Small Stash Sewing: 24 Projects Using Designer Fat Quarters is a new book by Melissa Averinos. Many of you are familiar with Melissa’s work through Sugar Snap, her first fabric collection for Free Spirit that came out last year, and her blog Yummy Goods.
Small Stash Sewing is a gem of a book. The projects are fresh and fun and they use those fabulous 18″ x 22″ squares of goodness that fill a good chunk of my fabric shelves. Melissa did a fantastic job of applying her signature artistic style to a a set of practical sewing projects.
These simple silhouette shape softies are totally fabulous. The intricacy of the designs are absolutely stunning. The young model seems to think so too. To heck with making them for the kids, I need these in my room!
Several of the projects take a very clever twist on common accessories. I LOVE the added detail of the gathered fabric strip overlaying the top of this belt. It’s that kind of detail that elevates the belt from ordinary to spectacular.
Look closely because these shoe laces are not just strips of fabric. They’re all official with an inventive technique for adding a traditional hard plastic tip to the ends. As a reader I feel a bit giddy when I take away a new and useful tip like this. It also convinced me that I absolutely need a pair of Pink Converse All Stars!
Keep reading for a review of another new book and how to win both …
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Sewing Bits & Pieces: 35 Projects Using Fabric is a new book by Sandi Henderson. This new title uses another item we all have in our sewing rooms: scraps! Sandi’s eye for design and putting together just the right details translate into a book filled with inventive ideas for using those ubiquitous odds and ends we can’t seem to part with.
My favorite project in the book is the one featured on the cover. Each piece of the re-fashion is perfect in scale and composition. It sparked my creative juices and reminded me that the simple act of covering buttons with really cool fabric could spice up an old cardigan. I had lots of those moments while reading this book, it’s packed with inspiring ideas!
The Dahlia Pincushion is lovely. Sandi uses wool felt in several of the projects. I have a pretty good stash of wool felt myself and these projects reminded me of all the wonderful ways it can be used.
Fabulous organic shapes and texture elevate scraps to a new status.
LOVE the crust made from Cherries with a bit of steam rising from the pie. Too cute.
Sandi’s designs are certain to put a smile on your face and inspire thinking about how to put your stash of bits and pieces to creative work. The small nature of the book’s projects make them perfect for weekend sewing or a night of crafting with friends.
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Wiley Publishing has generously given me both these books for a giveaway.
To enter the drawing please leave a comment telling me what you’d like to see me write about here on the blog. You can ask a question or spin a whole long term plan if you’d like 
I’ll draw the winners Monday morning. Winners announced.
Happy Weekend Sewing!
xo Kathy
Any creative shares to spark our imaginations is what I love to see. Seems like you are doing a nice job of that already!
I’d love to hear more about color wheel and combining fabrics.
Hmmm, what would I like to see on the blog? Well, I love the book reviews (always awesome), and all the quilty goodness…maybe a little bit more about mixing prints from different fabric lines would be pretty neat (lots of people are scared of that) or even more pictures, etc from behind the scenes!
I already have a copy of Sandi’s book, but I would absolutely love to be entered to win Melissa’s!
Oh, that seems lovely. The bits and pieces book is my favorite.
Oh, I forgot: what I’d like to see you write about here? Exactly what you are doing!
I love to know where bloggers get their sewing inspiration
Thank you for sharing your thoughts about these two new books. They look wonderful! Sometimes I hesitate to order books for fear I’ll be disappointed in the content, but having read your review, I would love to have both! They would be perfect for me because I enjoy sewing smaller projects and I have a ton of smaller sized fabrics in my stash. Funny…after seeing that picture, I too feel the urge to get a pair of pink Converse Allstars! He he….. I love your blog and have done many of your tutorials. Thank you for sharing with us!!!
Book reviews are really nice (especially when the books are available at the local library) and I’m always looking for ideas of things to make my little girl. Right now, I’m looking for a great diaper bag/purse to carry that has separate compartments, so maybe reviewing some good patterns for bags? Thanks for the giveaway!
Oh, let’s see…. color inspiration and organization, summer projects (as there seems to be a bit of extra time now), and perhaps a little gift giving projects as we prepare for the holidays. I love it all!
The books look really interesting and useful.
I love reading your blog, you always have great ideas and energy. Keep up the good work.
I’d love to hear more about possible gifts and projects for little boys!
I review your blog everyday. It is always a treat to see what you are up to. I would love to see pics of the new shop, how thats coming on and lots of tutorials. Lovin your work!
I love this post….and those featuring what you are working on. Ages ago, I remember a post featuring a beautiful pink and white baby quilt on your porch. That inspired me to try my first “real” quilt. Thanks for the opportunity to win.
Susan
I am new to your blog, so (sew?
) may be a repitition, but I’d like to read how you plan out all these projects. In other words, how to you time manage all you do. Thanks and keep those wonderful projects coming!
In the couple of years since I started reading your blog, you’ve gone from business woman to blogger and sewist and now, finally, the owner of a creative business. That’s a lot of [positive] change in a few years. What have been some of the more challenging moments on the path? Which of these accomplishments has been the most unexpected – given where you were ten or twenty years ago?
I’m at a loss colour combo wise so any advice in that department would be great
Oooh I want that Small Bits book!
It would be fun to see what your customers have made out of fabrics they bought from you.
I would love to see tips (especially about choosing quilt colors), small projects, and handmade gift ideas.
hi! i would love to see more tutorials!
im always very inspired by you and your blog
thanks so much for sharing!
I would love to see more patterns and finished projects for girls’ clothes. Also would like to see what foods you like to eat and recipes you enjoy.
Talk about quilting blocks and picking colors!!! And pick me for a book!!! Thanks for a great giveaway!
I love hearing of projects using small amounts of fabric.
I will echo some of the previous posts and ask that you write more about quilts, choosing colors and have more for men and boys. I appreciate the book reviews and seeing new patterns and fabrics. Thanks!
I love the book reviews. It would be cool to see more reviews like this, for other patterns and such. Love the various project inspirations. Thank you.
I love to see new books reviewed and winning one would be good too.
How do you begin to design a quilt? Shapes? Color What inspires you?
I’d love to have you write about some tips for beginners – things you’ll need for your sewing “room” (or corner!), some fun beginning projects and anything else you know now that you wished you’d known then.
I’d love to see more of your favorite equipment, tools, or notions. Also I enjoy your little tutorials on various sewing techniques. Keep up the good work Kathy, love your blog and store!
Please enter me in your giveaway. Re: your blog. I enjoy reading about new ideas and books in more detail with one (or two) per post. Find that I can absorb the information better. Just a few photos are good as my poor computer on dialup can actually load your web site quickly. I enjoy your blog just the way it is.
Keep the book reviews coming! I like reading about what goes on behind the scenes, too! Thanks for the giveaway!
I would like to see more for little boys. Having 6 grandsons and 1 granddaughter she get the most of my sewing. So it would be great to make more for them. Love the blog and store.
I really enjoy seeing what you create and design. Your style is inspiring!
I’ve been a follower for a while now, and after your fantastic move (congratulations, again!), I’d like to see/read more about behind-the-scenes. Connecting people to their businesses is wonderful.
I would love to see more about your business…how you got started…etc. and also more about small projects.
Love the blog!
Hmmmmmm…what would I like to see more of??? Since I’m *really* new to quilting, I think you might have some insights or tricks for making things go together more easily….like, sewing diamonds into a square – that seems daunting to me. And how your eye is fooled by colors, like reds are hot and blues are cool, we all know, but some things pop out while some recede, so how’s that all work? And ANYthing else you can think of would be GREAT! Oh, and btw, I’d love to win those books, ‘cuz I sure have lots of scraps!!
Please keep writing – it’s inspiring!
Thanks for sponsoring the giveaway! No specifics on what I would want to see… I enjoy the book reviews and small projects.
I’d love to read more about your business – getting started, keeping things going, staying sane
)
Book reviews, pattern reviews, interviews, tutorials, techniques & how-tos… anything & everything! Would love to see a post dedicated to fiction in which sewing/crafting/needlework is at the heart of the story. Pink Chalk Studio ~ thank you for making the world a prettier, lovelier place.
I would love to see more book reviews. I have so many craft books, and get disappointed whenever I get one with only a few projects I like. I really want a copy of Melissa’s book Small stashes because it looks like there are so many great projects in it!
I would love to read more about using the color wheel and using fabrics with different scales together.
I like the chats you have now, but if I had to think maybe some thing about how you got started.
How cute are those shoes? I saw them at Target, but now I have to have those shoelaces. My niece has orange converse, so she needs pink laces from her Auntie Pami! Thanks!
I’d like to see you write about time management.
I seem to really struggle with finding the time for all the crafts I want to do. Sometimes I will get on a jag with one craft and that will dominate for a while and the others have trouble creeping in.
Thanks for pointing out that small stash sewing book. I have really been enjoying making sewn accessories. I looked at several books on the subject over the weekend and just felt old. The projects were too edgy for me.
I also think that pincushion is cute! I have always wondered if I could get a pincushion dense/tight enough to make it worth making one. I actually use my pincushions!
I would like you to write about:
1. whether you look at the flickr group where people post projects from your patterns and what you have seen that makes you think “I should have thought of that” or “that was clever.”
2. what your ideal quilt show would be like
I also enjoy projects that are not too complicated, using small amounts of fabric, and can be completed in a short time.
I would love to see more book reviews and organization of tools and fabric!
Your blog posts are just wonderful! I appreciate and love to hear all of your advise/adventures in sewing as it provides knowledge, guidance,lessons learned and inspiration. Thanks for everything!
[...] you to everyone for playing along with the latest book giveaway. I now have enough inspiration to blog for a decade! You guys are awesome! Seriously. Sometimes I [...]