Sunny Day

In case you were curious about what my finished projects were in my last post, here they are: new clothespin aprons! They're fun as hostess aprons too. You can find all three of these aprons in my shop.

There's something so fresh and crisp about lemon-lime (Alexander Henry lemon print/American Jane polka dots)

I can't resist this combo of royal blue and orange (Denyse Schmidt daisy print/American Jane Pez print)

I love these cool oceany blue pressed flower and stripes prints by Amy Butler

This is quite possibly my favorite new print combo, a rose bouquet Pop Garden print by Heather Bailey paired with polka line by Anna Maria Horner. LOVE it.

I've got another Heather-Anna pairing in the works that is fab-u-lous. Can't wait to show you.

Have a lovely day!
Kim

Peonies & Popsicles

As the end of the school year approaches, our pace of life has been accelerating steadily with appointments, planning for summer visitors, sewing orders, and somehow not letting four dogs' worth of winter fur take over the house. I always seem to get more done the busier I am, and yet I was reaching a point where I needed a time-out. Fortunately I was in a cooking sort of mood the other day, and whipped up a batch of perfect aqua playdough. Jack and I spent a good hour playing with the warm dough and giggling nonstop. The photograph below is not representative of the fantastic mess we made of it.

After a much needed break, it was back to the grind. But last night I was awakened by a tremendous thunderstorm. I had to rush out of bed to close the windows and lay awake as lighting completely illuminated our bedroom. It was the kind of Midwestern thunderstorm that used to terrify me as a child, and in fact it didn't take long before we heard little feet padding down the stairs and climbing into bed with us. The storm finally subsided and we drifted back to sleep. This morning I ventured outside to see how the garden fared, and discovered some lovely and very waterlogged peonies that had begun to bloom.

The rain had completely rejuvenated the flowers and grass and our little bird feeding area was teeming with baby robins and rabbits. It reminded me how I've always been fascinated by the process of watching things grow. Flowers bloom from tiny buds, small kids grow into bigger kids even after consuming what seems like nothing but dirt and popsicles, piles of neatly folded fabric turn into something completely different.

Even after years of sewing, I still love watching this

turn into this

turn into this

I guess sometimes it just takes a good rain to make me slow down and enjoy life's little everyday magic. I hope you too can find the time to stop and smell the flowers today, or at least share a popsicle with a loved one.

Kim

Spring

I hope everyone had a safe and fun holiday weekend! I spent a good portion of mine shopping local nurseries for new perennial flowers, and then the remainder directing my husband where to dig all the holes for planting (I can be very good at delegating tasks, especially when it involves pickaxes and heavy shovels!). The landscaping around our house when we moved into it consisted primarily of hosta (mostly in sunny, dry spots...why??) and some non-descript shrubs that appear to be healthy breeding grounds for mosquitoes, which won't do at all. I adore birds and butterflies, so we put in some salvia, black-eyed susans, dianthus and lavender. I had no idea that dianthus smells so incredibly good, I could spend all day sitting in the garden smelling the plants. Next on my list is echinacea and shasta daisies.

The other day I was sitting in my favorite spot in the kitchen looking out the window and it was like a scene from a Disney movie, with all sorts of furry and befeathered critters frolicking outside: chipping sparrows and goldfinches at the birdfeeder, a chipmunk chirping on the rocks, and a couple of rabbits hopping through the grass. One of these days I'll have my camera outfitted with a zoom lens with me to capture it. In the meantime you can enjoy the flowers which stay nice and still when I crouch next to them to take pictures.

It was so energizing to spend time in the garden, I'm feeling very inspired for Spring. Hopefully that will translate into some fun new creations in the sewing room. That is, if my kids will take a break from being such night owls! Ever since the days started getting longer, my littlest guy can't seem to figure out when it is that he's supposed to sleep.

I've also noticed the clotheslines starting to come out, which means it's officially clothespin apron weather!

What's your favorite sign of Spring?

Out of Town

For anyone who is planning to purchase a sewing pattern this weekend, please know that I will be out of town and will send all patterns purchased Friday, Saturday, and Sunday (May 15-16-17) on Monday, May 18. Thank you for being patient and have a great weekend!

Kim

Shop update

Thanks for such a warm response to my new pattern! It's always a little scary to embark on something new but you all are making it completely painless.

However, it sounds as though some of you are having trouble checking out with the pattern in my shop. I'm thinking that there has been an occasional issue with the pattern disappearing out of a cart because it sold or I've taken it offline momentarily to update a listing. If this happens to you please go back to the main page of my shop and try again--I'm now making sure that there are always at least one or two listings with several copies of the pattern available at any given time.

You may also purchase the pattern right here from my blog by clicking the "Buy Now" button in the sidebar on the right side of the screen. Let me know if you have any issues with it, though I believe it should work okay.

Have a lovely rest of the day!
Kim

A New Leaf

I love spring, but who doesn't? I'm appreciating it even more this year since moving away from Georgia, where the just about the only thing that differentiates the seasons is what kind of songbirds you see in your backyard. Don't get me wrong, I do love those songbirds, but this year after being buried in the snow for a solid 5 months (holy cow!), I am good and ready for flowers and leaving my mittens indoors.

It's also a season of new beginnings, and this year that is especially true of my business. You may have noticed a hint or two that I've been working on something new, well I finally get to share it with you and I'm beyond excited! Ever since I started offering pear pincushions in my shop, I've been receiving requests for the pattern. And then I began making ornaments and pillows and I heard from even more of you. So, without further ado...Say hello to the first of my Retro Mama Sewing Patterns, Plush Pear Trio: Pincushion, Ornament, and Pillow!

If you have seen my tutorial, you will already be familiar with my instructional style. However, this pattern is even better. Not only is the layout prettier, but you’ll find a glossary of terms and techniques found in the pattern and also hints for construction that will help you be successful. The pattern is in PDF format, which lets you save paper by only printing the pattern pieces if you wish, and bonus! The pattern pieces are to scale so there's no need to enlarge, just print and sew. Orders will be e-mailed to you within a couple of hours of purchase so you can start sewing today!

You can purchase this pattern at my Etsy shop. Look for more patterns in the future, and I'm certainly taking suggestions if you have a favorite project of mine that you'd like to see as a pattern.

Now, I know some of you will have questions about the pattern, and I love that you contact me so I can help you out, but this time I'd like to ask that you post your questions in my flickr group, Retro Mama Pattern Projects, so everyone can benefit from any advice I give. Also, I would love to see your creations so please post those project photos in the group as well!

So let's get sewing!

Kim

Published!

I was asked awhile back to contribute to an e-book of tips for Etsy sellers by Julie of On the Dot Creations. She has the cutest blog featuring fabulous finds from Etsy sellers (finds that are almost too good, my wallet doth protest) and so I was happy to help out. Well the e-book is now available, so for anyone out there who might be looking for some great tips to improve their shop, or for those of you considering starting your own crafty business on Etsy, check out Julie's great--and free--e-book, Hints of Savvy Etsy Sellers! Lots of super talented sellers/artists have contributed some excellent ideas and I've learned a few new things, too.

Now, this is not the big project that I was referring to in my last post, so stay tuned for more about that very soon! Are you on tenterhooks yet? (Don't you just love that saying? And I have no idea why, but it reminds me of Harry Potter, perhaps because I'm on tenterhooks waiting for the next movie? I don't get terribly excited about most new movies, but for that one I'll make an exception. Okay, maybe also this one, too. Did I just reveal a bit of my inner nerd-child? I believe I did!)

Although, someone, somewhere, has already guessed it (too obvious, right? Oh well, I've already told you how I am with secrets. And have I mentioned that I like parenthetical phrases?).

Until next time...
Kim

New project

I know I've been quiet lately. I've been rather busy putting together a new project that I think you'll like. But I can't tell you what it is. Yet.

But soon.

Promise!

(My little helper, raiding the photo shoot.)

Although, it's not as though I'm a very good secret keeper, not for my own secrets anyway. I'll bet you know what it is already.

But now, I'm off to enjoy 78 degrees and sunny skies, and try to stretch out some stiff shoulders from hunching over in front of a computer for days. I never had such poor posture until the internet. Must work on that. Also, I think there might be some Oreos in the kitchen with my name on them. Yep.

Have a lovely day!
Kim

Last minute Easter crafts

Thanks to Jennifer at CraftSanity for including my tutorial in her latest podcast, which you can watch below for some quick and fun last minute Easter crafts:

Those paper flowers look so fun and easy!

Happy Easter everyone!
Kim

Congratulations to.....

It's official--I'm not the only one who loves American Jane! Thanks so much to all of you who entered for a chance to win the fat quarter of this fabric, I wish could give some to everyone!

The winner is: Rae!

Rae said...

I have been dreaming about this fabric since I saw it on your blog the other week! I can't believe how generous you are to give up a piece of this coveted fabric! Keeping my fingers crossed!!!

Thanks also to everyone who tried out my Fabric Easter Egg Tutorial. Your feedback has been great and it's the hugest compliment to me that many of you found the instructions easy to follow. I will definitely post more tutorials in the future and I hope you'll add your pictures to my flickr group (check out the fabulous photos from the group in my sidebar)!

Have a great day everyone!
Kim