today around the studio

I'm still working on the few pieces I'll be posting for St. Patrick's Day. These two bears will be joined by one lucky rabbit to help everyone feel the luck of the Irish (and I've got the genes to pass that on! HA)

a detail...

I got a few emails about that photo in my dining room- it is one of my mine... alligators and all.

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SUCCESS - one corner "un-boxed"

As hoped I tackled one of the many corners of my home this weekend. The dining room got a little attention and the boxes piled in the corner with mystery items have all be dispatched to their new and proper homes. In their place- a plant, a new covering for an old cabinet, proper items, and a few decorative too- all lit by a new-old lamp (ignore the needed cord maintenance- for now I am- baby steps). On the other side of the room a shelf of goodlooken parts and pieces sit above a radiator (drawing by Justin Schaefer). That feels much much better.

++++ Messy Ordered Living ++++

well, I might be overstating it to say "organized", but I wanted to share this little organizer I found at an estate sale. It's been in a file drawer holding all my embroidery floss for years and it pleases me each time I pull open the drawer. Everything in its place and a Place for everything- wouldn't that be nice, but I'm happy for the small moments when that's the case.

I'm hoping to spend this weekend working on a few projects around the house. After our move most things have found a home, but so many more are just hanging out in corners, piled in boxes, and stacked just out of the way but not out of sight. I wonder why I keep these things as I haven't needed them in the last 6 months, and frankly I'm not altogether sure what they are. So, I may be donating some things, tossing others out, all to make room for more ordered living. That sounds nice: Ordered Living. I suppose I'm really only interested in simplicity and certainly not at the expense of my sanity- I do live with a little one- so nothing is really all that controlled. Perhaps I'll rename it: Messy Ordered Living- that has a nice ring.


What will you be doing this weekend?

gathering/making/packing/sending/alltoday...

finally I've finished this special order from last year... I like all these little acorn pins to add to the pin cushion. looks like a fun things to have on any worktable.

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thinking about good luck...

Today I'm working on a few more St. Patrick's Day pieces... I won't have many, and I'm not planning a "proper" website update. Instead I'll just post the day before they're going up and poof they'll show up in the shop. Now, hmmmm what else to make?!

photo from bigBANG studio (go visit... lots of beautiful escapes in each lovely post)

today on the worktable

piles of hand dyed wool felt... and squirrels

working on many things... among them:

coming soon - !!! NEW FABRIC !!! - coming soon

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FABRIC! after a few email requests...

I made this fabric last year and posted it on Spoonflower- Which means anyone can buy some for their own collection. Here's the link to order my fabric directly... from Spoonflower. You get it at the regular Spoonflower retail price (no mark up from me) and have a number of different fabrics to choose from. If you click on the "zoom" button you can see the full yard design which has a little bit of all four patterns...

Ordering Note - The only way to get all four designs it to purchase a full yard or more. You'll see as you click on different sizes of "cuts" what the piece your purchasing will look like- if you only order a swatch or a fat quarter, you'll just get part of one design... hope this helps.

Hope you Enjoy!!!
and I'd love to see anything people make with this- so send your images my way!

so very small

today... a project I'd like to get lost in...

I know I've posted about Gee's Bend Quilts before, but I just found this folder on my desktop and I was reminded how much I miss making quilts. It's beautiful here today, so I could really get into choosing fabrics and sitting next to the sunny window at my machine. ahhhh- day dreams. Well, instead I might get to work on my taxes. That's almost as exciting- right?! ha!

today is the day...

I'm making plans, drawing out rough ideas for st. pats, Easter, and spring, gathering fabrics and laying the ground work for all that will come out of the studio for the next few months. I love days like these- ones where you allow yourself to jump ahead and plow into the months to come.... sometimes I stick to the plan and sometimes I stray but this time always helps open up the studio in my mind and get me excited about make make making all new new new things.

one pile on the studio table right now- dresses for 2 St. Pats bears- just two- surprises for 

the shop- someday- soon (and yes! that is more fabric i designed and had made):

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HAPPY VALENTINES!

... I've just updated the shop with all the new lovelies just in time for your Valentine ...

Todays Update!

I thought it would be nice to get the time to actually look everything over before the shop opens properly at noon soooo... I'll be hosting a pre-view today for 15 minutes before the shop opens. Come by from 11:40- 11:55 to browse all the new pieces! The Shop will then close for 5 minutes until 12 noon sharp (all times noted in CST) so I can make all the pieces available and ready to load into your cart! ENJOY!

Note: Once you have an item in your cart, it is not secured to you until you’ve sent your payment. To expedite your check out- try logging into paypal before the shop opens. I think that might just work!

tomorrows the day!

- just photographing all the pieces for the update tomorrow- 

- see you all at the Shop at 12 noon CST!

<< Valentines Day Update >>
<< Tuesday February 7th 12 noon CST >>
<< (1pm eastern, 11am mountain, 10am pacific) >>

<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>>

for the love of liberty of london fabrics

I have quite a collection of Liberty of London Fabric. Sadly none are large cuts, it's too pricey to buy much more than a yard, but that hasn't stopped my occasional splurge in adding a few more to my collection. It's the finest fabric I've every used, beautifully woven and impeccably designed. I'm using a little bit for for the Valentines Day Update. This pig is lucky enough to don a fine LL dress- and others have bits and pieces of the luxurious fabric too- Now, I'd like one in my size please.

To see more Liberty of London Fabrics see their website.

Domestically- Purl Soho has a very large selection.

so many things still in progress

 and just a few days left to get it all done- the update is on Tuesday!

{{{ making more hearts }}}

bits from all over = pinterest + valentines

Bits pulled from random boards on pinterest 

(it's an amazing source of good stuff pulled from everyandanywhere on the web). 

My favorite? my dD partner, Emily's page of course.

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a // studio // life// ramble //

The studio is a mess- everything is everywhere and in all different stages. I fear the state of things here reflect my state of mind today- I've got to pull it together- ha! Today is a short one in the studio... hmmmm what shall Claude and I do this afternoon? lunch out? play date with friends? trip to the library or the conservatory? any and all of these things sound nice, but first- back to sewing pigs! What a funny life I lead.
until tomorrow,
jm