One of those mornings....

Do you ever have one of "those" mornings?  Today was mine.  I have mentioned that I have six kids, five girls and one boy.  We have ALOT of hormones at our house. Mornings are rarely pleasant.  This morning was really ugly.  Thing 6 ( youngest daughter- age 6) is not a morning person.  She never has been.  The last month of school is always bad because she has had just about enough of getting up early.  This morning she refused to get dressed.  She sat in her room and alternated between sobbing and throwing a temper tantrum (she is the baby and a bit spoiled).  I finally told her that if she didn't get dressed I would haul her into school in her pajamas.

About that time Thing 3 (daughter # 3....age 11) jumped in.  This is a direct quote.  "Thing 6 (well, she didn't say Thing 6...she said her name) you had better get dressed.  Mom is serious.  She will do that.  You should be glad she is dressed.  The day mom carried me to the bus she had her pajamas and snow boots on...and it wasn't even snowing!!!!  She doesn't care if people think she looks dumb! She will make you go to school in pajamas!"  That did nothing to calm Thing 6 down.  Thing 4 (only son, age 10) jumped in with his own horror story. "Thing 6, mom will do it.  One time I didn't want to go to church so I wouldn't get dressed.  Mom hauled me naked (in my defense, he had underwear on) to the car, stuck me in the back with my suit and drove to church.  When I wouldn't get dressed, she left me in the car and went and got dad out of his church meeting. I had to get dressed IN THE CHURCH PARKING LOT!!!!"  Thing 5 (daughter, age 8) doesn't have a story about being taken somewhere naked or in her p.j.'s by a mother in different states of dress. She did manage to find a story to add. "Ya, Thing 6, mom doesn't care about how we feel.  She went into the Dollar Store in nothing but her SWIMMING SUIT!!!!  She does not care about how she wrecks our lives!!!  You better get dressed!"  Luckily, Thing 1 and Thing 2 were already at school and did not have a chance to add their stories.

I feel like I am succeeding as a mother.  I am giving them good stories to tell when they are adults. I am providing job security for the therapist that ends up undoing all I have done to mess my kids up. That is how I like to spin it!

Happy May 2nd! I am headed down to fold more fabric.

 - Stephanie

Feeling a little bit naked......

Have you ever had to have the bank or a car dealership (or anyone for that matter) pull your credit while you are sitting in front of them?  I have.  My husband and I always say that this feels like they are looking at you naked.  I hate that feeling of having someone go into your private history and making a judgement based on the one or two pages that they can see.  Does anyone else know what I am talking about?

Today I am going to show you a little bit of me, naked.  Before you click the little x (close) on your computer screen, please know that I am not showing you my naked body.  I am showing you my naked sewing room.  I have ALOT of fabric.  I owned a quilt shop for a couple of years.  When we closed the shop I brought ALOT of stuff home.  I have not found a good way to keep it neat and tidy.  This is what the storage portion of my sewing room looks like. Please do not judge me.

I have been researching different organization methods and finally ordered Polar Notions fabric organizing sheets.  It is supposed to make the mess pictured above look like this

My order came in the mail today.  I am going to put on a movie and organize fabric.  Stay tuned for the "after " pictures.  I would love to hear how any of you organize your fabric!  Who knows, maybe we will do a give away for the best comment.

 - Stephanie

My Craving To Create....

Do you ever get a craving to create?  Sometime I wake up and feel this intense desire to create.  I don't want to do something big.  I just want to do a project from start to finish so that I can feel the sense of creating something beautiful.  Sometimes I think that this feeling comes from the lack of control I feel with 6 kids.  Sewing is something that I have complete control over.  I can mold the project into what I want it to be.  Unfortunately, I can't always do that with my kids!  Here is one of my favorite quick and easy projects.  Jess from Craftiness Is Not Optional created this cute little bib called "The Bapron".  This has become one of my "go to"  projects.  It fills my need to create and it fills my need to give.  I don't have babies so I give them to my friends that do!

Front- I used 100% cotton

Back
 Jess used flannel but I had some pul and I thought that would be nice and waterproof.

I have used laminated cotton and that works great too.

Have a happy weekend!
- Stephanie

Hello My Is.......

Good morning TREASURE BAY FABRICS  friends!

My name is Stephanie. I am one of Melissa's BFF's and her new Creative Director and Social Media Correspondent for Treasure Bay Fabrics. I LOVE that title!!!  I will be helping her with her blog.  I am a notions and gadgets addict.  If there is a new tool I will buy it (I bought a cricut on ebay at 3:00 a.m. and I don't even scrapbook). If you tell me that this is the last one and there will never be another one made, I will buy it.  I love to buy fabric (I owned a quilt shop for a couple of years).  I seldom finish a project.  I am the queen of starting......but not the queen of finishing.  I am really working on this.  Hopefully helping with this blog will bring some accountability to my projects.  I am a stay at home mom to 6 kids.  I have 5 girls (16,14,11,8, and 6) and 1 boy (10). I have an amazing hubby that supports me in all of my crazy ideas. (I will refer you to the afore mentioned quilt shop I owned)

(The AMAZING Hubby....He has no idea I posted his picture so DO NOT tell him! He is very good looking. Don't you agree???)


I am a pinterest addict.  I love to read and watch tv.  I love to run.  I am a Fanilow.  Here is a picture of me meeting Barry a couple of weeks ago.

That is a great picture of the back of my head while he is signing my ticket!  I bet you are all jealous! If you are really nice, I will post a picture of me with my tambourine that Kenny Rogers signed!

Enough about me.  I am posting a link to one of my favorite posters in my sewing room.  Sarah at compulsivecraftiness.com has an amazing (I have never met him but if he can design this....he is amazing) husband that designed this for her.  She decided to share it with everyone in internet land for FREE!!!!  Thank you Sarah!

Sew On and Sew Forth Poster

I can't wait to get to know all of you better.  Check back often for new fabric, giveaways, tutorials, and great ideas!

 - Stephanie

Giveaway coming soon!

I recently did a full inventory and have come across a rather large stash of flat folds, bolt ends and other random cuts and wondered what I could do with them. Ah-ha! Stash Giveaway!



Watch this space for more details!

Hello Again, Hello!

Whoa.  I had not realized it has been this long since I posted.  Yikes!  I mostly post updates on the facebook page, which is here:

Treasure Bay Fabrics on facebook

Please "Like" my page.  I am more likely to update that with new items and sale notifications than any place else. 

What is new?  More Free Spirit fabrics are rolling in daily!  I will be carrying more of the lines that are not available everywhere else.  I also listed "Children At Play" by Sarah Jane for Michael Miller.  There are two prints left, more on on order.   I really love that line.  

I also expect a new line of Hello Kitty fabrics, "Rain or Shine" by David Textiles to be arriving soon:

New Trims and Fabrics arriving all the time - stop by!   www.treasurebayfabrics.com

 - Melissa

Sale Aftermath and NEW items!

Whew!  We had a FLASH SALE (one day only sale) on Friday and the response was overwhelming.  To tell you how popular the sale was, I did more volume in 24 hours than I did in February!   I am a little behind on orders, but a third did go out yesterday and more will go out today.  Watch for a shipping notice from PayPal, that will alert you that you order went out. 

If you missed the sale, make sure you follow me on Facebook or Twitter.  If you do not "do" either one of those, I will be starting to collect email addresses for email updates.  The opt-in sign up list for email newsletters will be live by the end of the month.

In other news, we have new items up!

Another adorable line from The Henley Studios - Sew Lovely!

Prints from the Henley Studios from Makower UK tend to sell out quickly and are not reprinted.  Visit the shop - www.treasurebayfabrics.com and get yours soon!

Farm Fresh by October Afternoon

New from Riley Blake fabrics - Farm Fresh! This sweet, vintage inspired set of farmyard prints is perfect for quilts, aprons, clothing and more.





These prints are available by the yard or as a bundle in the shop. Head on over and see what else is new! www.treasurebayfabrics.com

Birthday Surprise Gifts For You!

Hooray! Today is my little girl's 6th Birthday and you are getting the gifts!

Starting today and while supplies last, with every purchase of $10.00 or more, you will receive a coupon for 10% off your next order* and a Fat Quarter cut of fabric**!



I have a lot of Fat Quarters, this is just a little peek!

What can you do with a Fat Quarter? All kinds of things! You can make little zip bags or wallets, a doll dress, a hair accessory, wall art or save a few make a mug rug, table runner or quilt! You can do what I like to do... Collect them! (precious, precious fabric!)

*coupon code is on the back of the business card enclosed with your order and is good in the etsy shop or the artfire shop until 12/31/2011.

**while supplies last. A fat quarter is a cut of fabric 18 inches by 22 inches. Fabric selection is my choice of print (they are all really nice!), unable to fulfill specific requests.

Newness!

I suddenly realized that I have not posted any updates for quite some time.  I have been busy unpacking boxes!  New arrivals are coming in fast and furious.  First up, the much anticipated "Hoo's In The Forest" collection from Doohikey Designs has arrived!  This collection will not last long, it is adorable!

Riley Blake Halloween is very cute this year from Doodlebug Designs, Trick or Treat:

For the Holidays, we now have Christmas Candy:

New trims and buttons are here:

 
Japanese Imports from various vendors have arrived.  Several cute, fun and whimsical cotton prints are available in a limited quantity at a great price - just $11.99 a yard!  Half yard cuts and Fat Quarters are available by request, just send me a note and I can get that set up for you.  Here are some of my favorites, check the Japanese Import section for more:

Stop by the shop! www.treasurebayfabrics.com