.
And inside their booth, there was a really cute brochure that looked something like this:
I told you, didn’t I? Such cute prints. Can you already see these on your little one’s bum? Oh, the patterns? Why, yes, they are Fishsticks Designs patterns. The Mama & Baby Bag and the Which Way Out Jacket, and one of my brand new patterns: The Green Beginnings Cloth Diaper!
I was so excited by how many people at Quilt Market wanted to hear all about cloth diapering! I am sure that I talked cloth diapering as much as I chatted about my patterns. (I’m a huge advocate of cloth-diapering, in case you didn’t already know that, and I’m thrilled to see it becoming so much more mainstream!)
My goal in creating this diaper pattern was a little out of the ordinary for me. Usually, when I create a pattern, I try to give you lots of options. This pattern, though, I geared towards moms who are sewing their first cloth diapers, and I kept it really simple. The instructions include a whole page of diaper sewing tips–many are things that I’ve learned through my years of experience sewing cloth diapers, and the rest are suggestions from my amazing team of testers.
The Green Beginnings Cloth Diaper is a pocket diaper in sizes newborn to large. It has a trim fit through the crotch and bum, and a slightly raised back with a scooped front. The uncased leg elastic coupled with an absorbent soaker that is slightly narrower than the width of the diaper also creates a faux gusset at the legs to make this diaper a star when it comes to leak protection. My testers have given me great feedback, and Morgan and I both love it on Katie and Charlie. I can’t wait to hear how you and your little ones like it, too!
A quick note: All of the new patterns that I’m going to be introducing over the next week or so will be released at the same time. I mentioned before that I have a few things to finish up, and I want to make sure that my retailers all have the patterns on hand (or on their sites, in the case of pdf patterns). I’m shooting for Tuesday, June 5th, but I’ll keep you updated through my blog and my Facebook page!
2012 Spring Quilt Market Booth Start to Finish
Now that I’m home and have had a day to recover a bit, I can’t wait to share details of my second Quilt Market! I took way more pictures this time than last, so I have a few posts that I’ll share over the next week or so. I’ll mix some new pattern reveals in, too! Ray and I drove up from North Dallas on Wednesday and arrived in the early evening. The first step for booth set-up was putting down the floor and hanging the drapes (after a quick pressing in our hotel room!). We used a laminate floor from IKEA which added just the right touch for our vintage kitchen theme. I must add a huge “Thank-you!” to my amazing husband here for all the work that he did–most of the first few hours of set-up, I just stood by and watched while he made sure the floor looked perfect!
On Thursday morning, my wonderful friends, Andrea of 3girlday and Ginny of GingerLuvs arrived to help get the rest of the booth assembled. (Andrea, by the way, was an huge part of planning the booth ahead of time, too. She took my basic ideas and turned them into an absolutely beautiful booth!)
We worked all morning, took a break for a late lunch (at The Bluebird Bistro-yum!) and stepped back to look at our finished creation well before dinner time.
What do you think? (You can click on the above picture for a larger one.)
Here are a few closeup images of everything in my booth. Can you pick out a few new patterns? More details are coming! (I actually have a few patterns that aren’t quite finished yet . . . I just ran out of time!)
Quilt Market Time and a Fun Little Giveaway!
The last few weeks (months, really) at my house have been full of a whole lot of this:
a little of this:
and perhaps a bit too much of this:
All of that was in preparation for Quilt Market this weekend! Ray and I arrived in Kansas City late in the afternoon yesterday. Booth setup has started and will continue (with the help of a few wonderful local friends–more about them later) through today.
We have a fun little theme going on with the booth, and it fits my personality very nicely. The centerpiece of the whole thing started out this way:
Have any idea what we might have turned those random pieces into? Why don’t we have a little contest? I have seven new patterns that I’ve been working furiously to finish for Market. I’ll be revealing them over the next couple of weeks. Would you like to get a set of them for free? Just leave a comment on this post telling me what your guess is to the very cool project we created with this set of pieces. I’ll check back in before bedtime tonight and pick a random winner from those who guess correctly, and I’ll reveal the answer with a picture (as long as things go as planned).
Oh, and for the record, yes, I do eat chocolate chips out of the bag for a chocolate fix whenever necessary.
Have you sewn a dress yet?
Have you sewn a dress for Dress a Girl with Hopeful Threads yet? You still have 5 1/2 days to add a dress to the over 100 already sewn and donated!
Kristy has set a goal of 200 dresses total, and I know she’s going to far surpass that! I took one hour out of my crazy schedule this morning and whipped up this sweet little sleeveless dress. An hour of my time and a little fabric is hardly even a sacrifice to me, and to know that it will bring a smile to a little girl’s face and a little fun to her wardrobe makes it well worth it.
This is a simple modification of my free tank pattern. Just add a little length–I added 7 1/2″ to the 5T–and angle the body of the dress out to give some hip room.
I added a couple of pockets by cutting rectangles of cotton jersey, folding them in half and stitching them in place. After a quick wash and dry, the edges roll up nicely and add a little fun!
I sewed a quick line of stitches about 1/2″ from the bottom edge and let the jersey in the body of the dress roll up at the hem, too. Finally, a pretty “handmade” tag (from Night Owl’s Menagerie), and it’s ready to go!
Texas Babies in the Texas Bluebonnets 52 (Family) Projects in 2012: #8, 9 & 10
I was up until midnight the night before Easter finishing up Easter outfits for Charlie, Jamie and Katie. (Seersucker, again, this year! It’s such a classic spring fabric. I love it!) I was so excited to get pictures of the little ones all together the next day. Sadly, though, storms rolled in during the Easter Sunday church service, and the rain continued all afternoon. In spite of that, though, it was a beautiful day, and it was so nice to spend it with all of my children since times are changing, and it may be the last Easter we get to celebrate together for awhile.
A few days after Easter, Morgan and I dressed our youngest three little ones back up in their handmade Easter clothes and headed out to find a patch of Texas bluebonnets for a photo session. We thought it would be a great idea to take pictures of our three Texas babies in the bluebonnets since this is likely the last time we’ll be able to! Why is that? Because we’re moving back to Florida early this summer!
I’ll share more next week about our move and how crazy it is to be preparing for Quilt Market while you’re trying to sell your house and prepare to move halfway across the country. For now, I’ll leave you with some beautiful pictures of the blessings that we’ve been given in our five and a half years in Texas.
Musings on Being a WAHM and Birthday Wishes
I was a Work-Out-of-Home-Mom for years, so I appreciate more than I think I can express how much I enjoy the advantages of being a Work-at-Home-Mom. Some days are really hard, though. If you keep up with my Facebook or my 365, you probably already know that our whole family has been taken out by three different nasty cold viruses in the last six weeks or so. I’m pretty sure that we haven’t gone more than a few days without someone being sick. My five youngest were all feverish yesterday. I’m feeling so behind, and this little guy just wanted Mama all day. Each time I tried to put him down for a few minutes, he’d toddle to find me and cry, “Ma, hold me, pease.”
Isn’t it amazing how just touching Mama can make a little one feel better? Being there when they need me is why I choose to work from home, so I put aside work for a while and held this little guy. Work will still get done in time. It might take a few up-until-after-midnight-when-the-kids-are-asleep sessions, but it will get done. In the end, raising these little ones is really my most important “job”. I know from experience that too soon, they’re all grown up and cuddling their own babies.
In fact, today happens to be the 22nd birthday of this amazing young woman!
My first baby, Morgan, is all grown up and a Mama herself now. Isn’t she beautiful? She really is, inside and out. She loves Jesus. She’s firm in her beliefs and will stand up for them in a second. She makes incredibly mature decisions, far more mature decisions than I was making at her age. She’s a great mother who always does the the very best for her daughter. She manages a busy WAHM job, a full-time college course load, and being wife, mother, daughter and sister with grace, and she makes it look like a breeze! Happy Birthday, Morgan! I pray that this new year brings you many joy-filled moments, happy memories and beautiful blessings!
52 (Family) Projects in 2012: #4
My baby is two years old! We celebrated Charlie’s second birthday yesterday with cake and a few little presents and, of course, a new mama-made outfit!
I sewed up my Buttons & Buckles Overalls using Ann Kelle Cool Cords in Whale Print and Argyle. I just love the weight and feel of these corduroys! They’re so soft, and they’re not overly heavy or thick. That makes them easy to sew and great for layering in the winter or wearing alone in the spring. I even have a few more yards set aside for summer shortalls.
I can’t believe how fast my little guy is growing! I thought I’d make the 3T so he’d have room to grow, and it almost fits him perfectly. Sigh. They don’t stay tiny for long, do they?
Pictures of Samantha’s birthday room re-do are coming soon! I just have a few little things to finish up.
