A beautiful Sunday afternoon

We had a packed house on Sunday, 35+ people. It was a lot of fun. Thank you to everyone that could make it. We enjoyed talking with you after the show. It was so fun to see others excited about sewing, for their own little ones, or their grandchildren. Such a joy to be able to share our passion with each of you. And how surprised was I when a sweet young Mama of two little girls introduced herself and said "you probably don't remember, but you were my Bible study leader back in Jr. High." Wow! Hi Stephanie! That had to have been 15 years ago. So fun to see you again.

So, pinned up there on the bolts of fabric are just the samples I still have that don't fit my girls anymore (you can't see all of them in this pic). Weren't they just itty bitty yesterday? *sigh* We had a huge hanging rack to hold everything the girls modeled, at the other end of the building. It made me sad that I've even parted with the few samples that I have. So I'm thinking that going forward, I'll just need to buy more storage bins and keep every single piece going forward. I know I'll enjoy pulling everything out 25 years from now. And my girls will too.

I'll add more photos of the actual event, as I get them. This was the only one I had time to snap myself. And how gorgeous were those smocked flower girl and holiday dresses we got to see too? Annette's work is amazing! Hopefully she'll be starting an Etsy shop soon and I'll share it with you. A HUGE thank you to our moms and pint sized models. Everything came together without a hitch. And especially thank you to Lori and Becky of Eagle Creek Quilt Shop. I never would have met Amy 2 years ago if you hadn't asked me to do that first class. Thanks for having us back!

Next up...a quick tute on how Amy and I gather the skirt of a dress the easiest way we know how. And beleive me, we've tried it every which way possible. ;) We'll also be adding Paris Paws to the shop this week too.

How to add Ric Rac: Tip #2 {Tutorial}

Click here, for Tip #1, adding ric rac to a hem.

Now for tip #2, embedding ric rac in a seam. We do this all the time (thank you, Amy!) and have found this to be the easiest way. And guess what...there are no pins involved! Really. I mean it. Anybody want a peanut?

The first thing you need is this Clover chalk tool. It can be found with the quilting notions at a fabric store and even places like Eagle Creek Quilt Shop carry it. I could only find yellow at JoAnn, but ECQS has white so that is on my t0-get list now. In fact I should have mentioned this in my favorite tools post.

It's got a tiny little metal wheel inside and is filled with powered chalk. I recommend NOT opening it to see what's inside. Just trust me on this one. ;)

Now just lay your straight-edge ruler along the hem the same distance as your seam allowance (mine is 1/2") and run the chalking tool along the edge. Try to make your line thin by only going over it once. Mine got a little thick which made it a bit more trouble. But that's ok, it gave me the opportunity to show you how I solve that later. Silver lining? I think so.

Now lay the fabric on your machine and line up the indents of the ric rac with the chalk line. That chalk line represents where you will sew the seam in a few minutes. Of course, make sure you've already trimmed the end and heat sealed it and have it laying the correct direction for starting so you don't see a "tail" above your seam. This next photo doesn't show it laying on top of the line, because then you wouldn't be able to see the line. Go ahead and sew the ric rac down so it stays on that line. I saw to the right of center so the stitches will be in the seam allowance later.

A few inches before the end, trim your ric rac so the ending tail is also caught in the seam. Heat seal that end before finishing your row of sewing. Now you are ready to lay your top piece of fabric on it. Ok, so there are pins involved in this step. But so far I've saved you from having to pin every single indent on the ric rac. That's how I used to do it and it was such a pain. Literally. Plus, it was difficult to sew over those pins without the fabric moving a tiny bit and that is all it takes for ric rac to go off mark.

Now check your work to make sure it's looking good.

Yay! Looking good!

Ok, so it's not exactly perfect all the way around yet. That wider chalk line kind of did me in.

Just mark with a pin the beginning and ending of that trouble spot.

If the ric rac is hanging out too much, just sew the distance you think it will take to correct it, on the outside of the seam. Meaning...make the seam a little wider.

If the ric rac is not peeking out enough, just sew a new seam inside that seam allowance and remove the bad portion of your original seam. Don't forget to anchor your stitches at the stop and start ends again.

Then flip it open and use a dry, clean washcloth to rub out the chalk lines and press it open. Double check that everything looks good and finish it up.

Voila!

Now go out and buy yourself a fancy new chalk tool!

p.s. Another way to do it if you are sewing a piece where you can make up your own seam allowance, is to just baste stitch the ric rac with the edge of it along the cut edge of the fabric. Then just make your seam allowance the distance needed. For jumbo ric rac, that would be 3/8". And actually, I could have done that for this dress, just didn't think about it before I cut the butterfly band. It would have messed up the proportion I already had figured out, to use a 3/8" instead of a 1/2" seam allowance. We are always learning, aren't we?

Dreaming of a painted kitchen

(Benjamin Moore's HC10)

Our whole house could use a fresh coat of paint. Is it any wonder, after years of kids scribbles artwork and holes that need filling from rearranging? But it's the kitchen that will give us the most bang for our buck. Right now it's red. And before adding the new wood buffet (ok, so it's really a dresser, but I love it anyway) makes the red grow on me more...I'm talking dangerously close of making me think the red's a keeper...we better go yellow. I'm tried of my house looking like fall and winter year round. We get that enough with the weather so it's time to brighten things up. And this is the perfect room to start replacing the baseboards with tall white ones and get rid of all that ranch trim.

^I'm also thinking of adding white board and batten 3/4 up the wall (and around the backsplash) and painting the dresser and mirror frame black. That little lamp needs a white drum shade too. And the table could use a dark stained top and black legs. Just yesterday one of the chairs was accidentally sacrificed while trying to reach a big spider way up high. Crash...ouch...a leg completely split...and thankfully just a bruised ego. Good thing there are only 5 of us.

I think Benjamin Moore's "White Dove" would be the perfect trim and cabinet color for our house (see next pic).

And I have one upper kitchen cabinet that would be super cute with the doors removed and interior painted Benjamin Moore's "Bird's Egg"

I've also been reclaiming the flat surfaces in our living room. Once the girls were mobile and a few favorite things were broken, I gave up. I took everything down. So far it's been going well and I'm not looking back. We also moved a large leather chair to the playroom and it really opened up the space. But now the stained carpet looks even worse. Don't worry, there won't be any close ups of that. ;)

Very fall/winter, no? That little cabinet will be going black too. How funny that I used to look at wood furniture and think everything should be painted white. Now I think it should all be black.

^Said artwork on the walls...their pencil period.
Their marker and crayon period is thankfully behind the love-seat. Oh, and that white bunny bit the dust not even one hour after taking this photo. Grrr...Sam pulled the whole quilt off and everything came crashing down.

And here is the red armoir that we matched the kitchen paint to. This was the first piece of furniture we bought for our house 12 years ago. I still love it and it will be a great accent for the yellow and aqua I have my heart set on.



I know Ikea used to sell some gorgeous floor lamps that had a chunky/spindle base and large white drum shades. I can't find them on their site, so i'm really hoping they will be at the store. Otherwise I'll just have to keep drooling on them at my favorite local coffee house.

I'm seriously toying with the idea of replacing all the curtains in the living and dining room with these from Ikea. Am I a little crazy? Maybe that's too much boldness to commit too.

But I was also wanting to move the large framed Williamsburg print to over the piano downstairs and then replace my log cabin quilt with the Pop Garden one that's almost done. So I think this could work.

Hmm...a little paint, new lampshades and some curtains won't break the budget. I think.

Does the coming of spring make you want to redecorate too?

(professional photos from House Beautiful)

Next up is ric rac tutorial #2!

Grace for the Good Girl

I have to read this book by Emily of Chatting at the Sky.





Yep, that's me too. Nobody has it all together, right?

must. make. these. now.

My wardrobe could use some sprucing up.





How about yours?

Find these patterns here.