A little cute for your Wednesday!

Hey everyone! Hope you're having a fantastic week so far! I just wanted to pop in and share a super cute new pattern with yall!

Isn't it precious?? It's called "Polka Dots & Summer" by Fig Tree & Co.  It's a super simple 5 piece dress pattern that includes lots of great tips like how to make easy pleats and bias binding. It even has a pattern for a sweet little bandana! Would be fantastic for a beginner sewer or a quilter who'd like to branch out into making clothes! I think you could create half a wardrobe out of this little dress! Especially since as is, it's a great summer dress and with a little cardigan and tights it's a perfect fall look too! I think it would be fun to jazz it up with some applique or even emroidery! Or maybe trim the bottom with some pom pom fringe. Oh, the ideas! Do you ladies like to make clothes for your kids or grandkids? What would you do to this little dress to make it unique?

By the way, today is the very LAST day to enter the GIVEAWAY (details a few posts down). So follow us and add a comment to enter! The winner will be announced this Friday. Good luck!

Happy (late) 4th of July!

Oh, hi there! First of all I want to wish everyone a belated HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY!! Hope you all had a fantastic and fun weekend! Here in Fort Worth, I don't think it could've been better! The weather was beautiful, and it wasn't too hot which was a miracle. And there were lots of beautiful fireworks to enjoy! Such a beautiful Holiday! I would like to take this opportunity to thank any and all of our readers who are veterans, are in the military, or have family in the military! Thank you for all that you do! We support you and thank you for your service or the service of your loved ones! It is because of you that this country has remained FREE!

A very special thank you to our own Casey O'Neil!

Take me to Hooterville!

Is it Thursday already??? Time is just flying here at the Cabbage Rose! I guess its true what they say, "time flies when you're having fun with fabric!" Okay, I may have altered that saying just a bit but its TRUE!

Okay, so I have the CUTEST thing EVER to show you! We recently got in this adorable little quilt pattern called Hootervile (cheeky name for a quilt, dontcha think?).

Isn't it precious??? All the little "hooters" and trees are appliqued! Now, the shapes are all pretty simple but that's still 16 owls and 4 trees worth of applique! I don't know about you, but sometimes numbers like that can be intimidating to me. But guess what? One of our very own Cabbage Roses, Lisa Irwin, came up with a simplified use for this adorable pattern!

Holy Toledo! Isn't that the CUTEST pillow you've ever seen??? By just using 4 owls and 4 trees she managed to get all of that cuteness into a much smaller and less time consuming package!

This floor pillow would be PERFECT for a game room or even as the focal point on your kiddo's bed! I'm just head-over-heels for it! But I think what's even more important than how awesome this pillow is, is the thinking that's behind it! Just because you see a pattern you love that looks a bit overwhelming doesn't mean you have to pass it up. Taking an element of a pattern that you love and applying it to something simpler or something that's more suited to your lifestyle is the true beauty of sewing! We just need to think outside the box a little bit! I think you could have tons of fun using even just one owl and appliqueing it on to a kid's tshirt or even...GASP...a ONESIE!!! How cute would that be????

So I wanna know, how many of you gals edit patterns to make them simpler or just in a different application then the pattern suggests? How would utilize the super cute elements of the Hooterville pattern? I'd love to hear your ideas!

p.s. Don't forget to follow us and leave a comment on the Giveaway post below! You can enter until next Wednesday! 

Handmade Life

So this is a new feature I would like to make a weekly staple here on the blog. I want it to be about quick and easy ideas that can help people who are interested in living the handmade lifestyle but don't have hours of free time every day. I believe that even the smallest choices can have a big impact so that's what I hope this feature does, inspire some small choices that make a great impact on your life!

Yesterday I listed some new pillowcase kits online and I think this would be the perfect place to start.

 

I think the easiest way to introduce yourself to the handmade lifestyle is to think about the things in our lives that we see as disposable and creating something that is not! For instance, every Halloween I see tons of kiddos carrying around those little plastic jack-o-lanterns that they use to carry all their trick-or-treating loot in! And every garbage day after, you see them in everyone's trash cans. Maybe you only spend $1.99 on those buckets each year, but how about investing the $10.25 it costs for one of these adorable pillowcase kits, spending the 15 minutes it takes to whip one up and voila! You now have a trick-or-treat goodie bag that is adorable, that you'll never want to throw away and that your child can use year after year! Plus, pillowcases won't take up much room in your already full linen cabinet! And perhaps your munchkins would like the pillowcase on their bed all of October! Handmade AND multi-purpose??? Can you say, AWESOME!!

Now, I know this is a very small thing to do, but I really hope that by introducing little ideas, it will inspire bigger ones. And I hope you guys have some wonderful ideas to share here with me and everyone else! Also, let me know what you think of this "Handmade Life" feature. Would you like to see more? I appreciate yall's feedback so any ideas, comments or concerns are greatly appreciated!!

Buttons Galore!

Hey everyone! And Merry Tuesday to you all! There's a lot of exciting things going on here at the Cabbage Rose these days. We've been getting in so many new and beautiful things its hard to keep track of it all! But I do want to share something new that just makes me wanna leap for joy...BUTTONS!!!!

 

Monochromatic

That's right! We now have buttons in le shoppe! We're really expanding our collection of embellishments so that you can jazz up your projects like nobody's business! We have two types of buttons currently. A set of 4 striped buttons and a set of 20 monochromatic ones. There are sooo many colors to choose from!

  

Striped

If you've noticed the past week or so I've been really trying to streamline the website and make it easier to navigate so when I introduce a new type of item, I'll let you know exactly where to find it here on the blog. Hopefully it will get you used to how we're organizing things these days! So to find the new Buttons department, on the homepage under Quilt Shop you will see a heading labeled Notions & Trims. Click on it and you will find the Buttons department! See! Easy peasy!

So, what are you going to use these precious new buttons for??? Maybe on a cute little jumper for the little princess in your life? Or how about tufting a colorful pillow with the striped buttons? There are tons of great uses for them so share your ideas in the comments! And don't forget to follow us and read the Giveaway post for a chance to win an awesome kit!

Receipes from Lisa Irwin ~ Patchwork Express Weekend

Potato Salad

5 lbs of potatoes (boiled with skins on)
8 eggs boiled & chopped
Chopped pickles about one cup
Mayonnaise – enough to keep salad from being dry (Duke’s is my fav)
Couple of dashes of worchestshire sauce
Couple of squeezes of yellow mustard
Couple of shakes of Mrs. Dash
Salt and pepper to taste
Combine all ingredients and stir until mixed!

Pasta Salad
1 lb. of any style pasta (I used multi color)
1 bottle of Italian dressing
1 chopped red bell pepper
1 chopped yellow bell pepper
1 bunch green onions – chopped
½ cup pine nuts
1 small jar of sliced black olives
1 container of grape tomatoes sliced in ½
1 ½ head of chopped broccoli

Mix all ingredients if dry add more dressing to taste
Salt and pepper to taste

Enjoy,
Lisa Irwin

GIVEAWAY!!!

Happy Monday to you all! I hope you've had a fabulous weekend full of creativity! If you're battling a case of "the Mondays" today maybe our fresh and fabulous GIVEAWAY will brighten your spirits!!!

What are we giving away, you ask? Well, we just happen to be offering up an absolutely ADORABLE kit!

Up for grabs is the "Whimsy Diamonds Table Topper" kit! The fabrics are from the line Whimsy and include a charm pack, honey bun and some additional yardage!

If you're dining room table isn't screaming for a perfectly cute table runner, how about using the pattern to make an adorable wall hanging like this one we have hanging in our shop!

This is quite the snag considering this kit retails in our store for $49.00!!! Now, I know what you must be thinking..."how on EARTH do I win this fabulous kit???" Well it couldn't be more simple! Just follow our blog if you aren't following already and then leave a comment on this post! It could be about a new project you're working on, sewing tips, your favorite summertime tradition or just how bad you want this kit for FREE! We are going to leave the comments on this post open until next Wednesday and the winner shall be announced that Friday! Please no double entries however if you'd like to enter your mom, sister, friend or whoever you may post another comment with their name!

Please include your email address at the bottom of your comment so that we can contact you personally about shipping details! The shipping will be free of course, but we'll need to get your full name and address!

GOOD LUCK!!!