Creating at Home

Cheater Ruffles with the Brother Dreamweaver XE and a 1/4" Foot!

noreply@blogger.com (Cindy @ Creating at Home) — Mon, 13 May 2013 20:00:00 +0000

To make ruffles/gathers without the pesky pulling (and possibly breaking) of threads, simply set your machine's stitch length to the longest possible (5 mm on the Brother Dreamweaver XE) and set the tension to the tightest possible (9). Use a normal foot. Brother also sells a Ruffler Foot for this sewing machine, but I do not have it so I found this method to work quite well.

In this video I am sewing ruffles onto sheets that I've cut up to make anthropologie style ruffled curtains! I'm using 2 twin size sheets for the actual curtains. I've sewn a rod pocket across the top of these. Then I cut up 2 queen size sheets into 12" strips. Before I ruffled them I made sure 3 sides were hemmed. I left on the original hems to save time.

To sew the ruffles to the twin sheets I will lay out the sheets side by side on the floor and line up the ruffles evenly, pinning them into place and being sure to overlap them just enough to hide the ruffle stitching.

Thanks for watching my little video.

And, the sewing machine goes to...

noreply@blogger.com (Cindy @ Creating at Home) — Thu, 09 May 2013 05:40:00 +0000

Tonight after rushing home from setting up the church for the ladies tea, my bff and I face-timed (first time for everything!) while my daughter looked over my shoulder, I clicked "Add a Winner" on the RaffleCopter! I'm excited to announce that Amelia O'Reilly will be the proud new owner of a beautiful NX-450Q Sewing and Quilting Machine compliments of Brother Canada.

Thank you everyone for entering!

Quilting Along with my Brother

noreply@blogger.com (Cindy @ Creating at Home) — Tue, 07 May 2013 15:35:00 +0000

Hello,

In case you hadn't noticed, I've been having quite a bit of fun with the Brother sewing machine I've been reviewing. Last week I packed it up and took it to quilting class. I don't think it's meant as a portable machine, but it worked! It was just a little heavy.

There's a neat feature that I wish I'd known right away. There's a needle plate that is made for straight stitching only and another needle plate that works for everything. When the straight stitch needle plate is installed, your machine automatically knows that it can only do straight stitches with the needle in the middle position. Before I realized this, I busted two needles and one of them flew into my upper lip and stayed there until I pulled it out. Ouchies. This wouldn't have happened if I'd had the straight stitch needle plate installed or if I'd double checked to make sure I had selected a stitch that was compatible with the foot I had on the machine. Live and learn... and there's so much to learn about this machine because of all the amazing features it has. To really discover its full potential I'm going to need to keep it for ~~a lot longer~~ ever!

The quilt class I'm participating in is taught by Marla Pinchin using her book The Beginning Sampler. I'll be making mine a queen size with each block being different. At the next class we were supposed to have all of our blocks completed and she will teach how to do sashing properly. My blocks are far from being done... too distracted with my new machine! lol

Enter to Win a Brother Sewing Machine!

noreply@blogger.com (Cindy @ Creating at Home) — Wed, 01 May 2013 18:06:00 +0000

You could win this!

Here's the give away you've all been eagerly waiting for! To enter, simply use the Rafflecopter widget below. Comments made on this post are nice, but do not qualify as entries. I've been having such a great time with the V-Series DreamWeaver™ XE Innov-is VM6200D and am dreading the day UPS will come to pick it up! One of you lucky ducks will have just as much fun with this amazing sewing and quilting machine! The retail value is $1,379.99!

Here's some great info about this machine from the Brother Canada website.

Have you been looking for a machine to take to Quilt Club meetings? The NX-450Q features not only a variety of quilting stitches and sewing accessories, it also includes a quilting table for added support as well as a knee lifter for easy fabric control as you piece and sew your quilts. The large extension table expands your sewing work area, has convenient built-in rules, and has adjustable, rubber-tipped legs for stability. All of these features make sewing and quilting more enjoyable.

Built-in stitches, buttonholes and fonts
• 129 built-in sewing stitches, including 10 styles of one-step
buttonholes and 3 sewing fonts.
Easy stitch selection via 10 stitch keys
• Ability to quickly select the stitch pattern desired with a
simple touch on the stitch keys. Easy to attach and view
stitch reference chart also included.
Advanced needle threading system
• With the press of a lever, the thread is pushed through the
eye of the needle.
Built-in scissors
• Cut the thread with just the touch of a button. Programmable
thread cutting.
My Custom Stitch™ feature
• Create personalized stitch patterns for any style of sewing.
10 Memory pockets
• Save your favorite pattern combinations in one of the
memorypockets for future use.
Easy to read LCD display screen
• The LCD display screen makes it easy to manage all sewing
functions including stitch selection, stitch length and width
and recommended presser feet.
Hard cover included
• Provides travel and storage protection for your machine.
Quilting accessories included
• Wide table, walking foot and quilting foot

Good luck!! The winner will be announced on May 8, 2013

Please note: you must have a Canadian mailing address to enter.
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Yes, machine embroidery is fun!

noreply@blogger.com (Cindy @ Creating at Home) — Tue, 30 Apr 2013 22:12:00 +0000

Hello,

After a little trial and error last night, I got the machine embroidery function figured out on the Brother Dreamweaver XE that has taken over my dining room! The "trial and error" was totally a blond moment on my part (I blame the highlights). I just had to press "go" (the red arrow shown in the pic) and, voila! It started. My first project was a custom pillow case; a little hostess giftie for my niece. My daughter will be going on a band trip next week and will be billeted with some of her friends at my sister's house, which is really neat! Now to make one for my nephew... just need to get some non-pink thread for him.

An awesome feature of this machine that I'm very excited about is you can plug your laptop into it and drag & drop any machine embroidery pattern! I searched Pinterest and found many adorable (and FREE!) patterns, including this cute Kitchen Aid stand mixer. It only took a second to drag & drop it from the laptop to the sewing machine. Excellent.

Here's the embroidered Kitchen Aid up close! I'm going to make this into a patchwork tea towel to hang on my stove. I've never found one in the store that is big enough or cute enough for that, so this will be nice!

Custom pillow case for Clare.

Giveaway coming soon! {Brother NX-450Q A Quilter's Staple}

noreply@blogger.com (Cindy @ Creating at Home) — Thu, 25 Apr 2013 15:00:00 +0000

Good morning!

I'm in such a habit of scrolling through the emails on my phone as soon as I wake up in the morning. My phone alarm wakes me up so it seems natural to instantly check my emails; not that there is usually anything exciting. Normally there are 3 Gussy Sews newsletter (not sure how I signed up 3 times), an ad from Old Navy and a couple of Fave Quilts newsletters. This morning, however, there was a lovely email from Emily at Brother Canada offering a super amazingly wonderful sewing machine to give away to one of my readers!! I am so excited for whoever wins this. You'll be out-sewing and out-quilting my 20+ year old Pfaff in no time!

Here's a peek at one of my latest quilts.
This one is actually for sale on Etsy.

I know you're all dying to know how to enter and what machine will be the prize! Details on how to enter will be posted soon. I just need to confirm logistics with Brother. One lucky winner will receive this:

NX-450Q

A Quilter's Staple

Sampler Class

noreply@blogger.com (Cindy @ Creating at Home) — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 15:18:00 +0000

I'm really glad I signed up for this sampler quilt class with my Aunt. It's been a lot of fun! Here's the 12" block I made last night. Each block in the queen size quilt will be different. I'm making it for my daughter, so I let her pick out the fabrics. Most of the fabrics are reproduction 1930's that we picked up in Portland, OR at the Fabric Depot. I could've easily spent all week there! What an amazing store. Too bad it's a day's drive to get there.

Each week at the class we learn a few very useful tips and techniques. I've made this block before, but have always done it with half square triangles. This one is done with flying geese. I've done flying geese before, but this new way that she taught us is so much more accurate and way faster. It involves putting painter's tape on your sewing machine.

Another handy tip she shared was to use a pizza box to keep your blocks in. Very handy!

I decided to put my Hexi Trivet pattern on sale for only $3 until Mother's Day! Why not whip up a few for your Mom, mother-in-law, Grandma, daughter? It's a fun way to learn simple paper piecing. All of the instructions are there and easy to follow even if you've never done paper piecing before. It's written more like a tutorial with lots of photos and step-by-steps.

Subway Tiles Baby Quilt

noreply@blogger.com (Cindy @ Creating at Home) — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 21:51:00 +0000

The first day with "my" fabulous new sewing machine (the V-Series Dreamweaver XE on loan from Brother Canada) has been a lot of fun! I thought I'd test it out on something normal (to me) first, so I pieced this lovely Subway Tiles baby quilt top this morning. Next I'll try some straight line quilting to finish off this quilt. (The pattern for it will be available soon! It's a super quick and super fun project; one you could finish in a day).

One thing I don't particularly enjoy is reading product manuals. Thankfully, the manuals that come with this machine are very well written and easy to read! What a relief. Anyway, you don't even need to read the manuals if you don't fee like it, because on the gorgeous touch screen you can find out pretty much anything you need to know about threading the bobbin, threading the needle (it's self-threading - HELLO!) and basic machine operation.

I did, however, bust a needle right off the bat because I didn't realize the needle was in the wrong position for the foot. Ooops.

See you tomorrow with more updates on this beautiful machine and progress pics of my latest quilt!

The new Brother Dreamweaver XE is here!

noreply@blogger.com (Cindy @ Creating at Home) — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 00:37:00 +0000

Hello,

I thought this day would never come! A couple months ago I got an email from Brother asking if I'd like to review their latest super fancy sewing machine, the V-Series DreamWeaver™ XE Innov-is VM6200D,

and today UPS delivered it! I am so excited to experiment with this.

Since it arrived right before kid pick up, I've only had a chance to unpack it and drool all over it. This machine is heavy, but oh so pretty. It's got a huge arm, which means I'll be able to quilt fairly large quilts on it. It's also an embroidery machine. It's branded by Disney, so there are all sorts of cute Disney characters that you can embroider.

Isn't he pretty?

11" arm!! I am impressed.

I'll be back to show you some of the projects I'll make with this baby. I can't wait.

Caramel Shortbread

noreply@blogger.com (Cindy @ Creating at Home) — Fri, 07 Dec 2012 17:48:00 +0000

Well, it's that time of year again! Time to start baking for Christmas. The first thing I'm going to bake is Caramel Shortbread. This is adapted from Company's Coming 150 Delicious Squares. The original recipe calls for unflavored gelatin, but I don't like bothering with that and they turn out perfectly every time.

Caramel Shortbread Squares

Bottom Layer:
1 cup butter, softened
2 cups flour
1 cup icing sugar

Middle Layer:
1 cup butter
1 cup brown sugar
4 tbsp corn syrup
1 can sweetened condensed milk

Top Layer:
1 1/4 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
3 tbsp whipping cream

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 C).

In a bowl, mix together 1 cup butter, 1 cup icing sugar and 2 cups flour until evenly crumbly. Use a pastry blender. Line a jelly roll pan with parchment paper to aid in removing the squares from the pan later. Press mixture into the pan. Bake for 15 - 20 minutes.

In a medium heavy bottomed saucepan, combine 1 cup butter, 1 cup brown sugar, 4 tbsp corn syrup and 1 can sweetened condensed milk. Bring to a boil. Continue to boil for 5 minutes over low heat. Don't take your eyes off it! Remove from heat and beat vigorously with a wooden spoon for about 3 minutes. Pour over baked crust (warm or cool). Cool until it begins to firm.

Melt chocolate with whipping cream and pour over caramel layer. Let cool on the counter. Cut into squares. Try not to eat them all.

Featured on Sew Can She!

noreply@blogger.com (Cindy @ Creating at Home) — Tue, 23 Oct 2012 15:16:00 +0000

Live a Colorful Life :: Feature, Review and Giveaway

noreply@blogger.com (Cindy @ Creating at Home) — Mon, 15 Oct 2012 14:34:00 +0000

Good Morning!

Cindy, from the wonderful blog Live a Colorful Life has so kindly reviewed my Chevron Accent Throw pattern and blogged about it today along with featuring my blog in "The Name Game". Plus, we're giving away a pattern! While you're over there be sure to look around there blog... there's so much inspiration, especially for quilters! There are many great tutorials, too. Very helpful!

Thanks,Cindy, for testing my pattern. Your quilt looks amazing! I love how you used the great colors in a sweater for inspiration and carried that through with perfectly laid out chevron stripes!

Here's a little peek at her gorgeous quilt!
See her full post here.

My Pattern is being Featured!

noreply@blogger.com (Cindy @ Creating at Home) — Thu, 11 Oct 2012 20:05:00 +0000

Hello!

Well, this is exciting... my Chevron Accent Throw Quilt pattern is being featured on the home page right now over at You Can Make This.com! So fun. :) One of the reasons my pattern was chosen was because of the awesome photography. Thanks, Madelyn!

Vintage Hardware

noreply@blogger.com (Cindy @ Creating at Home) — Mon, 01 Oct 2012 19:50:00 +0000

Now that my dresser is painted, waxed and distressed it's time to deal with the hardware! I quite like the original hardware, in this case, so it just needs a little tweaking to make it perfect.

Here's what I did!

1. Soak in hot water with a little bleach for 30 minutes. Rinse well and wash with dish soap.
2. Soak in cider vinegar with a bit of water, only because I didn't have enough vinegar to totally cover all of the drawer pulls. I left it in there for about 30 minutes.
3. Rinse and scrub each piece thoroughly with dish soap and a scrub brush. Dry with a tea towel.
4. Paint with CeCe Caldwell's Santa Fe Turquoise.
5. Immediately wipe off some of the paint using a paper towel so the original brass shows through in the raised areas.

This is how they look after steps 1,2,3.

Freshly painted.

After some paint has been wiped off with a paper towel.

... the finished result!

PS. This may not be the proper way to do it, but it's how I did it and I like the results. :)

Still Painting ... etc

noreply@blogger.com (Cindy @ Creating at Home) — Sun, 30 Sep 2012 03:50:00 +0000

This morning I was at Spruce Collective's grand opening and seeing their beautiful store and their lovely paint display reminded me... I've got to get my dresser finished! It now has two coats of paint. I'm still debating about distressing it and would love your opinions on that if you've painted and distressed furniture before. Keep in mind it's fake wood that was primed with white primer before I painted it. I picked up a wax brush today that will hopefully help get the dark wax into all the grooves really well.

Santa Fe Turquoise by CeCe Caldwell's

The owners at Spruce Collective are so warm and welcoming and inspiring with all of their helpful tips and great ideas. They even let me buy part of a display that wasn't technically for sale. So kind of them! If you're wondering, it was a couple of birch logs! Madelyn and I have a great Christmas craft planned for these.

Birch log display that I just couldn't leave alone.
Those logs were too cute.

What else did I buy? Another knob! One I don't even have a piece of furniture for. How's that for backwards... buy the knob first, then scout out furniture that it will go on. Sounds fine to me. I also got 3 different vintagey posters and a small can of orange paint! Now I need a quick (ya right) trip to Ikea to pick up frames for the posters.

My growing knob collection. The top 2 are from
Handmade by Amanda and the bottom 4 are from Spruce Collective.

You see, on my way out of town this morning I drove by (then immediately slammed on the brakes) a free chair! Of course, I had to stop and make my daughter run back and grab it. It's ugly now, but it's sturdy wood with neat details and an upholstered seat. I knew when I saw it that it would have to be orange. Bright orange.

Sneak peak of ugly-soon-to-be-orange-and-pretty chair.

Even the refreshment station is cute.

I brought 3 14 year old girls to the grand opening this morning,
as you can imagine the candy buffet was a big hit!
They even had cello bags and twine for the diy candy bags!

The grand opening was a fun, relaxing stop on the way to spend the afternoon
with one of the girls' friends who is in children's hospital. For those of you who know me, yes *I* drove and yes we *did* get lost. More than once. But we survived and finished the day with a nice dinner at Montanna's and now a 4 kid sleepover with sewing and mario party. This mom is wiped, but it was a good and full day.

Painted Furniture - Dresser in Progress

noreply@blogger.com (Cindy @ Creating at Home) — Mon, 24 Sep 2012 15:59:00 +0000

Happy Monday :)

Even though I have painted quite a bit of furniture (everything in our house except the piano), I have yet to use chalk and clay paint or any type of chalk paint for that matter. Well, today that all changes! On the weekend I made another trip to Spruce Collective to get a can of paint. They carry CeCe Caldwell's line of chalk and clay paint.

When I schemed up the new décor for our bedroom I was going to go all grey and white, but when I saw this gorgeous Santa Fe Turquoise hutch I decided the bedroom could stand a pop of beautiful colour, so I bought a can of this paint and also some Aging Wax (dark) to go with it.

Inspiration piece (ie why I chose turquoise!)
via Spruce Collective in Abbotsford.

Now to look around online for a tutorial on how to best use this paint. At $46 for a small can, I don't want to mess it up. I hear this paint goes a long way, though. Hopefully I'll have enough left over after painting the dresser to paint a little side table for the living room.

$40 Craigslist dresser - not real wood! Yes, it came with drawers.

I sanded then primed it because I was thinking of painting
it with white latex paint. For chalk and clay paint you don't
need to use primer.

I wonder if I should distress the dresser after painting it. If I distress it, the white primer will show... not sure how that would look. What do you think? I'll also be searching for a "how to distress painted furniture" tutorial! If you know of a good one, please leave the link in comments. Thanks! Enjoy your week.

I can't wait to show you my finished dresser! You can see a few sneak peeks on my instagram feed (at the top of the blog).

Edited to add a cute video:

New Favourite Store - Spruce Collective

noreply@blogger.com (Cindy @ Creating at Home) — Fri, 21 Sep 2012 14:00:00 +0000

There's a new store in the Fraser Valley and this one instantly became a favourite! When I first heard about it, I thought it would be sort of like Miss Mustard Seed's Lucketts. While it's not exactly that idea (there are no vendor booths), it is a cool cool store! When I walked in I thought, hey this reminds me of the Fieldstone Vintage Market! Sure enough, Spruce Collective is owned by 5 of the vendors from that market.

This store is sensory overload for vintage lovers. They also have a rental section, so you can rent vintage furniture and wares for your wedding or other event. There's a lovely, pretty classroom in the back with wall to wall windows for lots of natural light and a sweet little kitchen, too. There will be a full line up of classes starting soon including a felt wreath (hello, pinterest!), furniture painting, making slipcovers and more.

What did I buy? Well, I had to show a lot of constraint since I didn't bring my U-haul or my no-limit credit card. ;-) But, I went away with an adorable owl planter/vase? Either way, its got a hole in its head so I might plant a succulent in it. Then I found their knobs! All different beautiful vintagey glass knobs. I picked up 4 small ones for the sewing machine cabinet I showed you the other day. They were only $3 each! And, I got birthday cards for my sisters. They are cute, and of course... vintage.

I love how they take the time to wrap your purchases in tissue and put them in an adorable brown bag tied with twine. They even put the knobs in a cute little muslin draw string bag.

There's even a neat play room for the kiddies! Look at that floor to ceiling chalk board. How fun.

I know you're dying to check out this store, so I better let you know where it's located! They've taken over what used to be Quilt Essentials on Montrose in Abbotsford.

Painted Furniture - Armoire

noreply@blogger.com (Cindy @ Creating at Home) — Thu, 20 Sep 2012 18:41:00 +0000

Day 2 of my Painted Furniture Series!

We bought this armoire/tv cabinet in 1995. It was one of my first furniture purchases for the house we had just bought (gorgeous house and it was so cheap, I wish we could have that house now, but alas it was in the wrong town). Anyway, we bought the cabinet at Costco. It's always been kinda flimsy, but it's real wood and I liked the look of it. It was unfinished when we bought it and we instantly stained it with, what was supposed to be, clear stain. Over the years it went from light knotty pine to a horrifical, not at all nice orange. Good riddance to that colour! It's now been painted with Halcyon Green, inside and out. Now that we have a "proper" tv, the armoire is used as a linen closet. It currently resides in the corner of the living room, but I'm sure it'll end up somewhere else soon. Maybe our bedroom.

Again, I didn't distress the paint... but I could still. Or I might re-paint this with chalk paint, then distress, then finish it off with an ageing wax. I plan to get new knobs for this one, too! There are so many cool products out now for painting furniture! There's a furniture painting class coming up at Spruce Collective (awesome, awesome new store. More on that later). I think I might take the class! They also carry a line of chalk paint.

One day I will take better pictures of my furniture,
but that day... is not today. :)

If you've enjoyed what you just read, make sure you don't miss a post by subscribing to my blog's feed! I'd also love it if you'd follow along with Google Friend Connect... over there on the right! Any questions? Please leave me a comment! Thanks so much.

Do you need help organizing your craft supplies?

Craft Racks can do the job!

You Can Make This.com

noreply@blogger.com (Cindy @ Creating at Home) — Wed, 19 Sep 2012 13:00:00 +0000

I wonder what's new over at You Can Make This.com?! I see something a little familiar there...

My Chevron Accent Throw pattern!

Do you need help organizing your craft supplies?

Craft Racks can do the job!

Painted Furniture - Sewing Machine

noreply@blogger.com (Cindy @ Creating at Home) — Tue, 18 Sep 2012 18:32:00 +0000

Hello,

Over the past couple years I've been really inspired by friends and bloggers who paint furniture. Now nearly everything in my house has been painted and many things more than once! I thought I'd share a different piece everyday for awhile. I'm no expert and this isn't going to be a "How to Paint Furniture like a Professional" series or any such thing, but I'll link up to posts that have helped and encouraged me in this fun little adventure.

This piece is a solid wood antique sewing machine cabinet. It originally belonged to my Great Aunt Orla, who was my Grandma's (Dad's Mom) sister. I've had it for many years. For the longest time the original sewing machine was in it, but awhile ago I removed it and put it in storage so the cabinet would be easier to move around. Nothing stays in the same place for very long in my house.

So, for this re-do I simply used a paint brush to apply a coat of primer then a few coats of Sherwin Williams Halcyon Green (I actually got Rona to colour match it since there's no Sherwin Williams here), which is one of the colours The Nester uses in her home. I love it!! It's like a subtle, soft turquoise. So lovely. I didn't distress it at all, but I still might.

I removed the original hardware because the knobs were just little wooden rectangles and I replaced them with Home Depot burnished bronze knobs. Now I'm sick of those and will be looking for vintagey clear glass knobs!

Best Chili

noreply@blogger.com (Cindy @ Creating at Home) — Sun, 16 Sep 2012 20:18:00 +0000

This may not be "the" best chili ever, but it's the best chili I've ever made, so I had to blog it so I have a record of how I made it! I started out with a recipe from All Recipes.com called Boilermaker Tailgate Chili, but I substituted about 10 things, soooo it's my own recipe now, I guess!

Best Chili

Place in crockpot:
3 pounds ground beef, browned and drained to remove excess fat
2 cans black beans, rinsed
2 cans pork and beans
2 x 28 ounce whole tomatoes
1 can tomato sauce
1 large onion, chopped
3 stalks celery
1 yellow bell pepper, chopped
1 red bell pepper, chopped
A squirt of liquid beef bouillon
1/2 cup apple juice
A little less than 1/4 cup chili powder
3 tbsp minced garlic
1 tbsp dried oregano
A dash of hot sauce
2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp dried basil
1 tsp Lawry Seasoned Salt
1 tsp ground black pepper
1 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp white sugar

Cook on low all day.

Serve with:
Grated Cheese
Sour cream

This filled my crock pot to the brim plus the small dutch oven 3/4 full so I saved the dutch oven chili for the next day and cooked it in the oven for a couple hours then froze the leftovers.

If you've enjoyed what you just read, make sure you don't miss a post by subscribing to my blog's feed! I'd also love it if you'd follow along with Google Friend Connect... over there on the right! Any questions? Please leave me a comment! Thanks so much.

Do you need help organizing your craft supplies?

Craft Racks can do the job!

Hexi Trivet Pattern - a Freebie and a Giveaway!

noreply@blogger.com (Cindy @ Creating at Home) — Sat, 15 Sep 2012 15:10:00 +0000

If you've popped over from Fluffy Sheep Quilting this morning - welcome! I hope you'll enjoy browsing my recipes and other fun creative stuff!

Hello!

Today my latest pattern, Hexi Trivet, has been featured in the Fluffy Sheep Quilting newsletter - so exciting! Fluffy Sheep Quilting is a fun, modern online fabric shop based in Ireland. If you're wondering about ordering from there, I'm in Canada and I received my Kona Fat 8th Bundle in about 9 days - not a bad shipping time at all.

Download Pattern Here!
now $4.50

I'd like to give away the sample I made while creating this tutorial/pattern for Fluffy Sheep. Please enter your name and email address below for a chance to win! I'll ship it anywhere. The draw will be in one week.

The winner is:

Renee GSeptember 15, 2012 10:44 PM

I'd love to have yours to use as a pattern for one for me.

Creating with Burlap and a Freebie!

noreply@blogger.com (Cindy @ Creating at Home) — Thu, 23 Aug 2012 16:32:00 +0000

Hello!

How's it going? This morning I received an email from HomeTex Canada asking if I'd like to give away some burlap on my blog. Sure, why not?! I love burlap. It's a fun and easy way to add a touch of rustic texture to a room, front door or wedding decor. If you're not sure what you'd do with burlap, here are some fun ideas (click the image source for a tutorial!).

HomeTex Canada is the leading provider of burlap in Canada and specializes in handcrafted rustic wedding and burlap decor. As far as the promo goes, simply use coupon code "Cuttings Promo" for $20 towards burlap cuttings. Essentially it is good for 2 five pound bags!

via Thrive

via Today's Fabulous Finds

via Frugalicious Me

via Cozy. Cottage. Cute.

Have a great day!

If you've enjoyed what you just read, make sure you don't miss a post by subscribing to my blog's feed! I'd also love it if you'd follow along with Google Friend Connect... over there on the right! Any questions? Please leave me a comment! Thanks so much.

Do you need help organizing your craft supplies?

Craft Racks can do the job!

Handmade Gift Exchange

noreply@blogger.com (Cindy @ Creating at Home) — Wed, 04 Jul 2012 18:51:00 +0000

Hello again,

Last month my daughter and I signed up for the Craftaholics Anonymous Handmade Gift Exchange. It was lots of fun to get to know our swap partners a little and to come up with handmade gifts that would suit them and that they'd (hopefully) like! For this particular swap, you don't send to the same person who sends to you.

The partner I made a gift for was Jowita, who blogs over at Krazy Momma Kreations. We emailed back and forth a few times and I discovered that she loves pink and she loves to crochet and has stashes of all kinds of beautiful yarn tucked away throughout her house. Sounds like my kinda gal! lol

Naturally, the first place I looked for inspiration for her gift was Pinterest. I wanted to make Jowita a crochet bag. Not a crocheted bag, but a bag made out of fabric that she could use to take along a crochet project. I couldn't find a pattern for this so I made up the design! I also couldn't find suitable fabric at crapola Fabricland for the front pocket. So, I bought striped fabric and cut it at 45° angles and sewed it back together to make this cool looking chevron design.

The pocket is nice and huge so she can fit a few pattern books in it
or even patterns printed from online and stuck in a page protector.

Look at all those little slots for crochet hooks! On the other side there are
4 larger pockets for rulers, scissors, pencils, etc.

I hope Canada Post comes through in a hurry! I sent this Expedited on Saturday and the tracking says it's going to take 11 days to go across the country. That seems way too long! Come on, Canada Post, surprise us!

My daughter made a pretty yellow and turquoise apron with matching potholder for her swap partner. She'll be posting her pics in the flickr group. From her other partner she received a pretty camera strap sleeve! She loves it.

If you've enjoyed what you just read, make sure you don't miss a post by subscribing to my blog's feed! I'd also love it if you'd follow along with Google Friend Connect... over there on the right! Any questions? Please leave me a comment! Thanks so much.

Do you need help organizing your craft supplies?

Craft Racks can do the job!

Chevron Quilt - up close!

noreply@blogger.com (Cindy @ Creating at Home) — Wed, 04 Jul 2012 18:21:00 +0000

Hello!

Just a little update on my Chevron Accent Throw pattern... a few of you have requested an up close, flat out picture of the quilt, so here it is in all its glory. lol I still haven't washed it yet. I'll do that soon and then show you how it looks all pretty and crinkly. What makes this quilt design unique are the little chevrons and big chevrons. It makes for an unexpected and dramatic design.

Have you made this quilt yet? I'd love to see a pic!

Pattern available here:

Craftsy

Etsy

Upload your pics to my Flickr Group!

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