Locco for Gocco

I know that sounds strange. It's not even how you'd spell the word 'loco', or crazy, en espanol. But it is the name of a class that Paper Source used to offer here in Chicago. You know, back in the day when a Gocco machine was readily available for purchase.
Now I'm sure you all remember last fall (you have all of my posts memorized, right?) when I wrote about the plight of the discontinued Gocco. Shucks, I even signed the petition to bring it back!




Well, friends, it seems as though my prayers (and that petition) did not go unanswered. The Gocco is now being imported from Japan and sold at Paper Source, my beloved paper emporium. Of course when I heard the news, I immediately gave notice to my husband. Would the new and improved big daddy of all Gocco machines not be the very best 32nd birthday gift a gal could hope for? Indeed, my friends. Indeed.

So I urged my husband into action. I was fearful that the Gocco crazed "weirdos" (as the kind lady in the Paper Source demo calls them) would storm the stores and deplete their supply. I urged Jack to act now, as supplies were surely limited. He would have to act fast to ensure delivery by October 24th, my birthday.

And it is the result of those actions that allows me to boldly state that I am the new and extremely proud owner (yes, it came within 24 hours, folks) of the big daddy Gocco PG6 machine. Hallelujah and Amen.

Work on works-in-progress Progresses

More swimming lessons, more pee-wee sports, more tumbling, more embroidery. It's become a bit of an obsession:


I finished this little piece and decided to turn it into a bib. It ended up being one of the largest projects I've undertaken thus far. The debacle that ensued requires that I name this piece "The Five Hour Bib". Yes, friends, five hours. But that of course includes the embroidery.



I transferred this sweet little pattern using a new but vintage-looking pattern from Aunt Martha's onto some cotton fabric I had lying around. Then I embroidered it. Then I added on some iron-on vinyl to make it wipable.

For the reverse side, I pieced together some patchwork using fabrics that mimicked the colors of the embroidery. They ended up all being Katie Jump Rope fabrics from Denyse Schmidt.

Then I quilted the bad boy, something I had never done before. The hardest part, for me, was to sew straight lines. It's not my strong suit.

Okay, so next I pinned the front and back together and sewed 'em up. Then came the hardest part of all - getting that damn binding around all those curves.

The end result? Not so bad:


And then it happened. I thought it might happen eventually. This is the kind of thing that happens to other people. But to me? To someone so young and vibrant? Yep, to me. I got the quilting bug.

I sat at my table yesterday and meticulously cut square after square of fabric. I wasn't even really planning to start a quilt - it just happened. I kept pulling out pile after pile of fabric and going, this will look good. Oh, and look at this one.... until I was facing a pile like this:

I'm going to make this into a baby quilt for a special little someone. I've already pieced the whole top together, and I'm going to embroider some soft flannel for the back (I'm thinking a cute little owl?). And then I think I'll make my own bias tape using one of the fabrics in the quilt.

Is there a QA group out there somewhere?

Have a happy weekend, lovelies.

xoxo

weekending

I think I managed to fit all of summer into one week: We had guests in, went to the pool, out for ice cream, ran around with sparklers, bought bouncy balls, drank some mojitos with Ellie (and we crafted like madwomen in the pm hours), hit every thrift shop within a 15 mile radius (plus one estate sale and a church garage sale), FINALLY got our sod, and found a supercute little children's shop in town that wants to carry Sweet Jessie. This week will be no less crazy.

My very favorite find is this pink award ribbon - it's BEST IN CLASS for a men's gardening club. I love love love it!

and here's a thrifty bequeathement from Miss Ellie Richellie:


The end result of my noctournal crafting session (it's for a baby gift):
a decoupaged suitcase (ala Pixiegenne). El's is going to be a mobile craft case, which I think is a great idea. She scooped hers off before I could get a picture of it, but I promise it was supercute!



Now I need to get another cup of coffee before the madness of the upcoming week sets in (3 playdates, stuff to sew, two sports classes for the kids, 19 loads of laundry to fold, birthday invitations to make and send, a trip to the pool, a piano lesson, a cut and color, a mani and pedi, some waxing, a night out with the neighbor girls, and then... we're off to Minneapolis for ten days or so!)
xoxo

Couldn't wait

I pre-ordered this book 4 months ago on Amazon. I know because they sent me an email with the original order date when they explained that there would be a slight delay in shipping. I couldn't wait. I had to run to Barnes & Noble and buy a copy. And now it's mine, all mine. And I'm going to stay up late reading it.
As for the one that's now in transit from Amazon, well, I'll have to figure out something to do with that one....

xoxo

Yesterday, as I was floating around in my feverish...fog, I was thinking about Heather at Apples on a Stick and how, when she was sick a couple of weeks ago, she stayed in bed and embroidered all day. Oh how I wished I had the foresight to prep some quiet projects to have on hand. As it was, all I could do was shuffle from room to roof, stare at some stuff, and go back to bed. Today I'm much better but still sub-par. Still wandering around, going from project to project, not actually doing anything. Then I remembered this little bad boy tucked in a drawer:

Maybe I can handle a quiet little project. After I take the kids to go see "Surf's Up" this afternoon.

xoxo

Show and Tell

Visited with a great friend, who always brings great gifts:

(I'd link to you, El, if you had a blog, which you desperately need)

Got the seriagraph I ordered from Sugarloop (love it!):

Finished some projects:

Started some others:


Wore the most uncomortable shoes in the world:

Worked on prizes from the Sweepstakes (and some new logo design):

And now I'm off to the chiropractor.

xoxo

good mail

have you seen the new "Katie Jump Rope" line of Fabric From Denyse Schmidt? It was too hard to decide which to order...
so I bought a fat quarter of each and every one of them from Cia's Palette. I just ordered it yesterday, and here it is in my studio this afternoon. That's superfast shipping - "What can brown do for you?" Oh, and the shipping was free!!

Aren't they fanfrickintastic?
(sorry, but we're trying to curb the potty mouth around here. Which is why I say - okay, type - things like "holy moly" and "jeez louise". It's because I'm a lady, not a drunken sailor. I just have to remind myself of that sometimes.)

moving on.

I also received a lovely lovely print from Jen of Swallowfield earlier this week:

I'm loving her collages! It was really hard to choose which print to buy. I think I'll have to have more of them at some point. And, of course, I'll frame this one. I just wanted to show it to you.

xoxo

stuff I made / what I'm making

Working on...
fabric covered push pins::



recycled book journals::
new curtains for the playroom::
(from my favorite vintage sheets)

matchbooks with illustrations from vintage reference books::

That should keep me busy for today. I should have at least some of this in my Etsy shop by this evening.

edit: a few of the pushpin sets were added to my shop at noon CST.

xoxo

Bits & Pieces

Bits & Pieces Packets now available in my etsy shop!

how about five?

Holy Moly! These Bits & Pieces Packets are extremely time consuming. It's taken me three days to put together five packets. I think it would be easier if I had less stuff to go through, but I haven't even made a dent in my piles yet. Did I really say I would 'start' with 20 Packets? How about five? Five's a good number, right?
I've actually assembled more like 13 packets, but they're really hard to photograph. See? Here's an out-take from my very fancy and technically sophisticated photo shoot:

Each of these babies is chock full of good stuff. And they should be in my Etsy shop by tomorrow morning (with the rest coming soon).


xoxo

an Easter morning quickie

The kids are at grandma's this morning, so what else would I do but wake up and...
set to work on a project for the guest room.
Inspired by Miss Posie, I went out yesterday and stocked up on these wooden fabric hoops (so cheap! They were ninety nine cents each) and set to work with a pile of fabric this morning.
I love how it turned out! It was quick, easy, and cheap (very funny. get your mind out of the gutter). And darling, if you ask me.

Spring

although here in Chicago, you never can be sure. It was 73 degrees last week, and then 31 yesterday. I think I'll just stay home and finish up some projects:


fabric covered push-pins (see a tutorial here)


magnetic chalk-board

baby gifts

and I have to (get to!) finalize my package for the vintage button swap deux (I'll post pictures after the swap). So excited - it's my first official swap! Thank you, Sally, for hosting!

Then I'm going to try to explain to my husband how I just spent fifty dollars on less than two yards of fabric. It's coming from Japan! It's really cute! The price was for a fat quarter, not a yard!

I'm also going to work on a banner design for this gal, and do some graphic design work.

Finally. I'm going to try and get some stuff made for my Etsy shop, which has been sitting empty for months now.

happy weekending, everyone! And don't eat too many chocolate bunnies.

she makes stuff

(and sometimes she writes in third person)

1. fabric covered push-pins, 2. she sews again, 3. new fabric, 4. fabric for my robot girl, 5. decoupaged clipboards, 6. hand made rolodex, 7. bookplates, 8. baby girl hanky dresses, 9. 'new' fabric finds, 10. clippings, 11. fun new fabric, 12. buttons, buttons..., 13. stitched gift cards, 14. brown baggin it, 15. tangle, 16. stuff on a shelf in my office, 17. monkey man's pennant flags, 18. vintage giftwrap, 19. hand made rolodex, 20. fun stuff for a dollar, 21. rack of onesies, 22. stash, 23. hand dyed and appliqued onesie, 24. Flickr - 013, 25. Flickr - 102

how I spent my week

Got some great fabrics at a lovely little quilt shop downtown, and started to work on this girl-bot, for no little girl in particular. The pattern is from Wee Wonderfuls:


Got my office all cleaned up:

Stopped by the new house, which is finally coming along. Swimmingly, in fact; I'm moving in 3 weeks! Note that there is still quite a bit of work to do before I can move in. Did I say three weeks?!?!


Found another awesome, though not so little quilt shop and bought more great fabrics. Now I'm going to make a boy-bot for one little boy in particular. He has chosen some lovely florals for his robot.



Got a lovely package in the mail from the even lovelier Ellie Richellie. She sent me, among other things, packages of green-only m&m's - my favorite! And look how well they go with my sweetjessie tags:


Finally, my tickets for THIS AMERICAN LIFE came in the mail. I get to see Ira Glass in person! I'm kind of an NPR junky that way. And I just heard this morning that David Sedaris will be coming in April. Anyone want to join me?


Well, that was my week in review. Now I have to start packing.