Happy Home - Review and Giveaway

A few weeks ago, a copy of Jennifer Paganelli's latest book, Happy Home, arrived on my doorstep for review. I immediately thumbed through it and was wowed by all the gorgeous photos. I have always enjoyed Jennifer's bright, cheerful prints and this book shows them off in a magnificient way. When I had more time to spare, I spent some time reading and really looking at the projects. There are lots of great household items including home dec (bed coverings, curtains, bedskirt, pillows, tablecloth and napkins) as well as accessories for the home (fabric boxes, garland, pompom lanterns) and accessories to wear (hat, apron). The ones that caught my eye immediately are:

The Playful Patterned Pillow - I love the large hexagons and there are good instructions for machine sewing them all together.

The Laundry Bag (would make a nice high school graduation gift and great for overnight campers!) and Jimbo Jumbo Dog Bed Cover

The Sophia Stocking - I love seeing different versions of the same pattern.

The Express Yourself Applique Pillow - This is the one that I knew I would make right away. I love the overscale letters and the cute sayings. Plus, I'm a sucker for applique - it's fast, easy and gives you a lot of color bang for your time.

Jane and I decided that we would make one of these pillows for her friend's birthday this week. Jane picked out a stack of purple, green and pink fabrics to spell out "SWEET DREAMS". I thought this was such a great idea until I came down with the flu. I started to make the pillow, but I was thinking straight and cut the fabric all wrong (measure TWICE, cut once). I did manage to save enough fabric to eek out the birthday girl's name and applique it onto a premade tote. Although it was what we had originally planned, I think it turned out cute and I have Happy Home to thank for the inspiration.

Chronicle Books has offered to give a copy of Happy Home to one of my readers (U.S. addresses only, please). To enter the giveaway, leave a comment on this post telling me what you want to sew for your Happy Home before Sunday, June 10, 5:00 p.m. EST. I'll draw one winner using the random number generator at that time.

Good luck and happy weekend!