Guest Posting: Fun Summer Sundress!

Hey Guys!

Today I'm excited to be guest posting for Thirty Handmade Days, Funner in the Summer Series!

I'm sharing a tutorial for this fun and easy summer sundress made from 2 t-shirts!

Go Check it OUT!

Creating an Outdoor Room

This project that I am about to share, turned out to take sooo much more time that I thought it would.  We have a deck on the back of the house (which I shared on this post last year), underneath the deck is concrete patio.  It seemed like such a good spot that I did not want to waste it. Yet it's one of those "odd spaces" and sometimes finding a purpose for spaces like that can be difficult.

Sew Mama Sew Giveaway Day!

***This giveaway is now closed***

Today Sew Mama Sew is holding their annual giveaway day! If you are new here, Hello!! I hope that you will "poke around" a bit and find something that you like!

Home of the Polkadot Chair part 2

Last week I started a tour of my craft room at home... you can find part one here....

Today I'll finish up the tour with part 2...

This post is part of a series on "home".  It was originally the theme of my blog for April, but due to weather, it has been extended into May... and if it EVER stops raining for more than a day, I'll share with you the big project I've been working on since March.. then I can move on and announce a new blog theme for June!

Gussied up Beach Towels

Last week I got a fun box in the mail!  Silhouette sent me some of their Heat Transfer material to play with!  I have to admit, it's one of my favorite products of theirs to experiment with!  They sent me 2 rolls of smooth transfer material and  a roll of fuzzy vinyl and I must say that I'm in love with that fuzzy vinyl!

Even though the weather here is not cooperating, I've been bitten by the summer bug big time! I can't wait for the smell of sunscreen and chlorine and lazy evenings outside eating popsicles and ice cream.

I decided to gussy up some beach towels...  I've always thought that the sure way to get a kid to "admit" to leaving a towel on the floor is to put their name on it.   The towels were on sale for just $5 a piece, at that price these would be fun birthday gifts for kids with summer birthdays!

Tropicana $100 Visa Gift Card Winner

Congrats to:

We go swimming at a local gym twice a week - the kids love it, and I do too!

Claudia o

If you are Claudia O EMAIL ME ASAP! 

The email you left is not working, and I want to get you your prize!!


and thank you again to Tropicana for very generously hosting not one but two giveaways!!

More sneak peeks

The Stash Books blog has got a great sneak peek at the upcoming Moda Bake Shop book Fresh Fabric Treats.

One of the sneak peeks on their blog may or may not be the project that I contributed to the book...

and I may or may not posted said sneak peek above...  *wink*

Once I get the go ahead from Moda I'll share more details about my project for the book (there are actually 3 patterns included with my project!!)

I can't wait for the book to come out- Amazon is saying early June so it should not be much longer!!!


...and to those of you at Quilt Market in Salt Lake City this weekend, I'm officially jealous! and to those of you going to the Quilt Market blogger meetup I'm doubly jealous!!   Have fun and take lots of photos so I can live vicariously through ya'll!

Derby Cupcakes

We had a fantastic weekend! I love that the Kentucky Derby turns the first weekend in May into one big week long holiday here!

Friday we went to Churchill Downs to watch the running of the Kentucky Oaks (the races the day before the Derby, that attract just as big of a crowd). I love any excuse to wear a hat!

The home of the Polkadot Chair.... part 1

One of the most frequent questions I get about my blog is: "is there really a Polkadot Chair?"  Well the answer is yes, there is a Polkadot Chair...

it's pink,

and it lives in my craft room.

When I first started my blog I didn't like the 1st name I had picked for it.  After spending an afternoon sitting in my polka dot chair hand sewing, I thought it would be a better name for my blog. So I switched it to "the Polkadot Chair, adventures in my craft room"....

What to make for Mom

Just a friendly reminder that Mother's Day is this Sunday.  (I'm telling you this because I forgot until today...)

If you are thinking of making something for a special Mom in your life, I thought I'd share some ideas with you. These are all things that I've posted about here in the past, but would still make great gifts.

for the Jewelry loving Mom... what about a Quick Change Corsage Necklace?

for the Mom who loves to read you could make a Kindle Keeper. (note: does not fit a Nook- I don't have a Nook so I'm sorry that I don't know how to modify the pattern to fit one, I'd hate to just guess and have it not fit).

if you have a Mom that loves to cook and are lucky enough to have some heirloom, hand written family recipes, you could make a "family treasury" cookbook.

For a techie Mom, what about an padded iPad case?

For a Mom that loves the Sun, make her a fun beach or pool bag for summer!

Traci made this cute hanging jewelry organizer as a guest post last year.  It would make a great Mother's Day gift.

What about a table runner for the Mom that loves to decorate! This one's super simple! You can make it in an afternoon.

For a change of pace instead of paper, what about a Fabric Scrapbook?

The Sunday Bag would be great for a Mom with lots of things to carry around with her!

A vintage hankie quilt would be great for  Mom that loves vintage.  You could back it with cotton or flannel instead of the chenille to make it more "grown up"

You can always find a complete list of tutorials by clicking on the "Tutorials" link at the top of my blog.

Now off to sew- finally! --I've got a quilt all cut out and calling my name!!