Sewing for Sister and Baby

After enjoying a nice, long weekend in the Upstate, it was back to our world on Tuesday.  Since then, I have worked on making two bags for my sister.  She loves her gathered clutch I made her over a year ago.  Unfortunately, it looks dingy and she has too much in it.  She requested a larger bag that can hold her money and receipts.  After seeing the Wide Mouth Bag on Noodlehead, I figured this may be the one.  The zipper is attached in a special way so that the top of the bag opens very wide.

Below you can see the two different bags I made.  The top one follows the original tutorial as far as size.  However, I decided that it was too tall for her to keep her money in.  I decided to make another bag two inches shorter.  The bottom is what it turned out like.  I am happy with the bag, but do not like the way the divider did in the middle.  I will have to keep working on that.  Overall, the bag will serve its purpose.  Now I have to make another one for her friend just like the little one. 

Since coming back home, I have spent a lot of time thinking about what we still need for baby.  One thing I knew we needed were some burp cloths.  I have been saving this blue, green, and gray flannel for a special project, and I believe this is it!  The green I am using to make some cloth wipes that we can use for anything.  I also found some white chenille and some blue terrycloth that I am going to use for the back of some of the cloths.  I can't wait for baby to be here and be able to use all these things!  Only 8 more weeks until his due date!  :)

WIP and a Finish

About a year ago, my grandmother gave me a pattern to check out that was a Bargello purse.  She bought all the materials to make it, but she wanted me to make it for her (even though she is a great quilter).  When I was home last weekend, she gave me the supplies and this week, I got to work on it. 

Here is one set of the strips.  I have one more piece to add and then I will sew it into the tube. 

These are the other strips.  All mixed up and ready to be pieced. 

 After seeing this review on Sew Sweetness about Jeni's Lined Drawstring Bag, I knew I had to make one.  I followed Jeni's tutorial and added the pockets like Terri said in this tutorial.  The only thing that I did differently than the tutorials was that I sewed across the pockets 1.5" from the middle on each side to make room for the bottom.  I didn't want small things to fall straight to the bottom and really under the bag when I put them in the pockets.    I love the way this bag turned out.  It is a great size without being too small or too large.  While cutting, I cut enough to make several more bags.  I also want to make a bag out of Flea Market Fancy very similar to the one that Terri made on her review with one solid outer fabric and the pocket.  I will be making this bag again for sure!   

fabric from Hobby Lobby

Quilts for Kids

Here are the two quilts I made for the Downy Touch of Comfort Quilts for Kids. 

The Cars quilt is the one I received the kit from Downy to make.  It included everything by the binding.  I intended to fold over the backing to make the binding.  Without even thinking, I squared up the quilt after quilting and cut the extra backing right off!  The next morning, I ran out and bought some bias tape to use for the binding.  This quilt is different from other things I have made in several ways.  First off, it had to be heavily quilted to withstand the many harsh washes at the hospital.  Also, the binding needed to be zig-zag stitched so that it would not get caught on IVs.  I think this quilt turned out great!  I am glad I was able to make this Cars quilt for a child in the hospital.  I hope it brightens their day.

For receiving the quilt kit, they ask that you also donate a quilt that meets their specifications.  I was already working on three smaller quilts using a Hullabaloo jelly roll that I bought a while back.  Since they sent me fabric for a boyish quilt, I knew I wanted to make a girly one to send as my donation.  Since the center was square, I just added larger borders to the top and bottom.  The pink border is a print I picked up from my LQS but was not from the same line.  It matches nicely though. 

Now all I need to do is get them in the mail! 

Working Hard!

Over the past week, I have been working hard to finish up lots of different projects.  As I said last time, my sewing room has to turn into the baby's nursery so I am losing my table and lots of space.  Never fear, I have stashed all my fabric and things in the closet.  :)

 This is a quilt top that I made before we moved.  The pattern is Chopsticks from Julie at Jaybird Quilts.  The fabric is a mix of two lines by Deb Strain: Fresh and Fresh Flowers.  The two collections work well together and use the same colors.  My favorite prints are the blue ones. 

For the backing of this quilt, I chose to go a different direction.  I knew when I dug the top out, I was going to give this quilt to a friend who is expecting a baby girl in late August.  Since they are Clemson fans, I saw the orange polka dots and knew it would be perfect.  Although you may not be able to see in the pictures, several of the prints include orange in them.  I can't wait to give this quilt to her soon.

 After working on it for about two years, this quilt is finally finished (well, except for the binding...coming soon).  I started it one afternoon thinking it would be fairly quick.  The pattern is Mini Wild Thing from the Pint-Size Pattern by Camille of Thimble Blossoms.  When I bought this fabric a long time ago, I just bought a charm pack.  I never thought of trying to find more at the time in case I needed it later.  Needless to say, when I began actually working on this quilt I did not have fabric for the borders or the backing.  I went on a mad hunt for some that coordinated and this what what I found.  I know that flowers are not the best option for boys but it was all I could find.  I don't think he will mind too much.  :)

I was so afraid of messing up the quilting, I sent the quilt to a long arm quilter.  When we moved, we didn't know we moved near the largest quilt shop in Georgia!  I took the quilt to A Scarlet Thread to be quilted.  The pattern was called Van Gogh.  This is a close up of the quilting which turned out great!  My last task for today is to prepare the binding for it before I put away my machine.  Hopefully stitching on the binding will keep me occupied for a while. 

I also finished both of the quilts for Quilts for Kids, but I feel like they deserve their own post. 

I can't believe all that I have finished in such a short period of time!  I am very proud of myself and disappointed that it may be a while before I finish another large project.  Unless I take over the kitchen table.  :)

Huge Update

I am really going to try to get back into the habit of blogging about my projects regularly.  Before I jump to that, there are several updates that need to be made.  The biggest update is that we are having a baby boy!  His name will be Collin and he is due on September 15, 2012.  We are very excited and can't wait for him to be here.  We have also moved.  We now live just south of the big city of Atlanta, GA.  I have been here for about a month and like it so far.

Since we moved, I have been sewing like crazy.  I finished a quilt that I started several years ago that will now belong to Collin.  I will share it when I get the binding on.  I also quilted and bound another quilt for a friend who is having a baby girl.

I saw this blog post on Make It and Love It, one of the first blogs I ever read, that made me want to help out.  She posted about how she was making a quilt for Downy Touch of Comfort-Quilts for Kids.  They send out kits and also accept quilts meeting certain requirements for children who are in the hospital.  It took a few weeks to receive my kit.  Here is my progress so far. 

They sent all the fabric and the backing.  The only thing they did not send that I would normally use is the binding.  I will try a new method that involves folding over an extra portion of the backing (which is red Mickey Mouse-cute!) since it needs to be zig-zag stitched on anyway. 

I am also making another quilt to send back with this quilt.  I have three identical quilts right now.  Two I hope will turn out differently.  They are made from an older jelly roll of Hullabaloo. 

I finished up a pillow project I started about a year and a half ago.  It is for my Nana, who taught me to quilt.  I was making an orange peel pillow and had started to applique all the pieces by hand.  I found this while cleaning out and decided to finish it up on the machine.  I added some borders and an envelope back and it was done!

I am about to sacrifice my sewing room to turn into the nursery.  I am sure I will find time to sew, just in a different room.  I have organized all my fabric again so that I can find it easily to get sewing later.  Here is a picture before I started sewing yesterday.

I've still got lots to finish before I lose my table.  I will be back at it today! 

Tis The Season

I am so excited about Christmas!  I have always enjoyed everything about this holiday.  I am going home today to spend some time with my family until New Year's.  I have been told this will be the best Christmas ever, so we will see. 

I made this First Aid kit similar to some I had seen online for one present.

Filled with some essentials: Wet Wipes, BandAids, Neosporin, Advil

I can't get it to turn the right way!

I also made a cover for my mother-in-law's mixer from this tutorial.  I hope it fits!  Her kitchen is green and I had some extra green Ruby.

I hate bias tape.  I decided to make it for this project and the tutorial suggested covering the seams in it on the sides.  I knew better than to think that would look good when I was finished so I just added a little piece inside the seam that I sewed right sides together.  I did put the bias tape at the bottom which was not too hard.  I hope she likes it! 

I am still working on the Ruby Lattice quilt.  I got it back from the machine quilter's (first time using them) and it looks great!  Now I just need to square it up and put on the binding.  The end is soooo close!  Finishing it up means that baby will be here before we know it.  I can't wait to hold her.  I know she is going to be precious! 

Merry Christmas!  

New Projects

I have started many new projects and even a whole new hobby (bad news for the bank account!) 

I have made several simple knit and fleece baby blankets and also more make-up bags using the same tutorial.

I finished up the quilt top (except for cutting off the excess triangles on the edges) of the Chopsticks quilt.  Since it has no recipient right now, I have decided to move on to another quilt.

This quilt is for a co-worker of P's.  She is expecting a baby girl in February.  I fell in love with the Ruby line as soon as I saw it in quilts.  We chose the Lattice Baby Quilt design from Moda Bake Shop for this quilt.  Here are the squares laid out so far.  There are so many mini polka dot prints that it was hard to find a good arrangement.  I just keep reminding myself that there will be (cream) sashing in between.  :)

Here are some other things I have picked up had delivered recently.  Two charm packs of Terrain and a set of fat quarters of Little Apples.  The Little Apples set is my Christmas present so I can't cut into it just yet. 

My new hobby is crochet.  Another blogger posted a link to information about Crochet School taught in videos by Craftyminx.  I have really enjoyed logging on each night to see if there is something new to do.  I also know how to knit, but I keep forgetting how to purl.  I also never finished many projects (except some dish cloths and I am almost through with my scarf.)  Crochet was hard the first time I tried it (before knitting), but now makes a lot more sense.  It is easier since there is just one hook for the entire project and only several basic stitiches when combined in different ways yeild different designs.  I plan to try to crochet some baby blankets just to test it out.

I loved the format of the class because she taught one stitch at a time.  We then completed about 4 rows of each type and they built on each other to form this neat little swatch that I can use as a reference later. 

I also croched three granny squares as a part of a lesson, but I somehow lost two along the way.  :( 

I learned how to crochet in the round and made this little swatch. 

We are now working on reading crochet patterns so that we can make many different things.  She made a pattern from some wrist warmers.  Here is my start.  I don't know what I will do with the finished project, but since I lost the other granny squares I need something for the next lesson. 

I also learned painfully that my tension is very tight.  I had to crochet the gague swatch for this pattern abotu four times!  I had to go up 3 hook sizes!!!  I will be sure to remember this next time to save myself the time and effort. 



Off to Michael's to use my coupon and get some yarn for more projects.  :)