The Tea House Blog Tour Announcement And Other Goings On

Hello again!

     Well... my goal of blogging every Monday hasn't happened yet but I can only blog when I have something interesting to blog about. I was going to bore you with my family outing photos but I won't do that until the end of this post. 

     Anyhow, I'm so excited to announce the first blog tour of a Sew House Seven pattern! I was excited and honored when Nelleke of the blog gaafmachine approached me about doing a Tea House blog tour. I've known about this for over a month now but I haven't seen any of the dresses or tops as of yet so I'm extremely anxious to see all the great makes! There will be a free Sew House Seven pattern giveaway on her blog as well. I can't believe all of the great bloggers who are on board - Rebel & Malice (Melissa was kind enough to last minute pattern test for me on the Tea House pattern), Stahlarbeit, Gaafmachine, In A Manner Of Sewing, Sew Happy, Mottenfrosch, Sew Mariefleur, Kreamino, Fairies, Bubbles & Co, Froelein Tilia, Made By Sarah, Just Add Fabric and Little Cumquat - see the above photo for the calendar dates. The first three start next week on August 9th so be sure to tune in. 

     Alright that was the really exciting news but I do have other news as well. I'm still at work behind the scenes here even though it may not look like much is happening. After polling some of you readers about sew-a-longs and tutorials, I've decided that I am going to do them as I believe they are really important and that's what makes indie sewing patterns so special. What I can't believe is how paralyzed I feel every time I start working on my Tea House sew-a-long. I've found that many of my photos just aren't turning out well enough and I need to start over. I was hoping to have it finished by the time the blog tour started but.... it will just be a bit late. I am also trying to sprinkle in updating my older pdf patterns so they are more user friendly. That's been a slow project as well. I had planned on taking my time and going back to really make things stellar however, summer has been tough with my boy at home distracting me (in a good way) and I've been so compelled to start on new projects. I'll get there in due time. 

Another lovely photo taken by Katharine T. Jacobs modeled by the lovely Nicolla.

        In other news, above is a sneak peak at the pattern that I am so close to releasing  - a pant and skirt pattern. This one will only be offered as a pdf downloadable file - not a paper pattern. It is at the tail end of pattern testing with some very helpful volunteers who are giving me lots of great feedback. I'll share all of that with you toward the middle of August. Speaking of pattern testers.... to all of you who volunteered, I am very grateful. If I haven't contacted you yet, it's because I had quite a list of people to get through. I already have the first set of testers helping me with the current pattern however, I will be needing more testing in the near future so I will be in touch with you at later date. THANK YOU ALL!!!   

     The summer has been full of wonderful surprises for me as far as working on Sew House Seven goes. After quitting my job at Pendleton at the beginning of June, I was a little scared and unsure so the exposure I've received from the Tea House pattern has really lifted me up and given me hope that maybe I can really do this. The Tea House pattern has been in two great sewing magazines! It is featured in Simply Sewing magazine volume 19 and in the staff picks of Sew News magazine - the August/September issue. Another Sew House Seven pattern will be featured in another publication's fall issue that will be big news (I can't talk about that yet).

     And now for the family vacation photos. Well... we weren't able to truly take a real vacation this summer. We've just been doing weekend trips close to home. My husband has been so busy and we took time off last winter to go to Thailand. I may take the last week of August off and go on a road trip before my boy goes back to school. We shall see as I have so much work to get done. In any case, here are some of our photos. I waited until the end of the post so you wouldn't be forced to sit through them to get to the important part of the blog. Thanks for reading!

 

Our backpacking trip to McNeal Point on Mt Hood. 

Bear grass, bear grass everywhere!

 Triple mountain view - Mt. St. Helens, Mt Rainier, Mt. Adams.

 The view from our campsite. So many wildflowers. The photos don't do them justice. They were like carpeting - in all colors.

 My boys.

Humming birds mating - one of them kept trying to land on our orange camera.

Cousins trip to the beach - Ecola State Park - Oregon Coast.

 

 Cousins

Paddle boarding on the Columbia River - Beacon Rock.

An island break before the major current on the Columbia River.  

Teera (hubby) kiting on the Columbia. It's not the best photo of him kiting but it's all I've got in my arsenal.  

Paddle boarding and rafting on the Salmon River - Idaho.

Mountain Biking at Sandy Ridge on Mt. Hood, Oregon. He looks so natural that it's hard to believe we have to bribe him to go.

Bug Life.

Eagle Creek, Oregon. Another bribed hike.