Trick or treat!

Fall is my favorite time of year...the cooler weather, the jeans and sweaters, the excuse to heat up the oven and bake (especially pumpkin chocolate chip muffins...mmmmm!)

But most of all, I LOVE halloween! Halloween was a lot of fun growing up. We decorated the house, made apricot jello popcorn balls (delicious!) and NEVER bought a costume. We had a costume box from which we mixed and matched and occasionally made a new piece to add to the stash.

My favorite childhood costume: a present. Yes, a big gift-wrapped box that had to be removed every time we got in the car (which was after every trick-or-treat stop since we lived out in the boonies) with a huge beautiful pink and white polka dot bow on my head!

Anyway, back to 2010. I still love Halloween, and all things associated. So to honor this fun time of year, a few pics:

This one has nothing to do with sewing, but I was having fun preparing for a little social I recently had at my house. Hummus in the pumpkin and veggies for dipping...take note of the candy corn resemblance :)



I had a customer request a head piece of some type--hat, headband, or hood--for her daughter's cow costume for Halloween. I put this one together and decided that maybe Z should be a cow, too!




And this is my very favorite addition...GLOW IN THE DARK embroidery thread! Who knew??? So cool!



Check back soon for pics of my little pumpkins!

My new addiction...

What do you do with an ugly yellow couch? How exactly do you find fabric to match said couch? What's that you say? You can't? Well, then let me make some for you! This set was made for my brother who recently moved...

Ugly (yet very nice!) couch was the inspiration for the color scheme, along with the gorgeous gray "woodsmoke" walls. Made a pillow cover to tie in with the curtains...


The curtains were the real reason that I got started...for some reason someone thought they needed some privacy (and a little light blocking for sleeping in on weekends)


And since I was on a roll, I just HAD to spruce up the lamp. I mean, the lamp shade DID break during the move and all...

An old lamp, some embroidered fabric and an adhesive lamp shade courtesy of the local JoAnn's, and you've got yourself a one-of-a-kind accessory!

Have I mentioned that I heart this embroidery thing???

Long time!

WOW! Can you say hiatus? A lot has been going on...we welcomed baby girl in April, and since then time has sped by!

Since I am guessing my readers care more about my sewing projects than my life, I will skip any other details...let's just say I have been spending more time sewing than blogging--obviously!

First things first I now have access to an embroidery machine. Can you say WAHOO? "Hi, My name is MandiMoo, and I am addicted to emroidering." As hubby would say, I can't really take credit for the embroidery, as I just push a few buttons and watch the machine do the work, but man oh man is it FUN! Even my kids enjoy watching it do its thing! So let the orders begin! Can do designs (though nothing licensed), monograms, etc. A fun way to really personalize a gift.

Other projects:
Six years ago, I thought it would be a great idea to make a cross quilt for my niece and god-daughter. Two years ago, I finally finished that quilt for her! Since then, I have been blessed with two more nieces and a nephew, all of whom I am a godmother. Since I was averaging four years per quilt, that would have made it 2022 before I could get them all done, and that is (hopefully, wrongly) assuming that there would be no other nieces and nephews. So I had to abbreviate the cross quilt to be a cross wallhanging, finished in time for the baptisms. This is my latest cross wallhanging. Congrats, L on your big day on Sunday! Wish we could be there!



Another t-shirt quilt! This one for a good friend who wanted both high school and college shirts showcased. Fortunate for her she was a wildcat at both schools! Wish I could have taken a video of her reaction upon seeing it for the first time. I love when customers love what I have done with their memories! Thanks, K for letting me do this for you.



I had someone request a custom bag. Her dilemma: Diaper bag needed to stay with baby at daycare, and she needed a purse to take to work. However, when they were together, she carried him in a sling, then had both a purse and a diaper bag over her shoulder. Our solution??? A diaper bag and purse combo! Purse clips on to bag when you need both, and quickly removes when you are flying solo! Why hadn't I thought of this before? Note to self: make one of these for me...when I have time!



Well, before I lose ALL of my readers, I will wrap it up for now. Welcome back, and I promise this time it won't be 5 months before I post again!

Sew much? So much!

Blog much? Not so much. I have been doing A LOT of sewing, and haven't taken much time to blog! But that means that this post will be mostly pictures of the projects I have been working on.

The count down is on...baby girl is scheduled to arrive in 22 days and a few odd hours...so I have been sewing like a maniac to get all of my projects finished, as well as to leave a few spare hours to sew a few things for baby! I will officially be a full-time stay-at-home mom in a matter of days, so hopefully that will increase my sewing time...though this 70 degree weather may make me re-think how I spend my hours!

Okay, on to pictures...
Up first, a custom tote for a dear friend.


As you can see when compared to the regular tote, this one is not as tall, a little wider, and has elasticized exterior pockets on the ends.

As my dear, kind friend wrote after receiving her bag, "I love it. Carried it today and it is so much better than my Vera Bradley..." Wow! Talk about an ultimate compliment!!!

This next one is a custom purse/bag. The client was looking for something more like a purse and less like a diaper bag, as she didn't necessarily need a diaper bag but something rather for toddler snacks, toys, etc. I love the size of this--big enough to fit all you need, not so big you put in a bunch of stuff you don't need just because you have the space!



This last one I am calling a "messy bag". It is about 9" x 11", ecouture (lined with recycled plastic bags) with velcro all along the top edge. My vision for this is to toss in a diaper bag to have for when you need to stash some dirty clothes or maybe even dirty cloth diapers. Just turn it inside out and wash with your laundry.


This is a t-shirt quilt that I made for a friend of mine who happened to be my high school math teacher. She used to coach cross-country when AHS used to have a team, and wanted a way to save her memories.


According to the message she left on my parents' answering machine (which my mom played for me over her cell phone for lack of a better way for me to listen to it...being high-tech runs in my family! haha)
"I had planned on storing this in the car to take to football games, now I am looking for a place to display it in my home. You took something that was boxed up in my basement and made a wonderful memory for me." You all are so kind!

These next few pics are a sample of what I have been working on for the many friends and family who have had or are having babies. This set is for my niece and nephew and their new sister set to arrive in June. ***Please note that I cannot legally sell anything licensed, such as the K-State pieces pictured. If you would like something made out of licensed fabric, you will have to purchase the fabric and essentially hire me to make something out of it...so I am selling my labor, not a licensed piece.***




And finally, just a fun piece that I made for our baby girl. I just couldn't resist! And yes, mom, it can be worn with a shirt underneath, in case baby girl gets cold in the 100 degree weather we are known to have now and again!

Maybe a hoax?!

I have a confession to make.

I am not completely internet savvy.

I am naive, but sometimes overly careful...if that makes any sense.

So not sure what to think about this. I received an email today that another blog had stumbled across my blog and is listing my blog as the "featured blog of the day". I went to the site, and it looks legit, but not quite sure???

So anyway, kind of neat, if it is real. I am doing some checking, but in the meantime, you can go to http://framestwinbed.com/blog_awards/index.php?id=14557 to see me listed as the featured blog.

I will go ahead and say this: I am not responsible for anything that is on the above link or for any junk mail, virus, etc. you may receive by clicking on the above link. Not that I think it will happen, but just want to remind you to look at point one above, and just want to make sure I am covering my bases :)

Update to twin bedding

Bedding ALWAYS looks better in the room it was intended for! These are pictures from the twin bedding that I posted last week, in its blue and brown room with all of the cute, cute accessories! Thanks, Cassie, for letting me make this for your girls! So glad they like it. The room looks awesome, and the fabric you chose is beautiful. Thank you for this fun opportunity.

Girly girl nursery

I recently had the privilege of making a nursery set for a good friend and co-worker's first granddaughter. Normally one who loves bold, bright colors and prints, I was caught off guard by how much I L-O-V-E this set! So much that I requested a quilt--complete with pink ruffle--from my mom for our coming arrival!

I hope to have more pics of this nursery soon, but wanted to go ahead and give you a glimpse. What pretty fabric in such a pretty pale pink room! I made the bumpers (floral on outside, pink luscious minky on the inside), bedskirt, quilt, curtains, and pillows. Thanks, Jennifer, for trusting me with your first-born's nursery.

Twin bedding

What a small world! A couple of months back, someone contacted me after seeing my work on someone else's blog, whom I had done some work for. Her project: two matching twin bed sets.

As always, I love a challenge, so I gladly accepted! The set contains two reversible comforters, two bedskirts, two pillow shams, and blackout curtains. Thanks, Cassie, for letting me make this set for your two girls. I hope the move-in together goes well!

Fabric

I have had many people ask for fabric pictures on this blog, so here goes. These are some of the fabrics I have in my stash right now, along with the others that you see featured in the blog photos (for the most part!)

As always, if you have something specific you like, let me know and I will do my best to find it for you!

PURSE PARTY!

Okay, so I apologize that it has been 3 months (yikes!) since my last post. Life has been very busy around here...as it is with everyone! In my life, the computer takes last priority when I get busy, so thus the lack of blogging. I figure it is more important that I do my sewing so I have happy customers!

Thanks to Mrs. A and some wonderful ladies in Atwood, I threw my first Purse Party in late November! It was a great success and a lot of fun (I had fun, anyway!)

At the purse party, I showcased a few new designs. These included the pocket purse, large and small slouchy bags, pretty pleated purse, and my favorite--a tote bag! All are ecouture bags, and are pictured below.

Mrs. A--Thanks for being a wonderful first hostess and giving me this opportunity. I hope everyone is enjoying their purses! And mom, thanks for being a good model.

And now on to the bags, because that is really what you want to see anyway...

The pocket purse


The large slouchy bag (a new favorite, next to the tote)


The original Victoria...I always love this bag, it doesn't matter what fabric!


The pretty pleated purse makes little girls very happy!


The small slouchy bag--another good choice for the little girl in your life


The tote


Lots of pockets!


Exterior side pockets would be good for bottles, bottled water, cell phones. Front pockets good for keys, pens, etc. and optional back pocket could house a calendar or changing pad! The options are endless.