Time to Destash!

Hi Friends! I’m selling some fabric on my Instagram, sarahsfabricstash. Go check it out and maybe find a thing or two you like!

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If you would like to buy an item, comment on the photo with your email address. First person to do so wins. An invoice through PayPal will be sent to you within 24 hours. Please pay within 24 hours of receiving this. All prices include US shipping!!

Please share with your Instagram friends and come follow me yourself! Be sure to check back often as I’ll be posting new items daily!

sarahsfabricstash

Amie-Kate’s Quilt

About a year ago my cousin, who lives in Scotland with her husband and four adorable kiddos, asked me if I would make a doll quilt for her youngest daughter, Amie-Kate. I was honored!  However, Asher had just come along and I foolishly tucked away the piece of fabric she sent me, thinking I’d get back to it quickly.  Fast forward to nearly a year later (ah!) and I found the lovely bit of fabric and remembered, OHMYGOODNESS, I totally forgot about the quilt!  I quickly sketched up a quilt map/pattern, picked out coordinating fabrics and went to cutting!  Once I got started it came together quickly.  This was a fun quilt to make and I love thinking about it keeping Amie-Kate’s dolls warm for many years to come!

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One Year!!

Rather than try to explain why it has been roughly 9 months (yikes!) since I last posted, I’m just going to jump right back into it by saying it’s been quite the year!

My sweet boy, Asher, turned ONE last week.  Naturally, I had to throw him an elaborate party that he’ll never remember!  I went with a Sock Monkey theme, and had such a fun time planning all the details.

Here was the invitation photo, I just loved his sweet little wave!

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I opted for a lunchtime party, and did a Sandwich Bar, complete with all the bread, meat, veggies and condiment choices you’d want.  To make things uber-cute, I put all the condiments in mason jars and wrapped them with stripy twine and pretty labels.  Because a yellow mustard jar just isn’t cute enough for me :).

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Here’s me and the Birthday Boy.  He had this look on his face just about all day — a little confused and overwhelmed but very taken in by all the sights and sounds.  Love those bottom two teeth poking through :).

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Some of the more fun details were “Pin the Tail on the Sock Monkey” (drawn by my talented mom!):

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And a “Create Your Own Sock Monkey Puppet” station (inspired by this):

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But the real star of the show was the Candy Buffet.  I had all sorts of yummy treats for kids to scoop up, including Gummy Bears, Banana Chips, Animal Cookies, Swedish Fish, Whoppers, Gummy Worms, Lollipops, and Red Vines.  The drink table had Chocolate Milk right at kid height, and I loved watching the littles ones grabbing milk after milk!

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Asher got his own Smash Cake, which he thoroughly enjoyed:

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The Sock Monkey Cake Pops were a huge hit (although they were not easy!!); they turned out so cute!

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I made Asher an “I’m One!” Sock Monkey shirt using the Freezer Paper Stencil method.

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All in all the party was a huge success.  Don’t expect something like this every year though, Little Boy!

Addie’s Quilt

I’ve made it a tradition to make each of my nieces and nephews a quilt when they are born.  This newest quilt is for my brother and sister-in-law’s adorable newest addition, Josephine Addison (she’ll go by Addie).  It was so fun to make another little girl’s quilt, since the last two family quilts I’ve made have been for little boys (here’s the set, if you’re interested:  Ethan’s Quilt, Sammy’s Quilt, Maddie’s Quilt).

This turned out to be such a colorful string quilt, and I even got a little help from my friends in the Modern Quilting Bee!

Addie's Quilt, with my nephew Sammy helping to model

The back simply features a row of strings, sandwiched between the stark white.  I quilted it with a random stipple design, although it’s hard to see it in the pictures.

Each family quilt has a label, and for this one I decided to use my machine’s alphabet to embroider the tag.

I so hope Addie will love her quilt and that it will stay in the family for generations to come!

Asher’s Nameplate

When I commissioned Levi’s mom to make a nameplate for Asher’s door, I had NO idea she would come up with something as special and beautiful as she did (although I should have known!).  She asked if she could borrow some fabric samples from the quilt I am making for Asher, and she ended up photocopying the fabric and decopaging it to the wooden letters.  She even used the same grey paint as we used in Asher’s room.  It turned out so wonderfully and I love that Asher now has something so creative and original made by grandma!

Here’s my little sweetie, he’ll be 3 months in just over 2 hours!

All smiles on his beautiful quilt from Auntie Emily!

One-Yard Wonders (Fabric-By-Fabric)

Hi Friends, I’m still trying to get the hang of this whole blogging with a baby thing, so I apologize for my radio silence!

First off, I was excited to wake up Monday morning to see that my Undies Tutorial was featured on Grosgrain Fabulous!  I’m a huge fan of this blog, so it was an honor to see that!  Welcome to the new followers who found me through Kathleen, pop in and say hi in the comments!

Along the same lines, I have some exciting news in regards to my Undies Pattern….I’m going to have this pattern plus the pattern for a super cute matching tank published in the amazing new One-Yard Wonders book, Fabric-By-Fabric, scheduled to come out this November!  The publisher released this sneak peak at the book, which features my pattern in the top right corner:

Head over to Facebook and “Like” One Yard Wonders to keep yourself up-to-date on the newest info about the book release!

Asher Campbell Seitz

Welcome to the world, Asher!

Our precious boy was born on April 2nd at 12:41 a.m. after a smooth (but difficult!) natural labor and delivery.  He was 8 lbs 5 oz and 20″ long.  Oh, we are so smitten!  He is such a little lover; he has the sweetest personality that his daddy and I are daily learning about.

I hope to eventually sit down and write out his birth story, it really was a blessing to have such an uncomplicated labor.  I’ve had constant help from family and my dear husband who has been off of work.  It will definitely be a reality check next week when he goes back to work!  Hopefully we’ll get into a good rhythm and I’ll be back to blogging soon!

The Nursery

Welcome to my little boy’s nursery!  The babe is due to show up one week from today, and his room is finally complete.  I’ve been slowly decorating since January:  planning, painting, purchasing and crafting.  I couldn’t be happier with the end result; his room feels like an oasis and my husband and I love to just go sit in there and enjoy the space.

This is the glider we found at Goodwill for $25.  It originally featured an 80’s cherry red stain and the most horrendous flower print you can imagine.  We primed and painted it this nice glossy white and I went to town recovering the cushions.  I’ve never tried reupholstery before, but I was surprised at how easily it came together.  I simply ripped apart the seams of all the old pieces and used those to create the new pattern.  The cushions themselves were in great shape so the only extra expense that went into this was $15 of fabric from JoAnns (used a 40% off coupon).  Factoring in primer and paint, we spent less than $50 on this chair.  Not bad considering these look-alikes at Pottery Barn will run you $928.00 for frame, ottoman and cushions (no, I’m not kidding, have a look for yourself!!).

This is an IKEA Hemnes dresser, which we are using as the changing table.  It was a craigslist find, so we got a great deal.  This dresser is full to the brim of adorable clothes for our little one.  The best part?  To date we’ve purchased exactly 3 items of clothes for him.  One was new (purchased the day we found out he was a boy) and the other two were consignment.  Talk about being blessed with a plethera of hand-me-downs and adorable baby shower gifts!  We received so much clothes that I could only fit up through 6 months in the dresser!  The rest is in back storage ready to come out as he grows.

These are cheap IKEA frames which I used to highlight the fabrics I’m using in baby’s quilt.  The fabrics are from Laurie Wisburn’s Tufted Tweets and Monaluna Circa 50s.  Framing fabric is such an inexpensive way to display art.

Here’s his crib with the bumper I made.  This is now the 3rd bumper I’ve made (two other were commissioned by friends) so I’m getting quite quick at making them.  I think this one took about 2 evenings.  The slowest part is all the hand-stitching at the end, but I enjoy it.

These counting cards are from Children.Inspire.Design.  We just spray-painted some clothespins white and strung them above the crib.

This absolutely gorgeous blanket was hand-knit by my dear co-worker.  I am in love with the colors and the design and I know it will be something he will have his whole life!  What a special gift!

This is the mobile my dear friend made for baby.  I had been looking for the perfect mobile for his room and I couldn’t find anything I liked.  When I unwrapped this gift I was overwhelmed by how perfect it was!  She copied the rockets from one of his quilt fabrics and, of course, used his room colors.  I love it so much and I think it’s the most custom part of the whole room!

Well, that’s the tour!  I’m patiently waiting for him to arrive and I’ll be sure to pop on here once he has to announce his birth and also his name (yes, he has a name!).

I’d love your comments on the nursery and any advice you may have for a new mommy!
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Room Details…

Counting Cards:  Children.Inspire.Design.
Dresser/Changing Table:  IKEA Hemnes dresser
Paint Color:  Glidden Granite Grey (Home Depot)
Light fixture:  IKEA Glansa
Build a Fort print:  Nikki McClure
Crib:  BSF Baby Paris 4-in-1 Crib
Grey Rug:  Hand-Tufted Rojan Wool Rug from Overstock.com
Green Window Mirror:  Goodwill find

Changing Pad

Finally, a finished project!  I made this changing pad and matching diaper/wipes case this week.

To make the changing pad, I cut the fabric to 12″ x 23″ and rounded the corners using a CD.  I fused two layers of batting to the outer fabric and then sandwiched that with the laminated cotton fabric, then basted around the edges.  Measure 7.25″ from both the bottom and top and stitch a line to create the folding creases.  Next, sew extra-wide double-fold bias trim (one 3 yard pack is plenty) to the laminated side, turn it to the back and handstitch it to the fabric side.  Finally, attach snaps and you’re done!

The diaper/wipes case is a pattern from One Yard Wonders.  For fun, I also lined it with the laminated fabric.

Next project on the docket is to make a Hooter Hider.  I’m having such a hard time picking out what fabric to use!  I’m not allowing myself to buy fabric since I have such a huge stash, but for some reason I just can’t choose!

Chocolate Guinness Pudding

We went to a friend’s Oscar party last night and the theme of the party was “This is Why You’re Fat.”  We were encouraged to bring the most fattening/sinful concoction we could find.  I found a recipe on Epicurious for Chocolate Guinness Goodness which contained no less than 16 egg yolks, 6 cups of heavy cream, 2 cups sugar, 2 cans Guinness and 14 oz. bittersweet chocolate (after doubling the recipe).  Oh my!  I figured this recipe was fattening enough to make the cut. 

These would make a great dessert for a St. Patty’s Day party.  The pudding has a deep, rich chocolate flavor and you might even get hints of coffee (which comes from the Guinness).  The whip cream topping has a nice Guinness hint, but it’s overbearing.  My husband declared them delicious! 

To make 12 servings, buy a dozen 8 oz. canning jars.  I made Guinness labels and adhered them to the jars using double-sided tape.  Find the recipe below, which I slightly adapted from Epicurious, and my printable Guinness labels here: 

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Chocolate Guinness Pudding

adapted, slightly, from Epicurious
12 servings

Ingredients:

  • 16 large egg yolks
  • 2 cup sugar
  • Two 14.9-ounce can Guinness Draught
  • 6 cups heavy cream
  • 14 ounces high-quality bittersweet (70 to 72% cacao) chocolate, finely chopped
  • 2 tablespoons powdered sugar
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Instructions:

In large nonreactive mixing bowl, whisk together egg yolks and sugar.

Open can of Guinness and pour into large, heavy-bottomed saucepan (pour down side of cup to reduce foaming). Add 4 1/2 cups cream and whisk to combine. Set over medium heat and heat, whisking occasionally, until bubbles just begin to form at edges. Remove from heat, add chocolate, and whisk until smooth.

Slowly pour hot chocolate mixture into eggs, whisking constantly to prevent curdling. Return mixture to saucepan and set over moderately low heat. Cook, whisking constantly, until mixture thickens and coats back of spoon, about 15 minutes. To test if the pudding has set, pour a small amount of pudding onto a small plate and refrigerate until set.  Turn the plate upside down to see if the pudding has set.  If the cold pudding runs off the plate, continue heating the pudding mixture a bit longer. 

Pour pudding mixture into blender and blend on high for 1 minute. Divide pudding among 12 jars, leaving at least 1 inch of space at top of each. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until chilled and set (overnight, preferably).

Meanwhile, pour the other can of Guinness into small saucepan and bring to boil over medium heat. Reduce heat to medium heat and simmer, uncovered, until reduced to 2 tablespoon, about 20 minutes. Pour syrup into small bowl and let cool.

Beat remaining cream until soft peaks form. Mix in approximately 2 tbsp. powdered sugar and 1 tbsp. vanilla (or to taste).  Add Guinness syrup and beat until combined. Using an ice cream scoop, carefully divide cream among 12 glasses of pudding and tap jar to smooth surface.  Top with shaved chocolate and serve.