What's Going On

I had planned to add a few announcements to my Fresh Sewing Day post tomorrow, but there's so much going on in the next month that I felt it deserved a post of its own. Click on the title for each event to see all the details. Here's the quick list of what's coming up...



1. Umbrella Prints Trimmings Competition: visit the Pinterest board here to see all the entries and repin the ones you like -- my Mosaic Bag is in there too. The project with the most repins wins the viewer's choice prize, and there are some insanely gorgeous projects. I'm having a ball just going through them all this morning and doing a little pinning of my own!



2. Let's Get Acquainted New Blogger Blog Hop: My friend Beth from Plum & June is bringing back last year's wildly successful blog hop for another run. So many bloggers out there give Beth credit for introducing them to a wider audience, so if you're new to the online quilting community, you'll definitely want to get in on this before all the spaces fill up. I'll be guest posting for the blog hop on June 8th here at Fabric Mutt.



3. Season By Hand Blog Hop: Jennie at Clover & Violet is hosting a blog hop all about hand sewing projects -- such a great idea for staying crafty during summer travels. I have a project I've been working on for a while that I'm hoping to finish by June 14 which is my stop on the blog hop. There are going to be some great posts and amazing bloggers involved, so be sure to check out all the details.



4. Kate Spain Blog Hop: Alyce at Blossom Heart Quilts is celebrating all things Kate Spain in the month of June, beginning and ending by interviewing the lady herself. All of the bloggers will be sharing projects we've made with Kate Spain fabrics -- I'll have mine here on June 18th -- and you'll have the chance to link up your own for some wonderful prizes. You can even submit questions for the final interview if you get them in before the month is out!

So there you have it -- June is going to be one big sewing/blogging/hopping extravaganza. Sounds like fun to me!

Mosaic Bag

For a while now I've been catching glimpses of beautiful fabric by the talented people at Umbrella Prints, and when I heard that it was time again for their annual trimmings competition, I didn't waste any time ordering myself a packet. It was love at first sight when I opened the package -- such a wonderful collection of scraps to play with!

I went for my drawer of linen scraps to add in a little more variety and ended up cutting a total of forty-nine squares, each one finishing at one inch after they were all sewn together. The mostly low volume design looks like a miniature mosaic to me. Along with the Umbrella Prints, there are fabrics in there by Echino, Melody Miller, and Heather Ross. It was a lot of fun to mix them all up and see how much detail I could fit into such tiny squares as I did my fussy cutting.

I've been planning to write the requested tutorial for the patchwork bag I showed you almost two weeks ago, but I wanted to do a little experimentation with interfacing first. This bag was a great opportunity for that. I love the extra structure that a firmer stabilizer gives to this version. Once again, I used my favorite yarn dyed essex linen in black as the main exterior fabric -- I just can't get enough of that stuff!

The inside is one of Anna Maria Horner's gorgeous Parenthetical Flight prints from her Field Study linens collection. It's incredible to me that as small as this purse is -- nine inches square and just two inches deep -- it holds everything I need to carry with me when I go out. There's space for my new wallet and my triple-zip pouch with room to spare.

I added a double pocket to the back of the bag which turns out to be just the right size for my sunglasses and phone. The largest trimming piece from my packet made a perfect accent, and I lined the pocket with the same fabric I used for the bag interior. For one final touch of whimsy, I added my last paper airplane charm to the zipper, just like the ones I used on my gift pouches last week.

I don't think I've ever carried around a purse so small, but I adore this little bag. It feels like a piece of summer to me, and seeing all the snippets of my past projects in that mosaic just makes me happy. I do believe this bag is going to get a lot of love...

Update: I've written a tutorial for a slightly larger version of this bag which you can find right here. Sew and enjoy!

Sweet Contrary

my picks -- love this color combination!

Rachel's having a "Sweet Contrary" mosaic contest over on her blog this week, sponsored by Lark Cottons. I always love putting together these virtual bundles, even though it's not as easy to do when the fabric is on your screen instead of in your hands. There are a ton of fabulous entries over there right now, so if you're looking for spring ideas, this is the place to be. Go check it out!

Pin It to Win It!

Randi has started a fabulous contest through her beautiful Etsy shop, Fresh Squeezed Fabrics. I've ordered from her in the past with wonderful results, so definitely check out her shop if you've never visited before!

Here are the contest details:



I would absolutely love to win her bundle of Bella by Lotta Jansdotter -- such a darling collection and so perfect for fall. If you're on Pinterest and wouldn't mind repinning for me, you can find my pin at http://pinterest.com/pin/58265388900368285/. And if you're playing along, just send me a link to your pin -- I'll be happy to repin yours too!

What a fun way to start the week!

Nursery Versery Apron

When I saw that Rachel was having a Nursery Versery contest, I really wanted to play along. I was an early holdout from buying the new Heather Ross fabric line, but after a few weeks of shuffling prints in and out of my online shopping cart, I finally took the plunge. Once I saw them in person, I was so glad that I did. This collection is just so sweet, and I think the grey prints are toned down enough that I can get away with using them on something for me. My girls were hoping I'd make a project for them first -- Bunny loves the little piggies, Bear loves the spider, and Mouse and the mice were made for each other, of course -- but after much thought, I decided to use the fabric to make myself a patchwork apron to wear around the house.

For my pattern, I used the basic instructions for the apron in Suzuko Koseki's Patchwork Style. This is such a pretty book -- I love poring over the pictures again and again. Unfortunately, the library's going to want their copy back soon, so I'm trying to make my favorite projects before it's due. This apron caught my eye the first time I saw it. I've always loved the ease of half-aprons, and this one has a great row of quilted pockets that will hold anything I could possibly want to carry around with me.

The main body of the apron is made out of grey linen. I used a bunch of my favorite scraps to construct the long quilted pocket, including pieces of all four Nursery Versery prints. It was a nice change to do a little improvisational scrap placement. I really should do more of these kinds of projects.

The quilted pocket is lined with Dancing Meadow in yellow from the Beauty Is You collection. It's actually divided into five different pockets of varying sizes, and the quilting makes it super comfortable to wear. I made the ties a little differently than the pattern suggested, folding the long piece of linen in on itself rather than giving it a backing. Thinner straps are easier for me to tie, and the linen made them sturdy enough to hold up the apron without any trouble.

The apron is lined in a yellow Bouquet print from Flea Market Fancy. For a touch of whimsy, I sewed in part of the Nursery Versery selvage strip for a "label." I love the way it looks against the lining fabric, and that little spider is so very cute.

This was a project that just made me happy from start to finish. I love my new apron, and I know it's going to get a lot of use. Now I have to see what else I can make out of that book before I have to pay overdue fines. My husband always jokes that our family is funding the city's library development program with our constant late fees...

Linking up to the Nursery Versery Contest at Stitched in Color. Go check out the other entries. I promise, you'll find cuteness galore!

Finalist

I just saw the nominations for finalists in the Summer Sewing Series at Ellision Lane Quilts, and I was beyond thrilled to see my Navigator's Clutch among them in the Bags and Accessories Category. This marks the first time I've ever made it to the finalist round in any contest I've entered since I started sewing.

It's almost as nice as winning.

Happy Tuesday!