New Fabrics!

I've been having tons of fun with some NEW FABRICS!  These five Thread Catchers were just listed moments ago at my Etsy Shop, Curry Bungalow  .  I am trying to break out of my floral box and use modern prints.  These above in the larger picture are positively delicious!  They are from the "Florence" line by Denyse Schmidt. This one just might be my new most favorite!, well... until I make the next one.

Picture Perfect

We've had a bit of snow here at Curry Bungalow.  Not a huge amount, but enough to make the view from the window in my sewing room look something like a Currier and Ives print.  The only thing missing is the sleigh!  That is the Callahan range to the West in the center of the photo, snow covered and beautiful!  It is a rare treat for us to have snow that falls, sticks, and STAYS!

Hello, Everyone,

I have been contacted by a number of people who are interested in purchasing my items for holiday gifts.  It seems that there is quite a demand out there for my little sewing accessory!

Today I posted four new items and will keep my nose to the needle as much as I can to meet the seasonal demand.  You can view my items at my Etsy Shop, appropriately named Curry Bungalow .

Thanks for visiting and check back for more new items.  I will post them as I complete them.

Sheesh!!!!!

I have spent the entire afternoon photographing and posting 

five new Thread Catchers at my Etsy Shop.

Seriously... I'd rather make them than post them. The good news is that I decided to break into some of my new fat quarter bundles instead of just gazing lovingly at them.  Love the two new lines that I am working with!

OOOPS! One just sold! Make that FOUR new Thread Catchers!

My Dreamy Dresden Thread Catcher Pattern is Now Available!

My Dreamy Dresden Thread Catcher Pattern in now available for Instant Digital Download at my Etsy shop,   Curry Bungalow. 

Can I just say here,... I am exhausted!  Tough work, this pattern writing stuff is!  I had set a proposed release date of June 15th, which seemed entirely possible when I set the goal, but as it got closer and closer, I was putting in more and more hours, finessing the text, color correcting the photographs and designing the cover. 

My younger daughter, known here in Blogland as Butterfly, who is a super-talented graphic designer, designed the cover for my Sew In Style Thread Catcher Pattern.  Well, she is up to her eyeballs in freelance graphic design work at the moment and I did not want to lay one more thing on her plate.  So I decided to take the plunge and design the cover page myself.  I did email her my various cover designs and she gave me her input.  As I kept sending her more modifications and variations, she finally told me to just let it be, to go with the first clean and uncluttered design that I had done and to just quit noodling the cover to death. 

Phewwww!!! I am so glad that the pro told me to give it up.  I would probably still be working on the cover... and would not have had the pattern up and listed a full 24 hours before my projected release date.  Thank you, Butterfly, for slapping me to my senses,...but in a very professional way, of course.

I hope that you will enjoy this pattern as much as I do.  The big fun for me is in combining the fabrics.  But I also love making these for gifts.  Imagine, a stunning handmade gift for family and friends for under $20.00!  And that's just for the first one that includes the pattern.  For successive thread catchers, the cost can drop to about half of that price! Get ready to be making these for all of your creative friends and family.

Oh, and please, feel free to pin my thread catcher photo to Pinterest.  It will help my little "Bungalow Industry" immensely if you do.  Thanks so much.  And if you make your own Dreamy Dresden Thread Catcher, please post your own creation on the Curry Bungalow Facebook Page.  

HAPPY SEWING!

My Sew In Style Thread Catcher Pattern Has Launced!

This is the story of 

"The Little Thread Catcher That Could"  

The Pattern Cover Page

You, too, can make your very own Thread Catcher!

The Oh-So-Practical Detachable Pincushion

Woo-Hoo! My long awaited Sew In Style Thread Catcher pattern is finally finished and has just  been pushed from the nest.  Lets's hope that it has wings! I am SO doing the Happy Dance!

It is available for  INSTANT DIGITAL DOWNLOAD at my Etsy Shop, Curry Bungalow.

https://www.etsy.com/shop/CurryBungalow

The whole Instant Digital Download thing at Etsy is kind of a new thing, from what I hear.  That means that you get your pattern within minutes of purchase, rather than whenever the seller sends it out to you.  How cool is that?

As I have mentioned previously, it is not such an easy a task to write down how it is that you construct an item.  I feel as if I could make one of my Thread Catchers in my sleep, I've made so many!  But putting that all in to words is not as simple as it might seam.

So please, feel free to "Pin" to Pinterest, post to Facebook, tell your friends and pass the word.  It is, after all, because of the interest from all of you that I was motivated/compelled to actually write this pattern.

Have you got a minute here?  I just want to tell you how this all came about.

I was just cruising along, selling a few Thread Catchers on Etsy and posting my thread catchers on my blogs,
www.tintheburg.blogspot.com and www.currybungalow.blogspot.com, when people began “pinning” them to Pinterest.  All of a sudden, my blog hits went through the roof!

Flashback to late March 2013... I had just mentioned to Mr. T., (He’s my sweetie of 43, count ‘em, 43 years!) that I had a total of over 5000 hits on my Blog!  I was feeling pretty happy about that.  Then something crazy happened.  Since late March, my Blog hits have gone from a very respectable 5000 to nearly 87,000!  And those hits are almost all driven by Pinterest pins!

People began to email me, asking me if they could buy the pattern.  Well… I didn't have a pattern, other than what was in my head.  So I set about putting it all down into a Word document, which was later converted to a PDF file, and I am feeling pretty good about what I have produced.  I am betting that all of you are going to love making your own Thread Catchers, and then, you are going to make them as gifts for people that you care about. It seems impossible to make just one!

Along with the pattern, I am also offering a supply kit that includes all of the items, minus your choice of fabrics, thread and the button for the posy, needed to make this item.  I will discount the kit if you purchase the pattern and the kit at the same time.

For those of you who are interested in the pattern for the thread catcher with the Dresden block applied to the top, I am already working on that pattern.  It should go together much faster that this one,  since most of the work is already done.  As I am so fond of saying, please STAY TUNED!

I must extend my heartfelt thanks to all of you who have waited so very patiently for this, for those of you who have contacted me and for “Liking” Curry Bungalow on Facebook.  I am over the moon and inside out that you love my little sewing accessory!  It's "The Little Thread Catcher That Could" !

And that just shows.... "The Power of the PIN" !

Lilac Time

It's LILAC TIME here in Southern Oregon. I walk outside and breathe deeply, just to take in their delicious scent.  I can hardly stand to be indoors, well... unless it's raining.  But then, it's the rain that makes this such a beautiful place to live.  I keep telling myself that when I feel as if moss is growing on my North side because the climate is so damp.

More Thread Catchers

I think that I am on to something!  I absolutely cannot keep my Thread Catchers in my Etsy Shop! They sell as soon as I post them with one this morning being snapped up eight whole minutes after posting.

This crazy thing happened.  A couple of my "pins" were picked up on Pinterest from my other blog , T. in the Burg, and my Etsy shop kind of blew up!  I am getting thousands of blog hits per day and tons of interest and inquiries at my Etsy shop.  Who knew that a little sewing accessory would have such an impact?

I am writing the pattern for those who would like to make their own and will have it available soon.  Thanks to everyone who has expressed their interest in my product.  Bet you can't make just one!

  Another Dresden Dream Thread Catcher along

                      with it's pretty pincushion.

                                               

These delicious Joel Dewberry
"Notting Hill" fabrics make up so beautifully",
a very popular model of mine....

And another popular design in fabrics by
Holly Holderman.

New fabrics from the Moda "Honey Honey" line
by Kate Spain.  So pretty!

Coastal Retreat

I am just back from a four day quilting retreat with 30 of my VERY closest friends at Gold Beach Oregon.  We had such a good time!  My friends, Donna and Pam and I drove over to Gold Beach on a stupendously sunny day, a winter rarity for us here, and we were able to enjoy the beautiful scenery along the way.

There was a beautiful new vista around each turn in the road...

with each view more stunning than the last.

We stopped at quilt shops along the way...

and this T-shirt made me laugh.

We arrived at the Gold Beach Resort and set up our sewing areas.  I managed to finish two projects that I took along.  

My Summer Winds Star is still without borders but I am happy with the way that it's looking.

 I had fun with a Jelly Roll that I had been given.

And just for fun, I made this tiny little paper pieced apron block

that will likely become the most complicated potholder ever!

Everyone agreed that our retreat was tons of fun.  It was kind of like a four day 

slumber party, but with sewing machines.  

Good-bye Gold Beach!  See you next year!

My Old Sewing Basket

I have this old sewing basket. It's a little tired and tattered.

I carry my basket with me wherever I go.  I am working on a hexagon quilt, one that involves putting together thousands of tiny pieces.  I sew in the car as The G-Man and I travel from place to place.  I stitch while waiting on our meals at restaurants.  I take my basket with me to meetings and to the Grand-boys games.  .  I stitch, stitch, stitch.

When in the company of other people, my basket holds the power to evoke memories from long ago. So many people want to tell me about the old sewing baskets that they remember.  Their grandmother had one like mine, or maybe their mother had one.  One older gentleman, who observed me and my basket at a restaurant, told me about a book written entirely about Chinese sewing baskets, sort of a compendium for these things.  I think that he knew more about these baskets than I do.  I need that book, I think.

My most favorite part about carrying my basket along with me is when children want to see what I am doing.  I was recently at my grandson's game, and two small girls, little sisters of two of the players, sat themselves next to me on the bleacher seats to watch me sew and to ask many questions. These two little sweet peas were completely captivated by what I was doing.  Although I loved showing and telling them about what I was making, I was sad that they knew nothing about the possibilities that a needle and thread have to offer.

Do little girls these days never see anyone sew and stitch?  I am inclined to bet not.
And that is a sad thing, a very sad thing.

But maybe, just maybe, they will remember my sewing basket and take up the needle and thread themselves one day.

I can hope...