A New Sponsor! Kimberly's Fabric Stash

Hello, Friends!

I hope everyone made it through the

Blizzard of 2016.

So many of us in the USA were affected!

Here at my house we had about 8" of new snow.

I kept busy throughout the storm by sewing,

as I'm sure many others did.

I made (yet) another Be My Valentine Heart Mug Rug

using my new pattern.

{For now, I'll give you just a glimpse...more photos in another post to follow.}

I also made this little snowman.

He's cute already, but he needs to be made up

into a finished project.

Some buttons and eyes would do wonders for him.

{Tutorial: by @beelori1 on Instagram #mrSNOWMANtutorial}

Check out the fabrics I've been using!

They are from a layer cake of First Crush,

Sweetwater's new line for Moda.

As I mention often, my maiden name was Love.

That makes me automatically a fan of all things

with hearts, love, romance, hugs and kisses.

That's one reason I love First Crush.

I also love the limited color palette

of red, black, and gray.

I got my First Crush and a couple of coordinating blenders

from my new blog sponsor,

Kimberly's Fabric Stash.

You'll always find her button on my blog,

over on the left-hand sidebar.

Just click the button to go there 

and see what Kimberly's got in her stash today!

You'll want to join Kimberly's Fabric Club,

where you'll get all kinds of perks,

including 20% off of your first order!

I've got more First Crush projects to share very soon...

be patient...it won't be long.

I'll leave you with a sneak peek for now.

{If you can't wait, follow me on Instagram as @eamylove.}

Be safe and warm, everyone!!!

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Fresh Valentines from Birch Farm Fabric

Hello, Friends!

Are you getting ready for Valentine's Day?

My maiden name was "Love"...

so naturally I really adore all kinds of hearts.

I've been stitching up lots of hearts lately,

using my new "Be My Valentine Heart Mug Rug" pattern.

For this particular set of hearts,

 I chose fabrics in the teal, taupe and black range,

from Birch Farm by Joel Dewberry.

I started with 5" squares,which are always in abundance, right?

Think "Charm Packs"...

I cut them into 2 1/2" squares to create patchwork pieces

for a set of 3 similar, but distinct hearts.

For the quilting step, I had fun trying out a few different designs.

I also used different colors of ric rac to make each one special.

For the first heart, I chose a dark taupe ric rac as the edging.

For the quilting, I did some stippling...

a little piece like this is a great opportunity

to practice free motion quilting!

I think the colors make these Hershey kisses

into an irresistible little pick-me-up snack.

For the next mug rug, I selected teal ric rac edging.

I quilted a casual, loopy design.

This was my first attempt, and I'll be practicing

this method more in the future.

Take my word for it...it's totally fun!!!

Want to see this one on the other side?

I used Elementary fabrics, by Sweetwater for Moda.

Yes, it's reversible!

For the last mug rug, I used some black ric rac.

I chose to cut out the heart shape, positioned to set the squares "on point".
I stitched about 1/8" from each side of the seams.

This one looks so smart and sophisticated.

Must be that little barn owl...

So, let's have a few glamour shots, shall we?

The little stack of ric rac is always impressive.

These little quilts are just too much fun to make!
They don't require a lot of time or materials,
and the finished mug rug is always adorable.

Spoiler alert...
there will be many more heart mug rugs in upcoming posts!

Do you have some charm squares or scraps,

just begging to be made into a sweet heart?

Stop by my Craftsy pattern store and pick up the how-to

for only $2.99.

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Pattern Launch: Be My Valentine Heart Mug Rug

Any Pinterest fans out there???

Me, too!

One of my most popular posts

has been spreading like wildfire on Pinterest.

Maybe you've seen this Be My Valentine Mug Rug.

I figured a lot of people would like to make their own

versions of these sweet hearts,

so I wrote a tutorial-style pattern with lots of photos and tips.

It's now available in my shop on Etsy called eamylove for only $3.00,

as an instant download.

Believe it or not, I first made these mug rugs in 2013.

Since then, I've created many more of these

adorable quilted hearts, edged in ric rac.

You can find them here...

and here...

and here...in my blog.

Oh, there will definitely be more in upcoming posts.

I have sew much fun creating these!!!

If you make them, too, I hope you will send me pictures!

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Guest Blogging - Joyeaux Noel Ornaments

Hello, Friends!

Are you starting to get ready for Christmas?

I have a new quick and easy idea

for some pretty ornaments.

You can find a free tutorial for

Joyeaux Noel ornaments on my guest blog post

at Bear Creek Quilting.

I was captivated when I first saw photos

of French General's latest line of Christmas fabrics,

Joyeaux Noel, months ago.

When I saw them in person, I was even more drawn to them...

the palette is subdued, with an Old World vibe.

The vignettes are charming and varied.

They just call out to be made into something for sharing.

I made up a set of ornaments in no time,

and I plan to make lots more of them soon.

Please stop by to see how they're made.

I hope you'll make some lovely ornaments

this Christmastime.

{In light of the recent attacks in France,

these projects have even more emotional appeal for me.

My heart goes out to those who were lost or injured.}

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Ric Rac...or Is It Ricrac? Maybe Rickrack?

I bet when you see this photo,
you won't even need to know what these things are,
edged in ric rac...you just know you like 'em.

{Am I right?}

It turns out these are little coasters!

See how pretty they are, even one at a time?

{My Cath Kidson mug is such a nice model!}

I spent some quality time with my ric rac collection
and made a whole bunch of these coasters,
for a custom order on my Etsy shop, eamylove.

I love the way the different shades of ric rac look
against the bright fabrics.

Mostly I used prints from Briar Rose
by Heather Ross.
I love the tiny grasshoppers on clover...

the cute bees...

and the bright strawberries.

There are even tinier strawberries on the fabrics
from Bake Sale by Lori Holt.

These colors are a bit less intense,
but still nice and bright.

I want to give credit for my inspiration...
I saw them here on the nanacompany blog.
If you would like to learn to make them,
Amy Sinibaldi has told me that they will be included as a project
in her upcoming book,
Sweetly Stitched Handmades!

{It's available for pre-order now and will be released in May 2015.}

My Etsy client asked me to make some ric rac edged coasters for her,
and they were sew much fun to create!

I love everything about ric rac,
except that there are so many ways to spell it!
Ric rac, ricrac, rickrack...
what a nuisance when I'm adding tags
 to posts and photos.

I'm running out of ric rac...must find more!!!
Anybody know a great place to buy ric rac?

I've picked mine up here and there and everywhere...
sometimes it's even on a clearance shelf.
Please let me know if you've got a good source!
If you do, I'll have more of these to show.

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