Crazy Quick Curtains

 My Quilt Guild has a Fall auction every year at which members can donate anything sewing-related that they no longer need. This year the pickings were particularly fabulous. Our Guild usually makes about $500, but this year we made $980! It is so much fun! Some members help by donating things and others help by buying. I am one of the latter group!  I bought 3 large shopping bags of goodies. One whole bag was cranberry, sage, and taupe home dec fabrics- pretty plaids and florals. I got the lot for $15.

There was at least 10 yards of this cranberry floral and it is 93" wide! It feels like a heavy organdy. Yucky for clothes, but perfect for valances with some body. I did something I have never done before: I used fusible hem tape to hem these. So quick! So easy! So cheap! This project was charmed. I cut everything once with my rotary cutter- no mistakes. The 2 rolls of hem tape I bought were just right with 4" left over! I didn't run out of thread or bobbin. Everything went perfectly and with about 15 minutes per curtain, for 5 windows, it couldn't have been better! I love the way they look. They add a wonderful splash of color to our family room. 
I am getting ready to run a baby shower for my best friend (and 21 others) tomorrow! Back soon with pictures and ideas from that.

Austin & Ella

I haven't posted in a week! It's not that I haven't been sewing, it's that I've been so busy sewing and doing tons of other things! I'm absolutely overhauling my house, partly in preparation for the Baby Shower on Sunday and partly because it needed it!!

Here are 2 baby gifts I made this week:

My friend had a baby boy this summer and I found a soft minky blanket to embroider, as well as a little fleece outfit that co-ordinated perfectly, even though they are different brands.

  

 Of course, I had to embroider it with a monkey!

Here's the set. I think it will be cozy for Fall and winter!

Katie bought this pink hooded towel for my friend who we are having the shower for on Sunday.

 We added the name and a little elephant with a "shower". She picked the elephant to go with the name, "Ella" Get it? Every time I think of it, I remember the Ramona books and her stuffed toy, "Ella Funt". I won't tell my friend that one!

I'm a Cheater

I feel very blessed to have a talent, even a passion, for sewing. I love being able to make things I couldn't buy. OOAK (one of a kind!) Sometimes, though, it is fun to cheat. I wanted to make Andy something for Thanksgiving. Then I saw this PERFECT smocked outfit on ebay. I especially like it because it will be cute for Fall in general as well as Thanskgiving or Halloween. 

It really takes the pressure off to have this outfit all ready to go! Isn't it cute? Do you ever cheat and buy something you could make?