a new set of mug rugs in linen and Liberty of London

After almost a month of no sewing,

I started back up with an easy project: mug rugs.

I used patterns from "sew illustrated" as I previously did for these cute macarons mug rug:

and of course the cutest pin cushions:

One is for a coffee drinking friend: 

the other is for a tea lover:

Both were sewed in linen and Liberty of London lawns,

new ones that I just brought back from our summer trip.

A couple of them are brand new prints, other are new color ways:

These 2 mug rugs were the perfect homemade presents for girlfriends!

Happy sewing!

a book of colors for a sweet baby

We are back from our family vacations,

where I was able to meet my new niece.

Since she was 6 months old,

it was time for me to make her a soft book:

I previously made books for my American niece and nephew:

 Baby K's book Part I and Part II

Baby S's book,

they were older at the time so for this one, I went with a simple concept: colors

I was inspired by these 2 tutorials from

EmmmyLizzzy and Homegrown Happy.

Each page has its own color,

I tried to find interesting fabric with animals or flowers.

Miss C. was in charge of color order, she is truly an artist,

I am merely a crafter!

I used squares on iron-on batting, and crazy quilted the different fabrics.

the book ended up a little thick so I had to hand stitch the cover to the pages.

This does not seem to bother her:

I managed to put some science in them.....

it is never too early to start!

She is a very happy baby ,

it was so much fun to hang out with her!

Happy sewing!

a cool take on tomato cages

This weekend I built some tomato cages for Mon Cheri,

as a father's day present.

If it does not sound like a cool present,

it is for this weekend gardener!

Because we have so much shade in our backyard (and dogs)

we have a small area in the front yard for some gardening,

and because it is very present, it needs to not be too ugly! 

Here is my second cage, very simply made out of exterieur grade 1x2,

I used 4 of these (~$1.50 a piece), and followed this tutorial from Ella Claire Inspired.

Of course I changed it a little but it is the same idea.

It is a very easy and fast built,

but I thought the raw wood stood out a little too much,

so I stained it with some blue stain (old navy or something like that)

that goes with the navy chair by the front door.

It holds the tomato very nicely and looks like it belongs in the front yard. And more importantly Mon Cheri was surprised and happy! Now we need to cover everything with a net, the neighborhood deer think it is a salad bar!
Happy crafting!

the perfect pie carrier for a picnic

I love baking, and especially pies and tarts,

the more fruit, the merrier.

(apple, peach, lemon, plum, strawberry: click on the fruit for the recipe)

It is no surprise that I usually bring one to parties,

but it is not always easy to carry them to gatherings.

So I sewed this neat pie carrier, that wraps all around the pie, protecting and making it easy to carry:

I followed this tutorial by la chouette,

it is in French but google does a good translation!

it is pretty easy, I used a laminated cotton for the inside for easy cleaning.

I changed the way the long handles is attached,

but everything else is the same.

It has been very convenient so far,

and it works with all my different pie pan sizes.

On the puppy side, Bosco is growing well, bugging and biting everybody, especially Lou, who seems to handle it pretty well:

 we are looking forward to the end of puppy teeth...

Happy sewing!

a little scissors case and a new puppy

Lately, it has been hard to sew,

and from the title you probably understand why....

there are cute pictures at the bottom of this post!

I managed to hand sew this lovely little scissor cover,

made of felt and Tilda quilting cotton (like my jewelry bag)

with a sweet little embroidery:

It is the perfect size for embroidery scissors.

I followed a pattern from Bustle and Sew magazine

as I have previously for this spring wall hanging,

my polar bear tea cosy and my fox pillow.

I guess I am developing a fondness for the magazine,

full of cute and interesting projects!

I made this one for my Mom for mother's day, but I feel like I will be making one for myself, if our newest family member leaves me some time....
Here is our new puppy: Bosco. He is only 8 weeks old, and 11 lbs, so just a little baby. According to the rescue, he is a hound mix,

which I think it quite accurate, well we will know more as he gets bigger. But right now, not much is getting done around here, just a lot of snuggling...

and enjoying the silliness!
Have a great Memorial Day weekend

updating the living room {the ORC editions}: the big reveal

This is the last week of the One Room Challenge: the living room edition. The reveal is not quite as big as I would like it, but I am very pleased with where I ended:

The new paint Palladian blue is perfect, from week Two, and so is the armoire transformation into bar, from week Four. And I have an olive tree (ok fake but so pretty!)

The curtains had a great touch to our large windows, from week Three,

and the update on the library makes it fun again to look for books, from week Five.

And I rehanged all of our frames, updating the big poster from an older Monaco print

to a vintage DC one, with some lovely cherry blossom,

just like on my inspiration board from week One.

Curtain fabric, poster, olive tree,  basket, chairs, Sideboard

This large room feels now brighter, lighter and more modern,

those curtains add a lot of personality!

I wanted to do one more project but unfortunately I ran out of time,

so hopefully I will have time to work on it over the summer...

Another real transformation happened:

Miss C. cut her hair! They grow up so fast.... Happy Mother's day.