Charlotte 2010 Winter Olympics

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Charlotte’s mild climate doesn’t usual afford us the opportunity to engage in winter sports, but this weekend was the exception. Friday night we were blessed with four inches of snow. Now, some of you from up North might (maybe rightly) consider those four inches something to scoff at, but here in Charlotte, a city of non-existent snow plows, the prospect of four inches causes many to make an emergency run to the store for bread and milk. (I’m not sure why bread and milk… it is just what we do.)

So, with boots on our feet and sleds in our hands, we walked over to the park on Saturday morning for our own version of the Winter Olympics. Our favorite sport?
SNOWBOARDING!

Soon Eamon was zooming down the hill like a pro!

Caitrin concentrated on perfecting her technique.

It melted today, but it was fun while it lasted!

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5 yards, 5 fabrics, 5 projects!

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After visiting Quilter’s Loft a month ago and picking up one yard each of five different Valentine’s themed fabrics by Moda, I resolved to use them (plus scrap batting and muslin) to make five different projects. Drumroll, please….

As you can see, our projects included a mantlepiece decoration, one large bag, one drawstring bag, a change purse, and a tiny gift bag.
First, we paper-pieced hearts and produced a Valentine’s Day mantlepiece decoration. Paper piecing is a great technique to do with kids – it is easy because you sew right on a printed line! The results always look so professional, even for beginning sewers.

After playing around with these scrumptious fabrics, our daughter Caitrin, ever a fan of brown and pink combinations, decided she would like a bag. We decorated with flowers and ruffles and made each side a little different.



We also made a drawstring bag in two contrasting prints.
There were a few scraps left and I still needed a fifth project. What’s a girl to do? “Omiyage” by Kumiko Sudo, came to the rescue. We made this tiny marble bag to complete our set of five. Now we are ready for Valentine’s Day!

(I hope to have some of these projects available as patterns for future fabric releases… stay tuned.)
Have a great week, everyone!

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Black, Red, and Blue

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What is black, red, and blue all over?

STRETCHY THINGS!
(For those of you who missed my original post, I inadvertently chopped our son’s Black Stretchy Thing – his favorite toy these past four years – with a rotary cutter.) Mary Jo’s Cloth Store’s mail order department came through in a pinch and delivered three half yard pieces of 60″ lycra to our door. (Mary Jo’s is a fabulous fabric store 10 miles outside of Charlotte in Gastonia, NC, with an enormous inventory and fantastic prices.)

3 half yard pieces of lycra = 9 Stretchy Things = 1 conscience cleared

For those of you out there with nine-ish year old boys, I highly recommend lycra strips for hours of entertainment. As far as the $/entertainment value ratio goes, they are hard to beat. I just might have to take up a new hobby!

Thanks Mary Jo’s!

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