Gift Making

I've been in gift making mode lately. Yesterday I made a pillowcase for charity.

I plan to make a couple for Christmas gifts but the patterns I have don't have concealed raw edges (french seams) inside the case. I hate all the raveling that will occur when it is washed if the raw edged aren't concealed. So I did a little online search and found a great tutorial on how to use essentially the same pattern I had, but do it with all concealed raw edges. You can find that tutorial here.

I am also making some tote bags from old jeans. I saw a pattern for sale in a catalog using old jeans and I thought to myself that I could figure out how to do that with my own favorite tote bag pattern. My favorite pattern is by Valori Wells called the grocery tote.

I am using pre-made webbing handles for these. Here is one side of the tote I made.

This is the other side of the same bag.

I made the lining using this fabric.

I thought these totes would be a bite more gender neutral. Hopefully guys won't mind using these to bring home their groceries. I'm planning to give them to a family in which the husband does most of the grocery shopping.

My 15 Minutes

The podcast episode I was interviewed for last week is up and available for you to listen. You can listen to it on your computer or you can download it to your MP3 player. You can find it here, directly from Sandy's podcast page. You can also find it on iTunes if you do a search for the podcast "Quilting for the Rest of Us." The episode is number 022: In Which We Teach the Children.

Again, Quilting for the Rest of Us is one of my favorite quilty podcasts. If you aren't familiar with it, you should check out some past episodes. They are all excellent, in my humble opinion.

A Finished Project and another Ornament Test

The kitten did not allow me to finish sewing the binding on my wonky court house steps the other night. However, I was able to finish yesterday morning during her nap.

I'm pretty please with how it turned out. I foresee more wonky piecing in my future.

I ordered this years Quilting Arts Gifts magazine. It has several cute projects and I am auditioning one of them for this years ornament. I know I have made several other ornaments already, but none of them really grab me. I think this one will be it though.

The project, as published, is to make 24 houses, each numbered on the back, as an Advent Calendar. There is a small pocket on the back of the house body so you can put a small gift or treat inside. I am planning to put the child's name on the pocket instead of a number and put a gift card or cash in the pocket.

And here is another Goldie picture. Also taken last night. She finally caught that darn tail that torments her by following her everywhere!

Retail Therapy

I was in a bit of a funk this morning. Nothing major, just several things that didn't go my way. I was driving past my LQS, The Gray Goose, and decided to stop. I didn't need anything, but check out this awesome fabric I bought.

I decided that what would cheer me up was new napkins. Pretty sad when new napkins makes you happy, but hey, whatever works! So I cut squares. I have found that 18" squares make a good size napkin for my family.

Then I pressed all the edges over 1/4" and then 1/4" again.

Then sew all the way around and you have new napkins.

I'm going to make new placemats to go with our new napkins, but I'll do that another day. Below is the rest of my retail therapy purchases.

I've got other fabrics that I think will go with these to make some really fun placemats. There is a companion print to the utensil fabric that is various colored retro tea cups. It is also really great, but it is on a white background. The first time we used that fabric with pizza they would be stained and that would just make me grumpy again. So I need to use something that won't show stains as easily, because they will get stained.

And just because my house is overflowing with kitten cuteness, I thought I'd share some with you.

Goldie loves this scratching post. It has a toy at the top. This photo was taken after about an hour of hard playing.

Works in Progress

I made a little more progress on my wonky court house steps project. I quilted it this afternoon with lines using light blue thread. I've got the binding attached to the front ready to be hand sewn to the back. I'll do that tonight, if the kitten will allow me to.

I have been making slow progress on embellishing my stitched project.

I've got buttons on about half of it so far. Here is a detail shot.

I just finished talking with Sandy from the podcast Quilting for the Rest of Us. She interviewed me about teaching kids to quilt. Sandy asked for resources and ideas in Big Tent about teaching kids to quilt several weeks ago. I responded with my experience in running Aunt Lynn's Sewing School and she asked if she could just interview me. I'm no expert, but I have taught my niece and son to do some quilting/sewing projects. I guess the interview went okay. At least Sandy said I did fine. She said the episode will probably air soon. I'll let you know when if you want to listen to me ramble on for about 20 minutes or so. By the way, if you don't listen to Sandy's podcast, you should. In my humble opinion, it is one of the better quilty podcasts out there right now.

Embellishing

When I said I was planning to embellish this

I was planning to use these

Goldie thought she would make a much better embellishment.

However, she didn't want to be sewn down. So we are going with my original plan. I'm starting to play with patterns. Trying things out. Seeing what I like and don't like. Just playing.

Stitching Project in Progress

I have completed the initial stitching on this little project - it's fat quarter size right now. Since this photo was taken this morning I have spray basted a backing on it and have started doing a little stitching to hold all the layers together. Then I plan to embellish, embellish, and embellish some more.

Here is a detail shot so you can see some of the stitching better.

The Fall Semester has begun. Today is the end of the second week of classes. As a result, I have less sewing time so posts will probably be further apart. Soon ski season will begin and I will be a "ski widow" again on the weekends. Then my sewing time will decrease even more I fear.

Currently my sewing time is divided between sewing and playing with our new kitten. Can't resist showing you this photo of Goldie asleep with her mouse.

She plays hard, then crashes.