S.W.A.K.

In case you're looking for a card to send for Valentine's Day, and you just can't find one that says what you want it to say...why not make your own! I can even help give you a head start. How, you ask? Well, click on over to Cardstore.com to pick a card template, then customize it with your own photo and message! Here are a few you might choose from:

And my personal favorite:

Enter coupon code LOVE15 at checkout and get 15% off your order!
XO kate

Question...

If you made these over the weekend...

...would your socks look like this, too?

Double Whammy!

Two posts in one day! A rare occasion for me, but I just learned about Jenny's tutorial on the Moda Bake Shop and wanted to share it with you! How totally adorable! Jenny, do you have any idea how desperately we need to make one of these?? This is ours now:

Well it won't be like this for much longer...thanks to you!
BTW, that's my Quality Control Expert hard at work. He's testing out some batting to make sure it's cuddle-worthy. Long day ahead for him.

Road Trip

Yesterday i drove to a meeting in Rhode Island...(glad i didn't drive off the road taking this pic). I was headed to one of the wonderful companies I'm lucky to work with. They make kitchen textiles (good news to come on this front soon!). They're located on...

in (of all places)...
Is that some funny fabric-ie coincidence or what?!
On my way home, i discovered that these...
...are finally available in a Target nearby! Maybe they're near you, too? Don't you need some Verna plates for spring? I did! Spring is almost here, isn't it? (oh we can dream, can't we?)

Computer Cover Up

Here's my computer:

I do love it, but there's nothing really "fun" about it. Look at it. It looms in the room like a black hole. Sure, it's "slick" and "techie" and "streamlined", but those aren't really words I'd use to describe my studio workspace. So, I set out to change that once and for all.

Three posts ago, I showed you that cute friendship bag that Sherri sent to me, remember? I've been admiring Sherri's amazing skills in her incredibly straight stitches and her perfectly matched seams. She inspired me to try to make one for myself (minus the straight seams etc.). So I went to Rachel's blog and studied her tutorial. But then... *ding* the lightbulb finally went on! With a few alterations, I could solve my computer dilemma. So I got out one of my Verna honeybuns and measured, measuredagain, cut, sewed, seam-ripped, sewed again and ended up making this:

Is that fun or what?! And it actually *fit*. Unbelievable.

It's really an upside-down-Rachel-friendship-bag-with-no-handles. I used interfacing instead of batting to give it a little oomph, and cut out a rectangle on the back to fit around the back arm of the monitor. And yes, I sewed the lining in upside-down. But who cares, no one will see the back of it anyway.

If everyone had the same computer, I'd try to get some instructions together for this (if I could remember what I did!). But maybe sharing the idea itself is enough. You can take it from here!

Catch of the Day

Not sure if you've seen this, but Amanda at The Quilted Fish has designed a beautiful quilt using Verna (ok, I'm a little biased about this one). I love how she combined the prints to make her own springtime Verna garden and those ruffles and three-dimensional flowers are so cute! Not only that, you can enter to win this quilt by leaving a comment on her blog. She'll be drawing the winner on the 18th, so hurry on over. If you don't win, you can get the recipe for it at the Moda Bake Shop. Or, you can buy the whole kit and kaboodle here at the Fat Quarter Shop! Is it Spring yet? Thanks to Amanda...yes!

Hitting the Shelves!

Oil up your sewing machines, get your bobbins ready and keep your eyes peeled for Verna precuts! They're landing in quilt and fabric stores now! *pinch me, pinch me*

P.S.- I forgot to add that the adorable bag Sherri sent to me (shown in my last post) was brought to you by Rachel's "Friendship Bag" tutorial.

And the Winners Are...

Wow! What a fun week! So many thanks to each of you for sharing these inspiring and meaningful quotes with me and with each other. What a joy it's been to read and ponder these colorful reflections and observations that lift our spirits and shed light on our common hopes for something better. I will surely print out all my favorites (there are many!) and keep them close by to read from time-to-time as wise reminders. Here are a few more quotes I wanted to share with you:

At times our own light goes out and is rekindled by a spark from another person. Each of us has cause to think with deep gratitude of those who have lighted the flame within us.

~Albert Schweitzer

As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them.

~John F. Kennedy

Wake at dawn with a winged heart and give thanks for another day of loving.

~Kahlil Gibran

Ok, and now...the winners. So sorry I didn't get around to posting this last night. I actually did do the drawing before the stroke of midnight, so technically it was on Tuesday. But I experienced some technical difficulties that had me looking for a quote about patience! Without further ado, here are all your names before heading into the bag:

And here is the bag!
This was sent to me from the wonderful and talented Sherri and I simply adore it. You can even make one yourself, thanks to Rachel's tutorial! And it occurred to me that aside from being so cute, it's also perfect for picking names out of! Here are all your names in the bag:
Do you think I can drag this out any longer? Ok, so the winner of the designer bundle (aka: rolled layer cake) is:
Congratulations! Sheila's quote was from the Dalai Lama:

I believe that the very purpose of life is to be happy. From the very core of our being, we desire contentment. In my own limited experience I have found that the more we care for the happiness of others, the greater is our own sense of well-being.

What a beautiful and universal thought! Thank you, Sheila.

And the winner of the charm pack is:
Congratulations, Kaye! She shared two quotes with us. (I love them both!):

Always do right. This will gratify some and astonish the rest.

~Mark Twain

If you can dream it, you can do it. Always remember that this whole thing was started with a dream and a mouse.
~Walt Disney

Please email me with your mailing addresses and I'll send your prizes off!!

New Year, New (Verna) Giveaway!

Here we are at the start of a brand new year! Fresh with possibilities and hopes for bringing forward our best selves. Though i do make New Year's resolutions, i refer to them as "revolutions" because i often end up battling with myself trying to keep them. But great beginnings and wholehearted efforts are worth a lot in inching toward goals both known and yet to be identified.

One of the things i'm setting out to do this year is to stop and smell more roses. Often, my work life forces me to look ahead to next year — to gaze into my crystal ball and try to spot new trends, colors and themes to incorporate into my designs. Before one project is finished, another is started and so i find myself sowing future seeds in future gardens. It's partly because of this that i find such joy in the creative process, no matter what the medium. To me, creating helps me live in the moment and i hope to do a lot more of that this year. Here are a few quotes i love that both inspire and remind me of this sentiment:

Forever is composed of nows.
~Emily Dickinson

Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.
~Mark Twain

And in the end, it's not the years in your life that count. It's the life in your years.
~Abraham Lincoln

So, to celebrate this moment, i'm giving away another one of these:

and one of these (charm pack):

All you have to do is leave a quote that is inspirational to you. The winners will be announced next Tuesday the 12th. Perhaps we can try to make it a collective resolution to focus on the bright joys and silver linings of life. There are so many!