A Winner!

I actually have two winners to talk about today~

the contest winner (more on that later) and a 'winner' of a pattern! :-)

With back to school right around the corner, I recently had the pleasure of testing a book bag design by Shelly of The Grey Wren.

This was the first time I have tested a pattern for Shelly and I loved it! She tells you where she purchased her supplies and the cost, so you have a good idea what to look for and where to find it. :-)

She takes a lot of photos, so each step is easy to complete.

I made the Wren Elementary Sized book bag.~

 The bottom is faux leather, the main bag a decorator weight print and the inside a quilters cotton print.  I really like how it turned out. Shelly sells the pattern in her Etsy shop (link above) at a very good price!  

The next winner is the winner of my little guessing game in my last post.

It was Multnomah Falls in Oregon~ a really beautiful waterfall!! In fact, there were a lot of lovely falls just down the road from each other and DH and I had a lot of fun exploring each one.

I put all your names in the hat and DH drew for me~

the winner is .....

Connie @ Crafty Home Cottage!

Congratulations!  If you can send me your snail mail address I will finish up your little prize this week. ;-) 

Until next time~

Happy Stitchin'!!

Yikes!!

I truly did not mean to be gone for the month of July!! :-o 

It seems like summers are just crazy here! 

I have been trying to sew, garden and travel all at once!~ and not

doing a really good job at any of them! LOL

On the sewing front I am making blocks for a string block swap.

The ladies in my group each decide what colors they want their blocks and the color/size of the center strip. Then we get the list and get busy sewing each person's blocks. We make 6 per swapper.

This time I asked for red/cream striped blocks...

When I get them back in the fall I plan to cut them all in half and make these blocks~

I've been trying to keep up with the Temecula Marvelous Monday blocks and I just finished a pattern test too~ more on that when the pattern is released. ;-)

We have been traveling too!

Can you guess where?

 

 

There could be a small prize involved. LOL

Giveaway will close on the 2nd of August~ ack! Is August really that close???

Have a wonderful day whatever you are doing!

I'll be back sooner than a month!

Happy Stitchin'!!

A Catch-Up Day!

Have you been sewing along with Temecula Quilt Company's Marvelous Mini Monday series?

I was hooked the moment I saw the first block! And the subsequent blocks have not disappointed.

I mean, really~ how cute is a 1.5 inch Jacob's Ladder block?!

I took this afternoon to get caught up. I am only cutting from a gallon size bag of scraps. We will see how long that baggy will work before I venture into my CW stash. ;-)

What are you working on today?

Until next time~

Happy Stitchin'!

The Good Ol' Summertime!

Happy summer! Are you keeping busy?

We just got back from a trip, mini retreat, family visit all in one.  

It was pretty hectic, but lots of fun too!

Now I am back to my crazy sewing schedule, grilling, weeding etc

Isn't it funny how fast the weeds can grow when you leave for a bit?

Its like they all tell each other, she is gone, let's see how tall we can get! ;-)

The first things I made last week~

~a pair of sunglasses cases.  The pattern is from Liz @ Moments Designs 

and is called Zig-Zags because of the way the zipper is zipped.

There are two other designs included in this pattern and I have made both for the grandkiddoes.

I also got my embroidery machine busy decorating some pillowcases for DMIL. She loves the color  lavender and had been asking DH's sister to find her a pair of lavender pillowcases.  They are in a very, very small town, so we offered to pick some up for her when we got back.  

I embroidered her name on them. The bandana was my practice piece, but she likes them for napkins, so it went off to her too. :-)

I am headed back to do a bit of sewing. I need to catch up my Marvelous Mini Monday blocks from Temecula Quilt Co.

Are you sewing along too?

Have a very safe and happy 4th!

 

The On The Move Day Bag

I had the unique pleasure of doing a pattern test for a new bag designer. :-)

Lynn of SheWearsRedFeathers designed a fun little day bag.  It has loads of pockets inside and out, a place inside for your credit cards, and mesh pockets outside for your water bottles. It would be a great bag for taking the kiddoes to the zoo or any other little day trip.  I made mine as a gift, but now I think I need to make one for me too! LOL

The inside is rip stop nylon~ very easy to wipe out if a little spill occurs.

Check out her blog for more of the tester bags. (link above)

The pattern is on sale at a very low price for the next 24 hours~

On the Move Day Bag

or

Etsy

More soon! Until then,

Happy Stitchin'!!

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'!!