Meet my new Tufted Tweets Apron!

I developed a serious crush on these cute little vintage inspired aprons by Julie. So I broke into my Tufted Tweets stash and shipped her some fabric. Lickety split she sewed this darling apron for me. It's beautifully finished and just so cute.


I'll be wearing it this afternoon (and feeling all sassy in the kitchen) when I get started on this evening's dinner. I'm not sure if Julie has any Tweets fabric in her stash, but if you ask her I'm sure she could track some down and make you your very own apron too. :)

Nesting Chairs - Available in the shop!

At long last, my new Nesting Chairs collection is available in my shop. I'm so excited and I hope you love them.

You may recall my struggle with my colors on the yellow Stacked Chairs. (My yellow wasn't holding up the way I was comfortable with...) You guys were really wonderful and shared some very insightful suggestions for incorporating enough yellow to finish out the collection while solving my printing dilemma with the solid yellow background. I played with subtle backgrounds that 'spoke' to yellow and loads of different shades of grey. For the design, I wanted the beauty of the shapes of the chairs to be very simple and showcase their architectural quality and I just kept coming back to the yellow upholstery. And I'm so happy with the result. I like it even better than where I started. (It reminds me of a great yellow sofa my Grandmother had when I was little!)

OLD

NEW


The entire collection is available in two color stories: Yellow & Grey and Aqua & Orange.



I hope you'll pop over to the store for a bunch of detail shots!

The other item I've added is a new DIY Pillow Panel in orange/aqua and yellow/grey. I am soooo excited about these. You can make your own pillow cover using this printed panel. It's printed on Upholstery Weight Cotton Twill, and its ideal for a couch or bed cushion cover. I bet it could also be used for a super cute panel in a tote or diaper bag! The panel is 17.5" x 17.5” a features a swirly background with a Nesting Chair and Ottoman. Included with the panel are easy to follow instructions for sewing a pillow cover that will fit a 16" x 16" insert.





Happy shopping!!

Giveaway winner

Happy Saturday everyone! It's time to announce the winner of the giveaway for the little Polar Bear Peek-a-Boo bin. I had a great time collaborating with Lesley at Smidgebox Designs and just as much fun reading all about your collaborations. Thanks so much for sharing!



The lucky winner is #31, Deserae! I hope you love the little bin and that you'll send Lesley and I a picture of where it ended up going to live.

I've been under the weather for the last few days and am finally starting to feel a bit more human today. I even think I have the energy to make some French Onion Soup (my favorite!) It's been cold with a bit of snow (which is very unusual) here in Austin so it's perfect soup weather. I posted the recipe a long time ago and it really is just divine.(If I can find it, I now substitute beef consomme for the broth because it just makes it more rich and gives it more depth...) Wish it was ready now! Yummmm....

Polar Bear Peek-a-Boo Bin | Giveaway!

One of the most fantastic parts of having this blog, my Flickr group and my Etsy store has been all of the wonderful people from all over the world that I've been able to e-meet and get to know. What an amazing community out there and I'm so glad you keep writing and visiting.

One of the great people I've gotten to know, is Lesley Stenning over at Smidgebox Designs. Over the holidays we decided to collaborate and I asked Lesley if she would make me a few of her adorable peek-a-boo storage bins using my Polar Bear fabrics. I just adore Lesley's finishing technique and couldn't wait to see little polar bears peeking through. Well, of course I was hoping they would be really cute, but instead they are beyond adorable. Lesley made me 2 (which are already hard at work here at my house). Don't you love them?!?




And the surprise is that we have one of these cute fabric storage bins that Lesley and I are giving away! To enter to win, just leave a comment here on my blog and tell me about something fun you collaborated on (or would like to!). I'll randomly draw a winner after 8am CT on Saturday Feb. 5, 2011. Make sure you leave a way for me to contact you!

Here's details on the little cutie that could be coming to live with you soon:

5" square, 5" high [12.5 cm]
rustic linen + cotton
interfaced for structure, but not stiff
This little storage bin would be equally at home in a child's room or your home office. Round up bits of this + that, anything from paperclips to post-it notes, hairbands and accessories!

Once you've registered to win, make sure you head over to Lesley's store and her blog to peruse her other lovely goodies.
smidgebox.etsy.com
smidgebox.blogspot.com

Good luck!

Friday Night Sewing

At 9:30 last night I decided it was the perfect time to sew a new little quilt for the cats. Why I always decide to start projects when it's really far too late in the evening to do so is beyond me. But the result is a pretty darn cute cat quilt.

If you remember, I made a tree skirt during the holidays? And the cats loved it? Well, I haven't had the heart to take it away from them, so the tree skirt has been on the floor in my living room for the entire month. Very attractive, eh?


Now, don't get me wrong, I love those little Santa Donkeys, but I think it's time for them to go into storage so they can surprise me with their cuteness next year when I'm unpacking my holiday decorations.

So, back to last night. It took me 4 hours, but I sewed up this sweet little quilt for the kitties. I'm working on a duvet cover for my bed so I just used some of the left over squares. I finally mastered getting the walking foot on my machine and was able to quilt something for the first time with lines that didn't get all shifted around and weird on the back side of the quilt. Yeah me!


Dexter trying out the new quilt (after he muscled Fiona off of the quilt which would explain the slightly crazed twinkle in his eye)


Awoke this am (granted a tad late...) all filled with crafty energy so made a few little valentine's cards (family stop reading here!). :) I cut a few hearts out using my pinking shears, free motion stitched them to blank cards and hand stamped the word LOVE on them. Super fast and fun. (But apparently must go back and clip threads!) A really nice way to start off what I'm sure is going to be a lovely day.



Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!

p.s. Color dilemma for the Nesting Chairs solved and I should have the fabric listed in the store within a week or so. I can't thank you guys enough for all the feedback and ideas. It was lots of fun to hear your thoughts and they were really a great help.

Color dilemma...help me decide?

So...before I ever post pictures of new fabric I'm getting ready to launch in the Etsy store, I always go through a several rounds of design, ordering of swatches, washing of swatches and only THEN do I take the photos, post the pictures on my blog and declare the fabrics ready to sell.

I follow this process this because I'm very particular about my colors, and because digital printing can be tricky with getting the color you're looking for and in getting the colors to hold up the way you want them to.

And I got so excited about this new Nesting Chairs collection that I broke my usual process (bad designer) and did not wash my fabrics before I snapped pics and posted them in my sneak peek post. Well... I washed the fabrics last night and 4 of the 5 are divine. Colors holding well and just what I had hoped.

BUT, I'm just not happy with the way the yellow background is holding up in this chairs fabric.
(This is the pre-washing photo)

The large areas of uninterrupted yellow background are just not setting very well. (I've experienced this before with yellows and greens as well...) So what this means is that this design just isn't going to end up working out for digital printing in it's current incarnation. So, I'm going to have to reduce large fields of contiguous yellow in this design. Which makes me sad because I love it just like this... But that's nature of the beast.

I've been tinkering with the colors and wanted to get your thoughts because I am really torn. It's also an interesting view into how much color modifications can really change the feel of a design.

#1: I started by simply swapping the colors (light grey background, yellow chairs and dark grey upholstery.) Not loving this...



#2: So then I tried mixing up the colors and making some of the chairs yellow and some dark grey but keeping the light grey background. Better, but not perfect...

#3: So then I tried swapping the light and dark grey and really not loving this at all...

So I'm left with a dilemma. I can keep tinkering with lighter and darker shades of grey which would probably make some impact, but frankly, what I really want is the one with the yellow background that I started with! But since that's not an option, of these 3, I am probably leaning towards #2.

So I'm going to delegate the decision to you guys. :)

Do I go ahead and kill the yellow chairs design and just launch the collection with 4 patterns? Or do I replace the yellow chairs with #2 above? Or do I keep tinkering with different greys?

My gut tells me that none of them will have the feel that I'm after (because I want the yellow background!) and that I should just put that design on a back burner for now and go with the 4 in the collection instead of 5. Aaargh!!! What do you think? Your feedback would be MUCH appreciated!

p.s. Heather and Ashley: You ladies asked about other color stories for this collection. :) I am thinking of aqua and orange but am still tinkering... Feedback from all encouraged of course!
Of course, it would be a few weeks before I could get these tested and ready for sale. But what do you think?

New fabric designs - Nesting Chairs - Available in my Etsy store soon!

Happy New Year!!

I hope 2011 has started off with a bang for all of you. My year is off to a really wonderful start and I'm just feeling so positive about everything! For whatever reason, I just know 2011 is going to be a banner year.

I've been diligently working on new designs to license both for fabric and for other categories (like bedding, tabletop and home decor etc...). I can't believe that Surtex (the big licensing trade show in NYC in May) is right around the corner. It will be my second year exhibiting and the show will be here before I know it! I've already begun some early work on my signage and booth materials and am working on loads of new designs to add to my portfolio.

And in fabric news, I just got back my first Spoonflower samples of some new fabric that I am going to have available only in my Etsy store very soon. I've been pining for new chairs and couches fabrics for the store, so I'm so excied to announce that have a new collection called Nesting Chairs. The palette is a lovely shade of goldenrod yellow and some warm and lovely greys. There are 5 patterns in the collection. I'm still working on names for each so if you have any ideas, I'd love to hear them. Just leave me a comment! :)

I'll be working to get the Nesting Chairs collection loaded into the store and for sale within the next week and will let you know as soon as they're available for sale. I just got so excited I wanted to share them with you!! I'd love to hear what you think.

Santa Donkeys final sale - Only three half yard sets left

Clearing out the very last few pieces of the Santa Donkeys and Holiday Boots fabric! Priced to go from my shelves to your sewing table. :)

Regularly $34 for the 1/2 yard set, I only have THREE sets left and have marked them down to $20 each. Come and get them because once they're gone, they're gone!

Tufted Tweets Giveaway at Form & Fabric

I hope everyone is having a wonderful holiday season! I've been thoroughly enjoying the time off and have had such a great little break. My house is filled with family and I have a belly full of delicious holiday treats. I think I may even spend a bit of time doing some sewing this afternoon.

I got a sweet note from my friend Margaret who recently opened up a fabulous online store called Form & Fabric. She has a great selection of hard to find fabrics, $2.99 shipping and does a monthly fabric giveaway. And guess what she's giving away this month? Loads of Tufted Tweets!

Photo by Now and Then Photography

Four fabulous Tufted Tweets bundles are up for grabs. Head on over to Form & Fabric to enter to win before 1/30/11. There will be four winners:
- One Grass bundle with four half yard cuts
- One Orchid bundle with four half yard cuts
- One Sorbet bundle with four half yard cuts
- One lucky person will win a complete set of all colorways!

Good luck!

Dear Santa: A snake was not on my list...

Over the Thanksgiving break my sweet mom brought me an adorable little patio-sized kumquat tree. (A kumquat is a type of citrus fruit similar to a very small orange that's sour like a lemon). I've always wanted one, so was just giddy when she drove up to my house with it her car as a surprise. What a great holiday gift. Thanks mom!!

It's been chilly at night in Austin, so each day I've been diligently dragging the little kumquat tree (who is maybe 3 feet tall) in and out of the garage so it can have sun during the day and can stay out of the night's chill in the evening.

Last weekend, I grabbed the pot by the top rim and picked it up and eeeeeeeekkkkk there is a snake curled up under where the potted tree had been sitting. A very tiny snake, but still...it's a snake people. It was maybe 5pm and I was cold and didn't want to deal with it. But the snake looked cold (and I am a giant softie) so I went inside and got an old bath towel, tossed it on top of the snake and went inside to enjoy my evening. Didn't give the snake another thought.

The next morning, I went out to move the kumquat back to it's usual sunny spot, and figured the snake would be long gone. I mean, what kind of snake is going to just hang out under a bath towel all night? So I moved the towel and eeeeeeeekkkkk there is the snake. Hmmmm.... Now what?

OK. So this little snake is maybe only 12 inches long and no thicker than a pencil. It's still pretty cold so he's being really still thankfully. Mom (who has been great at catching all icky and scary creatures for my entire life) was in town again, so she grabbed some garden gloves, a box with a lid and just scooped the little snakey into the box. I then came out from behind the pillar on the porch (where I was bravely encouraging my mom) to check out the little guy. And to my surprise, guess what that little guy has on the end of his little tail? Holt cow. It's a baby rattle snake people. Yes, a rattle snake! eeeeeeekkkkk. A rattle snake!!



Yep, that's fluff from the bath towel by his eye in the shot below...


Mom (who is even a bigger softie than I am) knows where the Austin Wildlife Rescue Center is, so we put 1st the snake box into a 2nd box. (I mean I don't want it to pull off some sort of Houdini-like escape while in my car, right?) We drive to the rescue center and drop off the snake and a donation. Easy peasy and they were thrilled to welcome their newest boarder.

Now...On the drive home it starts to occur to me... Does that little snake have brothers and sisters? And where the heck are they?!? After much discussion and several days, we've determined that my yard (which is NOT in the boondocks or anything people) is likely not hiding a rattlesnake nest somewhere among it's leaves. Mom got the kumquat from a little garden center that IS in the middle of nowhere in the Texas hill country and the snake was probably just a stowaway. That's my hope anyway...

But good old Mom is coming back over this weekend to help me re-pot that little tree. I just want to be sure there aren't a bunch of scary little guys waiting for me amongst my kumquats. And if any of you out there know anything about snakes that you think I should know (i.e. my stow away theory seems very unlikely) I'd appreciate your thoughts!

So, don't be surprised if you see a snake appear in some future fabric design. You'll know just where he came from!

Urban Circus Winner

Thanks to everyone for leaving comments for the giveaway. From Cabbage Patch dolls, to Etch a Sketch, to Hungry Hungry Hippos and the good old great outdoors, I had so much fun reading about your favorite childhood games and toys. I used to love to draw and paint and to roller skate. I was convinced I learned to skate faster than any little girl ever and wanted to contact the Guinness Book of records to see if there was a category for that very important accomplishment. Who knew that big green pom poms on a girl's skates could make her feel so special? :) Thanks again for sharing all your great stories!

Randomly selected, the winner of the fat quarters of Urban Circus is Jen B who said:
'My favorite "toy" was my bicycle! I would go everywhere with my bike, to school, visiting friends, through the woods, all sorts of adventures!'



TGIF! Have a wonderful weekend wherever you are. And make sure you set aside a little time to play :)

Urban Circus - Giveaway!

It's been a while since I've done a giveaway hasn't it?! Well lets change that right now. How about a full set of FQs of Urban Circus?

I had so much fun designing these prints. I guess they come from that 'I-guess-I'll-always-be-a-little-kid-at-heart' place we all have lurking just beneath the surface. Just leave me a comment and tell me what your favorite toy or game was as a kid. And have fun reminiscing!

I'll randomly select one winner this Friday Dec 10, 2010 around 8am CT.

Have a great week and can't wait to hear a little about your childhood!