embroidered button swap: what i sent

This past month, I participated in the embroidered button swap organized by the blog Feeling Stitchy. For my swap partner, Adaiha, a lover of woodland creatures, bright colors, and vintage material, I made a set of six buttons featuring a little owl.

I used a combination of vintage turquoise and yellow gingham fabric for the buttons' backgrounds, and embroidered the six little owls in black floss. I initially spotted the adorable owl on this set of coasters, and eventually traced the pattern back to Pimp Stitch.

I put a few other goodies in Adaiha's package, including a few vintage sewing supplies, as well as some chocolates. Pictures of my lovely buttons from Adaiha (and a few other awesome goodies!) to come later this week.

quilting project: blocks for charity

A coworker and I are currently working on a quilt top that we will be donating to the charity Wrap Them in Love (I found out about the organization through Sew Mama Sew! back in December). We're working with tan, orange, and teal fabrics which we picked up from Thread-Bare, my favorite local source for inexpensive crafty supplies, and I'm excited to see the quilt take shape.

While the quilt is still in the beginning stages (I'll post pictures of it here when it's done!), I'm also working on a stack of blocks to donate as well, which are pictured here. Each nine-patch square is made from scraps I have in the studio, including vintage sheets and thrifted remnants.

seattle

The husband and I recently spent an extended weekend in Seattle, a city that neither of us have been to before. We stayed at the Ace Hotel in Belltown (highly recommended!), which turned out to be a perfect location for us; we were within walking distance of most downtown sites.

The hotel is in a former halfway house, and has been beautifully renovated. One of the walls in our room was plastered with the Obey Giant image by Shepard Fairey. 

On the Sunday of our trip, we took part in the Chocolate Indulgence Tour, organized by Savor Seattle. First, we drank a Flatliner at Oliver's Lounge in the Mayflower Park Hotel.

Next, we sampled the Triple Coconut Cream Pie...

...and the Chocolate Truffle Cookie...

...at Dahlia Bakery, one of many joints in town owned by restaurateur Tom Douglas. Then it was off to The Chocolate Box, where we sampled a chocolate-enrobed brownie...

...a chocolate cupcake...

...and chocolate and lemon gelato.

Our next stop was The Confectional, which was located in the Pike Place Market. There, we sampled cheesecake...

...and warm and yummy sipping chocolate.

We then sampled some of the sweet popcorn at KuKuRuZa Gourmet Popcorn...

...before heading to Fran's Chocolates in the Four Seasons Hotel, where we picked up some samples, including salted caramels, which my husband fell in love with.

Other activities during our trip included a haircut at Rudy's, a cupcake from Cupcake Royale, a ride on the monorail to the Experience Music Project, two meals at Belltown Pizza (it was that good!), shopping at crafty places like Assemble Gallery and Studio, Schmancy, Fancy, and Nancy, late night dessert at Serious Pie, a fun trip to the Asian grocery and gift store Uwajimaya in the International District, a delicious dinner at Black Bottle, and lots and lots of walking. 

We left the city wanting to do more (like ride the ferry and check out the neighboring islands and drive to Mount Rainier), so we'll definitely go back for another visit (hopefully at the same time as the Urban Craft Uprising!).

bend-the-rules sewing swap: what i received

If you recall, back in December I wrote about the pillowcases I made for my swap partner, Mary Ann, for the Bend-the-Rules Sewing Swap. Well in return for those cases, I received this beautifully made pair from Jennifer.

The pillowcases' colors (blues, greens, and khaki) match our house really well, and the machine stitching, which embellishes the flowered fabric, is really lovely.

Know who the fabric's designer is? Leave a comment; I'd love to know!

sewing project: french knot napkins

I really love making napkins (which you may have noticed in these two posts), so for my parents-in-law's back-to-back birthdays, I decided to make them a pair of napkins.

I've been slowly learning how to embroider (pictures of my projects from my embroidery class at the Stitch Lab coming soon!), and I've wanted to embroider napkins for a while, so I decided to give it a try.

Using a piece of white cotton for the front, I created a border using dark blue French knots. For the back, I used a piece of olive green cotton; both fabrics are thrift store finds.

I'm really happy with how the napkins turned out, and have plans for more designs with various stitches.

pom-poms and carnations

I am completely in love with, and totally impressed by, these ruffly fabric pom-poms by the vamoose. (Found via Greedy Girl.)

They remind me quite a bit of my handmade carnation wedding bouquet.

sewing project: table runner

For her birthday in January, my mother requested a new table runner for her recently rearranged dining room. Using jewel-toned ribbon and strips of thrifted fabric and fabric store remnants, I set to work making the runner using the measurements she sent.

I did very simple machine quilting and finished the entire piece with black binding. I'm pretty happy overall with how the project turned out, and I especially like the color palette.

On the back, I included a turquoise salty // oat button.