We've got spirit.....

....YES, we do!  We've got spirit, how 'bout YOU!?

Pinafore and Bloomers  ^

Brother/Sister Sets ^

Jumper A-line Dress ^

Peasant Dress

And if your team fabric is not available, we can always just go with the team colors in a variety of prints and designs!!

GO TEAM!!!!

Contact me at handmadebyjenn@gmail.com to order!

A 'Passel' of Quilts

Oh, I know it's been awhile since my last post, but I have a real good excuse....

I've been mounting a HUGE quilt-making effort - 32 quilts in just a couple of days!
Seriously!!

Hey! I've got pictures to prove it!!!

Actually, the quilts are only about 5" square but there's 32 of them!!!

They're for my Burden Bears.  I recently took an order for a hospice in Kansas with potential for a larger future order from associated programs, so I've been working hard putting these little cuties together.

I used a strip quilting technique, making 5 sets of 5 - 22" strips (1-1/2" wide) sewn together and then cut them crosswise in 1-1/2" pieces.  Then I chose one piece from each different strip cutting and sewed them together so each quilt will not have a repeating square.  Then, I just backed them in muslin and thankfully there's no quilting involved.

I then accordian the little quilt, tuck it in one of these little guys' arms and sew his little paw to his tummy, helping him hold onto his quilt.  Attach the Burden Bear poem and he's ready to give comfort!!

I'm working with a new bear which I like so much better than the ones I was using.  Their fur is very much like fuzzy suede and they are SOOOO cute!  I ordered a very large amount of these so I'm sure there's going to be plenty of miniature quilt-making in my near future!  These guys are also available in my Etsy shop here.

Nighty-night, little bear!!  You've got a big day tomorrow as you're headed to Kansas to cheer someone up!!

A Machine

That's what I feel like lately.

In addition to sewing and sending out regular orders from my shop, I took on a giant order for a designer in NY for about 50 dresses and skirts.

She has a shop in downtown NYC and is originally from Ghana.

I've been working with ethnic fabrics paired with coordinating linens.

  

 

Lots of chain stitching and moving from station to station - making all the ruffles, ironing a portion on all garments, inserting all the elastic and pinning on the ruffles for machine stitching, heading back to the sewing machine to sew up all the openings and sew on the ruffles....trying to coordinate it all so I don't have to change thread colors every five minutes.....50 times!!

 
It's been a real challenge for me to commit myself to working on several items of the same pattern in a short period of time, but I'm just about done.

All that's left is a lot of hand sewing - buttons and such.

Then, it's all off into the mail and I'm off to visit family in Montana!!

Can't wait!!!

Cravings

I just saw a picture of a stack of delicious whoopie pies in my magazine....

....now I just wish I could see one of them in my hand, making it's way to my mouth!

Funny how a craving hits us and nothing just seems to satisfy until we get that one thing!
Unfortunately, I have absolutely nothing in my house that even closely resembles the taste and texture of one of those light and fluffy chocolatey cookie pies!  Bella seems to be experiencing the same craving.  Nothing satisfies quite like Robert Pattison a good whoopie pie.

So, it looks like I'll have to settle for apple raisin pie and a glass of milk.

*meh*

Naming Game

Whenever I start a new quillow project, I spend a lot of time thinking what unique name I can come up with to adequately describe the quillow in just a word or two (or three, perhaps, if necessary).

I've got my sewing table centered in front of window so it appears I'm sewing in the middle of the yard!

I decided to try Cluck Cluck Sew's tutorial for a "stack and whack" block - a simple block that showcases fabric easily.

I had a set of fat eights I purchased from Connecting Threads from their Quilter's Candy collection in dark blues, greens, indigo...naturally, it was on clearance and it was a new set of colors and fabrics for me to work with, so I snagged it.

Anyway, this morning I'm happily sewing away, sipping my cup of coffee and my darling husband traipses in with the coffee pot JUST to fill up my cup.  C'mon - say it with me.....

Awwwwwwwwwww!

I realize that a lot of my posts recently have been full of conversations between my hubby and I, so in keeping with that trend, here's another I'll share with you.

Me:  "Hey babe, help me name my new quillow"

Him:  "Hmmmm.....Looks like it's very greeny and purply"

{I'm thinking descriptive terms like, ocean, lagoon, deep blue, etc.....}

Him:  "You should call it Gurple"...he states as he heads back to the kitchen...

Ummmm...no.  Sometimes I consider him my 4th child - 53 years old and still a child at heart - gotta love it!!!

(BTW ~ if you happen to live near me and speak to my husband occasionally, please don't mention that you read about him on my blog!!!!  Thanks!)

 Anyway, I really enjoyed making these blocks and can't wait to put them together!  I plan on doing the same pattern with my Dr. Seuss fabrics and make a children's quillow.

I'm trying to train myself to use the knife on my sewing machine to cut threads in lieu of grabbing up the scissors all the time.

Do you use your knife?  Do you KNOW you probably have at least one or maybe more knives on your machine?  :)

Tempting...

Sells regularly for $349....web exclusive for $199 at Joann Fabrics.
And this is the full-size one, NOT the GO! Baby!!

Click HERE for more details on this special

I'm not having any luck winning one of these on all the giveaways in blogland so this is SERIOUSLY tempting me!!!

Mary, Mary...

....quite contrary......

....how does your garden grow?

In hexies!!!!

13 down.....      ?     . to go...
nope, still not sure what I'll do, but it will probably be a quilt of some sort.

My husband commented on my sewing the whole thing by hand....

Him:  "I bet you'll charge a lot for that baby!"

Me:  "Oh, I'm not selling it"

Him:  "What?  Why?"

Me:  "Cuz it's for ME"

Him:  "What are you going to do with it?  You don't need a quilt!"

He just doesn't get it, does he.  We just gotta make these things for ourselves whether we need them or not.  We just do!!... right?