Getting Down to Business

So, the word on the street is that Christmas is coming. It's not like Easter, which can fall at any time between March and April, and yet still I seem to be caught off guard. It's not because I've been sooo busy with Thanksgiving festivities or anything - I don't know what it is....I should be prepared, ready and maybe even done preparing ahead of time so that I can sit back and enjoy this time of waiting and anticipation. But I am not ready in advance. again. this year. I have made some positive strides though! (Phew!!)

This is the first of four bags I've made over the past few days, fulfilling my need to give certain people homemade gifts. I won't name names though : ) This pattern for this bag came from the Fall 2009 issue of Stitch magazine. I really love this magazine and try and pick it up with a coupon each time it comes out (otherwise it's $14.99... bit to rich for my budget). The first bag took some time, as I worked through the directions, which were very clear and easy to follow and subsequent bags have come together much more quickly. One key is cutting out all the pieces at once, before you start - that really seems to move things along. Also, there was a lot of switching threads for design purposes (and practical purposes). I found that once the first one was made, I could do all the steps that used a specific thread at once and save a good bit of switching and re-threading. My other shortcut had me skipping the use of basting spray (because I have it but can't find it...a-hem) and "basting" my batting to my bag fronts with a few dabs of clear, washable glue stick. This worked for me - please don't cuss me if it doesn't work for you though.

I bought enough of the green fabric for two bags, but now I'm using what I've got at home, so these are very cost effective bags. Even the batting I've saved from quilts that were slightly smaller than the batting I bought was just the right size for these bags, which measure about 11 1/2" wide by 14" high (with my sewing skills). And speaking of saving scraps, the bottom of this bag is the leftovers from this skirt redo. Reduce and reuse!

On the agenda for tomorrow....come up with a new banner head - one that no longer feels of fall. After all, Christmas is coming!

You Know You're Loved When.....

Your mailbox contains a nice squishy, unexpected package from a friend.....and you find these in it. Two doll "robes" in fabric that has a Flea Market Fancy kind of feel to it (at least to me).

As well as a good bit of yardage of the two prints on the left, an awesome "Cowboys and Indians" print (totally not PC, but look at the colors!) and an apron in the prettiest little pink print. I was lucky enough to be home alone when the mail came and was able to open my package all by myself and then pour over the fabrics, take pictures of them and admire them some more without being interrupted or having them taken away from me. What a way to start the weekend! Wishing you an unexpected (and good!) surprise this weekend as well!

Craft Hope Project 9

Craft Hope's Project 9 is about to wrap up. The deadline for sending in pillowcases for ConKerr Cancer is Wednesday. I was holding off on mailing mine until the last minute, so that I could send as many as possible. I was off to a strong start on making pillowcases and then school started for Rachel...and then school started for Sarah....and hey, whoa, where'd those last few weeks go? In the past week I picked up steam again and was able to send 21 pillowcases. All the main fabrics came from my stash and I only about a few small pieces to use as the trim when I couldn't find anything in my stash that would work. Since it was mentioned that they are often running short on selections for boys, I concentrated mainly on making boyish pillowcases. This was a good way to use up an unusually large boyish stash of fabric for a person with two girls.

I got everything packed up per the organizations requests and popped them in the mail this afternoon. And while the deadline for the Craft Hope project is the 15th., ConKerr Cancer is always taking donations. This page will take you to a state listing, where you can search for organizers in your area, hospitals they work with, brick and mortar stores that serve as drop off locations as well as mailing addresses where you can send pillowcases. These really work up super fast and are such a good way to share a smile.

I've Been At It Again

I just can't stay out of thrift stores. Every time I drive past one I wonder what treasures are waiting inside...and what if I don't get in to find them? My girls will not willingly go to a thrift store...but if I ask them if they want to go to a "treasure store" they are all for it. Knowing that they will more than likely walk out with some small "prize" of their own that we really don't need. At least not like I need fabric!

The above lovelies were picked up at a thrift store that supports the local animal shelter. I love that! I also loved that everything was half off!! (Yeah, half off...YAY!! More exclamation points!!) The stack of linens is sitting on a purchase from there as well. I almost cried when I found it. It's a table cloth, the colors are brand-new vibrant and save for two small spots in the center, which is white, it is in perfect condition and I know my Oxi will take care of that for me. It set me back $4. That may have been the happiest I've ever been to spend $4! I am also in love with the bottom sheet, which is really heavier than a sheet, soft, but not flannel. I know not what it is, but it was a $1 and I loved it!

This stack was bundled together at the local Goodwill. I really wanted it for the patchwork piece about two thirds of the way down, but after getting the whole bundle home and washing everything, there are several other vintage pieces in there that I'm quite excited about. I also love the two knits on top. I don't know to work with knits, but these will be fun to find some use for. Oh...and the bundle was $1.99.....but it was also half off, so $1 well spent!

And....totally unrelated, somebody started second grade today. Seriously, I have tangible memories of second grade (some good, some not so good)...how can I now have a second grader? She was nervous about this year - I'm not sure what had her worried, but by the time I picked her up, everything was great. Phew. My baby starts kindergarten this week as well. She doesn't go until Friday and will only be there once a week for the first two weeks for what they call "phase-in". She is not excited, but hopefully the fact that I will be with her almost all day Friday will be reassuring and she will actually get excited once she sees all the cool stuff she'll be doing. In all fairness though, she will get her own post. So two more weeks of hanging with my little buddy and then I'll find myself a stay-at-home mom with no-one at home. Sniff...sniff....

Stocked

Well the girls and I are back from out visit with my parents, albeit a few days later than what we had intended. My Dad gave me the scare of my life while we were at the city pool with the girls. He was feeling a little "woozy" on his way up the stairs to the water slide and while we aren't sure what all happened before people got to him, the end result was him lying on the landing unconscious in my arms for several minutes with cuts to his head and lip. He obviously fell and hit his head, but no one saw it happen. He passed out once I was with him, so I know he didn't fall and hit his head at that point, although maybe he passed out more than once. Who knows. I know that I was scared. Very scared. And I know that I am so proud of both my girls for how brave they were. I am also very grateful for the people at the pool who help him (and I) and some very kind mothers who took my girls under their wings and watched over them while panic and chaos ensued.

The end result was almost four days in the hospital, numerous tests, a heart catheterization and still no concrete answer as to why. Thankfully, he is going to participate in a clinical trial of a new medication and will be more closely monitored by doctors than if he had been sent home with no commitment to the trial.

That's not really happy talk though, is it? So instead of dwelling on that, I am excited to share you what I brought home with me from our journey. Have I mentioned how awesome the Goodwill is by my parents? Well it is. So good that I'm afraid to tell you where it is...you might beat me to the good stuff. The middle pillow case in the above photo came from there. The matching set came from their Salvation Army. The were folded and looked like they'd been stored in a box somewhere very dirty. At $2.99 for the set, I decided it was worth the gamble to see if they came clean. I've soaked them in OxiClean, mixed an OxiClean paste to cover some stubborn spots and the results are pretty good. They need a bit more spot treatment and then I'll hand wash them and I'm sure they'll be just right by then.

The above stack all came from the Goodwill, although I did have to go more than once to score them all. The top piece is a tablecloth (I think.....well, it is now), the rest are sheets. I remember my Grandma having a set like the bottom one, so I was happy to find that. I also purchased my girl's school clothes for the next two years on Saturday, when kid's clothes were on sale for 79 cents a piece. I picked up several Gap tops and jeans amongst (many) other things.

And my awesome thrifting Aunt had left a box for me at my parent's that was full of goodies. This is just a sampling. Beads, buttons, sewing notions, embroidery floss, jewelry pieces, stamps.....a little bit of everything. I am hoping that once the girls are in school, I will have some new found time to put all of my goodies to use. Right after I make the house sparkling clean and have a delicious dinner ready and waiting, of course ; )

Peace Out

If you want to know what seven year old little girls are into right now, at least at our school, it's peace, love and happiness. Especially when illustrated with a peace sign, heart and smiley face. They are drawn on everything. I have yet to find them drawn on my car door, the walls, or other places where drawings have previously made their way, but I'm sure it will happen. There are worse things to be digging though, I'd say. If only we could spread some of the peace, love and happiness around and share it with our younger sister when school lets out. That is neither here nor there though, but this t-shirt is here. I picked up a cute t-shirt for Rachel at the Goodwill by my parent's house at Easter that had peace, love and ice cream on it (also good). It was a hit at school and one mother lamented that she could not find any shirts with peace signs for her daughter that weren't crafted out of skulls or age appropriate. I told her to bring me a t-shirt and I'd hook her up. The above shirt is the result.

I attached the peace sign with Heat 'n Bond Lite and then stitched around the symbol to ensure that it was secured. This way, if the Heat 'n Bond starts to give, the worst that will happen is that the edges will take on a slightly frayed look, which I thought would also be cute. When I stitch on t-shirts, I always back them with freezer paper for stability - it works great. My critic told me this morning that it needed more stuff (the same critic who once told me that her "style" was "fancy"). I found this tutorial on making fabric flowers and decided to add some embellishment. I made the flower into a pin, so that if the friend doesn't share the same fancy style, she can remove it. Probably removing it for washing would be smart as well.

And while I was initially searching my shelf of fabric for just the right one, I remembered my recent thrift store scores. The fairies have kept me in mind, as I scored the above just recently. The bottom two are sheets and the top piece, which I ended up using on the shirt, is several yards of a vintage print. I love all three. I'm thinking that the bottom soft yellow floral will be the back for my sheet quilt, but that is on hold while I wrap up baby gifts. So here's wishing you a peaceful weekend full of love and happiness. We'll be busy celebrating just about every occasion worth celebrating except for a wedding - two birthday parties, a baby shower and a graduation. Busy weekend!

What Are You Up To?

This is what I'll be up to for the next few weeks. I picked out the fabrics for my next baby girl quilt. The jumping off point was the dress on the right. I bought it for Sarah last summer, hoping that she could wear it this summer. No dice. I knew it was a risk and one I was willing to take because I was already waffling between giving it to her to wear and just cutting it up right off the bat. And because I love to find my girl's clothes at the thrift stores, the dress only set me back a buck or two. I pulled the other fabrics from my stash and hopefully will not have to go buy any more. Pattern will be similar to the elephant quilt I just finished, although I plant to have a good bit of bright white in it to really make the other bright colors pop. I'm excited to get to work on this, just as soon as the little people go to bed tonight.

And when I'm not sewing, or running around town doing this or that, or at the girl's schools, or taking little people to emergency dentist appointments, I'm out in the yard, bent over picking mulberries. Yes, it's that time of year again. I am so eager for them to come, but after about five days of obsessively picking them, I begin to wish that they would hurry up and all fall off the tree at once. It is tedious work, makes my fingers look like I'm a grease monkey and has, in the past, been an obsession. I'm proud to say that this year I'm not obsessing about it. I will actually let the kids play in the grass, even if I haven't just picked berries. Maybe that has something to do with the two gallons I still have frozen from last year. But now it's time for fresh berries in pies and muffins and jam and oh my, there goes my waistline. Oh wait, it's already gone. Very well then, dig in!

The Weekend

It may not look like it, but we've got a busy weekend ahead of us. Lots of friends and getting together, so it will be fun, but busy. Taking some quiet time tonight to sew the binding on another Ticker Tape Quilt this evening. This one is a gift for Sarah's preschool teacher who will be having her first baby this summer. I'll share the final results once it's done.
Happy weekend!

Baby Gift in a Jiffy

Quick and easy...I can't complain. This quilt would have been done Sunday afternoon if I hadn't gotten sidetracked by the note cards. As it was, I finished binding it yesterday, less than three days after I started it. It measures 40" long by 28" wide, so it's not a wimpy size, which I would have expected of myself if I was going to make a quilt in three days. I imagine that the bigger you go with this type of quilt, the more laborious it may become, as you have to spin it around so often due to the small size of the blocks. This sews up so fast though, and is such a great way to use up all those scraps. Between the note cards and this style of quilt, my qualifications for scraps are pretty liberal now. One day I will show you how I store all my scraps. I'll give you one hint right now....kitty litter - yup, that's your hint.

I love the texture that comes with this quilt. I am imagining (hoping) that this could be loved by little people who often like things with some texture. Perhaps this will come to be a lovey that has little fingers running across it as a sweet girls falls asleep. The backing is flannel for extra cuddly softness. You can find the details on how to make one of these for yourself back on this post.

The Mr. is thinking something like this might be nice for us, but only fill in some areas with squares. I guess then, I could just quilt squares into the top to help hold the layers together. Something to think about. I think he is thinking that I really ought to make us something, and I think it would be ironic if he's dreaming up quilt projects for me while I dream up wood working projects for him. Guess we're meant to be.

Startin' Somethin'

Yes, I just quoted a Michael Jackson song title. I'm not sure I'm proud of myself, but the fact is, I started something. Since complaining about not having anything of a significant scale going on didn't seem to bring about the results I was looking for, I decided to actually start something. Now I feel much better. I first saw Amanda Jean's (of Crazy Mom Quilts) Ticker Tape quilt when she posted it on Flickr. I was in awe. For one thing I couldn't figure out how she'd made it - it looked near to impossible to make in the ways I contemplated it. So imagine how happy I was when I stumbled upon a tutorial for a doll sized version over on Sew, Mama, Sew! . Suddenly it all made sense, seemed very doable and a great way to use up some scraps. So I've set out to make one for a little girl that is due to arrive in March. This one is larger than the doll sized quilt in the tutorial and size was dictated purely by the size of the piece of flannel I already had for the back. I am almost giddy at the thought of having the gift ready before her birth. That is a true accomplishment for me. My mind is also thinking that if I could have one quilt finished before January ends, and another one started, I may be able to keep the energy flowing and get to work on my New Years Resolution (making more quilts than I did last year).

And speaking of New Years Resolutions, I made one more which I'm already failing at, but it is more important than the quilting one. I want to say "thank you" more. Thank you for stopping by here to read all the irrelevant things I have to say, thank you for your kind comments, thank you for being part of this awesome community.....thank you. I plan to say it a lot more in the coming year as well, but here's a start.

Note Cards

...catchy title, isn't it?


The little bits sewn to paper were turned into note cards. I seem to have developed a tradition of giving note cards at Christmas. They seem well received and are fun to make. Each year I try to do something different with them. This year they were mini quilts. I was inspired by the rainbow wreaths that Amy over at Sweet Sweet Life made, so I tried working on monochromatic cards in the colors of the rainbow. That actually made them pretty fun to create. I managed to knock out quite a few over the course of two evenings, although I didn't get all I wanted done, so fewer went in a pack and some people will be getting theirs for their birthday instead.

These were made using 1.5" squares of fabric, four wide and three high. I used a dab of glue from a glue stick to hold them in place on the card stock and then machine "quilted" them before embellishing them with hearts, flowers, brads and what nots. These have given me so many more ideas that I can't wait to whip up some more! I'm also thinking that a few small ones framed in shadow boxes might be kind of neat. The ideas are rolling, so bring on the time!

We are home from our travels and awaiting family traveling our way now, so the days will continue to be full. I hope the holidays are treating you all well and wish you a very Happy New Year if I don't make it back in the next few days.

Weekend Progress Report

Well my weekend proved to be a productive one. I took a large stack of 10.5'' quilt squares, and managed to get one quilt assembled and completely quilted. Still needs binding, but that will come. That part I can do easily at night after the girls go to bed. It was good to get one out of the way while they were gone, as I will still have the second to get done between now and Christmas.

The second top was assembled, but alas, no more batting, so back to the store I will go before Friday, when I will have another decent block of time to do some covert Christmas work. More colorful block quilts, you say....isn't she getting tired of them? Why yes, I am. This all came about when I had the brilliant idea for a mass assembly line kind of thing to get a bunch done. Since then I've grown bored with that and will be eager to move on to some new quilts soon.

I also got a pair of pajama pants made for Christmas. All her current bottoms are turning into floods. It's nice to see at Target today though, that a plain top to go with them will cost about as much as a new set of pajamas. Oh well, it's the thought, isn't it?

Work was started on a Christmas Emmaline apron for my mother-in-law.

And I cut out a whole bunch of felt leaves. I have plans for some fall decorations which may or may not make it up before it's time for Christmas decorations. Time will tell. I feel the pressure of Christmas fast approaching and wonder if I'm just digging a bigger hole for myself by thinking fall. Diversions are nice though.

Continuation on a Theme

Apparently we're in the mood for pretzels around here. Either that, or our selection of snacks is dwindling. Sarah's big idea for Thursday was to dip pretzels in melted chocolate and add sprinkles, so that's what we did. I must say - that saltiness with the chocolate is pretty tasty. Word of warning - they don't stick around for long. Darn those things!!


This past Thursday was the last day for Happy Hour at Sew-Bee-It. I went. Again. For the third week in a row. And I bought more fabric. Lots of goodness in that basket to add to all the rest that's been sneaking into the house lately. I'm actually starting to sketch ideas for some quilts that are going to stay in our house. Crazy idea, making something and not giving it away, but I think I might give it a try.



And as soon as I get up from my computer I'm headed over to the sewing machine where I'm going to start adding white borders to these blocks. If I did my math right (doubtful), I have enough here for three twin quilts like this one. One for the top and bottom bunk on the girl's new bunk beds and one to send on its way to someone special. I'm going to try something different on the first one though. I'm going to use different whites for the borders around the squares. You could say the decision was driven by necessity, impatience, laziness, frugality - what have you, but I don't have enough of any one white to complete the first one and it would be nice to get rid of some scraps and I'm thinking that, since the blocks are various shades and patterns of a particular color, why not have the surrounding white echo the variety. Good idea? Bad idea? I'll let you know.

Happy Hour

Well, not your typical happy hour, but Sarah and I had fun making some "Cheesy Pretzels" that were a favorite recipe of mine to make as a kid. Our recipe today came straight from my 1980 edition of Betty Crocker's Cookbook for Boys & Girls. It also has recipes for eggs baked in bologna cups and a salad made with pears, prunes, mandarin oranges and a cherry that looks like a dog in profile. A most excellent cookbook, if you ask me. Funny thing though, I can remember pouring over it and thinking about making all of the other wonderful offerings (like "Crater Ham Loaf"), but all I can ever remember making is the pretzels.



They came out just like I remember them....doughy, cheesy, salty and yummy....and way better than a "crater ham loaf"!!

And just to be sure that this post isn't lacking in fabric, I've bought more. Week two of Happy Hour at Sew-Bee-It resulted in eleven more yards of fabric goodness. Since then I've also had a yard sale and gotten a check from a consignment sale, so you can be sure to find me back at the final night of happy hour over at Sew-Bee-It tomorrow night. After that, I believe it will be time to finish the projects already on the table and start cutting into all my new goodies. I can't wait!!

More Fabric

The above goodies are part of my haul from Michigan. Not only was my good friend Anne kind enough to watch my kids while I ran amok in JoAnn's for an hour, but she also had the top three vintage fabrics waiting for me when I got to her house. I am in love with the top geranium print and was surprised to find a tag on it saying it came from JC Pennys and cost 36 cents. The others are vintage as well. The bottom fabric came from a thrift store and feels more like home decor fabric, but a test swatch washed up just fine, so I'll be treating it like cotton.


And then I got an email upon my return from Michigan. Sew-Bee-It, a local quilt shop, is having happy hour for the remaining Thursdays in August from 4-6. All cuts of a yard or more are half off. So after picking Rachel up from school today, we went straight for happy hour, as all good mothers would do. The above it what came home with me, but here's the problem. I gave myself a dollar limit and worked very hard to stay within that limit....but while trying to restrain myself, I totally forgot to give myself fifty percent off, so I only bought half of what I could have. The horror!! I only realized this after I'd waited in line and had everything cut. The only remedy for this gross error on my part will be another trip to happy hour next week.

So, what am I making with all this new fabric? I have some ideas running through my head, but I also think I've gotten smart enough to figure out that a concrete plan might be a good thing to have, so I've got some sketching to do, some loose math to throw about and then I hope to be off and sewing. My sewing area is getting a good cleaning and organizing at the moment so that when I'm ready I'll have a good space to work in. Looking at all my new goodies is making me want to step on the gas!!

Time to Get Crackin'

This has been a busy summer. Lots of road travel for the family, busy days at home, lots of here and there and all over the place. School starts next week. I'm actually looking forward to it because we'll have to stay put for extended periods of time (even though I've already been thinking of traveling over fall break). Last night we returned from out last trip of the summer (I think/hope). We spent a week plus in Michigan visiting first with good friends from college and then venturing further North to spend a week with my Grandparents and ended with a family celebration commemorating my Grandma's 90th year, which will commence in September. By the time her birthday rolls around they will be 90 and 91 and have been married 67 years. They set the bar high!

That's the background story and more pictures will follow, but here's the point of this post. I've been working on my fabric stash. It hadn't seen many new additions as of late and I needed some inspiration. On our hike up I-75, I managed to time our lunch break with a lightening fast trip through Ikea to pick up a few things I had been hunting for, namely the big gray organic flower print. The girls got to play in the play area, I got fabric, we ate in the cafeteria and then hopped back in the car. It was seamless (pardon the pun).



Then, my friend Anne was willing to watch my kids while I went to JoAnn Fabrics. This is a BIG DEAL for me, especially since the closest one to me is a two hour drive. I had enough to time to thoroughly browse, think, rethink and get what I was looking for. I owe her big for that one!!



And then I hit some thrift stores once I reached my final destination. My vintage sheet collection got a really nice boost this past week and I'm so excited to put them to use!! I found lots of other good treasures while thrifting, including some fabrics, and will share those later, as I ran out of daylight today. Why is is that thrift stores in other towns are always better than the ones in my town? I'm not sure if that's a perception or a reality, but it feels like a reality.


So, despite the fact that no, I don't have enough fabric, I do have more than I did two weeks ago and hopefully, it will be getting put to use soon. Very soon.

A Confession

Back in March (or there 'bouts), I went to a baby shower. It was a shower for a second child...gender to be a surprise. I was stumped for a gift - what could I make (quickly) that they wouldn't already have and could be gender neutral? I think I was also in the midst of all sorts of other things that left me not very focused and managing my time poorly. I gave a big box of diapers and wipes. That is NOT the kind of baby gift I like to give. But I did tell myself that once the baby arrived I would make a "welcome to the world" gift that would suit him or her. The mother mentioned that her daughter had a taggie blanket that was her lovey, so I thought I'd make the new baby a taggie quilt. Enter unused squares from baby Charlie's quilt, some fabric tags from scraps and voila, a much more presentable baby gift.

I put the top together just like any other quilt and edged it with the light blue fabric, which I now regret choosing - it should have had a brighter, more fun color edge, but I was trying to make it more boyish. I made the tags the same way I make my bias tape, although it's not on the bias. I sewed around the edges to secure it and then pinned them facing in, to the top of the quilt. I pinned the backing and batting, right sides facing the right side of the quilt top, and sewed it together leaving about a 6" opening at the bottom. Then I turned it all right side out, sewed the opening up and free motion quilted it. Now all that's left is to get this over to the new little fella.

Birthday Bunting

Here's Rachel's birthday bunting, all sewn up. I ended up leaving the letters as they were. I may try a freezer paper stencil for Sarah's, as I noticed Alicia Paulson did in her book, Stitched In Time. Perhaps that's the trick. For this bunting, I cut two strips of the same fabric 2.5" high and 13" long and one contrasting fabric 3" high and 13" long, then sewed them together with the contrasting fabric in the middle. From that I cut three triangles out of each piece that were 6.25" across the top and whose sides were 9" long. I also cut triangles out of a different print which is the backside of the bunting and used the same fabric for the whole back. I used a .25" seam allowance and a chopstick to get the points pointy once I turned them right side out. Easy peasy.

If you haven't seen the post over at Wise Craft or House on Hill Road, and you have kids ages four or older who like to craft, be sure and check out the Artist Trading Card swap that they're organizing for kids. Rachel is excited to start and even more excited to get mail. Kids will be paired up with similarly aged kids and they will each make five to send. Deadline to sign up is Friday and cards have to be mailed by 2/28. You can send an email to atckidswap@gmail.com with your child's name, address and age to get them included. You'll get your group emailed to you on Monday. Now I've just told you just about everything, but go read their posts as well. And if someone can tell me how to keep my almost there four year old from feeling very upset at not getting to participate, please let me know!

A Surprise Find

After dropping Rachel off at school last Friday morning, I was faced with a dilemma. I needed some cotton flannel and batting for the baby quilt that I was finishing up for the shower on Saturday. I weighed my options...Walmart was the closest and I knew they were open. Michael's was my preferred stop for the batting, as I had a coupon, but they wouldn't have the flannel. And Hancock's was on the way home, butt odds were they'd be out of the flannel and batting, but would assure me that it's something they always stock. So I caved and went to Walmart (and Michael's after that, because Walmart's batting choices were nil). But look what I found! I bought a yard of both of these prints and I really love them. They looked like nothing else on the rack that they were with. Well, I take that back - they had a few other sister prints to go with them, but none that I loved like these two. I am pretty sure they were under $4 a yard as well. The selvage says that they were made by Springs. I guess I wasn't aware that they made fabrics for personal sewing. So what am I going to do with these two lovelies? No idea. I'm thinking that maybe it's time I made an Emmeline apron for myself, but I don't know. What I do know is I like them enough that I keep thinking about going back and getting a few more yards.