Hearts Full of Joy

fabric faves

these fabrics from my shop are making my fingers itchy, itchy, itchy to create. but my fingers are busy, busy busy, sewing george washington's suit, and cutting and shipping fabric to my customers. my fingers do enjoy touching the yummy fabrics as I cut and wrap.

 

"american vintage" collection, 50s reproductions

 

dots from "american retro", with 30s "storybook solids"

 

"storybook vii" 30s repro charm pack

 

"more pink & chocolate" 1800s reproduction fat quarter bundle

 

"mother goose" bundle

 

"sophie & friends" bundle

on blog posts and etsy connections

"Q is for Quilter" has finished  re-constructing her antique quilt top. so happy that the fabric from my shop went to such a worthy cause (sashing)!

 

and angela, another customer, sent me the link to her blog post about the the quilt top she made with my "antique baskets" quilt pattern and kit. the kit includes a selection of antique 1800s fabrics for the basket triangles.

 

my original quilt, my own design, above.

angela's version below

 

field trips in fiber is a blog that featured my shop, and that i am thrilled to discover. vicki has an etsy shop that is stocked with her hand dyed fabrics, and her blog is filled with helpful connections for quilters and fiber artists.

on the topic of blogging, in recent months i have found myself with too little time to blog. or so i have felt. but blogging is one of those magical things like exercise, meditaion, and journaling that are so easy to put off, so hard to make time for, but when you do make the time, it is so rewarding. i am much, much happier when i blog (and exercise, and journal, and meditate). thank you blog!

customer inspiration & appreciation

one of the things that i enjoy most about our online shops (other than lots of fabric at my fingertips at wholesale prices) is when our customers share the lovely things they create using supplies they got from us.

some of my favorites:

 

SpaceDog Studios on etsy made this brilliant book (i LOVE it!) after buying this set of vintage embroidered quilt blocks, circa 1930, from our shop:

 

lovely 1800s/Civil war Repro fabrics became dresses for a Kirsten doll:

 

last week a wonderful customer bought this fabric from the "Ink Well" collection by Judie Rothermel to use as sashing for an antique quilt top that she is re-making:

 

and shared her inspiring blog: Q is for quilter

the story of the quilt top starts here

a male quilter from the Netherlands purchased a custom fat quarter bundle:

and shared his blog so that i could see the grandmother's flower garden quilt he needed the fabric for:

what i like least about our shops is that my quilting and creative time is more limited, but i feel that is compensated by the beautiful inspiration i receive.

homemade christmas

last year after reading a friend's blog post about a homemade christmas, i was inspired. it was too late to put her plan into effect for that year, so we agreed to do it this year. i am already so glad. i am more excited for christmas than i have been for the longest time. of course, i have many more plans of things to make than i actually have time for, especially since we've decided to go to utah for christmas, and leave on the 15th or 16th...but i'm having so much fun.

here is the plan: all gift giving must be something handmade (by yourself), second hand, or written (story, letter, testimony, etc). our extended families have both adopted this plan too, with brock's family exchanging written gifts, and my family following our plan of handmade, second hand, or written.

i cut out this dress for gracie in may. our christmas plan gave me a reason to finish it.

 

 

it is a version of the dress i designed for her for easter 2008, made with this fabric from my shop. she loves swirly, twirly, pink and frilly things, and tries to wear as many outfits matching this description a day as possible..

lots more goodies are in progress, many involving the coziest flannel. and we're having a blast searching for second hand treasures. we have been amazed to discover though, that many, maybe most, used games and toys go for more on ebay than it would cost to buy them new on amazon! especially once you add in shipping from ebay sellers, and get free super saver shipping from amazon. what are people thinking? this part has been a bit frustrating, but all part of the adventure of the hunt.

christmas cozies

always in search of fun projects for our hand made (or written, or second hand) christmas, i am looking for cozy pajama projects to use with this selection of flannels from my shop:

 

i love vintage, and feel blessed because that's just about all that's available in pajama patterns now. i'm considering some of these options i found on etsy for my littlest girls:

 

it would be so fun to live closer to my mom (for many reasons! including:) so that i could raid her vintage pattern stash for the perfect nightgown, like i did for easter dresses in 2008. 

i love this idea for little man,

but i'll use my own jenbei pattern i bought in japan to make summer jammies for my little japanese babes.

i love fabric

today i was completely captivated by the joy of putting fabrics together into coordinating bundles that bring out the best in each fabric for our shop. i have always loved fabric. i love to touch it. i love to create with it. and i love to photograph it.

 

etsy

etsy is so much more fun than i ever anticipated! we've been surprised to find ourselves shipping packages off to germany, australia, the netherlands, japan, and three to the UK. i feel back in touch with my antique quilt business in japan, which is a happy feeling. and i'm meeting the nicest, most interesting, incredibly creative and talented people.

one of them has me feeling very inspired.
she is expecting her eighth baby, has two fun etsy shops -

check out the adorable scripture bags on this one,
 
she also homeschools, and has a fabulous blog.
i feel honored that she is using my "squares & stripes forever" quilt kit

as a give-away prize on her blog.

a few more shops that i love:

drawingroom's shop

sweet nellie's shop

lexi is loving this:
DanaCastle's shop

look to right-hand column to see my featrued and most recent etsy shop listings.

finally did it!

so excited! i've done something that has sounded so fun for so long. thank you to gloria who gave me the push.
i have a shop on etsy.
etsy is a magical place if you love handmade goods. all things sold must be handmade by the seller, vintage or antique, or supplies for making handmade items. that is my niche exactly.
i only have a few items listed so far, but will be adding regularly.

a few of my etsy items will be listed on the right side bar.

updated shop photo

new signs and new quilts on display  

left: bow tie circa 1890 (love the americana feel), right: flag quilt, my design (a super easy and fun project from when noah was a newborn and i needed something simple to work on)

aprons

aprons with a quilt block bib: a fun project i've designed for the shop.

churn dash block. i made this one in mother & daughter or big and little sister sizes.

trip around the world block

saw tooth star block