PinkLemonadeBoutique

Well it's finally feeling a bit springlike here in RI, can you believe it actually snowed last week? Yeah, I thought I might kill myself, then reconsidered as that might have been a wee bit drastic.  So instead I fled to my studio and sewed up some very springlike bags.

 

 

 I love the Japanese granny bag style. Easy, but a bit time consuming with all the binding detail. Plus being as it's bias binding, you have to interface the strap part so it doesn't stretch. Maybe I'll post a tutorial on how to do it, anyone interested?

In other exciting news, I'm not sure if anyone remembers that I participated in the block party quilting bee last year and the soon to be released book about it, but here's a little sneak peek  of what to expect. I'm the one sitting on the floor in the heap of scraps with cast on my arm. Broke my wrist last summer, but I still managed to sew despite limited use of my left hand.  

So that's all the heart stopping excitement around here. Looking for something fun to do this weekend, as we generally have one or two night free to ourselves because Olivia who is now 10 usually spends a night with my MIL...last week we went to see Duran Duran at the MGM grand at Foxwoods Casino in CT...then we went and had some drinks and met some very funny and very drunk people in a bar  that had also been at the concert.  We all got very silly reminiscing about the '80's and...omg am I that old?   

Great weekend kickoff.

So a fabulous Friday it was. The highlight being able to join and attend the first meeting of the New England chapter of The Modern Quilt Guild  in Boston. Arlington to be exact, in the delightful Fabric Corner, owned by the equally delightful  Mark who was so incredibly accomodating and offered us fabric at a discount. There were milk and cookies, lots of bonding a fabric swap and of course much fabric buying. I came home with some gorgeous 1/2 price Amy Butler Love home dec fabric (which i had no idea it existed) and Love flannel (ditto) omg. The rest of Nigella Grandiflora on the bolt, which admittedly might be my favorite fabric of all time. And I bought some incredible Echino fabrics, double OMG. Oh, and some Kona cotton just to keep it sensible. 

Then this morning we were up and out the door by 8:30 (why I don't know) and went to Borders and I splurged on my beloved Maria Claire Idees and a splendiferous book on how to make stuffed animals. I never have the time to make any, and so far the books I have collected on them outnumbers the actually number of stuffed animals I've made. I just can't seem to resist them. And with the cuteness contained in this particular book, I dare anyone to put it back on the shelf and walk away. Plus I had a 30% coupon.

Let's take a peek inside shall we?

I don't know about you, but I think that is a mighty fine looking lion, and the fox is killing me with his lanky stride. Olivia has requested the sleepy beagle replete with a pink twirly skirt. I may have to take a break in "work" sewing and just do something fun like that.

As if it could get any better, last night we were watching Diners, Drive-ins and Dives and Guy Fieri was visiting his wifes hometown of Providence RI specifically the Liberty Elm Diner. He was chowing down on the fresh roasted turkey sandwich with pea shoots tomato and mayo...mmm. So we marched right down there this afternoon and ordered us up some of that goodness and it was delish. Great diner, great staff, great food, great vibe.    

I don't know what is wrong with me that whenever it's time to make a shopping list for the week and decide the dinner menus, I draw a complete blank and cannot recall any recipe that I have ever made. Even though I LOVE to cook and do so almost every day. So in an effort to get organized and streamline this whole process I have created a recipe binder. I know this is not a revolutionary idea, but it's pretty life altering for me. Plus I have some sort of romantic notion of my progeny  some day pouring over grandma's recipes and thinking what a talented and organized lady she was. So I took a utilitarian binder, some plastic sleeves and tabs, and made a pretty little cover in this fab. retro print.

This is such an easy thing to do, and I cover every book that isn't pretty. If anyone would like a tutorial on how to do this let me know, and I'll post one.

It's been a great weekend so far, and I think I just heard my husband walk into the kitchen with fixin's for lemondrop martini's...
   

 

  

 

  

Three...Tres...Trois

  Hello. Hola. Bonjour. Yes it's a triplicate kind of day today. Funny how that happens. First up, 3 new bags:

Visted my favorite bookstore in Providence, Cellar Stories and picked up these 3 books:

A David Sedaris (funny) book I haven't gotten around to reading yet, Ogden Nash,(funny and clever) and all six Jane Austins in one. I've been currently obsessed with the Complete Jane Austin on Masterpiece Theater and have asked everyone I know within an arms length if they've been watching. I'm sure they're like, shutup enough already, but still. Anway, I figure since I'm such a fan, I should at least read one of her novels right??? But I can't imagine my literary Mr. Darcy being quite as dreamy...

My etsy friend Suzannah surprised me by sending me these adorably, sparkly clippies! I think these will be for me! Thank you so much Suzannah!

Have a lovely weekend everyone! And remember tomorrow night, Part 2 of Sense and Sensibility...Goodbye, Adios, Au Revoir.

A Bag, a book, another book, and this book...

I had a mission this weekend, and that was to go to Borders, and buy this book:

everybody has been waving it in front of my face for days, and I just couldn't stand it any longer. I don't embroider. But how can you not want to take it up now after looking at the cover? It's fresh, it's fun, it 's for beginners doggone it! Well, they didn't have it. And they couldn't order it either. Crestfallen that I couldn't go right home and begin yet another hobby and craft, I slumped back over to the craft section and was mightily consoled after finding this treasure:

 

And what a treasure it is! I don't know if any of you have seen it, but I haven't up to this point. It is filled with the most wonderful projects and inspiration from Joelle Hoverson of Purl Soho. I love that it has projects from just a couple of hours to many hours. They styling is fantastic. Well, she used to work for The Martha, so no wonder. And then, if that wasn't enough, I stumbled upon this:

I can't even talk about it, there are no ways to describe it in a short post. You just have to go see it for yourself. It's super expensive, so i didn't buy it, but mumbled something about an anniversary present to my husband. Well see. Add it to the list. As you can probably guess, she has an amazing home, and she takes you into it. So much eye candy!

Ok, so that's the craft book wrap-up, I'm 1 for 3, which is good, because do I really need any more craft books? Of course i do! I managed a little sewing time too and came back to my first love:  Kaffe Fassett. You can find his fabric collection at Glorious Color. When I first started to quilt/sew about 12 years ago, his fabrics immediately caught my attention, and I've always gone back to him, no matter what else i see out there, his style still knocks my socks off. I recently bought a bunch of fabric from Sew Mama Sew  and these 2 fabrics                                                                                                      Just so happened to be stacked together and I thought, despite the intensity of both and the strong patterns, that they would look smashing together on a bag. So there it is. And here it is. I've named it Baroque Bouquet. The Damask print is by Michael Miller. The traditional tote style is contrasted with the over the top fabric combo. Ok, well that's all for today, off to get some work done, and to answer some interview questions from Lisa of U-Handbag for her new blog Craft boom-a blog about marketing your craft online. It's go some fabulous tips on how to do it successfully, I already warned her that i am no business woman, that for sure, but i'll be honest and share what I know. Stay tuned!    

Magazine overload!

Some of my favorite magazines for this weeks reading pleasure: My favorite? Marie Claire idees...too bad I can't read French, but plenty of yummy inspiration. If you love embroidery, this magazine showcases some of the most beautiful needlecraft around. Second runner up is probably Bon Appetit, this issue features some mouth watering Korean barbecue recipes, super simple too. Garlic, sesame, ginger...what's not to love?

And of course a new bag...well not so new, but I haven't gotten around to blogging it yet.

 

I just love this bird fabric!

And something for the  Doll Quilt Crazy flikr group I made this little quilt for my daughters room.

I got the pattern from this book 

which is a part of a much larger quilt, with different shaped pots and flowers, but i just did one panel, because after hand appliqueing and quilting, it took forever. I'm not good with projects that take forever. Remember the grandmas flower garden quilt saga?