A friend of Caitrin’s from ballet turned thirteen a couple of weeks ago and we just had to make her a gift. Thirteen is a very special birthday and this is a special young lady. We made this little ballerina doll bag with a fabric yo-yo for a bun – we thought it was perfect because Caitrin’s friend collects dolls.

It was inspired by the Boy Acrobat project in Omiyage, by Kumido Sudo. As you can see, we made some hairpins for her to use as well, but they don’t fit inside the bag. Oh dear. We love them anyway.

Here is another hairpin we made for this lovely young lady with silk ribbon. The picture isn’t as good since my camera and I weren’t playing nicely. (I’m sure it was entirely my fault. Camera, I hope you are listening.)

A word about silk ribbon… Yes, it is expensive and it does fray a bit at the edges, but it takes fabric dye in a manner unlike any other material. The depth and luminosity of color in hand-dyed silk ribbon is incredible and just a small piece can make a project sing. The ribbons I used for these hairpins were from a trip to M & J Trimming in New York City a couple of years ago. They have an extensive online store – check them out!

And, since I just cannot stand to waste fabric, we used the last few scraps we had leftover from our Fabrilicious Eggs, Flower Coasters, and Yo-Yo-Pillow to make these pincushions.

The pattern comes from Anna Maria Horner’s book, “Seams to Me” . They were easy to make. (I used very heavy-weight interfacing rather than posterboard for to mount the bottom circle to make for easier finishing.)

Have a great week!
Amanda

Some people have a living room, but we have a schoolwork/office/sewing room and today it looks like complete chaos. Still, it is my favorite room because it has fantastic light and is used for so many things. Although it is only about 10% of the house it is where we spend 90% of our time. Can you tell?
Today it reflects the state of my mind…

Sewing things piled up in a corner.

Kids’ computers.

Our son’s “Office” i.e. the floor. (Caitrin and I are usually at the table but Eamon scoffs at traditional forms of seating.)

Even the ironing board made an appearance. (Catch a glimpse of my next free pattern, “Twirly Skirt”, ready for pressing.)

Our daughter and I are traveling to Raleigh this weekend for the State Science Olympiad and I want to finish some things before leaving – wishful thinking, but we all must have goals, however unrealistic.

Hope everyone enjoys the weekend!
Amanda

I’m so excited to present my newest free pattern – Springtime Coasters! This project is especially fun because the largest required cuts of fabric are 5″ squares (fourteen 5″ squares, to be exact, to make four coasters), so you can use all your colorful scraps!

Tie it up with a ribbon for a lovely hostess gift… or Mother’s Day gift. (Mom, if you are reading this, this doesn’t NECESSARILY refer to your gift – so you will have to wait and see!)

While I’m at it, I’d like to share a recipe for Raspberry Lemonade, which we made especially for these photos, because it is so pretty and it’s delicious too.

Rasberry Lemonade
This lemonade is very tart. Add more sugar if you prefer a sweet taste!

Ingredients
• 1/2 cup frozen raspberries
• 8 large lemons
• 2/4 cup sugar
• 8 cups water

Directions Pour frozen raspberries into the bottom of a big pitcher. Cut 6 of your lemons in half and squeeze out the juice with a lemon squeezer. Combine lemon juice and sugar in a saucepan and cook over medium heat until sugar dissolves. Pour the lemon/sugar mixture into your pitcher. Add water and stir. Chill overnight or until cold. Slice the remaining lemons for garnish. Serve your beautiful raspberry lemonade over ice with a slice of lemon!
And now for some close-ups of the coasters. I chose to quilt around the flowers by hand, with really thick Pearl Cotton, but you can also do it by machine.

Happy sewing!
Amanda