Pieced Coasters

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I've been making coasters all week during tiny breaks amidst all my "spring cleaning". Another great scrap-buster project.



At first I wanted to quilt them in straight lines, but I just wasn't feelin' it.



Then I tried quilting in a squared spiral but I did not enjoy the final effect. It distorted my coaster and flattened it too much.



Finally, I decided plain and simple works best.



I added a few sets of these in my etsy shop. I hope you enjoy mis-matched things as much as I do.









And don't forget to enter my Blog Swap Giveaway if you haven't already!



I've got another great giveaway planned for tomorrow so come by and check it out! Have a great Thursday!

Linking up to these great parties.

Blog Swap Giveaway with Live.Laugh.Photograph

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**GIVEAWAY CLOSED**

Hi everyone! I hope your weekends were fun and productive! We spent the majority of it decluttering the house while the hubby was working. By "we", I mean AJ and I (actually I mean JUST ME while AJ sort of back-tracked me every five minutes but that's ok cause I love him!). I have also started working on a lot of new projects that I'll share with you soon aaand I've also been putting together some upcoming giveaways for you guys!! And they start TODAY!

I'm so excited to introduce Laura from Live.Laugh.Photograph.

She's a military wife and a mommy to a precious little girl. Laura is so talented and probably one of the sweetest girls you will ever meet! She does everything from making jewelry to home decor. She loves photography and recently started sewing. Talk about a super-mom! One of the things I love most about Laura is that she loves to include her daughter in her blog and in most of her projects. I'm all about family and seeing that in someone else just makes me smile!

Some of my favorite projects and posts of hers include this gorgeous ottomon tray



I love this Mother's Day Subway Art she made for her momma



Digital Scrapbooking



Adventure walks with her daughter



Her DIY salt scrub



She made this wall collage of her daughter



And tons more stuff! I mean, I can seriously feature her entire blog on here. She has so much inspiration! But I think my absolute favorite is her Bird Nest Necklace.



And you guessed it... she is giving one away to a lucky Pink Stitches reader!

You can have up to 6 chances to win! Here's how to enter:

Mandatory- Head over to Laura's blog and then come back here and leave a comment telling me what your favorite tutorial is

Extra Entries:

Follow my blog and leave me a comment letting me know you do {1 entry}

Follow Live.Laugh.Photograph. blog and leave me a comment letting me know you do {1 entry}

Blog, Tweet, or Facebook about this giveaway and leave a separate comment for each with links {up to 3 entries}

**Giveaway will remain open until next Wednesday, July 6th at midnight. I will announce the winner the following day**

I did say Blog Swap Giveaway so you know what that means! I'll be giving away this gathered clutch over at Laura's blog so don't forget to go enter there too!

Birthday Giveaway Winner!

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Let me start off by saying that I am 27 years old this year! Alot of you thought I was 30 and that might be my fault. Ok, it's totally my fault! My sister informed me that Varsity Blues came out when we were in middle school!!! I don't know what I was thinking saying that I went to see it my senior year. I'm sure many of you googled the release date and got very confused. Sorry about that! If you only left one comment and guessed incorrectly, I counted your entry anyway. So everyone had a chance to win!! Also I think the fact that I married really young might've thrown some of you off. I was a mere 20 years old when I said "I do." *sigh* So young and in love.

Okay, okay, I'll stop talking now and announce the winner. Random.org chose...

Patty who said

Birthdays Are Special

Bonnie R. (^_^)


Birthdays should be a special time
as everyone should know.
It means living another year of living
another year to grow.

Birthdays should be a special time
for each to then reflect,
On the past and on the present
and what the future might expect.


Birthdays should be a special time
to start anew,
Setting goals and working to make
each and every dream come true.

Happy Birthday, Bonnie

I know You're Great! xoxoxo


Congratulations! And a very special thank you to everyone who participated in my little birthday celebration. I had a most wonderful day!

Five Feature Friday- #3

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Welcome to week 3 of Five Feature Friday! Well, technically it's week 4 but I missed last week cause I was out of town. But that's ok! I found lots of amazing things in Cyber World this week that will knock your socks off!

First of all, I'm trying out this whole weekly menu planning system and I stumbled upon a site that is making this A TON easier for me! Recipe Shoebox even has a visual index full of categories that makes searching her hundreds of recipes that much easier. Check out her Chicken Pasta Salad.



My bloggy bud, Katie from Craptastic, upcycled this retro desk with a fun splash of green color! Doesn't it make you want to paint all your furniture??



I love turquoise, I love pennant banners, I love bikes! The 36th Avenue combined all these elements in these beautifully vibrant pillows. They are perfect for summer!



Blue Elephant Stitches introduced me to a modern look for quilts using a traditional square pattern. This is my inspiration for the Hope Valley quilt I want to make for my bed!



And look at this 4th of July wreath from The Country Chic Cottage. I love the rugged look with all the rustic elements she used. Burlap and raw fabric edges look great together!



If you were featured this week, please feel free to grab a button from my sidebar for your blog! Keep doing what you're doing! You are an inspiration to us all!



I hope you all were as inspired as I was this week! If you were, hop on over to these ladies' blogs and tell them so! They deserve some praise for their amazing ideas. Have a great weekend everyone!

How To Make A Simple Bow

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**If you have used this tutorial or any others by Pink Stitches, please post your pictures on the Pink Stitches Flickr Group! I'd love to see your beautiful creations and feature some of my favorite projects!**

I just love girly stuff! Bows are right at the top of my list. I use them for everything! Today, I'm going to show you how to make your own.



You will need:
- Scraps of fabric measuring at least 4" by 6" (you can make smaller or larger bows, these measurements are just my preference)
- Cutting mat and rotary cutter
- Needle and thread
- Liquid Stitch (optional)



First, cut your scraps into a 4" by 6" rectangle.



Fold your rectangle in half, width wise. You're going to sew along the top and one side edge, using a 1/4" seam allowance.



Clip your corners and turn right side out.



Fold in the raw edge.



Top stitch along both side edges and press.



With your spare scraps, cut another rectangle about 1" by 2".



Fold this piece in half length-wise.



Fold your main bow piece accordian style. I use three folds in my bows.



Wrap the smaller scrap around the center of your bow.



Now grab your needle and thread and hand stitch the center strip from the backside of the bow.



If you're going to sew a safety pin to the back, do not cut off the thread yet. Just keep sewing the pin on and then tie off.



If you want and easier way or are looking to glue these bows to some hair clips, just use some liquid stitch to adhere the center strip to your bow. Don't worry, it dries clear!



Then just glue them to an alligator clip with a piece of felt.



Now make a hundred more and have fun with it!



You can use them for ANYTHING! I like to put them in my hair, attach them to plain shirts and sweaters, cuten up some belts, and they even look adorable on necklaces. If you're lucky enough to have a baby girl, these are perfect for little girls too!





Hope you enjoy! And here is some eye candy that I got on my birthday. I finally got my hands on the DS Hope Valley collection!! I want to make a quilt for my bed with these (hopefully).



And I couldn't help myself with some polka dots and some scooter Echino fabric *swoon*



Don't forget to enter my birthday giveaway for a chance to win this cute little zippered pouch. Deadline is friday at midnight!



Linking up to these great parties!

Birthday Giveaway!!

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**GIVEAWAY CLOSED**

It's my birthday and I'll give if I want to!!

But we'll get to that in a minute. First, I wanted to share some EXCITING news with you!! Last week, while I was in El Paso, I was contacted by Jenny from Whole Port. Whole Port is a company based in Hong Kong that sells beautiful fabrics, lace trims, dollhouse miniatures, knitting supplies, buttons, jewelry, moulds, you name it! They are super cheap too because it's all made right there and they're wholesale prices! And guess who they asked to represent them!! Yours truly! Introducing, my fabulous sponsor...



Right now, Whole Port is hosting a crafting competition called Creativity Expo. Basically, WholePort wants to see who can make the most interesting crafts out of its crafting supplies, so it will send you one of nine crafting supplies (including everything from polymer clay beads to lace trim to origami paper) completely for free. Then you can make a craft incorporating the supplies and post a photo of it on the WholePort facebook wall for a chance to win one of ten $50 cash coupons to www.wholeport.com- the Creativity Expo winners will be determined by the photos with the most "likes" on facebook.

The deadline to request your supplies is July 9th and the contest will run through to August 1st. Whole Port is also offering all Pink Stitches readers 10% off their entire store! Just enter CRAFTFUN10 at checkout. This offer will be valid until July 31st.

Now, I mentioned a birthday giveaway right?? I made this little zipper pouch just for YOU! It's made with linen blend Echino Japanese Import Fabric and lined in a beautiful plum purple.







After I made it, I discovered it's the perfect size for Sharpies, gel pens, highlighters, etc. Are you a writing tool junkie like me?? I must have ten baskets full of stuff to write with. I love PERMANENT MARKERS! I'm just weird that way.

So here's how to enter to win this zippered pouch:

1) Leave a comment in this post. Tell me Happy Birthday, what you love about Pink Stitches or just let me know how plain awesome I am!

2) For an extra entry... You must correctly guess how old I am today! Want some hints?? Hmm..

- I'm between 20-30

- I've been married for six years

- My son is two and a half years old

- My high school graduation song was "Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)"

- I went to see Varsity Blues in theatres my senior year

That's as far as I'll go! Thank you guys for stopping by today to celebrate this awesome day with me! You.are.the.best!

**EDITED TO SAY** Oops, I forgot to mention that the giveaway will remain open until midnight on Friday and I will announce the winner on Saturday!

Custom Kindle Cases

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Before I left to El Paso last week, I was contacted by the nicest lady via Etsy and asked to make some Kindle cases similar to my sunglasses pouches. I let her know I would be gone for a whole week and she was so patient and wonderful about it. She even paid me up front so I was determined to make something beautiful for her!





As usual, I quilted in straight lines and used all kinds of vibrant, fun colors. The only difference is ofcourse the measurements and that I added Velcro.







I really hope she enjoys them!

Tomorrow is a very special day... I will be turning a year older! I can't believe another year has passed. My son will be THREE this November! I'm so amazed by it all. Anyway, hope to see you all tomorrow. I have something special planned! Have a great evening!

Linking up here.