Just before Christmas I received the most beautiful pile of gorgeous fabric from talented fabric designer Laurie Wisbrun.  I spent a lot of the holiday break thinking about what I wanted to create with it and this vision of a pile of box bags would not leave my head.

Since my daughter’s birthday is in January, I felt like her party was the perfect excuse to make the bags, so I did.  To say that these goodie bags went over well at her party is an understatement.  The kids liked them, but I could tell the Mom’s were plotting ways to keep them for themselves.  {Well, I guess I can really only speak for myself here, but I have definitely been downplaying their appeal with my kids.} This fabric, you guys!  It’s fantastic.  How perfect is the scale of the two polar bear prints for this sort of thing!?!!  They are just too sweet.  This is a very early sneak peek–Brrr! will be available in June.  There are more photos of this wonderful line of fabric on Laurie’s blog. I am so grateful to Laurie for sending me these beautiful prints.  I had so much fun making these!

My process for sewing these involved a mash-up of several free online tutorials I have used in the past.  I considered sharing my full process in more detail, but I am questioning whether there is a need for yet another box bag tutorial.  This one sums it up really nicely and other tutorials I have learned from before  include this one, this one, and this one. I will leave you with a few project notes at the end of this post.  These jottings are basic and I am really just posting them here so that I don’t lose track of them. If you’ve never tried to make a box bag, these will probably sound like gibberish, and that is OK!

On to the fun part!  Who would like to win a fat quarter pack of this adorable line of fabric? Just say hello via a comment on this post and I will choose a random winner on February 1.  I will ship internationally.

Project notes:

-The finished bags measure 7″ x 4.5″ x 3″ (L x W x H).  I start with a rectangle that measures 11.25″ x 16.5″ and use a .5″ seam allowance. I cut the sides that measure 11.25″ with pinking shears.

-There are exposed seams inside.  I used to be very opposed to this, but since I finish the seams with a zig zag stitch, there really isn’t much of a difference in the end result and it saves so much time.

-I use a medium weight sew-in-stabilizer/interfacing in between the outer fabric and the lining. Using an interfacing that has an adhesive on both sides would make the process of attaching the zipper easier.  I get nervous about wrinkles that can appear with adhesive interfacing, so I try to stay away from it.

-I do this cheater thing when I sew on the zipper. I top stitch and attach the zipper to all three layers of fabric all in the same step.  This probably involves breaking SO MANY RULES but it works for me. This is also why I “pink” the ends of the fabric on the sides that measure 11.25″. The first tutorial that I link to does this as well.  It is a time saver and simplifies fussy-cutting.

-I sew the fabric onto the zipper in a particular order so that it doesn’t get all bunchy and awkward in the neck of my sewing machine.  I would love to explain this but I need to just take a photo so that I am able to express myself well.  (Has anyone ever seen a tutorial that explains this part?)

–When I box the corners, I mark a line that is 1.5″ inches down from the corner.  This creates the 3″ width of the bag.

This lap-sized quilt was the one big handmade item I made this year for Christmas.  I started thinking about it in June and finished hand-sewing the binding just before Christmas.  I made it for my youngest sister and all of the fabric was from my stash. I was first inspired by this quilt, and then this one, and I followed this fantastic tutorial to piece the top.  I was surprised at how fiddly the blocks were to make, but I love the overall effect. The individual squares finish at 2.5″ and the quilt measures 60″x60.”  I quilted it in a simple crosshatch pattern and bound it with a polka dot print plus a handful of scraps to mix it up.  The back of the quilt is also patchwork.

So. What to say about this quilt?  I love it. It houses some of my most favorite pieces of fabric. I love the design. I love the mix of colors. I love the scrappiness. I love that it is crazy busy and there is no place for your eyes to rest!  I love how it is quilted. I love how it is bound. {This quilt! IT IS SO ME!}  I love that it now belongs to an awesome person and very good friend.

When I first picked my sister in our annual Christmas pick, I asked her if she wanted me to make her a quilt.  She said that she was really hoping that was the plan, and ever since, she’s been telling me how she is so excited for HER QUILT. {On Christmas morning, she sent me a text that read:  Merry Quilt Day!} Do you know how nice it is for someone to tell you over and over again, throughout the span of six months, that they are excited to receive something that you are making for them?  It’s really nice!  And you know what else? My little sister is really nice too. I’m so lucky to have her in my life.

A couple of weeks ago, I received an email from one of my absolute most favorite fabric designers asking me if I’d consider making something from her new line of fabrics and post it to my blog.  I was surprised, thrilled, and flattered all at once.  Brrr! by Laurie Wisburn is the best combination of whimsy and beautiful design.  The polar bears are just the type of modern novelty fabric that I love and that Scandanavian-style geometric floral print is lovely. The snowflake print is great too. The red and aqua color-way is fantastic as well! I feel so lucky to have been given such a generous selection of these gorgeous prints. I have lots and lots of plans, but for starters I put them right to work by covering a bunch of mason jars for Christmas gifts. The polar bear print could not be more perfect for this sort of thing.

Laurie has posted wonderfully composed detail shots of the full range on her blog and provides all the specifics regarding the June release date. I leave you, however, with a rather pathetic quality photo of one very happy craft blogger who is dying to take this pretty fabric and make ALL OF THE THINGS!

{The big stack on the bottom is for me.  I will give away the top set of fat quarters, but I plan to wait until I make something with the fabric before I do so. I will keep you posted!}

Making this sugar cookie house is becoming a tradition in our house. I’ve been meaning to re-post the recipe because it has worked out so well for us in the past and it actually tastes really good.  We leave ours out as a snack for Santa. Last year he took a big bite out of the roof.

Sugar Cookie House

4 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 cup butter
1 cup sugar
2/3 cup light-color corn syrup
1 TBS vanilla
1 beaten egg

Combine flour and baking powder. Set aside.

Cook butter, sugar and corn syrup over med. heat until sugar dissolves. Pour into large mixing bowl. Stir in vanilla. Cool 5 min.

Add egg and mix well. Add flour mixture to this, and mix well. Divide dough in half, cover and chill at least 2 hours.

When you roll it out for pieces, they should be 1/8 to 1/4 inch thick. They bake at 375 degrees for 6 to 9 minutes (depending on the size of the pieces.)

Original source of the recipe is here.

How’s everyone’s holiday “making” going? This cute little boxy pouch measures 4″x2″x2″.  The outer fabric is Ruby Star Rising by Melody Miller and the lining is a matching wood-grain print.  This one was part of a gift for my sister’s birthday, but I am thinking these would be fun to make as gift card holders surrounded by chocolate candy, like Hershey’s kisses. The tutorial is here.  My inspiration for making this is here.

Enjoy these last few days of anticipation and preparation. I have a five year old boy who just keeps telling me that Christmas is too far away!  I’m trying to embrace his spirit.  It’s pretty contagious.  If I am not back here in this spot before the big day, Merry Christmas to all who celebrate!

I’ve mentioned before that one of my mindless go-to sewing projects is to cut my scraps into 2.5″ and 4.5″ squares.  It’s a great way to manage my scrap bins and pre-cut squares can come in handy for all sorts of projects once inspiration strikes.  On the heels of our recent quilt collaboration, my sister in Park City, Utah  asked me if I’d like to work together on a simple quilt for someone special in our family.  The turn-around time had to be quick, so my larger pre-cut squares were just the thing to use. The quilt top was made by my Mom, another sister who lives in Hawaii, and me. My Mom and I quilted it and I attached the binding to the front of the quilt. My sister {the one who had the idea to make the quilt} flew into Boston from Park City for a week-long visit and finished hand-stitching the binding to the back of the quilt while she was here.

The moral of the story of this quilt is that it is a good thing to keep on top of your fabric scraps. It is also a wonderful thing, if you can manage it, to have a crafty family to help you sew that collection of favorite scraps together in record time.  Finally, it is a great thing to have someone tremendously special in your life to whom you are able to give that quilt.  That person is my godmother and I really cannot tell you how much she means to me, my mother {they have been best friends since grade school}, and all of my siblings. You know how people sometimes make quilts so that they can give someone a hug? That was our intention with this one–this quilt is one big scrappy hug.

It was so fun to make a quilt this way.  I felt like I was getting a present in the mail everytime it was sent back to me.  We initially had a plan that we were going to try to fit one mermaid in each round, but that didn’t happen. And it didn’t matter one bit. I tried to fit in a few things that have meaning to this new family.  {One of the stars has a dog print because they have a beloved dog. Another has a VW van because my parents had one when we were kids. Yet another has a Heather Ross fish-in-bag named Thomas because that is the name of the baby’s mom’s only sibling and they are very close.}  The prints are a total mix from my stash.  I was going to try to name them, but I just don’t have the memory for it! Of course, the feature fabric is from Heather Ross’ much coveted Mendocino line.

I quilted it in a pattern that echos the center star and I am thrilled with how it came out. I chose to use a thicker binding than I usually make because I felt like the quilt could use a nice strong, blue frame.  That fabric is a Denyse Schmidt Hope Valley print. The backing fabric is the same yellow Joel Dewberry Chestnut Hill “Ironworks” print that dominates the third border from the center.  It is one of my all time favorite prints, so I have stocked up on it and use it quite a bit.  I also used my favorite “Dick and Jane” text print in some of the stars.

It was so nice to meet the beautiful baby who now owns this quilt. She is just adorable. It’s also pretty amazing to see my brother as a dad, and his wife as a mom.  They are such a great little family.

I’m not sure what’s been been keeping me from sharing this little bit of news for so long, but here goes.  One of my projects, a simple advent calendar, has been published in a book called Countdown Calendars by Stash Books, an imprint of C&T Publishing.   Its a really sweet book full of great ideas for creating calendars that can help mark important milestones and celebrations.  My advent calendar is offered as a free project on the Stash Books blog.

When I first became aware of blogs, I remember wondering how different bloggers came about to getting published in various publications.  In my case, Susanne Woods, Acquisition Editor at C&T Publishing, spotted something I had made in a flickr group and asked me if I’d be interested in contributing a pattern.  That was it. It really is a pretty neat experience to see one of your projects presented professionally in book format alongside so many other talented artists.

I try really hard to avoid making mistakes when I piece together quilts, but when it does happen, I Iike that there is a quaint name for my error. Do you see that star on the bottom right-hand side?  That’s my humility block.  The Volkswagon van is upside down–but I’m not sweating it!

I am loving this quilt!  It will be sent back to my friend tomorrow and she will sew on the next border.

The medallion quilt I am making with a friend is growing!  I made the center block and my project partner added the sweet, traditional border.  Wouldn’t this make a great pillow, as is?  I am feeling a little hesitant because my instincts are telling me that the next round of blocks should be of a more complicated nature and I am afraid I might muck up the simplicity of the quilt as it stands now. At first I was considering making a bunch of sawtooth stars, but I think a border of friendship stars might do the trick.   Rows of equilateral triangles could be fun too, but at the moment I feel like making some fun, fussy cut stars–see photo below.  I’ll post again after I’ve made some progress.

I also thought I mention that Kelly has a baby quilt in her etsy shop right now that is simple and stunning and uses this Heather Ross Mendocino fabric line in a wonderful way.  If you are in the market for a unique baby gift, this would be perfect. {She’s not charging enough for it, so snatch it up quickly if you think you’d like to have it!}