November Challenge

We had a great time at the Chris Cringle craft show earlier this month.  We sold alot of our goods and made a little money.  That's always nice.  Our first customers this year were 3 sisters.  These 3 sisters love animal prints.  Dogs.  Cats.  Elephants.  Anything with animals.  They each bought a new coin purse and maybe a coaster or two.  They were our first customers at the show last year, too.  They made a point of visiting our booth first this year before any other booth, because they wanted to buy some of our products.  That made us feel good.  This was our 4th year to have a booth at Chris Cringle, and one of the sisters has bought from us every year.  For some odd reason, I always remember her.  She has always bought animal prints.

A week or so after that show, we received invitations to 2 or 3 other shows this year.  We aren't able to make commitments to them, because we are already booked.  We don't do many craft shows, because sewing is a hobby for us.  We don't want it to feel like work, and it's not how we earn a living.  It's just a fun thing that earns us a little money.  No harm in that.

But...we do have other events on our calendars.  Joy is holding her annual Crafty Christmas Open House on Dec. 7th.  Jan is busy getting ready for two more shows.  The first one is this Saturday, Nov. 30th at Not Your Mama's Craft Market at the YMCA at Marysville, OH.  Her next show is less than a week later at her workplace.

We both decided to make new and different items that we didn't have available at Chris Cringle.  And that is what we decided to share as our challenge for this month.  Never before seen stuff.

Here's what we've come up with this month.

Framed embroidery
These are simple inspirational framed embroidery pieces that would look great on your desk, dresser, or kitchen counter.  Fill your hearts and minds with uplifting words and you'll be more inclined to treat others in a positive way.

Liberty of London totes
These totes are made from the luxurious Liberty of London fabrics.  Beautiful is the only word to describe them.

Remember...vote for your favorite.  and have a great Thanksgiving!!!

October Challenge (a day late)

Our annual showing at Chris Cringle show starts today. Yay!  It's hard to believe that this is the 4th year we've been in the show.  Time flies when you're having fun!  We spent yesterday afternoon setting up our booth and fine-tuning the look of it.  We're ready to get the party started!

We've been working hard on all our merchandise this month, so please forgive us for having another pillow challenge 2 months in a row.  Last month, our challenge was to make something out of the same fabric.  We both happened to make a pillow.  Surprise, surprise.  Since we've been busy making pillows for the show, we decided we would each enter a pillow that we're selling as our challenge this month.  Makes sense, huh?  Why make something that we're not going to sell.

Lindsey Polka Dot Pillow

This pillow is made in honor of a friend, Lindsey, who loves polka dots.  I hope this pillow makes her proud!  The pieces are made of one-inch squares of polka dot fabrics.  The initial idea was to make it a random design, but the randomness kind of went away in favor of this awesome looking pattern.  Can't think of what the name of this pattern is, but it's fun and beautiful!

Anthropology Knock-off Pillow

Sometimes you see something you love that's really expensive, and you don't want to spend alot of money on it.  Or maybe you just can't afford it.  That's when you put your skills to work and make your own.  Call it copy catting.  Call it knock-offs.  Call it making it work on your budget and your taste.  That's what this pillow is.  I saw it at Anthropology and refuse to pay the full price. It's made with blue chambray.  This is my interpretation, and I love it!

Vote for your favorite pillow!  If you like both pillows and can't decide, then vote for both.  We won't be offended.  And if you really like the pillows and can't live without them (and you're in Champaign, IL today or tomorrow), come out and buy them.  That wouldn't offend us either.

Same Fabric Sewing Challenge

Happy first day of Autumn!  It's the best season of the year.  We're already seeing some leaves starting to turn colors, feel the crispness in the air, and best of all, we're eating honeycrisp apples.  Can life get any better than that!?

We're celebrating this great occasion by posting our monthly sewing challenge.  This challenge is one that we've had planned for several months, but kept postponing it for various reasons.  So....(drumroll please), our challenge this month was to make something using the same fabric.

We both fell in love with Amy Butler's Alchemy fabric collection earlier this year.  The fabric we chose is called Sketchbook in Cream.  It is just beautiful!

 Typically, we don't tell each other what we're making or what fabric we're using.  It's always a surprise when we reveal our finished product to each other.  But this month was different.  We knew what the fabric was, but we didn't know the item each other was making.  We wanted to see how different the fabric would look if we made something different with it.  And, wouldn't you know it, we both made a pillow.  The great thing is that the pillows look nothing alike.

So, take a look, and choose your favorite pillow.  We know the fabric is fabulous.  Hopefully, you will too.  These pillows will be for sale in our upcoming craft shows.

It's a Pillow Fight!!!!  Square vs. Round!!  Vote for your favorite.

As always, your voting is confidential.  We don't know who votes, and we don't know who you vote for.  Just vote!!!

Tote Sewing Challenge

We are gearing up for our Fall craft show season.  We don't go crazy with craft shows, but we do have a couple dates on our calendars.  We'll tell you about those dates in just a bit.  So that means that we are should be sewing like crazy.  We've got coin purses, wristlets, totes, pillows and coasters on the brain.  Our sewing rooms are beginning to look like Christmas.  Well, sort of.  That means we've been on the lookout for a new style of tote for our fall season.  We've each made a new pattern, and we would like for you to vote on your favorite.

Tote #1   Fabric: Gray, Beige and Flax Linen (exterior). 

Color Block Tote

It's bigger than you think!

Casual but classy

Tote #2 

Navy Zig Zag

Fabric: Simply Style Navy Blue Zig Zag Ombre by V and Co (exterior). Ombre Dots by Riley Blake (interior).

It's so big, it's almost a skirt! 

Ombre dots on the inside

Today is also the start of our favorite college team's football seasons.  Joy lives in Champaign, IL and is a huge fan of the Fighting Illini at University of Illinois.  Basketball is more the sport of choice for her, and she is suffering through the football season.  Jan lives in Columbus, OH and is a huge fan of The Ohio State University Buckeyes. Jan's household prefers football and suffers through basketball season.  It gets a little dicey when our teams play each other.  Sometimes on our visits to each other's houses, the unsuspecting homeowner will find the opposing team's stickers all over the place.  It's only amusing if you're the one who has hidden the stickers.  hehe

Back to our craft show schedule.  If you would like to see our creations in person, here is our schedule.  We'll post more info on facebook as these dates get closer.

Nov. 1&2 (Jan & Joy)
Chris Cringle
University of Illinois
Champaign, IL

Nov. 30th (Jan)
Not Your Mama's Craft Market
Union County Fair Grounds
Marysville, OH

A Saturday in December (Joy)
Joy's Holiday Open House
Champaign, IL

Take a minute during a commercial break or in between plays and vote for your favorite tote!!!  As always, the voting is anonymous.  We don't know who votes.  So just vote!!

Baby Gift Challenge

Hi!  We're back.  We took a little break in June, but we're back in full force with our sewing challenges.

Our niece, Amber, is having a baby probably tomorrow -- unless things have changed and we don't know it.  We know tomorrow is the date, because she's being induced. Anyway, we thought it would be fun to surprise her with some baby gifts.  She's having a girl, whose name starts with an "E", but the letters after that remain a mystery.  Stay tuned tomorrow and we'll know the full name.

Speaking of the baby name, one of us thought this baby girl should be named Cookie Kay and the other one of us thought she should be named Fortune Cookie.  Here's why.  One grandma's name is Fortune.  The other grandma's middle name is Kay and her last name is Cook.  I wonder where the "E" came from?  Like I said, stay tuned for the name!

Amber already has these lovely gifts in her baby girl nursery, so this blog post won't be a surprise to her.  Just wanted to clear up the confusion if you were thinking she might not know.

Baby Gift #1 -- Quilt
This baby quilt is made with strips of Liberty of London fabrics.  These are fine fabrics that some people have trouble parting with, because they're so beautiful.  But the maker of this beautiful quilt was kind and thoughtful enough to use them for baby girl E.

Quilt Front

Quilt Back

Notice the lines of hand quilting along the rows of fabric.  Very beautiful.  Simple and elegant.

Quilt Binding

Quilting Up Close and Personal

Baby Gift #2 -- Pouf
This beautiful pouf will delight any little girl as she plays in her room.  It's made with the Windy Day fabric by Patti Sloniger with a swing on a tree.  Any little girl would love this fabric.

Pouf with handle

Baby Girl E Pouf

The pouf is about 9" tall and 14" round.  It's just the right size for a small person.  It even has a handle sothat small person to pull it around the house.

Since baby girl E has a big brother who turned one in early July, he also got a pouf.  Every birthday boy needs a birthday present!  This little boy was rolling all around the floor with this pouf.  I wonder if his pouf will survive until his second birthday!  :)

Boy and Girl Poufs

Pouf, Pouf!!

Emerald Sewing Challenge

Did you know that there is a color of the year?  It's true.  This year's color is Emerald.  And the birthstone for May is Emerald.  So, guess what our challenge was for May?!  You got it!  We made something out of emerald fabric.

Check out these cool green creations.  We actually used live models for this month's photos.  You can vote for the cutest model, if you want, but one is headless.  She's a little shy!

Emerald Top
This top was made from the Hot Pattern HP1136.  It is a lined top, so there's twice as much sewing as you would think.  Very cute and comfy.

Emerald Sun Hat

Eldon is a little uncomfortable in his first modeling job.  He hasn't figured out how to get that strap loose yet.  But once he does, that hat is coming off.  The hat is reversible, so if he's feeling argyle, he can wear it with the strap.  If he's feeling dotty, he can turn it inside out and tuck the strap in.  He looks very dashing.  Perhaps a round of golf is in his plans for the day.

This hat is made from the Oliver+S reversible bucket hat pattern.  Check it out here.

Remember to vote!!!!

Spoonflower Challenge

Have you ever dreamed of designing your own fabric?  Well, now you can.  There is a website called Spoonflower where you can actually design fabric.  Then you can even sell it, if you want.  Spoonflower even has a weekly contest, and you can vote for your favorite fabric design of the week.

Sooo...this month we decided to try our hand at designing fabric and then making something out of it.  How fun!  The problem?!  We can't draw.  One of us actually did draw the design, and the other one of us uploaded photos.

See how our fabric designs turned out, and vote for your favorite!!

Coral and Gray Drawstring Tote
For the cute drawstring bag, the Spoonflower design is the coral flower print and the coral stripes on the inside.  These are two fun prints that were hand drawn.  I could see a cute little girl's dress made out of these two prints.

All this stuff can fit inside the bag.

This bag isn't just pretty, but it is also hard working.

Old Lebanese Stamps Tote
 Photos of old stamps were uploaded to make a cool historical print.  Wouldn't these look great as pillows, too?  Or how about pajama pants?

Inside the tote

Stamps up close

What do you think?  Should we keep our day jobs or become fabric designers?  Hmmm.

Ribbon Sewing Challenge

The calendar says it's springtime, but this weather is telling us something much different.  Snowstorms at the end of March should be illegal.  We spent some time together in Washington, DC earlier this month.  We took a little break from sewing and had lots of fun doing our cupcake tour of the city.  Here's just a little taste of our trip!

Boston Creme Pie

Hazelnut

Lemon, Coconut and Chocolate

Red Velvet

But...our sewing challenge was a bright, fun challenge.  and it warmed our hearts.  All we had to do was make something with ribbon.  How fun is that!?

Wanna see what we came up with?

The first item is a really cool Burberry theme pillow.  The red ribbon really pops with all the neutral colors.  Very classy!

Burberry Pillow

Burberry with a Solid Pillow

The second item is a bright fun glass holder.  Beautiful strips of ribbon come together with fancy   sewing stitches.  Quick and easy and cute!

Love that combo of bright ribbons

I can find this glass holder in my purse!

I think we've both outdone ourselves this month.  Remember:  You can vote more than once!  :)