Inspiration-Palooza

I'm excited to be participating in the Inspiration Palooza over at The Champ Life!

My quilt goals for 2014 include:

~Learning to paper-piece

~Finish my Square in Square Quilt

~ learn to Free Motion Quilt

~add labels to quilts I make

~Make a quilt for my son

~Make an Equilateral Triangle Quilt

~blog & log my quilts more consistently

And because this is my first year I've really started quilting, I don't have a ton to choose from. I have about 4 I need to finish and made around 6 other quilts. If I had to choose one, I think this one was my favorite...

I love fall and this quilt always makes me think of that beautiful time of year!
Plus, I just LOVE strip quilts. I'm not sure why, but I've always been drawn to them.

 

And now I officially miss fall.

A Foxy Giveaway!

What does the fox say?...

Sorry if that song is officially stuck in your head for the rest of the day! hehe

It's time to see what this week's giveaway has to offer!

It seems foxes are the new craze and I am totally on board with it!
I mean, they are too cute not to love!

This week you can win these foxy handmade items:

How cute are they?!
Win them for yourself or win them to give as a Christmas gift!
To win, all you have to do is "Like" The Running Stitch on facebook and "like" this photo while you're there!
For an extra entry, "Share" with your friends!
The giveaway will end Sunday morning 8am and the winner will be announced at that time!


Good luck!!

Linking up Sew Mama Sew Giveaways!
 

Tied Up With String

Brow paper packaging tied up with string..these are a few of my favorite things!!

With my obsession with Christmas, also comes my obsession with gift-wrapping.
I love wrapping presents!!
Today at my local MOPs meeting I was asked to show a few ways to decorate with brown paper-packaging and thought I would share with YOU today too! Here are a few ideas I shared...

First I demonstrated how to make this adorable felt flower! You can find the tutorial HERE!
I wrapped a couple white strips of lace around and TaDa!

 

For this next one, I got these pretty red stick things (idk what to call them?)  at HobbyLobby!

You can find lots of pretty sticks and decorations in the floral section at HobbyLobby.

I cut a couple small pieces off and tied them on with black lace ribbon! Easy-peasy!

Next, I used Washi Tape for the first time...and I love it!
If you don't know what washi tape is, in short, it's cute decorative tape! Genius.
Wrap your brown paper packaging with string ;) 
..and then washi-tape stick a label on! 

And if you are feeling extra artsy, you can hand sketch some pretty designs on your package.

Washi tape again. This time I decided to just fold over my wrapper paper, cut across with pretty scissors and tape it down with my washi tape. It give it a different but pretty look I think! The flowers are rossettes made from tissue paper. I'll have to make a tutorial for them soon!

You can get your kids involved too!
While I was wrapping, I had my little one scribbling over a package for his daddy.
I think it's super cute!

And for my son, who is OBSESSED with cars right now...
I drew a little map on his packaged and added a car on top!
Mine is far from fancy, but the idea in itself is pretty cute I think!

When decorating your brown-paper packages, the options and designs are truly endless!
You can do whatever you like! Add whatever crafty stuff you have lying around!  
Personalize it to whoever you are giving it to.
Have fun and let your creative juices flow!
Side note: you can get brown paper packaging at Dollar Tree for just $1! (At walmart it was $4)
And Washi Tape can be found at Walmart for just $0.97. And I believe I just saw ribbon by the yard on sale-some were only 10 cents/yard!!
So wrapping can be fun and affordable!
Thanks for stopping by! 

...These are a few of my favorite things...

December Giveaway-Week #1

I am so excited it's finally December!

I've been waiting all year for Christmas to come again!

I can't believe it's finally here and I wanted to share my excitement with all of YOU!!

So for the month of December, each week I will be hosting a giveaway of a handmade item made by me! :)

This weeks giveaway includes this cute Ruffled Chevron Zipper Pouch! 

You can win it for yourself or you could always give it as a gift for Christmas as well..

Either way, what girl doesn't love ruffles..especially when it's combined with chevron!!

And for free! 

Doesn't get better than that! 

To enter the giveaway, all you have to do is "like" my facebook page! 

You can find the link on this page near the top right corner.

While you're there, "like" the giveaway picture and I will pick a winner on Sunday!

The Ruffled Pouch will be in the mail to you by Monday morning! 

Be sure to share with your friends!

Good luck!!

A Bloomin' Pillow

It's been a looonnnnggg week. 

And a very unproductive one at that. 

My little one has been sick since Sunday so my to-do list was put on hold. 

I hate when he is sick...but I sure do love all the extra cuddles!!

Now I would probably go CRAZY if I went an entire week without doing any sewing, so I did manage to finish one project...

I fished through my scrap bucket and got to work on this Bloomin' Quilted Pillow.
 It was a QAYG (quilt as you go) project and was a lot of fun and I LOVE how it turned out!
I followed a great tutorial so if you want to make one be sure to check out Lets Eat Grandpa's blog!  She makes a lot of cute stuff over there!!

 

 Now let's hope and pray lil' man gets to feeling himself soon so mommy can get caught up on orders!

I have 2 quilt orders I'd like to complete by Christmas and as we all know, that day is SNEAKING up on us so quickly! I've got all the fabrics washed so this next week is set aside for cutting and getting a start on sewing them together! Wish me luck!

Have an awesome weekend!! 

Backup Plan

Remember last week's To Do list?

With a sigh of relief, I've finished everything from the list!

The only thing I was worried I wouldn't finish in time was a small quilt..but I finished in time and want to share it with you today.

 

This design actually wasn't my first pick. 

For the first time, I decided to follow a quilt pattern from a magazine I had seen. 

I tore the pattern from the magazine, took it to the fabric store so I could get the exact measurement of fabrics I needed, and drove an hour home fabrics in hand.

But the pattern was nowhere to be found.

I had forgotten it at the fabric store.

 An hour away.

*sigh* 

Such is my luck.

So with that idea thrown out the window, I decided to just make up a pattern. 

Prepare yourself for an abundance of pictures...

  

 

 

 

Thanks for stopping by!

With last weeks To-Do list complete, I've got a new list this week that is sure to keep me busy!

Bring it on. 

Wishing you a productive full of check marks on your To-Do lists!

Autumn Quilt

I'm excited to share a quilt with you today!
It's been finished for about a month now and actually resides in my parent's home.
Which in turn, made it easy for me to sneak over there and snap some pictures to share with you!

I'm finding I LOVE strip quilts! I'm not sure why, I just love the look of them!
It's a simple yet unique look.

 

Doesn't it make you wanna grab a warm mug of apple cider and go for a swing?
Such a beautiful time of year!!

I'm certain I will be making more strip quilts in my future.
They are so simple and fun-even easier than patchwork squares I dare say!!
And it's fun to be able to see it at my parent's house and make sure it's getting lot's of love.
Maybe someday when I catch up on all my orders I can do some selfish sewing and make one for myself to cozy up under!
Until then, thanks for stopping by!

Are YOU my partner??

I signed up for my first swap last month! 

This swap consisted of a mini quilt and was started by Schnitzel and Boo.

How it works is I am assigned to make a mini quilt for another sewer and someone else is assigned to make and send me a mini quilt back! It's a swap! The fun part is it's all in secret!

The girl I have has no idea I have HER name and I have no idea who has me! 

So much fun!! For today I'm calling my swap partner Princess for now because like I said, it's all secret until she receives my package!

I really hope she likes it!!
Here is a sneak peak!!

Here is the mini quilt I made her! She seems to really like photography and says she's obsessed with taking pictures of everything so I thought a lil camera applique would make for a cute mini quilt. What do you think? I even personalized it and put her blog name on it but I had to black it out in this preview (again, it's a secret remember?)
And with my new machine, I added some pretty decorative stitches of course!

Along with the mini quilt, I thought I would add a few extra goodies..

Some fabric to add to her stash..because there is no such thing as too much fabric.

This adorable (if I do say so myself) Chevron Ruffled Zipper Pouch!

 LOVE me some ruffles!
 
 Also some cute Rossette Magnets!
(because magnets don't have to be flimsy business ads)

And all togther now! MMmmm.... Hot Chocolate!! 

Not just any hot chocolate, Ghiradelli hot chocolate! 

Man, now I've got to go buy myself some!! Yummm! 

So what do you think? 

Do you think Princess will like everything?!

Sure hope so!

Make a quilt, make a friend.

Orders Galore!

As I always say, things have been busy around here!

Today I am here to report, things are even MORE busier! 

Which is a blessing really. I am overwhelmed by all the love and support around me! 

At the moment, I have seven quilt orders. Say what?! Seven.

Wowsa. That's a lot. Thankfully only two of them have a due date. (Christmas)

More on that later..

This week my goal is to focus on getting these 4 orders done.

#1. First order I wanted to finish (and just finished today) were these Iowa Hawkeye Ruffle Zipper Pouches.

 

  #2. I have a small lap quilt order that I hope to be able to have finished to give on Sunday! I have the top completed and am SO ready to have this one finished. It was a slow-going quilt for me. It was my first time with Flying Geese..and I LOVE the look of them, but they took me a LONG time!

#3. I have a pillow that needs sewn up! I just finished getting the fabric for it and need to start cutting tonight! I'm having a hard time deciding what kind of quilt pattern block to do! I'm thinking the Dutch Rose...hmm..will see! I want to have that done to give by Sunday too!

#4. I am finishing up a mini quilt for swap going on over at Schnitzel and Boo!
The quilt is done and I need to hand stitch the binding tonight! I've also been working on a few goodies to add to the package! Hope my partner will love this Ruffled Chevron Pouch because I sure do!

I still have a lot of work to do so wish me luck I finish my four projects by Sunday!!

And I want to say thank you for those who are waiting patiently on some of your orders! You are wonderful!

It's been even harder lately to get things done because my little one has officially hit TODDLER stage. 

Oh the dreaded T word.

If he's not eating or watching Mickey Mouse, he is at my feet whining. He gets bored at home and expects me to entertain him which makes it hard to get anything done. 

Sometimes I have him help switch loads of laundry and help pick up toys and such..but for some reason he's not a fan of me being at my computer or sewing machine.

I'm telling you! He could be playing so nicely off by himself but the moment he sees me sit down to either of those, he drops his toys running to me and whines for me to get down and play with him. 

*sigh* 

Don't get me wrong, I LOVE playing with my son. 

We play ALL the time and read books--or rather, the same book over and over--all the time! 

I just haven't gotten a break in a while because my husband has been gone (A LOT) lately with coaching and hunting. Oh what I would do to have an entire afternoon free to just sew away....HA!

Don't see that happening anytime soon. So for now, my time to sew is during naptime and bedtime!
I'll take what I can get! ;)

Happy Sewing!!

Sneak Peek!!

The sale is tomorrow!!

 It's been a fun week full of cutting and sewing! I absolutely LOVE crafting and hope everyone enjoys seeing what all I have been working on lately! As promised, here is a small sneak peek of some items I love to create...

A QAYG Bloomin' Pillow 

 Persimmons Delight Quilt

 

Anna Marie Horner makes some of my most favorite fabric collections! I couldn't resist making a couple quilts: Folk Song Quilts.

And one of my most favorite quilt patters....

The Dresden!! I love this vintage-style Quilted Pillow using the Dresden Plate pattern as well as using it to make these Hot Pads!!  

Quilted Hot Pads 
(Dresden tutorial here: MQC Youtube Video)
Hotpad tutorial here!

And you can never go wrong with a few Quilted Mug Rugs at a craft show.

And a small lil stack of Baby & Toddler Quilts

And if you need a break from sewing, making these fabric magnets were fast, easy, and look how cute they are! 

The colors options are endless and is a great scrap buster!

AND MORE!! This is just a peek at some items that will be set up tomorrow!
If you're in the area, I hope to see you there!!

And if you're a Disney fan, you'll wanna take a look at this fun quilt Here!

Happy Mail :)

Yesterday I received a package in the mail and was thrilled with what I found inside!!

 I was SO excited that the box didn't stand a chance...

My sweet aunt sent me some sewing goodies!

She is the most thoughtful woman I know! Love her!

She must have went to some vintage stores or somewhere fun to find these treasures! 

She sent a BIG bag full of threads and awesome old buttons! Eek!

I need to get me some cute old jars to display these pretties in! 

And look what else ...

 Is this not the sweetest little angel you ever did see? 

She is a pretty embroidering angel! Look at the teeny needle and thread!!

Swoon! She is quite special to me.

And last but not least, in fact, I squealed out lout with excitement 

when I unwrapped this little knick-knack:

 I LOVE this little vintage sewing machine!! 

You would never believe it's actually a pencil sharpener!! Cute, right?!!

It's okay to be jealous. I would be too.

This little knick-knack so precious to me is because I recently got ....

A vintage sewing machine!!

This beauty is mine.

I have always wanted a vintage sewing machine. Always.

I think they are beautiful and I could stare at them all day long.

In fact, sometimes I just stand and look at my machine and can't believe it's mine! 

I finally found a home for it in a little corner of my dining room by my french doors.

I draped a quilt I've been working on over the desk part to make it look like it's been sewing away! But it's just for looks-such a fun way to display a quilt. (Thanks Ma for the idea!)

I'd like to make a more 'vintage-looking' quilt to drape over it  but for now this works!

And underneath I filled a basket with some baby quilts and books.

They aren't just any quilts and books. They are special to me. 

The quilts were made by my grandmother and great grandmother when I was a baby. 

And the books were also my grandmothers who passed them on to my mother who has now given them to me!

(More on my new sewing machine another day!)

For now, I want to send a HUGE thank you to my Aunt Cindy!!

You are just way too sweet!! 

I feel overwhelmingly blessed.

I really can't thank you enough!!

I love you!