100 Pretty Little Projects: Book Review and Giveaway

How is it Thursday already? AAH! Slow down the countdown to Christmas puh-lease! Anyone else freaking out that it's less than 3 weeks until the big day? I did complete a Christmas gift yesterday, but more on that in a second.

A couple of months ago, our friends at Lark Crafts sent us the book 100 Pretty Little Projects to check out. I am excited to share my review with you guys today and show you the fun project I made from it. If you'd like a copy of 100 Pretty Little Projects for yourself, make sure and enter the giveaway at the end of this post for a chance to win one!



100 Pretty Little Projects
Pincushions, Potholders, Purses, Pillows & More

100 Pretty Little Projects is a compilation of favorite projects from the popular Pretty Little series. It features cute and practical projects from fabulous designers and crafty bloggers including adorable pincushions, coasters, patchwork potholders, doll quilts, pretty pillows, trendy clutches and much, much more. The book is organized in four loose categories: Enjoy, Use, Hold and Give.

I think writing clear and concise pattern instructions is an art form. And this book really exemplifies this! Each project takes no more than 2-3 pages of instructions -- including photos -- and they are super straightforward. The book assumes you have basic sewing knowledge, there is no section on technique, it's all projects. But there's nothing fancy or too complicated for a beginner.

When I receive books for review, I usually save them for Sunday morning. I grab a nice, hot mug of coffee, curl up on the couch with the book, and dive in. With this book, I had to get off my comfy spot almost immediately... to go grab some sticky labels. Too. Many. Projects. To. Make! This book is full of great ideas, most of which don't use much fabric or take much time.

Here are some of my favorites (not even half of what I marked as "must make"):














I think this one is hilarious (and a little scary):


As you can imagine, most of the projects in this book make perfect gifts. I had been wanting to make patchwork potholders for a family member on my Christmas list. (I don't think she reads this blog, so I can show you what I made!) When I saw the Now and Zen pattern, I knew I had found my project.


I just love the combination of patchwork and solid, and the mix of straight lines with the circle shape. I decided to go with a Christmas theme and made one green one, and one red one -- using linen for the solid contrast piece.




This project came together without a hitch. The only problem I had was with my own binding skills (properly pinning and stitching). I made the red potholder first and it came out messy and crooked, as you can probably tell in the pics. I figured things out for the green one which came out great, I think! So I'll be redoing the red potholder's binding before gifting. Isn't this design so cute?






In summary, 100 Pretty Little Projects is a fun book full of inspiration and go-to projects. It is the best kind of book to have around the holidays, as it is filled with quick projects that are easy to stylize and customize and ideal for gifting. Put it on your list for Santa!

Giveaway

Lark Crafts is giving away a copy of 100 Pretty Little Projects to a lucky reader! For a chance to win, you can have up to 3 entries:

1. Just leave a comment (and if you'd like, tell us about your go-to quick gifts to make)
2. Subscribe to the Lark Crafts blog, "like" them on Facebook or follow them on Twitter -- and leave a comment here telling us you did so.
3. Blog, tweet or post about this giveaway on Facebook -- and leave a comment here telling us you did so.

Don't forget to include an email address so we can contact you if you win! We'll leave comments open through Sunday 12/11 midnight CST, will pick a random winner and announce it here on Monday. Good luck! Giveaway is now closed. Thank you for participating. Congratulations to our lucky winner Mimi!



If you're new to Stumbles & Stitches, welcome! We're so glad you're here. We hope you'll browse and subscribe. You can also "like" us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter. And, speaking of giveaways... You'll want to come back on Monday for a fabulous fabric giveaway by our sponsor Fat Quarter Shop!