Sneak Peek

In five weeks, our new house should be done!!

Hip Hip Hooray!!

Here are a few photos of the custom wood floors and cabinets.

The kitchen with island.

The mud bench in the front hall - by the side doors.

Kind of blurry.......

The fireplace - will be ceramic tile.

The main bath - love the bottom open.

The top three windows will be my sewing studio!!!

The study - for Big D.

Pantry doors on left.  Laundry room door on right.

Can't wait to see all of this painted and the counter tops!!!

Stay tuned!!

Making Gifts for Christmas

I have been busy making a few gifts for Christmas.

Always fun to do for those who appreciate it!!

I had fun knitting a variety of boot cuffs. 

 I will let family at Christmas pick a pair.

Quick projects and fun to make!

I found this afghan started by my mother tucked away in a box 

with the yarn to finish it.

Merry Christmas, Natalie!

 

Natalie also asked me to make some new pillows for her sofa.

This is a nice mix of some I made 

and some I found at the Crate and Barrel Outlet.

Hope she likes them!

Feeling the need to sew with some Christmas fabrics,

I made these cute quilted pot holders.

My yoga instructor and a couple of my dance instructors loved them!!

(I always like my feet in the pictures!!)

I think it will be fun to make more of these pin cushions next year.

So many funky, creative ways to go!!

That's all folks!!

Inspiration

 I was recently at the Crate and Barrel Outlet in Chicago and was inspired by a couple of things I saw there.  The top picture is an Advent Calendar made from many bright, fun fabric scraps.  Easy enough to do!

I don't have my Mac computer - it is in storage and I am having some trouble editing my photos - so bear with me.

I liked this pillow top too.  Great use of bright solids and I have a lot of them!

And this cute pillow with winter houses.

So fun with the different textures.

I also visited a quilt shop in OKC and found it really fun and modern.

 These were a couple of pillows on a bench. 

 I really like the background fabric on the yo yo pillow.

 

 And the other pillow has such a great affect with how the fabric is cut.

I bet I have some fabric that will do just this.

And then I thought this pieced pillow was fun.

Easy to do.  Great use of random scraps.

 

Wow!  I thought this idea was great!

Solid fabric stretched on a wood frame

and yo yos - some up some down - color coordinated.

Lots of Kaffe fabrics too!!

Are you motivated???

A Dancemakers Christmas

The Christmas display at our new dance studio is amazing!!!

An artist did the drawings of the dance couples and Michael, one of the owners, copied each one in a variety of sizes, glued them to foam core board and cut each one out with an exacto knife.

Wowza!!

CDs as 

ornaments!

Mirror ball

ornaments

from

Hobby Lobby!

Simply

amazing!!

Tomorrow night is the Holiday Sweater Party!!

Can't wait!

December 1st !!!

I am so excited December 1st has arrived.

Why?  You ask?

I can start my 24 days of tea from David's Tea.

Yes, a different tea each day until Christmas.

The tea for December 1st is Forever Nuts.

It's in the little tin sitting there in front.

If you have never had David's Tea - you do not know what you are missing.

This is the second year for the tea Advent Calendar 

and they sold out online the very first day.

A great Christmas gift is the Perfect Tea Mug, the Perfect Spoon and some holiday teas.  Oh My!!  

There is a shop in Chicago in Bucktown on Damon Ave.

but it is also super easy to order online.  

Free shipping over $50 or $5.00 flat fee shipping from Canada.

I was at David's Tea on Saturday and had a hot drink to go - 

a Chocolate Macaroon Latte.

Yes - you can make any of their teas into great lattes and use your soda stream to make bubble teas.  All of these are great hot or iced.

I also purchased the Advent Calendar from Starbucks this year.

The tins are stuck on a magnetic chalk board.

Sweet treats inside!!

A little bit of cheer for me this season in my little apartment in Oklahoma.

Denyse Schmidt Quilt

I am always excited when I am asked to make a quilt designed by

 Denyse Schmidt.

I think her first fabric collection for Free Spirit Fabrics was Flea Market Fancy.

I had this in my shop back then 

and one of my own favorite quilts is from this fabric line.

I would include a picture of it, but that quilt is in storage right now!!

Her newest quilt is very clever as it is reversible

 and is made from two solids and a 10" square charm pack.

 

This is the top and front side of the quilt.

The machine quilting is very modern and I think it is City Windows.

If you follow Denyse Schmidt Quilts, you know she thinks simple is best.

 This is a close up of the quilting.

Cami Cress offers many modern machine quilting designs.

 

 

I will show you the backing in the next post!!

To Market To Market

In the midst of all of our relocation, I did make several quilts for

 Fall Wholesale Quilt Market in Houston.

I think it was a great distraction!!

This is a quilt designed by Tula Pink in progress.  

Yes, curved seams, but quicker than hand applique!!

And the finished quilt -

Machine quilting by Cami Cress.

One more quilt designed by Tula Pink from the same fabric line 

for Free Spirit Fabrics.

I think this is most interesting 

because of the three different colors of background fabric. 

 I also like the different directions of the flying geese in this quilt.

The choice of linear quilting on this quilt makes a great finish.

Hot diggety dog!!

RELO to OKC!!!!!

As many of you already know, my husband and I have relocated to the Oklahoma City Area.

Why?  You ask??

We did alot of research

 and can list many reasons why we are giving this area a try.

1.  Midwest Location + Warmer Climate + 4 Seasons

      We can head out on a road trip in any direction plus be back with friends and

     family in a day!!!

2. Tier Two City

      Everything we need is here!  Affordable golf, dance studios, yoga, great 

    restaurants and food trucks, Big 12 sports (not ever an Oklahoma fan), 

    shopping, shooting clubs, theater and very big churches!!!

3.  Very friendly people.  Oh my goodness!!!

4.  Affordable housing.  We are building a new home - 2100 sq. ft. - (4100 sq. 

     ft. in our last home) in a new neighborhood called Town Square. All homes

      will be1930's home designs - including bungalows, tudors and mission 

     homes. Stay tuned for more details.

5.  3 Month Apartment Lease

       We are staying in a one bedroom 800 sq. ft. apartment - even a gated 

     community with a fitness center and an outdoor pool - open all year round.

What a difference not to do yardwork!!!  

We needed rest and relaxation

 after getting everything packed and moved out of our house. 

 Then the drive and moving in here!  

We are both really enjoying this time!

One of my friends called us pioneers - moving to Oklahoma City - 

but we did not come by covered wagon.

One of my dancing friends said I would be dancing with a Bible under my arm.

Actually, no one here is doing that!!

Plus, in the last month I have made a number of quilts and will be posting pictures soon.

Stay tuned.

Off The Rails

A project for Westminster Fabrics

featuring Kaffe Fassett fabrics.

Three different stripped blocks come together for a very scrappy quilt.

Nice spot to shoot the photo.

This twoo may be a quilt kit soon for sale on craftsy.com

Lark Quilt Revisited

A few years ago I did the sewing on a Lark Quilt designed by Amy Butler.

The original quilt was 72" x 72".

I was contacted to make it again - but to increase the size to 90" x 90".

Also using different Amy Butler fabrics.

I think this will be a quilt kit on craftsy.com

These photos were taken on my king size bed by me.

Photo shoots are not my specialty.

I went ahead and made a smaller version - 42" x 42"

with the leftover fabrics.

These photos were also taken on my king size bed.

So you can see, this quilt can be made in any size square!!

Just do the math!!

Pillows Pillows Pillows

I have had several requests lately to make pillows for the fabric companies.

So, take a look!!!

Designed by Anna Maria Horner and made using her new fabric line.

Made one for Natalie, too!!

A remake of the vintage Honey Bee Block

featuring Amy Butler Fabrics.

And the most time consuming one of all, but also the best…..

1" hexagons on a neck roll pillow

featuring Kaffe Fassett fabrics!!

for sale…..for sale…..for sale…..for sale

I have a few items from my sewing studio for sale!!

Yehaw!!!

A Big Shot by Sizzix

This system is for use with fabrics.

Included with the machine are 6 dies.

2 1/2" hexagons

1 1/2" circles

2 1/2" squares

5" half-square triangles

2 1/2" x 5" rectangles

2 1/2" half-square triangles

For sale as a package.

Retail Value:  $220
Sale Price:  $60

Set of Jaquard Fabric Paints

Always wanting to try your hand at dyeing fabric??

This maybe just for you!

Retail Value:  $15
Sale Price:  $5

Crazy Curves book and templates

Never been used!!

Acrylic templates

Retail Value:  $40
Sale Price:  $15

Punch Needle Embroidery

This deal includes:

an  instructional dvd

4 punch needles patterns

7" embroidery hoop

all the tools needed

Retail Value:  $125
Sale Price:  $30

Assorted Templates

Included:

3 1/2" Drunkards Path Templates (not shown)

4" Drunkard's Path Templates

8" Rainbow Block Templates

Melon Block Templates

All acrylic template sets include block layout options for quilting.

Retail Value: $80

Sale Price:  $25 

Paintstick Starter Pack

includes:

Painststicks on Fabric Book

6 Iridescent Painsticks

6 Rubbing Plates

One Pattern

Retail Value:  $70

Sale Price:  $25

WOW!!

If you are interested in any of these deals,

please email me @

emax0917@gmail.com

Pass the information on to anyone you know who might be interested.

thanks…..thanks…..thanks…..thanks…..thanks…..thanks…..thanks

Bag Lady

I purchased a great leather bag on clearance at Marshall's recently

and decided it is just like a plastic shopping bag.

The brand is BAGGU and I really love it!

So………

I used one of my plastic bags from Target for a pattern.

The hardest part was picking fabrics from all of the awesome choices I have!!

Really easy…….really fun……..really chic!!!!

Try it!!!

On the Hottest Day of Summer…….

I decided to bake cookies!!

I was inspired by a new recipe on Pinterest to make

White Chocolate Dark Chocolate Blueberry Oatmeal Cookies

yes, all of those good things.

But I also wanted to try out a new baking mat I recently bought on

The Grommet online.

This is my maiden voyage.

Baker's 13 Ultimate Baking Mat

Designed and engineered in Chicago!!

Cookies will never stick.

No more parchment paper or sprays.

Extra thick silicone lasts longer and keeps it's shape.  

Dishwasher safe.

Dough targets to space cookies perfectly.

Success!!

And it's not just for cookies.

Great Christmas gift idea.

And while I had the oven on and so many ingredients on the counter -

I also made some vanilla blueberry granola.

A good day, indeed!