Catch up!

Time for some serious catch up! :)

Vintage Quilt, originally uploaded by jenib320.

I love vintage quilts! This one was made by either my great grandmother or great great grandmother! Definitely want to plan a quilt in this pattern!

Stitchy!, originally uploaded by jenib320.

Working away on this super adorable stitch pattern from The Frosted Pumpkin Stitchery! The Frosted Pumpkin Stitchery is a whole lot of adorable patterns by Amanda and Ansleigh! *They just added super cute winter ones!*

Black Friday, originally uploaded by jenib320.

For the first time in probably 6 or 7 years I didn't go out early on black friday to shop! Instead, my Mom and I went thrifting! We didn't leave the house until 9am, and hit up all our favorite spots! Every shop had 50% off the entire store and we only had to wait in a big (ish!) line once! AND I found lots of goodies! :)

Christmas Decorating, originally uploaded by jenib320.

Started decorating my apartment for Christmas!

Christmas Decorating, originally uploaded by jenib320.

YUMMY, originally uploaded by jenib320.

Such happy mail from a sweet friend! I was the lucky winner of the lovely Scandinavian Stitches on Christina's blog last week! So super excited to try out the projects in this book! AND as if that wasn't enough, she sent along one of her adorable owl block prints! You should probably go snatch one (or two) out of her etsy shop! :)

George, originally uploaded by jenib320.

George did this all on his own! He moved his coke box into his post office box and then got inside!

Favorites

Favorites, originally uploaded by jenib320.

1. ~ workinprogress, 2. Free motion quilting, 3. Scrappy Mug Rug Swap 2 - Finished!, 4. Untitled, 5. Jane Dress - front view, 6. Hope Valley top, 7. Stitches Quilt, 8. Mermaid Quilt Top Finished!, 9. Slow Weekend

This Week

Vintage Deer, originally uploaded by jenib320.

Stopped by my favorite antique store in my hometown and picked up these two adorable vintage deer christmas decorations! I love them! :)

Jane Market Bag, originally uploaded by jenib320.

Finally picked up the Jane Market Bag pattern! Whipped this one up today using ikea fabric from Sheila!

SCRAPS!, originally uploaded by jenib320.

SCRAPS from Alexia! :)

George, originally uploaded by jenib320.

George gets two photos today!

George, originally uploaded by jenib320.

Today I love the..
Smell of: Pumpkin pie baking
Sound of: Harry Potter 6
Taste of: Raspberry donut holes!
Sight of: Kitties!
Feel of: Warm slippers

Good Things about Today:
- No school today!
- Managed to have a semi-productive day!
- I am obsessed with Pinterest despite my best efforts to resist it! :)

Weekend

Park Slope, originally uploaded by jenib320.

Here and there I have been swapping and buying up Park Slope. I have a lot more prints than the last time I photographed it! I love this line so much :)

Thrifting, originally uploaded by jenib320.

Found a few sheets today, including two queen sized Dream On inspiration sheets and three pillowcases! They'll slowly be added to the shop! I've also extended last weekend's sale :)

Pyrex Find, originally uploaded by jenib320.

Finally found a piece of Pyrex today! A 2 quart Lime baking dish!

Babushka Ornament!, originally uploaded by jenib320.

I was the lucky winner of this sweet Happy Sew Lucky Babushka Blue Kit over on Kaye's blog Miss Print this past month! It arrived yesterday and I wasted no time in whipping up this little cutie! It was super simple to make and it felt so nice to have an instant gratification project! She is the first ornament for my Christmas tree! I am planning to fill it with all handmade ornaments!

George, originally uploaded by jenib320.

George is loafing it :)

Today I love the..
Smell of: Freshly laundered sheets
Sound of: Harry Potter 6
Taste of: German cookies
Sight of: Sunny afternoon
Feel of: Fleece blanket

Good Things about Today:
- Decent thrifting day!
- Hello Kitty Fabric!
- Two semi-successful craigslist sales!

Favorites

Favorites, originally uploaded by jenib320.

1. Basket back, 2. innocentcrushpillows, 3. IMG_6608, 4. pillow talk swap 4, 5. A start with hexes, 6. Grandma's coasters, 7. 2 fall pillows, 8. Spider Bee: May, 9. Owl Mini Quilt

This Week

Mendocino Quilt, originally uploaded by jenib320.

Haven't had any time for sewing this week, but tonight I had time to pull fabrics for my Mendocino mermaid quilt! The basic design is going to be log cabins using the mermaid prints as centers. Each mermaid will be surrounded with prints in the same colors. I'm really excited about it!

New Fabrics, originally uploaded by jenib320.

Received some delicious fabric mail this week! :)

Vintage Sheet Fat Quarters, originally uploaded by jenib320.

Cut up a HUGE vintage sheet order!

George, originally uploaded by jenib320.

George bunny has been keeping me sane!

Apologies for the unintended lack of blogging. We're now into the last couple weeks of the semester and it's totally out of control! I finish exams the 9th of December, so until then things will probably remain pretty slow! :)

Today I love the..
Smell of: Orange ginger body spray
Sound of: Harry Potter 6
Taste of: Bavarian style soft pretzels from Cornerstone
Sight of: George bunny!
Feel of: New cardigan

Good Things about Today:
- Finished up the last of this weeks papers.
- Yummy fabric mail.
- HARRY POTTER 7 TONIGHT!
- Mike found a $20 bill on the ground today so we had an impromptu (and free!) date! :)

Catch up

Vintage Quilt, originally uploaded by jenib320.

Today I finally hung up the vintage quilt I thrifted last spring!

Patchwork Apron, originally uploaded by jenib320.

Finished up my apron! I am really happy with the result. The base pattern is from I Love Patchwork and the fabric is Domestic Diva and some Kona. Now I need to bake cookies and use it! :)

Thrifting, originally uploaded by jenib320.

It was a good weekend of thrifting! Pyrex has still been extremely scarce, but the linens are coming out of the woodwork!

Vintage Sheets!, originally uploaded by jenib320.

Found lots of vintage sheets!

Baking, originally uploaded by jenib320.

Baked some yummy cookies this week.

George, originally uploaded by jenib320.

For some reason George was sleeping facing the back corner of his box. Silly rabbit!

Today I love the..
Smell of: Fresh Air
Sound of: Harry Potter 7 audio book
Taste of: Beef stew + mashed potatoes!
Sight of: Semi-clean apartment
Feel of: George bunny

Good Things about Today:
- Got my grocery shopping done!
- Set up a dedicated shipping station.
- Cleaned up a bit!
- Finally put up more fabric for swap!

Sale!

Vintage Sheets, originally uploaded by jenib320.
Sale in the shop, including all the new prints I picked up today! All fat quarters and pillowcases are an even $2 and $3, plus when you order 10+ fat quarters they are only $1.75 each! It's a great opportunity to add to your vintage sheet stash! :)

Favorites

Favorites, originally uploaded by jenib320.

1. the crosses, 2. tree blocks, 3. Soup Cracker Hexagon Mini Quilt, 4. scrappy hoop swap, 5. Nicey Jane hexies, 6. Krista's doll quilt all finished, 7. YIP 365.288:: Windows table runner, 8. Project Modern quilt top, 9. Block 1 for Kristy

Wordless Wednesday

3x6 Mini Bee Block, originally uploaded by jenib320.

Happy Mail!, originally uploaded by jenib320.

George, originally uploaded by jenib320.

:)

Monday, Monday

Ready!, originally uploaded by jenib320.

I was a swapping fool last month, trying to add the pinks, golds, and browns from Flea Market Fancy to my stash! I'm planning to use these all together in a special mini quilt! :)

Fabulous Fabric Stacks, originally uploaded by jenib320.

This week's stack theme over at Fabulous Fabric Stacks is "Game on!". I based my stack on the game Chutes & Ladders! :)

A Little Christmas Sewing, originally uploaded by jenib320.

I'm making all of my Christmas presents this year, so I thought I better get started sewing! This will soon become a big quilted pillow!

George, originally uploaded by jenib320.

George is addicted to boxes!

Thanks for your great response to my wreath tutorial! I had a lot of fun making it and have a feeling I'll be making a lot more including some seasonal ones! :)

Also! Head on over to the Quilting Bee Blocks blog to see five of my favorite quilting bee blocks!

Today I love the..
Smell of: Cookies in the oven
Sound of: The Office
Taste of: Cookies!
Sight of: New-to-me vintage sheet set
Feel of: fabric

Good Things about Today:
- Only had one class today!
- Got to sew all afternoon!
- Bought my Harry Potter ticket!!
- It was a pretty productive Monday!

Vintage Sheet Wrapped Wreath Tutorial

Vintage Sheet Wreath, originally uploaded by jenib320.

I've been really admiring all the beautiful yarn wrapped wreaths everyone has been making, so I decided I'd use my plain wreath form and make one myself. I got started wrapping and after about 5 minutes, realized I did not have the patience (or attention span!) to complete it. Not wanting to let the wreath go to waste, I started brainstorming and decided to still make a wrapped wreath but with vintage sheets!

I had a big pile of the little skinny bottom hems from when I tear up my sheets. I knew I'd eventually find a use for them! This wreath could be made with vintage sheet bottom hems like mine, or with bias tape, ribbon, or fabric strips!

Vintage Shee Wreath Tutorial, originally uploaded by jenib320.

Materials
Foam wreath form (I used a 12" one)
10-20 yards of either vintage sheet hems, double fold bias tape, 1" fabric strips or ribbon*
Masking Tape
Scissors
A few pins

*More or less depending on how tightly you want to wrap!

If you'd like to purchase a kit to make your own with vintage sheets, you can find them in my etsy shop, here! :)

1. Choose your wrapping material! If you'd like to use fabric yardage for this project, cut at minimum 10 2" strips the width of your fabric. Then simply fold your strips over lengthwise, ironing as you fold. This will give you one raw edge and one finished edge just like the sheet hems. Or, if you'd like some raw edges, you could always cut 1" strips instead! If you're using vintage sheet hems, be sure to trim the excess sheet close to the hem!

Vintage Shee Wreath Tutorial, originally uploaded by jenib320.

2. Grab the end of your first strip and make a little masking tape donut for the end. Stick the end of your strip down on the inside curve of your wreath form.

Vintage Shee Wreath Tutorial, originally uploaded by jenib320.

3. Hold the end down with your finger and wrap the strip around the form, covering most of the end of the strip. Continue to wrap the strip around the wreath.

Vintage Shee Wreath Tutorial, originally uploaded by jenib320.

4. When you reach the end of your strip, make another tape donut for the end. Press the end into the wreath form. Grab your second strip and add a tape donut to one end. Place this end where your first strip ended.

Vintage Shee Wreath Tutorial, originally uploaded by jenib320.

5. Begin wrapping the strip around, being careful to cover most of the spot where the two strips meet. Continue doing this until you have wrapped the entire wreath. When you reach the end check both sides of your wreath and determine which side you'd like to be the front. Cut off any remaining strip, leaving enough length to finish on the back side.

Vintage Shee Wreath Tutorial, originally uploaded by jenib320.

6. Fold down the raw edge and secure with tape. Make another tape donut for the strip. Tape the end down for extra security!

Vintage Sheet Wreath, originally uploaded by jenib320.

7. Attach ribbon or more sheet hem to the back using straight pins for the hanger. You can then embellish your wreath if you'd like! I embellished mine using this great fabric rosette tutorial!

Enjoy!

Lately

Holy Fabric, Batman!, originally uploaded by jenib320.

My Mom and I spent the day visiting quilt shops in Ohio's Amish Country during the quilt shop hop! We managed to hit 5 shops and a few thrift shops as well. Not bad for a Saturday morning! :)

Vintage Sheet Wreath, originally uploaded by jenib320.

My scrap bin was completely overflowing with the skinny bottom hems from vintage sheets! I found a plain wreath hidden in the closet, and decided to dress it up! It was really quick and used up lots of scrap! It needs a flower or something, but I could not for the life of me get one to turn out nice! Shall have to try again! I'll be writing up a tutorial for this wreath soon, using top hems from sheets, double fold bias tape, or ribbon!

Biscotti, originally uploaded by jenib320.

Baked some Toasted Coconut Biscotti this week!

Cincinnati Chili!, originally uploaded by jenib320.

Now that it's cold, Cincinnati Chili really hits the spot!

George, originally uploaded by jenib320.

He sure does love his box!

Today I love the..
Smell of: Sweet cinnamon pumpkin candle!
Sound of: Harry Potter 6
Taste of: Hash browns
Sight of: Fabrics
Feel of: Fleece

Good Things about Today:
- Quilt shop hop was very successful!
- Finished four bee blocks tonight!
- George!
- Finally made some homemade pasta sauce!