"Love recognizes no barriers. It jumps hurdles, leaps fences, penetrates walls to arrive at its destination full of hope."...Here comes Valentine's Day!

I can't believe it's almost February. It's time to show the special people in your life you love & appreciate them. Hopefully you're doing this everyday, but on this day maybe take it one step further. Here are a few cute ideas...







Love the hearts on the elbows. So sweet, yet effective. I can think of a few other places your honey may like to see those hearts, but I will leave that to your imagination. All I have to say is even a non sewer can cut and paste!

I just stumbled across this website, Design Finch. What a great resource for making your own Valentine cards. 

The Oj and the gold fish are just too darn cute. Who wouldn't love to get these as Valentines?

Check out our Valentine fabrics, felts, trims, and rhinestone hearts. Perfect for Valentine's day. Whether you want to get crafty with your kids or spice it up for your honey, we have the perfect items for you to make it a special day.

Hello Kitty goes Rock & Roll

If you had asked me 5 years ago if Hello Kitty was going to join forces with Kiss I'm sure my answer would have been no, but obviously I was way off base.

Here is what I saw on the cutting table yeaterday....

 I have to say I love this! We just received this darling line of Hello Kitty from David Textiles. The cotton prints are crisp and the two fleece panels makes great blankets. Here are a few of the patterns of what we got in...

                                                                                                

Click here to see all the cotton prints or here if you want to check out the fleece panels.

One of our buyer made up the fleece panels. While the lighting in the store isn't great, these panels are.

                   

Aren't these fun? You might think only little girls love Hello Kitty, but not so. My teen daughter and all her friends are into Hello Kitty. I think Hello Kitty is retro. Honestly I'm ot really sure, but I know we can't keep it on the shelf.  I have a feeling these prints are going to fly out of the store just as the other have.





I'm a big fan of PJ bottoms. I think the cotton prints would be perfect.  You could use one print for the majority of the pants, and than use another for the cuff.

Craftstylish says you’ll need:

• Favorite pair of pajamas


• Ironing board and iron


• 2 yards of main fabric, prewashed and pressed


• 1/4 yard contrast fabric, prewashed and pressed


• Cutting mat


• Fabric marker


• Seam ruler


• Ruler


• Scissors


• Pins


• Thread


• Sewing machine


• Safety pin


• 1 yard of 1-1/4-inch nonroll, sew-through elastic


• Seam ripper


• Approximately 60 inches of 1/2-inch ribbon

Check out our Notions section for most of the items she suggests. Our ribbons are here and more cotton that you know what to do with is here, that's if you haven't already put the Hello Kitty in your cart. LOL! Just a side note, if you love your first pair so much you have to make another, why not try flannel or fleece. Just a thought.

Here is a video that uses jeans to make the pattern. Looks like a great idea.

If you get started now you can have a great homemade gift ready for the holidays. Remember these prints are  online, as well as in the store.

Coming soon, new cottons and flannels...

Our owners just arrived back from Quilt Market, and therefore I have cotton on the brain. Over the next month or so we will be getting in lots of great new cottons and flannels. Hopefully they will give me a list of what is coming in month by month and I can post a coming soon section. From what I have seen, looks like some really great prints.

For today, I just wanted to show you a few projects, both cotton and flannel, that are going up in the store.

First the new California cotton print from Timeless. In one yard you get the best of California. Our sample maker decided top make an apron from it.

Here's the front:

and here's the back

This free Apron tutorial is very similar to the apron shown here. Again, while I love this new print, remember to check out all our cotton prints and pick one that is just right for you or the person receiving this great apron.

Another cute line we're featuring with a sample is Marmalade Flannels and Vintage Modern Flannel from Moda.

We have it in both cotton and flannel. Both these collections have the wonderful feel of the good ol' days. They have found a way to take vintage charm and add a bit of modern geometric flair.

Both collections have an assortment of prints to pick from. In this stroller blanket we used three of them. Click here to see the entire collection.

                                 

This blanket was made from a super easy pattern, not even really sure you can call it a pattern, more just a sheet of directions. Basically you get 1 3/4 yards of a one print and 1 1/4 yards of another print (cotton or flannel) and approximately 3 2/3 yards of ric rac or a contrast bias binding. You should always pre-wash both pieces before you cut them. Cut both pieces to the same size, 40' by 42' square. To add ric rac, put both pieces of fabric right sides together adding ric rac in between the two pieces.  Stitch around the edge of the blanket leaving an opening of about 6 inches.  Turn the blanket right side out and stitch the opening closed. Iron with steam. If desired, ric rac can be added to the outside of the blanket on the flannel side for a decorative look. Simply sew the two pieces of fabric together right sides together, turn right side out, close the opening, and add the ric rac on top to finished blanket. To make a blanket with binding, put the wrong sides together and add the binding edge on top of the cotton print side edge. Stitch 1/4 inch seam allowance around the blanket. Fold binding edge over to the back of the blanket and blind stitch by hand or machine.

The last sample is from the same collection. It is still in the process of being sewn, but I just wanted to give you a peek at this great patch work blanket.

                             

It is hand tied and not quilted. Really cute & simple. Again, I love this collection, and this quilt really shows off many pieces from it,but if you find yourself with less time than you anticipated you could buy our fat quarters, coming on-line next week,  and whip it together in no time.

That's it for now. Keep checking our site all month for great new cotton and flannel prints. Also remember all our cotton and flannels are 10% off everyday.

Faux fur is everywhere...

I know I mentioned I saw a lot of Faux in New York last week, but I am also seeing it everywhere in LA.  Today I had to go to Target. As soon as I walked in there was faux fur on the first display. The jackets had faux fur hoods or lapels and the hats and mittens were all about the faux fur.

           

After Target I went home and checked my mail box. To no surprise there was a Pottery Barn Teen catalogue. Since I just finished building a house there are always catalogues in my mailbox, but Pottery Barn, weather it's Teen, Bed & Bath, or Baby, is always there at least once a week.  On the front cover are faux fur bean bags. Inside it shows faux fur totes, chairs covered in faux fur, sleeping bags lined in faux fur, and many other items.

        

So many of these items would make easy DYI projects and probably cost half the price. I love the idea of the sleeping bag. All kids love having a cute sleeping bag. How great would it be to make one that was all furry on the inside and had a great print on the outside. With a little searching I found this website that has good tutorial. While she is making a child size sleeping bag, she says you can adjust it be a teen/adult size. The tote is also so cute. If you made it large enough it would be a great diaper bag or just a cute bag for your teen to throw her overnight clothes into. The ear phones and the travel neck pillow are great holiday gift ideas. Here are a few links to help you get the neck pillow going. For a free pattern check out this site or for a good tutorial click here. Bean bags are another great idea for the teens in your life. They can always use another place for their friends to hang. The only problem, as I have found out, is that they are very expensive. Here is a website that has instructions on how to make your own. I may have to try this one.

So if you get the inkling to try one of these DYI's make sure you check out our faux fur. They range from $24 to $41 per yard. Also we love to see the finished project as well. Go to our Facebook page and post a picture so everyone can get inspired.  Lastly, don't say you heard it from this little birdie, our faux fur just may be going on sale this month.

Halloween 2009: The Pink Poodle

What a cute and simple costume. Great use of fleece and ball fringe!

Holiday apron and the perfect tool to help make it super easy!

One of my favorite elves brought in this apron today and I just love it. The print is so fun and quirky and the colors are not that of your typical holiday print.  Green, lavender, pink & red may sound crazy together, but here combined with just the right amount of gold it really works.



Besides showing me this fantastic apron our elf reported on a new tool she found in our Notions department. It's called Turn-it-All. She told me that it made making the neck strap and the tie at the back a cinch!



In 4 easy steps you can turn so many items inside out. Since it has 3 different sizes it's perfect for the apron shown, as well as Spaghetti straps, scrunchies (great easy gift for your tween!), doll parts, and any thing that needs to be turned inside out after you sew it.



For $10.00 this tools seems like a steal. Find it online at http://www.lowpricefabric.com/p-1971-turn-it-all-ml203015.aspx