Charlotte Made An Adorable Apron

I'm so proud of my 8 year old (almost 9) daughter Charlotte. Here she is posing with an apron she made (mostly) by herself. We used the new Riley Blake Verona Apron Panel, which I highly recommend for beginners or sewing with kids. It was quick, easy and a lot of fun. Plus look how darling it turned out. You could easily add your own embellishments to really make it your own masterpiece.

It took Charlotte maybe 15 minutes to cut everything out, give or take a few minutes if you add time to play with Sparky and scraps while cutting.

Then the next night we started sewing the pieces together. I had Charlotte do most of it herself. I've had her help me make other little projects (we're both beginners) and she's gotten better and better and handling the machine. At first it was scary, I was worried about somebody loosing a finger, but now that thought only occasionally pops in my head. It would be neat to get her into a sewing class for kids, and maybe she could eventually teach me a few techniques.

She sewed and turned the pocket and straps.

I had her do the pressing too.

I did the finishing edge all around the apron.

She chose the layout of the apron with the pocket at the top and buttons. It turned out great and she's so proud of herself. Now I'm thinking it would be fun to get another colorway (this one is calling my name) and making matching Mom & Daughter Aprons. I bet our cookies will taste even better when we make them wearing these adorable aprons! 

This Little Piggie is Going to Austin ...

Here's my first swap project - Petunia the Love Pig. Or maybe just Petunia. She's headed to my swap partner in Austin, Texas tomorrow morning. It's the Melly & Me pattern and this is the second time I've made it (I'll probably make it a few more times since I know a lot of little people that like cuddly little piggies).

Petunia made the rounds posing with a few family members before getting stuffed in a box.

Here's an adorable baby announcement I did for an old friend. Look at those twin babies aren't they ADORABLE!

And here's another caricature I've been working on for a different friend. This guy is going on a bottle of bourbon as a thank you gift for a job well done on a big project. Bottoms up!! 

What A Ghastlie Bag!

I just LOVE Alexander Henry's Ghastlies Fabrics. So I decided to make myself a lovely new purse out of the collection. The more I look at the illustrations the more details I notice. LOVE.

My favorite is this sweet little girl with the ballerina dress and if you look closely she's holding a hammer. Yikes! And of course I love those big, round, pink cheeks. There's another print where all of these characters are sitting at the dinner table together and this girl has her hammer sitting in front of her on the table. They put the whole story together on the fabric... I just love those little details. 

I used the Mail Sack Pattern by Pink Chalk Studios. This is the second time I've made this pattern and I really like it. The bag has a long handle that's meant to cross your body for hands-free carrying. I'm really tall and I'm usually packing a ton of odds and ends because everybody hands me their stuff to hang on to, so this BIG bag is perfect for me. And I think it's quite stylish too. There's also a "mini"version of the bag that I might make one of these days when I'm not packing so much stuff. 

Here's Sparky posing with the Mail Sack Pattern. She likes to help.

And I can't resist sharing my my spooky witch finger cookies from this weekend. So creepy looking, one little girl refused to eat one at our pumpkin carving party.

Eww! Look at the broken fingers nails!! I used the Witch Fingers recipe from Allrecipes.com and added some green food coloring for that "witchy" effect.

WIP - Mom's Bright & Beautiful Quilt

Here's a quilt I'm working on for my mom. She loves bright colors so I went a little wild with this one. All of a sudden I'm noticing orange in a lot of my projects. Maybe it's the season for orange?? I have been drinking a few pumpkin spice lattes and wearing my orange sneakers lately too. Hmmmmm....

Anytime I try and lay fabric on the floor Sparky (full name: Cinderella Sparkle Rose Barrett Roth - the kids named her) likes to help. Or maybe she just has a wicked sense of humor and enjoys running through my project on the floor for laughs. I can't tell what she's thinking, she's got a good poker face as you can see in the photo above. Here she is right before she starts doing her trademark "Tasmanian Devil Spin" through the middle of my block arrangement.

And speaking of orange in projects, this is my new favorite fabric. The photo doesn't do it justice, the colors are amazing! Orange, purple and cyan all mixed together with a lime green. So bright (OK, like my mom I love bright) and beautiful. I just keep staring at it draped on my couch.  It's Pom Pom Dahlias by Philip Jacobs for Rowan. So pretty!! I'm headed to International Quilt Market in Houston next week and I've been thinking about making a skirt out of it. I think it might even pair well with my orange sneakers.

Here's my other little project. I've been doodling away with my new Painter app. Isn't it cool? It looks like I doodled that little jack-o-lantern on paper with water colors. I'm finding that I'm really rusty with my doodling skills though. It's been awhile since I've just drawn a picture without going back and adjusting nodes or combing shapes and adding gradients etc, etc etc in Illustrator. I'm really enjoying practicing again, I forget how much I enjoy drawing until I get back to it. Hopefully I'll pick up my "style" soon with the Painter app.