Black Friday Sale!

A State of Mind...

Hello to you all!  Can you believe that Thanksgiving is on Thursday?  I can't.  This year has absolutely flown by.  One thing I am super excited about...our daughter is going to be home from college tomorrow!  Woohoo!  I can't wait to see her.  We have a couple of projects lined up for when she gets home.  One of the ones I can't get out of my mind is making some things out of our State Towels and Tablecloths.  I have said previously that I want to make a set of pillows for our couch that have meaning to our family.  Here are the ones that I want to use...

Oklahoma Cowboy Flour Sack Towel

We live in Oklahoma.  

Colorado Towel

We took the kids to Colorado for Christmas one year for a 3 day vacation.  Those 3 days turned in to a whole week due to 2 blizzards coming in at the same time we were there.

Texas Flour Sack Towel

I am from TEXAS...enough said!...LOL

I also want to try whipping up some quilts using some of the State Tablecloths.  When we were in Houston for the Quilt Festival, I heard the idea of making quilts out of tablecloths.  Well, I don't know about you, but I thought this was brilliant.  Here are the ones that I have in mind for whipping up as quilts...

*Mom and Dad, stop reading this post right now...what follows is a Christmas spoiler!

Florida Tablecloth

My Dad is from Florida.  I can see a lot of quilting to make this little beauty pop as a quilt top.

Washington Tablecloth

My Mom is from Washington.  Again, the quilting you choose to do with this would just enhance this.

I am not sure how you may view all of our State tablecloths and towels.  Each one I see brings up memories for me.  What I would like to know is how would you use them?  Do they conger up memories for you or do you see really cool towels to represent your states?  How would you use these in your home?  I would love to hear your ideas or maybe suggestions for tutorials you might like to see.

Head over to our website and check out all of our State items.  Let me know which would be the first one you would purchase.  Remember, when you check out use my Discount Code.  

Have a FANTASTIC day, and a BLESSED Thanksgiving!

A Tea Party...Tutorial

Hey there!  I wanted to share a Tea Party Play mat that I made for my little one.  She is the quintessential princess.  She wakes up and puts on her tiara and starts her day.  Well, any princess worth her salt has tea parties.  Her Mima bought her a tea set.  I was watching her play one night and thought she needed a little play mat to go along with it.  Here is a tutorial that I came up with on the fly.

Supplies
8 Fabric pieces from Gypsy Girl Layer Cake
1/2 yard of coordinating fabric for sashing
1 yard of fabric for backing
1 yard of Fusible Fleece
!/2 yard of fabric for binding...I used 45" Gypsy Girl Wishing Well Blue 
1/4 yard of Wonder Under

I was making this up as I went along...so not all the fabrics were pictured at first.

Start by picking 4 pieces of the layer cake to make your hearts.  I used a heart shape cookie cutter I had as a pattern.  

I just cut a piece big enough to trace the heart onto from each of the 4 pieces.  If you look real close you can see the Wonder Under underneath the fabric.  Cut pieces of that to be ironed on to the back of your squares and apply with a hot iron.

Trace your heart onto each of the 4 pieces of fabric

I used a black marker so you could see my tracing.

Repeat for all four squares

Next you want to iron each heart onto the remaining layer cake pieces.

For the sashing...I cut 2.5" strips from my coordinating fabric.  I cut the strips a little larger than the layer cake squares.  I like to trim and square up after I have sewn things together.  So, since the squares are 10"  I cut the strips 11" tall.  Start with 2 2.5" x 11" strips.

See how the strip is a little longer that the square.

Sew the strips into the middle of 2 square using a 1/4" seam.  Again, the strips will be longer than the squares.  Press your seams towards the squares.

Trim the piece so that all sides are even.

Now you want to cut 3 strips 2.5" x 23".  Sew these strips to the top middle and bottom of your squares.

When I was pinning my piece together...I laid my bottom piece on top of the top piece so I could line the center sashing up.

Here is a close up of lining up the centers.  Sew the strips on and again, press all seams towards the sqaure pieces.  Once you have done this, trim off any excess fabric and square up sides.

Cut 2 2.5" x 28" strips.  Sew these to the sides of your mat.  

Trim and Press

Place your mat on top of your fusible fleece.  Trim the fleece so that it is an inch longer on all sides than the mat.  I do this to all for some give during quilting.

Fuse the fleece to your mat top.

Layer your backing fabric and mat together and start your quilting.  I went with a very simple design.  I felt like I wanted each square to be like a placemat.

Here is a close up of what I did.  I placed a zig zag stitch around each heart...and also added a little machine embroidery to each corner.

As far as the edges of the mat...I like to place a zig zag stitch around the perimeter.  This holds all the layers together and makes it much easier to add your binding.

Add your binding to your mat.  I am sorry, I didn't get pictures of how to add binding.  I am going to work on a tutorial of how I do that.

Now your mat is done and your princess can have countless hours of tea parties with all her friends.

I hope you have enjoyed this tutorial.  I also hope this will help all of your princesses have many tea parties.

Have a FANTASTIC day!

And we are off again!

We have hit the road and headed north.... to Tulsa, OK.  We arrived, unpacked, setup, and are ready to go for the Affair of the Heart show!  It's a great place to get a jump on your Christmas shopping - before the craziness of the Christmas season begins :)

 We even brought our Quilt Shop along with us!  All our Moda yardage, pre-cuts, and more are here for you!

 

Come by and visit with us at Booth #463-465!  Mention this blog and get your FREE gift!

Happy Veteran's Day

We would like to take a minute to thank all the wonderful men and women out there who selflessly have served or are currently serving in our military.

My girls and I had a wonderful day yesterday, spending time with my dad.  He is a Vietnam vet who served his time in the Air Force.  Although he doesn't like to bring attention to himself, I know he served with pride for our country.  I'm thankful for the freedom I have been raised with and all the men and women who have worked so hard to provide it.  It warms my heart to know that my father, along with so many others, played a part in making this such a wonderful country to raise my children in.  I know we all have our opinions on the way things should be done - but if it weren't for those selfless men and women, we wouldn't be able to voice those ideas.  Take a minute today to thank a veteran in your life :)

In honor of Veteran's day, we are offering a 10% off sale for all of our Patriotic items.  Head over to our website to take advantage of this opportunity!

Single Towel Sale!

Happy Friday!!  We are featuring our single Kitchen Towels today.  We are offering 10% off of all of these great towels.  I wanted to show you a few of my favorites.

Sweet Heart Sugar Towel

You need to go ahead and grab this one.  Get a jump on decorating for Valentine's Day.

Holly Wreath Towel

I adore the vintage feel of this towel.  I think it would be so precious to use as a gift wrap for a secret Santa gift.  Quantities are limited to this one.  Get yours now!

Bee My Honey Towel

This towel is so cute in person.  It is just plain sweet.

Texas Flour Sack Towel

As you all know...I am a Texas girl...I am going to get this towel and make it into a throw pillow for my couch.  When we were in Houston this past week, I came up with the idea of using our State Towels and making a collection of couch pillows that mean something to our family.  For example..."our set" would have the Texas towel, Kansas towel, Washington towel, and Florida towel.  

(I think I smell a tutorial in the future for this idea)

Head on over to Home a la mode and check out all of our other Towels.  When you are ready to check out...make sure you use my DISCOUNT CODE for an additional 5% off your purchase.  This is a great sale to stock up on towels.  How about getting a few extras for last minute Christmas gifts.  Check out all our towel packs too!!!