Guess what...

I'm done!

pre-binding/quilting and all that:

My favorite parts:

The wavy stitching on the patchwork section that matches the trimming

The ghost and its curly billowy stitching

 
The whole witch ...

but especially her ruffled skirt!

(I hate using the flash...)

And here's a look at the back--my first try at freehand stitching! (this is the background section- it doesn't show too much in the front because the purple fabric is already quite squiggly)

It's trickier than it seems, but once I got the hang of it it was much better. If you don't know what freehand sewing is (that would be me before I asked the lady at the store), essentially you change the foot to a freehand foot 

Freehand foot -- or something that looks similar

and lower the feed dogs (the little shark-fin looking things that help pull the fabric through at a steady speed-- there's a switch on the back typically to lower them)

feed dogs

so that you can stitch wherever you want: you move the fabric around yourself. It's pretty fun.

I wish I could take all the credit for this project, but I followed pretty faithfully the original pattern-- I saw it all done in the cotton shop and just loved it. They sell the pattern and instructions, and you can also buy a fabric kit with all the pieces that has just enough fabric to make it (minus the padding and fusible). This is the company and they have so many adorable ideas! I'm thinking I want to make up my own next time, maybe something for Christmas... but we shall see!

Anyway, I can't wait to hang these guys up for Halloween, but I really should wait till October... is that really a whole month away? No, it's pretty much two months. Oh well. They can go up October 15th :)

I'll be honest

I really want a silhouette. It's pretty much the coolest thing since the invention of the sewing machine.

I also think it is overpriced, there I would not buy it or ever wish for it unless the price went WAY down. (Currently it costs $300)

HOWEVER: I would love to win one! So I'm entering every giveaway there is out there, in the hopes that maybe, just maybe, I could get one free. So bear with me if I post a lot of obnoxious comments about it, but it's totally worth it. You never know! :)

So here goes. You can check out this giveaways too by the way, just click on the button.

Creation

It's a wonderful thing :) All you crafting bloggers know that you love to do it. Why do we do it?
Here's a wonderful thought on creation. What I make has value.

Making progress

You like?

This project is so much fun to do!

Memories

Ladies and gentlemen, I would like to present to you my sister in law's new company:
My Memories & More. 

She is a very creative individual and that's why I'm sure you'll love her designs. She and her husband create announcements for weddings, graduations, baby showers... as well as putting together event slideshows or even wedding dvds! They have plenty of templates but you can also have them custom design pretty much anything!

Go check it out, and they're also doing a giveaway here.

:)

Halloween

I realize it's a bit early.. but hey, school starts soon and then I'll never have any time, so why not get started right now? I am so excited about this project.

Andrew showing off my ghost

And so far I'm pretty proud of what I've done; this is a learning project, lots of stuff I've never done--but so much fun! I can't wait to display this awesome Halloween cheer :)

Appliqué, quilting, freehand stitching... woohoo! It took me a ridiculous amount of time to cut out all of the pieces, but now comes the fun part. And this company makes so many adorable patterns! I think once I've finished this one I'll try and invent one of my own. We shall see!

Check out their other stuff too -- I'm feeling very inspired :)

Remember this?

Well... I didn't find the exact same fabric, but I found something

that'll look lovely, and I'm going to copy the dress... I can't wait to get started! :)