Ugh. (Thursday Think Tank)

Spending my evening cursing at the television while watching the First Presidential Debate. Hope your Wednesday night was better spent!

Here is my question to you for the week... If you met a fabric store owner what would you ask them? What would you be dying to know? Discuss. ;)

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Nice Ass, Donkey that is. {Softie Pattern Giveaway!}

Welcome Donktober 2012 Guests!   I hope you are ready to handle a little MRL because I am psyched to be a first stop to help kick off the Donktober festivities! When I begged to participate in Donktober 2012 I immediately jumped on the chance to create a Donkey Stuffed Animal.  [Some of you call this a "softie," others "plush," personally it is a stuffed animal to me. :p]  As the mother of three small children I pretty much knew this was going to be a win win no matter how what.

This is the mascot of the free softie pattern from Etsy's How Tuesday.  Now come on...let's be honest, this is one pert little donkey, a bit preppy (pink, polka dots, and gray?  yeah = preppy), a svelte athlete perhaps, but definitely perky.  Is that the smile of a smug over confident jock or just the good natured grin of a down to earth happy guy...well, you decide for yourself.

Personally I took one look at this guy and knew that wasn't happening.  Uh unh, no way, not in the MRL household.  My donkey was going to need a little something special to make it different from the other donkeys.  

So...I aimed for shabby chic and came up with Damien.

Need I mention that following the instructions exactly isn't quite my thing?

I made a few key changes to make Damien a bit rough around the edges, literally.  For the scruffy look I used osnaburg and left some exposed seams to create the fraying edges, for the eyes I layered them to achieve that shabby chic homemade look, and one of my favorite parts is the mane which I used the selvadge from the osnaburg to create.  I shifted his eye placement and positioned his ears down reminiscent of a Disney Donkey we all know so well.  These design choices combined with the osnaburg, Denyse Schmidt's Posie in Gray and Charcoal Kona fabric choices made one soulful brooding little donkey.

In case you were wondering, yes I leaned more towards the Grunge/Goth category in High School.  Hey it was the 90s!

<<<PATTERN REVIEW>>>

I'd say that overall the pattern was pretty easy and very forgiving.  Once you cut out the template pieces you could really have creative license, it allowed me to play around and do my own thing.  The hardest part, in my opinion, was getting those skinny little leg pieces done correctly!  Otherwise it was smooth sailing.

SOFTIE PATTERN GIVEAWAY!!!

Reuben the Donkey softie pattern by Ric Rac

Generously Donated to Donktober 2012 by Jodie Carleton.  Win this beautiful pattern right here!!!

Three Chances to Enter Giveaway

1. The Blatantly Easy Entry: Softie, Plush, or Stuffed Animal - what do you call yours?
2. The TUI [Total Useless Information] Entry: Tell me a Donkilicious Fact!
3. The Entry Purely Meant for Ego Inflation Purposes Only: Follow me, Follow Erin, or Follow us Both and leave me a comment letting me know!

Giveaway will end Wednesday October 10, 2012

"Bye...have a Donktastic Day...if that's your thing anyway..."  

-- Damien Donkey

- rebecca lynne

Fresh Sewing Day

Left to Right: 5 yr Wedding Anniversary, Twins Finished Quilts, Miss E's Rainbow WIP, Anniversary Giveaway FQs, Wedding Pouch for Bride, Cutting Charms for Low Volume Swap, Farewell to Summer with Summersville

I was starting to feel like I didn't get anything done and didn't do anything for the whole month of September.  Where the H did September go anyway?  I mean, damn, it was just August!  Thank goodness for Fresh Sewing Day, it always reminds me of that I am not a complete schlep.  Apparently I did do some sewing this month...

Also, the Scarf Pattern Giveaway!! continues - Check It Out!

How did your September go?  Check out Fresh Sewing Day at Lily's Quilts...

- rebecca lynne