1.  Secret Knitting

I have been doing a lot of knitting on the sly, along with everything else that’s been going on. I haven’t been able to say too much, since these are gifts and the recipients may possibly read this. I won’t go into much detail, but they are coming along so nicely I had to share a quick peek:

Secret Project #1, and

Secret Project #2.

They are both so cute, I can’t wait until I can show you the rest of them!

2. Quilt-a-Long

I’m always late on finding these, but here’s a quilt-a-long that was just announced at the Fat Quarterly blog. The quilt looks cute, and only requires one jelly roll (a bundle of 2.5″ strips) for the piecing.

The first post with cutting instructions will go up on September 6th, so that’s plenty of time to raid the stash or get shopping!

3. Giveaway!

My good friend Shutterboo is having a Sweeter Lemon giveaway! She even interviewed me, which was a lot of fun. The giveaway prize is a set of rainbow magnets – if you’re interested, hurry over and sign up, the giveaway ends this Friday, August 27th!

I keep forgetting that I have a large melon head, which means that standard adult size head accessories don’t always fit me correctly:

Is this not the cutest headband? I absolutely love it, but the amount of elastic required to make it fit my head was a bit excessive. I got discouraged, and didn’t even finish it.

Now, a few days later, I’m thinking of this crafty “fail” and started writing a little list of “Don’ts” to keep me on track.

You know – Don’t get discouraged, don’t worry so much, etc. etc. etc.

But those “Don’ts” bothered me. It made me think of the old Psych 101 experiment. If you tell someone, “Don’t think of pink elephants,” what’s the first thing you think of? Pink elephants! If you tell a child, “Don’t spill the soup, ” let’s face it, spilling the soup is almost guaranteed. Why? Because the idea has been voiced. It’s out there. Better to say, “Think about red hippos” or “Keep your shirt clean,” because they are more positive, and don’t require you to think of the worst case scenario first.

Hence, my list of today’s crafty “Do’s”:

• Do remain confident.
• Do stay focused.
• Do strive and learn.
• Do keep trying.
• Do keep moving forward.
• Do have fun.
• Do make things.

Those sound SO much better.

Is there a “Do” that I’m missing? I’d love to hear it!

I’d like to say that it’s because all of my adult years have been spent in apartments. That it’s because I moved so much, so I never got a chance to decorate. Or any of another myriad of reasons.

The truth is? I’m just not good at it. That, plus I don’t know where to start.

So when I saw that Sew Mama Sew was giving away a copy of Joel Dewberry’s Sewn Spaces a couple of weeks ago, I had to sign up.

And as luck would have it, I won a copy!

It’s really a lovely book, filled with projects and ideas for adding fabric projects throughout your home. I immediately found a few projects that I absolutely loved, including:

These fabric and appliqué pictures with etched glass accents;

These adorable bird sachets/ornaments/pincushions; and

these thick, cushioned chair pads.

Along with these items to fancy up your house, the book also includes a few more practical items like a tote bag, pajama pants, and the like.

I’m really not sure which project to tackle first! But I’m hoping this book will help me get started decorating our home, which still has many, many bare walls and is in desperate need of warming up with fabric.

Thanks again, Sew Mama Sew!

Last Friday was my birthday. I didn’t really do much to celebrate, which was fine with me, but I have to admit I was a bit surprised to see a bulky envelope in amongst the day’s mail.

I was giddy with delight to see that Lucia, one of my friends from the potholder swap, had sent me a gift! In the note, she mentioned she’d been crocheting a lot of potholders, and when she saw the name of my new shop, she was compelled to send this one to me.

Needless to say, I absolutely love it:

How sweet is that lemon?

Thank you, thank you, thank you so much Lucia! I really appreciate your kindness and generosity. This is going to go up on the wall in my Sweeter Lemon crafty area (it’s way too cute for me to use as an actual potholder!).

Between this lovely gift, and the excellent music suggestions that Jennifer and San posted on my music post that had me filling up my iPod with awesome tunes, I just want to give the Internet some hugs this week. Thank you all! Hugs all around!

I’m celebrating by posting a not-so-flattering picture of myself on the internet. But it’s part of a tradition, started by my sister, that I started last year.

That tradition is: Doing a cartwheel each year on your birthday:

Birthday Cartwheel, 2010 – Louisville’s Waterfront Park

I’m not doing much else in the way of celebrating, which is just fine with me. Trust me, the cartwheel was plenty.

Enjoy your weekend, everyone!