Category / Texas Lovely

by Bethe

Friday Favorites

Today I’m linking back up with the Bargain Blonde for a Friday Favorites feature. Want to join me? Just leave a link to YOUR latest online favorite down in my comment section. I always love to get new ideas!

To see the original source (and some great tutorials) just click on the picture. I believe in giving credit where credit is due!

I don’t have a lot of free time at the moment (that’s what starting a new business will do to you – but I LOVE it). But, someday soon I plan to learn how to make baby bibs so I can stock up on some baby shower gifts. I liked this tutorial, although I also went ahead and just bought some bibs hoping I can deconstruct them and make my own pattern. I’m kind of a rebel like that.

My internet friend Lauren is wonderfully creative, and she came up with this idea for an invitation. I’ve done boxed invitations before and got raves from my guests over them, but this one is even better!

I love gray, I love neutral bedrooms, and I love that mirror. I could have some sweet, sweet dreams in that bedroom.

Somehow I married a man who can build just about anything I dream up, and as soon as I saw this wooden box I showed it to Mr. Right, and he has assured me he can make me one. I think it would be great for any season on our old barn dining table.

I love my chambray shirt that I snagged on clearance at the J Crew outlet, and I love this fashion blog by what seems like a really nice Christian girl.

And finally – I have discovered this blog which also has this etsy shop. Oh my word, this gal hand-draws all of her artwork, and I am amazed at her talent. It’s like all the doodles I used to do in school, the only difference is that hers are gorgeous, and mine looked like doodles.

I love it so much that I bought two of her pieces – this sewing machine print will soon hang in my sewing studio.

I bought these cards, which will go in my new orders, so if you visit my shop, you’ll be seeing this soon!

 I hope you have a WONDERFUL weekend filled with all things lovely and relaxing!

by Bethe

Triangle Tips

As I discussed yesterday, I have a small obsession with triangle quilts. Once you master the basics, the possibilities are endless! Here’s a few pointers I’ve found:

1. I cut my squares 6 x 6 inches, which means for a 47 x 47 baby quilt, I use 100 squares. Now this varies, of course, based on my mood and the amount of fabric I have. Sometimes I add a border and use fewer squares. My ginormous blue chevron wedding quilt was FOUR times the size of my normal baby quilts, which made it a queen. (It was a beast, but so worth it for my tall friends).

2. After I sew my two triangles together to make a square and press it flat, I simply clip the tiny leftover fabric on each corner (which makes another triangle), and keep sewing. On my first triangle quilt I tried to re-trim every square to be perfect, but it was a colossal waste of my time.

3. I use technology to my advantage – after I lay all of my triangles out on my floor to make my quilt pattern (which is a lot like putting a puzzle together), as I tackle each section I snap a photo with my phone. This allows me to work with a larger section of fabric at a time, and be able to refer back to the photo to know how to place the fabric. This comes in handy when you’re trying to remember, “Does this fabric or that fabric go on the inside diamond?” and saves you a few trips getting up and down off the floor. Of course, I still get on and off the floor (and up and down to the ironing board) about 8 million times in the course of a quilt, but it could be worse. Who knew quilting was such good exercise?

4. I always cut a few extra triangles, because inevitably I’m going to mess up and it’s a pain to go back and cut again after you lose the rhythm.  Plus I’m really bad at math so sometimes I miscount.

And alas, just in case you couldn’t tell with the other behind-the-scenes pictures, my sewing room gets USED when I’m quilting. Like, destroyed. And that’s okay, I kind of like it that way. I truly believe it’s impossible to be tidy during the creative process.

At least for me.

PS–Why yes, I do sit on an old pillow while I sew. That old wooden chair gets quite hard on the hiney when you’re quilting for eight hours straight.

Keepin’ it clasy, my friends.

Interested in getting your own lovely? Visit my online shop, Texas Lovely, on etsy!

by Bethe

My latest quilting obsession

You may have noticed a pattern (no pun intended), but I am sort of in love with triangle quilts. It started with an obsession with chevron and then expanded to a desire to try every possible combination, partly because (a) I’m getting really fast at cutting those triangles and (b) they really are some of the cutest ones out there.

Here’s a few examples of gorgeous triangle quilts from the web. Click on the picture to view the original source.

And a couple that I’ve made. I could never narrow down a favorite.

And someday soon I promise I’ll try a new method. Maybe, if I’m in the mood. Oh who are we kidding, I’ve probably got a dozen more of these in me.

Stay tuned to tomorrow’s post for some:

For quilts, pillows and lovely prints, visit my Texas Lovely shop on etsy!

by Bethe

Fall and a free printable

I am home from Portland, happily reunited with Mr. Right and in the process of unpacking my 51 pounds of luggage. I may have missed the first wave of fall’s cold weather (boy did I hear all about it on Facebook), but it doesn’t mean that I’m not super excited about the next round of snuggly cold weather that’s sure to come our way soon.

And regardless, I’ve busted out the tall boots and scarves and tonight may be the first night I flip that switch on my heating blanket. It’s kind of like my birthday… which coincidentally happens to be in the fall. And which coincidentally may involve me getting some new fall boots. But I digress.

In honor of fall, and because I needed something to distract me from the scary turbulence on my plane ride last night, I decided to create a free fall printable. Mostly to say thank you for the way you’ve supported my transition to the new blog and the opening of my new shop. I really do appreciate my friends who keep coming back.

Click here to download a Free fall 8×10 printable. For personal use only.

For more printables, visit my shop – Texas Lovely.

by Bethe

Texas Lovely in homes

There is nothing that makes this girl happier than to see some of my lovelies in other peoples’ homes!

Remember Ashleigh, who won my Thankful print last week? Check out her blog post that shows her picture displayed on her mantle, and the Instagram photo she posted of it so beautifully framed.

And then there’s this instagram photo from Marcy, one of my very first customers, who purchased my Sunshine print to go in her daughter’s bedroom.

And then there’s Katie, who sent me these pictures of her wedding quilt and my first ever ruffle pillow up in her newlywed home.

To my other friends who have their own lovelies – I’d love you to send me a picture. You can only imagine the squealing that happens when I see a little piece of my heart in your home.

by Bethe

And the winner is…

Thanks to everybody who entered my contest – it was so fun to see some familiar names, along with a few new ones. It means so much to me that you would take the time to read my silly little blog.

Ashleigh Johnson! I’m so excited that Ashleigh won, since she’s a newlywed and is busy making a new home with her man. If you want to know more about Ashleigh, go check out her blog. Funny story, she was hired to replace me at my first job after I took my current job at the hospital. More than eight years later we’re still both doing PR in the community and enjoy sharing ideas and the occasional lunch date. Congrats Ashleigh – email me your address and I’ll drop your print in the mail!

Ashleigh chose my fall print:

If you want your own. feel free to pay a visit to my shop. And stay tuned – I have had a lot of extra design time on my hands these past few days as I’ve been stuck at home sick. There will be several new prints hitting the shop soon, along with some more notecards.

Speaking of being sick, you wouldn’t waste a prayer on me. I’m home for the third day in a row, and I am SO OVER feeling crummy. Last night my little sinus infection started triggering some pretty severe asthma attacks, so my night and this morning have been filled with breathing treatments, trying to avoid a trip to the ER (although if I end up there, at least I know it’s the most fabulous ER in town). This is pretty much the worse possible time for me to be sick, so please pray that today is my last day to feel bad. I have way too much to do to be stuck on this couch!

But it hasn’t all been a waste – I have watched almost the entire mini-series The Kennedys. It is SO GOOD. I’m on episode 7 of 8. Next time you find an extra 8 hours of time on your hands, I definitely recommend it.

by Bethe

Burlap is the new black

I’m home sick for the second day in a row. Yesterday I felt much too terrible to be bored. Today I’m on the mend, still sick enough to need to stick close to the couch, but not fighting the fever/chills/extreme yuckiness of yesterday (you know I’m sick when I have zero desire to eat – a rarity for this girl). So let me warn you, I will probably be blogging/facebooking/pinteresting/texting all day. Because it’s killing me that I’m home and yet unable to go tackle the quilt lying in the middle of my sewing room floor. It’s just sitting there, begging me to finish piecing it, but I can’t muster up the energy. Yet.

Luckily I had already made this cute pillow about a week ago, and just hadn’t gotten around to posting her in the shop. I absolutely ADORE burlap. It’s like the new black – it goes with just about everything, is really affordable, and pretty forgiving. Combine it with some vintage lace I found in an antique store (in great condition), and you’ve got a recipe for major cuteness. I’m kind of tempted to steal this gal for my bed, but the reason I sew is so I can share, so instead she’s up in the shop, available to go to a good home.

Speaking of how awesome being sick is – yesterday I broke down and went to the doctor because I’ve got two big trips coming up and I don’t have time to be sick. He gave me a pretty ginormous steroid shot in the hiney – which means that I’m no longer eligible for the baseball Hall of Fame.  They used one of those giant needles, and I ended up bleeding all over the place (TMI?). So last night, Mr. Right calls me on his way home from ESL class (which I had to miss – so sad) and nonchallantly asks me, “You do know you have a giant bloodstain on the back of your shirt, right?”

Um, no. Apparently I went about eight hours with a giant blood stain on my shirt. It went really well with the coffee stain from the morning’s shirt (I changed to go to the doctor). But when you’re sick, blood stains and unwashed hair and smeared makeup aren’t really a big deal.

It’s just another reminder of how much Mr. Right really loves me, stains and all. What a guy.

Don’t forget, tonight is the deadline to enter my contest for a free Texas Lovely art print of your choice! Go here for all the details.

by Bethe

Be classy… unless you’ve got a good excuse like you’re sick

 My goal in life is to be classy. I may not always be put together or the most fashionable, but I can always choose to be classy.

That is, unless I’m sick. At this very moment I’m laying on the couch, wearing mis-matched PJs with a coffee stain on my shirt and crumbs in my lap, hair wild and unreigned, with just a smidge of yesterday’s mascara under my eyes.

Be classy. Unless you have a fever.

Classy print available here

by Bethe

Wedding Weekend

One of my favorite people on the entire planet is Pam. She is a friend to me, a mentor, an example of a Godly wife and mother and someone who has more sass than just about anybody I know. There are times that I get stressed out when planning an event and I have to emulate her “no big deal!” laid-back attitude. Typically for me it’s one of those “fake it ’til you feel it” situations.

The first time I really got to know her was four years ago when she showed up to my sister’s surgery, over an hour away, having only met us once or twice, to sit with our family in the waiting room. She was the only person from our church who came, and I will never, ever forget that. When I was single, she gave me the BEST pep talks about it being for God’s glory and not because I had three foreheads – the kind that kept me going when two of my ex-boyfriends got engaged in the same week or when it felt like I would NEVER meet Mr. Right. Once I met Mr. Right, she and her husband basically adopted us into their extended family, along with a lot of other people they’ve adopted along the way.

Pam is a women’s minister at church, but she also is a fabulous wedding planner. She planned my wedding, which was so gorgeous that the chapel coordinator called me later to tell me she wanted to hire Pam to do her own wedding – and she sees 3-4 weddings every weekend. It was to die for.

So when she asked me to help coordinate her daughter’s wedding reception last weekend so she could do her mother-of-the-bride duties, it was a no brainer. I jumped at the chance (besides, both of her daughters worked at my wedding). I helped coordinate her other daughter’s wedding a few years back and it was an absolute blast. Both times she did all of the planning (and flowers) in advance, and then I helped set things up the day of the wedding so that she and her family could enjoy the day.

This time Mr. Right came too, and I just loved serving alongside him, both of us in aprons and comfortable shoes, running all over the venue, him helping with the food and me helping with the decorations. Once the reception started, we bussed tables together and stole a few kisses and even sneaked in a dance in the kitchen. It was exhausting but also one of my favorite days in a long time. A total adventure.

Oh, and I tried to help out by sewing custom bean bags for a corn hole game at the wedding. I was SO proud of my gorgeous handiwork, done in haste just a few hours before the reception. I patted myself on the back, congratulating myself on being such a fabulous seamstress, thinking that maybe someday I could sew hacky sacks for my children to play with.

Those gorgeous custom bean bags ended up exploding all over the patio at the wedding, leaving hundreds of dry lima beans and a few very upset children. Turns out I could have made them a bit more durable. I think I’ll stick with quilts.

Thanks Pam and family for letting us be apart of such a beautiful wedding. And I owe you three new bean bags!

————

PS- Don’t forget to enter my contest for free Texas Lovely art! Details here.

by Bethe

Welcome to my new home!

Thanks for following me over to my new home. A good host knows how to show her guests some hospitality, so I’m offering a giveaway to thank you for taking the time to update your blog feed, google reader, favorites bar, etc. I don’t like change either, so I want to make it worth your effort.

I’m giving away a free art print from my shop. There are two ways to enter:

1. Subscribe to texaslovely.com by email (see the option on the far right column).

2. Leave a comment on this post telling me which art print you’d like from my shop.

Contest ends Thursday night at midnight. I’ll hold a drawing and  announce the winner Friday.