Sew Sweet Simplicity- block 2..Giveaway Extended!

Giveaway Extended until Wednesday, December 3rd~
I think everyone was busy eating turkey, enjoying family and maybe a little shopping?

Please be sure to visit all the blogger's in the hop to give yourself more chances to win!
Good luck!!

Snoodles ~ Lily Pad Quilting

Teresa ~ A Quilt and a Prayer

Sandy ~ Upstairs Hobby Room

Deonn ~ Quiltscapes 

Barb ~ Bejeweled Quilts

Sandie ~ Crazy ‘boutquilts ~ thanks for visiting!!

Deanna ~ Wedding Dress Blue

Barb ~ Mountain Quiltworks

Barb ~ Garden Path Quilts

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Good morning!

Did you receive block 2 of the Sew Sweet Simplicity BOM by Jacquelynne Steves in your email?  I was a little surprised when it showed up yesterday~ but happy too!

I loved this block!

If you remember, I am doing mine with my vintage sheet collection and hand embroidering the center part.

I'm also doing a set with the center colored with crayons.  I haven't 

decided what fabric to use for that one yet. ;-)

I played with lots of different embroidery stitches this time~ the back stitch, French knot, Palestrina stitch or twilling stitch, stem stitch, chain stitch, and a filler in one flower. :-)

All back-stitched.

Jacquelynne has a list of all the bloggers who are hopping with her today.  Be sure to visit everyone! 

Along with today's blog hop~ Jacquelynne is sponsoring another giveaway~not only on my blog, but everyone in the hop!  yay!

This time it is this cute penny rug and pattern~

Please make sure you have a valid email address either in your comment,

or that links to your blog! If I can't find you, I will have to draw again.

We will leave the giveaway open until Friday the 28th.  International commenters are welcome too as this is a set of e-patterns. ;-)  (thus the great need for your email address!)

Also~ it is not too late to sign up!  You will receive the past month's block as well as the pre-BOM instructions in your email.  You can go HERE to sign up and get all the info. 

And finally, if you have any social media accounts, please use this~

#SewSweetSimplicity

So we can find you! :-) 

Until next time~

Good luck &

Happy stitchin'!

Embroidery~~

My second love! LOL

I seem to be stuck on redwork lately, but I do like embroidery in all colors. :-)

I got my top for 'I Believe in Snowmen' from Bunny Hill Designs all together~

I just need a nice day to get it quilted. :-)

Today is not the day!

It is raining and very grey outside.

And that is why this photo is so dark~

 Sorry! :-/

I just put the finishing stitches on 'Oh Come Let Us Adore Him' and the pattern is from

A Piece of Work Designs

It is approx 14 x 17 inches, once I trim it up.

I think I am going to border it and use it as a wall hanging.

I don't have much wall space for framed things, so this way I can change it out for the season.

What are you working on?  

I need to pick a new handwork project now. ;-)

(No worries~ I have lots of patterns! LOL)

Until next time~

Happy stitchin'!!

~~Little Pouches~~ part 2

If you read my previous post about how to make the zippered pouches, then you know that this post is the continuation...

First you need to make your tab for the D-ring or key ring.

Take the 2.5" x 3" piece of fabric and fold in the long edges approx 1/4 ", then press it together. Top stitch close to the edge side and the fold side. Slip on your ring. And fold in half so the raw edges meet. 

  (I never realized what terrible shape my cutting mat is in until I took these photos!) Yikes!

 

 Place your tab at the top of your zipper, on the back and centered.

 

Now we are ready to bind!  And actually, even though we are binding the zippered pouches, these tips work great for anything that is odd shaped and needs a bias binding. ;-)

 

When you cut bias binding, the ends are at an angle~ we are going to use this to our advantage. Press under a quarter inch seam allowance on the binding like this~

And trim off that little point.

 

 I'm going to show binding the hex, the circle is bound the same way but it is easier because you don't have those pesky points.

Take your binding and place it right at the 1/4" spot on a corner of  the pouch~

 

 The pin marked my quarter inch and got the binding as close as I could. You are going to sew just the single layer of binding down from this spot to the quarter inch spot at the next point. This keeps the binding in place, eliminates pins, and just makes it all go easier. ..at least it does for me!

Once you have that done, fold your binding down so it is doubled again and start sewing about 1/4" from where the bottom and top binding's meet. Since these buggah's are so small, that will be right at the next point. You should have room for one or two stitches before you pivot at the point.

I sew with my needle down. Stopping so I can pivot at each point. Keep the tab and ring in the center of your pouch, so you are sewing over the ends, but the metal is well out of the way.  I raise the foot and kind of make a little tuck of the binding at the corners so it lays flat right at the point~

 

 Sew all the way around until you have about an inch to go. Or half way on the single layer of binding.

 

Take it off your machine and trim your binding so it will fit into the little space left where you started sewing~ this takes a little fiddling and you might want to trim out a bit of the bulk too. This is how I did mine~

Then tuck the end into the beginning, and go back and sew it by machine the rest of the way.
 

 I handstitch that joining spot together to hold it better and keep it from pulling apart when you flip the binding to the back.

 All that is left to do is a bit of trimming if you need, your binding should roll to the back and cover your stitches by just a thread... if it doesn't trim a bit.

On the hex, trim off the points.

You can hand or machine stitch your binding down. I used a few of my machines fancy stitches on the black and red ones, and hand stitched the snowman and pink hexagon one.

 Then go back and flip up your tab and sew it to the binding at the top~ either hand or machine. And you are finished! 

If you make any, please let me know so I can come and see them!!

Happy stitchin'! 

~Making The Little Pouches~~

Let's try a little tutorial for the zippered pouches~~

You can click on the photo's to make them larger. 

Supplies needed:

--scratch paper to make your pattern(s)

--FQ for lining and binding

-- 6" squares of your main fabric and a scrap that is 3" x 2.5" for the ring 

-- 6" squares of lightweight batting

-- D-ring or key ring

-- 7" zipper or two if you are making both shapes

 First we need to make our patterns~

For the circle trace around a dessert bowl.  LOL was that easy? Your circle needs to be approx 5.5 inches across.

For the hexagon~ take a 6 inch square of your scratch paper and fold it in half.

With the fold at the 60º line cut off the corner, do the same for the other side.

 When both corners are cut off, you will need to take 3/8th's off the top.

Now all 3 sides should measure 3 inches.
Unfold and you should have a perfect hexagon.

Now let's get to the fabric and fun parts!! 

We need to cut our bias binding....

Take your FQ and fold it, bringing the left corner down to the bottom~ making a nice long bias line.

Cut along the fold, just to trim the fold off.

Then make a 2.25 inch cut. This should give you 2 pieces of bias binding (for two pouches--I know you will make more than one!)

 Now, you can cut out your lining pieces from the scraps~
either 2 circles, 2 hex's, or both.

Also cut your main body and back piece from the 6 inch squares and the little rectangle for your D-ring (mine is 3 x 2.5 inches)

Place your main fabric circles or hex's on top of the squares of batting and quilt~ it doesn't need to be anything fancy! I just did a few lines.

Also sew close to the outer edge to keep things together.

After quilting, you can trim the batting away.

Next we need to cut one of these shapes in half.....

Layer your shape with your lining piece to make the cut~ that way they are both cut the exact same size.

For the circle, I folded it in half, and then cut on the fold. For the hexagon I positioned my ruler 1.5 inches from the top and bottom corners and cut (remember each side measured 3 inches, if yours didn't then you need to figure half of your side measurement).

{on the snowman pouch, I cut my line 2 inches from the edge~~ there isn't a rule that the cut has to be in the center, but I would leave at least 2 inches on the smaller side}

Next up is the zipper~~

Now put your zipper foot on your machine. Take a deep breath~ you can do this!!!

Take the top half of one shape and layer it with the lining half, right sides together. Now take your zipper and put it between the main and lining pieces with the zipper facing up and the pull on the left hand side~
It purposely should hang over both edges.

Sew along the edge with the zipper foot, about 1/4" from the edge or just a thread width more--- it is close but not right tight next to the zipper. Can you see it in my photo? I tried to finger separate the layers so you could see.

That was easy, right? Now press the main and lining fabrics away from your zipper. Then top stitch close to the zipper but on the fabrics (photo below)

Side two;

 Again you are making a sandwich, top facing down, zipper facing up, lining facing up.

Try to line up your shapes so they are pretty even to the previously sewn side.

This time my zipper pull is on the right, facing up. and I'll sew about a quarter inch seam again.

Flip the pieces away from the zipper again, and top stitch this side.

This photo shows both top stitched. 

Now you should move your zipper pulls to the middle of your pouch shape. Do this before the next step!!

I put my regular foot back on and zigzagged across the zipper ends approx 1/2 inch from the edge...make sure you have your zipper pull in the middle!

 Next we are going to layer our backside and lining, wrong sides together... you can sew around these to keep them together, but I didn't...notice how my top hex got a little wonky? No worries!!

We are going to sew a half inch seam allowance to join the front to the back. (Your lining pieces are right sides together.)

And then trim close to that seam- I trimmed off all but 1/8th inch.

Ok, if you are with me this far~~ thank you!!! :-)

I'll stop here and tonight add the binding post~

Again, it is fun and easy!!

Have a happy day!!!

Gifties!

I also made a few gifts at retreat~ :-)

 Patchwork Posse- Shark Pencil case

These little shark pencil pouches were a  lot of fun, but whew! that

zipper was a bear! :-o  I must be crazy, because I did two! I couldn't let a zipper beat me. LOL

I would suggest that if you are beginner, find someone to help you 

or you may end up tossing it in frustration!  :-o

I also played with these~

Little zipper cases. :-)

They measure about 5 inches across. I didn't follow a pattern, just played around. I did make a tutorial for my friends on the former hgtv boards, so if you'd like to play too, just let me know and I'll post it for you here.  These zippers were very easy!! ;-)  If you have a fear of zippers, this is a project you will love. ;-)

and finally~

 Phone Charging Stations from Positively Splendid

These are so quick and easy! And besides using them as a charging station, they make a great place to keep the charger between charges!  The grommet snaps together, no special tools needed.

I like that!

What little gifties are you making?

Until next time~

Happt stitchin'!!

I'm A Bag Lady!

Everyone needs a retreat to get lots of sewing done! :-) I sure accomplished a lot!

I put the finishing touches on these two bags this past week.  

Both are Kim @ Lily Patch Quilts Tote Along Tool Caddy pattern. (Look at the top of her blog for her shop) ;-)

I love this pattern!  It has tons of pockets inside and out!

I did alter it a bit by adding a zipper closure at the top... just a little security. ;-)

And I just love the batiks! :-)

I am linking to Sew Sweetness's Purse Palooza 2014 again... you really should check out all the cool bags over there!

Until next time~

Happy Stitchin'!

Whew! Where Have I Been?!

 Hello~ remember me? :-)

I did go to retreat the middle of October and I have so many things to show you! It was a very productive weekend. :-)

However, after retreat was not so fun.  The week after I was back I got so sick that I had to spend Halloween in the ER. :-o Oh My Gosh! I do NOT ever want to repeat that!

So for the past 2 weeks I have been recovering from a nasty virus, laying low and giving myself a chance to get my stamina back. Not fun. Not fun at all... so let's not talk about it! Ok?

This was the first project I tackled at retreat, and gave it the finishing touches just last week.

The original  pattern is from Clover & Violet and is called Felicity. If you remember, I made one with the frame insert~ and have been loving it! ;-)

 Instead of doing hexagons on the outside, I tried tiles... and I like it!

I also used a hex shaped frame for the insert instead of a snap frame.

I love how the frame stays open so you can 'root around' in there. LOL

I am entering this bag in Sew Sweetness's Purse Palooza 2014

Thanks for stopping by! I'll be back tomorrow with more of my retreat projects. ;-)