Repurposing…A Trip To The Antique Store

August 5, 2011 in Uncategorized | by | 7 comments

Unfortunately our antique store here in Crystal Lake flooded a couple of weeks ago and they decided to clear inventory with a huge sale.  I thought I’d make a trip over there to see if they had a few items to use as props or display items for our upcoming booth at the show.

I found this picket fence flower box, which I’m going to paint. I thought it would be cute to hold a grouping of fat quarters and maybe hang patterns from the picket fence part. It even looks cute with the butterfly quilt behind it.

I found these window frames for $2!

Look at how these could turn into a way to display fabric lines. But my first idea was how awesome these would be with an embroidered or appliqued design in each square.

And lastly, my cutest find is these children’s chair backs, which were taken off the seat and had holes drilled into the backs so that they could be “propped” against the wall and things hung from them.

Like all my cute dishtowels!

We are workingon some projects that we hope to show off next week. Take care and have a great weekend everyone!

What’s The Buzzzz Birdie?

August 3, 2011 in embroidery | Tags: , , , , , , , , | by | 3 comments

The buzz is summer’s almost over…bummer:(

Russell’s already registered for school and then before you know it, I’ll be getting up at the crack of dawn. No more sleeping in. I LOVE to sleep in!

I’m actually ready for fall, like I’m sure most of the country is, since we’ve had extreme temperatures this year.

Birdie’s still hanging in there though. I love the sunflower idea and my mom suggested a bumble bee. That was a great addition to an already cute block. Thanks again Little Miss Shabby!

Fabric Friday….Oval Elements

July 29, 2011 in etsy, fabric | Tags: , , | by | 5 comments

Just look at this yumminess that arrived the other day!

Art Gallery Oval Elements

Modern, geometric blenders that are perfect by themselves or added to that favorite project.  I was surprised to find that they coordinated well with many of our existing fabrics.

This is Golden with Plum Victoria by Anthology Fabrics.

And Crocus with a Wrenly fabric, Ingrid in Gypsy.

We bundled them in 1/2 yards and fat quarter stacks. I may have to sneak this one into my personal stash:)

Have a great weekend everyone!

A Weekend Full of Friends, Fun and Quilting…Part 3

July 27, 2011 in food | Tags: , , , | by | 5 comments

The food.

I thought you might enjoy some of the recipes we shared this weekend.

Paige made her yummy Cheese Tortellini with Pesto. I can’t get enough of this stuff. It’s delish hot or cold from the refrigerator the next day!

Frozen Cheese Tortellini
Pesto Sauce (or homemade)
Grape Tomatoes
Shredded Parmesan
Salt & Pepper to taste
Roasted Pine Nuts

Cook Tortellini, drain.
Mix in Pesto Sauce. Add a little at a time to Tortellini until coated then add a bit more to taste.
Toss in Tomatoes and Parmesan.
Salt & Pepper to taste.
Serve at room temperature.

I made Brownie Bottom Chocolate Chip Cheesecake

You must try this. It’s a no-fail cheesecake. And even if it does crack, you get to add a topping so no one will ever know:)

3-8oz cream cheese softened
14oz Eagle Brand Sweetened Condensed Milk
1Pkg of fudge brownie mix
3 eggs
2tsp vanilla
1/2 C. Mini chocolate chips
Cool Whip

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease bottom only of a 9″ springform pan. Prepare brownie mix according to pkg. directions. Spread evenly into springform pan. Bake 35 min. or until toothpick comes out clean. Meanwhile in large mixing bowl, beat cream cheese till soft and gradually add in Eagle Brand. Add eggs and vanilla. Mix well. Stir in chips. Pour into pan. Reduce temp. to 300 and bake for 50 minutes or till center is set. Chill overnight. Remove sides and garnish with cool whip and sprinkle mini chips on top.

We had Chicken Enchiladas, Black Beans, & Rice one night. This is a recipe I’ve made twice now and it’s so good!! It’s Tyler Florence’s from the Food Network found here.

Ham or turkey and provolone Paninis, salad and veggies.

Are you drooling over the muffins in the pic? Those are Banana Muffins with Mascarpone Cream Cheese Icing for breakfast..or dessert:) …found here.

Margaret has some really good dip mixes that she makes from scratch and I can’t wait to get some of those. She made us a spicy mexican dip and also provided the homemade pesto for the tortellini…it was yum!

And if you have this salsa in your grocery store…buy it. If you live in Chicago, it was purchased at Caputo’s. It’s Chuck and Dave’s and it tasted so fresh. Look for it!

Thanks for sharing our retreat weekend with us. We hope you enjoyed it:)

A Weekend Full of Friends, Fun and Quilting…Part 2

July 26, 2011 in quilts | Tags: , , , , | by | 4 comments

Welcome back to our weekend in pictures!

Margaret worked all weekend on a tuffet made from plaids. Doesn’t it look so cozy? Like it belongs in a cabin or beside the fireplace.

Karen V. worked on Cubs & White Sox quilt blocks, and also finished a soft flannel baseball throw.

Paige worked on getting the sashing made for her row quilt. It’s going to be hexagons machine appliqued on the sahsing between her rows and its turning out so cute! She worked on something else too but I don’t want to show it until it’s finished:)

And lastly, my projects. I finished attaching all the embellishments on my Snowbound quilt.

And also worked on some projects for the TeaBuddies Flickr group. July’s theme is the beach and our 1st project was a sunglasses case. Becky and Liz provided us with the easiest tutorial found here.  I made mine from flip flop fabric and added a cute daisy button.

The other project for the month was a binder cover for a quilt journal and I used the Moda Bake Shop tutorial for this one. My fabric choice was Sanibel by Heather Mulder Peterson. It looks summery.

Check back tomorrow for Part 3….the food!

A Weekend Full of Friends, Fun and Quilting…Part 1

July 25, 2011 in fabric, quilt retreat | Tags: , , , , , | by | 4 comments

Happy Monday:) I hope everyone had as great a weekend as I did!

Paige’s longtime friends and quilt group were in town this weekend for some sewing and quilting. Ok, there was also some eating involved too, but we’ll get to that later:)

The SewMod studio was put to the test. We always ask ourselves…How many can comfortably fit in there? Will one ironing and cutting station be enough? etc, etc. All those questions a good quilt hostess asks. There were 6 of us, but I can honestly say that we were cozy but comfortable.  I think quilter’s just enjoy being around each other, showing off their latest achievement, and getting advice from other quilters. Give us a needle and thread and watch us go, no matter where we are.

Now go grab your morning coffee and come see what we were up to!

And don’t worry, Daisy also had friends to keep her company…here are Wilson and Daisy beggin’ for snacks.

And Sophie and Daisy beggin’ for snacks:)

How about we  start with a bit of show ‘n’ tell. This is a batik New York Beauty made by Karen S.

She made this quilt called Square Dance from Heather Mulder Peterson’s book, Livin’ Large, in Meadowsweet. I’m’ drooling over this!

Here’s some bright and happy quilt blocks that Margaret had been working on.

Since Paige and I have already “shown” our projects on the blog, I’ll show you what Karen V. brought me. The prettiest sunflowers I think I’ve seen. Fresh flowers always brighten the home.

And look what the girls surprised me with. The border fabric to the Anna Griffin Christmas collection. That was sooo sweet! Thank you:)

After show ‘n’ tell, it was time to get busy. Take a look at the seriously cute appliqued monsters Karen S. worked on.

She made us each a cute little sewing pouch.

And then whipped up a miniature quilt. She was super productive!

Check back tomorrow for Part 2 for more pics from our retreat. See you then!


Fabric Friday….Heirloom

July 22, 2011 in etsy, fabric | Tags: , | by | 2 comments

Joel Dewberry’s latest line, Heirloom arrived in the shop this week!

Pieces from the Amber collection.

And the Sapphire collection

I love that sky blue one…so pretty!

Also new patterns, including the ever so popular Swoon, by Thimble Blossoms, and a new one from A Graceful Stitch called Sparkling Starbursts, so head on over and check  ’em out!

We’ve had several phone calls over the past couple of weeks asking if SewMod was a brick and mortar or an online fabric shop. To answer that question, as of right now, we are an online boutique. But if you’re in the area and you want to come by and chat, see the studio and pet the fabric, then just drop us an email. We would love to meet you!

This weekend Paige’s sewing friends will be gathering in the studio to catch up on projects and have some fun so expect lots of show ‘n’ tell next week.

Let’s pray for cooler weather next week…jeez. I’ve been away from my home state of Oklahoma so long that I’d forgotten what hot meant till this week in Chicago. 100 degrees, I’m done with that. I’m spoiled to the mild weather up here now. I think it’s even too hot for the mosquitoes!

Any hoo…have a great weekend everyone & stay cool!

Meow…Pfft…Embroidered Kitties

July 20, 2011 in embroidery | Tags: , , , , , | by | 8 comments

I’ve been working on some things this week. Cutting kits for the show, cutting fabrics, trying to come up with a cute baby quilt for the Hoo’s In The Forest line…but I swear, every time I get up or move from my spot, this is what is in front of me.

Guilt. She’s just too cute. I think this is her plan..and it’s working. I think that ball is permanently attached to her mouth!

I did manage to stitch up 2 tea towels for Paige. Retro Kitties.

He thinks he’s a cool cat and she’s teasing him…meow…pfft…as if:)

I hope you like ’em Paige!

Quilt Shows & Fabric Finds

July 18, 2011 in quilts | Tags: , , , | by | 2 comments

This weekend Paige and I visited the Batavia Quilt and Textile Show.

Here’s a pretty New York Beauty with lots of quilting design.

I love this interpretation of the American flag…so pretty with the florals and Ohio stars.

A wool appliqued garden

A cactus sunset

And this one totally cracked me up and made me want to revisit one of my favorite shows… the X-Files.  I want to believe:)

And look who we ran into, Patti and Wendy from Quilter’s Destination!

Always a favorite booth of mine because they carry all of my favorite Crabapple Hill patterns and they do such an awesome job with their displays and samples. It makes you wanna buy everything:)

I didn’t buy everything, but you know me, how could I pass up Christmas fabric! They had Anna Griffin’s Isabelle Christmas Collection. I’ve been stalking that on Etsy for a while now and seeing it in person sent me over the edge. It has a beautiful vintage look to it and comes in 2 color ways. Of course, I bought both.

The only one missing is the border fabrics, which are available in her store.

Isn’t this pretty? Now I just need to figure out what I want to make and take a trip to visit them before it’s gone! I can’t imagine a fabric line this pretty hanging around too long..I’d better hurry:)

Fabric Friday…Bespoken

July 15, 2011 in fabric | Tags: , , , , , | by | 2 comments

We placed a fabric order last week for Bespoken by Art Gallery Fabrics. This line is due out in September.

I love everything Art Gallery comes out with. Pat Bravo is the designer and you must check out her blog. Lots of inspiration and ideas.

Look at his cute bag pattern she has available.

And I’m seriously considering also putting an order in for theses bolts of blenders called Oval Elements. This pic is from Jeni’s Flickr page over at In Color Order.  I want these!!!

It looks like most of these would fit perfectly into the line we just ordered!

Have a great weekend everyone!


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