Ah The Sewing Machine!

Definitely this girls best friend lately! LOL :-)

I have had both my older sewing machine and my embroidery machine working for me this past week, and although I can't show you everything, I can show a few things. :-)

How about this totally cute mermaid pouch? I think both my DD and my DGD are going to need one!

The embroidery design is from Parker On the Porch.

Next she is working on dragon scales for the guys! How fun!

I made this fun pocket pillow for my DGS.

Memories In Thread sells these designs and she has so many cute ones it was really hard to choose just one! LOL

And finally, this is the Zip-Up Tray Pouch by Aneela Hoey

I had so much fun making these that I couldn't stop! LOL ;-)

I couldn't find small separating zippers locally, so I ordered from an Etsy seller.

I have a few more zippers... ;-)

 

I've done more, but cannot show the pix right now...

Are you keeping your sewing machine humming along? 

With the nicer weather my flowerbeds have been calling and I've got my pots filled with petunias and geraniums, the peonies are blooming and the daisy's are going wild!

Until next time~

Happy stitchin'!!

And just a  little disclaimer~ I am in no way compensated for posting these links. I just thought since I enjoyed them, you might too!

Time Is Flying!!

I know I promised you some retreat photos, but I haven't quite figured out photo resizing yet. And then I caught the dreaded spring cold! Ugh!  

And this past week we went camping! 

I did take care of myself and my cold is much, much better. I think camping along the beach, enjoying relaxed times and no stress helped me get over it quicker. It was a really nice week!

And we spotted a pod of Orca's.  Unfortunately, I jiggled when I shouldn't have. :-(

He was headed back down by the time I got myself ready, but it was fun!

This is the little class I helped with at retreat. We made snack mats. :-)

The pattern came with a panel of sewing sayings to make different designed mats.

And then I had to try making one center with my embroidery machine. 

It was a fun little class. 

I still need to get the binding on the second mat. Oops. ;-)

I am off to try to figure out more photos~

Until next time--

Happy stitchin'!!

 

Ok, Now I Am Really Back!!

I was only 'half-back' in my previous post because I couldn't figure out how to post photos.

Guess what?!!  I am getting there!!

I found this free download called FastStone Photo Resizer.  has anyone heard of it?

No adware and extra junk~ just the program! So I downloaded and played around with it a bit. I like it! :-)

You can add text to your photos, or a watermark if you have one made up.

You can resize more than one photo at a time!! I have to play with cropping and stuff yet, but here are the photos of my Bindi Bag that talked about in my previous post.

I'll be back soon! I have so much to show you!  But I need to take photos and get them ready. ;-)

Until then, Happy Stitchin"!

I'm Ba-a-ack!

Goodness! My last post was the middle of April! 

Time sure does fly!!

I was having some computer issues in April~ mainly the 'blue screen of death' was popping up way too often!  And when I got back from my retreat, I could not get my computer to start at all.  No matter what we tried, and hubby and I tried a lot of things!, it just wouldn't fire up. It is a good thing we were hunting for a new one as soon as the blue screen became a problem!

We got the new one set up this past weekend and I have been loading programs, trying to remember passwords~ goodness I have a lot of passwords!! :-o  And trying to get used to Windows 10 (I had XP and I loved it!!)

So photos~  here is where I haven't been very successful.  Does anyone have a free photo resizing program that also can do watermarks?  I would love to know about it!  I cannot get my older version of PhotoShop to load on my new computer, it gets to a point and stops. :-(

I can show you the may bag in the Designz By Nancy Stroop Collection. :-) This one is called the 'Bindi Bucket Bag'.  Check out all the tester bags. :-)

~sigh~  I cannot get my photos resized. :-( 

If I figure this out, I will be back with pix of my bag.

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!!