~A Tortoise~

Not the 4 legged ones that are a favorite of mine, but rather a new bag~

The Tortoise Bag, a new release from Sara of Sew Sweetness.

I was lucky enough to be able to test this wonderful bag and enjoyed it immensely!

It has a really unique top opening with two zippers.

I chose to make my handles out of Kraft-Tex and fabric. They will soften up with use.

I also added piping to the sides for a little more red. ;-)

 And a side slip pocket.

Inside there is a zipper pocket, and of course I needed a red lining! LOL

The pattern comes in three sizes and has directions for both cotton and vinyl straps.

Also, there is no hand sewing! Not one stitch!  That is a real plus for me. ;-)

Sara has some great tips spread throughout the pattern too.

Go check out all the different tester versions on Sara's blog~~

Tortoise Bag Blog post

There are so many awesome bags~ even one with turtles!! :-)

Until next time~

Happy stitchin'!

~Happy Tuesday!~

Did you have a good weekend?  We had a very quiet one, but it was nice.

Our whole neighborhood had fireworks last night, so we didn't have to go far to hear the booms and see the lights. LOL

I did sneak in some sewing too!  I am doing a BOM with some of my former HGTV message board friends and I got myself all caught up...again! ;-)

 These blocks are each 10 inches and came from Quilters Cache.

I am doing them in my CW scraps. 

I also got last Friday's Circa 2016 blocks done. Really easy, and since I already had CW scraps out, even easier! LOL

 

Now I am off to clear off the CW scraps and get back to making a baby quilt.

I hope you have a productive week too!

Until next time~

Happy Stitchin'!

Catching Up with Circa 2016

I got behind on my Temecula Quilt Co mini blocks for the Circa 2016 sew along, so I took them along to my retreat and got myself caught up~

 

Only to get home and realize, I needed to now catch up with the 

June blocks I missed while traveling~

I finished the above on Saturday afternoon and then remembered (!)

A new block came out on Friday! :-o

I am now totally caught up! Yay!! :-)

Are you sewing along?  keeping up?  They really are fun little blocks, 

but my hubby thinks I am insane. LOL

Until next time~

Happy stitchin'!!

~Keeping It Cool~

I have a guest tutorial on Samantha's~ Sewing Patterns by Mrs H~ blog today.

Please stop by and say hi! 

Until next time~

Happy Stitchin'!

Home Again!

Hubby and I took a whirling 2 week trip to visit our families in the midwest. Every day was an adventure and I think I came home more tired than I left! LOL But it was all fun!

Including going to a three day quilting retreat with my Mom and 3 friends who met us at the center. (from MN, ND and KS) It was great to see the gals again~ we last met in 2012. And three days of sewing was so much fun!

The retreat center was just outside Sioux Falls, SD, so one morning we took a road trip and hit some of the area shops.  Very fun!

We had been planning this meet up for quite a few months, to coincide with our trip back to the midwest. And I must say, it worked out perfectly.  And I delivered all those quilts in my previous post to my Mom.  :-) I even took them into the hotel with us at night~ I wanted no chance of losing them all! LOL

Before we left I made little retreat bags for everyone.

The pattern is from the Make It, Take It book by Krista Hennebury

These were really fun to make, trying to coordinate colors to my friends favorite colors. 

At retreat, we all took an evening to sew this table topper together~

The pattern is from New Leaf Stitches and is called 'Darling Duet'  We all agreed that we liked our toppers better square than as hexagons. :-)  Can you guess which one is mine?

My Mom got a new purse out of the retreat too! LOL

I sewed this up for her while she did some sewing on blocks for me. win-win!

I modified the Felicity Bag by Clover & Violet.

It has pockets around the outside and a zipper pocket in the inside instead of a frame.  The side pockets on either side of the zipper pocket, close with magnetic snaps. 

One of the ladies made us luggage tags with our names on one side and a cute saying on the other. The one pictured says 'This is NOT your bag' LOL

 

I need to take photos yet of the rest of my projects, so I will be back soon!

Until then~

Happy Stitching!!

~Peeks~

...For my Mom. :-)

Every summer we make the 1500 mile trip to visit our families in the mid-west.  I bring back with me any quilt tops my Mom has finished and quilt them on my longarm. I return them the next summer, thus saving a lot on postage.  

Well, I was talking with my Mom on the phone about my favorite quilt in this set and she couldn't remember it. (the bottom one). 

I quilted it with a variegated pastel thread. I was humming right along yesterday and I ran. out. of. thread!!!! :-o  I mean totally!  It used way more than I thought it would. Yikes!  I had a small area... 6 x 15 inches left to quilt!!! Aaaack!  So this morning, I went to every shop I could think of that carried thread and found it at my last stop!  Same brand. Same colors, except the spool was a lot smaller and the price on the spool a lot higher! :-/  I guess I had that other spool a few years. LOL 

Once Mom gets these babies back in her hands, she will bind them and then you can look for full photos on her blog.  Right Mom? ;-)

Until next time~

Happy Stitchin'!!

~Just a Few Things~

I said I would show you what goodies I found on our last trip to the ocean.

We went to the cutest little shop called Beach Tyme Quilts. :-)

They seem to specialize in beach themed fabrics, but also have a good mix of other things too.

I brought home a quilt kit called Dream Boats, designed by Wendy Sheppard! I was really tickled to see that on the pattern because I have followed Wendy's blog for years and just love her quilting. The fabrics in the kit are from Quilting Treasures.

I found a cute cross body purse pattern that uses strips of fabric... leftover jelly roll strips. ;-)

My DD loves her cross body bags, so I thought this would make a good birthday gift for her.  I just need to decide what colors to make it in! LOL  It is called the Sonoma Swing Bag by Pink Sand Beach.

And finally, I found the cutest mermaid panel for my DGD.  It is called Coral * Queen of the Sea

Since our DGD has the most gorgeous ginger hair,  and loves mermaids, this was kind of a no-brainer. LOL 

I would love to jump right into these projects, but my conscience tells me I should work on something I have already started... hmmm what to do...drumming fingers, what to do?

What would you do? 

Until next time~

Happy Stitchin'!!