testing

A few weeks ago I got an email asking if I would be willing to review Soak nail polish .  Normally I am not much of a nail polish wearer, but it sounded like fun and I knew my daughter would be on board with testing out some pretty new nail polish. Soak sent me this box of Lizzy House nail polish and a couple packages of Soak. I have painted my nails a couple of times since I received the package and have been very pleased with the colors and the quality of the nail polish.  I particularly love this orange-y color which is a perfect match for this Catnap print. The Lizzy House Soakbox comes with this nifty little nail art brush/pen. You twist the top and the you can use a thin brush to paint on designs, or if you pull on the top you can use a pen which is a little easier to manage. Even though I think the nail art pen is really great, it definitely would require some more practice from me.  Please don't laugh at my attempts; this was after quite a bit of practice but I c...

The winner of the $25 gift certificate to Southern Fabric is . . . Congratulations!  I will be emailing you shortly.

Welcome!  I can't believe it is already time for the Blogger's Quilt Festival again.  I am so excited to see the other quilts that are entered. For the second entry into the festival I wanted a share a quilt I made for a friend's new baby girl.  I love Camille Roskelley's Swoon Pattern and when she released a mini version of the pattern, I knew I wanted to make it into a baby quilt. I loved working with Sarah Jane's Wee Wander collection.  It is adorable, and the print that I used for the back of the quilt is my favorite. Finished quilt size: 40" x 50" Pattern: Mini Swoon by Camille Roskelley Pieced and quilted by me Category: Small quilts Original post here Thanks for stopping by! Check out the links below to see my previous entries into the Blogger's Quilt Festival:    Spring 2014 #1 and #2 Fall 2013 Spring 2013 Fall 2012 Spring 2012

Hello and welcome!  I love participating in the  Blogger's Quilt Festival , it is such a great way to meet new people. I really wanted to share this quilt because it has been in my sketchbook for a long time and I am excited that I finally figured out how to make the templates for it.   The quilt uses 5 different Kona colors (Sky, Aqua, Capri, Cyan, Celestial, and Navy).  There are a lot of great Kona colors, but the blues are my favorite.   My favorite thing about the quilt is actually what happened after I made it.  I decided to list it on Etsy and I woke up the next day to see that one of my childhood friends, who I didn't even know read my blog, had bought the quilt.  I really idolized this friend when we were kids and it meant a lot to me.   Finished quilt size: 38" x 48"  Pattern: Deep Blue Sea Baby Quilt ( tutorial here ) Pieced and quilted by me Category: Original Design Quilts Original post here Thanks for stopping by! Check out the ...

I do not particularly enjoy sewing clothes and would not have even attempted to sew an Elsa dress for my daughter this year if it wasn't impossible to find a decent dress for less than a zillion dollars.  But they are in short supply and my daughter really wanted to be Elsa, so I thought I'd give a go. I found the McCall M7000 official looking pattern and took my daughter to pick out fabrics.  And then they sat there for a long time because I really didn't want to make the dress, but a couple weeks before our first Halloween party I decided I should get started. This isn't really a difficult pattern, but it is probably the hardest pattern that I have made.  Especially because the sparkly, stretchy knit (?) that I used for the sleeves was really obnoxious to sew with. I decided not to make the overlay because it seemed like it would get in the way when she wore the dress to school, but I otherwise followed the pattern.  My daughter is 6 and a half so I made the 5-6 s...

I hope you are all having a happy Monday!  This morning we are lucky enough to have a giveaway from Southern Fabric .  Right now they are doing 13 days of Spooktacular Savings and today there is 25% off all full priced Layer Cakes and 10" squares . If you haven't had a chance to take a look at Southern Fabric's precuts, they have a really great selection. Southern Fabric is giving away a $25 gift certificate today.  To enter, just leave a comment on this post. For a second entry, follow Southern Fabric on Facebook ,  Instagram , or Twitter  and leave a second comment letting me know. The giveaway will end on Friday at 5pm PST.  Have a great week! The giveaway is now closed.  

Someone needs to remind me next year that I am not allowed to sew my kids Halloween costumes.  I haven't sewn anything for the past two weeks because every time I walk into my sewing room I see my daughters in-progress Elsa dress and walk away.  It is pretty much my least favorite thing. But I have been making slow progress on the dress and I can see the light at the end of the tunnel: I will be able to sew a quilt soon!  And in anticipation of that I put together my monthly Inspiration Mosaic post using some of my favorite fabrics from each of my sponsors.  I hope that this inspires some of you, but even if it doesn't, it does help me procrastinate the Elsa dress. Shabby Fabrics Mother Goose Tales Green ,  Pinhead Dot Kiwi ,  Oh Clementine Grey ,  Kiss Dot Marine ,  Pinhead Dot Limeade ,   Basically Hugs Light Gray ,  Pearl Bracelet ,  Oval Elements Key Lime ,  American Made Brand Solids Light Lime ,  Brambleberry Ridge T...

Head over to the Riley Blake Cutting Corners Blog to check out a tutorial I wrote up using their fun, new Quatrefoil prints.

Thanks everyone for entering the giveaway.  If you haven't already, be sure to check out FabricCadabra , especially because they have just added lots of fabrics. The winner of the giveaway is . . . Congratulations Abby!  I will be emailing you soon.

A few weeks ago Windham Fabrics sent me a bundle of Lotta Jansdotter's new fabric line, Follie.  I love Lotta's designs and these are no exception.  I love that this collection uses those fun stripes in new colors plus lots of other great prints.  The almost-black brown prints are my favorite since this is a color that is difficult to find but one that I love to use! I decided to make a baby quilt with the prints because baby quilts are pretty much my favorite thing to make.  I love how Lotta's prints are pretty and sophisticated and kind of funky at the same time. Fabric Requirements 1 Fat Quarter Bundle Follie 1 1/3 Yards White Solid 1 1/2 Yards Backing 3/8 Yard Binding Cutting Instructions Block Construction Each block is 10.5" unfinished and we will make a total of 20 blocks. I am going to demonstrate the construction of an "A" block, but the construction for the other blocks is very similar. A Block 1.  Piece the 2.5" x 4.5" darker rectangles ...

This giveaway is now closed.   Today I am excited to introduce you to a brand new shop called FabricCadabra . One thing that is really great about this shop is that the owners, who also happen to be sisters, really love fabric and that love shows in their fabric choices. Right now they have a gorgeous selection of mostly Art Gallery prints (including Arizona!). Since their shop is so new I thought it would be great to have them introduce themselves so you can find out a little more about them. Hello from FabricCadabra , We are two sisters who love fabric and love to sew and make things. Lastenia is the oldest and wisest of our family of 7 children, and I (Makyka), am the 5th and between the two of us we have 13 kids. Lastenia started sewing in 4H as a young girl, and made clothes for all our Cabbage Patch dolls. While she was honing her mad dress making skills (eventually making all of our wedding dresses), I was running around in wheat fields pretending to be an Indian princess. E...