Tuesday, February 24, 2015

#honestcraftroom

It's been brought to my attention several times ((thank you husband)) that my sewing space is not what you would call the neatest space in the house.  Yes yes, I am perfectly 100% aware of this fact and did not need reminding in the slightest, but here's the thing, when my free time/sewing time is already reduced to almost nothing, the absolute last idea that pops into my mind is "lets clean this sewing room up!" when a free moment arises.  Yes, I can gaurantee that phrase is never ever uttered.  I simply put my blinders on and get stitching.  Sure, while I'm stealing a few moments to sew here and there the inner dialog is going "we really need to get this space under control" but it is quickly pushed aside and forgotten about until next time.  

So anyways, after a few months now of wearing those blinders, I can't ignore it anymore, and I'm resigned to the fact that a major overhaul is necessary.  I can't believe I'm going to post this on the inter-webs for all to see, but here's what I'm working with:

Untitled

Ok so this view isn't that terrible, just needs a little bit of organizing and decluttering.  Oh but wait.  There is definitely more:

Untitled

Yikes!!  Just looking at this I'm honestly surprised I haven't broken an ankle maneuvering down here yet.  Ok now that I've shared my dirty secret and you're all thinking "what a slob, I can't believe she works like this," let me share a few in my defenses.

In my defense my sewing area is in our finished basement and it is right off of the garage, where we come in and out of on a daily basis, so my sewing space has a tendency to become the "dumping ground" for all things that don't  yet have a home in our home.  Like that diaper box that is filled with party decorations from Nora's first birthday party. In October.  Um, yeah.  And then there's the fact....Oh I could go on and on, but point of the matter is I let it get to be a disaster zone, and am ready to face facts that something needs to be done.  like now.

I'll be honest, I've been thinking about writing this #craftroomorganization post for some time now, and just got overwhelmed at the thought of what exactly to do to first.  So I didn't do anything at all.  Last week I decided to just take a step, any step towards a cleaner more organized sewing and crafting space, and decided to start with cleaning house in the fabric scrap department!

Untitled

I dug through each and every scrap bin under my ironing board and cleaned house.  Like got rid of it all by means of a destash on Instagram.  If you don't follow me already, I can be found here and my destash account can be found here at SewCraftyJessDestash.  I can't believe the amount of scraps I was hoarding, to the tune of over 35 yards of scraps by weight.  Whaaaat???  Insane I know.  Anyways, my sewing room is 35 yards of fabric lighter and I feel great!  Definitely stay tuned to SewCraftyJessDestash, I have a whole bunch of FQs and actual yardage I'm looking to purge in the near future.

So what to do next?  Good thing Pinterest is around to show me the craft room organizing way.  Here's what I have so far:

Follow Jessica Kelly's board craft room on Pinterest.

I'm thinking I need more open shelving storage.  I'll have to take some measurements, but I'm hoping one or two Ikea Kallax book shelves will help, and I can't resist adding one of these Raskog carts, definitely in blue.   I also need to take advantage of wall space, so I'm thinking a big DIY peg board would be great, with some of these hanging buckets.  The wheels are turnings so stay tuned for more to come!

Any craft room organization tips you swear by??  Have any pins I need to check out??  Please send them my way, I would love to know!








Wednesday, February 18, 2015

Completed Quilt: Fairy Tale Frames Baby Quilt

DSC_0815

Now that this quilt is safely in its new home, enjoying lots of snuggles with baby A, I can share here with you all!  A very good friend of mine recently had her third baby - a baby girl after having two boys!  Naturally baby girl needed her own quilt, and it needed to be extra girly, as I'm sure baby A's big brothers will do their best to teach her all about Tonka trucks and John Deere Tractors.

DSC_0811

Big brothers J and T of course have their own quilts so baby A's quilt now makes three in their household!  You can read about J's Jungle quilt here and T's quilt-in-a-day here.

DSC_0806

DSC_0805

My friend and her husband have waited until delivery day to find out the gender of all three of their kiddos (more power to them!) so from the minute we got the "It's a girl" message, I knew I wanted to cut into my Far Far Away fabric for this special little lady's quilt.  I fussy cut the block centers, and paired them with soft pinks, purples, oranges and yellows from my stash to finish this delicious baby girl quilt.

DSC_0804

DSC_0809

I couldn't find a backing fabric that worked with the quilt top from my stash, and really wanted to work from my stash, so I pieced together a back from left over scraps from the quilt top.  It always feels so satisfying to create a quilt from start to finish from stash fabrics!

DSC_0823

For the binding I found this pretty pinky-purple print that I believe is a Moda print, and that's about all I can tell you about it!  I know its been sitting in my stash for quite some time and felt great to put it to use!

Quilt Stats:
Name: Fairy Tale Frames 
Pattern:  None - Fussy cut centers with contrasting fabric frames
Size: 44" x 44"
Fabrics:  Fussy cut centers:  Far Far Away reprint, coordinating prints from stash
Quilting:  All over FMQ loops 



Tuesday, February 17, 2015

Giveaway winner

I owe you a winner!  Random.org chose comment #67 as the winner for the Love is All Around fabric bundle is Karen!  Congrats Karen!  Check your inbox for an email!

DSC_0847

Friday, February 13, 2015

Valentines Fabric Sales!

Just wanted to pop in with a few great fabric sales from a few sponsors!  Don't forget to spoil yourself a little bit this weekend, and what better way than with fabric!

Rose Room Quilts - A Modern Fabric Shop

Rose Room Quilts is offering 20% off of any purchase over $25 now through Monday, February 16, 2015 when you use code Sweet 20 at checkout!!  My mind has been on sewing Nora a few summer outfits and these Wee Wander prints might have to make their way  to my sewing room.

Glow Friends in Pink - Click Image to Close Summer Ride in Seafoam

Lady Belle Fabric

Lady Belle Fabric is having a whole host of great deals!  Be sure to check out the sale selection, with oodles of prints at $6 - $7 per yard!  

Enchant Main Pink by Cinderberry Stitches for Riley Blake Enchant Tea Party Aqua by Cinderberry Stitches for Riley Blake

These super sweet Cinderberry Stitches prints are on their way to me as we speak, Nora will most definitely be the cutest kid at daycare!  Lady Belle Fabric also has new fabrics in stock - Daysail, Fresh Cut and Hello Bear!


Dragonfly Fabrics now has Mochi in stock!!  While your picking up this beautiful fabric line, be sure to check out the coordinating solids to match. 

Up Parasol by Heather Bailey is also 15% off through the week, use code UpParasol15 at checkout!


DSC_0766

Have you seen Fat Quarter Shop's 24 Hour Flash Sales??  Every day at 10:00 AM a new deal is available for 12 hours!  Be sure to check early and often for each day's great deals, and hint hint, on Tuesday there are 2 flash sales!  One at 10 AM and one at 10 PM!

Happy Valentine's Day weekend, and happy shopping!

Monday, February 9, 2015

Giveaway & Be Mine Valentine Bunting

****This giveaway is now closed****

DSC_0845

Happy Monday!  I had the pleasure of working with the folks at Benartex to put together a new version of my Be Mine Valentine Garland Tutorial!  Head over to the Benartex blog Sew in Love {with Fabric} to check out the tutorial. 

DSC_0841

While you are over there, be sure to follow Sew in Love {with Fabric}either by reader or email or pop over to follow Benartex on Facebook.  The lovely folks of Benartex have graciously offered a fat quarter bundle of Love is All Around (fabric used to make this bunting--the X's and O's are my favorite!) to one lucky SewCraftyJess reader!  Simply leave a comment below telling me you now follow the Benartex blog or Facebook page.

DSC_0847

Giveaway will be open until Friday, February 13, 2015 at 9:00 AM.  US residents only.  ***Giveaway now closed***

Friday, February 6, 2015

Once Upon a Time Sampler: Complete!

DSC_0838

I am so incredibly excited to be writing this post, as it means the year long Once Upon a Time Sampler I began working on one year ago is now complete!

DSC_0836-1

I'll say it now, pardon the picture heavy post, but I just can't help myself!  There isn't one thing that I don't absolutely love about this.  Each month would bring a huge smile when I saw the new pattern in my inbox, and would anxiously get to stitching each little block.

DSC_0833_edited-1

Call me sentimental, but I just look back at those early months and remember my stitching time was usually with Nora laying next to me on the couch or while I was pumping.  Ugh that dreaded pump.  Anyways, this was my compromise with myself, I got to do something fun while doing something not so fun.  Anyways, I look at July's block and remember I stitched that one at the beach. 

DSC_0832_edited-1

The majority of these blocks were stitched while sitting on my corner of the couch, after Nora was put to sleep and the hubs and I caught up on some DVR and enjoyed a quiet evening alone.  For the moment, cross stitching is my quick little portable project that I can pick up here and there and work on little bits at a time.

DSC_0829

This sampler is destined for a spot on Nora's wall, I think she'll get a kick out of it as she gets older and we read longer fairy tales (right now our attention span can make it through Goodnight Moon, and that's about it), and we can point to each picture that matches the story.

DSC_0828

I have grand plans to get this framed, but I'm not sure I want to spend hundred(s) of dollars--and don't you dare tell my husband that's how much it cost to get my Gingerbread Lane Sampler framed--he thinks it was $50.  That's my story and I'm stickin' to it.  I've tried to frame them myself, and it just doesn't look as nice.  I've seen Michaels does quasi-custom framing, maybe that will be a good compromise?  Anyone have any framing tips  that would help?  I'm all ears!

DSC_0831

  For now I just like to pull it out and run my hands over all those stitches, admiring the hours and hours and hours spent on this little guy!  Happy stitching!