BOOMBOX SEW-A-LONG WEEK 8 - the cassette tape zippy pouch instructions AND!

Lots of exciting things this week! First: the final week of the BOOMBOX sewing machine cover sew-a-long! This last week was my favorite: the cassette tape zippy pouch (that fits inside the sewing machine cover). You can get the instructions HERE. You'll also need this PDF page for the cassette tape bottom.

If you didn't get a chance to do the sew-a-long, fear not! This fall, I'll be compiling all the instructions into a permanent tutorial that will live on my site. It will be here for you whenever you need it! Don't worry, I got your back. 

Second: You know what else is exciting? Cotton + Steel came out with their 2017 Spring Collections Look Book. I've always loved their Look Books AND now I'm IN one of them. SEE!

Third: My CASSINGLE pattern has been released on ETSY and Craftsy! YAY! To celebrate all this excitement, we're going to have ourselves a give away! To enter, leave a comment here telling me your favourite 80's song. I'll add it to my 80's playlist and I'll post the winners name (and favourite song) on the newsletter next week. BUT wait! You have three chances to win. Leave a comment here, on the Lysa Flower Facebook Page or on Instagram (contest and rules will be posted on Facebook and Instagram by noon tomorrow PST). Good luck!

BOOMBOX-SEW-A-LONG: WEEK 7 (don't you love it when it ALL comes together!)

Have you seen what Angelini @suchastitch has been up to? I've LOVED seeing her progress on Instagram (#boomboxsewalong #lysaflowerpatterns). She's posted photos, starting with an inspirational BOOMBOX art wall, to her colouring sheet including her fabric selection and ALL her sewing (especially those teeny tiny pieces). Have a look at what a smarty pants she was! On the tiny pieces on the back of the pattern I noticed she coloured them! BRILLIANT! She also made two cassettes. She wasn't happy with the first one (which I loved) so she made a new one (which I also LOVED). I could never choose between them. Please done ever make me!

This week the sew-a-long is quite exciting! The boombox gets sewn ALL together. Next week is even more exciting because we're going to be making the cassette zippy pouch! Yay! All right. I need to settle down, I'm getting a head of myself. This weeks instructions you can get HERE.

RECOMMENDED PRODUCT: I like spray starch. There I said it. BUT did you know starch is made out of potatoes? You know who likes potatoes? Bugs. The last thing I want are bugs to be interested in my quilts. Or my anything! Here's a solution. Soak! Have you heard of it? This spring I came across their booth at Quilt Market. I also like smelly things. There I said that too. I prefer scents that are fresh and not to flower-y. They have dreamy scents! Their solution to spray starch is called FLATTER. It gives me that extra crispness I'm looking for when I'm paper piecing my heart out. Oh and they also have (soy based) labels designed by Carolyn Friedlander and Deynse Schmidt. Pretty, nice smelling and useful. I'm sold.

RECOMMENDED FOR YOUR 80's PLAYLIST: Styx-Too Much Time On My Hands. Check out this Jimmy Fallon Split screen - Hilarious! 

PS. Speaking of time, this week I came across this quote: Time is an equal opportunity employer. Each human being has exactly the same number of hours and minutes everyday. Rich people can't buy more hours. Scientist can't invent new minutes. And you can't save time to spend it on another day. Even so. time is amazingly fair and forgiving. Not matter how much time you've wasted in the past, you still have an entire tomorrow. - Denis Waitely - Serious!

BOOMBOX-SEW-A-LONG WEEK 6: FEAR NOT THE SUMMER SLUMP

Early June: Woo Hoo! Summer is almost here! As soon as the kids are out of school, I'm going to have SO much extra time. I'm going to finish this and this and...

<insert outrageous, unattainable list here> 

Reality. Present day: Oofft! It's HOT, I feel melt-y. Hey look at this new shiny thing over here! Where do you need to be driven? Sure so and so can come over. Crap, I better clean up! Unfinished projects score: 52 and 3/4. Finished projects score: 1/4. Ah, the summer slump. Oh yeah! I remember now, didn't this happen last year? 

I was chatting with @bespokeoutlaw and @sewhungryhippie on Instagram who've been feeling the summer slump too, which I was INCREDIBLY relieved to hear. Until then I was convinced I was the only one. Phew! This led me to thinking about and digging for solutions to a summer slump.

RECOMMENDED TO BEAT THE SUMMER SLUMP: Marie Forleo and her 3 Steps to Retrain Your Brain So You Can Be More Productive Than Ever episode helped to quenched my thirst! I can do that!

THE JEALOUS CURATOR, ART for your ear SUMMER CAMP. I LOVE, love, loved what she assigned for week 5. How liberating. I've got my guild sew-in's on the calendar and I CAN NOT wait.

But you know what helped me the most? Being trapped in a car for hours. Yes! A good old fashioned road trip. It's like an isolation tank but you end up somewhere! HA! Perfection. Our little family did a quick-y trip down to Portland. Not only did I finally get my binding done on my Katie Peterson Psychedelic Baby workshop quilt (big reveal still to come), I had a chance to visit Fabric Depot (first time) and Modern Domestic (they moved)! I bought my first Row by Row there. Uh-oh! Finished projects score: 1- 1/4. Unfinished projects score: 52 and 3/4 (aw, the number didn't go down). Hence my new mantra, "It will all get done". 

Oh right Week 6 instructions! You can get them HERE. This week we're sewing the Boombox back pockets! Yay! Check out @emsteratx progress on her sewing machine cover! Gah! LOVE! Now don't worry if the summer slump gets a hold of you, all is okay. The sew-a-long instructions will become a tutorial that'll permanently be a part of my site. It'll be here waiting for you when you need it. Say it with me, "It will all get done". And while it all gets done...

RECOMMENDED FOR YOUR 80's PLAYLIST: Jenny 867-5309 by Tommy Tutone, My Sharona by the Knack and Kim Wilde's Kids in America (which I thought the Go Go's did-whoops!)