Sheree's Alchemy

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY! plus an update

Happy Mother's Day to all you moms out there!  I have a funny story to share.  We celebrated last weekend, because the German calendars had last Sunday marked as mother's day.  Well, then we found out that it was a mistake of sorts.  This weekend is a Church/Bank Holiday, so originally, they planned to move Mother's Day to last Sunday.  But then they decided to have it parallel with Mother's Day in America.  But unfortunately, the calendars were already printed with the wrong date.  So lots of people celebrated last weekend.  And now are celebrating again this weekend.  I don't mind---we should have Mother's Day once a month as far as I am concerned. :)

Here are some flowers for you all.  Hope you like them. :)

Now, I wanted to share some of the other things I am working on.  Remember, I told you have a bunch in the works at the same time.  And that I have settled on the fact that this is just how I work.  But setting the firm deadlines is a big help, since I can be a master procrastinator.

I have made some progress on the new things I am making for Leah's bedroom that I talked about in my last post.  I finished up some pillows.  Here is one.  I made 4, 1 with each of the sweet girl panels.

And I made a bunch of blocks the quilt.  Here are 2 of them.  I am not sure how I will piece the quilt together yet.

I am working on this set for here in between getting things ready for the website launch.  I have set the date for June 6th.  I hope I don't have to change it!  I have enough stuff to launch really, but of course, I want to make more.  And honestly, the picture taking is slowing me down.  I wish I had a photographer to work with.  It is time consuming, but necessary.  Anyway, on to some pics....

These new skirt sets are for the new website.  Loving them!

And I turned this pile into some bags. 

The nine patch squares had been sitting around.  I decided to put them to use.  I love how the patched pockets look with the different colors of 100% organic linen fabrics.  I am showing the red here, but I also have some made  with brown, charcoal grey and aqua organic linen as well. 

I have also been busy at my daughter's school.  We have a big silent auction coming up at the school, so I have been in the classroom helping the kids get a variety of items ready for auctioning off.  The kids made some paintings and they colored this quilt top. 

I have a week to turn it into a real quilt! Wish me luck!!

I am still giving sewing lessons.  We are having so much fun!  I started teaching the girls how to work with patterns and books now that they get the basics of sewing.  Here are some of the latest projects that came out of last weeks class.

Rosie's new skirt.  I have to go look up the title of the book we used for this pattern. I'll add that in a bit.

Leane's new diaper bag using a pattern from Lotta Jansdotter's book Simple Sewing.  Leane mixed up some of my favorite fabrics to make this bag.  It is reversible and just super cute.

Kristy made another bag, this one for her son to carry his stuffed bunny in.  She made her son a larger version of this bag a couple weeks ago.

And basic tote completed.

The weather has been glorious here this week, so we ate lunch outside. 

I also wanted to share some pictures from a recent trip to Holland.  We took a trip to the Keukenhof to see the tulips and other amazing bulbs.  Incredible! 

We drove 2 hours to get there and then it just started pouring down rain.  We thought about going back home, but decided to wait it out.  After 2 hours of downpours, the rain stopped and we enjoyed a gorgeous afternoon/evening there!  Definitely worth waiting!  I love flowers of all kinds.  The display at this place was just breathtaking.  I took hundreds of pictures, some I hope to turn into some postcards and others I hope to get enlarged and printed out at some point.  Here are just a few of my favorites from the day. 

They are prettier large, so if you want to see more, be sure to check them out on flickr.  You can click to see them large there. 

That's it for today.  I'll be back soon, with more previews of items for the new website.  I also want to get in another favorite things post.  I have a beautiful handbag from Ana to share with you.  And a gorgeous handknit hat from Lucy.  Plus some other things.

I hope you all have a great Mother's Day! 

Hugs,

Sheree

Sweet Girl, a WIP.....and other Happy Things

Hey There!

Well, the sun is out today, the temps are slowly warming up and I am hoping to get out into the garden later today to get some flowers potted up and to do a general Spring cleanup out there.  Before I head out to get some work done, I just wanted to quickly share some images of a few things I have been working on.  As usual, I have way too many things going at once. I have settled on the fact that this is just how I work.  I really need to have a few things going at once.  My challenge (and I have been good so far these last few months) is setting deadlines for completion of things so everything does not end up  in the UFO pile.  I am sure there are some out there that can relate, right. :)

Anyway, let's start.  First up, look at this happy fabric! 

When the fabric rep pulled out this print, I could not help but smile.  It reminded me instantly of my girl.  Look at those long, lanky limps and that sweet smile.  She even wears here hair the same way and has those same curls.  Leah does not have a dog, like in one of the images, but man, does she want one badly!!!  Our 16 year old cat would not be happy about adding a dog to the family, though.  I am working on some things for Leah's room, and also there will be loads of fun items on the new website featuring this print.  I have it in another color way (pink & purple), but I have not cut into that just yet.  I thought the pink & purple would be for Leah, since those are her favorite colors, but she insisted on this color way when she saw it.  It is great for me, because it matches with lots of things already in her room. :)

Next up are some of the new totes that I am making. 

I still have some threads to snip, some buttons to sew on and some other hand embellishing to do.  I'll be sitting with this lot tonight while watching a movie with my better half. :)  These will be on the new website, and also I am hoping the shops I'll be meeting with in 2 weeks will take some to sell.  I am really loving this particular print below. Even though the base is brown, the colors are bright enough that I think they work great for Spring/Summer.

And I pulled out some of these Marimeko prints that I have been hoarding for years!  Don't these just scream summer? 

And here are a couple other fun combinations. 

I'll be announcing the date for the launch of the new site soon.  I need to get a few more things finished up so I can have a great launch!

Okay, wishing you all a super happy day.  Thanks so much for stopping by.  Oh, one more thing, I am remembering I forgot to celebrate my 1 year blog anniversary.  And I still need to fulfill my end of a Pay It Forward thing I won on Ravenhill's blog.  So in the next few weeks, well probably in May, I'll be doing some fun giveaways again...Maybe a website launch party?  I have not done anything in a while, so I'll think of some good, fun stuff to do.  So keep a lookout for that.

See you sooner than later...

Sheree

March Review

I really had every intention of getting this post up sooner.  I need to stop apologizing about not getting to the blog more often, because I am definitely sounding like a broken record!!  But surely all you moms out there understand.  We all have so many things to work on with the kids and home and then if we are trying to get a business going also, forget it.  Add in the hubby traveling wayyyy too much for my liking and then some vacations and minibreaks...weeks seem to go by quickly.  But I am having fun, just not enough time to get it all up on the blog.  Plus, I have been trying to get my pictures organized and printed out so I can actually put these memories into some books.  Seems silly to be blogging about it and not even having real photo albums/scrapbooks to document this all.  So anyway, I have decided to stop beating myself up over the long breaks between blogging.  That's just my life..

Anyway, Here is a ridiculously long review.  Well, not too wordy, alteast not for my standards, but loads of pictures.  Okay, on to the March Review (I know we are midway through April...April review will come soon!, giggles).

Okay, so first I need to share a few pics of my baby girl....she turned 7 in March!!  Man, I can remember going into labor with her at the car dealership when I was picking up my new, baby safe car (my previous car was a soft top, convertible Suzuki Amigo!).  And just in a snap it seems, she is 7 now.  Here are a few pics of her at her birthday party.  She requested a bowling party...everyone had a blast! 

Leah has taken a liking to using the sewing machine now.  She was always more into hand sewing.  But since I started giving sewing lessons at the house, she has been excited about using my machine as well.  Here is a reversible tote bag she made for herself. 

She picked out the fabric, the ribbon for the straps and then the flower pin accent.  It was fun to watch her get into a project and finish it up.  She has been taking it to school and just when we go out for errands.  Yesterday she took it along when we went grocery shopping, and proudly help carry the goods in it. :)  She has gone through the fabric room and pulled together some fabric combinations for her next projects.  We'll see how they go.  She wants to make a dress..I am thinking she is not really ready for that yet, but we'll see...She is pretty determined.

And now, here are some pictures from Greece.  There is actually even a picture of me---so you can put a name with a face. :)

These first pictures were taken at the resort where we stayed in Chalkidiki, Greece.  It is called the Oceania Club, and man, was it nice.  This was the first time we did one of those all inclusive vacations.  Oh, we are converts.  This was the most stress free trip we have taken ever!  And it is a spa resort, with a lovely gym, saunas, hot tubs, etc..  The kids club was fun for the kids and hubby and I enjoyed some time alone. :)

The resort is located at the beach with views Mt. Olympus.  You can see the snow on the mountain in the picture below.  It was a bit hazy during our stay, so I could not get any great pictures of the mountain, unfortunately.

WE WENT ON A DAY TRIP TO PELLA...WE VISITED THE MUSEUM TO SEE THE ANCIENT ARTIFACTS COLLECTED FROM THE BURIED CITY.  THEN WALKED OVER TO THE ORIGINAL SITE OF THE ANCIENT CITY.  JUST AN AMAZING EXPERIENCE! ALEXANDER THE GREAT WAS BORN IN PELLA AND ARISTOTLE TAUGHT THERE.  ALSO, EURIPEDES WROTE DRAMA PIECES THERE AS WELL. 

I really should title the pics individually...I'll do that later.

Okay, off to sew a bit before I have to get my sweet girl from school.  I have meetings coming up with 2 shop owners to show them some new designs/merchandise, so I am busy sewing up things to prepare for that.  Also making stock for the new boutique website that I talked about a couple months ago.  And then trying to work out some new ideas.  I am nervous about all these things.  But realizing that the only thing holding me back right now is "me".  I have sort of "gotten over myself" over the last couple months and have really been working hard to make my business dreams come true.  But I'll share more about these things, and some new pictures of things I've made over the last months, in my next post.

Hope you all have a fabulous weekend!!!

Hugs,

Sheree

We're Back from Greece!

Hi!!

We are back from Chalkidiki, Greece.  We had such a wonderful time!  March has flown by.  We celebrated Leah's birthday on  March 3rd.  She's 7 now!!  We also had some visitors to entertain.  Then Spring Break and off for a week to Greece.  The trip was wonderful.  The light in Greece is amazing.  The people, the culture, the history, the food, the hospitality.....all just wonderful!!  I am looking forward to visiting again.

The resort we stayed was at the sea with views of Mt. Olympus across the water--just gorgeous.  I'll tell you all more later and share more pics in a bit.  Just wanted to pop in quick fast and give an update.  I need to share pics of Leah's birthday celebration as well. And so much more.  New fabrics, new designs, and some beautiful gifts--a bag from Ana and a handknit hat from the fabulous Miss Lucy! (thanks girls!).

Leah (still on spring break) and I are off now to get Lucas from kindergarten and then we will meet some friends to see the Horton movie--it is showing in English today. :)

Until then, here is a picture of Lucas soaking up some sun on our first evening in Chalkidiki, Greece.   

Hope you all are well, and that you all enjoyed a Happy Easter!

Hugs,

Sheree

Sew Much Fun!!!

Hi There!

Well, as promised, I have a few pictures to share from my sewing class.  I hate to be corny, but I can resist!  We are having SEW MUCH FUN!!!

Yesterday the ladies were here, well some of them--7 ladies in all.  Ann, Sunita, Erika, Kristy, Don Nhim, Rosie and Joy.  Sunita is new to the class.  And then a couple ladies could not make it because of sickness (it is that time of year around here). 

Anyway, we spent the day laughing, eating, chatting and sewing.  Most everyone completed another project.  I decided that it was really important for people to be able to leave each lesson with a completed project, atleast in the beginning.  I know for myself, my excitement is always escalated when I finish something up.  It is a wonderful feeling to have something lovely to show for your time and to show off!! :)  I think it is working.  The girls are so excited about sewing and they have all become huge fans of fabric.  Converts!  It has been fun for me to share my passion for fabric and sewing with my friends.  And now, I have loads of ladies to chat endlessly about fabric with.  They get it.  They see why I love it so!  They are so hooked and I am too.  This teaching thing is really fun!

Okay, now for some pics.  I am not one to stop and stage things to make those pretty pictures. So sorry for the lack of styling here.  But I hope you'll agree that the girls are lovely and so are their completed projects. :)

Here is Ann.  Ann is a cutey!  Full of energy and she has the sweetest Southern drawl.  Love it!  She hails from Arkanasas and is an ordained minister.  Her daughter is one of my Leah's best friends here...they are in the same class as well.  Ann and I met the first week of school 2006.  We were both new and she overheard me talking to some ladies about knitting.  She is also a knitter, so we hit it off right away.  Now she is a sewer too! The bag is her first project. 

This was her first time joining us.  She has already selected fabrics for her next 2 projects!

Here is Kristy. 

Again...a super cutey!  Such a sweetheart.  Kristy comes from Singapore.  Her son was in Leah's class last year.  He is so gorgeous!  She is probably one of the most generous people I know.  She is always handing out sweeties to the kids on the playground after school.  And she picks up little gifts throughout her travels and is always gifting something to one of us.  At our first lesson, she gave me this beautiful tea towel from France and some ridiculously delicious tea from Harrod's of London.  Yesterday, she brought in little porcelain thimbles for everyone.  At the first lesson, Kristy made this fabulous tote. 

She was afraid to mix up the fabrics at first, but then she totally got into it.  It was her very first sewing experience ever!  I think she did a stellar job.  She was so convinced she could never do this.  She was actually intending to just watch during the first lesson, but she dove in and really did awesome!  She was probably the most excited and so very proud that she had actually made something herself.  Yesterday, she made this little reversible tote for her son. 

He apparently saw her bag and asked her to make something for him to carry his books in.  We worked together to pick the fabrics and she did everything herself.

Next up is Erika, yet another cutey.  Erika is from Belgium.  Her daughter is also in Leah's class.  We love Erika's hair.  Red, curly and fabulous.  Reminds me of Chaka Kahn.  Erika helped me at school back in December when I went in to Leah's class to teach the kids how to sew.  All the kids cut out and sewed their own Christmas stockings.  They did amazing...they did not break my machines and noone got injured!  Not bad for 19 kids that had never used a sewing machine...well 18, since Leah has.  Anyway, Erika was excited at how easy it was and asked for some lessons.  Her request is what initiated me doing the classes.  Last week when Erika came, she spend most of her time looking at and selecting fabric!  She was a bit overwhelmed with my stash!lol  And again, was not so confident at first with combining different fabrics and colors.  I helped her get fabrics together, and suggested the ribbon accent.  Honestly, I think she was not so sure about the selections at first.  But yesterday as her bag come together, you could see her lighting up! 

I think the fabrics and the style are so her, and she agrees.  After finishing her bag, she started selecting fabrics for future projects.  Then she whipped up this headband for her hair.  :) 

I think she will be making about 100 of these things over the next months.  She and I also share a love of scarves, so for her next project, I am designing a fun new scarf pattern (or 2) for her.

Finally is Don Nhim, who is from Korea. 

Again, super cutey.  She also has a son in 1st grade, but he has never been in any of Leah's classes.  She I know each other from Mom's teas and lunches that are held every week.  She usually carries around a lovely patchwork bag that her mom made for her.  She was so frightened of the sewing machine though.  During the first lesson, she made so much noise while sewing...omgosh, we were all just cracking up.  I think she needed a massage after the lesson, because she was so tense sitting at the machine.  But she finished up her bag and was in heaven!

Yesterday, she decided she wanted to make an apron.  So I showed her how to cut an apron without using a pattern.  She could not believe how easy it was.  She picked some cute fabrics--the apron is for her 12 year old daughter (so she said, I think she kept it for herself!).  She did an excellent job, don't you think? 

For her next project, she wants to make matching oven mitts, so I'll be making up a simple pattern for her to do that. :)

Oh, I can't forget about Rosie.  She is from England.  She is a total cutey and a real fire ball!  She keeps us in stitches throughout the class.  And she is an amazing baker.  I am addicted to her Victoria Sponge Cake---yumm!  I'll have to see if she will give me the recipe to share with you all.  Rosie had not sewn much before--hemming curtains was the extent of her experience and I think she said she made a track suit?  But that did not stop her from designing her first project and making up a pattern.  She forgot to bring it yesterday, so I don't have a picture to share.  Next time.  Yesterday, she spent time helping others, and then selecting fabrics to start a stash of her own (girl after my own heart, huh?!) and for a simple patchwork quilt she wants to make for another of our friends that is pregnant right now (Leane from Russia, who was sick yesterday and could not come). 

This is a silly picture of her with some scrap ribbon tied in her hair.  She wore that thing the whole day.  Silly goose! 

My friend Joy was also here yesterday, but ran out before I remembered to snap pictures.  She has made 4 totes so far!  She has a bit of experience with the machine, but is enjoying learning my little tricks and tips on how to do things freestyle, with care.  She is itching to get into the clothes making part, but we need a few more lessons before we go there, I think.  I really want them to master the basics, and learn alot of essentials before we start working with patterns and designing clothes.  I personally think most patterns can be really confusing and frustrating for beginners.  And I don't want my girls getting discouraged!  So we will be keeping it easy breezy lemon squeezy for now.

I should mention that all the projects were made without the use of any commerical patterns.  I am showing them how to work with simple shapes and fabulous fabrics to create personalized items that they can feel really proud about creating.  I think it is working.  I'll have to start putting some effort in ahead of time now to keep things organized, as everyone starts to learn more and wants to venture off into new things.  I'll be offering a second class starting in April...it will be for some of the teachers at Leah's school.  I plan to put together an actual "sewing curriculum" if you will.  I'll have a little book filled with tips, hints, basics, and then I'll be working with them week to week on projects designed by me.  I will have them actually working on the same projects together.  I think it will be easier and go more smoothly.  Teaching teachers is making me nervous, but I think if I spend time thinking this through, it will be okay.  I am getting so much practice with my friends though.  I often find it difficult to explain every little step, because I just do things without thinking about it lots of the time.  So this is such great practice for me and some of things I plan to do in the future.  I am thankful for these ladies, for being my guinea pigs. :)  The feedback is really invaluable.  And as I said before, this whole experience is so incredibly energizing.  I feel like me again.  I haven't felt this way in a while.  But I am ridiculously bubbly and focused, and productive.  This really is just what I needed.

Okay, I'd better get off this thing.  Laundry is calling my name!

Hope you all are having a fabulous day!  Oh, and look forward to some fabric sneak peeks for the upcoming website update.  Here is one picture of some of what's to come.

Big Hugs,

Sheree

First Things First

WOW!  It is mid-February already?  Heavens.  I did have EVERY intention of being back in January.  But some things have come up and my computer time has been totally sapped.  I have started teaching sewing lessons to a group of fun and eager ladies.  The group consists of 8 ladies (2 from America, 1 from England, 1 from Shanghai, 1 from Russia, 1 from China, 1 from Germany and 1 from Belgium). They are all my friends..we all have kids in 1st grade together.  We are having so much fun.  I can't tell you all how energizing it has been for me to teach something that I have loved since I was 12!  We have had 2 lessons and everyone has already made a handbag/tote. I'll tell you all more soon, and show pics of their projects.   I'll be starting a second course for some of the teachers at the school--we'll be starting after Spring Break.    Since the lessons are here at my house, I have been spending lots of time de-cluttering and organizing and getting rid of things we just don't need anymore.  I need to purchase a bit more shelving for my sewing room and then will be able to finally show some pics.  These weekly lessons will keep my on my toes with the organization, I hope. 

Then I also got in a ridiculously large order of incredible fabrics that I need to photograph and add to the website.  I may put some up on the Etsy shop as well.  We'll see.  I need to figure out what I'll need for sewing up clothes for the shop.  Then I'll get going on stocking the fabric shop(s).  I really wanted to share some pictures, but no time right now.  My better half is at a conference in Venice, Italy.  So I am single mamma for the weekend.  We have a school play to attend this weekend and some play dates set up.  So we'll keep busy without him around, but we really hate missing out on our family weekend time. 

I have also been planning our Spring Break trip!  We'll be heading to Greece.  I am so excited--never been.   We are at the midway point of our stay here in Germany, so I am trying to make a list of all the places I want to be sure and fit in before we leave!  We had Portugal on our list, but could not get any good flights.  We also looked into Egypt, Canary Islands and Italy.  Everything is so close here.  And many of these places would be too far for us to travel to for a short vacation once we are back in the US.  So I have to start planning.  Any suggestions?

I hope you all had a wonderful Valentine's Day.  We'll catch up sooner than later I hope! :)  And with PICTURES!! :)

Hugs,

Sheree

HOME

Hey There!

Just wanted to let you know I am alive.  We actually went HOME to the US for the New Year!!!  OMGosh, what fun!  It was the first time the kids and I went back since we moved here to Germany 1.5 years ago.  It was so hard in so many ways, but so necessary.  We have such fun seeing our family and friends. 

We are jetlagged and tired.  School starts back up tomorrow, so I'll be busy doing 2 weeks worth of laundry and stuff.  It was so nice to go home, and is nice to be back here in our "temporary" home.  We are really looking forward to moving back and at the same time looking forward to more adventures and fun doing the rest of our stay here.

I really thought I'd have lots of computer time while there--what on earth was I thinking?  No such luck.  But I'll make it for it this week when the kids are in school--snicker.  I have loads of email in my inbox, so if you are waiting for a reply from me, it will come soon. 

Hope you all are well.  I'll be back soon--for real this time!

Hugs,

Sheree

Merry Belated Christmas and Happy New Year Early!!

HI EVERYONE!

WOW, DID I DISAPPEAR AGAIN?  WHAT IS UP WITH THAT? 

Seriously, the last few weeks are a blur...school sewing and knitting last minute gifts, celebrating Christmas in Munich, watching movies, knitting more, talking on the phone, ice skating, walking around frozen lakes, taking in the sunshine when it was around, eating, cooking, baking, laughing, loving........life!  My kids and husband are home for 2 more weeks!  So we will be enjoying more of all of this during this time, and I'll be back as soon as I can to fill you all in on more details.  I'll be popping around, catching up on everyone's blogs when I can steal some time. 

I hope you all had a VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

And wishing you all the very best of love, health and happiness in 2008!

We'll catch up soon!

Hugs,

Sheree

36 and more show and tell

Yup, I turned 36!  I can remember when my mom turned 36 and I thought she was so old!lol  Now I have crossed that line,heading to 40.   We had a fun celebration over the weekend, just the 4 of us.  We hit the Weinachtsmarkt here in Kaiserswerth and we went out for bowling and dinner on Sunday.  It was the first time bowling for the kids, so super fun! They had a blast, we all did.  I had not been bowling in years, and hand forgotten how much fun it can be.  And how hard it can be.  I had quite a few gutter balls!  And one strike.  Here are the gifts I received from my sweeties.  I love them all.

The book from Leah is super tiny, fits in the palm of my hand, and is filled with some really sweet quotes and proverbs about mothers.  Her school had a book sale last week, so she took in some of her piggy bank money to buy herself some books.  I was super touched that she found and bought this book for me.  The rock is from Lucas.  He apparently picked that up in the backyard, and cleaned it up and dried it on the heater before wrapping it up in green paper for me.  The ring--love.  Simple, silver band, large blue stone...love!  The oil warmer has been put to use already.  Look at that shade of green--gasp!  And I am a huge fan of aromatherapy, have been for years.  This warmer was hand made by an artisan that lives about 3 hours from Duesseldorf.  She'll be at the Weinachtsmarkt here over the weekend, so I'll be stopping up to get a few as gifts, since I have pledged to give handmade--these are perfect--handmade and gorgeous. 

Last night, Hubby raced home to cook dinner for me. :)  He did great.  He is not too into cooking, but he loves to grill, so he grilled up some chicken breasts.  We had green beans and some homemade Bavarian style potatoes as sides.  He called his mom to get direction for cooking the potatoes.  He did awesome.  I'll have to get him to cook more. :) The kids set the table for dinner.  I had quite the place setting, don't you think? :)

We were supposed to go to Paris for my birthday, but we are all so wiped out, that we are postponing the trip--hoping to go in the Spring.  Springtime in Paris.  That works for me. :)

Before I leave, here is a bit more show and tell.  I am going to be launching another website soon.  And have been working on stock for it.  I also went to another shop in Duesseldorf that is up for selling some of my creations!  Yay!  So I am making stock for that shop too. Here are a few pictures of some of the things I have ready so far.

I will be taking a break from business sewing so I can finish up my gifts.  This basket of yarn is waiting for me. 

I am a slow knitter, so I need to get cracking on this if I hope to finish in time for Christmas!!!  I am sure I am not alone.  Anyone else "behind" on Christmas gift making? 

I hope you all are happy and healthy.  Enjoy your day!

Hugs,

Sheree

Show and Tell...Part One

Hey There!

I finally uploaded some pictures to share, so I'll be doing a bit of show and tell over the next couple posts. :)

First up, remember that first quilt top I started MONTHS ago.  I got the top assembled pretty quickly, it was just fun randomly coming up with a "design", freestyle, like I love it!  But then I was stuck.  I had no idea what to do next.  Well, I knew I needed to put in some batting and a backing and quilt it, but I struggled with how to quilt it in an interesting way.  Well, I never thought up anything wonderfully original, so I just left it sitting there.  Then, while working on sorting and reorganizing the studio, I came across this orange vintage chenille bedspread I'd bought on ebay years ago.  I loved how it looked next to the quilt top, so decided to use it as a backing.  But there was no way to quilt through that thick chenille, so I quilting the top to the batting, just by stitching in the ditch around the patchwork pieces, then I added the chenille backing, and tied it to the top to keep the layers together. 

I love it!  Love the retro colors and how the orange vintage chenille makes the orange in all the fabrics just pop.  I could not for the life of me get a good picture of the entire quilt.  I'll have to work on that on a good sunny day.  Here are pics of it all folded up.

Next up, I'd like to show you this amazing handmade paper that Amy in Australia sent me.  Amy, I could not find a blog for you, so if you blog, or have a website/flickr, please let me know so I can link to you.:)  Amy won a bundle of fabrics from my Free Fabric Friday giveaways.  She so sweetly sent me this thank you.

It was sooooo unneccessary, and sooooo unexpected, but is greatly appreciated.  The paper is amazing, she made it herself--the sweetest part, really!  And it smells so nice!  I want to frame some and hang it on the walls in the studio, and then I thought I might try my hand at a mixed-media collage as well.  I've been wanting to play around with that, and this paper seems like a perfect thing to include in a modern collage.  I wonder if it is okay to scrapbook with?  Lisa has me wanting to scrapbook again.  Anyway, thanks again Amy.  Now you have me wanted to learn how to make my own paper too!

Next up, some amazing goodies sent to me by Emily in Norway.  Emily sponsored a Pay It Forward blog giveaway.  The way Pay It Forward works is the hosting person pledges to giveaway 3 handmade items to the first 3 people that reply saying that they will host a pay it forward giveaway, and it goes on and on.  So I agreed to host a giveaway and so Emily sent me this wonderful bundle. 

She handknit and felted the bag and then included these lovely vintage goodies as well. 

Leah snagged that bag as soon as it peeks it pretty little head out of the package.  I get to keep the trim and buttons.  Thank you so much Emily, it is so perfect and so lovely.  I will be hosting my Pay It Forward giveaway soon.  I want to make the goodies first so I don't have that hanging over my head.  I hope to get it up next week, maybe the following week.  We'll see.

Finally, I wanted to share this incredible package Ana sent to me--all the way from Portugal!  Ana and I met on Flickr--when she joined my Operation Sewing Room Organization group.  She invited me to join the Fabric Addicts Anonymous group after seeing I had issues with fabric!   And she has been one of those amazingly supportive and fun people that I am so happy to have met through flickr.  Ana has also shown herself to be the luckiest girl I know.  She has won 3 of my blog giveaways.  And she won the big Sis Boom Giveaway that I mentioned here on the blog (yup, I was bummed, but happy for Ana, sort of !!).  Seriously, I was happy for her.  Ana, bless her heart, decided to send me a little bundle, and this is what she sent.

Needless to say, I was totally and utterly blown away by her generosity.   I drooled over that bird fabric when she first shared it on flickr.  I can't even believed she shared it with me. I don't deserve this, and would never expect it.  Everything in the bundle is just a treasure. 

To top it all off, I also recieved this amazing Bird themed bundle. 

Can you say CUTE?  Goodness Gracious, full of cuteness.  This was a swap organized by the FAA Flickr Group--If you like fabric and like swapping, you may want to join us?  Anyway, I am thankful for this bundle.  Thank you dear Sweet Ana!!!  Thank you so, very much!! 

I also found out from Ana that I won her blog giveaway last week, so I was able to buy this gorgeous bag from her Etsy shop!  This is the first blog giveaway I have won.  I was totally surprised.  I never win stuff.  I am excited to get this--the fabric is just gorgeous and the colors are so "me". :)

Okay, that is enough showing off for now.  Hope you all are Happy and Healthy and wishing you all a Wonderful Day!

Hugs,

Sheree