First Anniversary Celebration!

The Winners have been announced!  To  see if you are one of them, click here.
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January is the anniversary of the opening of my fabric shop. To celebrate, I will be offering contests and specials all month long.  Here are a few of the prizes I am giving away:

Blog ~ (Two Winners) To be eligible to win a Moda Marbles Charm pack, become a follower of my blog (if you aren't already), and leave a comment on any blog post this month.  I will randomly draw two names from all comments left during the month.

Twitter ~ (Two Winners) To be eligible to win a batik fat quarter bundle, mention my shop, or retweet one of my twitter posts during the month of January.  If mentioning my shop, be sure to use @fabricfascination so that I can find your post.  I will randomly draw two names from all tweets during the month.

Facebook ~ (One Winner) To be eligible to win a Moda Mixmaster Fat Qtr Bundle, become a fan of my facebook page.  I will randomly draw a name from my new fans in January.

Shop ~ To be eligible to win a $20 gift certificate, purchase something from my shop in January.  I will randomly draw a name from all items purchased during the month.

Winners will be announced here on my blog the evening of February 1st.


As always, purchases over $40 receive free shipping within the United States.

All year long, I offer a rewards program for my customers.  For every dollar you spend (excluding shipping), you receive 1 point.  100 points = a $10 gift certificate to use toward anything you like in my shop.

More specials and prizes will be announced as the month progresses, so be sure to check back often.

I hope we all have a prosperous, healthy, and joyful 2011.

HaPpY NeW yEaR !

52 Weeks

Resolution - challenge myself to complete at least one project every week in 2011.

Starting projects is easy for me. Finishing them is not always as easy.

For 2011, I propose to complete a new project each week. They don't have to be started that week. In fact, finishing up some UFO's is part of my motivation for this challenge. They don't have to be big projects, or sewing projects. Something as simple as completing a new recipe, or a child's craft project will do. I also hope to finish some bigger projects that will take longer than a week to do.

I would love to have company.  Would you like to accept the challenge too?

If so, you can post your projects here on a new blogger tool I've found called Linky which will let you post a thumbnail link to a photo from Flickr, your blog, facebook, or website. See below where it says, "Click Here to Enter".

My plan is to post my first project next Wednesday, January 5th. In the meantime, feel free to leave a thumbnail link to something you are working on, or have recently completed. I would love to see it.

Let's Get Busy!

I'm Sew Excited!

I just ordered a new Janome 634D MyLock Serger.  It has differential feed, a self-threading lower looper, and you don't have to change the needle plate to do rolled hemming. Plus, it cost the same amount that I paid for my current serger almost 20 years ago.  How amazing is that!

Here is a picture of it:

If you are in the market for a new machine, I can highly recommend Sew Vac Direct.  I bought my embroidery machine from them several years ago, and have always received courteous, excellent customer service and great prices.

They are having a sale right now which includes free shipping, so don't hesitate!

Happy Sewing ♥

Happy Day After

I hope everyone had a lovely Christmas. A day spent in slippers is a good day to me!

Here are a few photos of our youngest granddaughter enjoying her day.

Practicing on her new balance beam.

Licking the stir spoon from making Chinese Noodle cookies, one of our favorite holiday treats.

Today we are expecting more family members to arrive.  We have a wonderful buffet of appetizers prepared, and the stockings all stuffed with goodies.

Another day to rejoice ♥.

Wishing You a Warm & Peaceful Christmas

For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.

Isaiah 9:6

Jesus said, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.

John 8:12

♥

And One Thing Leads to Another....

Funny how one thing leads to another.  From fabric covered greeting cards, I've moved on to fabric covered business cards, and hang tags for my fabric bundles.  And as long as I am making them fabric covered, why not use selvages!

I had lots of fun making these.  Since they were prototypes, each business card was made individually.  The most efficient way to make them in volume is still being worked out.  I was able to do the hang tags a little more like an assembly line.  Both items should work nicely as business accessories.

Happy Sewing ♥

Fabric Covered Cards

This is a little tutorial on making fabric covered cards.  I'm sure you can find lots of uses for these.  Maybe even to attach as gift cards with your Christmas presents next weekend. Plus it is a great way to use up some of your leftover fabric scraps.

I am demonstrating making small gift cards, but you could easily adjust this technique to make larger Greeting Card sizes.  This idea is adapted from a tutorial on Etsy which you can access here.  The main difference between the Etsy method and mine, is that they used modge podge to make their cards, which I found messy and not as effective at keeping the edges adhered.

To make this version you will need:
8 1/2 x 11" cardstock
A fabric scrap a little larger than 8 1/2 x 11"
Fusible Web, I used this one, but any will do
Iron, cutting tools and cutting mat

Steps:
1st Cut the fusible web slightly smaller than 8 1/2 x 11"

Adhere it to the wrong side of your fabric scrap.

 Trim roughly.

 Remove fusible paper and adhere fabric to cardstock.

 Take a 1/4" off each long side, and 1/2" off each short side,  You will be doing some more trimming after the next step. 

The direction you fold paper is actually very important as to how smooth the fold will be.  That is because paper has a grain line, much like the warp and weft in a fabric weave.  If you fold parallel to the grain, you will get a nice smooth fold with little to no resistance.  If you fold against the grain, you will get resistance, and the paper may actually break or tear on the fold.  You can test which is the right way to fold by gently bending the sheet of paper in both directions.  The wrong direction will feel more resistant to your fold.

Fold the piece in half short sides together, parallel to the grain.

Open your 1st fold, and use the middle fold line as a guide.  Fold again in the same direction one short side to the middle as pictured below. Now cut through both thicknesses along the middle edge.  These trimming steps are to make the card even on all sides.  It is hard to make the edges even if the card is trimmed first and then folded.  Trust me, I've tried.

You will now be working with 1/2 of your original sheet of paper, folded in half.  Slice this strip into 2" pieces.

Repeat steps for the 2nd side of the piece of paper.

You could also print on the cardstock before adhering fabric, as I have done on these little thank you cards. And you could trim the card edges with a decorative blade to get some nice effects.

I'm sure you can come up with more ideas of how to use this technique.  Maybe add some stitching or embellishment?

Happy Sewing ♥

Progress + a Featured Quilter

The winding ways blocks are coming along slowly but surely. I am getting two or so finished per day which, at this busy time of year, isn't bad.

One of the things I want to do on these panels is use some of the free motion patterns that Leah Day has designed.  I just love her website.  I am not sure how to quilt the blocks themselves.  Should I use a tight stipple in the background so that the four winged portion stands out?  Should I use echo quilting to outline the design? Or would a simple stitch in the ditch be better?  What do you think?

I also want to highlight the shop of a wonderful quilter, Asian Art and Quilts.

Here are a few of her quilts.

I love the largeness to her designs.  The quilts seem to extend beyond their borders, spilling color into their surroundings.

Happy Sewing ♥

Pre-Holiday Sale!

Everything in my shop is 10% off.  If you have had your eye on a particular batik bundle, pincushion, or monthly fabric club, this is a good time to buy.

Happy Sewing ♥

A New Project

My sewing room needs curtains.  I came up with the idea of making quilted panels instead of hanging regular curtains.  The metal curtain rods swing out from the wall to open, so I think the panels will hang well.

The dimensions of each panel are 20" x 44."  Originally I was thinking of making each a sampler quilt, and started putting together patterns in EQ7.

I knew that I wanted to use my accuquilt to cut the blocks, and that I would use this bundle of Hoffman batiks:

But after piecing the first block, the plan changed.  Instead of doing a sampler, I am going to use the Winding Ways block for the whole quilt.

Also called the Wheel of Mystery pattern, this is a quilt I have wanted to make ever since I first saw it on a magazine cover years ago. 

The accuquilt  makes it doable for me.  Although I still have to take my time and sew carefully, I can successfully piece this rather complicated block.  In fact, I don't know how quilters are able to accurately cut and piece this beauty without the accuquilt.  I know they do, because there are beautiful examples of it everywhere.  I am even more impressed with their skills than before after piecing a few of these blocks.

I will keep you updated on how my project is coming.

Happy Sewing ♥

12 Days of Christmas Continued + I'm Having a Sale

 The Quiltsy Team is in full swing with their 12 Days of Christmas Promotion.  You can purchase some beautiful items for your home, or to give as gifts.

Here are just a few of the quilted goodies you will find by searching the words "quiltsy team" on Etsy.

ArtfullySews made these sweet ornaments.

You can find this beautiful wall quilt in Quilties shop.

This gorgeous set is made by QuiltLover.

You can purchase this pillow cover in SFOQuilter's shop.

SieberDesigns made this cheerful wall quilt.

Also, I am having a Thursday Only Sale featuring a mix of fabrics from Hoffman, Kaufman, Moda, and Timeless Treasures.

See them all here.

Happy Sewing ♥

Gingerbread Village

We had a family get together weekend not long ago, and my daughter and daughter-in-law (independent of each other) both bought gingerbread house kits for us to put together.  Our family likes to make crafts and play games when we get together.  One year it was balloon hats. 

We had fun making them.  The highly decorated gingerbread person in the lower right was made by my three year old granddaughter.  I think she thought the more candies she could fit on the cookie, the better.

Some houses turned out better than others.  Mine ended up being a rickety A-frame with a red door.  And one house succumbed to a pile of rubble.  We decided there was the upper end of town.... and then there was the lower end in our village.

If you want to see some really advanced gingerbread house making, head over to Robayre's blog.  She has a yearly contest with her family and friends.

Happy Sewing ♥