I'm A Bag Lady!

Everyone needs a retreat to get lots of sewing done! :-) I sure accomplished a lot!

I put the finishing touches on these two bags this past week.  

Both are Kim @ Lily Patch Quilts Tote Along Tool Caddy pattern. (Look at the top of her blog for her shop) ;-)

I love this pattern!  It has tons of pockets inside and out!

I did alter it a bit by adding a zipper closure at the top... just a little security. ;-)

And I just love the batiks! :-)

I am linking to Sew Sweetness's Purse Palooza 2014 again... you really should check out all the cool bags over there!

Until next time~

Happy Stitchin'!

Whew! Where Have I Been?!

 Hello~ remember me? :-)

I did go to retreat the middle of October and I have so many things to show you! It was a very productive weekend. :-)

However, after retreat was not so fun.  The week after I was back I got so sick that I had to spend Halloween in the ER. :-o Oh My Gosh! I do NOT ever want to repeat that!

So for the past 2 weeks I have been recovering from a nasty virus, laying low and giving myself a chance to get my stamina back. Not fun. Not fun at all... so let's not talk about it! Ok?

This was the first project I tackled at retreat, and gave it the finishing touches just last week.

The original  pattern is from Clover & Violet and is called Felicity. If you remember, I made one with the frame insert~ and have been loving it! ;-)

 Instead of doing hexagons on the outside, I tried tiles... and I like it!

I also used a hex shaped frame for the insert instead of a snap frame.

I love how the frame stays open so you can 'root around' in there. LOL

I am entering this bag in Sew Sweetness's Purse Palooza 2014

Thanks for stopping by! I'll be back tomorrow with more of my retreat projects. ;-)

Today is the day!!

If you joined me in the Sew Sweet Simplicity BOM by Jacquelynne Steves,

today your first block should arrive in your email box! :-)

Exciting!!!

I am so ready to show you what I have been doing! 

If you remember, I chose to do this BOM with my vintage sheets~

if this is your first time visiting me, I talked about my plan HERE

So today I am showing you my first block~

It has been very rainy here in WA, so the lighting isn't ideal, but you can see that I embroidered the butterfly with my perle cotton threads.  I used the twilling stitch around the body. ---BTW Mary Corbet's Needle 'n Thread site is a great place to review your stitches and find new ones. ;-)

I'm not sure if you can see my snowball block corners, but I used folded squares in the corners, and folded them back and stitched them down to give my center a little more rounded look.

 Here is a little close-up~

(I think if you click on the photos, they will open a bit larger)

Just for fun, I tried a block with crayons too~

I just colored in the butterfly with my Crayola crayons, pressed it well on a paper towel, and back-stitched around it. I'm going to put this one in a block too, but haven't quite decided on what fabrics to use.

I hope I've given you some ideas for your blocks. There are so many options for this BOM~ and they all look so fun!  Please let me know if you have a blog and I'll come by and take a peek!

Here is a list of the other bloggers who joined in the hop~

Snoodles ~ Lily Pad Quilting

Teresa ~ A Quilt and a Prayer

Sandy ~ Upstairs Hobby Room

Deonn ~ Quiltscapes 

Barb ~ Bejeweled Quilts

Sandie ~ Crazy ‘boutquilts ~ thanks for visiting!!

Deanna ~ Wedding Dress Blue

Barb ~ Mountain Quiltworks

Barb ~ Garden Path Quilts

Have fun and happy stitchin'!!

Winner! Winner!

Congratulations to the lucky winner of this prize pattern bundle from Jacquelynne Steves!

 And my winner is...

Joanna!

I sent your email to Jacquelynne. ;-)

Thank you everyone for stopping by and for all your great comments.

I am looking forward to sewing along with you!! :-)

Have a happy day!

Sew Sweet Simplicity BOM

I know I have mentioned the new Sew Sweet Simplicity BOM by Jacquelynne Steves in the past, but I didn't tell you that I  am one of her featured bloggers. :-)  I have long admired Jacquelynne's talent and just love her blog!  Today she is going to tell you a little about the BOM and list the bloggers taking part in her hop.  :-)

So if you are new to my blog, welcome!!  I hope you take a few minutes to look around a bit, and come back again!  I am Sandie and I am crazy'boutquilts!!  I made my first quilt when our #1 son graduated from his crib to his twin bed.  And boy did I ever pick a quilt to make!  It was a bunch of applique blocks!! Eek!

And that is probably why I now say I am allergic to applique. LOL

I also want to tell you a bit about the upcoming BOM~ did I mention it is FREE?  :-) Yes it is!  And Jacquelynne has put so much thought into it!  You can choose to do applique in the blocks (hand or machine), or embroidery, or just use a pretty focus fabric.  Easy, right?

I decided to go with the hand embroidery, because it is another passion of mine. :-)  These are the balls of perle cotton I am going to use in the blocks.

Another great thing about this BOM is you can choose the size you want to make~ make 4 blocks, or make it bigger with 6 blocks.  And have fun choosing your fabrics too! There are so many different ways it could go.  Jacquelynne shows a few on her blog~ HERE  Oh! I want one of each! LOL It was really hard to choose what fabrics to use after seeing all those examples!  After much thought, I have decided to use my vintage sheet collection. I chose these four for the blocks~

Sooo... would you like to sew along with us?  :-)  All of the instructions will be sent to you by email.  The fabric requirement email has already gone out~ BUT not to worry!!  You can still sign up by going to this link~

Sew Sweet Simplicity FREE BOM 

The steps will not be posted on any blog, so you need to sign up to get the emails... but did I mention it is FREE? :-)

The first block will be released on October 27th~  you still have plenty of time to join the fun!  :-)

And just to make it even more fun, Jacquelynne is sponsoring a giveaway, right here on my blog! :-)

 The giveaway prize is a PDF pattern bundle with a retail value of $40. And the giveaway is open to everyone, US and international readers. :-)  

 Look at all those cute patterns!  To get into the drawing, just leave me a comment, tell me if you are going to sew along, or anything you'd like. ;-)  I will draw a winner on October 23rd. Please make sure you are not a no-reply blogger~ I will need your email address to send the PDF files to you! 

Until next time~

Happy stitchin'!!

Catching up... again!!!

I don't think I will ever be totally 'caught up', but it is sure fun trying! LOL

Today I got my Little Letters from the Temecula Quilt Co's Sew Along caught up~

 I love how these are turning out!  Are you doing them too?  And wasn't the 'K' fun?!  Now I'm really curious about how we will do the 'M'.  ;-)

I am off to retreat this weekend, so have been packing, planning what to take, doing laundry, etc. Whew!

It will be so fun to have someone else cooking for me for a few days so I can just sew!  Maybe then I'll be caught up? Nah! Don't hold your breath!  I will be back with photos though.  ;-)

Until next time~

Happy stitchin'!!

Happy October!

I know I'm a little late with that greeting!

How did October get here so fast?!

 

 

Today I am blogging at Clover & Violet~ please stop by and say hi!