Personalized patchwork Christmas stockings

These personalised patchwork stockings were recently shipped off to a customer back home in Canada. Today I got a lovely email with the sweetest thank you from the buyer so I know they arrived safely and I'm in the clear to share these pics here on the ol' Milkybeer blog. I'm so incredibly pleased with how these turned out and so is the customer!

The design is based on the DIY tutorial I posted a few weeks ago [still plenty of time to whip up your own before the holidays!] but with a layer of batting added to the back and a cuff and cross-stitched names added to the top. The customer chose the fabrics from a wider selection of options I photographed for her to choose from. We decided early on to go for a monochromatic colour scheme on each one and I love, love, love how it turned out. Not a Christmas fabric in the bunch, but don't they look festive?!

I plan to add stockings to the shop for next Christmas season as custom order items. They will be available in a range of colours (at least these three) and could be personalised or left plain. If you're a super keener and know that you would like to order some for you family for next Christmas, drop me a line at heymilkybeer[at]gmail[dot]com. The cut-off for ordering will likely be early to mid-November 2014.

Also, may I just say how weird it is making stockings and getting ready for Christmas in the heat of summer? It just feels so bizarre. Guess I'd better get used to it though!

The shop is open!

Big news of the day: the shop is open once again! Not everything is listed just yet, but there's already a good selection of quilts, bunnies, hair accessories, mug rugs and coasters to get the ball rolling. The ever-popular Busy Chevron quilt pattern is back too; this time as an instant download. In the coming weeks I'll be adding lots of new things including more quilts, more hair accessories, reversible baby dresses, a few more tote bags, and heaps of made-to-order items.

I'm keen to get going on some custom work so let me know if you've got a project for me to get started on. Quilts make great baby, anniversary or wedding gifts or get a group together and give one as an extra special gift to some lucky friend.

Oh, and if you live in Dunedin and want to make a purchase, just send me a convo (in Etsy) before you place your order and you'll save the shipping costs.

A little housekeeping

Sorry to pause all the crafty awesomeness with a boring old administrative post, but there are a few things you really ought to be made aware of.

First off...did you know that Google Reader is going bye-bye on July 1? Yup. It's true. If that's how you tend to follow along with Milkybeer Handmade blog, please take some time to switch your allegiance to some other reader before it's too late! To make it easier, I added a Bloglovin' block a few weeks back over there in the sidebar. Bloglovin' is just one of dozens of options available to replace Google Reader, but it does seem to be a popular one around the craft blog scene. Go on...click the button...all the cool kids are doing it.

Secondly, I'd like to remind you of my other social media homes: Facebook and Pinterest. Lots of great stuff happening on both those sites. I try to keep things interesting and not simply post the same things you find on the blog, so it's worth following along there too. Don't be afraid to comment on anything you see here on the blog, on Facebook or over on Pinterest. I LOVE hearing from readers.

And finally...the shop...remember my shop? Sigh. It's been so long since it was last open. No firm date in mind just yet, but I do promise to clear away the cobwebs and freshen up the inventory for a grand re-opening sometime in July. Yippee!

As a reward for getting through all that administrative boringness, here's a picture of Abner dressed as a chef and stuck in a box. TDSH and I are so proud.

One last custom quilt

I do hope you're all enjoying the holiday season. We're having a great time here on the West Coast. With the Christmas season, family visits, and getting ready for our upcoming move, there hasn't been a lot of time for sewing lately. In fact, I got my last custom order shipped off just in time for Christmas. I'm thrilled with how it turned out and it looks so nice in its new home!

At 91" x 91", it's the largest quilt I've ever made - and with 151 hand-stitched circles, it certainly took longer than any other quilt I've ever made!

The fabrics were all purchased at Spool of Thread here in Vancouver. Man, I`m going to miss that shop once we leave.

Once the holidays are over, we`ll be in the home stretch before the move, so I don`t expect to be posting here too often. So much to do! Thankfully our NZ visas arrived yesterday and we confirmed the dates for the movers to come so the biggest hurdles are now behind us. Time to tackle the last few things on the to-do list and then we`re good to go! I`ll be back to blogging and running Milkybeer Handmade in a few months - see you then!

On the move...again

The rumours are true. We're moving...again. This time, my little family and I are heading to Dunedin, New Zealand. Of course, one of the first things I did after finding out about the move was check out the local Etsy sellers. I can't say there are too many from Dunedin, but I've pulled together a treasury list of some of my favourites from New Zealand in general. Enjoy!

Milkybeer Handmade turns 1 today!

Happy shop anniversary to me! One year ago today I opened Milkybeer Handmade on Etsy and haven't looked back. Thanks to everyone who has placed an order, favourited my items or my shop - you're awesome! So awesome, that I want to give you an extra special thank you...so, how does a sale sound? Use coupon code ANNIVERSARY10 at checkout until October 31 to save 10% on your order. Yay for coupon codes!

The Positively Patchwork quilt

I made up this quilt a little while ago for my sister-in-law after she asked for my help coming up with a gift for a good friend of hers who'd recently had a baby boy.

Now, truth be told, I'm not known for creating quilts that scream "BOY!" so this was actually a challenge for me. Obviously the jumping off point was this cute little froggy print. Little boys and frogs go hand in hand, don't they? Besides, who doesn't love such vibrant colours! All of the fabric is from my favourite little sewing spot - Spool of Thread.

Like all of my quilts, I created the design myself. I'm a sucker for simple patchwork, but I love how the careful arrangement of squares, colours and patterns can produce a much more intriguing finished project.

If you'd like to make your own Positively Patchwork baby quilt, the pattern is now available as a PDF in my shop. The pattern also includes the basic instructions on how to do my unique circular quilting pattern in case you've ever wanted to know how I do that.

Treasured treasuries

Since joining Etsy way back when, I've been meaning to do up a Treasury List. In typical fashion, I only just got around to it a couple of weeks ago. Here's my first crack at it: Honeycomb Heaven.

One of my own quilts was also added to a treasury recently. See it down there? My Dogeared in Grey quilt was included in a Modern Quilts treasury compiled by a woman in the UK.

It still blows my mind that folks from all around the world are able to see and enjoy what I'm making. So nice!

Send a little love this Valentine's

I've just added these sweet cards to the shop for Valentine's Day. Personally, I love the elegance of the red heart and simple message: "LOVE YOU" That says it all, doesn't it.

Pretty little pincushions (plus a giveaway)

A few days ago, I had a major urge to do a bit of hand sewing. Usually I have a quilt or two on the go which allows me to hand sew to my heart's delight. But, with no quilt to work on at the moment (shocking, I know!), I opted to create a small little project instead. Without too much effort, I came up with these adorable little pincushions.

Made with cream quilting cotton, stuffed with polyfil, and feature a hand-stitched flower in two contrasting fabrics.

I'll be adding these five to the shop in the next couple of weeks, but for now I wanted to give you all a little preview and do my first giveaway of 2012! The winner will receive this extra special little pincushion - it's extra special because it has a button! Oooo. Awwww.

Orange gingham flower with eggplant base...does not photograph well at all!

Here's how to enter:

• Leave a comment here on the blog.
• Follow Milkybeer on Twitter.
• Like Milkybeer Handmade on Facebook.
• Link to this post on your own blog (then comment here to let me know you did it).

Do any or all of these and you'll be entered into the draw. Multiple submissions equals multiple chances to win. If you already follow on Facebook or Twitter, you'll automatically be entered. I'll use a random number generator to pick the winner the morning of Monday, January 16 and will announce the winner here on the blog shortly thereafter.

Good luck!

You can now find me at...

Groovy Mama in Regina's fabulous Cathedral neighbourhood!

Image shamelessly borrowed from the Groovy Mama Facebook page.

Owner Leslie Charlton runs just about the cutest store ever providing stylish, cute and practical products for mamas, mamas-to-be and their babes. She also happens to be a big supporter of locally-made and handmade items (which works out just great for me!) Here is just a sampling of a few of the Milkybeer items now in the store:

Abner modelling her own reversible baby dress back in the day.

Totes for the toddler set.

Patchwork sleep sacks to keep baby cozy at night.

Yup, being in a brick and mortar store is a pretty big deal to me, but it's not the only place you'll find Milkybeer these days. I've also started up a Milkybeer Handmade Facebook page. So, if you feel so inclined, go ahead and pop over there to show me a little love. I'll be announcing special promotions and giveaways there from time to time, so I promise it will be worth your while to "like" the page.

And, of course, by now you've probably already noticed the new Etsy shop in the sidebar over there on the right near the top of the page. The Milkybeer Handmade shop is open and ready for business. I've got a few things in there already and am adding more all the time. In case anyone is thinking of Christmas shopping, the last day to place an order and receive it in time for the holiday is December 11 (within Canada at regular parcel rates) - just around the corner!

Quilts aplenty...

...if 'aplenty' equals 5, that is.

I don't think I managed to share the finished results for most of these quilts yet, so here you be. Five beautiful, hand-stitched baby quilts for your viewing pleasure.

It never dawned on me before now, but I think I can officially call myself a quilt designer (as opposed to just a quilter). I have never purchased or even followed a published quilt pattern. Aside from seeing some in books, I don't even know what one would look like. Each of these quilt designs sprang from my very own little grey cells (that's a Poirot reference in case you missed it).

Whenever I start a new quilt project, the first step is always to sit down with a few sheets of graph paper, a pencil, ruler and, most importantly, an eraser to plot a few things out. This step is invaluable for figuring out exactly what's going to be involved in creating a particular design - better to realize a design is going to be a nightmare at the paper stage rather than once the rotary cutter has done its thing. In theory, this should also help me determine exactly how much fabric will be needed. Yet even so, I seem to find myself back at the quilt shop mid-project with surprising frequency.

This quilt is part of a new project series I'm starting. The fabrics were part of a fat quarter of the month club I joined recently at a local quilt shop. Each month I pick up a new package of six fabrics and use them to create a brand new, one-of-a-kind baby quilt. This is October's quilt (the first in the series). I have the fabrics for November, but haven't designed the quilt yet. What I like is the challenge of working with fabrics I wouldn't normally choose. Let's just say, I'm much less fond of November's fabrics as I was with October's.

I think this next one is my favourite. It busted through a bunch of my scraps (which is always a bonus) and uses a beautiful Kona solid in grey as the main fabric. Word on the street is that one of the local quilt shops will be getting a shipment of solids very soon! This is a vast improvement over a few months ago (have I really lived here long enough to say that?!!?) when they looked at me funny when I asked where they kept their Kona solids. They'd never heard of them, let alone were they carrying them in their shop! I've been forced to do a few quilts without true solids now and though they are beautiful, they're just not as appealing to me.

I will eventually get around to putting these in the shop, so message me [heymilkybeer at gmail dot com] if you want to call dibs on any of them!

True Knit...Truly awesome

Thank you to everyone who stopped by True Knit 3: The Craftermath today! You all helped make my first craft sale experience a most memorable and enjoyable affair!

I was so hopeful beforehand that this event would be a positive experience for me, and I wasn't disappointed. From event organizers Cassie and Cookie who welcomed me straight away as I walked in early this morning, to the lovely ladies in the booth next to me who chatted with me during the lulls, and all the friendly folk who stopped by to shop, browse or pay a compliment, everyone had such kind things to say about my booth and my products. Yay! Here's how the setup looked for the day...

Everything you see here (except for one quilt) was created since Labour Day.

Those bunnies were manhandled by half of Regina today.

I told people to ask and, boy, did they ever!

Cards were a hot item...had people laughing too!

The new Milkybeer banner made from an old wool blanket and vintage sheet.

Hand-stamped hang tags.

I wish I'd had more of a chance to get out and see what other vendors were selling, but it's hard to man a booth on your own. What I could see looked awesome! I do know that I wasn't the only newbie there. Looks like the crafty community in Regina is starting to boom these days (just like the town itself).

My view to the right...

across the aisle...

and to my left.

When we started this whole prairie adventure thing, I set myself a series of personal goals. One was to sell my handmade items at a craft show. Goal number 1...check! Another was to open an Etsy shop. I've done this one too, however, it's empty at the moment so don't go looking for it just yet, please! The third is to sell my products in a store. After today, I think I can safely say I am one big step closer to making that happen too.

Now I am going to put up my feet and rest a while and sip some tea. G'night.

Trying my hand at something new

One day soon I will be opening an Etsy shop. When I do, these cards will be for sale there. I hope you like them as much as I enjoy making them! 

I've never considered myself very artistic (at least when it comes to drawing) so to spare myself having to actually draw and recipients having to look at something I've drawn, each card instead features my fingerprints ('cause you can't really mess that up).

I'm thinking of calling the line ONE OAK because each card is one of a kind...get it? They're fingerprints...fingerprints are unique...they're one of a kind...see what I did there? Yeah, I'm clever like that.

At the moment, I have 11 different fingerprint designs including birthday, thank you, miss you, get well soon, Halloween and Christmas cards.

If you would like to order a set of holiday cards (or any of the other designs) even before I get my act together with the Etsy shop, please drop me a line at heymilkybeer [at] gmail [dot] com and I'll send you the details.