The sewing thing has taken over my life lately. I found out about 2 weeks ago that I’m going to be doing a craft sale next weekend (I volunteered for this, it’s my own fault) and since then, I think I’ve been attached to Emma, my sewing machine, at the hip (yes, my sewing machine has a name–stop laughing). I’ve not really done anything but cut and sew since then. But the problem with this whole matter is that I know this craft sale is going to be a bust–the people I’m doing the show with have said they have years that they’ve sold nothing. So I’m not expecting to sell much, but I would like to have some feedback from the uncrafty population.



Inside The Orange Pouch


So over the past week or so, I’ve churned out almost 15 of my pouches, and couple of new bags. But since I’m really not feeling like this sale is going to be very productive, I’ve put all of them up for sale at my Etsy store. Also, I’ve decided, that since Hip To Piece Squares is turning 2 years old in a few weeks, I’d have a sale here in celebration. So, until April 10th, all purchases (you’ll need to leave a comment or e-mail me first to tell me what you’d like to buy so you don’t get charged regular price) are $2 off with free shipping (excluding my pillows, sorry!).
I’ve spent almost an hour without Emma now. I need to get back to her. She’s probably lonely.

I’m not sure why it’s taken me so long to think of this but I just realized that since many of you without blogs have taken an interest in joining the Denyse Schmidt Quilt-Along (which is totally okay with me, non bloggers) we should have a better way to see what our non-bloggers and bloggers alike are making. To help do this, I’ve set up a Denyse Schmidt Quilt-Along Group at Flickr. So if you don’t have an account, go sign up for free and join us over at the DSQA group.

Has anyone gotten their hands on the new Denyse Schmidt fabric line yet? I haven’t seen it in person yet.



Pink Zebra


I’ve decided that I love pouches. They’re wonderfully fun to make and really, you can use them for about anything. I like how this one looks sort-of
quilted, but still really quirky.


Inside The Zebra

It’s even got girly umbrellas on this inside, along with one of my new tags. (I feel like a real crafter now!)



Yellow Button Pouch

I like this one, but I reminds me of things I had growing up in the 1980’s. The purple and green combo really set me back a couple of decades. I’m not sure if I’m happy about that, or a little freaked out.

So while I’ve not been posting, I’ve been staying more busy than I’ve been in weeks. My motivation is back, and I’ve been exciting about what has been coming together at my sewing machine.
I loved the brown tree bag that I made back in January, and since I got such a good response from it, I decided to try another one. I started out with another of the brown bag/orange, yellow, and green button combination bag. I was happy with the first one, but this one exceeded what I thought I’d be able to do.



Fall Tree Bag


The sewing turned out much neater than the first and I added more buttons to this one. I think that helped it out a lot.
Just as I was finishing the brown one though, I scanned through my fabric colors and got so excited about this combination:


Spring Tree Bag


I loved how this one looks so much like a spring tree as compared to the brown tree that looks so fall-like. I’ve not been this happy with something that I’ve made in so long. I’m really thinking about making more in other colors still.
***Both are available in my Etsy Shop if anyone is interested!!! 🙂

I’ve been neglecting my poor blog! Even worse, I’ve not shown off my beautiful goodies from the Gifty 3 swap yet. Yikes!
Vicki from Turkey Feathers sent me so many pretty things!



Gifty 3 Swap


I really felt very spoiled! She sent buttons, Amy Butler fabric, pom pom and tassle trims, darling patches, one of her amazing sachet peeps and a perfect heart needle book! I never realized just how much I needed one of those before; I’m carrying it everywhere now. I had so much fun with this swap–thank you Vicki for being a terrific partner!