Fresh Figs

On the 6th Day of Christmas

On the  6th Day of Christmas my true love gave to me, six Geese A Laying .

I guess I could whine a bit more about chicken coops and geese and other poultry living in my backyard but I won't. I've never actually had a goose egg to eat before.

Not sure why we've got geese laying eggs here and not the French Hens? Really? I wonder if goose eggs were a sign of great love back in 1700's England. Anyone?

Instead of goose eggs [which just doesn't sound quite right, does it?], we thought we would share a few of our favorite little notions... those we just can't live without.

OUR FAVORITE AUTOMATIC NEEDLE THREADER

When we first introduced "Our Favorite Things" category on our old website, these were one of the first things we stocked. As I grew a little older.... uummmm, not old, just older... and found that just perhaps I might need my reading glasses to thread a needle, I started to rely on this amazing little gadget. I have a green one right next to my machine and I NEVER leave home without my pink one.

With one simple push of a button, voila... thread in needle! And it has a little built-in cutter too.
Perfect for you or for stocking stuffers!

 

IN PINK

 

 

AND IN APPLE GREEN

 

 

And possibly my favorite notion of all time... the Japanese Little House Pins- the best pins I've ever tried. These little handmade pins glide through fabric like butter, the tips are perfectly sharp and they are strong! To top it off they come in the cutest little metal tin. I"m not usually such a stickler about sewing notions, but honesty, these are the only pins I ever use! They are the perfect little luxury. 

 

JAPANESE LITTLE HOUSE PINS

 

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And the goodie for today is our Bon Apetite pattern. Love making these little bowls!

For more info on any of the notions above, CLICK HERE.

See you tomorrow!

 

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12 DAYS OF CHRISTMAS FINE PRINT

 

*** Please note that if the 12 Days of Christmas website space is blank, that means that the item for the day has sold out. Nothing is wrong with the site, the item has just been sold out.

• The Fig Tree 12 Days of Christmas sale starts on Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, and lasts for 12 days.

• Each day a different kit, stocking stuffer or home dec goodie will be advertised. Each day a special offer will be made as well.

• Each special offer will only be available on that day. Each goodie will only be available while stock lasts. Many of the items offered will sell out on that day.

• For those of you who want to continue to purchase items throughout the 12 days of the sale but want us to hold your purchases for one shipment, you need to note that in the comments section of your order. If there is no note, we will ship the items as they are ordered.

• For those of you who have your items held for one shipment at the end, your orders will continue to accrue shipping charges for each order throughout the sale. We will calculate the actual shipping at the end and then refund any necessary shipping charges then. 

 

On the 2nd Day of Christmas...

 

 

On the 2nd Day of Christmas my true love sent to me, two turtledoves.

But since the pair of turtledoves that we already have living on our backporch every single Spring make a lot of noise [and their fair share of mess], we thought we'd send you some cute little scissor sets instead. And to make the deal a bit more special, we have added in our TWINKLE booklet to go with them.

 

The set comes in a lovely coral pink...

 

Or a snazzy lime green. Either one is good enough to eat, we think. Both make wonderful stocking stuffers.

And TWINKLE is a fabulous booklet full of simple, graphic patterns!

For more info, CLICK HERE for either color.

See you tomorrow!

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12 DAYS OF CHRISTMAS FINE PRINT

• The Fig Tree 12 Days of Christmas sale starts on Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, and lasts for 12 days.

• Each day a different kit, stocking stuffer or home dec goodie will be advertised. Each day a special offer will be made as well.

• Each special offer will only be available on that day. Each goodie will only be available while stock lasts. Many of the items offered will sell out on that day.

• For those of you who want to continue to purchase items throughout the 12 days of the sale but want us to hold your purchases for one shipment, you need to note that in the comments section of your order. If there is no note, we will ship the items as they are ordered.

• For those of you who have your items held for one shipment at the end, your orders will continue to accrue shipping charges for each order throughout the sale. We will calculate the actual shipping at the end and then refund any necessary shipping charges then. 

Day #8: The 12 Days of Christmas

Welcome to Day #8 of the 12 Days of Christmas: Fig Tree Style! Each day we will have a different kit, a different sale and even a few giveaways along the way. Join us each day so that you don't miss out on a single thing. We are so excited to share all of our goodies with you!

 

Day #8

 

So.... we took a little weekend break. Santa's elves apparently went out for a much needed latte break on friday afternoon and didn't come back until this morning. I guess all these sale orders just plain tuckered them out!

Oh... and we saw a little Nutcracker and will share a few photos tomorrow. Thanks for all of your emails and comments about your own Nutcracker experiences. It was really fun to read and hear about all those childhood stories.

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So today we resume the 12 Days of Christmas sale. 

 First up today...

Another one of my absolutely favorite stocking stuffers for your favorite sewers and quilters. The Clover Desk Needle Threader.

I know that many of us might not want to admit that we need the help of a needle threader... but we do! And if don't technically need one, we could still sure use one! I can tell you from experience that from the first day I tried this one, I have been in love with its cute little self. It sits right next to my sewing machine and another one in my travel kit. I literally don't leave home without them

Click here for more info.

 

Second up today...

A little Daisy Backpack for any little girl in your life.

Actually perfect for a girl of any age [ I use my daughter's sometimes when she is not paying attention], this 11" x 13" backpack is good for school or simply for a little shopping trip when you want both of your hands free.

Daisy Backpack Kit includes everything you need to make this backpack for your favorite girl, big or small! Kit includes all the materials exactly as seen on the cover shot above: pattern, fabric, all the hardware, include D-rings, magnets, grommets as well as the grommet kit and a button kit! Just be ready to sew!

Click here for more info.

 

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12 Days of Christmas Special Day #8: 

Needle Threader Stocking Stuffers are 15% off! 

Daisy Backpack Kit is also 15% off!

A fun new product

I have a little something to share about a fun new product with a wonderful company that makes a fabulous little machine that everybody should have to play with! More at Market or maybe tomorrow.

Just saying.

 

xoxoxo

Chicken Dinner... & then some

Just chicken dinner so I wouldn't be saying Winner, Winner, Chicken, Dinner" again.... although I do get a kick out of that saying! What is it with me?

Sorry for the delay on the winner of the i-TOP tool. It was supposed to go up yesterday. Yesterday came and went with many adventures but this was not one of them...

On February 8 at 10:02 am, SarahB said:

"What a handy little tool! I hadn't heard of it before but I think if I had one I've be making covered buttons all the time!"

If you are Sarah, give us a jingle at joanna@figtreequilts.com with your mailing info and we will get your fun i-TOP out to you!

Its a good thing you won one too because we are completely sold out on our site!

Tomorrow we will post the last winner of the PILLOW TALK hop. Hope you are still having fun following along. There sure are a lot of us designers!

A NEW PRODUCT

Back by popular demand, we have created another set of these wonderful little flannel bundles for you. We were only able to make a couple dozen, but we sure do love them right now! They are a bundle of (6) 1/2 yd. cuts of our now out of print yummy woven flannels. So soft and lovely to work with. [If you need more than one, we will refund the shipping on subsequent bundles].

 

I saved a couple for myself. Now I have to figure out what I'm going to do with them.... suggestions?

Talk to you soon.

The i-TOP

I mentioned this great tool in yesterday's post and thought I would share a bit more about it today. 

   

While I was at Market in Houston this past fall, we did the "designer pillow" presentation for the MODA schoolhouse. It was a packed house and we had to do the presentations twice to accomodate all of our wonderful customers who wanted a sneak peek at what we were up to. We felt a little silly repeating all the stories twice, but it was fun.

After we returned to our booth with our little button pillow in hand, it seemed that every few minutes someone would come by and ask us if we had used the i-TOP for the pillow. At first we just politely told people that we used standard covered button kits but it didn't take long for us to become intrigued by this new tool that everyone kept asking us about.

Well, it turns out that we could have been doing sales for the i-TOP team because so many people were excited about it and doubly excited after they saw the fun use of buttons on our button pillow.

Needless to say, the i-TOP team graciously gave us a tool to play with and we have been having fun with it ever since. The buttons on those Sit Upons I mentioned a few posts ago? All done with the i-TOP. And this pillow too. And a few other upcoming projects.

HOW TO USE THE TOOL

1. Cut out a circle of fabric according to the package instructions. To be honest, I usually eyeball it after a couple but you should probably start with the guide to get yourself started.

You can use the i-TOP buttons forms or any of the standard button forms available at craft and quilt shops. This versatility is one of the things I like most about it. It accommodates several sizes of buttons and I hear that they are in the midst of a remodel to accommodate even more sizes. The new i-TOP will be available late Spring.

Here we are using the 7/8" button forms from our local quilt shop.

 

2. Snap the larger side of the tool out so that it is facing toward you [[it just releases if you pull and makes it effortless to turn around 180 degrees]. Place the circle on the top of the side of the i-TOP tool that matches the size of button you are using. In this case that is the larger side.

3. Make sure that your fabric circle is centered and push the fabric down with the metal button form, placing & pushing it down into the inside of the tool.

Make sure that you kind of gather or push the fabric into the center with your fingers if it doesn't want to do it on its own as shown in the above pic. The fabric needs to be slightly "tucked" in as shown above before the next step.

You can also use the smaller pink side to do this if you like [that will work if you are doing a bigger button like we are here but not vice versa if you are doing a tiny button].

 

4. Place the button cover on top of the "squished" fabric. 

5. Now for the fun part. Pop the tool up [it just releases if you pull and makes it effortless to turn around 180 degrees] and over so that it is now facing inside the way it was when you opened the package. The 2 sides should be facing each other like shown here. Press the 2 sides together lightly. 

 

6. Voila. 

 

7. Snap the button out and do it again and again.... and again!

If you would like an i-TOP of your own, we have some available here. Once they sell out, we will also be carrying the new models in late Spring.

If you haven't already, make sure you to and comment on yesterday's post to be entered in all the fun giveaways. And follow along on the PILLOW TALK BLOG TOUR to all the remaining designers too!

 

Talk to you soon.