Winner of the November/December In Stitches sew-along: Flossieteacakes with that couture apron. Isn’t that shot fantastic? Nice work on the sewing and photography. {Note to self: take more time to set up shots. Look how nice your projects can be displayed if you don’t get impatient!}

New book for 2008: Simple Gifts to Stitch. We took a poll. You may have voted, you may not. Either way — we’re pretty sure you are going to love this book.

New project: The Button Scarf, with a photo due in the new photo pool by February 28. I need to sew a couple birthday gifts for cold weather friends, so this frankly, works out perfectly.

New name for this fabulous sew-along: Finn and Donk’s Sewing Adventure. Grab your backpacks and don’t forget your thimbles, this is going to be another fabulous ride through the wild land of Domesticity. We’ll be sewing projects with random winners selected from the pool — so make your photos stand out and feel free to email us with any questions. Thanks so much for playing along!

~Kelli, aka Donk
and my northern California bff: Jessica, aka Finny

P.S. Did you hear about that fabulous Amy Butler contest that you may already have a project completed you could enter? Check out Finny’s blog for details.

– In Stitches winners, a new project and more fabulous domestic surprises to be posted Monday! Sorry for the delay. Holidays, travel, etc. Someone was out gallivanting in Italy and needless to say, it wasn’t me. Like how I passed the buck on that one? Hee hee.

Stay tuned. Same batty time. Same batty channel.

~k

I wish for another great sew-along. Finny and I have been amigas since our Lumberjack days. But I think our friendship has gotten even stronger this year through the In Stitches project. It has been so fun to see what others create, to watch photos added the the flickr pool from creative folk living all over the world and to have Amy Butler’s nod of approval. Rock on!

{Fully accepting my domestic dorkiness and loving it.}

This is my November/December project. I used the basics of the patchwork handbag to make a dopp kit for my friend John. With some manly Ikea fabric, grosgrain ribbon for the zipper tabs and some heavy plastic webbing for the handle, I whipped this baby up.

Next time? I will cut the length in half. It is ginormous.

If you haven’t voted for the 2008 sew-along, get on over to Finny’s and let us know what you want to do. I’m dreaming of tunics, skirts and new techniques!

~K

Finny and I have split up the booty (hee hee!) and are each announcing one of the winners of our In Stitches 2007 sew-along. Ms. Amy Butler, the sewing maven herself, perused our Flickr pool to select two grand prize winners. She emailed us how difficult it was! There were so many great submissions.

Jan’s patchwork bag blew us away. The sewing is great, the fabric selection is stellar and she just has such a friendly nature. Apparently she wowed Amy too because she is one of our grand prize winners.She is a sweetheart and her son is in the Peace Corps in Moldova — so their entire family has a special place in my heart. Congrats Jan! Amy is sending you loot! You’ll have to let us all know what you received, you lucky dog. (We’ve already sent them your mailing address. I hope you receive some of these awesome clothing patterns. I would truly love to make this. And this. And, yep, this too.)

The other great winner is being announced here — at Casa de Finny — along with the poll for next year’s project. If you want to play along, and we certainly hope you’ll fire up the Singers and join in the Kumbaya chorus around this crafty campfire, the time to vote is now!

As a reminder, we’re still working on our November/December project. Safe to say I’m ripping off this awesome idea. Meg is so darn crafty and the men in my life don’t read this blog. I’m pretty sure my dad still calls this my blob, actually. So, patchwork bags transformed into dopp kits it is. When we announce the winner(s) for this month’s entry, we’ll post our 2008 project too. Thanks again for playing along and man, I can’t wait to see what Amy sends our winners! Thanks to Amy and her awesome staff too for their generosity.

Cheers,
Kelli

P.S. If you didn’t win, and you are crying yourself to sleep on your big pillah, (name that movie!) check out Funky Finds this week for an awesome giveaway! Jess has some great stuff out there too.

Dear Finny,
Long time, no chat about our happily successful sew-along. Can you believe we’ve received more than 300 submissions in the last 11 months? Even more incredible, can you believe Ms. Butler herself is reviewing these and picking two grand prize winners?
Holy moly. I just cannot get over this. And yes, I am fully aware what a dork it makes me when at happy hour someone asks me what the highlight of my week was and I head straight into, “Well, I’m in this sewing group and this super talented fabric and pattern designer actually emailed me! Can you believe it? Oh my gosh. And she is going to judge our little pool of photos…”
Such conversation, which ultimately always results in the person walking away, rolling his eyes or simply zoning out is man repellent, as my brother so aptly puts it. On the other hand, we have WWF, the latest Mac Leopard/Tiger/Liger details, or football stats. If I can listen to you explain yet again the difference between a linebacker and a tight-end, then you can at least pretend to be alive when I rarely ramble about all things domestic. At least my conversations come with baked goods.
Anyway, for all you In Stitches sew-alongers, I hope your November/December challenge is going well. I am busily sewing a dozen different Christmas gifts and while I’ve thought about what I am doing for this project, it has yet to move past my thoughts into a sketch.
Fin, how fun would it be to receive mail from Amy? I’m sure it would come with a pretty note on her new stationery. And the prize… one can only imagine. It is going to be so fun to announce the finalists and winners with you later this week!

Love,
Donk

P.S. For those interested in our 2008 sew-along project, now is the time to voice your vote. We are taking suggestions for the next book to conquer.

Hi there! Wiping your brow? Exhausted? Sipping margaritas sewing machine-side after a brutal two-month assignment? We hear ya. We know the patchwork bag wasn’t easy, but hey! We learned a thing or two. For example? Make sure your lining is going the right direction before you sit down to sew that sucker in by hand. This is a mistake that will make you angry at yourself for days. And patchwork looks much, much better once you sew all those suckers together. OR, once you throw it in the trash and start over with a single piece cut to size because you are a patchwork loser. In pieces on your kitchen table? It pretty much always looks like a disaster in the making. Hell, some even skipped the patchwork (see, “some”, not just Finny) and plodded forward with beautiful pieces of fabric as is. (Hence the new mantra for the September/October project: Cheaters never win? Nah, Cheaters Finish Bags.) Ha!
But you did it! Many of you completed the bag and learned right along with us. Bravo to you! In celebration of your fabulous tenacity, we are rewarding every patchwork bag submission with a prize because that is how we roll around here – pressies for everyone, even people who hate patchwork. Please email us with your mailing details by November 10th to claim your fabulous prize: africankelli at gmail dot com, finnyknits at gmail dot com

If that wasn’t enough good news, we are sending a handful of submissions during the last year to Ms. Amy Butler herself to pick a few grand prize winners. Ms. Butler will be sending along fabulous goodies from her line to reward a lucky few for their sewing prowess. We are thrilled! (And we will be super jealous if she sends you some of her new fabulous patterns. Hello, Spring wardrobe.)

November/December will once again be a two-month project with the holiday time crunch in mind. It’s dealer’s choice: pick any project from the book and share your mad sewing skills in our Flickr pool. Make it a holiday gift or not. Make a dozen, or just one. It is totally up to you!

Thank you again for playing along. We are excited to announce our new 2008 sewing monthly project January 1.

xoxo,
Finn and Donk

Mi querida Finny,
I am so glad we took two months to complete the September-October project for our In Stitches sew-along. Let’s be honest — this bag wasn’t easy. Thankfully so, because its complexity made me slow down, read the instructions more than once and learn new techniques.
I have never before followed Amy’s instructions with such precision. I bought masking tape, used a seam guide to make sure my 1/4 inch here and 1/2 inch there were in the right place and I even pressed the darn seams. I learned to quilt batting and how to make those cute little pull tabs for the zipper.
As I mentioned, I’d saved these fabrics for a handbag just for me. Rarely do I keep what I make because just like most other joys in my life, it isn’t so much about the end result as it is the journey. I truly loved sewing this bag. I found myself sneaking in 10 minutes here and 20 minutes there to work on it.

That said, imagine my surprise when I decided to give it away. I am sending it off to a girlfriend today because I know she’d like it and use it. I won’t. I’m not sure why — I even like the odd shape. But I simply know it would be added to a growing stack of cloth handbags in my closet and what a waste that would be.

So, it’s been wrapped up and shipped off to a girlfriend who I know also enjoys all things pink and has a penchant for purses.

On to other more pressing topics, while I have your ear. How is the shin meat? Are you ready for your big race this weekend? I hope you are sitting on your couch eating a bowl of mashed potatoes for breakfast and giving your hammies a much needed rest.
Fin, like I am certain the sky is blue and chocolate is worthy of the calories, I know you are going to rock this race. I only wish I was there to cheer for you in person. Good luck, my friend!

~Donk

Project: In Stitches September/October – assignment patchwork purse.
Tools required: a stack of pink and brown fat quarters, a sharp rotary cutter and a large dose of patience.
Result: Soon enough, a new Fall bag.

~K

For one, did you see in the October issue of Country Living they featured our lovely New Mexican getaway? The very ravine where we took such silly photos is shown. I snorted remembering us running through the freezing rain to take that photo.

In the same issue, they actually had a small featured titled In Stitches. If Ms. Butler wasn’t a regular contributor, I’d think they were ripping us off.

What did you think of the October issue of Martha? I’m letting my subscription go. I love her and her craftiness, but I need a break. Her recipes are often too complicated and the practicality of her projects questionable. I find myself much more of a Real Simple girl these days. That said — I’m still itching to cook up two Fall recipes featured: pumpkin chiffon pie and sweet potato cannelloni. Yum.
I also got my new Ikea catalog and picked out a purdy new couch and kitchen.

The couch is much more of a reality, but how I covet those dish racks. Those Europeans certainly know how to make simplicity elegant.
And then there is the new Lion pattern catalog. Never mind I won’t use the Lion yarn, these designs caught my eye. What do you think?
Needless to say, I haven’t even thought about starting the September/October project. I hope to have at least one of these babies done come Halloween. I could fill it with candy and be the Fairy Bag Mother. Hmm…
~Donk

Dear Finny,
The first step of getting over an addiction is to recognize you have a problem, right? {Or, if you are Lindsay Lohan, to hire a great publicity/law team and take a rehab vacay until everything blows over. Pun intended.}
Point being, I have a bag problem. I love them. I am like the Imelda Marcos of handbags — I want a pretty, sweet, different one for each day of the week. Except, you know. I don’t really own that many and I am regularly making and giving away handbags, rather than adding them to my already quite blessed closet.
That said? I want a new fall bag — a lovely bag perhaps made out of that pink and chocolate fabric stash I’ve been hoarding. Something I can wear when I drive up to Flagstaff to get my Halloween pumpkins. You know, because I can’t grow a thing and your garden is an unfortunate 1000 miles away from my doorstep — you amazing fronteirswoman!
While I’m drooling over this beauty at Banana, I like homemade even more. The September assignment for the In Stitches sew-along is officially the patchwork handbag. Here is the twist: not only is this the September assignment, but also the October assignment too.

And the theme? Create your own adventure, like those books you loved as a kid. Do you go this direction or that one? Do you want to take your time with one bag over two months? Or, create multiple bags during this time? Either way, throw your photos into the pool, let us know where you blog and you could win a fabulous prize. I’m thinking a pretty wristlet full of goodies every woman should have in her purse du jour.
What do you think Fin? I mean, I hear you might like handbags too?
Ha!
Love,
Donk

P.S. Did you see one of our favorite domestic divas is finally blogging! Welcome Junie!

Dear Finny,
Hey doll! Step away from that amazing garden of yours for a moment and those pies, gnocchi and all other fabulous things you’ve been creating and guess what? I finished up my In Stitches August project. I know! Can you believe it? Early bird gets the worm/assignment off her back. And the reason that seems a bit snippy is because mother of all things holy — I don’t like making bias binding. Or those corners. I can’t tell you how difficult these things were for me to figure out on my own. And I’ve made a couple quilts and done binding before! But I have a feeling I cut the fabric the wrong direction — in fact making it not bias binding — and the corners just weren’t having it yesterday.

So, my project is far from perfect but it is completed and I love the summery fabrics. To complete the assigned theme of using the potholder to showcase some fun summer activity, I fell back to one of my favorite activities any time of the year: baking! With potholders! Who knew?

Did you have Strawberry Shortcake dolls when you were growing up? I think part of the reason I loved them was that they smelled so good. And they were the perfect size to fit on My Little Ponies, versus those long legged freak Barbies that would topple over after the first “giddyup.” Anyway, Strawberry Shortcake and her sweet-smelling friends were some of my favorite dolls. She inspired my fabric selection and my choice of baking shortbread.

For the first batch, I used this recipe. For the second batch, I spiced things up by adding a 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon and a 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla. Those two flavors work well with shortbread and wowza, did these come out nicely. I wrapped them up with a few Martha Stewart baking goodies and delivered them yesterday to a handful of happy recipients — wearing my potholder the whole time, naturally.

There you have it! Now, off to pack. And swim. Hope you are having a wonderful week!

Love,
Donk

P.S. If you are interested in the Sweet Sedona Bundt Cake recipe from earlier this week it is super simple!

Ingredients:
One standard yellow cake mix
Two boxes of butterscotch pudding mix (I like the sugar free)
Two eggs
1 stick of softened unsalted butter (feel free to cut that in half and substitute apple sauce for an even better/healthier dessert)
1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon of cardamom
1/2 cup of dark chocolate chips

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350
Grease your bundt pan (I like to use the wrapper from the butter and a dash of Pam.
In a large bowl combine all your ingredients, minus the chocolate chips. Stir until it is creamy and you’ve added a fair amount of air to the batter. Transfer to bundt pan and shake the pan so the cake distributes evenly.
Cook for 20-30 minutes, checking every 10 minutes or so to see if it is cooking evenly. (You can tell I need a new oven.)
Let it cool in the pan for 5-10 minutes. Transfer to a pretty plate. Dust with additional cinnamon and cardamom to taste and add your chocolate chips. Best served warm with a steaming cup of coffee. If you can eat this on a patio in Sedona, where the colors of the cake will match the incredible beauty of the red rocks, even better!
Enjoy!

Dear Finny,
Ever been this close <---> to being finished with a sewing project and realized your print fabric was cut the wrong direction? I briefly considered starting over. I’d been working on this caddy for a good four hours. Instead, I poured myself a nice cold glass of reisling and said, “What would Finny do? She’d say, ‘Who doesn’t love a topsy turvy giraffe?’” Indeed.
Certainly the new wee one to whom this caddy is intended won’t mind.

My friends are having babies like they don’t own television sets. All of a sudden, everyone is pregnant. Come to think of it, it’s been about three years since I was drowning in bridesmaid gowns. I’ve got more baby gifts to create than you can imagine. I’m getting the feeling this bathroom toiletry caddy turned crib caddy will be my token shower gift this season.

What do you think? I can see this thing hanging off of a crib, ready and waiting for action. I briefly considering making another one for the parent’s bedroom, stuffed with Tylenol and tiny bottles of tequila, but I figured my sarcasm and a cesarean makes for a pretty rough week. And what is the August project already? Geez man. Get on the ball.
Ha!

Love,
Donk

{And it all fairness, I’ve just regained regular use of my finger. Is this ridiculous barrage of excuses working? Hello? Bueller?}

I’ll have the project done by Friday. In the meantime, have you seen some of the fantastic caddies in the photo pool? Wowza. Nice work ladies!

How about a brownie in the meantime? I whipped these up last week. The easiest way to spice up a brownie-in-a-box recipe? Add a dollop of melted peanut butter in the middle. Yum. I brought these to softball and they were a hit. Perhaps I should have eaten one or two. It seems I cannot hit, the ball that is. Struck out swinging several times.

But you know what? I’ve found that frisbee/softball/sewing teams don’t really mind if you suck as long as you bring a smile and a platter of sweets. Enjoy!

~K

July’s project is the bathroom caddy. The theme is luxury. Fill it with your favorite beauty products and tell us why they make you smile. And don’t forget to post your photo in the flickr pool by the end of the month so we can pick a winner. Anyone can participate! Fin, who is the winner for June?

xoxo,
Donk

Dear Finny,
How are you, my friend? Guess what? Yesterday, after thoroughly complaining I haven’t had enough time to be creative, I told myself enough was enough. Stop complaining and start doing. So, I cranked up the tunes, sat down at my sewing machine and completed a few wedding gifts. You know how you and Meg took plenty of time and thought into what fabric to select when creating your place mats and napkins for the June In Stitches theme? I, in lazy contrast, grabbed from the top of the pile and dug in. The JoAnn’s by my house recently had a moving sale and thankfully I had purchased several yards of lime cotton at a considerable discount. It nearly took as long to wash and press all the fabric for these as it did to sew these babies — my kind of project.

Voila — a summery dinner setting, which is being dropped in the mail today to celebrate a friend’s wedding. I am so glad I used canvas for the middle and back sections of these place mats. The extra weight is nice and they are durable. This couple has a young daughter, so I wanted something they could easily throw in the washing machine and use many times over without worrying about them falling apart. And yes, the trim is the same fabric I used for my May project. (And an Amy Butler Barcelona skirt that I was wearing when I posed with the donkey on Burro Street in Santa Fe. The Donks. Ha!) Are you sick of this fabric yet? Because I have a wee bit left and we’ve got five more months of projects.

While I was being all crafty, I whipped up one last summer wedding gift. You know how Anna Wintour has her signature haircut? Jackie O had her signature sunglasses and style? Bush has his signature strategerie? Well — I now have a signature wedding gift — the basic apron that can be worn for either baking by the misses or grilling by the mister and my very favorite cookbook on earth:

And with that, I wish you a very happy Friday, my friend. I miss you.

Love,
Donk