A Halloween House Pillow : :

With each new holiday it's always my hope to make at least one new, handmade decoration. Halloween is a favorite of ours! While I don't have the time to make the Halloween quilt in my dreams this year, I do think a few small projects can be made in time! So, when Therm O Web asked if I'd be interested in putting a little Halloween spin on my House Pillow Tutorial to share on their blog this week, it was just the motivation I needed to cross some new decor off of my to-make list!

 
At first I pulled from my stash a stack of traditional orange and black, with a few cute Halloween prints leftover from this project. Then I asked myself, if I were planning to make that Halloween quilt what fabrics would I use? And, the answer is these fabulous MicroMod fabrics, paired with Essex Yarn Dyed Linen in Black, Cloud9's Dem Bones by Sarah Watson, and some solids! I love purple for Halloween just as much as I do orange and black. With those little touches of that golden yellow, I think MicroMod works perfectly!



My Halloween House Pillow came together quick using the MicroMod bundle & Essex Linen I had on hand, with HeatnBond and SpraynBond for easy applique and basting, combined with some fun sewing notions, and a pretty eggplant purple Aurifil 50wt from my Simply Color Thread Box!







You can find the tutorial for this project on the Therm O Web blog a little later today!



Happy Halloween Sewing!!
♥ Maureen

My Little Owl : :

This was the scene last Friday after school when my little girl came home to find that her owl costume was finally finished!



Since I have been so busy packing and not feeling well, when it was announced that our local Trick or Treating would be postponed several days because of Hurricane Sandy, I decided to take advantage of those extra days. I was thrilled and relieved when the costume started coming together just as I had planned! And even more, that she LOVES it!!



My daughter picked out all the colors that make up her costume. We used a little of my new Floressence Trellis Tulip in a very bright pink for the bodice and lots of Pure Elements, felt, and fabric scraps for all those colorful feathers. My owl wings are similar to these that I've seen on Prudent Baby and a few other blogs, but I didn't follow a specific tutorial. I used one of my daughter's dresses to measure the length from thumb to thumb, used brown felt for the wing structure, and planned for them to tie on with the dress, rather than around the neck. The owl headband is made the same way I make my Birthday Crowns, which she wanted instead of a mask so she could get her face painted.



Here's a blurry, but good look at the back, with her brothers -- an Army Ranger and a very happy Gothic character!

I wasn't sure I could compete with last year's Little Red costume, which was so fun for me to make! But having her input and for this one turn out just as she wanted, was even better! I am a little bummed that I didn't get as great of pictures as last year, but the weather went from being dark and rainy, to really cold. I'm certain I'll see lots more of this costume throughout the year, so that's alright.



It's packed away now with her other dress-up play things, or I would have taken a few more photos to share this morning. Right now we are waiting to hear when we can officially close and begin to move into our first home. We had thought that would be this week and weekend, but that's not going to happen. Hopefully it will be soon before the snow comes!! Wish us luck and have a great Monday!
♥ Maureen

p.s. I'll add a few extra photos to my flickr, for those of you who might be interested in making something similar yourself!

Happy Halloween {and a Giveaway Winner} : :

Happy Halloween everyone!

Unfortunately, two of my three kiddos (yes, my little red) are home sick today. Boo! We're about to head out to the Dr.'s and are all hoping to feel well enough tonight to make it around the neighborhood.



My "boo" hoop above was inspired by So Sarah Sews and Gwenny Penny, and my stack of fabrics and appliques below that were to be our Halloween bunting....Well, that just never happened. Instead, I spent this weekend's sewing time working on Christmas crafts! Yes, yes! And I'll have lots to share in the upcoming weeks ahead. I am planning a very handmade Christmas this year! How about you, are you ready for all the Christmas making yet?



Despite the running noses, sneezing, and coughing we had a good weekend.

I hope you did too!



And now... we have a Lark Giveaway WINNER! 

First, I want to say a big THANK YOU to The Intrepid Thread for offering such an extremely generous giveaway!!! If you've fallen in love with Amy Butler's new Lark collection, you can find all the brand new colors and prints, in 1/2 yd and full yd cuts, as well as a large variety of bundles in The Intrepid Thread's fabric shop right now! Why you're there, be sure to check out their sale section -- Some of our favorite fabric collections including Anna Maria's Loulouthi, Lizzy House's 1001 Peeps, and Joel Dewberry's Heirloom, just to name a few, can be found at 30% - 50% off!!!



Thank You to all of you who entered, I'm so glad you all liked our Giveaway!! From the 1094 entries that came in before 10 pm, Mr. Random says our lucky winner is comment #211, eholst!!! I hope you enjoy your winnings!! Both The Intrepid Thread and I will be in touch.

Thanks again and Happy Halloween!!!

My Little Red : :

I finished up Haila's Little Red Riding Hood costume last night, so we had to celebrate with a quick photo-shoot in the yard.

















Boy was it difficult to choose what photos to share! I realize there are alot, sorry! And even more here, not to mention a hundred more I didn't share. I have to say, we are both pretty thrilled with this costume!

I made the hood out of a faux velvet material that was already lined with satin on the inside, that I picked up on super sale at the nearest Joann. I traced one of Haila's poncho sweaters for the shape, adding some addition length. For the dress, just a simple patchwork, full apron style dress with some Denise Schmidt and a few prints from Pink Castle Fabrics. I included a little Dresden detail to the bib, since I have a bit of an obsession with Dresden's at the moment. : )

Oh, does it feel good to cross this costume off my to-do list! And, many thanks to all my Facebook friends for giving the photo I shared last night so much love. It made my night!!!

I just entered this costume of ours in the fabric wearables category of Celebrate Color. Wish me luck!!!

Distracted : :

Today, I had meant to share the beautiful day we spent together this past Monday, traveling to Pumpkinville, Ellicottville, and then onto Allegany State Park. The weather was gorgeous and the trees were full of the most spectacular colored leaves.

But, then last night I started a new project and became consumed immediately...







With today being my husband Kevin's birthday, tomorrow a new giveaway, and me completely distracted by yet another project, I just didn't ever find the time to share those pictures as planned. If you care to have a look at our Fall day of exploring, the pictures are here. I'll have a new, very large, finished Halloween sewing project to share very soon! That is, unless I find myself distracted by something new...

Thinking and Planning : :

Thinking -- How grateful I am for each of the orders that are keeping me so busy!



Thinking -- How much I have been missing making my owl dolls. It certainly has been a while!



Planning -- To turn this basket of little owly legs into new felted owl dolls for my shop very soon!



Thinking -- That Halloween sure is coming fast this year!



Planning -- A way to repair our favorite Halloween tablecloth after discovering that a certain something? that lives in our garage must have decided to eat it?



Thinking -- How with all the sewing and knitting and felting I have done in these last two years on this blog, that this is my most popular post. With this photo being by far the most popular pin. Last time I looked it had 161 likes, 1813 repins, wow! Now, how funny is that for all the things I make, that celery is the favorite!

Is everyone on Pinterest? If not, you really must join!



Thinking -- Of our last Unplugged Day and how glorious it was! And, how we might continue these favorite days of adventure and exploring, indoors once the cold and snow have us inside for another long season?




Planning -- To share more of this day tomorrow.

Wishing a wonderful Wednesday to all!

Giveaway Winners & A Happy Halloween : :

Good morning -- I hope you all had a Happy Halloween!!! It was a lot of fun, but really cold here in Pa!

The winners of my giveaways were chosen via --- Random Integer Generator.... 

Congratulations Ponder & Stitch -- You are the winner of my Giveaway for the Seamstress!!!

Congratulations Chritsie Cottage -- You are the winner of my Giveaway for the Knitter!!!

I hope you enjoy these new supplies! I will be emailing you both shortly. And, thank you to everyone who participated -- it was wonderful seeing all of your comments and reading your stories!

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What we love most about Halloween has got to be the pumpkin carving --- Here are a few pumpkin pictures I had to share : :

Kaiden's "Dragon-Phoenix" ...

Jacob's "Goofy Cyclops"...

Haila's "Little Owl"...

And, our favorite from the neighborhood...

Add a link in the comments if you're sharing your Halloween on your blog, so I can visit you!  Thanks again, friends! ~ Maureen

Sewing.for.Halloween : :

I am telling you folks...working with this wool felt has taken over every free second I might find to sew throughout my day. It's such a soft, beautiful quality felt. So much fun to play around with --- I am just loving it!!!

Wool Felt Spooky Owl Pillow --- details here : :

Wool Felt Ghost Pillow --- details here : :

Wool Felt Carved Pumpkin Pillow --- details here : :

And, even better...they are selling! I have several more wool felt creations to show you from this week. It's been a busy one, so I am a little behind. : )

On another note : : Thank you to everyone who has joined me at my new facebook page, it's awesome seeing you there! And, just yesterday my blog reached 500 followers --- which means GIVEAWAY!!! I'll have all the details by Monday. I am definitely planning two ~ One for the knitter, one for the sewer -- with a book and supplies for each....Woohoo!!!