Can Can!

I made these "pencil" holders or organizers this past weekend. I found the tutorial from Elsie Marley who originally used them for holding kitchen utensils.










The designs on the pink can were hand embroidered last year and I finally found a worthy project for them. :)

Maddie Mermaid

I made the first part of Maddie's Halloween costume this last weekend. I'm super proud of how it turned out, quite "Ariel-ish" if you ask me.

This is the front, I used a green lame and then a netting with golden sequence over to create a scale-ish look. I added a tulle and large dot sequence embellishment around the waist.












This is the back. Once it's on her, I'm going to rig up the tail with fishing line so it doesn't drag on the ground.












I still have to make the top, but I needed Maddie for that. More to come!

Disc Golf Season

With the cooler weather, I've decided to go disc golfing more often. SO, I decided to make a new disc golf bag!

I wanted to at least make it water/mud resistant so I pulled out a vinyl remnant I've been wondering what to do with b/c of the off color. All told, I used the vinyl and an old sweatshirt (reuse/repurpose!)

The outer shell, pockets and strap are made from the vinyl and the liner is made up of the old sweatshirt and a FQ I had.











There are two larger pockets on the outer front and back to hold my putter or drivers while I'm throwing one or the other. There are also two stretch pockets on the sides for holding water bottles.











B's bag has a frame inside to hold the discs upright. For a temporary solution, I used an old shoe box top to frame out the bottom. Later I might add a light pvc frame if I get real ambitious.

I also added some inner pockets to hold wallet, cell phones, glasses, female outdoor survival kit, etc.

I also put a little lady bug button on the corner to embellish. The strap ended up being a little too long (no patter, this'n came out of my head) so in the center of the strap I did some creating folding over to create a padded area for my shoulder...worked out pretty nice. :)

Overall, I'm satisfied. Already taken it on a test run.

New Stuff

It's been a while again since I've updated. Here's what I've been doing:

Salma's baby quilt.


My new sun hat.












I've been doing some other projects lately too, but they are Christmas presents so you won't be seeing them any time soon. Don't want to give away the surprise!!!!!

I'm also working on a braided rug made out of my old jeans. Slooooow going.

The ULTIMATE Tote Bag

I was extremely productive this past weekend on the sewing machine. I was getting frustrated b/c when I left for work I had to grab a laptop bag, purse, lunch bag, water bottle, ipod, and anything else I needed for the day. SO I decided to create a tote to handle it ALL.

I took a pattern from Lotta Jansdotter and altered it to fit my needs. I used the day tote pattern and made it bigger, added more pockets and did some more lining of pockets than what was done in her pattern.

Here is the result. I am SO satisfied. The fabric is Robert Kaufman (You got the Notions collection) which I received from my sister-in-law this past Christmas.

I attempted a cushioned laptop bag as well, but it did not turn out...it has zippers on it (on the fabric and to open the bag). But I learned some good lessons about sewing with bulky cushion stuff. Luckily I have some of the fabric left over. I think I'm going to make a messenger bag.

Aaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!

It has been a while! We have been busy and on our honeymoon to Puerto Rico.

I haven't had time to craft, but I did have time to take pictures.



This was the last thing we saw of the resort before leaving on Saturday morning at 6 am.








We went to Old San Juan on Friday. First we went to Castillo San Cristobal and toured the fort.










This is a little guard tower.We also went to Hato Rey to see a flamenco show and eat steak, but the show was out of season. So we had Spanish tapas & Sangria.




Thursday we went fishing!!!!!












Brian caught two king mackerels one was 50lbs and the other was 35lbs.













I caught a little bait fish, but I caught the first fish...and then I got sick.
We ate tapas at a place called Olelelolai. It was very nice. Good Spanish and Puerto Rican tapas & passion fruit sangria.












Since our hotel was on a cliff next to the ocean, instead of a beachfront it had it's own private island that we ferried to.














We snorkeled a little there and read in the sun. I saw a huge ray, a pretty coral, anemones, lots of colorful fish and sea grass.

We stayed in a Casita away from the main hotel. It had it's own private infinity pool area with a great view.













The landscaping was really pretty too.












The last one is the view from our balcony.

Bass Club Productivity Night

It's amazing what one can accomplish while their husband is out at those ever so important Bass Club meetings. I think that if our politicians worked as hard as these guys do at talking about fish and drinking beer, something would actually get done in Washington.


So these are my "Chicken or the Egg" pot holders. I got a fat quarter at Hobby Lobby (red) with little chicken feet on it...I fell in love with it for some odd reason. I paired it with this egg yolk looking black dotted fabric. I'm so glad to get rid of my old orange ones! (If you click on the pic you can see the feet up close, I love them!)





I am also lucky to have my two best friends (one of which is my cousin) pregnant! Babies!! So, I'm starting to make baby stuff. I picked up a bib at the $1 store and used it as a pattern and this is the first 'test' bib from that pattern. I think I'm gonna make more. I love this cute monkey flannel. Go remnant bin!!

Swallow Bag

I finished my canvas outdoors bag. It's a back pack with an insulated inner and two outer pockets one open and one with a vel-cro closure. The insulated inner bag also has a pocket to put an ice pack in to keep beverages nice and frosty. We need to go disc golfing to try it out!!

My favorite part about the bag is that I finally got to use my swallow patches that I got at Room Service.

Pretty keen.

Makin' the dough

I got a wild hair and decided to make some bread last weekend. Mmmmm home made bread. This weekend we're making one of the loaves into French toast! YUM.

Map Holder

One of the Christmas presents I am really proud of this year was a gift I gave to my parents. Dad retired and they got a motor home to travel in. I decided that even though they have a fancy-shmancy GPS device, I would also make them a map holder. I made this tri-fold case with pockets for maps. I think the fabric contributed to the super-cuteness of the map holder.

Plant-a-palooza

Hello, my name is A and I have a problem. Ok, I openly admit it. I can't stop propagating and purchasing starter plants. Our kitchen has turned into a mini-jungle. And...I just love it.

Purses!

I made them, they are cute and they are allll mine! Muh-ha-ha-ha-HAAAAA!





I first made this super cute clutch from Amy Butler's book, In Stitches.











Then I decided that the clutch was only practical for going out, cute as it is, so I made up this super-adorable-purse!

Potholder Tutorial

As promised after the holidays...waaaay after (sorry!), a Tutorial! I made these potholders as Christmas gifts. I need to make myself some too. Here we go!

Materials needed:
An old potholder for pattern
Insul-Bright
A couple fat quarters of fabric
Fabric for lining
Rotary cutting tool & mat or scissors
pins, thread, needle, etc
fabric chalk or marker


The following is for one single potholder so if you want to make a set, double your quantities. Use your old potholder or your hand if you want to eyeball it and cut two each from the following: Insul-Bright, outer fabric, lining fabric. Since you're either using hands or old potholders as patterns, I can't give dimensions so you'll have to either experiment or contact me if you have questions. Just remember you are using a thicker filling material so make sure you have enough room for your hand after you sew it together and don't forget seam allowances.

Now we'll cut the bottom trim. You can do this two ways, cut it to just be a bottom edge or allow extra fabric to make a loop...some peeps like to hang their potholders. Again, this is something you'll have to guess as far as dimensions and it depends on how thick of a trim you want, so contact me if you have questions about size. You will cut two rectangles of fabric that will be used to make double fold bias tape, so you will be folding it in 1/2 and then folding the ends into the center fold, so allow for folding. I think I did 3 or 4 inches tall and then maybe 10 inches wide (that's a guess) just make sure you allow enough to cover the bottom edge of the potholder and extra if you want to make a loop (3-4 inches for loop). These are the rectangles of fabric you see in the photo above, I used a different fabric than the potholder but you can use the same if you like.

I'm going to show photos of how to use your rectangles to make super-wide double fold bias tape. Now don't make fun of my stained old ironing board cover..I got a new one over the holidays! Yay Ikea! Here's the steps: Fold in half and iron, fold outside edges into center fold and iron, fold in half and iron again. You might want to skip the ironing step but it will make things SO much easier if you do it. Do this for each rectangle.The next step is to sandwich your potholder together and pin the double fold bias tape on the bottom edge so you can stitch it on. To make your sandwich, lay down your fabrics in this order:

Lining
Insul-Bright
Outer fabric
Use double fold bias tape
like a bun and slide your
sandwich parts into the fold.
Repeat for both sides.





If you are going to make a loop, do not center your
fabric as shown, instead, line up at one of the edges
like the next photo where you are to now stitch your
double fold bias tape onto your potholder sandwich.
Repeat for both sides.






Now you will draw your
quilting lines onto your
fabric...I'm not a quilter
yet so this may not be
how most quilters quilt
stuff, but here's how I do
it for the time being. Draw
your quilting lines on the
lining side of your fabric.
Use any design or pattern
you want...Just remember,
the more lines you draw,
the more stitching you
have to do.
Repeat for both sides.






Now you will sandwich both sides together.
Right sides in.







If you are making a loop, this is the time to fold one
of your ends of double fold bias tape inside the
potholder so when you stitch your sandwich
together you catch the end to make a loop.






Start on the bottom of one side and stitch up around the potholder ending at the other bottom edge. Back stitch at each end. Don't sew the opening shut!





Clean up your seam allowance with a pinking shears and zig-zag
stitch around the edge of your seam allowance to tidy up your
seam so it doesn't feel too funky when putting your hand inside.



Turn it right side out and.........




TADAAAAA! You're done.