Bijou Lovely: 12/1/12

139 Lunden Designs Pattern Giveaway.

12.28.2012

I hope everyone is enjoying the holidays! I wanted to pop in and share a giveaway with you before the week was over.

Have you all seen the quilt patterns from Lunden Designs? Melissa Lunden is the designer behind these great patterns, and she sells them in her etsy shop as well as wholesale to other shops. Melissa asked if she could send me some of her patterns to check out and share with you, and I said yes since I don't think there can ever be too many quilt patterns out there!

The paper patterns come with instructions (I blurred them out here to protect Melissa's copyright), as well as color quilt diagrams and full size paper templates.

The instructions are detailed and the diagrams are all very well illustrated and clear, which I always appreciate! It's also nice to have the full size templates so you don't have to rescale them. The patterns are all very modern, yet suitable for beginner to intermediate quilters.

Now for the giveaway! Melissa would like to give one of you a copy of her latest four patterns, Grand Junction, Northern Exposure, Flag Day and Big Top. Simply leave a comment on this post for a chance to win! I will pick a winner next Thursday! Good luck and I hope you all have a great weekend!

Update: This giveaway is now closed. Congratulations to the winner, cakegirl! And for the rest of you...Melissa is giving everyone 10% off of her patterns using the code BIJOU10. Thanks Melissa!

15 squeezing in some sewing time.

12.12.2012

So far this week I've had about 30 minutes of sewing time total. Puppies are a lot of work! I spent my time today working on my Cosmos quilt.

I'm free motion quilting this one, which is out of my comfort zone but I really want to get better at it! It's not perfect by any means, but I'm happy with how it looks so far if I stand back and squint :)

Not sure how I'm going to get Christmas presents finished with this guy hanging around!

19 meet Jackson.

12.10.2012

This weekend we added a new member to our little family... a puppy! Meet Jackson.

He is a 12 week old Morkie (Maltese/Yorkie mix) and he is just the sweetest! Lots of snuggles and puppy kisses happening in this house. He seems to be adjusting to his new home pretty well. He is taking a nap in my lap as I type this. We couldn't be happier! :)

10 Pattern Review: {LBG Studio} Accent Fold Over Pouch

12.03.2012

Hello! Happy Monday! After a week of sickness, I am glad to say that I'm on the mend. Sorry for the silence! Today is my stop on the Happy Little Pouch Hop! I'm excited to share the new fold over pouch that I made yesterday and talk a little bit about the Leather Accent Fold Over Pouch Pattern from LBG Studio.

In short, this pattern is awesome! Honestly, I've made a ton of pouches in my day and this is the best, most professional looking one I've made so far. Vanessa gives some really helpful hints in order to make your pouch look really great, and to make the zipper tabs on the ends look really clean when it's finished.

I'm sure you all know by now that photography is really important to me, and the pictures in this pattern are perfect! Between the pictures and the detailed instructions, I had no problems figuring out what I was supposed to do during each step. It only took me about an hour to put mine together, and I was taking my sweet time! :) I think a beginner could very easily make one of these pouches by following the pattern as well.

One of the things I like best about this pattern is that the design is very cute and on trend at the moment. It's a clutch that I could see myself actually taking out with me, which honestly doesn't happen very often! I prefer handmade items that don't actually look "handmade" if you know what I mean? This clutch definitely fits that criteria thanks to Vanessa's pattern!

For my pouch, I used a linen Kokka print called French Labels in Blue, a gold metallic faux leather that I got years ago, and Palm Springs in Uptown from Jay McCarroll's Center City for the lining. I used a mid-weight twill for the interlining.

If you want to join in on the Happy Little Pouch Hop, here's the schedule!