Bunnies!

I soo wanted to show you these guys before Easter, but didn't want to ruin any surprises, so~~

I purchased these two cute bunnies and machine embroidered the grandkids

names on the ear.  It was really much easier than I thought it would be! :-)

Right now my sewing area is a huge disaster as I finish a few things while also getting my kits and things ready for a local retreat.  SEW much to do and my time is running out!

Hope you are finding lots to keep you busy too!

What are you working on today?

 

Until next time~

~which hopefully will be sooner rather than later but my computer has been giving me the 'blue screen of death' two to three times a day, so if it goes completely, it will take me a while to learn a new one. Please don't leave! I will have lots to show you after retreat. ;)

Happy Stitchin'!

A Fun Trio---

Earlier this year, and late last year, I pattern tested three patterns for Samantha of  Handmade by Mrs H.

They were designed for a bag retreat she was hosting in the UK.

The retreat is now over, so I can share my bags with you. :-)

The first is called  The Fiesta Tote~~

This was a fun sew~ lots of pockets and I got to play with rivets. :-)

Next was The Machine Bag~

Yes, it does fit a sewing machine! And it has a mesh inside pocket for your cords and foot pedal. 

And last was the Toiletry Tote~

The outside is vinyl covered cotton.  The inside is quilters cotton and lots of mesh pockets.

Both sides zip out for more storage.

I will admit this one was a bit tricky, but I really like the end result. The 'lid' has a hook for hanging.

Whew! It has been a long time keeping these a secret! LOL

You can find the patterns sold individually or as a bundle on Samantha's website HERE

She is also featuring the bags on her blog, where you can see all the tester versions. 

I am working on a couple more bags today, to be released the end of the month. :-)

Until next time~

Happy Stitchin'!!

And have a blessed and happy Easter weekend!

 

Spring!

Spring has finally 'sprung' at my house!

The daffodils and ornamental plum trees are blooming, and the sun has finally put in an appearance!

Yesterday I spent the day playing in the dirt and getting my little garden plots cleaned up.

Pulling the weeds from the daisy bed is the worst, but I tackled that for a bit too. ;-)

The rains are due back tonight, so I really should go out and finish that weeding, but then who would keep the laundry going? ;-)

I have a new spring bag too. The Kim Unisex Messenger bag is part of Nancy Stroop's Designz Collection.

Since this bag is part of a collection, it won't be sold as a single pattern for quite sometime. But her prices are really reasonable, and if you join the collection, it is only $30 for 6 patterns. Well, actually it would be less that that because Nancy is in Australia and the dollar is pretty strong over there. ;-)  

Anyway, one of the things I really like about Nancy's patterns is that they are geared for beginners, but you can really 'fancy' them up to suit your needs.  Since I have been loving playing with my embroidery machine lately, I went that route...

I added the piping and the embroidery.  The embroidery design was a free design from Embroidery Library for the month of March.

I also added a big pocket to the back with more embroidery. :-)

I have a feeling when my DD sees this bag it is going to vanish. LOL

The lining has a lot of pockets and you have options on how you want to divide them up~ I always make a smaller one for pens because I really hate digging in my bags for a pen. ;-)

Here it is all together. There is also a clip for your keys inside. I placed mine at the top, so my keys could hang right inside a pocket, Nancy puts hers at the side.  

Next up I am cleaning up my cutting table and then working on a couple Easter gifties for the DGkiddoes. :-)

Until next time~

Happy Spring!!

A Finish & A Little Help~

I finished off the last stitches on this lap quilt the other night.

I did the binding by hand on it because I was just not comfortable with the Martelli Binding System yet. (see previous post)  BUT I did try out a new binding gadget. ;-)

First the lap quilt~

The pattern is called 'Celebrate' and it is free on the Riley Blake website

You do need to scroll almost to the bottom of the page. ;-)

The 'white' areas are not really white, but a yellow dotted fabric. 

Sorry for the lighting~it was another grey and rainy day!

I put a line of diamonds down the back with some of the leftover fabrics. This is not part of the pattern and took a little bit of figuring on my part to get the side triangles the right size. In hindsight, it would have been really easy had I not had a brain cramp! I h@te when that happens! LOL

Although I bound it by hand, for the first step (machine sewing it to the quilt), I had a little help. ;-)

I won this 'Binding Butler' a while back from an online drawing. I was anxious to give it a try!

I must admit I was all thumbs getting my binding into the little gadget LOL but once I got it rolled in there, sewing it on was really slick! No more twisting!

The directions said to put it on the bed of your machine as you sewed. I barely had enough room for that set-up, but it has little grippers on the bottom, so it did stay where I put it.  It also spins really sweetly in feeding the binding off of the spool.  I didn't have a single twist! No binding on the floor or any of the other troubles I have had in the past~ it is a keeper!  :-) Next time I will try setting it right behind my machine bed and see how that works.

What are you working on?  I have a million projects on my table so need to get back to it!

Until next time~

Happy Stitchin'!

Binding...

I always do my bindings on quilts and things by hand, but recently I have tried machine binding smaller things

like placemats and items that might get washed a lot. 

I always seem to miss a few spots on the back when I sew in the ditch on the front. :-/

Then I go back and try to fix it and generally make it worse!

How about you? Hand or machine? Or a place for both?

Recently a friend gave me a Martelli Stitch in the Ditch binding system.

I have been dying to try it out!  Well, it does work, but I think I need a lot of practice!

This is the system attached to my machine~

Sorry for the lighting~ it is another grey day in paradise. ;-)

 

This is the front~ nicely in the ditch...

 

 

And this is the back~

 

While I didn't miss any spots, I don't like how it is a bit crooked.  Especially the edge toward the bottom left corner.  :-/  I am going to keep trying on this piece, but that corner is going to be ripped.

I am thinking that maybe if I starch the binding first, it will feed smoother?  any thoughts?

Have you tried this system? If so I would love to hear your comments!

Until next time~

Happy Stitchin'!!

 

I Remembered~~

...but only because my Mom called and reminded me when I was block swapping! LOL thanks Mom! :-)

I had a 6 foot table and the stairs~

I got all the blocks swapped, packed and back out in the mail by Monday.

They are starting to arrive home today. :-)  We had so many unique combinations this time.

It would be hard to choose a favorite!

 

Monday's mail also took my anniversary block to Temecula Quilts~

 

Did you make a block for their 10th Anniversary Quilt? 

You can find the info HERE.

It was a fun little block to stitch up~ and wouldn't it be cute for a milestone birthday quilt for a quilty friend?

 

I'm headed back to the sewing machine~ lots of catching up still going on here.

Until next time~

Happy stitchin'!!

 

String Blocks

Once or sometimes twice a year I host a string block swap for a group of ladies from the former HGTV Quilting & Needlework message board.  We now connect on a Groupbox board, or through Facebook.  ;-)

The latest blocks will be swapped tomorrow, so I got mine out and labeled them in prep for swapping.

Our guidelines are pretty simple~ we all sew the strings to washed, bleached muslin.  The blocks are to measure 8½ inches when trimmed down. Some of the ladies prefer to do their own trimming, so some of my blocks look larger. ;-)  Each player gets to choose the color and size of their center strip, and what colors they want for the 'strings'.  This time the choices included a lot of red. (which I love!)  I haven't made any blocks for myself yet, but I chose Seahawks colors~ bright green, navy and grey.  I want to make a lap quilt for my DS2 for Christmas. Hopefully I will get it done! 

I will try to remember to take a few pix tomorrow when I am swapping. I usually get so engrossed in it that I totally forget!  I need to wait for hubby to get home from work today to help me set up my table.

Until next time~

Happy Stitchin'!