around the studio

i have been contemplating my little studio lately, and i

am going to have to move things around a bit.

again.

it might not look so big, but my mele ( who is 6 ft. tall ) has actually gone inside and taken a nap with the puppies in there.

if you can imagine a tattooed, shaved head, thug looking guy, saying " ahh... come on it's cuddle time! " to 3 little dogs.

not sure how, but i need to make this work.

or, maybe if i hint at it, this monster can go into the kitty cats bedroom ( yes, my cats have a bedroom, with  huge windows, awesome view, and better lighting than i have in my studio - ironicaly enough ) which i think they will love, since they keep trying to sneak into it now to nap, but someone ( not going to mention who) shoo's them away. and perhaps, getting another one, a bit smaller for the pups.

ju-ju bean has now been here with us for 2 weeks ( tomorrow ) and is...

just a tad bit loca.

oh. my. god.

when she is awake. she is crazy. seriously. crazy. they run up and down the stairs, they wrestle, they chase each other. she takes flying leaps ( think super man ) off of the couch, the chaise, the stairs, my arms ( which now has me carrying her around in a vice grip, lol) my lap. anything with a bit of height, she launches herself off of. she is getting along much better with ziggy and dexie. play wise, with ziggy. dexie sort of joins in, but she prefers to watch them. for sleepy time, its all about the two girls, cuddling together under a blanket.

her personality is coming out more and more. she is sweet as can be. we had our first visit to the vet, and she was so worried, that her forehead was actually wrinkled up!

she is not a fan of the cats, which has me a bit worried. she chases cutey out of the studio sometimes. but it will all work out. the kittys have all met her, and gave me the "are you frekin kidding me.. another dog?" look, but no growling, hissing or swatting so far.

for now, we are all one big happy family, what more could a girl want?

Here she is....

i'd like you to meet the newest member of our little family

♥ Ju-Ju Bean ♥

formally known as penney.

she is a doxie/chihuahua mix, aprox. 2 months old.

she was originally purchased by some local woman, in front of k-mart, taken home, and then a few days later, taken to the shelter, since she was too much to take care of.

now, she is in her forever home. as i write this short post, she is upstairs in the den, taking a nap with her daddy, and siblings. they are snuggled up, under a bunch of blankets.

the house is so quiet.

i could not be happier.

The house pouch - love edition

hello!

this post is a bit late, but here nonetheless.

i wanted to share with you the Valentines ( or love ) edition of my little house pouch, that i made a few days ago.

this sewing project is really simple, you do not have to have advanced sewing skills at all, to be able to make your own version.

what you need for this project is available in the book, along with a detailed directions, including instructions on attaching a zipper, which is how i add my zippers to all my bags, so if you are tired of having funny looking, or angled corners, this is another reason to buy the book!

house pouch tweek 1- after having cut out the fabric pieces, instead of round "windows", i cut my felt scraps in the shape of hearts.

tweek 2- i alternated between button flowers, and hand stitched heart flowers. you can always have as many or few flowers along the little house pouch, it is up to you.

all done.

here is version no.1

and version no.2

so sweet.

i would love to see someone elses version of the house pouch! feel free to email me a link or picture, so i can have a look: simbiosis_etsy at yahoo dot com

Patchwork placemats / coasters ( a semi tutorial )

because i did not make a "proper" pattern, nor did i write anything down. but for those of u, that are like me ( aka sewing rebel ) and like to make something, just to see " what happens ", here is a step by step on a easy-peasy little set, that is also a scrap buster.

yes.. i know some of the fancy quilting blog lingo

pick your fabrics!

proper way: prewash everything, make sure they all match, and are what all the cool quilting kids are using.

julie way: have no patience to pre-wash, make sure they go together, and that they are not too girlie (for you know who).

checklist:

-pencil, paper, ruler

- cotton fabrics

-linen

-quilt batting

-rick rack

-hot cup of coffee

-puppies

using legal size paper (i have no idea where it came from, but i have alot of it) i drew up what i wanted the placemats to look like.

normally, you figure out your seam allowance, and adjust measurements, so they all match up, perfectly.

i cut out 2 of each in my fabrics, and did not add seam allowance. i love to live on the edge :)

sewed them all together, trimmed of the little bit of excess i had, and pressed open my seams. i ended up with little placemats, rubbed my hands together, and did my evil laugh... the plan is working!

cut out some 2" strips of linen, added one of my printed fabrics to the end of each, and attached them on the outer edges of placemat.

ta dah!

i left the linen plain, but if ever i was to make more of these, i may add some hand stitching details using some embroidery floss, or maybe machine stitched lines, in different colored threads.

using the finished placemat, i cut 2 more out of linen ( backing ) and of course the center layer of quilt batting, because i had some handy, or else a fleece alternative would have worked nicely.

machine stiched some vintage jumbo rick-rack all around. i prefer to use vintage trim, since the new rick rack is stiff, and way too polyester looking for me.

once rick rack was sewn, i sewed the top part of placemat, to the backing ( right sides together ), and left a 3" opening, to turn it right side out, did one more machine top stitching around the edge, done!

ok, almost done.

for the coasters, used 3 each, of 2" wide strips sewn together. i made them round, using the lid of one of my old vintage cannisters as a template.

 make sure to press open your seams, or they will look icky!

quilt batting, rick rack and linen to finish them off, just like the placemats.

done.

so pretty. so easy. and lots of fun to make, when you just wing it, and see what happens.

oh yeah, and the curtains i mentioned?

they are still, draped over one of my dining room chairs.

tsk.. tsk.. tsk..

fabrics in this little project came from here  ( omg... this quilt shop is utterly amazing, and i cannot believe i had never been there before ) and here.

Tidbits from home.. Christmas edition

Life is hectic. My little shop is keeping me super busy. And when I do take a moment to just sort of breathe, I prefer to do it next to my Mr.Wonderful. Between the cold ( they started to salt the roads today!) and baking ( had to do a test run, a new cookie going with us to San Diego) I managed to make our little den festive, and a nice place to hang out.

I purchased the wreath on Etsy, from this seller here, and I am super-duper in love with it!

I have been on the hunt for vintage ornaments for a while now, and have somehow managed to get a pretty big bag full of them, so I will be all set for next year!

I want traditional/kitschy decor in the den ( pictured above) and brighter colors in the main livingroom or what will be the collection room ( work in progress ).

And now, our 2011 tree.

( lost source.. sorry!)

This tree was my inspiration. But since it was not in my budget to go all out, I used what I already had, and just purchased a few more things. Maybe someday, my tree will look just as nice! I took pictures from begining to end, but will only post a few, just so you get the idea of where I strted, and where I ended up.

New additions where those big candy canes, and swirly ornaments ( Target ), glitter snowflakes ( WalMart ) glittery picks, like for wreaths and such ( JoAnn's ) and finally some lime green and turquoise glass ornaments, that I kept on the upper part of the tree, away from the 6 kids ( Michaels ). The only thing I purchased at full price ( which was less the 3.00) where the WalMart snowflakes, everything else was at 60% - 75% off , which was the best part of all.

I have been looking into foam props to add to the tree for next year, but they are crazy expensive, so I will have to make my own. I want some gift boxes, and maybe some gingerbread men. well, I have another 10 months to work on that. For now, this is our very first official Christmas tree, in our very own house ( with a red glittery tree skirt, and a huge train underneath it --- have not taken another picture), and I think I did not do such a bad job of it.

Now, I have to go back to work, so ttyl ( with a picture of my sewing room tree.. eek!)