Feature You Friday - Random Thoughts Do or Di

Good morning, StitchStealers!

Today, we are featuring the blog musings of one of your fellow StitchStealers, Diane.  Diane sent her blog link to me, and I was wowed by the gorgeous photographs of her projects, hobbies and trips.  If you like quilting, sewing, gardening, cooking, or travel, I guarantee you will enjoy Diane's blog, Random Thoughts Do or "Di".

A few words Diane had to say about herself:

I am 58 years old, live in California and I am a SAHM to 4 grown sons. I have just celebrated my 39th wedding anniversary with my Mr. Romance. We love to travel, wine taste, go on food tours and photograph all of this.

We have 8 grandchildren.I love gardening, scrapbooking, baking, canning and quilting. I am passionate about quilting and blogging about quilting right now. I love reading all the blogs and learning so many new techniques. I love the look on someone's face when I have made them a quilt. I think handmade gifts are the best.


I have recently been joining several swaps and bees to connect with the quilting community. I find that quilt bloggers are a very loving and friendly group and I am happy to be a new part of this social circle. I will be celebrating my blogaversary in August with some handmade giveaways.

Here is one of her beautiful quilting projects, her Circle Me Back to Amsterdam quilt, which she made using fabrics she picked up on her travels.

Diane's latest quilt below, is a Hexagon Park in Giddy fabrics designed by Lynne of Lily's Quilts.  Diane made it for a dear friend with early onselt Alzheimer's disease (that blog post is here).     

Be sure to visit Random Thoughts Do or Di to see more of Diane's handiwork (and help her celebrate that "blogaversary" in August!)  Thanks for sharing with us Diane!

Have a wonderful holiday weekend!

Would you like to be featured on a future “Feature You Friday”? It’s a great way to show off your skills, share your talents, or promote a business, blog or cause that’s dear to you.  All you need to do is send us a photo (or photos) of a project to the StitchSteals blog at blog@stitchsteals.com.  If you are chosen, your work (and links) will be seen by all of our StitchSteals Blog readers and Facebook fans.  Submit your photos today – we can’t wait to see what you have come up with!

Feature You Friday - Totes by Anne Webb

Good morning StitchStealers! 

This morning, I am sharing a fun tote bag that a fellow StitchStealer, Anne, sent me photos of.  She made it for a teacher's gift, but I think it would make a great beach bag for the summer, a book bag for library trips, or a catch-all for the car! 

A little more from Anne:

Hi everyone! I am Anne from SewManyBabies.  I am so happy to featured on Stitch Steals!  I just started by blog a little over a month ago.  So I am pretty new to the blogging world.  I have been quilting now for a few months.  But I am addicted! One thing that is not new to me is babies.  I have 4 great kids, they keep me pretty busy.  I am also a birth doula.  Helping women with their pregnancies and births is a passion of mine.  It is such a precious time in a person's life, it is humbling that they would allow me to be a part of it. 

Most of the items I sew are for babies.  Maybe I have a small obsession with those adorable chubby cheeks? The new modern baby quilt patterns are just fantastic!  I have a bad habit of seeing a quilt I like and trying to recreate it with my own twist to it.  Anytime I have used someone's tutorial, I include a link with the pictures.  I hope to have it all organized with a nice tab soon.  If my brain can figure out how to do that!!! Thank you so much for visiting my blog.  I hope you will become a follower.  Maybe we will get to know each other!

As a mama who used a doula with her first baby, and a person who loves fabric and seeing other people's crafty talents, her blog, SewManyBabies, was a fun one for me to check out!  She's got quilts and adorable baby bibs projects that she's completed too. Thanks for sharing with us Anne!

Don't forget to head over to StitchSteals for another awesome steal - with a special deal as we continue to celebrate our first birthday!
Have a great weekend!

Would you like to be featured on a future “Feature You Friday”? It’s a great way to show off your skills, share your talents, or promote a business, blog or cause that’s dear to you.  All you need to do is send us a photo (or photos) of a project to the StitchSteals blog at blog@stitchsteals.com.  If you are chosen, your work (and links) will be seen by all of our StitchSteals Blog readers and Facebook fans.  Submit your photos today – we can’t wait to see what you have come up with!

Happy Birthday to StitchSteals! Come join the party!

Good morning StitchStealers!

Happy 1st Birthday Stitch Steals!  To celebrate the big event, Stephanie has gotten some awesome steals for you today to help you organize all of the steals you've collected over the past year (and make room for more!)

For those of you who haven't seen Clip It Up products before, they are FABULOUS!  I "stole" a Clip It Up Jumbo for myself about a year ago and I love it.  I use it to store my stickers and rub-ons for papercrafting, but I may have to grab myself another to use for fabric too.  You can decorate and alter your Clip-It-Up products to match your craft rooms, or suit your needs.  Here's one that is beautifully decorated with My Mind's Eye products (by a guest designer on the Clip-It-Up blog).

I even saw this idea to use it to display Christmas cards (from the idea gallery on the Clip-It-Up website). 

The best part about these products is that you can store your supplies out in the open - so nothing is out of sight and out of mind!

Here's a YouTube video of the Ribbon Organizer in action.  Very cool!



And because we're having a birthday party, we want to make sure to sweeten the deal - with a free gift for you (while supplies last!).  Get a free thermal StitchSteals.com tote with your order today!

Thanks for being such an awesome group of customers and making our first year such a success!  We hope to have many more years of bringing you fabulous steals! Be sure to check out StitchSteals tomorrow, because the party doesn't stop today!

Feature You Friday: Barabooboo Designs

Good morning StitchStealers!

So, who is liking the owl trend in crafting and sewing? I see these sweet little birds all over the place these days - scrapbooking, cards, and many a pillow or stuffed animal.  I have to say that I am a sucker for the little guys. Today’s feature is a fellow StitchStealer, Michelle, who also has a soft spot in her heart for owls.

Michelle has been sewing since the tender age of five (kudos to her mom for teaching her!). She started studying fine at University, but after a sudden death in the family, she found her desire to paint, draw, sculpt and write had waned. She changed paths and moved into a floral design program and then spent many years as a floral designer. Three years ago she left behind that creative outlet and began a new venture as stay-at-home mom. We all know that the creative itch never goes away, so Michelle began to sew – mostly quilts, but also bags, clothes, pillows, among other things. With all of that sewing, she decided to sell some of the extras, and her Etsy shop, Barabooboo was born.  Michelle takes custom requests for her ADORABLE owl quilts at her Etsy shop.  Some of the Riley Blake fabrics she "stole" from StitchSteals are even beginning to show up in her work.

Here are some of her latest creations (and the last photo is a shirt she designed for the Riley Blake Apparel Contest):

Be sure to take a look at her Etsy store, Barabooboo, or visit her on Facebook to see more of these quilts. Thanks for sharing Michelle!

Have a wonderful weekend, and don’t forget to check out today’s StitchSteal!



Would you like to be featured on a future “Feature You Friday”? It’s a great way to show off your skills, share your talents, or promote a business, blog or cause that’s dear to you. All you need to do is send us a photo (or photos) of a project to the StitchSteals blog at blog@stitchsteals.com. If you are chosen, your work (and links) will be seen by all of our StitchSteals Blog readers and Facebook fans. Submit your photos today – we can’t wait to see what you have come up with!

Feature You Friday - Hats for QTs by Anabela

Good morning StitchStealers!

A couple of months ago, your fellow StitchStealer Anabela, shared a few pictures of her adorable crocheted hats. I thought they were so fun and colorful, that I wanted to share them, and her home-grown business, Hats for QTs, with all of you.

 Here is a little something from Anabela, about herself:

Hats for Qt's is a small business that I'm starting as a form of therapy for me. I'm a mother of three beautiful and wonderful children, two princesses and one prince and they are the sunshine in the darkest of my days. One of my quotes is,"the beauty that surrounds me is absolutely breathtaking; it's the faces of my children."

I'm absolutely fascinated with art of every from, whether it be painting, writing poetry or crocheting. It allows me to express my true, worthy self, because in this world, another one of my quotes,"we all have our issues, our problems, our pain, but in the end one thing shall remain; we all have a purpose and we all have worth. We just need to find our passion, take hold of it and share it with the world." God bless!

Thanks for sharing your creations with us, Anabela! Check out Anabela's Hats for QTs on Facebook , or her webiste, Hats for QTs, to see more of her crochet work!

Have a wonderful weekend and hope you all get in some time to create!



Would you like to be featured on a future “Feature You Friday”? It’s a great way to show off your skills, share your talents, or promote a business, blog or cause that’s dear to you. All you need to do is send us a photo (or photos) of a project to the StitchSteals blog at blog@stitchsteals.com. If you are chosen, your work (and links) will be seen by all of our StitchSteals Blog readers and Facebook fans. Submit your photos today – we can’t wait to see what you have come up with!

Feature You Friday - Quilted projects by Angela

Good morning StitchStealers!

We are on a quilting roll the past few Fridays.  Today we are featuring another of your fellow StichStealing quilters, Angela:

Hi everyone!  My name is Angela and I have a long time passion for sewing and fabric.  It all began when I was a little girl and my mom would sew some simple clothes for me.  There was a dress in the pattern books that looked like Little Bo Peep that I adored.  I begged her to make it for me, but with my four brothers she didn't have the time.  So she told me to learn to sew so that I could make it for myself.  I still think about that dress...I never did make it.  As you can imagine it was ridiculously complicated for a young seamstress.

  

I continued to sew garments for myself up through high school and got a job with a local fabric store chain.  It was there that I was exposed to quilters and their patterns.  My love of math and geometry and sewing were all a match made in heaven in the world of quilting.  I made my first quilt for my college dorm room and I've never looked back.  I made at least one quilt a year until a few years ago when I started sewing even more seriously.  Now I'm always working on entirely too many projects and really starting to enjoy designing patterns as well.  I want to try every technique out there and my husband thinks I want to buy every fabric out there too!

Here are just a few of her colorful quilted projects:

Angela also has a blog, Cut To Pieces, and a Flickr account, where you can see more of her completed projects.  Go check them out - there are some very cool pieces - and even more amazing is that she does all of this with a toddler running around!  Thanks again for sharing, Angela!

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend! Happy Stiching and "Steal"ing!

Would you like to be featured on a future “Feature You Friday”? It’s a great way to show off your skills, share your talents, or promote a business, blog or cause that’s dear to you. All you need to do is send us a photo (or photos) of a project to the blog@stitchsteals.com. If you are chosen, your work (and links) will be seen by all of our StitchSteals Blog readers and Facebook fans. Submit your photos today – we can’t wait to see what you have come up with!

Feature You Friday - Quilts of Valor

Good morning StitchStealers!

As we get ready for a 3-day weekend, I thought it would be a great time to feature a worthy cause that gives back to the brave servicemen and women this holiday is supposed to help us honor.

I first heard about Quilts of Valor on Hoarders (yes, the A&E show, Hoarders!).  The woman on the show had a house filled with fabric and quilts and was very involved in her local chapter.  While I'm not going to endorse anyone turning their home into a fabric warehouse, I do think that what Quilts of Valor does is definitely worthy of a attention.


Quilts of Valor is a national not-for-profit organization that "awards" quilts to any American serviceman affected by war.  It was started by a mother of a serviceman who wanted a tangible way to express gratitude to the brave men and women serving our country.  The lap quilts are given at military hospitals, VA hospitals, and to units returning home after combat.

You can help Quilts of Valor in many ways: donate time as a volunteer, donate materials, make a quilt, teach someone else how to make a quilt, or send monetary support.  It's a great way to get involved in your community and to give back and give thanks.  Here is a link to a map of local chapters - check to see if there is one near you!

On this Memorial Day, I will be thinking of all of those who have served, or are currently serving our country.  I am so grateful for the sacrifices they and their families make for us.

Have a wonderful weekend!