goodbye to inspiration

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After much thought,  it saddens me to say I have decided to say goodbye to my Inspiration tab located at the top of my blog.  This means no more Fabric Fridays, Etsy, or Magazine Files.  I am not deleting these posts that have collected over the year, but after some research and long thought, I think it will be best to no longer have Fridays dedicated to fabric posts.   I have plenty of Fabric Fridays in my draft folder ready to share with you guys, but I have decided to only share those on occasion.  I love fabric and browsing through all the great selections of prints out there, but Fabric Fridays is one of my least popular posts.  I put a lot of work and effort to round up the prints I find, but I am feeling that work is not worth it.   Fabric Fridays, Etsy, and Magazine files will still be around, but you will need to either search for them in my Search box or click on the labels "Fabric Friday," "Etsy," or "Magazines."

If some of you loved Fabric Fridays, I am sorry if you find this post disappointing.  I'll continue to throw fabric finds into posts here and there.  What I am going to do instead?  I haven't given it much thought as to what I will do on Fridays.  Up to this point, Fridays were dedicated to fabric.   I do feel a little lost now, but I know I will pick back up and do something great.  To be honest, FF *almost* became a crutch for me when it came to blogging.  It gave me something to blog about (new bloggers should be able to relate to "fillers"), and it was comforting to know that FF would always close the blog week for me.

I am truly sorry if you were one of the few who did look forward to my Fridays.  Have a wonderful weekend!  I am camping, which means no internet.  It will be a nice break.

Thanks for stopping in today!



ps-  I would like to host a fabric swap!  I'm leaning towards a Spoonflower I Spy Charm Swap, but I am up for whatever.  If you are interested in participating, please click here.

Also, I finished the top of my friend's quilt, which you can see here.

quilt top finished!

This is so exciting for me that I just had to share it right away!  I completed this quilt top in 6 days!   Not too shabby for my second quilt, eh?  I still need to make the back, and I'll quilt it when I get home from my camping trip.

the work of Jenn Ski

I discovered Jenn Ski awhile back, and I am not sure how I didn't know of her sooner!  If you love mod-century things, this illustrator is for you!  She also has a few fabric designs for Moda.

Check out her home studio!!  I love the clean look of white with lots of color and graphics.  I would love to work in this open, bright space.

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WIPs for the Home + Sewing

Here are my week's Work In Progress.

On the home front -

I sold my two pieces of furniture within a few days of posting!  Yay!  You can see those pieces here.

I did purchase a new piece though, and I got it for only $50!!  You may remember the recent popular post about  ridiculous thrift store prices.  Well, I got this piece off of Craigslist!  Eat that thrift store!  This credenza is an absolute beast.  It is super heavy.

I  am slowly working on decorating the living room.  I figure I would start with the lighting, which is nonexistent on one side of the room.  I'm going to get two can lights installed.  Normally, Matt would do the electrical in our home, but since he so busy with work and school, he has no time to deal with lighting.  I have a guy in our church who is willing to do the work.  These should be installed within the month.

I get the miter saw this weekend!  This means I can start working on the backside of my kitchen island! I will place a white herringbone design on the back.  This photo was taken from this post.  I have forgotten what my kitchen looks like without its new window treatments.  What a big difference!

And with sewing-

The most miraculous thing happened.  My church put together a women's sewing group, which I attended this past Sat.  I sewed from 9 am - 2 pm without any distractions or interruptions from a 2 year old!  And then to top it off, Owen has taken 3 1/2 hour naps these past two days.  All of this allowed me to have my friend's quilt top almost complete!  If everything goes as planned, I should have the quilt finished in two weeks.  And that's including the setback time of waiting for more Kona to come in the mail.   I'm just so shocked by this because it seemed like it took forever to finish my son's quilt.

I think this pattern helps it sew up quickly too.  Exact measurements are not needed.   Love that!  Once completed, this will be my second quilt ever.  I'm really excited if you can't tell!  :)

You may remember that I sounded slightly depressed to be working with brown, but now that I see it coming together I don't feel that way at all.

Lastly, I started a second quilt, but I am waiting to have it completed before I show you any of the fabrics or pattern.  I like surprises, don't you?  All that time has made me really productive!

What have you guys been up to?

I'm linking up to

How to Digitize a Drawing - No Photoshop Needed

Fabric Friday {tonic living} + Fabric Swap?

Happy Friday guys!  First up, I have been wanting to host a fabric swap for some time now, but I wanted some feedback since the people in the swap group are very important!

This is what I have thought about what I would like to do, whether it's now or later.   Here are the options.

Option A

Charm Swap (5 inch squares)

• 56 squares, 1 yard total
• 112 squares, 2 yards total
• Cloud9 and/or Birch, you pick fabrics
• Spoonflower I Spy, you pick fabrics

Option B

Layer Cake Swap (10 inch squares)

• 10 squares, 1 yard total
• 20 squares, 2 yards total
• • Cloud9 and/or Birch, you pick fabrics
  • Spoonflower,  we could have an assortment of our choosing or stick to a theme or color range

I know these are more expensive fabrics ($11-$18/yd), but this will be a great way to get a variety of these organic prints without spending too much!  Also, these fabrics do go on sale from time to time.

Not familiar with Cloud9 or Birch?  Cedar House Fabrics has a nice selection with free shipping for US/Canada, so click on the link to check out the prints.

Please only vote once per poll.  (For Spoonflower, we'll do I Spy for Charms and Layer Cakes could be a theme, color range, or random)

Sorry.  I had 3 polls going, but they were not working properly, so I deleted them.  Fortunately, I caught this later today.  Please read the bottom of this post on how to let me know if you are interested in participating in this

 swap.

Onto Fabric Friday!

tonic living sells a mixture of quilting weight cottons, upholstery/drapery, outdoor, flannel, and other fabrics.  they are based in Canada, so keep that in mind if you are shopping in the US.  prices seem reasonable anywhere from $10-30/yd in US dollars.

Have a great weekend, and thank you for stopping in today!


If you are interested in participating in a swap, please leave a comment below answering the following:

• Do you want to do a Charm Swap of 56 or 112 charms, or do you want to do a Layer Cake of 10 or 20 pieces?
• Which fabric would you like to swap?

1. Cloud9
2. Birch
3. Cloud9/Birch mix
4. Spoonflower (If we do Layer Cakes, we can choose a theme, color range, or a random assortment instead of I Spy Charms)

and when I am working . . .

Colleen, you crack me up.

a peek into my workroom

As promised, here is a glance into the space I work in.  It's not decorated, but it's clean and functional.  (Finally.)  I share this space with Matt and our food storage, but it kind of looks like I am overtaking the place.  I think I am unintentionally pushing him out with my stuff.   Matt likes to do school work and occasional electrical engineering stuff in here too, and he has a ton of computer thing-a-ma-jigs that I "organized" for him.

Enjoy this little peek into my work space!

furniture done

I finished refinishing a dresser and desk that I mentioned awhile back. As I was doing the final touches, as in screwing in the handles on the dresser, one of them broke!!! Ack! What are the odds? Luckily, I found one handle that matches perfectly, but that piece of furniture is now lacking a handle.  I know there are people out there who yawn at white furniture.  I love it!  I could have gone all crazy and cool and painted the dresser a kelly green or tried something trendy like ombre drawers.  But I went the easy route since I am not keeping these pieces.  I had white paint on hand, and like I said before, I like white furniture.  It can go into any room.  Seriously.

kitchen island update + a few others

I thought it was time to give a little update on some past projects.  Long ago (er, March), I mentioned turning a dresser into a kitchen island.  I have it completed except for the back of the dresser.  I needed some time to think about my options, and I didn't want to rush into anything, which is a big first in my life.  Ha!  I thought about some realistic options along with a few crazier ideas like using foil or washi tape.  I even applied a few strips of washi tape to see what it would like.  I thought this was a bit too much, but I think the idea of applying washi tape to furniture could be really pretty if done correctly.

This was just a test.  Totally not doing this.

Lately, I have been drawn to wood paneling placed horizontally on kitchen islands.  Here are a few examples that I love.

Amy Butler's kitchen via

Fabric Friday {Geek}

Thank you to all those so far who have left their thoughts on my previous post.  I'm definitely not the sappy type, but I can't help but let you guys know I truly appreciate your friendship.  I have some amazing readers!  For everyone who comes to visit Owen's Olivia, you rock!  Thank you for all your support, love, and help over the year.

This past week I have experienced beautiful, low humidity weather.  I couldn't resist the outdoors and the feeling of wanting to work.  This past week I cleaned my sewing room, which was a really big deal.  It's not decorated, but it's clean and functional.  I'll snap a few photos so you can see the space I work in.

I finally decided what I will be doing for the backside of my kitchen island, which I will share with you next week.  I can't actually get started on the project until the end of this month or the beginning of Oct.  Wow, Oct. is right around the corner.  When did this happen??

Onto Fabric Friday!  I thought this particular subject was fun!  I wouldn't mind having most of these prints in my stash!

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What I have learned from blogging over the year

Not too long ago this blog reached a year old.  It got me thinking about the past year, and what I have done and not done.  What I would like to do and not do.  What I can do and cannot do.  I thought I would share with you my thoughts on blogging, and what I have learned from it so far.  This is my personal experience, and it will differ from yours, if you blog.  

Fabric Friday {Nautical}

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Oops honey. I love your laptop cover too much that I turned it into wall art.

What was suppose to be a new laptop sleeve for my husband turned into wall art for our home.  Oops.

Is it perfect?  No, not at all.  I struggled in some areas to get a few points to align perfectly, since that is key with triangles.  It didn't matter how many pins I placed, it still shifted a bit.  And can you believe that I FORGOT I own a walking foot???  Yeah, it totally slipped my mind when working on this project.  I guess that's what happens when you get too excited to work on a new sewing machine??  

The dark gray Free Spirit fabric has more stretch than the Kona Cottons, and that is why it puckered and stretched out a little as well.  That's my guess anyways.  I did starch these babies too using Mary Ellen's Best Press.  I will not use Free Spirit solids with Kona Cotton solids again, unless precision did not matter.   Lesson learned.

Overall, I find this piece amazing.   I love how flat it is (minus the ripples).  I love how crisp it looks.  I just love it.  What do you think?

I left it unfinished and framed it in a white frame that I had around the house.  This is a temporary spot for now.  I know it will float around the house since I like to change things up frequently.  And if I get the itching to use it, I can simply remove it from the frame.

Do you frame things you've sewn?

Inspiring DIY projects from West Elm

Happy Labor Day!  West Elm just opened up at Southpoint Mall in Durham, NC, so I headed on over there last week to check it out.  West Elm is one of my favorite chain stores.  The prices seem to be a little more reasonable, but they can still be pricey.  Just not as pricey as some places like Pottery Barn or Crate Barrel.  I took some photos of items that inspired me, and I hope they will inspire you too!


Vertical garden

Scrap wood headboard featuring various widths and thickness.