Summer Wreath

My Grandmother has been admiring mine, and my brother's Year Round Wreaths and said she wanted one for her front door. She didn't want the big chevron bow though, and instead, wanted flowers. 

Mauve flowers.

Grandma is almost 97 years old...so what Grandma wants....Grandma gets. I had a HARD time finding anything "mauve" so I found some flowers that weren't all hot pink. They had some light pink mixed in too.

I didn't think I would like it, or that it would look "old", but I actually love it! It's so sweet and springy.

Best of all, she loved it too, so it's proudly hanging on her front door.  I may have to revamp our Year Round Wreath and add a flower or two!

Binder Covers: Day 3

We are on our 3rd day of FREE printable binder covers to help you make your organized life a little prettier!

Today's set of covers feature sweet little dots in lots of colors, with swirly accents around the text area. 

These downloadable files are Word files to make editing them easy. Just download, open in Word, add your text in your favorite font, save and print!

Below are a couple of examples of this set

(my image got cropped on the bottom. The bottom text box doesn't actually run off the bottom of the page!)

The actual file colors are much more vivid than these images show.

Here is an example of how I'm using this style! There's plenty of room to add lots of information, or just a name or cute monogram.

Happy Organizing!

Download Here

Binder Covers: Day 2

Welcome to Day 2 of our FREE printable binder covers!

Today's binder covers are probably my favorite. Diagonal stripes in LOTS of colors, with elegant swirls around the writing area. 

These binder covers are Word files, to make them easy to edit. Just open in Word, add your text in your favorite font, save and print!

The link to download is at the bottom of the post.

Below are just 3 examples of the covers included in the 

Diagonal Stripes Set. 

Enjoy using these to make a pretty and organized office, 

classroom, or work space.

Download Here

Binder Covers: Day 1

Here is the first set of EDITABLE binder covers for you to download and use! Whether you're a student getting ready for the next year, a teacher organizing your classroom, or just trying to organize some of your life at home, these binder covers will make organizing much prettier!

This collection is full of Teal and Pink in several different patterns. Each binder cover has space for you to add your name, subject, description, dates, etc. to let you know right away what is inside your binder.

All of these files are Word files to make them easy to edit. Just open in Word, add text where appropriate in your favorite font (see my favorites here!), save and print. Easy!

These are just two examples of the designs included in the Teal and Pink collection. The colors are much more vivid in the actual file. Link to download is at the bottom of the page.

Happy Organizing!

Download Here

A Week of Binders

Who loves organizing??!! 

Sometimes I start a whirlwind of organizing around my house, where everything must be pretty and labeled. Other times it looks like a small tornado ripped through and I just. don't. care. 

But this week I am sharing some cuteness to help YOU get organized in style!

For the next 3 days I'll be sharing downloadable, FREE, and editable binder covers.

Perfect for back to school, organizing a classroom, organizing a home, organizing your office....etc. 

I printed a couple for my Grits & Giggles notebook....

And to organize my notes for studying and continuing education...

Here's a sneak peek at the three collections that will be available in the next three days.

So pretty, functional, and fun!

Come back tomorrow for the first set of downloadable covers!

July 4th Printables

Do YOU decorate for Independence Day? We don't usually, but now that Goldilocks is getting older, we have started telling her more and more about each holiday.

To help add some color to our holiday, and to give her some new words to learn, I made these two printables.

They are FREE, and printable in a 5x7 size.

Just print, trim, and frame!

Download Here and Here

Happy Decorating!

{Tutorial} Using and Storing PDF Patterns

I am so thankful for the success of my Pattern Shop. The more customers I have though, the more questions I get about the actual PDF patterns. Not the sewing, but what to do with the PATTERN.

 

So here are a few of my tips and tricks to putting together, using, and storing your PDF patterns.

 

*all PDF patterns are different. They are pieced and assembled differently. These tips use my own patterns.*

 

 

 

PRINTING

 

Your PDF pattern will have directions for printing. Make sure you follow the directions for setting up your printer to ensure the pieces print properly. I include a 1" square on patterns so you can be sure they are correct.

 

I only print the pages with the actual pattern pieces on them. It saves paper. You can refer to your computer if it will be close for sewing directions.

 

 

 

ASSEMBLY

 

Your pattern will include instructions on assembly. Some will have dashed or dotted lines, some have points to match up. Line up your lines as close as possible. I trim my pattern pieces on the dotted lines before taping them together.

 

Tape your pieces together making sure you can see all size lines that you need.

*never cut your pattern to size before piecing the whole pattern together*

 

 

I always keep my full size pattern pieces (like above) intact.

I use large yellow envelopes, labeled with the pattern name and the sizes it contains, to hold the full sized pattern.

 

To save paper, and keep your sizes together, here's a tip...

 

Use tracing paper for your individual sizes!

 

I use freezer paper, because it's inexpensive and it's just see-through enough that I can trace my lines easily from the original pattern.

Trace your size, perhaps a 2T, onto the freezer paper, label the piece, then you have 1 full size piece of your pattern to use over and over again. No more taping or printing.

 

I store all sizes in my labeled folder, ready to use again and again. Patterns I have sewn a lot have thicker envelopes because I've sewn so many sizes!

 

 

 

DIGITAL STORAGE

 

I have a special folder on my computer where I store my PDF files for patterns. BUT I also have them on a separate thumb drive, or pen drive. I keep this little drive in my sewing room, so if my computer crashes, I still have all of my bought (and personal) patterns to use.

School Days Fonts

Ya'll know I have a serious love of fonts! They make putting together printables, cards, and even blog photos so much prettier and more unique. 

On mine and Hubby's last date night we noticed some really awesome chalkboard lettering at our restaurant. I knew I needed to find some chalkboard style fonts for my collection, and I wanted to share my favorites with you! Once I put them together they reminded me of a school chalkboard (do those still exist??) so I called them the "School Days Fonts". 

All of these are FREE downloadable fonts. I download most of mine from dafont.

Enjoy adding to your addiction  collection!

Tumbler Doll Quilt

When a sweet little Goldilocks asks for a blanket for her "friends", of course you dig right in to your fabric and start sewing!

I pulled out all of her favorite pinks and decided to try out making a Tumbler block! I made it the scientific way... measuring it out on the side of a cereal box, then cutting it out as a template. You'd be surprised how many of these fancy little "templates" I have in a drawer.

I love how well the blocks lined up.

I wanted a different quilting look, so I did some wavy lines all over in one direction.

She loves to grab it and show me all of the fabrics, then tell me what outfit they are from. Most of these fabrics were used for dresses or tops for her at one point.

Her "friends" love it. She rotates it between them so they can all stay nice and warm.

Everyone wins.

Review and Giveaway

Jessica at Happy Together is sharing a review of her sewing of 

Grits & Giggles patterns!

(photo from Jess at Happy Together)

Her blog was one of the first I ever read, and truthfully, I used many of her tutorials to learn how to sew!!

Her fabric choices are always enchanting, and her photography is incredible.

If you've never read her blog, be prepared to be sucked in and read for HOURS!

Click HERE to see what she sewed up for her girls and to enter the GIVEAWAY of 4 Grits & Giggles patterns!

Summer Sewing

Even though the warm summer days are luring us outside, every now and then it's nice to just sit inside, in the air conditioning, and enjoy the whirring of a sewing machine!

Especially if you have a toddler, preschool, or school aged child, it's time to start sewing their back to school wardrobe! 

Grits & Giggles has lots of sweet, fun, and conservative patterns, perfect for back to school!

    

  

And to get you started on a good sewing foot....

Use Coupon Code "SUMMER" at checkout on Etsy 

to save 20% off of your pattern purchase!

Click Here to go shopping!!

Running Curahee

I had the privilege of running my first 10K this weekend! This one was special to me. It was the running of Curahee Mountain, in honor of the 70th anniversary of D-Day. 

As the daughter and granddaughter of proud military men, I was so excited to participate in a race that was honoring our brave soldiers, past and present.

When "Band of Brothers" came out on HBO several years ago, I became obsessed and fell in love with the documentary. It tells the story of Easy company of the 506th Parachute Infantry division and their missions in WWII, but it all began at Camp Toccoa, with a lot of training by running up Curahee, and back down. 

It's 3 miles up and 3 miles down.

At the start of the 3rd mile, UP the mountain on a gravel road, I was thinking...."what have I gotten myself into???" Not gonna lie, this course was brutal, but the view from the top of the mountain was worth every step.

(I wore my phone just for the purpose of getting a couple of mountaintop pictures. 

I didn't think about sweat making my lense super steamy!!)

Steamy or not, I can still tell where I'm standing...and I love it!

It was a hot hot hot and humid day in Georgia, which just added to the challenge of this course. 

I was pleasantly surprised to finish and come in 3rd in my age group, especially since they were in 10 year increments for this race. Placing in my age group in a race was on my bucket list...so that's getting scratched off sooner than expected!

Hubby and the kids came with me, so after the race we spent some time touring the monuments. They even brought in some military vehicles and memorabilia for the participants to see. The babies loved seeing the old cars, helmets, and uniforms.

It was a great family day for us, and a memorable run for me. Races for a good cause are my absolute favorite, and this one couldn't have been any better!

Sewing Machine Cover

It's another scrapbusting project!! All of these projects I'm making for myself are turning out the same colors...blue, gray, black, and green. I guess those are my favorites! I'm saving the pinks for Goldilocks.

 

I've moved my sewing machine to a new location in our house, and wanted it to look less "crafty" where I put it, so it needed a cover!

 

To use up as many scraps as I could, I did another patchwork project. These were some of my favorite prints from my scrap bin. I made a large rectangle of the patchwork, then added sides to make it fit over my machine.

 

I'm trying to use up bigger scraps too, so I used this funky linen for the sides. I probably should have added some interfacing to the sides to help it stand up straight, but it's doing it's job anyways.

 

Some light quilting of the squares added some texture and held it to the heavy batting on the inside. Nice and soft for my sewing machine.

 

Everything else in my house is covered in a blanket...why not my machine?