Sew, Mama, Sew! Giveaway Day goodies for you!

Hello and Welcome! Today is Sew, Mama, Sew's Giveaway Day and I'm very excited that I have a few sewing goodies to send your way!

Recently, I joined the Pretty {little} Pouch Swap and made this little box pouch with hexagons for my partner. Well, I had so much fun making these hexies, that I wanted to share with you the little tool I used to make them.

It's the Creative Grids 60 degree Equilateral Triangle 2 1/2" Strip Ruler! It's perfect for cutting triangles from jelly rolls! Just lay the ruler on the strip and cut on the diagonal along the strip. There's also a ruler for cutting strips.

Another item I love using is the Fiskars Rotating Cutting Mat!

After you cut one side of your strip, leave the fabric and ruler as is and swivel the mat around and cut on the other side! {I love this mat for squaring up blocks.}

When you move the ruler you'll see that you've quickly and easily cut perfect little triangles! :)

{I cut two strips together} Rearrange and/or cut more triangles to your liking,...

...sew half hexagons or sew a complete hexagon! And there are of course so many other designs where  these triangles can be used! If you have a favorite pattern, I'd love to know! :)

For Giveaway Day, I'd like you to have your very own Creative Grids ruler and Fiskar's Cutting Mat, too! How does that sound?! :)

To enter, just leave a comment! {one comment per person, please}

The giveaway will be open until Wednesday the 25th, 10 pm pacific time!

I'll announce the winner {with the help of Random.org) on Thursday the 26th!

Thank you for entering the giveaway!

Check out and enter all of the fabulous giveaways at

Sew, Mama, Sew!

There are three incredible master giveaway lists!

Handcrafted items

Handcrafted Items + Supplies

Sewing + Knitting Supplies and Materials

Eileen ~ xo

 A special Thank You to everyone at Sew, Mama, Sew! for putting this spectacular Giveaway Day together! :)

sewing box treasure and jelly roll w.i.p.

I had a little expandable sewing box {without the handle and legs} that I got at Ikea years ago. When I moved last year, I sent it off in the Goodwill box.... what was I thinking? Hopefully, it's now perfect in someone's home! Glad I could help! ;) Ever since then, I've been looking for another one. And just this week, I found this beauty on craigslist!! :) It's more than twice the size of the box I donated! I know it was hard for the owner to part with. She sews and I could tell she really loved it! It took us a couple of days to co-ordinate a meeting {I thought for sure she was going to change her mind}, but she can rest assured that it's right at home in a well loved sewing space! :) I love it! {Blue loves it!} Thank you!

I had so much fun making the hexies for my Pretty {little} Pouch Swap partner, that I decided I'd like to make a quilt with that design!

{ruler Creative Grid Quilting Strip Ruler 60 Degree Triangle: 14in x 5in}

My fabric will be Moda's Rose Parade! I made a little plastic template for the pouch hexagon, which worked wonderfully when I was only cutting twenty four triangles, but now that I'll be cutting hundreds... I'm really really happy that I found this equilateral triangle ruler by Creative Grids! It's for cutting triangles from 2 1/2" strips of fabric. {I'll show you the action in another post!} Instead of cutting one triangle and moving the template, I can now lay this grid on the fabric and cut 7 without moving the ruler! For any of you new quilters and crafters, if you see fabric labeled as a 'jelly roll' {that's a jelly roll in the picture}, it's pre-cut fabric in strips of 2 1/2" wide {usually 40 strips about 42-45"ish wide}. It saves a lot of time in cutting and cutting with accuracy! And you usually get a strip of the entire collection so you won't have to search and buy each piece! Jelly rolls are made by Moda, but many other manufacturers also make wonderful 2 1/2" pre-cut strips! For instance, when buying Robert Kaufman, look for Roll-Ups! How fabulous is that?! :)

Do you have any favorite sewing, crafting, or photography tools? I'm always on the lookout for new {or new to me} gadgets and fun stuff!

Okay...I've separated my strips by color, I've got my ruler and cutter in hand... here I go!

I hope you're having a fun weekend!

Eileen ~ xo

Happy Mother's Day!

{flowers that bloom in the spring, tra-la by cobalt123}

Eileen ~ xo

in my mailbox

A few posts back, I mentioned that I joined the Pretty {little} Pouch Swap. Well, this afternoon I opened my mailbox and there was a package from my swap partner...Rachel, from Stitched In Color! First off, it was fantastic because I love Rachel's blog, so it was extra exciting that a well known blogger was my partner! I'm on a lucky streak, I tell ya! This is the gorgeous pouch she made me! {me!} I love the colors and she added my favorites, a little turquoise, coral, and fuchsia. I love patchwork and hand stitching. The golden yellow{another of my faves} is just beautiful, too! Did you see the dandelion blue lining and the zipper pull? Cute, yeah?! And she included some sweet little coasters! Such a wonderful surprise! ~ Thank you, Rachel! I adore my pretty little pouch! :) ♥

I was getting ready to send my partner her pouch and I had another idea, so I'm making her another one. I'm liking the second one better. Here's the finished bag. It's about 7" wide and 5" tall, gussets, and opens wide...

For the second idea, I know she likes hexagons. So....

I'm keeping the color palette. Keeping the linen {different shade}. Skipping the bias tape edge and going for a different style bag altogether. I had so much fun making these hexies that I think I'm going to make my next quilt with this variation! This weekend, my to-do project is to finish her bag! I'm excited for her to get her package! I'll show you when I'm done.

And I won a giveaway! How excited am I?! Jen, from Brave Little Chicken, was having a Shop Crafty giveaway and I got quite a deal of d.i.y. goodies! I thought I won the oilcloth bag kit {you know I love kits}, which I did, but when I opened the box... I also won these fun items! I love the little crocheted dress keychain! Too cute. How does anyone crochet that tiny? I forgot the picture, but there was also some handmade soap included! Ohh, and I found Jen's blog and giveaway through comments left at Rachel's blog! :)  Thank you, Jen! I'll have fun making these projects!

Remember when I made the Just One Star blocks? A few weeks ago, this 2 1/2" collection of Countdown To Christmas {by Sweetwater} came from Moda Fabrics as a thank you for sending in the blocks! That was so nice of them! I can't wait to see all the finished quilts. When I get a link, I'll post it for you! :)

Whoa, that was one mailbox. Now I have to head over to my reader! I'm seriously behind on visiting, but I promise I'll catch up with you! :)

ohhh ~ a really exicting thing here for me... I joined a quilting bee! :) I'll tell you all about it next week! :)

Eileen ~ xo

swap goodies: thread catcher and pincushion

Last night at the L.A. Modern Quilt Guild we had our Home Goods Swap exchange and I received the most beautiful thread catcher and pincushion from Angela! I still can't believe what a lucky girl I am! Isn't this just gorgeous?! She found a southwest bluebird flour sack for the patchwork! It's such a sweet and thoughtful and luxe little gift! :) I adore the hand stitching and the strap {says flour} has button holes so I can adjust the length if needed. I love it! I'll treasure it always! Thank you, Angela! :)

One of things my partner requested was a sewing machine cover! So I made this linen cover for her! She couldn't make it last night, so I'll be sending it her way real soon! It's inspired by a machine cover from one of my favorite books, I Love Patchwork: 21 Irresistible Zakka Projects to Sew. I hope she likes it and I hope I got the colors right! :)  I enjoyed making it so much! It was the first time I took a whack at these large grommets! When I hit the setter with my hammer, not once, not twice, but three times and... nothing happened... {gasp} I seriously broke out in a sweat. I almost cried... phewww..it's just a test grommet...please, no sweat....I can sew in little ties on the side... wellll, except I made four little holes before I tested one! Now, should you ever do this, too...I'm here to tell you... don't put holes in before you test one. But, if you miss that part, No Worries! Grommets are fun! :) You gotta really hit the hammer to the setter, hammer on concrete, not indoors, keep taking a swing until your grommets are closed, do not hit your fingers with the hammer {this action could cause a storm of swearing and a flood of tears {both allowed in this case and I promise not to say that again}, it'll throw your sewing schedule off and worse...it's just painful}! I'm pleased to say, no fingers or machine covers {yay!} were hurt in this grommet adventure! So, see...easy peasy! ;)  

I hope you're having a wonderful week!

Eileen ~ xo