Made Monday

A sweetly subtle baby quilt in pinks and blues, made by Sam VanDerPuy. Pattern from the book Denyse Schmidt: Quilts

  

Made Monday

A lovely Marlo Bloom Handbag (Heather Bailey pattern) in Anna Maria's voile. Made by Diana of Atlanta.

BIRTHDAY SALE and some new arrivals

Starts Tomorrow!

Saturday, March 6th through Saturday, March 13th

we will be offering 20-40% off tons of great fabrics, 

both in store and online!

Including...
20% off Nicey Jane by Heather Bailey

20% off Amy Butler's Home Dec Fabrics

20% off Dolce by Tanya Whelan

20% off Joel Dewberry's Deer Valley
20% off All Flannels

40% off All Wool fabrics
30% off Oliver & S Patterns

...and MORE!

Also JUST IN:

Joel Dewberry's gorgeous new line "Modern Meadow." 

As you may have already heard me mention, I am infatuated with these!!! I am racking my brain for the perfect project to feature them in but I just can't narrow it down to one. 

They are so beautiful with a modern simplicity but a very nostalgic feel. The tiny flowers make me feel happy and I just wish I could be sitting in that sweet meadow right now, wearing a springy little dress made from these dreamy fibers. 

And an adorable, mixed grouping from Michael Miller. 

I didn't know these had come in and when I spotted them on the self yesterday, I immediately pulled them down to shoot pictures. Saying out loud 'Oh my goodness' and 'Ohh, these are so cute' and 'Oh I love these so much' and 'awwww.' Janelle must have thought I'd lost it, but they really are just too precious (and with that she agrees)!!!

I'm also brainstorming on what to make from these little critter prints... Aelyn does need some new spring skirts.... as if I don't have enough on my to do list already! Ahhh... 

If only I had about 10 more hours in my day... I'd be sewing up a storm!

I'm currently working on my first ever quilt, a Dresden plate. I am taking Mary's class and desperately trying to keep up, while I choose to make mine extra large! There is lots of hand sewing to be done and it is currently occupying all of my sewing time. But it's looking pretty good thus far and I know the final result will be very rewarding.

Well now I'm gonna hop off to do a little of that right now, while my little ladies still napping!

'til next time,

:) April

Welcome Home Nicey Jane (and I stalked the UPS man)

Nicey Jane has arrived.

I said it before and I'll say it again; I love the UPS man!

Yesterday, my UPS obsession reached new heights. The waiting became to much to bear. I circled the neighborhood in search of his ride. That big brown truck is so dreamy... I finally found him outside our neighbors place.  I caught him as he was coming out and asked him if had anything for us. So sweetly, he looked up from his pda and said, "yes, four", and that he'd be over in about 20 minutes.

Seriously, it's like Christmas every time he wheels his silver dolly up to our front door. Four cardboard boxes piled high. And yay, it's Heather Bailey!

Gorgeous. Just as we expected.

I love the mustards, pinks, greens and mmmm the chartreuse (our current favorite color). I especially need this brilliant broken stripe print she's titled Welcome Road.  A full drop-waist skirt or perhaps a tulip skirt must be made from this!

Oh P.S. Mister UPS man said he'll give us his cell number so I don't have to stalk him around his route any more.     :)

A Turtle and his Grassland

We just received these precious new mini patterns from Heather Bailey and as soon as I saw them I knew I had to make one.

I've decided to call him Carl.

I originally set out to make a girl turtle, complete with corsage, but when I finished the body and set the shell on top, I knew it was a gentleman turtle I had made. So now I'll have to make Carl a lady friend to keep him company. Then she can sport the pretty corsage on her girly tortoise shell.

As far as using Carl as a pin cushion... I just couldn't bring myself to stick him. I believe that if he could talk, he'd tell me that he much rather be a toddler's toy.

For extra kicks I whipped up this little grassland habitat so that Aelyn could set out with her new turtle friend, graze and explore. Yes, it's silly and a perhaps a bit pointless but for a 5 minute project I think it's sorta humorous and whimsical. Plus Aelyn thinks it's fun.

A few tips if you set out to make a turtle too: Cut all pieces as precisely as possible. I prefer to iron my interfacing onto the wrong side of my fabrics before cutting. This cuts down on time and eliminates any discrepancies between your fabric and interfacing pieces. Also, be certain to transfer all pattern markings, dark and precise.

As for the stuffing, a chopstick helped but for the next one I intend get one of these "Stuffing Forks" she refers to. I have a feeling it will make the job much easier.

Finally, as a famous tortoise might say... slow and steady wins the race!

To Make a Grassland

You'll need:

one 12"x 18" piece or two 12"x9" pieces of green felt

matching thread

scissors

sewing machine (you could also hand-sew)

and a dry iron

First cut the large piece of felt in half so that you have two 12x9 inch pieces.

One of these will be the base of the grass land.

From the other you will free hand cut the grass. I saved some of my larger triangular clippings to use as free standing grass blades. Cut your grass any way you like. Note: it stands best if it is no taller than 3" tall. Also for stability, try not to cut past the bottom inch.

After cutting all your grass play around with the layout. Keep in mind your grass will be about 1/4" shorter and standup relatively straight.

Once you have all your blades where you want then, flip over and pin.

Sew to base using a 1/4" seam allowance. Trim all threads.

Using a dry iron, lightly press blades upward from base.

If grass flops over, it may be too heavy. Try trimming it down and finessing it upward a bit. This should help it stand for you (the grass will naturally be a little floppy but shouldn't flop completely over).

Finally introduce your herbivore to it's new home!

Have a happy weekend.

'Til next time,

April

Clintonville Arts + Music Festival

This Saturday, Sept. 6th marks the 11th Annual Clintonville Arts and Music Festival. This year Clintonville is celebrating the opening of the remodel of Whetstone Rec into a new Community Center! Sew To Speak's owner Anita generously donated this awesome basket of sewing goodies to the Community Recreation Council. It includes a purse pattern by the ever popular Amy Butler, three 1/2 yard cuts and one fat quarter of coordinating Heather Bailey fabric, one yard of a lovely matching ribbon, 2 spools of thread, a $10 gift certificate to the shoppe and one of my handmade embroidered buttons. The basket will be part of the festivals silent auction, fund raising event. Festivities are from 10am-5pm Saturday, at the Whetstone Recreation Center, 3923 N. High St. Columbus, OH.
Stop by the scene and check out their goods. Have a nice time, get inspired, then come down the street to Sew To Speak and by some fabric to sew up some of your own handmade yummies!!! :)

Also... mom and I were talking about making up more gifts baskets such as this for the holidays, birthdays or any special occasion. If that is something that would interest you please post a comment or be sure to let us know next time you're in.
Thanks, April.

What a Great Week

Business seams to keep getting better and better for our little shoppe. My mom can hardly sew for herself these days. But that is truly a wonderful thing. I wish I could help out more. Perhaps she'll hire an employee soon.

Tuesday brought in one of our largest shipments ever. Three shipments at once in fact. The shelves are now bursting with loads of beautiful new fabrics.
It was late in the day when finally shot some pictures of these great new prints. The shadows where heavy, but you can clearly see the potential.

Imagine a lovely handbag, a pencil skirt or perhaps some cheerful new pillows for the sofa. These fibers are begging to be stitched. Personally, I plan to re-cover the cushions of my most recent thrift store find. Amy Butler's "bright buds" in ivory would be the perfect compliment to its danish modern lines.


And Heather Bailey! Wow, her newest duo Pop Garden & Bijoux is so fun and vibrant. These prints are playful yet romantic, with undertones of vintage tattoo art. Loyal customer Trisha plans to make a pair of pants for her precious daughter Ruthie. Perhaps with ball fringe around the bottoms. How sweet, can't wait to see them! Hopefully we'll have a picture of those to share with you in the near future.





























Also...
... the first half of our Michael Miller order is here as well. These prints are quite diverse and all very fun. We just love the vintage kitchen print for aprons, tea towels or even a skirt. There's just SEW much to SEW.

You can see more pictures of all our shoppe, the wonderful fabrics we carry, our projects, inspiration and more in our Photo Gallery.