786 market tote giveaway.

***THIS GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED!***

I have good news and bad news.  The good news is I'm giving away a market tote in honor of Sew, Mama, Sew Giveaway Day!  The bad news is I ran out of time tonight to finish it!  Here's another market tote I've made recently so you know what they look like.

The winner will receive a tote just like this one except made in this pretty Nicey Jane fabric with a yellow linen base and lining. [edit: click here to see the finished tote!]

The market tote is perfect for grocery shopping, fabric shopping, really any kind of shopping.  It would also work wonderfully as a beach tote for summer!  

The winner will also get some precut fabrics to make another market tote as well!  A little Hope Valley and some chocolate brown linen.  

I'll be posting a tutorial for the market tote this week, so the winner will have everything they need to make a second market tote.

To enter, simply leave me a comment!  Be sure to include an email address for me to contact you at if it isn't linked in your profile.  International entries are welcome.

Followers of this blog get an extra entry, so leave a separate comment letting me know that you follow this blog. 

The giveaway will remain open until Thursday, May 20 at 11:59 pm Central time.

I will be picking a random winner on Friday morning! 

5 weekend to-do and a monday giveaway.

I fully intended on writing a real post tonight but I haven't been feeling very well.  Hopefully I'll be back to my usual self in the morning.  I have a busy weekend ahead of me and have no time for sickness.  This baby quilt isn't going to sew itself together!  I did finish the crib skirt last night so at least some progress has been made.  

This weekend I'll also be printing and assembling the invitations for my cousin's bridal shower my mom and I are throwing in a couple weeks, and making some paper tags for a friend's wedding wish tree.  Most importantly, I need to figure out what to get (or make) my sister for her birthday next weekend!  She'll be turning 21, but I'd like to get her something other than shots (I'll get those too)!  Any suggestions?

Because this is a lame post, I need to make it up to you lovely readers!!  I've decided to add one more project to this weekend's to-do list, a little something to giveaway on Sew, Mama, Sew Giveaway Day!  

It's about time for a giveaway around here, don't you think?  Come back on Monday to enter!

1 lovely inspiration: sewing kit.

Is this not the cutest sewing kit you have ever seen?  It's from Van Eijk & Van der Lubbe's Usuals collection.

via

I think it would be pretty simple to make something like this and would be a great gift for anyone who sews.  Anyone have any go-to sources for leather?  I'm loving the white inside the kit!

9 another market tote.

This time in aqua.  And natural linen of course.

Topstitched with goldenrod thread.

Lined with linen.

The pink market tote was a little small for groceries, but this one is the perfect size!

I need to make a brown one next.  I've been informed that the aqua is not manly enough for my husband to bring this one out in public.  He suggested a Minnesota Twins one, but I'm probably going to veto that idea.  I'm not a big fan of novelty fabrics!

10 done with SYTYC.

I meant to blog about this last week but life got in the way!  Sadly I got voted off of SYTYC a week ago with my shower curtain for "Bath Time" week.  I was a little disappointed to get voted off so quickly, but it was fun while it lasted!  Here's the stitch and slash shower curtain I made, in case you missed it.

Missy also did an interview with me on the blog last week, click here if you want to know a little more about me, my inspiration and interests!


Thanks to everyone who voted for my projects!  You can check out what the crafty ladies are up to for Week 4 here.

3 vintage finds.

This past weekend my husband and I drove up to Lake Geneva, WI for a mini-vacation with my in-laws.  The boys golfed the entire weekend while my mother-in-law and I explored all the little shops and antique stores in the area.  I picked up a few yards of antique lace in mustard and lavender.  Not sure what I'm going to do with them yet, but they sure are pretty.

We also found a random barn sale while trying to find our way back to our resort.  I was a little hesitant to stop, but I'm glad we did!  There were a lot of things there I liked (including tons of milk glass vases and blue Bell jars...if only I had the room to store them) but I controlled myself for the most part.  I did find a roll of vintage fabric and some cute little buttons to add to my stash.

The one place I failed to control myself was when I found the huge basket full of wooden spools of thread.  We spent quite awhile digging through that basket for the prettiest colors and the oldest spools.  They'll look so lovely in a jar in my craft room (when I actually have a craft room with shelves to display things on...the jury's still out on when that will be).

Overall it was a nice and relaxing weekend.  I never thought I would love antique/thrift store shopping as much as I do now!  It's so fun to look for vintage fabrics and notions.  Now to decide what to do with them...any suggestions?

10 the market tote and a bit of irony.

The market tote.

Made with a little Joel Dewberry Modern Meadow and some lovely gray linen.

Lined with the same gray linen on the inside.

Perfect for carrying all our groceries home from the store so we can stop wasting all those plastic and paper bags.  Now I just need to make about 10 more of these in a little bigger size (this one is 12" high x 12" wide x 5" deep).

And now for the irony.  As I was sewing this together, my husband was bringing in a paper bag full of groceries from Trader Joes.  Naturally, the bag carrying a glass jar full of red sauce broke, spilling the sauce all over his truck floor and our garage.  A little bit ironic, don't you think?