happy new year!!

i've got laundry in the dryer, a pizza in the fridge, Bones on tv, and brand new mini quilts up in the shop! this is how i ring in the new year! ;)


hope everyone has a safe and happy new year!!! i can't wait to see what 2009 brings!

rearrange.

pat and i spent all day sunday rearranging our living room! we've been in this apartment for six months, but our living room has mostly stayed the same. now we have our Expedit shelf from ikea as a room divider, instead of pushed up against the wall. on one side is our "living room" and on the back side is the "sewing room" and the "drums". haha..... i love the new ottoman we got at target this weekend, and we'll be going to ikea next week to get some things like a rug for inbetween the tv and sofa.... (as well as things for the kitchen and the bedroom!)...







i now have a big sewing wall to decorate, and have some really awesome art picked out on etsy to purchase later in the month :)

art wall.

i've been trying to add little by little to our art wall in the living room. pat's mom helped out this christmas, by giving us the horse photograph, all framed and ready to go-- it was an old photo that pat's father had taken years ago. perfect! i hung a photo of pat as a kid, a photo of my late grandfather as a small child, a wedding photo of my grandparents, and an awesome photo taken by my friend meg, alongside the silhouettes i got on etsy, and the portraits of that jess did of me.

(click to see them larger, in detail!)

rockie,

she loves getting into the sheets when i'm trying to make the bed.

holidays.

our christmas with both families was really great this year, though we were completely exhausted by the end of it! i didn't really end up taking as many photos as i'd hoped to, or as many as i normally do... but i did get a few:



(that's my dad with my parents' dog in her antlers. hehe!)

we gave and received so many great gifts and ate so soooo much food. pat and i had such a fun time opening gifts from each other late christmas eve night.. he gave me a coach wristlet in fabulous plum color, the domino book, the fourth twilight book, the brand new paramore cd/dvd set, an awesome mirror that we hung over our bed, a pottery barn gift card, and some fabulous girly toiletry stuff... my brother got me an ikea gift card(!!!), which will come in handy when we take a trip down there in a couple weeks... my parents got us some great new bath towels, bed sheets, and the 8th season of CSI (yes, we now have all 8). ...we both got gift cards galore, and can't wait to go shopping ;)

productive.

since this is one of those december in maine weekends, where we get dumped with at least a foot and a half of snow, i've decided that means i need to be productive. since i'll be stuck inside until monday. ...i cut out two small quilts today, and got the blocks to one sewn.

this is a pattern i have used before, with an older/sold quilt, and i loved how it came out. i got the blocks cut out and sewn today, and tomorrow i will try to cut out and sew the strips that go in the middle of the grid. i'm planning to use a cream color, but i may change my mind before then. ;) no plans yet for the border and binding and backing...

i used mainly amy butler fabrics, but there's an anna maria horner print as well, and a couple of new fabrics from jo-anne's are tucked in there, too.

this zig zag pattern is one i have not done before, and normally i am very wary of working with triangles. thus, it is a bit smaller than the other one, and will end up with some thicker borders to give it some more size. not sure about the binding or backing yet, other than i will make another zig zag stripe going across the back, probably off centered. ...this all, of course, is riding on the fact that i can finish sewing the triangles without giving up on the entire project! BUT, if it goes okay, i plan on making more with this pattern..because the possibilities are endless with colors!

the fabrics for this quilt came from charm packs i've been trying to figure out what to do with! they're "flea market fancy" and "katie jump rope" designs by denise schmidt.

both of these projects will end up in my shop, alongside those two mini quilts i just finished, when i have my grand re-opening, hopefully sometime in early to mid february. expect so many more things to come by then!

inspiration board.

i managed to steal a little time last night while the boyfriend was playing video games, to update my inspiration board in my sewing area. i rearranged a few things on it, and added some color pallets.




there is also a fairly hefty stack of new fabric sitting just below it, waiting to be used <3

hair update.

so, yes, after all of that with the red dye, i went back to black recently. i loved the red so so sooo much; but trust me, when my black roots start showing, its not pretty. also, i'm growing it out. to what length? i have no idea... but, i've been able to wear it twisted up in a clip in the back lately! i can't remember the last time i could do that, so i am very proud. its longer in the front/sides than in the back still, but i tend to like it that way.

mini quilt #2

this one is even smaller than the first one i made (measuring in @ 14x18"!), with a different pattern. also, i used mostly heather ross' fabrics (the tiny fishies, gnomes, and cars!); its totally top stitched and so cute!!

someday.

[this] is the type of apartment i hope we can find for june. the price is good with utilities, they allow pets, there are hardwood floors, and two bedrooms! gahhh. sometimes when i think about having a larger place, i think about how it would actually feel like a real home and i get really emotional about it. this apartment is okay since we aren't here very much together; but i love the idea of having a really wonderful (bigger) apartment that we could rent longterm and not want to leave. thats how i felt in my last apartment, even though i had to give it up after a few years, but if pat and i hadn't decided to move in together i probably would have been there for years and years. home is what you make it, so i'm happy here until june (or after, until we find a place...), but only because i don't have a choice! ;)

here's some decor inspiration for the week...

etsy holiday buyer guide.

the etsy people chose one of my quilt/pillow sets to be part of their holiday buyer guide for baby items!

[click to see the photo bigger, i know it is all shrunken down, but i couldn't get it all on the screen otherwise! incase you don't recognize it, my item is the third one down on the left hand side.]

back to black (hair);

hurray! and whoops!

i managed to pick up a decent assortment of new fabric this weekend, still waiting for a couple of things i ordered online to get here. while my boyfriend and his mother made homemade cheesecake in the kitchen, i started working on a mini quilt. hurray!

i like how it came out, with a couple exceptions. my border is a bit crooked in one spot, and my binding was completely wrong. ha! my first attempt at a traditional binding (instead of a wraparound from the back, which i sometimes do...), and i messed it up. go figure ;) my binding only ended up on the backside of my mini quilt, instead of also wrapping around to the front and back. whoops! it looks interesting on the back now, with a stripe tucked over towards the side, as well. the good thing about handmade creations, though, is that nothing is "wrong", it just gives it character!!

overall, though, i am happy with my little project, which measures 17x20". i completely top stitched the entire thing in mustard yellow thread, to match the mustard fabrics i used, so it shows up nicely on the contrasting magenta fabrics. here are some pictures, of my first attempt, or as pat calls it, "my prototype" for winter/spring '09.

[click 'em to make 'em bigger!]




now knowing what i need to do differently and better, i am totally ready to start whipping up some new items for my new collection!! these little quilts can be used as wall hangings, tiny baby quilts, or doll quilts, and table mats! of course i will also be doing some larger quilts, as i had been doing before. (also in the planning stages: sewn birdie mobiles with real branches! this will take my sewing skills paired with my boyfriend's engineering/physics skills ;))

what do you think?

pile.

there is a growing pile of new fabric on top of my sewing table for new projects ahead of me. here is a sneak peek:

also in the pile, lots of mustard yellow, plum & magenta, white, grey & pale blue. tomorrow i am going to the fabric store to stock up on solid fabrics. i'll post more after that trip XD

beautiful...

room.

so i'm sacked out on the sofa with a sore throat, half asleep, on a friday night; having just loved my way through a five hour CSI marathon on spiketv... and scouring the internet for craft room inspiration. if all goes well (crosses fingers) and pat & i end up in a(n affordable) 2 bedroom apartment come june, i will get my own sewing room (if the room is large enough, it will probably end up sewing room /slash/ drum room /slash/ guest bedroom...). currently my sewing "studio" is taking up an entire half of our already small living room in our 1 bedroom apartment. we don't have much room to move around in here, and when i've got the ironing board set up and batting for quilts laid out, forget about it. so, i am constantly dreaming about the room i'll have someday (hopefully sooner rather than later!).... these photo are my total absolute ideal dream rooms.

here is what my space looks like as of a couple weekends ago.. i had just gotten some awesome containers to keep all of my fabric in. it seems i tend to bounce back and forth from having it all folded up on bookcases to folded up in containers. sometimes i love the feeling of it all out in front of me, and other times i like it all tucked away safe. right now, for the sake of space, its all tucked away but still somewhat visible. i have it organized by color, of course, because that makes it easier to find whatever i'm looking for. solids are in their own container. i also have two containers on top of my table that holds my current (or near future) projects. under the table is my big tub of already made items, which recently has been nearly cleaned out by all of my etsy sales. those stacked containers of fabric are a bit larger than they looked, all stacked up like that they are about four feet high! the fabric inside of them is stacked two deep, so they have twice as much in them as what you can actually see from the front-- and they are literally sitting right behind my chair (to the right of my table). the good thing is that the table has leaves that fold out, so i can make it larger when i need to, but can keep it compact most of the time. you know, since we have no space...


once i have more space to spread out, i can invest in a new sewing machine or two. i'd love to get a new computerized machine. and also a serger, eventually. i could possibly have more than one desk! i could have shelves! and a window!! so many things you take forgranted until you don't have room for them.... i know i can't think about spreading out too much, since the chances of ending up with a big room are pretty slim, but a girl can dream. because you never know. ;)

a big thankyou!

a big thankyou goes out to all of the wonderful customers i have had this holiday season!! 2008 has been the best year yet for littlelegwarmers, and i couldn't have done i without such great supporters, friends, coworkers, and family who have really helped me so much along the way. thanks to you, littlelegwarmers has sold 10 quilts in just 3 weeks!

after the holidays come to a close for 2008, i will be making a trip to the Ronald Mcdonald house to make a donation of a few quilts- they send families home with one after their stay. the way this season has gone so far, i may not have too many left! but you can be sure i will donate at least two or three.

i'm very much looking forward to getting started on creating my winter/spring 2009 collection... i have been collecting some new fabrics and new design ideas. i've been furiously scribbling it all down in my notebook and explaining it to my mother over the phone, rambling off ideas and asking for suggestions. if there is something you would like to see, please feel free to leave me a comment! ideas on pattern, color, anything!

the winter/spring 09 collection will feature fabrics from some of my favorite designers, including: heather ross, amy butler, kaffee fassett, denise schmidt, and anna maria horner. it is also going to include (but is not limited to): interesting and slightly "off" colors (magenta, mustard, brown), muted and "swampy" colors (grey, aqua, cream, olive), somewhat "primary" colors (orange, red, blue)... also, i will be introducing a line of mini quilts, which can either be used as doll quilts or wall hangings (framed or hung as is). stay tuned, because i will be posting as i make some progress...

first snow of the winter.

holiday spirit.

(please click on each photo to see it larger!)

i have been trying desperately to get into the holiday spirit this week! it seems it gets more and more difficult every year, with lack of funds, lack of room for a christmas tree (omg, i love christmas trees SO MUCH), and lack of time. but! i think we're off to a good start! the thing that i love, is even with our families faults, we seem to truly enjoy getting together at christmas; i'm really looking forward to it, even though christmas eve night i will be coming fresh from an 8hour shift in the OR and will probably just barely make it in time for dinner...

like i mentioned, we don't have the space for a christmas tree in this apartment. we really don't have any space for decorations, so for the first time in my years out of my parents' house, i will not be putting up any holiday decorations. hopefully this time next year we will have more room! so, since we can't have a tree, i found the most fabulous room spray for this time of year:

it works perfectly for that christmas tree smell!!

i spent a good hunk of time this afternoon wrapping all of the gifts i have accumulated thus far. i'm still waiting on a couple of things that i ordered, and i have one more gift to make, and one more to shop for. but, i'm nearly done, with the except of stocking treats.

i wish that i could have done all completely handmade gifts for everyone on my list this year, but unfortunately it just wasn't possible. i am lucky, however, that i am not completely broke like in years past, and was able to purchase just what everyone asked for! i absolutely love gift giving.

one of my favorite things about the holidays are the holiday catalogs/magazines! ack!


we've been trying to keep the heat turned down as low as possible still so far this "winter" (<-- no snow yet!), so we've been using our little tiny space heater and lots of blankets when just loafing around the apartment. the two kitties have really been enjoying this!



last night, pat and i went to the annual holiday art extravaganza sale at Sanctuary Tattoo & Art Gallery here in portland, where they have art of all kinds from local artists. i had submitted two small quilts this year, and one a couple of years ago... it was nice to stay for a little while, and see some great art and some great friends.
here we are just before we went out:

and here are some photos from the event:



a big special thankyou to everyone who has purchased quilts from my etsy shop recently!! after the holidays i will be donating a few more items from seasons previous to the Ronald McDonald House, and anxiously planning new items for spring! i have some really wonderful fabrics i have been stashing away, some new patterns to work with, and some really fabulous ideas. i can't wait to get started!!! of course i will be posting here with all kinds up updates and sneek peeks as i go along!

xo