~Winner~Winner~

My giveaway winner is Marie!

Congratulations! I have sent your email address to Brooke, and she will email you the place mat pattern~ Have fun!

I intended to have some photos with this post, but that didn't happen~ on the bright side though, all of my mailing has hit the PO today!  Yay!

Have a great weekend!

Hindsight And A Giveaway!

If you've been following me, then you already know I am doing the Temecula Quilt Co Mini Christmas Sew Along using only a mini charm pack.  

Well, the joke is on me! I should have used two mini charm packs, or a little bit more for backgrounds because my mini charm pack is getting really low!  I am not sure how many more blocks I will be able to get out of it~ but certainly I won't get all of them. :-/

Here are the first 4~ today's block will join them shortly. ;-)

Are you here because you saw the word 'giveaway'? :-)  I made these placemats as a gift using Brooke @ Silly Mama Quilts pattern.  You can find the pattern in her Etsy shop~ Sunshine Serenade Placemats  I love the solid and prints she used, but my recipient likes 30's, so~

Brooke has generously agreed to sponsor a giveaway of her pdf pattern. :-)  If you'd like to be in the drawing, just leave me a comment... anything at all. No jumping through any hoops because aren't we all busy enough this time of year? :-)  I will draw a winner on Tuesday.

Thanks so much for stopping by~

Good luck!

Mini Christmas Quilt Along~

~~Block 2~~

My charm pack is still working! LOL ;-)

Mini Christmas Sew Along by Temecula Quilt Co. 

Happy Stitchin'!!

Happy December!

Do you have snow? Ice? Rain?  

We have had mornings of 'ice fog', which translates to 'stay home and sew' to me! :-)

With just three weeks to go, I need to buckle in behind my machine and get busy!

Today was playing with mini's~

Have you seen Temecula Quilt Co's Mini Christmas Sew Along?

It started today with block one~

 

~a mini friendship star block.  

I have been moving this mini charm pack from one side of my table to the other and decided to cut into it to make the first mini block.  I hope all the blocks will use pieces 2.5" or smaller, but if not, this will make a cute little pincushion or ornament! LOL 

Since I was still feeling mini :-)  I made a mini tote~

~it measures about 4 inches square and has a zipper at top.  Just big enough to tuck in a little Christmas candy. ;-)  I didn't have a pattern for this, just an idea.  I may have to make a few more! LOL

I hope you are well into your Christmas sewing~ or are you finished? I tend to burn that candle from both ends until the last minute!

Until next time~

Happy Stitchin'!

Pre-Market Sewing

Yes, I am a little late showing you the projects I was working on before the last Quilt Market, but I think they are both worth the wait. ;-)

I pattern tested this bag for Amy @katicupcake

It is called the 'Get Outa Town tote'~ and I used it when I went to retreat in October. It is nice and big and holds so much!!  I love it!

The outside has pockets all the way around it~ with side pockets that cinch up and are great for a bottle of water!

And the inside is loaded with pockets too~including a large zipped pocket~

 

..and a magnetic snap closure. :-)  I really enjoyed making and using this bag! :-)

The other item I pattern tested was an apron~

It is called the 'Miss Sally' apron.  Hmmm~ I should have had a model!  It sports two really nice large front pockets, and the bib is a little fitted which I love!  Guess what I will be wearing as I cook Thanksgiving dinner. :-)

Both patterns will be available on Amy's website soon.

Until next time~

Happy stitchin'!

And Happy Thanksgiving!!! ;-)

The Appaloosa Bag

I had the pleasure of pattern testing a bag for Sara at Sew Sweetness.

This was my first time testing one of her patterns and let me tell you~ it was fun! Her patterns are a little more involved, but I love my bag!

If you follow the link above, you will see all the tester bags on her blog.  I went a different direction than the others and chose to use corduroy.  I love the texture!

                          The inside has a zipper pocket and the accordion pleated front pockets.

My corduroy looks a little wrinkled there~ I was so excited I didn't give a final press! :-o

I used the Soft and Stable foam by Annie's, which gives the bag a really nice shape and sturdiness.

Sara has the pattern for sale in her shop.  And there are lots of fun versions on her blog.

Thanks for stopping by~

Happy sewing!!

Lotsa Blocks!

Today I am swapping blocks from 2 swaps I recently held.  The Christmas block swap is based on a free pattern from Connecting Threads called the 'Glory Be block'.  I had 8 swappers including myself and over 200 blocks to swap!

My tables were loaded~

The other swap we call the CYOC swap (choose your own color).  I had 11 swappers, myself included, and over 250 blocks.  My eyes are kind of swimming in my head right now, but I love the blocks!

Everyone chose their own center string and colors for the strings in this swap and we had some lovely combinations. I forgot to take a photo when I had all the blocks out, but I did snap one of some of my blocks. 

I chose a 'rainbow' theme.  Bright colors in any of the 'roy b giv' colors.  I love the blocks and they will make excellent donation quilts for babies.

Next up on my cutting table is a quick quilt for our DGD and a bag for me! :-)

I hope you are finding lots of time to sew this fall too!

Until next time~

Happy stitchin'!