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I do love a good modern quilt. Thanks to Amanda Jean and Cheryl's Sunday Morning Quilts, I just might be a convert to "Scrap Modern Quilts!" C&T Publishing has been nice enough to provide us with 3 copies of this wonderful book to giveaway!

Keep reading for more information on this book, and to find out how to enter!

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As I was searching through projects I wanted to do in Fabric by Fabric - One Yard Wonders, I stopped almost immediately on the Cap Sleeve Bolero— it's just too cute! The top was listed under the "Lightweight Cottons" chapter, and I knew instantly it would be a great project to do with our new line of cotton lawn in the Matsuri collection. 

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As some of you saw on our Facebook page, I am working on my very first embroidery project. I want to start off by saying that I really, really enjoy this craft. While tricky at times, it's a great way to express your creative side. It's also a really fun way to add your personal touch to a project.

My cousin Sarah is having a boy - the first boy to be born in our family in decades - at the end of May. I'm giving her a really cute quilt...

Before handing it over, I thought a really nice touch would be to add a gift tag to the back. While my mom has a great sewing machine that allows her to program in words and shapes that she can embroider, I decided to give it a shot by hand first.

Let's just say, it's a little rough...

I think that because this is such a special gift for me, I am going to go ahead and re-do the tag with my mom's machine. But, I am not giving up hope! I think a better idea would have been for me to start with an embroidery pattern, and work my way up to a tag like this. Too bad that's not my style. Ha!

I was looking through one of my co-workers books yesterday and saw some really cute embroidery patterns that I am just dying to try. I will keep you posted on my progress -- hopefully next time the end result will be a little more polished! Do any of you have tips or tricks, or maybe a good reference book that you can suggest?

-Alisha

It seems that embroidery is really making a comeback lately, which makes me happy because I've always been a fan. It's great to see some fresh, new patterns out there. Some of our in-house designers have been bitten by the bug as well. Have you seen Mari's sheep embroidery on the Three Sheep Tote? Or Jenni's super-cute free embroidery patterns for her Sailor Girl and Boy pillows to go with our new Smooth Sailing collection?

Ever since I saw Sarah Jane's "Make It Do" pattern at market last spring, I've had it on my to-do list. Being on maternity leave finally gave me the spare time to actually do it!

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Nautical is my favorite theme of all time! In real life, I wish I could dress like a sailor on a daily basis. So when I was designing my Smooth Sailing collection, I became inspired in many ways! I wanted to tie in my love of embroidery with my love of nautical, so I designed these cute little embroidered pillows. I suppose I was also inspired by Shirley Temple's "On The Good Ship Lollipop" since I rendered them with a 1930's flare. This is a first for me; designing an embroidery pattern for Connecting Threads. But I thought they were too cute to keep for myself, so I wanted to share them with everyone! I embroidered the fronts and used fabric from the collection for the backside. I hope you enjoy these as much as I do!