Another cosmetic/ accessory bag

I am loving havng this week of to play in my sewing room. This morning I finally made a pattern I am really happy with. I made this bag this morning to hold my spare charger and flash drive. Once I get some supplies in I will be offering this exact bag with custom monogram for sale on my etsy shop. I will also make this pattern in other colors and various ribbon styles.

Kindle case

Another quick project. I got a kindle for Christmas along with a nice stand up case. However, my purse is a bottomless pit and I did not want the nice case to get marked up. I made a quick case that will hold my kindle in the case and my head set and charger.

embroidered cosmetic cases

I wanted to make something small for the women in my life and had 2 weeks until Christmas. After doing some investigating I found cosmetic bag patterns and tissue holders. I am no Vera Bradley but I whipped a few things up to give as part of Christmas gifts this year. They were so well received that I am going to try selling these on etsy. I will have them listed as available in different color/ patterns of fabric with custom monograms. Here are the pictures of the ones I made and gave as gifts.

Memory Quilt

Now that I have gifted this quilt I can blog on it. My uncle passed on in February 2011 after a long battle with various health issues. He was truly a very inspirational man and the heart of his family. His passing saddened me deeply. He was always positive and joking around despite his poor health. I decided I had to find a way to help his family through this loss. After some research I decided I would offer to make a memory quilt from his clothing. My aunt promptly sent me some of his favorite t shirts and I began the task of turning them into a forever memory. I decided on a pattern and using my go cutter cut out the squares I needed. The top took me several months. Then, I had to decide on a backing and labels. I decided on army fabric for the backing since my uncle served in the army. In the end, I added a label for each corner. Each label was dedicated to him as a man, husband, father and grandfather. I was finally able to gift the quilt on Christmas Eve. Which, seems quite appropriate as it was his favorite holiday. This was an extremely emotional project for me and one I probably would not take on again except for a close relative, friend. I am extremely grateful my family trusted me to make this gift for them and allowed me to be a small part of their healing process. I love you all :)

Learn How to Join and Press Binding Strips - QNNtv.com

A great binding video.


Learn How to Join and Press Binding Strips - QNNtv.com

Not quite quilting but home decor of sorts

When I first started in my classroom the previous teacher had made valances for the windows. They were black with bright colored musical notes. Very cute material, but, the were cut and sewed crooked, and each valance was a different length. Every time I looked at them I cringed. I could not find the time throughout the year to make new curtains. Finally, I had a bit of time and tackled the task of making new curtains. This is my first attempt at home decor type stuff. They serve the purpose though and we keep them open all day and closed at nap.

doll quilt

I used my go baby and cut some 4.5 inch squares and made a quick little doll quilt. It was simple and fun to do. I will bring it to school so my girls can cover their baby dolls while they sleep. I have a feeling I will need to make at least 1 more.


Have I mentioned how happy I am with my go baby ? Before I got the baby it took hours for me to cut and half the time the blocks was crooked. Now, layer crank and it is cut and ready to sew! I could seriously advertise for them. They made quilting with one hand a hundred times easier and I don't cry in frustration anymore :)

My new old machine and table

Last year I decided to buy an older sewing machine as back up for my Bernina. Well, I got it cleaned and oiled etc. then it sat in my closet. until two weeks ago when I was cruising craigslist. I found a vintage sewing table for 10.00. With machine measurements in hand Josh and I headed to check out the table. At first we were not sure if my machine would fit but then Josh remeasured and said it would. He picked up the table and then we ordered hinges to set my singer in it. I also got a darning foot off of e-bay for quilting. My main reason for wanting the table was having a larger quilting space. One day I will get a koala table for my Bernina but for now I'm loving my new set-up.

It took hours to figure out the tension etc. but once again with Josh's help on the troubleshooting we got her set up. I am now using this pretty singer to piece and will practice a few small quilts on it before I attack the memory quilt I am working on for my aunt. I want at least 20 hours on the machine before I put something that special on it.

Little project

I have several ongoing projects. However, I wanted to share one I completed today. My kids have a reading center and I wanted to make them something to allow the center to be more desireable. I took some extra curtain material from the teacher before me and made 2 comfy pillows for them to use. Here is a picture of one.



Next on the list is to find some pretty kid fabric and make new curtains for my classroom.

experiment

A few weeks ago I had such creative block I could not sew a thing. A friend suggested I grab some scraps and sew. This is the result. The front is all the scraps that I sewed a few weeks ago tied in by rick rack. This top has Halloween, Christmas, cars, flames ... It is truly an uncontrolled scrappy top. The back I used my baby go to fuse on some flowers. I really like the idea of using a two sided runner. In the end this runner dissolved my creative block :)


My only dilemma is what to do next??????

Disappearing Nine Patch For Baby girl

I am in love with the disappearing nine patch pattern. Every quilt looks a little different depending on how you lay things out. I made this top to keep in case... Well in case came this past week. The assistant director at work is due on July 17th with a baby girl. She is the type that does everything she can to help out the teachers even when the director and owner don't want to hear it. I just felt her baby needed a quilt. This circumstance taught me to try to always have some tops ready to go.

Thankfully, I bought a baby go last week. I plan to make a bunch of tops from my scrap bin and keep them handy. I'd also like to donate a few more to linus. This little machine is truly a godsend I can cut binding in 3 minutes ... before 3 hours if I was lucky.

One of my quilts with the recipient Abbygail :)

On My Way

Today I had to pull all of my fabric out of my closed door pantry in my sewing room. I need to put my regular closet back together in my sewing room to get ready to sell the house. when I yanked the fabric out I realized I am well on my way to being a true quilter. This is my current stash of 1/2 yard plus pieces. I also have 3 rubbermaid rolling carts full of fabric fq size and smaller.

This makes it worth while

A friend of mine posted these pictures on facebook. Her son Gage and his new race car bed. Look what is on the bed.... the quilt I made him when he was born. He is 16 months old now. Isn't he a cutie :)

Turtle Quilt

After starting this quilt in January I finally finished it. I used the turtle party quilt pattern and adapted it here and there. This quilt is for a very special little girl in NY Abbygail. She is my best friend's niece.