Blog Moving!

Attention, peeps! The "Sweet Liberty" blog is moving to my new domain: www.sugarstitches.com/blog
It's still a work in progress, so bear with me.
Followers: please update the url!
Quilt along coming soon...

Quick and Easy Picnic Blanket

A friend of mine asked me to make her a little picnic blanket for her daughter's tea set. I decided I'd share it, just in case!

You can make any size you want: I used two fat quarters. I pinned large rick rack around all four sides. Pin it on the right side of one of your pieces of fabric (it doesn't matter which one), aligning the edges of the rick rack and the fabric.
Pull the raw ends of the rick rack over the edge of the fabric, overlapping them like so:
Layer your other piece of fabric on top, right sides together and pin.Sew around all four sides, leaving a 2" opening for turning. Turn right side out and press. Top stitch 1/8" around all four sides. Done!

Wordless Wednesday

Year in Review

It feels like a time for reflection. Its been a big year at the Sweet Liberty house. Here we go, month by month:

January

I started out with a list of resolutions. I am happy to report that I have more or less met all of them (still trying to figure out Photoshop).

I also got my first Blythe doll!

February

A pattern of mine was picked up for publication in American Patchwork & Quilting

I turned the big 3-0!!

March

Started the first phase of my studio makeover. It made such an amazing difference. Its still an on-going process (still hemming and hawing over curtains, etc).

April

Participated in my first Doll Quilt Swap.

May

Went to Spring Quilt Market. What an amazing experience!!

June

Dark times. Followed closely by an outpouring of support from all of my bloggy friends!
Wyatt's first birthday.

JulyMIA. Blame the influx of Blythes in to my home!

AugustSummer wrapping up. Inherited a stack of antique quilts from Grandma.

September

Was invited to design a quilt for Lecein. Had 2 weeks to design it, sew it and ship it off! It was an amazing experience, and I am so honored to be considered. I named the quilt "Mann Creek" after the farm my family settled over a 100 years ago in Idaho. You can download the free pattern here, along with many other fabulous free patterns.

October

The issue of American Patchwork & Quilting with my pattern in it comes out! In shocl for the most of the month!
I graduate with my Bachelor's degree in Elementary Education.
On a family trip to New York, get to meet the illustrious Gina Garan of "This is Blythe" at her NYC studio.

November

This month can only remembered as the fabric binge month! I could probably open up my own fabric store at this point.

December

Ummmm...do I even need to remind you all of the sewing machine + finger incident?? It really kind of threw my whole month and Christmas off!
We had an amazing blizzard. Over 2 feet of snow and the whole city shut down for about 4 days. It was so peaceful...just being with the family at home.

New Year's Resolutions

I think New Year's is a great time to set goals. And putting them on your blog is a great way to ensure you complete them, right? My goals this year are:
Start publishing my own patterns
Have a booth at Fall Market as a designer (eeeek!)
Pick some ding dang curtains for the studio!
Eat healthier (I'm working on it!)

From Wilbur and the rest of the fam, here's to a great new year!

Back in the Saddle

Today was my first day back at the sewing machine. I finished up Liberty's Mod Kid skirt (what I was sewing when "the incident" occurred). I just need to put in the elastic and I'm done. My finger is still pretty sore. I went to the surgeon and he's waiting until next week to decide whether or not to surgically remove the other two pieces. He said that most likely they will just GROW OUT OF MY SKIN! Ewwwww.....gross!

Now what you're all really here for: the winners! There was such a big turnout that I decided to double the winners. I mistakenly bought 6 fat quarters instead of 7, so I will have "grand prize" winners and "runner up" prizes:

Grand Prize Winners:
Twin Fibers

aaahh! I'd love to use some for a quilt. Your little houses are so cute, reminds me of vintage children's books.

December 9, 2009 12:12 PM

Love your blog, girls! And I can't wait to see what you create!

Petit Debutant

woo wee, what a great giveaway! That house quilt looks great. You're so nice and willing to share! I think I would use them in a hexagon quilt.

December 9, 2009 3:53 PM

I love hexagons! Can't wait to see!

Runner Up Winners:

I Have A Notion

You want to know something interesting about me....hmmmm....I took a cruse alone when I turned 30. I was having a bit of a panic about turning 30 so I called the travel agent and gave them my credit card number and told them to take me anywhere in the world leaving on a particular day and returning one week later. She called me back and told me I was going on a cruise. I had an absolute ball and even went to a nude beach for the first time in my life. Thank God I was alone....I found an empty area....where there was absolutely no one around....stripped off my suite..laid down....honestly less than 30 seconds...I put my suite back on and walked away so proud of myself. I'm such a risk taker..ROFL....truth!!!

Smiles,
Kelly

December 9, 2009 4:17 PM

Great story, Kelly! I remember the "turning 30 panic"! I still need to take my "momacation", though!

a la mode fabric

Wowwie... great giveaway! I would use the fq set on a coordinating sracf and bag set ;) And make all my nonclever friends super jealous! LOL Thanks for the chance, Heather

December 16, 2009 7:30 AM

Great idea, Heather! Can't wait to see them! Your nonclever friends will be green with envy!

Congratulations to all the winners! Please email me your addresses so I can ship them off straight away!

War Wounds

Sewing is serious business. We all have burns from irons. Well, I got the mother of all wounds on Friday. I sewed through my finger. Yep. Twice. Don't ask me how it happened, because I honestly don't know. All I know is I was sewing away and my machine stopped. I looked, and the needle was down...through my finger! Here's a little pic:I was the most popular patient in the ER. They removed the larger of the three pieces (yes-three). It took 3 people and a pair of heavy-duty pliers. Here's what they pulled out:
As I was sitting in my room, I heard the nurse yell down the hall :

"BARBARA! You should see the SIZE of that needle I just pulled out of that girl's finger."
...pause...
"The GIRL! The GIRL WHO SEWED THROUGH HER FINGER!!!"
Well, I'm glad I could be entertaining.

In case you're wondering, it didn't hurt at all when it happened. That came later. What hurt even worse was when they shot me up with Lydacaine. After some tetanus shots and a prescription for heavy duty antibiotics, I was sent home. I have to meet with an orthopedic surgeon to have the rest surgically removed. The worst part is I can't even sew with this huge metal brace on my finger!

In other news, the giveaway is still on schedule. Due to the huge turnout, I am thinking of adding two more prizes. Yep. That's right--FOUR chances to win!!
Watch your fingers-please!!

Denyse Schmidt Giveaway!

I've stashed all my recent fabric purchases under my cutting table so as not to alarm my hubby. But he shouldn't be alarmed anyway, because they were all purchased with gift certificates. Lucky me! So I'm spreading the wealth!

Wilbur doesn't want me to tell you this...

But I'm giving away TWO fat quarter bundles of Hope Valley!To enter, leave a comment between now and next Wednesday, December 16th. Post a link on your blog and you'll have THREE chances to win! In your comment, tell me something interesting: either about yourself, or maybe what you would like to use the fat quarters for.

I've been working on a new project. Here's a sneak peek:This is just the rough layout. I'm still not completely sold on the background. And I have to add a bunch of little details still.

Happy stitching, peeps!

Fabric Binge, Part Two

I received my huge Fat Quarter Shop order today! Yaaaay! This is all part of the graduation gift from my Mommy and Daddy. I ordered the entire line of Nicey Jane by Heather Bailey. My plan is to make patchwork curtains for my studio.

I also ordered a bunch of Meadowsweet by Sandi Henderson and some other miscellaneous prints.
I have been very blessed in the fabric department lately, so I've decided to pay it forward. I picked up 14 fat quarters of Denyse Schmidt's Hope Valley to use as a prize for my next giveaway! Keep your eyes peeled: I will most likely be announcing it tomorrow!

Lazy Sunday

Today was a nice lazy Sunday. If my hubby hadn't volunteered to take me to Ikea at 6 pm, I wouldn't have made it out of my pajamas. Anyhoo, I found a fabulous bookcase and floral chair for the studio. Hubby was inconspicuously writing notes while we were there, so they may be my Christmas presents! Just guessing. One of the things I love about Ikea is they always play awesome movies on the TVs. Tonight it was "Mary Poppins" in the kids eating area, and "Singin' in the Rain" on all the other TVs.

I've got a big week of "To Do's" ahead of me:
I need to finish painting the dining room (I'm taking it over as an addition to my sewing room).
Work on my Joseph's Coat blocks.
Do some Christmas sewing
Work on my dresden quilt (above)

Its hard to believe how fast December is flying by. I haven't even started my Christmas cards yet! ...Better add that to the list!

Fabric and Friends

A few months ago I said I was on a fabric diet. Well, it didn't work. I mean, really, is that even possible. So now I am happily off the wagon. And never getting back on. Lucky for me, my mommy and daddy got me a MONDO gift certificate for a graduation present. One was for Superbuzzy. So that stack above is some of what I got with it. Super yumminess. The other one is for Fat Quarter Shop, and that will take quite some time to spend. Its a rough job, but somebody's gotta do it!

Say hello to my friend Maja.

She's from Germany. Total hippie. Love her to death. She's got a smile that can light up this whole town (that's her cheesy smile). Yesterday I made her a little giftie. I had some fabric from Superbuzzy with German phrases on it (Different order than the previously mentioned order. Yes. I know. Its a problem.).

And I sewed a sweet little "I Love You" tag in to the binding on the back.

I've been spending a lot of time in the studio, sketching and sewing. I'm almost done with a SUPER CUTE applique pattern. My Aunt is still in town, so I've got to get as much done as I can while she's still here!

Happy stitching, peeps!

Rainbows

Today was a quiet day...I ran some errands, then came back to sew. My Aunt is in town, so she wrangles the kids while I get to play. Lately I am all about rainbows.

I joined the Jacob's Coat Quilt-a-long. I had originally planned to use all blue fabrics, but after I got my fat quarter stack of Denyse Schmidt's Hope Valley, I just couldn't resist. Besides, I had a little birdie on my shoulder telling me to do it.

The photos of the fabric don't really do it justice: it is AMAZING in person!

Now go play with some rainbows!

Winners!!

Good news, peeps! I have enough fabric for THREE kits! Woot woot! Without further ado, the winners are:

Kathie
Kay Prince
J. Rae

Congratulations, ladies! Please email me your mailing address and I will ship them out!!

Giveaway Time!

It's finally here! My project is in AP&Q's "More Fast & Fabulous". Here it is, page 6!

And guess what? I still have some of the fabrics I used in the actual project. So I'm having a giveaway! Yaaay! I will cut them up tomorrow, I should be able to get enough for at least 2 kits, most likely more. So here's the drill:

• Leave a comment on this post to enter the drawing before next Saturday, October 17th.

• Post a link on your blog and get an extra entry

Good luck, peeps! I'll be back with an extra-special post tomorrow!

Light at the End of the Tunnel

I can't believe its been a whole month since I blogged! Well, the quilt made it off in time for the photo shoot and is now on its way to Quilt Market. If any of you are going, it'll be hanging up in the Lecien booth.

I came home a couple of weeks ago to a package on my doorstep. Inside was a lovely note from Joy that literally brought me to tears. She had won a giveaway on my blog a few months ago, and after reading about my family getting robbed, she decided to send me and my babies a little giftie. She sent along a raggedy Ann doll (in the picture above), and two gorgeous lambs for Liberty and Wyatt. There isn't a picture of them because I literally cannot pry them away from them, and they are both asleep clutching them. But you can see a picture at the bottom of this post. Wyatt's kept the name Lambington, and Liberty named hers Joy. It was such an unexpected surprise that I still get all emotional thinking about it! Bug hugs to you Joy! You are such a wonderful, caring person!

I also received my lovely doll quilt in the mail from Jessica! I just love the munki munki prints and the awesome pebble quilting! This is going up on the studio wall!

And last but not least, one more addition to my Blythe family: a Bow Wow Trad (my dream doll), tentatively named Sabrina.

I've been busy sketching away on some BIG projects, but I can't show them for quite some time. Sorry for the tease! But, my project that is being published in More Fast and Fabulous (American Patchwork and Quilting) comes out this week! Woohoo! I will be having a giveaway to celebrate! I saved the fabrics that I used in the project, and I will be giving away as many kits as I can scrounge out of the stash!

Happy Stitching!

Chaos

That's right: chaos. I'm going MIA, peeps. I've got a quilt going to Market. I have two more days to finish it before I send it off to the quilter. I was honored to be asked to design a quilt for the Lecien booth. It will be a free pattern on their website after Market. Some really cool people have already "been there, done that". Seriously. I feel like I've accientally sat at the "popular" table in the cafeteria, and its only a matter of time before they start throwing tater tots at me. Wish me luck. I'll need it!

My Inheritance

Those of you who have been reading my blog for awhile will remember this emotional post about a year ago. Well, about a month ago I received the rest of my inheritance from my grandmother: two trunks of antique quilts! My mom (the quilt hoarder) has a lot more, but she let me have these :)

An antique scrap quilt. Most of these fabrics are leftovers from the other quilts in our family collection.

This is a well-loved and very faded quilt

Perfect hand piecing

I couldn't believe it when I saw this one (my hubby is a pilot)!

This one is just amazing: needle-turn applique and embroidery:

A closeup of one of the blocksAnother embroidery one, very faded:

I also got an antique sewing machine from my Aunt. She was using it as a table, and knew I would love it, so she gave it to me. Isn't that sweet? Something is stuck in the table, so I haven't been able to get the sewing machine out yet. My hubby will have to use his carpentry skills to fix it.

Here's the instruction manual:

The sewing feet in a velvet-lined metal box:

And the little drawers were still full of vintage notions!
Some threads:

And rick rack:

I love it all so much and feel so blessed to have received all these treasures from my family. If any of you have any advice for displaying and caring for antiques quilts, I'd love to hear it!