Three Kitchen Fairies

Bye, bye 2013 and hello 2014!!

I'm ready to say “so long” to 2013, not in a bad way but in the way that someone says bye to a crazy year of adjustment, acceptance, and re-adaptation.  

If anyone told me that 2013 was going to be this challenging I'd never believe it. Our year started in Argentina, and we traveled for the three first months of the year out of 13 suitcases, and set out feet in four different countries, until we finally settled here. We lost our cat in the transition, we left out dog behind too. If you love your pets the way we do, you know what it means. Even when pets are not replaceable we were able to adopt two kitties: Maple and Chilli who we love to pieces.

My quilting and embroidery, my instagraming, twitting, and Facebooking had to be put aside to put my 100% into getting settled, into finding my way around this new city, and also into making acquaintances and finally making friends. From the past couple of years I realize that farther more important than paper work and unpacking is making new friends, and helping my children find theirs too. Nothing brings more comfort to our unstable months than having somebody to hold you your hand, share a meal with you, sit with and talk.

It was hard but totally worth it. I have a family that feels right at home here. I was able to make new friends and to put my heart into those relationships, I was also brave enough to say "enough" to relationships that simply wouldn't work. Yet, the little blogging and etsying I did went amazingly well. Thank you to the support of my blog friends, I was able to reach out to you and sell my first batch of hexie paper templates. I did miss being part of the on-line community, I felt how 3kitchenfairies was fading away. 

Everything is alright now. We have a life! It's time to say a big THANK YOU!! to all off you involved in the process. All my friends in all the places we were, my dear family always there sending me good vibes and prayers, all the encouragement of my friends in the distance, and all the support I got from my day-to-day friends. God bless you all, having you by my side make me feel incredibly lucky. I wouldn't be able to do what I did this year without you.

I wave bye, bye to 2013 totally exhausted, tired, sore in my mind but hopeful that 2014 will bring new surprises. With all my heart I wish you all the best for the New Year 2014 to you... and to me too. XO

Orange peel/ tea leaves tutorial

Orange peel, tea leaves. Based on the fact that google images gives you the very quilt pattern when you enter either name, I can't really decide what to call this tutorial. 

As you can tell from past post like this, this, or this, you can tell that I've been stitching these leaves for quite a while. In my recent moving trips, my hand stitching projects have saved me some peaceful moments  to rest my mind and breath, and to get back on my feet after the whole moving process; for all that I am grateful. As the end of the year approaches, I realize that very little has been posted on this blog, no need to give reasons... still, I have a little list of things I want to post before we say good bye to 2013. Please bear with me,and stay tune for some crafty surprises. 

These tutorial is available as a PDF by clicking here. 

And remember that the leave paper templates are available at my etsy store. 

Edit: This tutorial is noa available at my etsy store. You can get the tutorial only or you can get a combo that includes the tutorial and your first leaves pack for a special price. Thank you for visiting!!

 

Leaves on etsy!!

I wouldn't offer you these leaves paper template packs if I weren't hooked on them. The first time I tried them was to make this mini quilt that I gave away in a swap. I fell in love with the process. 

Since I gave this little quilt away, eight months ago I decided I'll make my own orange peel quilt. Last night I started the hand stitching of the bias, and I'm so happy about how it's turning out. I'll take pictures as soon as I finish the whole thing. 

It was not hard at all to cut all these paper leaves; on the other hand the minimum amount I could cut were 8000 leaves. So why not share the love for the leaves with you via etsy?!?! They're made of 90lb. paper; they're thicker that regular paper and thinner than card stock. These paper leave templates are 4" from end to end to be applique onto 3.5" fabric squares if you are planning a traditional orange peel quilt. You can also try different lay outs with them. Each pack has from 90 to 100 leaves.

I used all the leaves I needed so it's kind of a de-stash deal, that's why they're so inexpensive. It was still fun to pack them and photograph them for my etsy store.

 

Big hexies!!

Today I'm listing my new hexie paper templates in my etsy shop!! I've been meaning to share them with you for few weeks already and at the same time... well, you know, life is happening. First of all I want to thank you so much for the awesome response to my first batch of hexie packs, that first batch is gone now!! I hope you are having a great time sewing your hexie.

This time around I cut the 1" hexies, and a batch of 2" hexies for people who like myself want to see their hexie project grow faster that with smaller hexagons. These new templates are made of 90 lb. paper which means that it's thicker paper than regular paper but thinner than card stock. I'm offering you 30gr. packs that hold between 35 to 40 pieces which means that you can make 5 [big] flowers per pack. 

You can find the 2" hexie paper templates here, and the 1" hexie paper templates here.