Just a Reminder

Today is our big day and your chance to see a little bit of the Louisa bag in action with Anna Griffin on HSN.  The kits will be selling during the noon hour, eastern time.  You can read a bit more about this exciting opportunity here.

Edit to add: You can watch the video here!

That's Our Pattern!

You may have noticed things have been a bit quiet around here, part of the reason is that we've been busy working on this:

It may look like just another Louisa bag to you, but this one was made especially for a kit that will be sold on HSN, by Anna Griffin, containing our printed pattern and her Fleur Rouge fabric!

Needless to say, we're pretty darn excited about this one.  If you're an HSN watching type of person, the kits will be available on Wednesday Thursday, September 13 at noon EST.

Just a few other quick notes for today, our giveaway is still open for a couple more days, so there's still time to enter.  And the discount code {LABORDAY2012} is still good in our shop too, if there's a pattern you've been wanting to pick up.  Hope you have a happy weekend!

Unedited and Sewing Like Crazy

This is how you might find me sewing this weekend {and that's an unedited photo...whew, I'm either feeling brave or exhausted!}.  This little girl wants to be right there while I work, just like her brother!  And I'm working with these fabrics:

on another Louisa bag. I'll be posting more details as I have a chance, it's not a secret project...just an urgent one!

So, if this blog is a little quiet {my mom will still be blogging though!}, you'll know where I am...sitting at a sewing machine with a baby strapped to me {or something like that!}.

Are you having a relaxing or productive weekend {or maybe both?!}?

More Louisa Bags {Made by You!}

My mom and I have been working on getting all our patterns out, and here are a couple Lousia bags from our pattern testers!

by Sandie at Crazy 'Bout Quilts

by Hafza of Hook 'n Needle Creations

Oh, and because I forgot to show it before, Hafza has also made the Anne handbag!  I really think I need one out of Ruby now:

As always, if you've made one of our bags, I'd love to share it here!  Please e-mail us at office{at}cloverandviolet{dot}com!  Also, we'd love for you to add your projects to our Flickr group!

Pattern Release :: the Louisa bag

Just added to the shop is our newest pattern: the Louisa bag!  Made with a Vintage Modern Layer Cake {with plenty of extra fabric left too!} and some Ruby yardage {I adore those tiny sherbet and aqua dots!}.

This is seriously my new favorite bag, I use it every day {we decided to make two, the aqua one is mine, and the sherbet one is my moms!}.

By using layer cake pieces, we were able to cut the patchwork portion a little larger than our other patterns, which is great for showing off some bigger prints {like that pretty floral!}.

And a big thank you to Sandie at Crazy 'Bout Quilts for her detailed pattern reviewing!  It's been a great week so far, and I'm really looking forward to a lazy weekend {read: no pattern writing for a couple days!}.

Sewing Lessons

Although I've hardly touched my sewing machine since returning home from vacation {it seems like any sort of kink in my schedule just throws me for a loop!}, I actually spent a lot of time at the sewing machine while we were gone!

My husband's youngest sister, who just graduated from high school, really wanted to learn how to sew, so we broke out her mom's lovely Bernina, a Terrain charm pack and yardage, and sewed up this lovely bag.

Actually, we didn't sew it, she did!  I just guided her through the steps, and helped with re-threading the machine, etc.  We had a great time, and she was so proud of her work {can you tell?!}:

Hopefully she'll be getting a chance to do more sewing soon!

The Name Game {and a few other things}

Last week I got a bit ahead of myself and posted that we were featured on The Name Game by Cindy of Life a Colorful Life...she had e-mailed me and told me that we would be the 25th, and somehow I lost track of time and thought last week was the 25th!  While I was glad to discover I hadn't lost an entire week...I'm a little embarrassed that I posted early!  Oops!

So, for real this time, head over and check it out!

And, in case you're looking for some new sewing projects, Cindy, along with Corey of Little Miss Shabby and Deborah of Simply Miss Luella, is starting a Fusion Blanket Crochet Along...now if only I had time to learn crochet!

Also, today on Sew, Mama, Sew, my version of the Lunch Bag by Ayumi of Pink Penguin and our Stella diaper bag have been included in Melanie's Sewing Trends of patchwork bags!  Hopefully the pattern will be available soon {writing patterns with a squirmy baby takes more time than I anticipated!}, please feel free to e-mail us at office{at}cloverandviolet.com if you'd like to be notified when it's available.

 And, my Little Charmer Wallet is featured on Sew Can She, if you're looking for tutorials of anything, Sew Can She is a great place to find them, Caroline features some of the best tutorials in the sewing/blogging community and I'm honored that mine have been included!

It seems like this week is already off to a busy start!  What are you sewing?

Lunch Bag Pattern Review :: Purse Palooza

Today you can find my pattern review of the Lunch Bag from the tutorial by Ayumi of Pink Penguin as part of the Sew Sweetness Purse Palooza.  I had a lot of fun making this little bag and have been using to to carry around my Garden Steps embroidery blocks!

And, for anyone who has been reading here very long, you know one of my goals is to mix fabrics instead of just using collections, like I usually do, and I am happy to say this little purse has quite the variety of fabric in it!  One little step in the right direction!

P.S.  I mentioned in my review that I was a little disappointed that the pattern had a raw edge on the inside, and I chose to finish mine with bias tape, which was a bit difficult.  However, Ayumi has since updated her tutorial with an easy way to finish the inside, yay!  What a great addition to an adorable bag!

What on Earth?

This morning when I got up {after a nearly sleepless night because poor Norah has a diaper rash...} I sat down to play with Norah, drink my coffee {is it okay to brag that my darling husband makes coffee every morning before I get out of bed?}, and check my e-mail.  Shockingly, there were lots of pattern sales receipts!  At first I thought maybe something had malfunctioned...but no, we really just sold a bunch of patterns, this morning!  What?

Interestingly, these patterns were sold on Craftsy...so I hopped over to see if I could find out what happened, but no luck.  However, as the morning continued, our Sophie beach bag climbed to the #1 trending quilting pattern!  What?

So, like any excited school girl pattern designer, I took a screen shot.  And there you have it:

This is super exciting!  My mom and I work really hard to design new, pretty, and purposeful bag patterns, and it's so exciting to see one of our patterns sell really well {at least for the day, but hopefully it will be a new trend!}.  Oh, and if you happen to know how our pattern got such sudden attention...do let me know!
 
Edit to add: Thanks Jackie for letting us know about the newsletter, and thanks Craftsy for the feature, you can see it here.

Pattern Release {the Charlotte bag}

Available here!

Just stopping in to let you know I finally finished the Charlotte bag pattern!  It's in the shop now!

Along the Way

I tend to be a don't-show-it-until-it's-finished kind of blogger...this is not because I think this blog should be some sort of show and tell parade, but rather because I also tend to be a work-on-the-same-project-for-a-year kind of sewist/quilter.

But, I've decided to change things up!  Since I am not super woman {far from it, actually!}, I cannot keep up posting several finished projects each week.  But, I enjoy chatting with all of you, so, instead I'm going to start showing you what I'm working on, my current project is:

I'm working with this cute stack for Sara's Purse Palooza, and you'll get to see the finished bag on June 19th.  I've cut up a bunch of 2 1/2" squares {I can't seem to make a non-patchwork bag!} and then I'm almost sure I'm going to cut into my DS Quilts for Joanns and some of my remaining Bliss by Bonnie & Camille for Moda...  More about Purse Palooza here:






And, if you're into the techie sort of thing, I have a tutorial on watermarks on my other blog today!

How do you feel about unfinished projects?  Want to see every step of the way, or is that too much?  Okay, I meant, a few shots along the way...!

Giveaway Day is Here

Welcome everyone! It's Giveaway Day over at Sew, Mama, Sew, and because everyone loves a giveaway, we're joining the fun. If you're new here, we'd love it if you take a look around {and maybe even decide to stay and follow along!}. And for all our faithful readers {and friends!}, thank you for making this blog fun and exciting all year long. We really couldn't keep it up without you!

We thought we'd change things up a bit and give away a bag this time!  Just leave a comment on this post about what you're most looking forward to for summer and you'll be entered to win the Lizzy bag pictured above!

You have until May 25th, 5pm PDT to enter and then we'll chose a random winner.  Please make sure we have some way of contacting you, if your e-mail isn't in your profile, please leave it in your comment {read here about how to add it to your profile!}.  This giveaway is open internationally too.  Good luck!

More Bags!

Pattern Coming Soon!

This is {nearly} the final bag we've been working away on.  Although all our work is a team effort, this bag more than most as my mom made the outside and I finished the lining!  There is actually a second version of this same bag sitting on my ironing board...in pretty pinks!  I just have to finish up the lining for it too!

Now I just need to get down to business and finish up all three coming soon patterns!

I also wanted to show you a few more lovely bags that have been finished {sorry for not posting sooner, it has been hectic around here!}:

Here is the Sophie bag by Emily of Mommy's Nap Time, isn't it darling?  I love the little heart stitching, and she used that adorable Washi fabric for the handles and lining {more pictures here!}.

And the Emma clutch by Kat of Diary of a Flutter.Kat.  I love the colors she's used {I see a few of my personal favorites...plus some other darling fabrics I'd never seen!}.  Because Kat doesn't really embroider, she just did a plain flap, but the embroidery might have made the bag too busy.  You can see more pictures here and here!

Hope you're having a happy weekend!

the Charlotte purse

Pattern coming soon!

Whew...I hope I'm not the only one who puts off the important work until the last minute...but, here is the second bag we designed for Blend Fabrics.  This one uses Preeti by Jessica Swift {you can find the fabric here}.

When my mom and I were choosing fabrics, she suggested we choose neutrals to go with the brights...I'll admit, I was hesitant, but am so glad we did!  I think the neutral dottie is my favorite print of the whole bag {maybe the whole line - do I need to stash some yardage?!}

I've been wanting to design a cross-body, adjustable strap bag for a long time {once upon a time I had a favorite cross-body purse that I used until it fell apart}, and this seemed just the right fabric to do it with.  I added a strip of Kona Stone bring a soothing tone to the bag.

When designing this bag, I actually had a bit of trouble getting my idea to turn out right, first I made this pocket, but then felt the middle piece was just too large:

I also didn't like the way I had sewn the darts down on the bottom, so I did a little seam ripping and re-sewing {and discovering I  had sewn it upside down...and more seam ripping and re-sewing} to get it right, but I am glad I did.

And, if you'd like to get your hands on some of this fabric, we're giving away a fat eighth bundle of  all the prints we have {to include a few that didn't make it into this bag!}.

Want to enter?  It will be the first prize in our Summertime Adventures Blog Hop and Tutorial Series.  So, get started with those travel sewing kits {more details here}.

A Few Things

Whew, it's been quite the week already...and it's only Tuesday!  I know I promised the Garden Steps :: Block Four for Monday...but my day got away from me.  I worked on the drawing above instead.  It's my entry for the Fabric8 contest.

It was my first attempt at painting, and I am pleased with the result!  However, there are tons of great submissions...so I doubt I really have a chance.  But, I really didn't have a chance without entering, so I figured it was worth a try!  Maybe I do have a little fabric designing in my future...we'll see.

I also have a couple more bags to show you:

The Anne bag made by Sunni of Love Affair with my Brother.  I love her use of solids!  It really makes the details pop, and the pieced covered button is too cute.  She also chose to leave out the binding, and I think it has a great look!

The Claire bag by Jeni of In Color Order.  You know how I feel about purples, and this sweet color combination is really great.  I love how the hexagons stand out, but aren't too bold.  And the striped binding and handles, yes please!

Thanks to both of these ladies for taking their time to make these bags!  If you've made one of our patterns, we'd love to show it off too, just e-mail us at office {at} cloverandviolet.com.