Ho ho ho

 Christmas Eve is coming soon and with a ho ho ho I'm ready for gifting.  

The last presents on my list were to sew book bags for my two grandsons.  Their ages are 3 and 5.  I was inspired to make these bags when I came across fabrics for their favorite toys.  One loves Thomas the Train and the other loves dinosaurs.  Every holiday and gift giving opportunity I give books to the kids. 

I couldn't give them an empty book bag, so to make these gifts fun I needed to find books with matching themes from the fabric.  On one of my shopping trips I was able to find a Thomas the Train Book and matching stuffy.  I also found a stuffed dinosaur and a book about trucks that are dinosaurs (my grandson loves trucks too).  

The book bags measure 14" by 12".  These bags are lined and reversible, but the lining fabric is plain and not the same fun print.

I'd like to say that my sewing time is done for the year, but I'm picking my daughter up this weekend and I'm sure some creative time with my sewing machine will be on our agenda.  Ho ho ho.

Oh Christmas Tree

I'm always looking for new ideas for giving little gifts.  Scrolling through Pinterest I saw many postings for a fabric Christmas tree gift bag.  I was hooked.  

I was able to find several sites that explain how to draw your own tree bag pattern.   The finished bag measures approximately 10" wide on the bottom (which is the widest part) and they are 8" tall. 

I did some  tweaking of the pattern, so after a little trial and error this is what I decided to do.  With the tree having pointed ends I felt that lining this bag made it too bulky.  So my bag is unlined.  No lining keeps the tree points nice and crisp. With this change I adjusted the top casing by reducing it by I/2" on the top and 1/4" on each side.  No lining also saved on fabric,  I only needed to cut and sew the outside section.   And let's face it, how long will someone really use these bags.

I was able to whip up 14 tree bags in no time at all, taking approximately 15 minutes per bag to make. One of my time saving shortcuts is to lay the top drawstring in the casing before it is sewn shut.  This step saves a lot of time from trying to feed the drawstring through the casing after it's sewn.  I added a jingle bell on the center top of each tree bag. 

I think they came out adorable.  They would make unique little treat bags for those who make and give homemade fudge or cookies.  

My Christmas tree bags will be used for my stocking stuffer gifts.  Time to fill them up with some special treats. 

I have another sewing project gift to complete in the next few days.  I'll be back soon.  Ho ho ho.

Here Comes the Sun

I was traveling with my daughter  this past month and she pulled out of her suitcase a couple of lightweight woven plastic travel bags.  Great for carrying sundry products.  They are waterproof and wipe clean with a dam cloth.  The material they are made of instantly made me think of the material sunflower seed bags are made of.   

A lightbulb turned on.  I have used these sunflower seed bags to make shopping totes, they work great.  So why not make myself some travel sundry bags from them.  From previous posts you know I'm always on a mission to recycle, repurpose or reuse.  I measured her bags and when I returned home found a couple empty seed bags and got busy.  

Here's my version of her travel bags.

I fussy cut the bags so the sunflower would have the zippers run through the center of them. Being fond of the bees I loved that they were part of the flowers.  In fact, the side tabs of the tall bag were cut to include the bees on them.  This bag measures 7" tall by 8" wide with a 3" boxed bottom.   The long bag (measuring 11 1/2" long by 5" wide and 3" tall) has two charms on its tabs, one is a sunflower and the other one says "Here Comes the Sun".

These bags were a quick sew.  I can't wait to pack them the next time I travel.  Here comes the sun!!

Paw Patrol

My last post was for Kitty Pouches I made for my granddaughters.  I figured that my grandsons wouldn't be interested in Kitty Pouches.  Well... I figured wrong.

As soon as I gave the Kitty Pouches to the girls my grandson was quickly snatching it and checking it out.  My granddaughter came up to me a few times asking for me to get her Kitty Pouch back.  Opps...   I should have made the boys a pouch too.  With that in mind when I came across Paw Patrol fabric, and knowing that they love Paw Patrol, it was a no-brainer to make their pouches from this fabric.  I have a bg of zippers on hand so also a great way to use them up.

They are a hit and yes there was cash inside so they could go shopping too.  I think they were more excited about the money than the pouch.  Being preschoolers they do have fun with the zipper!

Well the "S" word (snow) is upon us which makes outdoor activities coming to a slow down.  But on the bright side "S" in my world also means sewing.  I have a few quilts waiting to to be quilted and of course there are always projects on my to-do-lists.  It's time to put the pedal to the metal and  I'm off to my world!  I'll be back soon.

Kitty, kitty

My two granddaughters love kitties so when I saw a post on Hello Sewing's website for Cat Pouches I knew I had to make them.

I've seen posts to make this cat pattern as potholders.  I've even saved the pattern for sometime in the future when I needed new potholders.  But when I saw that they were also made into Cat Pouches it was time to go through my stash and supplies and make the girls their own Kitty Pouch.

The pouches were a quick sew.  The finished pouches measure 8" across by 7 1/2" tall at the ears.  Just the right size for preschoolers.

I'll stash some cash inside each pouch so they can "go shopping".  What girl doesn't like to go shopping.

As I was winding up this project the thought came to me that a pumpkin shape could be fun for Halloween, a heart for Valentine's Day, an egg for Easter.  Oh my, there are so many possibilities.

It's a cover-up

In 2015 I purchased a Handi Quilter longarm quilting machine.  I absolutely love it!  I've used a twin-size sheet to cover it when not in use.  Back a couple years ago I came across directions to make a HQ Longarm Dust Cover.  I copied the directions to my laptop and there it has sat.  I thought about it several times and even purchased the 2 yards of each fabric for the top and lining.  Evidently I needed to be challenged to tackle this project.

When I made my UFO list for this past AuSable Quilt Guild year I included this dust cover as one project to get done!  I'm glad to announce - it's done!

Actually a pretty easy process - sandwich two pieces of fabric with batting in-between and quilt as desired.  Cut dimension as instructed in directions.  I did slightly change the back opening that wraps around and is held together with velcro.  

There was still plenty of quilted fabric leftover that I made a dust cover for the bobbin winder that came with my longarm.  Measuring the height, width and length I used the same idea as the longarm cover.  Presto a cover for my Bobbin winder.

There is still some leftover quilted fabric.  Either I'm pretty frugal in cutting these patterns or there was supposed to be quite a bit of extra fabric.  I don't want any extra pieces hanging around - should I throw what's left in the garbage and call it a day.  But it's a nice size and I'd hate to waste it.  I decided it was going to be made into a bag.

This bag measures 9" high by 11 1/2" wide at the top.  The bottom is boxed measuring 6 1/4" by 5 1/2".  It has a double zippered top and on one side a "D" ring with a handle.  Great little bag for carrying supplies.  Smaller rulers can even fit in it.

Living in Northern Michigan is wonderful, but has its challenges when trying to find supplies for my projects.  Our two hardware stores have limited selections.  The next closest stores are half an hour away by expressway, but that is even a limited selection.  The largest city is about an hour away and chances are that you can usually find what you need.  I wanted a "D" ring for this bag - not available at the local hardware stores.  The next closest store didn't have what I needed.  I passed a quilt shop on my way home - she wasn't open.   Could I use something other than a "D" ring, probably, but that wasn't my plan.  I hate ordering online:  First it's a small item, shipping will be more than what I'll pay for it; second most the time it's not what I thought I was ordering; and third who nows how long it will take to get shipped.

Yesterday as I was running into the local grocery store I decided to stop next door to the Dollar Tree store to see if I could figure something out.  Low and behold I found a dog harness with web strapping, plastic closures and several "D" rings.  Bingo and only $1.25.  This project can finally get finished.  Now I even have a stash of "D" rings, plastic closures and webbing from this harness.  In our small town we have five Dollar Stores which makes shopping challenging, but I have been able to find random things that can be repurposed at an affordable price for some of my projects.

So this project is all covered up.  I'm ready to jump onto my next project - that is when the sun is not shining.  

Tomorrow may rain, so I'll follow the sun

The Dog Days of Summer are here and Northern Michigan is having a wonderful summer to splash in the waves.  Of course, there are supplies to tote along - sun screen, sunglasses, beach towel, drinks and a snack or two.  Here is the perfect beach tote.

One of the ladies at quilt guild was making a mesh screen beach tote.  She asked me for help to figure out the directions.  I made that tote ( the pattern is called "Tote It") back some years ago so I was sure I could help.  Reading the directions was confusing, so I went home and grabbed my previously made tote for reference.  She borrowed my tote and the next month brought her newly made tote.  Great job Penny.  It has a screen bottom made of vinyl coated polyester mesh called Screen Play.  It's perfect for use at the beach.  All the sand in the bottom of the tote just slips away through the screen, but the holes are small so your goodies won't fall out.

It doesn't end here.  Today has been a humid, rainy day and a perfect day to sew.  I remembered that I still had a piece of the mesh screening to make another beach tote.   No time is better than the present to use it up.  I pulled out my screen, matched fabrics from my stash and got busy sewing a new screen bottom tote.

In front is my new tote, the back tote I made several years ago.  These totes measure approximately 20" wide by 13" high with a 6" boxed bottom.  I'm ready to follow the sun.

Float like a butterfly

Summer is here, my flowers are in full bloom and the butterflies are busy.  The butterflies inspired me for this next project that Norma, from my guild, shared with me some time ago.

Using a guild challenge "Jewel Colors" I decided to construct a kaleidoscope of butterflies.   I actually made six in different jewel colors in red, green, turquoise and pearl, but they flew away as quick as I finished them.  Friends and guild members adored them, so off they went.  I managed to hang onto two of them for a photo opportunity.

The process is actually origami folded fabric.   Using two contrasting  6" by 4 1/2" fabrics and sewing them right sides together with a 1/4 " seam allowance.  Leave a small opening to turn the fabric right side out - press - and fold into the butterfly shape.  Folding took a little bit of a thought process, but once I figured it out they folded in a snap.

They are not very large, about 4" across.  I'm sure larger or smaller ones could be made easily by adjusting the rectangular fabric size.  Possibly there are other origami patterns that could be used with fabric instead of paper.  I'll keep the thought in mind.

These little guys could be great on a skewer (pick), add a pin or glue or just sew to a surface.  Nice little embellishments.

Speaking of flowers and butterflies - it's a beautiful sunny day.  Time to be outside.

Baskets full of flowers

In March I posted my "basket challenge" from the AuSable Quilt Guild Idea Jar.  As I stated in that posting I made a couple blocks and decided to make a table topper instead of the quilt from the American Patchwork & Quilting magazine dated April 2010.  This pattern was in with my stash fabric with basket printed cotton fabric since 2010 waiting for me to tackle it.  The "basket challenge" put this quilt to the top of my to do list.  

The basket table topper was displayed on my dining table for at least six weeks.  I absolutely love it.  Still having plenty of that basket printed cotton left, I decided I needed to make that basket quilt like I originally intended.  

Well... it's done and will be displayed on my front porch next spring.  To fit on my porch I made it 70" by 70".  I especially love the colorful flying geese border.

I couldn't resist taking this photo in one of my gardens.  Look at these blooming flowers - poppies, irises, allium, bleeding hearts and more.  I love summer.   It's supposed to be cloudy and rainy for the next couple days.  My gardens are singing in the rain, but I'll take advantage of this rainy weather by spending time in my studio working on another AuSable Quilt Guild Challenge.  

Sending warm gifts

My friends seem to always choose the scrappy log cabin quilt as their favorite quilt, so I have been making them as gifts. Recently I have had requests for two quilts.  

One quilt is for a young man who is always asking me for advise on purchasing quilts.  I always ask him why he likes a certain quilt and I give him some history on the blocks/quilt to help him decide why he wants it.  He has a birthday coming up in July and I will surprise him with a scrappy log cabin quilt.  I made him a queen-size quilt, 80 1/2" by 100 1/2", and the blocks are arranged in the diamond pattern.    It is boxed and ready to mail to him in San Francisco.  Happy Birthday Robert.

The second scrappy log cabin is for a friend battling cancer.  My husband asked me if I would make him a quilt.  Every time he goes to visit him he is wearing his coat inside his house trying to stay warm.  Cancer sucks - and I wish him the best.  My husband will deliver this quilt to him.  This quilt is a lap quilt measuring 60 1/2" by 70 1/2 ".

Below are both quilts which look pretty much the same except for their sizes.

In a post from last year regarding the scrappy log cabin quilt the quilt guild I belong to had a challenge using fabric from their trash to treasure tote.  The fabric was cut into 1 1/2" strips to make a scrappy log cabin quilt.  There have been many beautiful completed log cabin quilts from guild members.  This challenge seemed to be a hit.   I am proud of all these talented ladies.  But there is still bag full of 1 1/2" fabric strips left.  The top two quilts were made from some of these leftover strips.  I did use red for the center square which represents the hearth of the home in a log cabin.  To me this represents the love and warmth I'm sending with these quilts.

Moving along, I have another quilt loaded on my long-arm frame ready to hit the finish line.  See you soon!

Oh Baby - Baby!

 Baby, baby - oh yes.  I have two baby gifts ready to give.

My youngest son's two great friends have had baby boys making it time to make some baby quilts.

Both baby quilts were made completely from my stash fabrics (no new fabric purchased).   

First using fabric from Michael Miller fabrics called "Zoology" with a zoo animal print  inspired this brightly colored quilt.   Since in my stash I had different widths of fabrics I decided to do my variation on the Twister pattern that I have used previously for other quilts.  The finished size is 38" by 52".

And the perfect way to give this gift - a cloth toy box, pattern from AGF.

The second boy quilt gift is from a panel called "Thicket" by Gingiber.  I've used this design a few times - it's one of my favorites.

The matching fabric Toy Box is made from scraps from the quilts.

Both gifts have a book, a stuffed animal and I made a couple drool bandana bibs.  I'll let my son decide which friends gets which gift.  We should be seeing both of his friends in the next couple weeks.  

Baby quilts are fun, quick and have more meaning than a store bought gift.  Here's hoping that both quilts will be used and dragged around by their little owners.

I still have fabrics leftover from both of these baby quilts which will be used for future projects - possibly more baby quilts.  I'm seriously busting through my stash fabrics, but it still doesn't seem to make too much of a dent.  

I'm finishing up on gifts for other friends.  Not babies, but grown ups.  I'll be ready to share in a couple of days.  

Celebrating a new addition to our family

It's been a while since I've posted on my blog.  I have been busy, but I have a lot of unfinished projects.  The weather has been beautiful these past few weeks and I've been busy outside.  Now that the last few days have been rainy and cold - I'm catching up and finishing projects.  I will be posting them as they are done.

Today I've finished a special quilt for a new member of our family - a baby girl named Bindi.  She was born mid-March.  My youngest son and his wife have two boys and were hoping for a girl.  They got their wish.  

I'm not a huge fan of quilt panels, but in this quilt this panel seemed very appropriate.  The rainbow panel is from AGF and says "dreams come true".  The quilt block design I used is from Sweet Potato Quilts called "Bora".  Although I didn't follow the directions from the pattern, I used the idea for the layout.  My finished size is 38" by 41".

Included is a cloth toy box that matches the quilt and filled with bandana bibs and outfits.  My perfect way to give a quilt gift for a new baby.

This past year has been a busy year for new babies.  I have two more baby quilts to give as gifts.  One is ready to go,  the second is in the making.  Summer is on the horizon and I'm not wishing for cooler weather that will keep me inside to sew, but I do hope to get caught up in the next couple weeks.

Baskets are my fave

It's been a bit since I was last here.  I certainly haven't been slacking.  I'm just all over the place! Literally, I did some traveling, but also gathering thoughts on my projects. 

Today I'm rounding up my project "basket".  Our quilt guild picked the Idea Challenge Jar word "basket" in December.  I quickly browsed through my UFO/wish list of projects and came across two that fit the bill.

The first basket I made for this challenge I used denim from my pile of old jeans that I have stored away.  This cute little basket measures 9 inches across and 4 inches tall.   It's great for holding my little fabric pieces while I'm assembling blocks.  Not too deep and just wide enough.

I added the beading trim that I had left over from another project.  I've even considered doing some hand stitched quilting, but still in the thinking stage with that thought.

Next, I came across a pattern I had stashed from American Patchwork & Quilting magazine dated April 2010.  As I go through the check-out lines at stores there are always these eye-candy magazines that you just have to have.  This magazine caught my eye because there is a quilt with basket blocks on the cover.  I knew I had to make this one.  I'm a basket weaver so this is right up my alley.  I purchased perfect basket patterned fabric to use to make this quilt. and there it sat.  Evidently things got in the way.  The magazine and the basket fabric has since been in my stash tote.

The Idea Challenge Jar choice of "basket" put this quilt to the top of my to do list.  Well, after I made a couple basket blocks I thought to myself - what am I going to do with this quilt once it's done?  At that point I decided a table topper would be perfect.  I assembled the four blocks into a square to fit perfectly on my dining room table.  The colors of yellow and blue tie into my decorating colors.  The finished size is 26 1/2" square.  With Easter around the corner this basket is a perfect time to display on my table.

Now that the table topper is done I absolutely love it!!  So I really have to make the full quilt.  This will be my next project to conquer.  When this quilt is finished it will become part of my selection of quilts to hang seasonally on my front porch.

I consider my "basket" challenge to be completed.  These challenges have made the perfect opportunity to use up stash fabrics and UFO/wish list projects.  This is a win - win.

Well enough chatting - I need to get back to work!

Be my Valentine

During the January AuSable Quilt Guild meeting we had Nancy from OOO la la quilt shop demonstrate how to make fabric Valentine postcards that can actually be mailed through the postoffice.  The theme Valentine was selected since this is the upcoming popular card giving holiday.  Participants decided to randomly pick a members name and mail them one of our postcard Valentines.

I've always loved Valentine's Day for the fun and cheesy greetings.  In elementary school I would read my Valentines over and over and sometimes hoping that the boy I had a crush on sent me a special message.

Going through the Trash to Treasure tote I found a few printed fabrics that inspired me to pen a little Valentine saying on my creations.  Again, in my opinion, the cheesier the better.

I made eight postcards, four will be mailed.  The others I added a ribbon to tie the postcard to a candy treat bag.  Here is my Valentines'

The backs include a little saying and  Happy Valentine's Day.  Just like postcards you purchase from the store they are 4" by 6" and have a divide line between the address and the message.

I will be mailing the mailed postcards at the end of this week hoping that it will be plenty of time to reach their destination before the holiday. They have to be hand processed at the postoffice and cost quite a bit more to mail.  

This was a quick and fun little project and I look forward to future opportunities to send a special custom greeting for birthdays, Easter, Halloween, etc. to family or friends.

I'm currently finishing up my second Idea Challenge "Baskets" project.  My goal is to have it ready for Shoe and Tell at the next guild meeting in February.

Perfect weather for baking

One of the Christmas gifts I made this year was denim oven mitts.  I made two pair, but that evidently wasn't enough.  I now have requests for two more pair.

The first pair will be made with the blue denim as previously made.  The second pair will be made of black denim.  The black denim will go great with my sisters farmhouse decor of reds, blacks and grey.

Although it is a simple pattern with only two pieces, the charm comes in the details that can be used from old jeans.  No two mitts come out exactly the same.   Just like no two brand of jeans are the same.  I love using the top pockets and the actual waistband in the construction.   When I say simple,  the simplicity is in the amount of pattern pieces used to assemble.  The hardest part is taking the jean apart to reuse.   

This was to be a quick sew and I'd be back on track to my current sewing project.  Making two pair of mitts took me all day.  Unrealistically, I was thinking they'd take a couple hours.  Hahaha. But it certainly feels good using up some of my stash of used jeans.  It's like spring cleaning.  

Our weather has been blistering cold.  Perfect weather for baking.  I need to get these oven mitts off to their new owners.  With our temperature low of -16 and daytime high 2, I couldn't think of anything I'd rather be doing than sewing. Well maybe baking, but I've been doing that in-between.

Remembering my word "focus",  I'm back on track to my current project.

Cotton Blossoms

One of the classes our quilt guild offered was appliqué.  Although I've done a couple appliquéd pieces in the past I was interested in learning some pointers and possibly a new technique.  Unfortunately, the day the teacher offered the class I was unable to attend.

The appliqué technique I've used in the past was a blanket stitch or a satin zig zag stitch on my sewing machine.  Determined to try a new technique, a book by Kim Diehl called "Simple Whatnots II" caught my interest.

Of all the patterns offered in this book wouldn't you know the Log Cabin background appealed to me, called Cotton Blossoms.  I'm in a Log Cabin rut lately.  This is a wallhanging measuring 24 1/2" by 24 1/2".  

I added this wallhanging to my current UFO list, #6.  In November UFO # 6 was picked.  It was time to get serious about Kim Diehl's spin on appliqué.  Being a wallhanging my thought was this would be a simple and quick project.  A good start on my UFO list, especially since we're coming into the holidays. 

I quickly gathered fabrics from my stash.  The Log Cabin background went together rather quickly.  Now the appliquéd section certainly slowed me down with all these tiny pieces.  I followed the directions, which I must say were easy and thorough.  

I wasn't too sure about her technique of appliquéing with invisible thread.  But it was a snap, you can't see the thread and I'm sold.   Now that I have her technique somewhat conquered, I'm excited to tackle another one of her patterns from this book.

I still need to finish by making a hanger on the back so it can be proudly displayed on my wall.

This was a win, win, win project.  I learned a new appliqué technique, I completed UFO #6 and it was all made from my stash fabrics.  I'm off to a great start this year.

There's more waiting on my list to conquer.  Be back soon!

Bees bags

In the past I've made beeswax wraps in an effort to use less plastic.  They've worked great wrapping up some foods and covering glass bowls.  Mostly I've used them for sandwich wraps.  And then I had this great idea!  

With all the totes I've been making to replace plastic grocery bags, why not make beeswax sandwich bags?  I know I'm not the first to come up with this idea, but I thought of this while I was wrapping my sandwich with one of my flat wraps.  How much more convenient to just drop your food in a bag.  Thus, I got busy making bees bags!

To make I measured and copied the size of a plastic sandwich bag adding seam allowances.  My finished size sandwich bag is 8" by 9 1/2".  The little smaller snack bag is 5 1/2" by 8".

For the sandwich size I cut an 8 1/2" by 19" piece of cotton fabric.  The snack size bag was cut to 6" by 16".  Then the process is very similar to the flat wraps.  Using a melted mixture of natural beeswax, jojoba oil and natural pine resin, I infused the desired size of fabric.  After the fabric cooled I folded it in half, sewed up the sides and boxed the bottom.  I used pinking shears to trim all raw edges to help keep the fabric from fraying.  With the boxed bottoms they can even stand up and it also helps keep the contents from getting squished.

My past wraps were made in 2019  and they still work.  To clean, I simply rinse or wipe them down, but always careful not to put them into too hot of water that would melt the wax off.

I'm already thinking that I should make larger bags for refrigerator storage such as cheese.

I'm busy as a bee finishing up a couple more projects.  I'll be back soon.

Reflecting back on 2024

 I woke up this morning excited to start this new year.  Lots of ideas on where to start are buzzing through my head, but I remember my word for 2025 is "focus".

I looked back at my UFOs and felt I slagged behind, so out of curiosity I started reflecting back on my accomplishments in 2024.  I spent some time this morning reviewing my blogs to remind myself just what did I accomplish.  And boy did it fill my heart with joy!  I actually accomplished so much more than I remembered - 128 items that were posted.  I couldn't believe I was that successful.  And that was only what I posted.  I guess you can say I was a sewing wonder.  

Most of my projects were gifted or donated to others.  I guess that's why I still have these UFOs to contend with, they are my personal projects.  With these personal projects fresh in my mind I decided that's where to begin.

I'm here to make a difference!   So it's time to let this journey begin.

Hello 2025