French Themed Bridal Shower

Well, seeing as though my sister-in-law's wedding was this past weekend, I figured it was about time for me to finally post these pictures from her french-themed bridal shower.  Her shower was many months ago, but with so much going on lately, I just never got around to sharing these with all of you.  We won't have the wedding pictures back for a couple weeks, so I'll fill you in on how the girls did as the flower girls and the whole wonderful experience once I have some pictures to share.  All I can tell you right now is that is was amazing and my sister-in-law, Abigail, was simply stunning. 

I know I talk about my mom a lot here on the blog, but my mother-in-law, Vicki, is quite the creative soul herself.  She makes art dolls and has a fabulously decked out studio in their home.  She also knows how to throw a really great party.  So she went all out when it came to her daughters bridal shower.  Abby and Bryan left yesterday to spend two weeks touring around France on their honeymoon, so the entire bridal shower was centered around their honeymoon destination.

Are you ready for a lot pictures? Here goes.......

Our family loves to eat, so the shower was definitely centered around delicious french-themed food prepared by my mother-in-law with some help from her sisters.

 Everyone went home with one of these amazing ornaments.  They were all a little different and they were wrapped up so pretty.

Lots of fresh flowers all around.

 How fun is this donut cake that my mother-in-law put together?  So cute!

There were so many yummy sweets to try, but my girls always love their berries, so they couldn't get enough of these delicious strawberries.

These were the different labels for the food at the shower.  I loved these fresh roses.  So pretty and romantic.

 Pretty party favors for everyone to take home.

This was a funny, joke sort of thing.  My mother-in-law and sister-in-law loved watching all the details from the royal wedding, so my mother-in-law put the bride and grooms heads on William and Kate's bodies.  It was pretty funny!!

The Bride

Finally we played some games.  We weren't going to do the 'Toilet Paper Bride' game, but my sister-in-law really wanted to do it, so we made sure to include this one.  My two little ladies just loved being brides as dress-up is their favorite activity.  I was in charge of a fun game where I asked the groom a bunch of questions prior to the shower and then we saw how well my sister-in-law knew him. 

Overall we had lots of laughs, delicious food and the coming together of two families.  The same went for the wedding this past weekend.  I can't wait to share the details of the day with you all......it was a truly spectacular downtown Chicago wedding.  

Hope you all had a wonderful weekend.  

Check back on tomorrow for our big May Giveaway Day!!

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Sewing Pattern Update and Giveaway Winner

Wow, what a week this has been!  My next three patterns finally went to print and should be available to ship the next couple weeks.  Putting together all the components of a pattern is such a labor of love.  So many hours go into each one starting with the original drafting, digitizing, grading, testing, instructions, photography, covers, yardage requirements and the list goes on.  It always feels a bit overwhelming when I'm in the middle of it, but the end product is always worth the hard work!

Next week I will begin sharing these new patterns with you by highlighting one of them each day.  And then I will let you know once they are finally here and available for sale.  I hope you will love them as much as I do.   And now for a little tease of what you can expect to see next week........

Also, I'm working on getting that 'Little Linen Dress' pattern ready for you all to offer as a free PDF pattern, but I think that is going to have to wait a week or so as I have sample garments that I have to get ready for display at the Moda booth for International Quilt Market which is fast approaching.

And now for the winner of the Berenstain Bears Giveaway...........

Congratulations!!  Thank you to everyone who entered.  It was so fun to read everyone's memories of the beloved Berenstain Bears.  On May 1 we will be having another large giveaway day, so stay tuned for that one ~ there will be lots of great prizes!  1lesliehart, if you could please email me at thecottagemama[at]gmail[dot]com with you contact information, I will get this prize in the mail to you right away.

To keep even more up to date with The Cottage Mama,  please join us over on the The Cottage Mama Facebook page.  We have lots of fun talking sewing, cooking, business, ect!

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Berenstain Bears Disappearing Nine Patch Quilt Block Tutorial and Giveaway

Grandma Jane is back with a great beginning quilting tutorial, the Disappearing Nine Patch, and a fabulous giveaway.  I can't take any credit for this giveaway.  Mom came up with this idea herself and personally purchased these items for one lucky reader all on her own.  Mom knows how much you all mean to me and wanted to do something special.  So without further ado........here's Jane.......

“Hooray, hooray, we’re on our way! Our summer vacation starts today!” That line from the Berenstain Bears book, The Bears’ Vacation, still resonates through my head from time to time when starting off on a trip. My children, Lindsay and Ben, grew up on the Berenstain Bear books in the 1980’s and together, as a family, we would frequently chant that line as we started off in the car on a new adventure. What good times we had!

I was thrilled when I saw the Berenstain Bear fabric collection from Moda and then so sad soon after when I read that Jan Berenstain had passed away in February. Jan and her husband, Stan, who died in 2005, together wrote more than 300 books, most of them offering important moral lessons through the lives of the bear family --Mama Bear, Papa Bear, Brother Bear and Sister Bear. Simple family values and issues all children and parents deal with were the basis of the books and as a parent, I loved them! They helped explain things like a new baby, not to be afraid of dentists and the dark, how to get along with friends, and the problem with a messy room! Be kind and nice to others…how much more simple can it be? Bear Country was a good place to live!

With lots of new baby gifts needed in the near future, I decided to use my bear charm packs for some cute little baby quilts and wanted to share this simple Disappearing Nine patch quilt block. It is a perfect way to use a charm pack, easy for beginner quilters and makes your quilt look much more complicated than it really is.

Three charm packs are perfect for putting together two sweet baby quilts. Each quilt measures approximately 34 inches by 46 inches.

To make each quilt you will need:
• 54 Charm squares
• Narrow border ¼ yard Cut 4 strips 1 ½ inches by WOF (Width of fabric)
• Wide border ½ yard Cut 4 strips 3 ½ inches by WOF
• Binding ½ yard Cut 5 strips 2 ½ inches by WOF
• Backing 1 ½ yard

1.The fabric line is not gender neutral so I sorted out the sweet girl and little boy charms.

2. I then sorted the charms into groups of 9 each to make sure I had a balance of the different fabrics for each block.

3. Arrange 9 charms in three by three rows. Keep the larger prints in the corners as these are the ones that will not be cut. I wanted those cute little bear scenes to remain in one piece. I also wanted the bright pink polka dot print to be in the same place so I placed those in the middle for the little girl quilt.

4. Using a scant ¼ inch seam, sew three charms together to make a row and press seams to the side, alternating direction of pressed seams on each row. Sew three rows together. Press seams. This is a traditional nine patch block. You will make 6 blocks of 9 charms each. Press blocks well. I used a little spray starch on these when pressing as it makes the next cutting step easier.

5. Carefully cut the nine patch block in half vertically and without moving the pieces, cut in half again horizontally. Line up the marks on your ruler to make sure you are accurately cutting the blocks.

6. Your nine patch block has now “disappeared” and you have four smaller blocks!! After you cut all your nine patch blocks, you will have 24 smaller blocks.

7. Arrange these 24 blocks in six rows of four blocks each for your quilt top in whatever order that you like. I prefer to position the sides of the blocks so I can avoid having to match the seams. I wanted to keep the little bear scenes going in the right direction so had to match seams on a few of the blocks.

8. Sew blocks together in rows. Sew rows together and then add the narrow and wide borders.

Sandwich, quilt and bind! 

I added a little decorative scallop stitch around the edge of the little girl quilt which I think gives a sweet little touch. 

Now for the GIVEAWAY........

I just have to share some of these precious little bears! 

I would like to give away three charm packs and three copies of our family’s favorite Berenstain Bear books to one of Lindsay’s lucky readers! 

 Wishing you many happy trails and travels through Bear Country with your children or grandchildren!

—Grandma Jane

Thanks so much, Mom, you are the best!  I hope everyone enjoyed this tutorial, I know I did.  To view more projects and tutorials from Grandma Jane, click HERE.  

Now here's how to enter this very generous giveaway from Grandma Jane.......

Leave a comment with YOUR favorite Berenstain Bear book or if you have not experienced Bear Country yet—what was your favorite children’s book and memory associated with the book?

Giveaway open to US residents only.  Giveaway will close at midnight (CST) on Tuesday, April 24, 2012.

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