coming soon: cathedral window sampler qal

woo-hoo!!! i am teaming up with Pellon and FreeQuiltPatterns.info, along with 8 other amazing designers, to bring you a fun 9-block cathedral window mini sampler. each week in october, there will be two block tutorials featuring each designer's take on the traditional cathedral window. side-note: how is it already october??

Oct 1 :: Sara @ Sew Sweetness
Oct 4 :: Bree @ My Crafty Crap
Oct 8 :: Jill @ Made with Moxie
Oct 11 :: Emily @ Mommy's Nap Time
Oct 15 :: Rachael @ Imagine Gnats
Oct 18 :: Jessica @ Sew Crafted
Oct 22 :: Elizabeth @ Don't Call Me Betsy
Oct 25 :: Kim @ My Go-Go Life
Oct 29 :: Heather @ Olive & Ollie

and what would a quilt along be without prizes?! there will be prizes for completing each individual block and for completing the full 9-block sampler top (does not need to be fully completed with back & binding). all blocks must be completed & submitted to the flickr group by midnight central time on november 15 to be considered for the drawing.

First & Second place will be randomly drawn from all completed sampler tops. You do not need to have the mini backed, quilted, or bound, but all nine blocks must be completed. You may have one entry for each completed sampler top.

First Prize
1 Kindle Fire HD
1 $35 Fat Quarter Shop gift certificate
1 pkg Pellon® EK150-10 Easy-Knit® Tape
1 pkg 70 Peltex® Ultra Firm Sew-In
1 pkg Pellon® 987F Fusible Fleece
1 pkg Pellon® 805R Wonder-Under®
1 pkg Pellon® SF101 Shape-Flex®
1 Legacy™ by Pellon® Throw (60x60) 100% Natural Cotton Batting
1 pkg Pellon® Perfect Loft™ Cluster Fiber
1 Pattern Playground CD

Second Prize
1 $35 Fat Quarter Shop gift certificate
1 Legacy™ by Pellon® Crib (45x60) 100% Natural Cotton Batting
1 pkg Pellon® Perfect Loft™ Cluster Fiber
1 pkg Pellon® 805R Wonder-Under®
1 pkg Pellon® SF101 Shape-Flex®
1 Pattern Playground CD

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Third & Fourth place will be drawn from all individually completed blocks. You may have one entry for each of the nine blocks completed.

Third Prize
1 pkg Pellon® 987F Fusible Fleece
1 pkg Pellon® 805R Wonder-Under®
1 pkg Pellon® SF101 Shape-Flex®

Fourth Prize
1 pkg Pellon® 987F Fusible Fleece
1 pkg Pellon® 805R Wonder-Under®
1 pkg Pellon® SF101 Shape-Flex®

**********

Individual block prize bundles will be drawn from all entries for each block design. You may have one entry into each of the nine drawings for each block completed of that design.

Individual block prize #1-9
1 Aurifil thread bundle
1 Pattern Playground CD

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<center> <a href="http://my-crafty-crap.blogspot.com/search/label/cathedral%20window%20quilt%20along" target="_blank"><img src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8315/8023117255_2effbde30d_q.jpg" width="150" /></a></center>

check My Crafty Crap for more info this week, and get ready to kick things off next week! for now, grab a button for your page, join the cathedral windows qal flickr group, and get ready to quilt along! as for me, i'm off to figure out how to make a cathedral window block... no time like the present, my friends ;)

free greeting card from Treat

*psst* just stopping in real quick to give you a heads up about this deal from the folks at tiny prints.

Treat is offering a free greeting card (for any occasion) to everyone today. 

Whether you need a personalized card for a birthday, boss' day, anniversary, or for any of the hundreds of occasions on Treat's site...or even just to say hello, you should check out this offer.

Head on over to Treat now and choose from one of their thousands of designs. Then personalize. You can change the text, the font, and the colors, add a picture or four, and truly make it your own. Then just use the code TREATXOXO at checkout to get it completely free (including shipping). You only have to pay if you choose to have Treat send it to the recipient ($0.45 for the stamp).

That's all there is to it. The offer expires tonight at 11:59pm PT so head on over now.

xo, rachael

embroidery with wild olive

a few months ago, i participated in "embroidery: re-sized", an online class taught by Mollie of wild olive. if you're not familiar with Mollie's great embroidery patterns and fantastic resources, you should acquaint yourself with them immediately after you finish reading this post!!

now, i didn't quite keep up with all of the projects over the four week class, and some of them i changed a little bit to better suit my style or to combine the skills of two projects into one, but just the fact that there were already thought out projects and fun embroidery patterns to stitch up got me to try some new things and also expand my embroidery skills a bit. plus, i made some pretty darned cute stuff!!

first up were some teeny tiny notions embroidered on linen and made into patchwork coasters. i'll admit i'm a bit partial to the pincushion ;) i used essex linen for the embroidery and dug into my stash of echino for the patchwork squares. the coasters were hand stitched around the edges with perle cotton.

next up... teeny tiny nature magnets. i stitched these teeny patterns on quilting cotton (from Joel Dewberry's Aviary 2 collection) and then used the i-top button maker to turn them into fridge magnets. for more teeny tiny embroidery patterns, you can check out the appropriately named "teeny tiny" section of the wild olive etsy shop.

this project was not an official part of the class, but i scaled down and stitched up some of Mollie's other patterns onto t-shirts for birthday gifts. the images are from her SeaSiders, Doodles and Dreams, and Little Owls pattern sets. in order to stabilize the knit material, i used Pellon 553R Sol-U-Film Lite™, which washes away completely with water to leave the t-shirt pliable and soft.

we also stitched some itty bitty letters, which i think is a great skill to have. i made my letters into this itty bitty banner for sewn studio. the fabric i used is handprinted cotton from Maze & Vale.

the last class-related project i've made (so far) is this oversized embroidery hoop for the parade of oversized notions at sewn studio. the scissors and thread come from Mollie's Crafty Characters pattern set. i cut the pattern shapes out of felt, hand sewed them onto the fabric, embellished the designs with perle cotton, and added some oversized buttons.

and there you have it! my fun with very small and very large embroidery. i highly recommend trying out your embroidery (or other crafts) on a different scale. it is interesting how just changing the size of something requires looking at it in a different way. plus, teeny tiny embroidery is a great way to get in a little crafting when your time is small as well!

happy stitching :)

september sponsors group giveaway *now closed*

it's time for the september sponsor group giveaway... and this month, there are five fabulous giveaway prizes for you to win! without further ado, here are the prizes my fab sponsors are offering:

win a fat eighth random cool pack from Pink Castle Fabrics. pack includes random selection of eight fat eighths (each measuring 9" x 22") of designer fabrics in cool shades.

Pink Castle Fabrics is a family business started by Brenda and Jason in February of 2011. Brenda began quilting a few years ago, and had a hard time finding fabric she liked at prices that Jason liked. after starting as a single bookshelf in their office, the business has grown into dozens of shelves and now covers their entire basement! they specialize in modern quilting fabrics and also carry flannels, apparel fabrics, Japanese kawaii fabric, vintage-inspired fabric, and much more!

find Pink Castle Fabrics here: website / facebook / twitter / blog / newsletter / Daily Stack newsletter /

win 1 metre of organic fabric plus 1 spool (300 yards/275 metres) of organic cotton sewing thread from Stitch Organics. 

Stitch Organics is an online organic fabric store and haberdashery for the modern sewist. started by Stephanie of The Crafty Kitty and based in Reading, England, Stitch offers organic sewing thread, fabrics (including knits, voile, and cottons), embroidery floss, grosgrain ribbon, and other recycled notions. 

find Stitch Organics here: shop / blog / facebook / twitter / flickr group  

win your choice of any three pdf patterns from Sew Well Maide. you can see the range of Karen's pattern designs here on the Sew Well Maide blog.

Sew Well Maide is the quilt and accessories design and construction face of Karen Pior. from Karen, "Quilts are my passion. I spend my days designing, constructing and daydreaming about them. My children cuddle up and snuggle into them. I hope you find something in my designs that can envelope your family in the warmth, softness and security that only a lovingly handmade quilt can provide."

find Sew Well Maide here: blog / etsy / craftsy / facebook / twitter / flickr / pinterest

win a copy of the new It’s Sew Emma pattern, Accentuate the Positive, from Fat Quarter Shop, where they have been busy writing patterns for their new book – Simply Fat Quarters. you can reserve a signed copy today at 20% off retail price!

The Fat Quarter Shop was founded in 2003 by Kimberly Jolly. An avid quilter, Kimberly began her shop as a side business while still working a corporate position, cutting, packing and shipping right out of her house during evenings and weekends. From the very beginning, she was committed to delivering top-notch service for every single order and customer. As the Fat Quarter Shop's reputation grew, Kimberly decided to make it a full-time operation. Her husband Kevin joined her not long after, and with his help, lots of hard work, and a tireless commitment, the store began to grow. The Fat Quarter Shop continues to branch out with the best fabrics, exclusive kits, quilt clubs, BOMs, and more.... and they will always be driven by the passion that Kimberly founded the store upon, which is always giving you the best products and service!

find Fat Quarter Shop here: shop / blog / facebook / pinterest / twitter and now on instagram: @fatquartershop

win a laminate padfolio from casa crafty... i'm a little excited about this one as the winner gets to choose from one of the padfolios that Kelley has made up from my very own pattern (to be released as a pdf soon)! more info about the padfolios here on the casa crafty blog.

Kelley of casa crafty is mom to two beautiful boys; keeper of goats, chickens, and rabbits; crafter and sewist; and sells accessories made from laminated cottons in her etsy shop. from Kelley, " I learned to sew when I was very young and HATED it. But as I started my own family and built a home, I discovered that I loved it… Now, it is the main feature of my day. On my blog, I share all that I make and the daily trials of being a busy stay-at-home mom that never gets to stay home."

find Casa Crafty here: blog / etsy / facebook / pinterest / flickr

the all-important "how to win" details:

this giveaway is open to everyone. if you are a "no reply" or anonymous commenter, include your email address in your comment so that i can contact you if you win.

giveaway closes september 28 at 8pm EST. the five winning names will be drawn randomly and notified via email.

to enter, simply leave a comment (any comment!) on this post. want a little inspiration? i'd love to hear what you think about my new padfolio pattern and the samples that Kelley whipped up!

if you'd like to up your chances to win (and who wouldn't, right?)... here are *six* things you can do to gain a bonus entry!! for any that you choose to do, just leave an additional comment telling me that you've done so.

1. follow Pink Castle Fabrics on facebook
2. follow Stitch Organics on facebook
3. follow Sew Well Maide on facebook
4. follow Fat Quarter Shop on facebook
5. follow casa crafty on facebook
6. bonus entry for imagine gnats facebook followers!

thanks to everyone who entered! the giveaway is now closed.

craft book month: improv sewing

i'm always coming across new crafty books that i *need* to add to my collection, so craft book month from Craft Buds is both fun and a bit dangerous for me... the list of craft books i love, covet, and/or own is not short, as evidenced by the piles of books next to every bookshelf in our house.

and here is my latest craft book acquisition, "improv sewing: 101 fast, fun, and fearless projects". i love this book!! for the sake of disclosure, i was given a copy of the book from the authors, but all professions of my love and adoration opinions are completely my own.

i love that this book encourages me to try new things, find alternate uses for what i already have, and helps me to feel successful with my project, inspiring me while also allowing room for my own creativity. there are an amazing number of really great projects, and i suspect that there's more than a little for everyone in this book. in fact, since i started reading it, we've begun carrying it at sewn studio and i've also purchased a copy or two as gifts.

when i went through the book to decide which project to make for this post, i used up half of a pack of post-it notes just marking the pages of other projects i need to come back and make. for example: meandering cardigan, nesting boxes, line art lunchbox napkins, two-tee dress, cowl neck duffle... i could go on.

but i decided to start off with something practical. i know... practical?? but our existing cork bath mat was worn right through. we love this cork bath mat, have used it for years, and all was well until the cats discovered it a few months ago and it became their new scratching post. so i whipped up a fast, fun, and fearless improv replacement!

the new bath mat is pretty fabulous. i used a Daisy Janie print from shades of grey and two old towels from the good ol' top shelf of the linen closet.

the mat is basically a small whole-fabric quilt that uses the towels as both batting and backing. in the book, double fold bias tape is used for the edging, but i didn't have any of that handy, so i just machine bound the mat using a thick straight binding i made from the same fabric.

i did find that the quilting was a bit tricky as the finished mat is quite thick. a combination of dialing down the pressure on my presser foot, adjusting the stitch tension, and using my walking foot enabled me to get through it, but i'll admit that there were quite a few missed stitches. in order to compensate, i just went over the same areas with some wavy lines and also machine stitched around the binding twice.

i'm planning to make a second mat in the same fabric for in front of the sink, and also thinking about making one for the girls' bathroom (though the cats haven't found that cork mat... yet). i plan to either use one layer of towel or use thinner towels, which i think this will make the quilting much easier. in the book they use free motion quilting and i'd like to try that. i think it would give a bit more control over the stitching, and it's about time that i brave the fmq anyway ;)

as i mentioned, i'm a huge fan of this book! and i never would have thought to make my own bath mat, but i'm so glad that someone else thought of it for me... aren't those simple ideas the best?

for more project ideas and inspiration, check out the Improv Diary blog or Improv Sewing on facebook.

friendship quilts blog hop

it's time for a super fun friendship-bracelet-inspired-quilt-a-long-blog-hop-event! in her kick-off post, the lovely Diane might have promised that we'd show you the best thing "since mullets, rolled socks, New Kids on the Block and friendship bracelets." well, i've never been that cool (i know, you're shocked)... i didn't have a mullet, never wore three pairs of socks at once, and wasn't into NKOTB. but i did make my fair share of friendship bracelets, so how could i resist? 

in celebration of friendship, i thought i'd make a special gift for a really great friend. a friend, i'll have you know, that *was* into NKOTB... she was even at that concert when the one guy fell through the stage. totally cool, right? yep. my friend Amy is super cool. she also happens to be a wonderful person, great friend, fab mom to two lovelies, and (from time to time) my sanity.

so i made her "friendship coasters" for her birthday. i actually had them made before her birthday (which was almost three weeks ago as of this post), though i've not actually mailed them yet. yeesh. have i mentioned that there's a lot going on around here? yeah, i thought so. anyway, coasters. rainbow coasters, backed with essex linen and hand quilted with perle cotton.

i made these coasters using the same method that Jill (aka That Moxie Girl) used to make me a very awesome (and much needed) embroidery bag, which you can - and should - read all about here.

and because i inadvertently agreed to share photos of myself in the eighties:

should you happen to be my lovely friend Amy, please know that i adore you, my life wouldn't be the same without you, and that i am so very glad that no matter how much time or distance passes, i always know that you're just a phone call away. also, i will send these coasters to you soon... along with birthday presents for the rest of your lovely family that have been sitting around my house way too long.

here's to friends that love us, forgetful or not!!

also, linking up to Katey's Handmade Parade. go check out the other links :)

my adventures in fabric printing

today, i thought i'd share this recap of my handprinted fabric adventures (originally posted over at The Idea Girl a few months back). if you're ever thought about trying out fabric printing, i hope this convinces you to give it a go!! it really is much easier than you think :)

last october was the first time i tried my hand at printing fabrics. i was inspired to try it out because the lovely Leslie of maze & vale was hosting a handprinted fabric swap and it sounded way to fun to pass up!

first, i did some research and got together some simple supplies. for all of my fabric printing/painting, i have used pebeo setacolor paints and i've been very happy with them. i found them locally at united art & education, but they can be ordered online from a variety of shops as well.

i purchased a simple carving set like this one and some speedball linoleum blocks, both of which were rather inexpensive... always a good thing for a new crafty pursuit :)

for my first printing attempt, i drew birds onto the linoleum blocks and then carved out the negative space. i used a brayer to apply the paint and then just stamped the fabric with the block. you can see more photos of that printing session here.

after that trial, i changed up a few things for the next printing. on a recommendation, i used a sponge brush to apply the paint to the stamps for a more even look. i also bought different carving stamps, like these Soft Kut blocks, which are way easier to carve. i carved two stamps, a whale and a "spouting water" and stamped them in a pattern on a heavyweight cotton. more photos of that printing session here.

the next time i printed the whales, i also carved a little stamp for a signature and used some letter stamps i had from another project to stamp each recipient's name on the fabric. more photos of the fabrics i sent for the swap here. i also experimented with different colors and pattern layouts of the whales.

recently, i've been using freezer paper stencils rather than block printing fabric. basically, you just cut your design out of the paper, place it shiny-side down on the fabric you want to paint, and iron. the freezer paper fuses to the fabric so that it forms a stencil. after painting, you can just pull the freezer paper right off. using this technique, i made this apron for father's day from a drawing that one of our girls did on the freezer paper. i just cut it out, ironed, and painted.

just last weekend, i finished up four fat quarters for the latest round of the maze & vale fabric swap also using freezer paper stencils. i did three layers of the cutting, ironing, and painting... with lots of ironing in between. more about these fabrics here, and you can see all of the fabrics i received in return here.

so, if you've always wanted to try your hand at printing but worried that it was too hard or complicated, the good news is: it's not!! 

if you're looking for more handprinting information and inspiration, Leslie has an awesome handprinted fabric pinterest board, and lots of resources on her blog... including fabric and ink resource lists, and interviews with fabric printers, like this one with Ink & Spindle. and for some inspiration, check out the handprinted fabric flickr group. also, you can see Leslie's own handprinted fabric here in the maze & vale etsy shop. i might have a few of these pieces in my stash ;) in fact, i used some of her quills print for a nook cover i made the hubs earlier this year!

what are you waiting for? go print some fabric!!