Puffin Classics

The Adventures of Robin Hood

We visited Annie Bloom's in Multnomah Village today and saw these wonderful Puffin Classics hardcover editions of children's literature. If you're a fan of the Penguin Classics with covers by Coralie Bickford-Smith, then you'll probably love these as well. One of my favorite covers is The Adventures of Robin Hood. Other titles in the series include Peter Pan, The Wind in the Willows, The Secret Garden, Anne of Green Gables, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Black Beauty, and The Call of the Wild.

Hallmark Fisher-Price Ornaments

I know I'm a nostalgia marketer's dream demographic. Therefore, I am a sucker for the Fisher-Price Little People ornaments that Hallmark has been releasing the last few years. I am not a regular Hallmark shopper, but these just bring such good memories back. I played with Fisher-Price Little People for a lot longer than most kids -- probably into middle school. Then, I let my mom sell most of my things in a garage sale. This Play Family House ornament even opens up to reveal the rooms inside and of course the dog is at the back door of the garage. Even though the ornaments are plastic, there is a great attention to detail and the quality is very good.

Lisette Patterns

This is probably old news for in the know sewists, but I am excited to have added the Lisette patterns for Simplicity designed by Liesl Gibson of Oliver + S to my list of projects. These women's styles are so cute! The first thing I want to make is the pink blouse on the right. I purchased some cute cotton lawn at Fabric Depot. My only enemy -- time!

Schoolhouse Tunic

I haven't had a chance too sew many clothes for myself in a long time. But recently I did get a chance to make the Schoolhouse Tunic by Sew Liberated. I'd been admiring it for awhile. I really like the tunic look, but I'm not a leggings kind of gal. So, I just wore mine over jeans.

This is a great pattern for beginners -- no interfacing, no gathering. I would definitely recommend it to someone who is just starting out. I was really pleased with my results.

The fabric I used was a dobby lawn from Jo-Ann's! I was surprised to find such nice, cute fabric there. It was a pleasure to sew with and washed up nicely.

The finished tunic

Close up of the front

Bodice

Close-up of fabric

Log Cabin Squares

Several months ago I was able to get out on a crafty outing by going to see Susan Beal do a book signing at Powell's for her most recent book, Modern Log Cabin Quilting. I was star-struck by seeing some of the well-known Portland bloggers that were there for the event. I am such a geek. 

After purchasing her book, I decided to give some log cabin squares a try. It's pretty addictive and a great way to use up your scraps. Here's a few of my experiments:

Playing with greens

Playing with browns

Playing with blues

I used the blue log cabin squares to make a little zippered pouch project that is included in Susan's book. I'll get some pictures up of that when I can.

Story Quilt Finished!

I haven't been posting much, but finally have the time to get a little done as my little guy is engrossed in the final episodes of the Clone Wars. I've going through all my pictures and trying to share some of the things I've actually completed this spring.

Here's the Story Quilt I had been working on for some time. I finally finished in March. 

Here's the finished quilt

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here's the back

Pillows for Classroom

I made these pillows as a gift for Teacher Appreciation Week at Southwest Charter School. Asher's classroom has a wooden bench that the kids like to lay on during read-aloud. These helped to make things a little more cozy.

I used a charm pack of Kate Spain's Central Park and some Kona solids. I used an echo quilting design. They were a big hit with the kids and Asher's teacher.

Close-up of echo quilting

The blue pillow

Here are the two pillows for Asher's class.