black, white & pink baby quilt

originally from the "quilts for babies & kids" book by leisure arts, this was another quilt i had already cut out from quite some time ago that was waiting for me to get my act together and piece it together.  consider that act finally done.  finishing it marks it as the official second quilt top done for my stash bust-o-rama for the year which is awesome to say since january isn't even over yet.  yep, feeling pretty cool about myself, that's for sure.
the last time i did this quilt in 2008, i had an "oops" and one of the squares smack in the middle was going the wrong way... but i left it that way.  i'm 99.9% sure that these ones are all going the right way.  gold star for emily.
my other plan was to have the stripe this time be pink, but apparently when i originally cut this out i had cut the strip too short.  luckily i still had some of the black fabric in my stash box, and was able to come to this quilt's coordination rescue.  thank goodness i didn't have to buy more of something.  yet... ;)
now, i actually have to move on to quilts i don't already have cut out. originally i was thinking of doing a few black & white only quilts, but after doing this one with all it's black and white-ness, i'm not entirely sure. i guess you'll have to keep checking back in order to see what happens next!

craft fair bag collection

way back when (now technically almost 4 years ago... say whaaaat?) lisa and i did craft fairs.  well, fast forward to now, and i've still got some goodies left over that are looking for a good home.  i sold these on etsy too, but now time to try a new venue for these lovely little bags.  i've broken them up in to four categories of awesomeness, so consider yourself warned!
these ones are my more girly/stylish ones. hearts, flowers, a little glitter. and of course, who wouldn't love to carry the ocean around with them all the time?
a little troops supporting, shall we? left to right, in case it is hard to tell in the photos are airforce, army, navy and then the marines.  i've sent a few of these to my lovely military wife friends in the past, and they've loved them!
this set would be more along the lines of little kiddos. perfect size for dance shoe bags, carrying around doll accessories, or a simple small diaper bag for quick trips on the road when you don't want to stock a ton of diapers with you..
and last but not least, some bags for all you craft enthusiasts out there.  i've found they work fantastic for those small little projects to tote around, or even a trip to the local fabric store.  i know my every day purse is quite large, so a small purse for a quick errand trip works amaaaaazing.
originally, we were selling these bags for $25 at craft fairs, and since i'm in a world of destash and freeing up space right now, i've cut the price down to $15, shipping included!  drop me a line in the comments section if you are interested in purchasing one, and we'll get in touch!

ch. ch. check it out

I'm a Craftster Best of 2012 Winner! that's right folks, you saw it here first. well, unless you are on craftster, then maybe you saw it there first. anyways, it was super exciting to see this popped up on one of my posts from last year, especially on a section of the boards i had little experience in ever posting in.  are you ready for the winner?
yup, the screen printed shirt i made for my dad last christmas was a winner.  guess it is a hint i should bust out that screen print kit i bought again and have a go at it.  i guess my brother can join in the hoorah for partial credit, since he did the original drawing.
original blog post: right hurr
original drawing: here
craftster boards: because you know you want to

pinwheel princess quilt

so since my glorious "2013: the year of..." post, i've made another decision.  within the room cleaning aspect comes the busting of the fabric stash.  so from that, along with my parent's church requesting quilt tops of varying whatever-ness comes this little project of stashbusting quilts.  my goal is for each month to assemble at least one quilt top from fabric within the great box of fabric pieces to create something to be donated to someone else in need.  cuts down my stash, completes a project, goes to someone in need, blog post.  i guess that makes four birds, one stone?  sawheeeet.
this quilt was somewhat already good to go.  i cut the pieces out over four years ago to be a baby shower gift for a friend from high school.  well, it got as far as two triangles being sewn together, and that was that.  in the mass room cleaning, it surfaced again and i decided now was the time.  i completed this in a few weekend hours, and like the result,  the pinwheels went together super easy, though i don't know what i was thinking when i put the pieces together four years ago and used a 1/8" seam allowance...  ugh!
the pink in between the blocks was also from the magic stash box.  i haven't ever gotten things to line up as well as i did on this quilt.  i think that was in part because i trimmed the blocks all down to exact same size before sewing on the pink fabric.  who woulda thunk?  both that fabric and the "princess" parts of the pinwheels have the same glittery star shapes to them.
all in all, i really like how this turned out. next time, i'll use a 1/4" seam allowance the whole time... not 1/8"  and maybe 2 colors of pinwheels instead of 3.  hm.  i don't know.  maybe it all depends on the fabric choices.  but yes, i would repeat a pinwheel quilt.  super easy, totally fun looking, all that jazz.
bragging point: saturday afternoon the boy told me he was on his way home and would be there in 30 minutes.  i told him "ok. i have two more rows to sew, and then i'll head over" and that was it.  no other details to what i did with my day at all.  later on that evening, he asked me if i was talking about "that quilt with the pinwheels" that i showed him a picture of a week before, and followed it up by asking about sewing the layers together so they didn't shift.  ladies, believe it or not, they do listen!  well, at least mine does :)

aileen's avenger purse

my sister wanted a purse for christmas... well, i found that out after planning this, but at least i can say it was something on her list.  her likes have gone in phases.  it was star trek, then it went to avengers, and now it seems like it is on to the hobbit and les mis, but let's focus on the avengers portion.  joanns had a whole bunch of different fabrics, and since i used to make this style purse for craft fairs with lisa, i decided that was what she would get for christmas this year.  a few secret powering through sewing times while she wasn't home, and this bag was DONE.  here it is, in all it's avenging purse glory.
oh i love how simply easy this zipper is to put in. yes i do.
now, if i could only get her to take it out in the world and make all her friends jealous enough to want one of their own. doesn't she know she's supposed to be my walking advertisement? sheesh. what good is she?

2013: the year of...

oh 2013. you began just a week ago, but it feels like its been forever. where to begin with what i plan to do with you.  such potential, you could be a lot of things, like...
the year i try new things.
the boy gives me a hard time about my dislike of sushi.  well i'm not a fan of fish... and raw fish creeps me out.  maybe this year, i'll let him help me find something i like... or at least that i'm bare enough to try.
maybe i want to try to learn a new skill.  i still have the "teach yourself to knit" kit i bought way back when.  have i taught myself to knit?  no way, jose.  i guess i will just need to give in and say to someone "teach me your ways" and call it a day.  or maybe erika and i will finally take that second cake decorating class...  five years later.
the year i get back in to shape
i know at least one of you are thinking "oh but emily, you are so skinny!!"
yeah, but just because i'm 5'11" and proportionate doesn't mean that i don't get winded after climbing a flight of stairs.  i've been debating year in and year out (basically since i quit my gym membership in 2011)  about starting at a cheaper place.  well, the cheaper gym has been found, but now i just need to man up and sign up.
the year i save more spend less
yeah, so far so good.  i've been a lot better at my spending habits than i have in years past.  like, WAY better.  on top of that, the boy and i have set a "we want to go to disneyland together" goal of putting $20 a month aside for said disneyland trip in the future.  that has helped already with a mindset of remembering to set that aside, well... because i love disneyland.  'nuff said.  plus, there are bigger (and pricier) things that i know my future holds, which fall under the "more important than a new shirt" category.
the year i make a clean sweep
yep.  clean sweep as in out with the old for plenty of room for the new. (this is where the blog photo makes a little more sense)  this past week i have thrown out 3 dozen old roses, a vase of balloon shards, 7 wrist corsages, countless numbers of test prints from photography classes, a bazillion cd cases, and so much more.  i think this might just be the biggest room cleaning over haul i have done in my entire life.  throwing things away & donating stuff without remaining emotionally attached to them has been rough, but i'm already amazed with how much more space i have in my closet.  if i keep this up, i will have so much less stuff to deal with down the line when moving forward to the next steps in life. besides, random things i find that amuse me but don't get to stay have already been documented forever on instagram.
the year i blog more
no seriously, its a goal.  which in turn, will hopefully help me craft more this year, do more memorable things, and just straight up want to document more.  i was recently going through old writings from a few years back, and really wish i had done a better job at documenting things here and there.  maybe 2013 will bring day trips, adventures around this area, and all that jazz.  and when i say maybe, i really mean please and thank you.
the year i do all that and more
no seriously.  i'm hoping to make a lot of this year.  2012 was pretty excellent, so hopefully 2013 will be super duper.  with ice cream and oreo cookies on top.