Waiting for the Tune Up

My husband thought it would be a good idea that my daughter and I take his car to the shop for an oil change and a tune up not thinking about the three hours it would take. Luckily, we did entertain ourselves. First, we spent some time at Taco Bell. My daughter just discovered tacos so she was pretty excited. Then we walked over to Joann's. Its his fault I had to go there. I decided I needed a new wreath or something for my front door. I made this little tin basket thingy. I couldn't find my metal cutters or I might have arranged it different.


All the flowers were 50% off and the basket was 30% off. I thought it was a good deal. Then to the fabric. I picked up two different ones. The picture doesn't show the blue very well but the color is great.



Then I found this cool owl fabric. I have no self control with owls. I really do love them. I haven't decided what I am going to make but I figure since they look like winter owls that I have until next winter. That's how I justify it anyway.



Well, we still had time to waste so off to the Goodwill. I like to look through the linens for backs to my quilts. It was 30% off for the manager's special. I only found one. This table cloth.


I haven't decided if I want to keep it as a table cloth or make it into a skirt for me or a dress for M. Decisions, decisions. I also found these 1/2 yard cuts. Three of them for $2. The original price was $5 each so I was excited. I have been wanting to make tea holders so this will be cute. I might make some dish towels too. Never have enough of those. Or maybe a apron for M. See decisions, decisions.

That is what my husband gets for making me entertain us for three hours. More fabric...

Birthday Quilt

I wanted to post about something new since I had plans to work on my projects this weekend but my mother in law ended up in the Intensive Care Unit. She went in to get an artery cleared in her heart and the physician accidentially poke a hole through her heart wall which made her bleed into her chest. She is fine now. Well, not perfect. They didn't even clear the blockage so she will have to go back. Crazy. So my weekend was spent at the hospital keeping her company and my husband sane.

I made this a few years ago before kids and when my husband was in Iraq and I was in Germany so I had a lot of time on my hands. I decided I would make quilts for my two best friend's birthdays. I didn't really sew quilts at this time but I really had a lot of time on my hands. Both of the ladies were very special to me. They were both my bridesmaids. This quilt was for Tracy. I will show Andy's later. I met her in college. We graduated in the same program and it being such a small program (Community Health) we became very good friends. The quilt is a Learn to Quilt called Triple Threat. I couldn't find the specific pattern but here is a link to their free patterns. This pattern has tons of triangles. I actually cut out a ton more and hated how it looked so I bought more fabric and now I have a bunch of extra triangles waiting to be used. The main fabric is Daisy Kingdom's Donna's Picket Fence Small Packed Daisies. Its really cute and simple which at the time was really her style. The quilt is just a lap size. You can see I have it hanging over my quilt rack so that can give you an idea of the size.

Boredom in the Snow

So earlier this winter we were totally snowed in. (I just don't feel the need to drive in snow if I don't have to.) I was really bored so I started working on gifts for people instead of buying them things. Since I wasn't driving to go buy gifts I kind of had to. Well, I have this girl friend, Eli, she is an odd duck. She is very girly but the guys love her because she can be a guy with the best of them. "Being a guy" is more her nature anyway. She travels a lot so I decided to make her a travel bag and I used this satiny skull fabric I got in the remnants at Joann's. I also made a scarf for her. I thought it would be fun. She isn't a flowery kind of girl so this fit her well. I didn't use a pattern and I think this is the second zipper I have ever put in. I thought I did pretty well. The satin fabric was a huge pain though. I ironed it onto some medium weight fusible interfacing but for me to get it to stick enough, I melted a few pieces of the fabric. It was definitely a learning experience. Since I didn't use a pattern it did get a bit bigger than expected so it actually started off as a little purse organizer and it ended up being a toiletries bag. Oh well. I was entertained and she liked it. :)

Baby Quilt

My cousin, Heather, is due for her first child, well, anytime. They live in Texas so I wasn't able to attend the baby shower for her but I decided to make her a quilt.
Really, I wanted an excuse to use this awesome kite material. The quilt got a little big while I was making it. I wanted it smaller but it kept growing and growing. So, it is a great size for a lap quilt or for a toddler bed. The baby will definitely be able to use it for years. The red is more of the corduroy that was for my daughter's dress. See -no dress. It's just so soft, I thought it would be nice for some texture. I love it. I backed it with a blue flannel. Flannel stickes a little better so it won't fall off a wiggling child as quickly. I thought seriously about keeping it for myself but I thought better. I do have some more of the kite fabric left so I might have to make myself one. Sorry the pictures aren't that great. I am hoping that she will send me more pictures. My aunt told me it was well received though.

More Bags

My friend asked me to make her a bag for her preschool's auction so of course I obliged. I love an excuse to make more bags. I was too lazy to make my own pattern so I made her this yellow bag with brown lining called the Ava Rose from Artsy-crafty Babe. You can buy the pattern here. It calls for two pockets but I used one and used the yellow fabric to make it stand out. I usually don't put pockets in my bags. I never use them. I also used fusible fleece instead of the two interfacings that it calls for. I hope my friend likes it. I, of course, had to make myself one as well.
I love this purple fabric. I bought it clearance at Two Thimbles. I didn't know what I was going to do with it but when I saw the fabric sitting on my shelves at home calling to me - I knew it would be perfect for this bag. I have gotten all sorts of compliments on the fabric. The buttons I stole from my mom. She has this box that is the size of four shoeboxes combined filled with buttons that she has been buying for years and a lot of them from a store going out of business. She let me search through and take what I wanted. She has a more modern box of buttons too that she uses more often that she won't let me steal from. So mean, I tell ya. I was impressed by how well these buttons matched though. My husband likes to brag that he picked out the buttons. I let him choose the best out of two.

Fat Quarters

I love fabric. Really it is the only reason I sew. Its the perfect excuse to buy more fabric. Well, one of our lovely local fabric stores, Fabric, etc., was celebrating Mardi Gras by having a Fat Tuesday sale. Buy 20 fat quarters for a dollar a piece. I am never really happy with the selection Joann's has so I went crazy. I bought 32 with no real plans in mind. I wanted to share my selection with you.

I did let my 3 year old pick out some.

She thinks we are making stuffed dogs with them. With a fat quarter? I am not sure that is happening. (if you know of a dog pattern for that much fabric let me know!) She is as bad as me. We were at Walmart and she found a remnant piece of flannel with dog prints on it and insisted on it. For 87 cents I let her get it. My Daugher is OBSESSED with dogs and occasionally she is a dog named Brenda. We then went to Grandma's and she nagged her Grandma until she made something. Here it is. The Dalamtion is Jasmine and the bulldog is Cinderella. My mom made her Jasmine since she had the fabric and the pattern for it. She was hoping that would distract her from the paw print fabric but it didn't. My poor grandchild spoiling mother was making dogs all weekend. Both are quite happy though and Jasmine and Cinderella go to Preschool with M.


Now I have to figure out what to do with all that fabric!

My First Post

Well, this is my first post on my new blog. I have been reading a lot of blogs for a while and participating in Fat Quarter Swaps and Sewing Bees but felt so left out that I didn't have a blog to show my work on so I started this blog. I hope you all enjoy it and I am not too boring.

I thought I would start with a bag I just made recently. I didn't have a pattern. I just made the simple tote and them changed it a bit by pleating the fabric. I wish I had a pleater. By hand is torture! It involves a lot of pins and tape. I melted some of my tape forgetting it was there when I ironed it. Oops. I also made the straps a little wider at the bottom and thinner on the top for some excitement. I got the flower fabric at Joann's and the red is a fine corderoy that I fell in love with. It was supposed to be a dress for my daughter but you know how that goes. It was also used in a baby quilt I made. It is so soft. I love it. So much for the dress!