Please give.

As I mentioned in my last post, we were very fortunate during Superstorm Sandy and didn't even lost power. So many others were not nearly so lucky. I wanted to help, but what could I do?

Enter Gather Here. The lovely and generous Virginia and Noah have organized a fundraiser. All funds go to the Red Cross, BUT! there are a ton of amazing prizes donated by lots of amazing makers. For every $10 you donate, you're entered into a drawing to win one of these fabulous prizes.

I am of the belief that we should do good without expecting something in return (the good deed is all the good we should need, no?), but sometimes it's hard to know where to give or how much to give. So, in addition to making my own donation, I've made the hippo you see in this post especially for this raffle Gather Here is hosting.

If you haven't given any money yet, please do consider making a donation to the Red Cross. And if you have, feel free to enter yourself in the drawing to win something awesome. The fundraiser is open until 11/19, so there's still time! You can see how much has been raised HERE. So many people have given time and talent and amazing handmade goods; it's a wonderful community, and I couldn't be happier to be a part of it.

Spring Ruffle Top

Well, I'm back from a week in Wisconsin and still trying to download all my pictures and process everything that happened. In all, it was a really good trip and one that I am so thankful I was able to take, though I must say I am also very thankful to be home with the husband and the kitty, too. Just before I left I spent a long morning making my own Made by Rae Spring Ruffle Top. Unfortunately, it was too cold and rainy for me to wear on my trip, though I made sure to pack it. 

I bought one yard of the green focus fabric and 1/2 yard of the blue accent from my LQS specifically for this project and used most of it. I think the top turned out pretty well, though my mom says it looks like an apron. I'm happy to finally have some 30s fabrics to wear! Pretty much all of the 30s repros in my stash are relegated to my (very neglected) Dear Jane. 

So, this is my 150th blog post! Craziness. I did have a very crafty May, so that was a big contributor. So far, June has not been as productive, but I think I'm slowly getting back into the swing of things. I want to do a give-away, but I'm not sure what to give away! Anyone have any suggestions? 

Baby booties, take 2

I made some baby booties a few months ago for a friend's baby shower. Some other friends just had their second child, so I figured I'd make him some little booties as well. The pattern is from Amy Butler's Little Stitches for Little Ones. It came together easier for me the second time. It's nice, but the pieces are small and it's a little fiddly to put together.

I used a bright lining because I liked the way it pops against the dark blue. I also like the fusible fleece in these--it adds softness and just enough structure to keep them from being too floppy.

Another win!

I was on a roll there for a while, apparently. Way back in January, Kim at True Up asked for fabric-related blogs that she may not have known about. I suggested i heart linen. In March I had an email from Kim saying that she checked it out and became a fan and wanted to send me the Amy Butler Birdie Sling pattern as a thanks. I couldn't say no! 

This pattern arrived a few weeks ago. I like to have a big bag, so I think this pattern will be pretty great for me, but do I have enough fabric to make it?? I just may have to go shopping... 

Baby booties

A friend of mine is pregnant and her baby shower is soon, so I made her these booties. The pattern is from Amy Butler's Little Stitches for Little Ones, which you may remember I won from Craftsanity a while back. This is the first project I've made from the book. The instructions were a little hard to follow at some parts, but I think the booties turned out okay. The pattern I used was for size 3-6 months, and I don't think I'd go any smaller because they're pretty little and it would be hard to sew something tiny on the machine. 

Here's what the bootie looked like inside-out. My friend is having a boy and I get the impression that she's pretty firm about enforcing gender roles, so I did what I could to make something boy-ish. I like the cute plaid, and I think the green lining really pops. There are more babies on the way for other folks, so I may get pretty good at making these. 

Edited to add: I just added a ton more crafty links to the sidebar. Enjoy!

A winner, and: I won I won I won!

First of all, I just want to say thank you to everyone for stopping by yesterday and commenting! Give-Away Day was SO fun, and I am overwhelmed at the outpouring of crafty blog love that my little beehive got! I really should've mentioned in yesterday's post that the pattern for the pincushion is from the lovely Pretty Little Pincushions, which comes highly recommended by me! So if you didn't win, definitely add this book to your Christmas list so you can make your own beehive! 

As you can see above, I already used the random number generator to choose a winner. It was comment number 239, which is.... MaryAnne at Thrifty Craft Mama! Congratulations, MaryAnne! 

So, as I already mentioned, I was completely overwhelmed by the number of blog hits and comments I received yesterday. Thank you for all the crafty love! I just so happen to have cut out felt for another beehive, so I will be reading through all the comments and choosing another winner, to be announced later this week! 

Edit: I have made it through all 352 comments and, on a whim, I'm choosing Holly of Stupid Is the New Awesome, just because she got my Spinal Tap reference and I liked her blog. So, Holly, I will be making another pincushion this weekend and sending it to you! Congrats! 

I'm sure that a lot of people who win stuff say that they never win stuff, but, seriously, I never win anything, so I was really surprised and happy to find out that I was one of the Craftsanity Amy Butler winners! (Of course, it was really hard not posting here immediately, but I wanted to wait until the loot arrived and I could show you photos of all the great stuff I won!) I listened to the Amy Butler Craftsanity podcast and left a comment and I was lucky enough to be one of the random winners! Woohoo! 

So, what did I win? A copy of Amy's new book, Little Stitches for Little Ones, Amy's Cabo Halter pattern, and a stack of eight fat quarters, a mix of fabrics from her Daisy Chain and Midwest Modern lines. 

Now I ask you: What should I do with all this delicious fabric?? Besides hoard it, which is what I tend to do... 

Give-Away Day!

Happy Wednesday! It's Sew, Mama, Sew Give-Away Day! Be sure to click over to Sew, Mama, Sew to see the master list of everyone giving crafty stuff away today. It's not much, but pictured above is my offering: a wool-blend felt beehive pincushion (I love making these!). It's completely sewn by hand, stuffed with Poly-Fil, and has a little flax at the bottom to give it some weight.

The pincushion also comes with five custom-made bee pins, hand drawn by me and made using Shrinky Dink plastic. They turn the cute factor up to 11.

So, would you like this? It can be yours! All you have to do is leave a comment below. Comments will be closed at midnight and on Thursday I will draw a random number to choose the winner! (Please, US residents only.) Thanks for visiting, and good luck!

Long weekend crafting

I took full advantage of the long Thanksgiving weekend and got a ton of crafting done, including making a huge dent in my Christmas to-craft list! Of course, I can't show you everything yet, but here are some peeks at some of what I accomplished over the four-day weekend. First, I quilted my twin to my November swap quilt. I had run out of backing fabric so I wasn't able to complete them at the same time. 

Then I spent about a million hours embroidering tiny felt labels and blanket-stitching them to more felt. I had to do 8 or so, and I am SO thankful to be done with these! Sometimes assembly-line crafting can be a drag... 

Yesterday I spent way too long wrestling with my machine, breaking needles, and swearing to get it to stitch through too many layers of heavy cotton and interfacing. 

On Friday I made and attached my first scrappy binding! It looks pretty cute with just the binding clips on, so I'm excited to see the final project once I get all the hand-stitching done (hopefully by the end of this week)! 

What did you do with your extra crafting time? 

Be sure to stay tuned this week because I have LOTS of things to post about, and don't forget that I'm having a little crafty give-away on Wednesday for the Sew, Mama, Sew Give-Away Day! Happy December, everyone!

Give-Away Day

Just a quick post to let you all know that I have decided to participate in the Sew, Mama, Sew Give-Away Day, which is December 3rd. Be sure to stop by and leave a comment on my post that day to win some very cute handmade swag!