Fairy Garden Craft Kit

After months tied up in a crazy busy schedule, I'm so happy to be able to get back into sewing for fun with my friends' beautiful new collections. This week I sat down with a few cute prints from Lori Whitlock's new Fairy Garden line.

These prints are so sweet and girly -- just the sort of thing my daughters love!

For ages now I've been wanting to make a miniature version of the Double-Zip Clutch from my book Sew Organized for the Busy Girl which could work as a craft kit for a child, and this was my chance. I added a few extra slots to the inner pockets for crayons or colored pencils. The pockets are perfect for holding extra goodies or tools like pom-poms, brads, erasers, scissors, washi tape, or glue sticks. Tuck one of these in a bag with a coloring book or sketch pad, and you'll have something to keep a little one busy on everything from a family vacation to an afternoon at Grandma's house. I love quick gifts like this that take me an hour or less to make!

Melissa Mortenson (PolkaDot Chair), Christopher Thompson (The Tattooed Quilter) & me

Speaking of trips, last weekend we headed off to Houston so that I could be at Quilt Market, and what a joy it was to visit everyone there! Getting the chance to see all the new fabrics up close is so much fun, but it's the people that I love most. My husband was a sweetheart and took our daughters to the space center AND the American Girl store while I was working. What a guy. I honestly don't know who had more fun this year -- me or the girls.

My third collection, Shortcake, made its debut in the Riley Blake Designs booth, and I love it so much. I'm counting the days until February when it will be out in the world for all of you to make beautiful things! Be sure to ask your local quilt shop to carry it. I'm so excited to share more with you about the story behind these prints in the months ahead...

If you haven't yet, be sure to hurry over to Riley Blake Designs' Instagram feed (@rileyblakedesigns), where they're giving away a full half bundle of my Date Night collection to one lucky winner. Entries are welcome from all over the world, but the giveaway closes tonight at 9pm MDT, so run -- don't walk -- to get your name in the hat. And definitely stop by the RBD blog here to read a little more about me in their Meet This Maker feature. I had a whole lot of fun answering their prompts for this one!

Happy week to you, dear friends!