Dresses and Flowers in Bloom

Well it's just around the corner and every store window has an array bunnies, fanciful eggs, colorful flowers and Easter baskets. Unless of course you go to the Mall and there you'll see the latest in Spring apparel in pastels or brights!

Since my daughter and grand daughter are way beyond the age for "Easter Dresses", I took my size 5, little girl's dress form and dressed "her" instead. You can take the "little girls" out of the picture, but this Mama still has the urge to sew an Easter Dress!

I challenged myself to see how many fabrics I could work into the dress and it look intentional. Some mix of prints, just looks like anything goes and I tried to avoid that! I used a cute pattern by Portabellopixie called "Claire". It's by pattern and fabric designer Sandi Henderson - who does an excellent job of explaining how to put the dress together. Her pattern guide sheets are little booklets in full color with beautifully clear illustrations. One of the best guide sheets I've seen!

The bodice is made from a Robert Kaufman fabric "Summer Chirp". Can't seem to get away from that cute fabric. Much to my surprise....it was featured in California Apparel News this week as part of the new " Animal Planet Prints" being used by designers for next season! It was accompanied by prints of peacock feathers, lady bugs, butterflys, dolphins and of course leopard and lizard textures! According to CAN the look is "wild at heart"!

Hope you like the dress!

Another colorful mix of different colors continues to pop out in my front yard....


Enjoy my comical snail on guard for bunny rabbits and all things furry!

Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum Again

Have you seen it yet? I hear the visuals are amazing, that Alice has 12 costume changes and each one supersedes the one before it! The latest Tim Burton Movie....Alice in Wonderland is all the buzz and the buzz has made it to the world of fabrics!

Having just arrived in The Grove, are Tea Time, Tweedle Dum and Tweedle Dee from Moda's "Wonderland" collection. They are great companion prints that are easy to combine in the same garment or accessories for the home.



I can see them together in Anna Maria Horner's Evening Empire Dress pattern or showing off in multi-patterned petals of Amy Butler's Mid West Modern Pillow pattern!


Break out the machine and start sewing up the special something...for yourself, of course!

Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum photo courtesy of Movies.about.com guide, "The Dodo".

Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum

Bye Bye Bunnies

She was so sweet! Reminded me of my grandmother...dressed in a long winter coat (it was raining that day) with a large purse, grey hair and a bright twinkle in her eyes! Walked around the store carrying Ms Bunny at the Tea Party and then bee-lined it across the store when she eyed Ms. Bunny in the Kitchen,then walked up to the cash wrap desk at The Grove and where she spotted Ms Bunny at the Party! She seemed to waffle a bit, looking at the two in her hands and then back to Party Bunny sitting by herself surrounded by chocolate bars, coffee cups and bejeweled note pads.

I was working on an Easter display and of course was curious if she would give one of the bunnies a home or maybe two or three! Couldn't contain my curiosity, so walked up to the cash wrap desk, where Susan was chatting with her!
In the conversation, we found out that she was visiting from Massachusetts and wanted to take something back to her two grand nieces! That's when she decided which of the three bunnies would be going on a trip with her. The nieces are 7 year old twins and what one gets the other needs to get something pretty close to it! So----Ms Bunny in the Kitchen and Ms Bunny at the Tea Party were going to get to fly for the first time!

Good Bye my Bunny's - Be good girls and
love your new Mommies!

Bunnies Dress to Party!

Hard to believe Easter is just around the corner! Spring break is this week for some of our universities and others are in the next few weeks....break is always looked forward to in San Diego. The beaches are covered with sun tanners and surfers for the entire week. This year may be different, since it's been cloudy, rainy and just not good for getting that head start on the summer tan! But our weather is known for changing on a dime...so you never know!

My Easter thoughts turn to Easter dresses and watching the kids kids hunt for eggs. This year I found some adorable bunnies and decided to dress them in some fun fabrics that are available at The Grove.

There's "Ms. Bunny in the Kitchen", dressed in a scalloped apron with vintage and heart buttons made from fabric by Alexander Henry's Lorenza Collection.

"Baby Bunny has Tea" inspired an over skirt of sweet flowers by designer Sandi Henderson called Vintage Dots.

And then there's "Party Bunny" who seems to think "more is more is more"! Her little under slip - if you can see it through all her many layers of ribbon, organdy and bling (which she insisted on having) is by textile designer Amy Butler from her Midwest Modern 2 Collection named Garden Maze.
They have temporary homes at The Grove until a Mommy gives in to her daughter and gives one of the Ms Bunny's a new home!

Back from production....

They finally arrived! The first production run of my judipatuti beadmats for bead artists was delivered yesterday! The bead mats are great for rolling up a project and keeping it "tidy" for your travels or even just to use in your studio.


Had a great time picking fabric combination's, the inside pockets are yet another fabric, so there's 3 fun fabrics in each one! Great eye candy! This shipment is for Beading by The Bay Retreat in San Francisco, co-founded by good friend Marcia Decoster, and made exclusively with them in mind.

Let me know what you think...

Fresh Rain...

It's been raining off and on, seems like every week for the last month. Believe me I'm not complaining since most of the country is buried in snow! I'll happily carrying my umbrella with me, just in case our sunshine turns to liquid! And with the rain, of course, comes unexpected surprises!

Sunday I joined a close group of friends for a lovely brunch in La Jolla at Brockton Villa. It's right on the coast, perched on the side of the hill. We had a great table and were able to watch as the weather began to break and the waves gently nudged the rocky shore.

I really like the ocean on days like that....grey skies with a little blue peaking through and every green thing drinking a much needed drink and getting a lovely little shower.



When I arrived home I realized the flowers and plants in my front yard had just burst with blossoms. They have probably been that way for a while now...but I was able to slow down a
little and really "see" them!







So, I share them with you in h
opes you'll be able to enjoy them as much as I did!

At Peace with the Bag....

Just finished a great little bag to take to the grocery store by designer Kay Whitt of Serendipity Studio, www.sewserendipity.com. She has a ingenious way of putting it together that is not only simple, but leaves nothing to guess! It's the Dharma Eco-Friendly Bag in her collection of patterns that I carry at The Grove. I met Kay at the Houston Quilt Market and bought many of her patterns on the spot!
She's wearing another of her designs, The Torri Tunic, in a fabric by Michael Miller called "Surf".
Both are at The Grove!



The pocket on the front serves two purposes, carrying that pastry item you don't want to get crushed and then when you're done with the bag....just fold it into the pocket and toss it in your car. So easy!

I chose to use two fun fabrics from Michael Miller, "Humming Birds" and "Luna Moth". The selection was made with my husband in mind, who does the grocery shopping for our family. I thought the Luna Moth, in the darker eggplant color was just perfect for him! And I was right, he very reluctantly gave it back to me so I could use it as a sample in the store for a while. I'm thinking I may have to make another one....oh, did I mention that the pattern comes in 3 sizes and they all snuggle into each other and fold up together! So cool!

It's a fun class project that I'll be offering this month at The Grove! If you're not in San Diego, pick up the pattern choose some fun fabrics and make up one that's very uniquely you!

No Place to Put Your Stash?

I found this great little pattern, that when it's made up looks really professional! It's an Amy Butler design called Stash & Dash Bags... I tested it this week and wondered about the zipper install. No problem (eazeee schemeeze) as a good friend would say! It's going to be a March Sewing Project - can't have too many of these - I never seem to find enough cute bags to keep my "things" in!





I've chosen to use some fabrics by a new textile designer Katie Hennagir. She debuted her new line at the Houston Quilt Market in October, where we met and chatted. As sweet as her picture! The little bird and the green, broken line fabric is from her new collection called "Chirp" for Robert Kaufman. It's truly an inspired line and I anticipate seeing more of her in the future!

judipatuti????

It's fun to see and hear people's reaction to the name - judipatuti. It usually elicits at least a smile but generally a giggle and a comment - "That's so cute!" I'd love to take ownership over it, but actually it was given to me. No not by my folks, or by my best friend or my first boyfriend who loved to tease me. But, it was given me by one of my college employees who nicknamed everyone she worked with...mine stuck and I think it's really apropos for the fun fabrics with which I surround myself!





I hope you like it and will visit my blog often to see what's new and fun and of course an occasional offshoot on family and friends, who also surround me. A wonderful husband, talented daughter, (in the fashion industry) who's daughter is our family fashionista, and a son who's given me 2 great grandsons!