Mary Jo's (and) Fabric Giveaway #2

I guess I'm giving away fabric so that I can buy more....which is exactly what I did Friday. My daughter and I rode up to Mary Jo's Cloth Shop in Gastonia, NC , which is just outside of Charlotte and just a bit more than an hour away from us. When I go to Mary Jo's my palms sweat, my stomach gets jumpy, my heart races and my blood pressure rises. I leave there planning to sew 24/7. I can conquer the world!






When my sister married 25 years ago, she and her husband lived within minutes of this shop and when I visited we would always go to Mary Jo's. I imagine my brother-in-law broke out in a sweat when we mentioned we were going there and I'm sure he knew he wouldn't see us again until nightfall.

Mary Jo's has the lowest prices I've seen anywhere, from the high quality cottons to wool felt (yes they carry wool felt at $9.99/yd - solids and two-color) to linen to.... they carry everything! Some cottons are grouped by pattern like these coordinating dots and stripes, and this picture shows only part of that group.

They have groupings by category like sports, florals, babies, Christmas, fall, etc. and also groupings by color. Then there are groupings by design name like Aunt Grace, and these by Loralie. (I had to have some of the "Bathing Beautys" here.)



Batiks...






...and look at the Michael Miller group. These Michael Miller fabrics are all priced from $5.49 - $5.69 per yard!! I bought several of these for projects and some for tops I'll be making my DD.





This photo doesn't let you see how amazing the Bridal department is. I purchased the fabric and laces for my wedding gown here nearly 20 years ago and still when I go to Mary Jo's there are always young women and their mothers in this department planning their formal gowns or wedding gowns.





And my 2nd sewing obsession after fabric is..............rick rack! And look at the rolls of rick rack! Every color you can hope for! When I told DD I was headed to the rick rack, she just sat down on a bench. She knew I would busy for a while.

Oh how I love this store. I wish all of you who sew could visit it. They are online too at http://www.maryjos.com/ and for now you can order from them by email. The nice lady who helped me Friday (and they are ALL very nice - seriously) said it won't be long before the fabrics are on their website to see, but for now you can link to a fabric manufacturer like Marcus Brothers or Free Spirit, etc. and tell Mary Jo's the design name you're looking for and they will order it and mail it to you. I had ordered some yardage of a particular Michael Miller design and they called me last week when it came in, so I had a GOOD reason to drive up there Friday instead of having them mail it to me.

I hope ya'll don't mind my promotion of Mary Jo's Cloth Shop but I just want you to know there IS somewhere to pay reasonable prices for these beautiful cottons that so many of us love. I don't personally know anyone at Mary Jo's but I do know their prices and I know their service, which is top notch.

Looking at all of this fabric at Mary Jo's makes my fabric giveaway look pretty puny, but I'll give it a whirl anyway. If you're interested in helping me make room for my new fabric, leave a comment and I'll draw a number on Tuesday.

This will include:

- about 1.5 yds. of Mary Englebreit cotton (this is the 2nd piece that I have. Yes I had an obsession.)

- about 1.5 yds. of "Crazy Patch" by Daisy Kingdom

- a small piece of cotton with cute kittys

- about .5 yd. of multi-color cotton with gold design

Swap Package Fun

I got my Summer Bucket of Fun Swap package Monday afternoon and did I get a jackpot of good stuff or what!??!! My partner is Christy and she showered me with fun for the entire week, and then some! First of all, this is the container she decorated to hold my goodies. I will definitely be using this box. I might use it for sewing supplies (I'm always needing another container) or in our bathroom, or for one of my many "collections"...the uses are endless. (The pictures don't do any of this justice. My photography skills are NOT good, especially when the lighting isn't good to begin with.)

And the wrapped gifts....





At this point, I was trying not to tear into anything too fast, but I'll tell ya'...I 'contain' myself at Christmas much better than I do with these swap packages. I don't know what happens to me opening these surprises. I hope I'm NEVER caught on film by anyone!


And here are some of my goodies:

A thrifted BBQ cookbook from 1988 (I've already marked a couple of recipes I'm going to try this weekend), the cutest little bright yellow/orangy vase that's kind of retro looking that is another great thrifted find, pretty sunflower notecards and a sunflower candle that smells just wonderful, a little orange pouch holding buttons and trims (all will be used too), a cute cute fabric flower she made (I wore this to work yesterday with a green top and got many compliments I must say), (3) different yellow fabrics (that will be used towards my bedroom quilt), a new basting brush (I badly needed a new one too), and a package of summertime napkins.

And then this...

Does this not have "Fun" and "Hot" and "BBQ" written all over it!?!! I just love this apron. It is so comfortable and sturdy. Christy is another talented sewer I've met. (She should be selling these.) And that flower on the pocket is adorable - the center is stuffed. Cute! My daughter (my model here) thinks I act different when I have it on. I do. I told you it's "hot"!

Thank you so much Christy! (Your package is on its way.) This is my 2nd swap and I've enjoyed both of them so much. It's so nice to make these new friends.

Now for the fabric giveaway! Ta...da...this weeks fabric goes to.......... Dana! I numbered the comments #1 - #8 and then left out #3 (LeeAnn opted out). I then asked Jim down the hall to choose a number out of #1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8. He chose #5, which is Dana. So I will get Dana's address and the fabric will be in the mail.

But don't fret ya'll. Keep coming back because I'm going to continuously weed out fabric I'm not using and I plan to give away fabric and anything else pertaining to this addiction I have on a weekly basis. I'll be adding another group no later than Monday.

Fabric Giveaway

I'm finally back ladies and very happy to have time to post. More than that, I'm anxious to catch up on my blog reading. I so much enjoy reading what you're making, what you're cooking, where you're going on vacation, etc.

My job (the one that pays the bills) has been extremely hectic the last 2 weeks and I've not had time to do my regular blog reading, much less post. I've read a post here and a post there, but not enough to know what's going on right now so I'm hoping I can catch up over the weekend.

I also haven't been able to sew as much as I wanted but I've gotten a few things completed and have added them to my etsy shop, so check them out.

Now...on to the fabric. If you are interested in adding to your stash leave a comment. I'll draw a name (or number) Wednesday morning and these will be on the way to the winner.


The fabrics are: (clockwise from upper left)

(2) panels of "Robert's Baltimore Album" - (8) blocks per panel - all different

(1) yard of "Forget Me Not" print

(1) piece with 15-20 brightly colored label designs

(1/2) yard of a Mary Engelbreit design (smaller figures)

(1/2) yard of a pastel floral print

(1/2) yard of a Mary Engelbreit design (larger figures)

So leave a comment, and have a wonderful weekend ya'll!

Catching Up

I hope everyone had a wonderful July 4th holiday. I didn't take any extra time off from work, but I got out of my routine with the holiday being in the middle of the week. I did enjoy that extra day though.

On July 4th my daughter and I spent a fantastic day at Lake Lure, N.C. It's an hour from our home and we just love it up there. Lake Lure is a man-made lake tucked in the mountains of western N.C. near Asheville. The bottom of the lake is pure comfort to my feet. It isn't mushy and muddy. It's a very comfortable sandy bottom which also exfoliates my feet for me! A good bit of "Dirty Dancing" was filmed there 20 + years ago. Lake Lure is beautiful, with a nice beach and a small waterpark area for children. You can also rent boats; from pedal boats to pontoons. We packed a nice lunch, sunscreen, magazines, paperbacks, floats, towels and grabbed the picnic blanket by the door. It was a very relaxing day and we both enjoyed it. It was what she calls "Mama and Ellet time".

While there, I got the most perfect picture of Miss Tottus laying on the blanket. This is Ellet, in her element.

fake Chanel earrings: $25.00

real Dolce and Gabbana sunglasses: $200.00

tattered Miller High Life cap begged off of your brother: Priceless

After I took the picture it just struck me how funny this was; two designer accessories and a beer cap! She's 16. What can I say?!! (...and before I forget, you've gotta read Christy's post titled "Independence" last week. Too cute!)

I've been working on some aprons and purses that will be ready for the Etsy shop this week, and I'll be anxious to see what ya'll think about them.

Also, I'm going to start a weekly giveaway of fabric in an attempt to whittle down my stash while making your stash grow! So watch for that to begin.

And thank ya'll for the kind comments about my Etsy shop. I do appreciate it very much.