You are currently browsing Lorrie’s articles.
Author Archive
More Pick A Bunch from Kaufman came in this week. We were missing the olives and aquas. These fabrics make me SMILE:) Super soft organic cottons from Nancy Mims.
I’m thinking of making this in the orchids, using the small daisy doodle with the white background as the top portion and the large daisy on the bottom. Sooo sweet!
Or maybe some p.j.’s from the blue daisy doodle would be cute. Lot’s of ideas for this line.
All of these are available in the Etsy Shop. We have lots more patterns too. And this wonderfully, whimsy book …Hatched and Patched’s Some Kind of Wonderful by Annie Downs. Punch needle, applique, embroidery, and patchwork all in one book.
A couple of the projects from the book…
Check ’em out!
And for my personal use..more Halloween fabrics that I stumbled upon at Hancock Fabrics. I kinda went nuts when I saw this cuteness! It’s not that made in China stuff either. It’s soft and good quality fabrics and it goes with some of the Riley Blake Halloween I’ve collected.
These cats are crazy cute!
More cats but my fave in the green print are the little black owls.
And I can’t resist a Halloween party that involves martinis!
Have a great weekend everyone!
A place for friends to gather and to work on projects. Relax, have a drink, learn something new, and show off your latest project.
We started with our inspiration….the colors in our logo, robins egg blue and chartreuse green.
We painted the walls Robins Egg blue. It’s so soothing and none of the fabrics seem to clash with it. They actually seem very happy in their new home. Ikea bookshelves were the perfect choice for storage.
We had tables, but we needed seating. I found green chairs! They’re perfect. Enough seating for seven.
I bought a kitchen cabinet from Home Depot and Nick attached a decorative top to it for the cutting surface. We took a peg board, painted it green, and attached a frame around it to fancy it up. I can hang all the tools and rulers on it. I got that idea from Creative Little Daisy’s blog.
The ironing station stayed the same.
Design wall…
And Daisy still has her perfect view.
We didn’t stop there though. Our friends need may need to use the restroom and it deserves the same attention to detail. Don’t you love a pretty restroom? I found perfect whimsy bath mats..polka dots!
I moved the quilt rack in there. I like seeing them while I put my makeup on. It makes me happy.
And I organized the storage in the restroom with the tubs I found at Wal-mart on my last shopping trip. And yes, every time I change a bathroom, I need to have matching towels. It’s a bit obsessive, I know:)
Ahhh…it feels so good to be organized:) Now it’s time to get to work!
A special thanks to Fix It Nick who did all the hard work for me. I couldn’t have done it without him…seriously..thanks Nick, Paige and I LOVE it!
Good Morning everyone:)
Hoo’s In The Forest? Cute little deer, wide-eyed owls, hedgehogs, all kinds of forest critters!
And what do they like to eat? ….apples, cherries and strawberries!
The full order, all 23 bolts in this collection, arrived yesterday. It has 4 main colors to it…blues , greens, yellows and pinks, along with some plaids, daisies , and solids.
Cute & whimsy!
We also had some charm squares from Hoo and Christmas Candy come with it.
I hope everyone enjoys their Friday. I’m going to spend mine working on adding these to the Etsy shop and later having dinner with Paige.
Happy sewing!
I wanted to talk all day about candy when all the comments started coming in! It seems the majority love Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups. I would agree with that. I love those too!
Now let’s get to why your here this morning…the drawing!
Random.org picked #7
Gail Lewis
Lorrie, I couldn’t believe it when I saw you give- away, I was just looking at your Etsy site yesterday and dreaming over the gorgeous fabrics from Anthology. I try to keep my sweet tooth under control so I choose peanut M+M’s because they are so nutritious !!!Congrats Gail!! Thanks for playing everyone. I enjoyed reading your candy comments!
I’m going to add a disclaimer here. If you don’t want to obsess over ice cream all day, don’t read any further!
If you need something besides candy on a hot summer day, look what I ran across at the grocery store this week.
Ben & Jerry’s Red Velvet Cake. This may just be my new favorite ice cream. Chunks of red velvet and swirls of cream cheese.
And Late Night Snack. Caramel ice cream with chocolate covered potato chip bits. Salty and sweet!
Terrible, just terrible for a diet.Why was I even down that isle in the store!!
I’ve had a hard time coming up for dinners for one. Since Russell is always out and about it’s usually just me left to fend for myself. I’ve been trying to get better at taking the time to actually make something instead of running for fast food. I really do like to cook & I don’t like frozen dinners so that’s out for me also. So, I have to keep it small, but good. I thought you guy’s might like to see some of the small meals I’ve been preparing lately because I know some of y’all are in the same lunch/dinner boat I’m in.
I’m always asking… What am I going to fix for dinner?
We are blessed in Chicago with the best pizza. But when I prefer to make my own, the premade dough can be bought at our local Italian grocer. All I have to do is bring it home and roll it out. It’s so good and if you split the dough, you can freeze the other portion for a different lunch. Susan came over to help. We used Martha Stewart’s Veggie Pizza recipe. We topped it with whatever veggie & cheese I had at the time… artichokes, asparagus, tomatoes, Romano & Gruyere cheeses.
This turned out to be the best homemade pizza I’ve made yet! We ate both pizzas!
I made a nice lunch for the guys when they were painting the studio. Paula’s recipe for Pinto Beans in the slow cooker, cornbread, and a salad made with raw Vidalia onion, zucchini, and Roma tomatoes, sprinkled with salt, pepper and red wine vinegar. I love this summer salad. I make these pinto beans all the time. Although, when I was back home we had them jalapeno cornbread instead…yummy!
I think they liked it. It was almost gone:)
Veggie sandwich on sub rolls. If you can get the Gonnella, it’s the best bread for this. I used guacamole instead of mayo, cut fresh red & green peppers, zucchini, lettuce, Vidalia onion, provolone cheese, Roma tomatoes. This was super tasty on a hot day. The guac really made this one stand out.
Paige came over for dinner the other night and we used some of the fresh herbs I’ve been growing. Fresh lemon thyme chicken with what our neighborhood calls…garbage potatoes.It’s just whatever veggie you have left in the fridge. Slice potatoes really thin, I like to soften them in the microwave first just to get them cooking, chop red, green, & yellow peppers, asparagus, onion, and a can of Summer Corn. Sprinkle generously with Season -All and a bit of olive oil. Wrap them in foil and place on the grill. These are a crowd pleaser and it makes a lot of veggies. The best thing about these is the leftovers. I scramble eggs for breakfast and reheat the veggies in a pan on the stove. Mix together and you’ve got yourself an amazing little breakfast to feel good about!
This was a pretty healthy post. Now, the one I have planned for Thursday, not so much:) I hope you enjoyed & feel free to share some one/two serving meals with us also. We’d love some new ideas!
I patiently await Christmas fabric to arrive.
I eagerly await Christmas fabric to arrive.
I’ve began to stalk the postman:)
My first fabrics arrived the other day….Michael Miller. Some Funky Christmas, Ho Ho Hoot, and Yule Trees.
Just look at these sweet little reindeer. They’re so retro. I’m probably going to kick myself later for not buying a lot more of this in the turquoise. Actually, I’m hoping it’s still available on the bolt. This could be dangerous!
More retro…Peace Christmas. Love it!
This is what I’m stalking right now. Dena Designs Kumari Garden Holiday. Christmas, but doesn’t really have to be, kinda thing. I love that too.
Riley Blake Christmas pre-cuts should be arriving on Wednesday for the Etsy shop. Do you think I can be trusted with them? Hmmm:)
If your not into Christmas, say it isn’t so, then we have new fabrics in the shop. Honey Child by Jennifer Paganelli.
Do you remember this Fabric Friday post? The one which Paige drew Kathy the kitty drawing for her Sweet Pickins’ bag. Kathy brought her bag in for show ‘n’ tell the other day. It turned out purrfect:)
Have a great weekend everyone! Next week Paige will be showing off the awesome batik quilt she designed and, finally, pics of the new quilting studio!
My Flickr Tea Buddies theme/project this month, or should I say last month because it’s June, was Owls. Marja and Marjon were our hostesses. Everyone picked an owl project. Some were pillows, Diane made a pincushion, Liz had the cutest owl mug rug, and Marja made a needle case with an owl on it.
Throughout the month our hostesses showed us pics of live owls from the zoo. Marjon is a volunteer for the Dutch Little Owl Foundation so we saw all kinds of interesting owls. Marja even showed a cute pic of her grandson with an owl resting on his arm.
My project for May were these cute stuffed owls from a free tutorial on Karen Gray’s Blog. So easy, about 20 minutes to make, and sooo cute! Paige and I thought it would be fun to take pics of them in a tree outside of the coffee shop we met up at last night. Yes, I’m sure we had plenty of weird looks, but it wasn’t the first or will it be the last:)
Adorable!! 
Thanks for a great month ladies. I enjoyed all your pics!
This month is Butterflies and I haven’t decided what I’m going to come up with yet. Better get to thinking though. I don’t wanna be late again:(
I hope everyone had a great Memorial Day weekend. I was finishing up the studio. I gotta tell ya…I love it! Just a few more things before I show you the pics though.
We have lots more exciting things coming to the Etsy store and we want to share them with you! So today we’re giving away one of the delicious fat quarter sets from Anthology.
Sweet Tooth
So, leave us a comment…tell us what your favorite candy is that makes you have a sweet tooth and you’ll be entered to win!
Mine is Good & Plenty:)
The giveaway runs from Wednesday, June 1st – Wednesday June 8th and is open to everyone, including our international friends. I’ll post the winner June 9th.
My Birdie block for May is finally finished! I snagged one of my sewing machines and other necessities from under the paint tarp and set up shop “old school” on my kitchen table. It doesn’t bother me to sew there, except the table’s too high and my back starts to ache from stretching…or maybe it aches from having to use the proper posture to reach the machine.
But any who, it doesn’t matter how it was finished as long as it was. I must say it turned out cute! I don’t even think this pic does it justice. I weeded out some of the smaller flowers and used the Cosmo Seasons variegated floss. A different one for each flower.
Thanks again Little Miss Shabby for another cutesy, fun block!
It’s embarrassing to admit, but I watch reality TV. The Bachelor, can’t get enough America’s Next Top Model, and I’m absolutely glued to the Real Housewives on Bravo. I seriously wanna be a housewife in the O.C.
So it’s no surprise that Monday nights around here have become girls night. Susan and I get together and have a little wine, a little food, and a little gossip. Now that Dancing with the Stars is almost over, we can get to the good stuff..The Bachelorette. With The bachelor being such a disappointment last season for letting Brad have a second chance at it, we’ve been jonesing for the Bachelorette to start. Ugh…Brad…Seriously? What did he say all season…”can I ask you a question?” and was constantly consulting his therapist? …ugh again.
Now, we don’t take these things too seriously. We mostly get together to hang. We tend to provide the comic relief because some of the things these people do are just plain whack-a -doodle and I find it necessary to point it out and poke fun. For instance, that guy wearing the mask on tonights show…enough said. We’re kinda like that show Mystery Science Theater, where that guy and his robot are constantly wise cracking through the show. Hey Susan, we could be on cable!
It’s our little reality break. So, we started our little break at noon with some strawberry waffles and homemade whipped cream.
We met back up at 7:oo for the Dancing finale part 1. I made us some Oatmeal Raisin Cookies. No wine tonight, just Chocolate Martinis, after all it is a special occasion:)
Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
1C shortening
1C brown sugar
1C sugar
2eggs
1tsp each of vanilla, salt and soda
1-1/2C flour
3C oats
1C raisins or cranberries
Mix all ingredients. Bake at 350 degrees until lightly browned, 10-12 minutes.
Easy peasy goodness!
What? You’d rather have the martini recipe? OK, me too:) I found it at drinksmixer.com.
1- 1/2 shots Godiva Chocolate Liqueur
1- 1/2 shots creme de cacao
1/2 shot vodka
2- 1/2 shots 1/2 & 1/2
1- 1/2 shots creme de cacao
1/2 shot vodka
2- 1/2 shots 1/2 & 1/2
Mix all ingredients in a shaker with ice, shake and pour into a chilled cocktail glass drizzled with chocolate syrup.
After watching tonights show, I gotta tell ya, if this is the dating pool right now, I think I’ll stay single!
So please, tell me, what are your guilty pleasures on TV right now? I promise, I won’t judge:)
And who do you think will be the next dancing Star? My vote’s for Kym & Hines.
SewMod