Lucy's Lunchmat Pattern Review/Birthday Giveaway

Sew....what's up with you today?

Today happens to be my birthday!  Yippee!  It's been such a hectic time for my family, no one, including me, is making much of a deal about it.  That's okay!  But, I'm going to do a giveaway at the end of this post to celebrate, so read on!

This isn't really my birthday present, but it sort of worked out that way.  I've been looking to buy a new car for a while (about 3 years!).  I had a Toyota 4-Runner that I JUST LOVED.  It had 182K miles on it and had never once been in the shop, except for routine maintance.  I started looking for a new car a few years ago, but I could not find anything else I liked enough to get rid of it for.  This summer, I got my eye on this white Highlander and decided it was time.  (Either that, or I was going to stop looking and drive my 4-Runner into the ground.  But, if I traded it now, I still got a really good trade-in price, so that's what I did.)  It came in yesterday!  Very exciting for me.  Lots of fun bells and whistles, like being able to play my tunes on my iPhone through the stereo.  Sweet Pea really likes that feature!

I bought it at a dealership in Battle Creek.  They were AWESOME to work with.  Probably the easiest car deal I have ever made.  I think the salesman was very new there, and I may have been his first sale.  He was older...maybe in his 60s.  Very nice guy.  When I showed up to pick up my car, he had these flowers on his desk for me!  He said, "Happy Birthday one day early!"  Wow! 

By the way, if you live in the area, I would highly recommend Sunshine Toyota dealership. Everyone there was just great to work with on this car deal!

And how do you ike this table runner my friend Brooke sent me?  What a doll!  She knows I love Lucy's Crab Shack fabric!  Brooke, I love you!  Thank you so much!

Here's Papa Pea's gift to me.  You're saying to yourself, "What?!  I don't get it."  Here's the deal.  He came to me and said he's saved up enough money to pour a slab and rough in a big addition to our shed so that I can have a new and larger sewing room!  This is me, jumping for joy!  He's going to add on to our shed from the back.  We'll add a new roofline going the opposite direction.  (We will have to relocate the clothesline, as it's right where the addition will go.)  It's going to have a little front porch on it, facing our back yard (which is in the foreground here), so I can hang baskets of flowers and have a couple of rocking chairs facing the yard.  It will be spacious (I can't remember the exact dimensions), heated, and air conditioned.  He said he'd run water out there, too, so I can have a bathroom, too.  And there will be an area in the back (separated by a wall) where he can park lawn mowers, etc.  That will clear out the shop a little for his woodworking area.  There is currently a back door on this shed.  We'll leave that door there, so one can go from one part of the shed to another.  I am really excited.  Not only will this give me more of a sewing room, it will clear out my laundry room so we will have much more storage inside the house.  It will make a huge difference in the house for us.  What a guy, huh?  He said I have to promise not to move out there, though.  LOL  I think it will look really cute in the back yard, too.

(Our yard looks like crap with all the dry weather we've had.  We've had some rain recently, so you can see some of the grass coming back.  We don't water, because we have 2 acres and are on a well.  We can't afford to burn out our well pump to water grass.  Plus, it's such a waste of precious water when we are in such a drought that our lake is dried up!  MHO)

I have been getting just a little bit of sewing in lately (but not much).  I wanted to show you these fun placemats I sewed up.  Here they are on my patio table.  (I took the photo of the shed while standing on this deck, just to give you a feel of the layout of our back yard.)  Aren't they fun?  The are made with....what else but Lucy's Crab Shack?!  This is a pattern called Lucy's Lunchmat, by Sweetwater.  Sweetwater had kits available for purchase, with enough fabric to make two placemats in each kit.  I ordered three kits, because I wanted enough of these placemats for each chair at my patio table.  I was going to link to the kits and pattern, but I can no longer find them in their Etsy shop, so they must be out.

The mats finish at about 14" square.  Each one features this lined pocket for silverware.  I like that they are square rather than rectangular.  They fit more nicely on the table this way.

See how the silverware fits in?  So cute and perfect for eating outside, if you ask me!

I used some really cute buttons I got at Market from Basic Gray.  I love these buttons.  Often when I have buttons I love, I won't use them.  I'll hoard them.  So, I'm proud of myself for using these.  I wished I had had them in turquoise in this size, because I would have used those on some.  (I had some turquise ones, but they were bigger...too big, I thought.)  Oh well!  At least I had enough orange ones for all the placemats.  The first thing Sweet Pea tried to do was unbutton the button.  LOL.  It is sewn down.

As far as a pattern review, this is a very easy pattern.  Easy to put together and not too time comsuing.  Really cute results, too.  It would be cute in many different fabrics.  I can imagine it in some of Kate Spain's fabric, or how about Apple of My Eye by Amanda Herring?!  I think that would be adorable.  Come to think of it, I may need to make some in that fabric, too for my kitchen (which is red, yellow, and black).  I made all six placemats in about two afternoons.  Sweet Pea helped me with it.  She laid out all the squares for the pockets for me.  She had a lot of fun playing with the squares and making the designs for the pockets.  (Incidentally, today, when she sat down at the table and Brooke's tablerunner was on my table, she said, "Hey!  That's the same fabric as you used for those placemats!  Cool!  You must really like that fabric, Mom!"  Yep.)  Highly recommend this pattern, and good for beginner sewists.  Easy peasy.

Because I ordered three kits, I got three patterns!  I only need one.  So, in honor of my birthday, I'm going to give away two patterns to two readers.  I also had some 2.5" squares leftover, so I'm going to give each winner 12 squares of Lucy's Crabshack (which is enough to make one silverware pocket).  If you'd like to win a pattern, leave a comment by Friday, August 10.  I'll draw two names on Saturday, August 11 and send the winners their prizes!

This giveaway is now closed.  The winners were #4, Lynn, and #34, Linda.  Congratulations!

I was hoping to do a week of giveaways for my birthday, like I did last year.  I just couldn't get my act together.  I do have some things set aside for prizes.  So, maybe I'll get my act together enough to have some other giveaways later.  We'll see if I can.  But, this will do for now.

(I purchased this pattern and all the supplies myself.)

Until next time,

NOTE:  Someone asked me why I put that statement about "I purchased this pattern and all the supplies myself" on my pattern reviews.  I do that in the interest of full disclosure.  I do have a pattern I will be doing a review for soon and that pattern was provided to me free of charge.  On that review, I'll tell you that.  I think it's fair to you to know if it was provided to me or not so you can judge for yourself whether or not there is bias in my review.  If I bought my own pattern and supplies, then I think it suggests it's an unbiased opinion.  I always try to give an unbiased opinion, even if the pattern or supplies were provided to me.  But you'd have to be the judge of that yourself.  By disclosing it, I think I allow you to judge that for yourself more easily.  What are your thoughts on that?

 

Comments

[Deirdre Rozowski]

What an awesome idea - I can't wait to try it!

[Thimbleanna]

Happy Happy Birthday Mama Pea!!!! I hope you've had a wonderful day. Your placemats are adorable!

[Brooke]

You are most welcome!! Love you back! Happy, happy Birthday!! Love the car and the addition - you go girl!!

[Lynn]

Happy Birthday! Tomorrow is my husband's birthday.

I'm doing a happy dance for you about your new studio!!! Will it be big enough for a long arm? Even if it isn't, a new space all to yourself is a pretty nice thing.

I think it's a good idea to say whether or not you purchased the pattern yourself or not for the reasons you gave. I know that if I was given something I'd be more likely to give it a good review than if I bought it myself. I assume everyone is like me (even though I know they aren't) so I like to know if they got the item for free or purchased it.

[carolld]

Happy Birthday. I knew there was a reason I like you so much...I'm a Leo too. Sat. is my day. Love those placemats. What a clever idea. I want to try that! And you get a new sewing room Too! You are one spoiled lady...but of course It couldn't happen to a nicer woman. You deserve it. Can't wait to see it.

[Linda in Calif.]

Happy Birthday to YOU! Wow, a new studio. That will be so nice for you (& Sweet Pea cause we all know she will be out there too). Those are the cutest placemats. Please throw my name in the hat for a pattern.

[Johanna]

Happy birthday!
Wow, you have a really great husband, congrats on the soon to be new sewing room!
(Oh, and please don't include me in the giveaway, I would never find the time to put it to use...)

[Natasha]

Please include me in the giveaway! I also own a RAV and love it. I bet you will love the Highlander! Happy Birthday!

[Sue]

Well happy birthday to you!! My oh my, you got and are getting some really sweet things! Whoa is me!! Love your new car and I LOVE that you get all that sewing space. It'll be kinda like a WOman cave! haha I don't know that I'd come out of mine, but it's probably a good idea that you do just to be nice ;P :D

I love those placemats! Those are just the cutest. I'm gonna have to make me some. LOVE!

[terriaw]

Happy birthday to you! What a great day to celebrate. Such a great idea to do a week of giveaways during your birthday week. (hope I can remember to do that)

Would be so awesome to have a shed like that. It looks fab!

Love those lunch mats too. Thanks for sharing your review and tips.

[Deb]

Stephanie!! Happy, happy Birthday!!! What a haul you're getting...a beautiful new car and even more wonderful than that (in my opinion!) is the new sewing area!!! Wow!!! And I thought I was really spoiled with getting a new higher potty for my birthday!! LOL! That was super nice of the salesman to give you flowers, too. Sounds like a great b'day all around. The placemats are pretty...I'd love to be included in your giveaway.

[Linda]

Happy birthday, Stephanie!!! Congrats on the new car!!!!! We buy all our cars at Sunshine. Placemats are super cool!

[Amy]

Happy Birthday to you! I should say that you were mighty spoiled this year...my goodness, a new car and an addition? I just convinced Mark to agree to a new fabric storage shelf and thought I was doing well :) I love the silverware pocket on the placemats--very cute!

[LuAnn]

Nice post Stephanie! I am so envious of your new sewing space. That is just going to be wonderful. Happy birthday to you! My husband just bought a new Toyota Highlander, and he just loves it. Great placemats; clever how there is a pocket for the silverware. Have a nice day!

[Terri]

1st - For a half a second, I thought the car was the give-away!
2nd - Happy 29th Bday!
3rd - Nice car!
4th - Nice placements!
5th - A new sewing room! Holy buttonhole! How cool is Papa Pea!?
5th - If there is anyone who doesn't need to do the full disclosure, it's you. Even if you don't like something, you find something to say it; you are so NICE about your feedback even if it's negative. Sigh. I could learn a thing or two from you.

[Donna]

Happy Birthday!!! Today is my daughter Jennifer's b'day too :) She did the same thing and bought herself a new SUV similar to yours and the same color. Love your new Toyota. I drive a Toyota myself and we were talking that it is the best car I have ever had.
Your new sewing room (house) is going to be wonderful and how sweet of your hubby. You will have to give us updates!
Love the placemats and they look wonderful on your patio table.
Happy Birthday!
Hugs,
Donna

[Michelle H.]

Happy birthday to you...what an awesome gift..your own awesome workspace. I dream of having something just like that, too.

The placemats are adorable, thanks for the chance.

[Renee G]

I love the pockets on these. Would love to try to make these.
rsgrandinetti@yahoo(dot)com

[Account Deleted]

Happy birthday Stephanie! What a great lot of surprises. A new car, flowers and a new studio. I have to say that your husband's gift is so wonderful. It says that he knows what will really make you down in the gut happy. Not all men know their wives so well. Lucky you!

[Maggie Szafranski]

What an awesome birthday celebration! Love the new car! And a separate sewing studio...heaven!! Love those placemats, sign me up! And full disclosure is so common in all of our nursing workshops, that I didn't even think twice about this!

[Kathy S.]

Happy birthday! Adorable placemat. This would be a great Christmas gift for my mother-in-law! Thanks for the chance to win.

[Maxine]

Happy birthday! Love how you did the placemats with Lucy's Crab Shack. That's one of my favoarites this summer. Happy quilting!

[Joyce]

Happy Happy Birthday...I too have a wonderful husband. Last week, he came home with 2 pieces of furniture from an antique shop to hold my increasing stash of fabric. Love Lucy's crab shack and what you have created with it! Would love to win. Thank you!

[Hueisei]

Happy Birthday!
I love to try making one. Thanks!

[barbara woods]

would love to win thanks