Monsterous Reveal !



These are the mess makers in my studio!

Meet the little monsters who will be attending my Great Nephew's 2nd birthday party!! They were so much fun to design and make, it was like playing dress up with dolls!  I got to use one of my favorite embellishments, rick rack and use some of the ribbons I had accidentally bought a lot of when Ben Franklin's went out of business.  Girly colors would be so much fun to do too!      I wasn't able to stitch one stitch of any kind over the weekend, I don't know why I even entertain the idea, self torture, perhaps?  Monday morning I got straight to work, and I finished the last one last night.  I had doodled and designed four of them while I wasn't feeling well, but wasn't up to actually putting them together.  All of their eyes are yo-yos, and I did most of those ahead of time, I changed things as I sewed, as usual, so I had to make some more yo-yos and now I have some extras.  Maybe I'll make up some more before it's all said and done.  I have other fabric I wanted to use, but just ran out of time. Now I need to switch over to long arming for awhile!   

Should I cut the loops?

He's one of my favorites.

Happy Quilting !!

Mysterious Mess Makers . . .

have been spotted in the vicinity of my quilting studio!   And what a monstrous mess they have made!  Ribbons, rick rack, snippets of fabric, bits of batting, tangles of thread everywhere!!  They are not all ready for their final reveal . . . . but here's a little peek!

May's Many Mini Projects

May saw the completion of many mini projects, and I was able to cross another WISP off my list with the completion of the 5 totes.  I have seen quite enough of the Hawaiian/beach print and am so glad to say there isn't a scrap of it left in the house!  I believe I made either 9 or 10 totes with that as the main color.  These last four are going to 4 nieces who are all sisters.  Their birthdays fall May - July, so I made them up and added the bubbles according to their favorite colors, found the bubblegum at AC Moore and made up the snap bags and sunglasses cases to match. 

 I made two extra sets of the snap bags for people who already have the totes.     

The purple tote is similar to one I made for a different niece, it was going to be for me, but I think I want a black, white and red one more.  I couldn't believe how close I was to finishing the purple tote, all the elements were done, I only had to do the final sewing together step - One hour of sewing and ironing.  Crazy!  I finished 4 more of the little wallets, they don't match any one's purse (yet) but I love trying out different combinations and they are pretty quick to put together!  No big projects completed, I am feeling better, but not 100% yet, I have been concentrating on getting some customer quilts done first.  This weekend I am finishing up a project I have been thinking about and looking forward to for a long time!  My quilt studio is a MESS with fun stuff everywhere - it looks like that when I am dreaming up new things!  The messier it is - the more creative I've been!  I hope to have them done by Wednesday.          Happy Quilting!

May's 1XMAS

Six little Christmas items to add to the list this month!  This cute little pattern is called "Little Wallet" by Valori Wells.  One of the ladies in our bee taught it to us and the one I made that day is the green & flower print at the top left of the photo.  We (DH and I) decided that we would make Christmas easier this year, and instead of making so many purses again, we will give gift cards to some of those people instead. Once the Bee ladies and I finished our Little Wallets, I thought that it would be a fun way to present the giftcards!  Initially I was going to use Christmas fabric, but since some of these will be going to teenage nieces, I thought they really wouldn't use them again or only once a year?  Then I had one of those rare (for me anyway)lightening bolt flashes of brilliance - I would make the wallets to match the purses I made them last year!  whoo hoo! That way they can put their student ID's in them, or library cards etc., The adults can use them for those reward cards, and the back pockets will hold a tea bag or two quite nicely!  After I made the first one according to the directions, I changed things up a bit (can't help it).  I wanted a firmer, stronger wallet so I used a heavier, fusable pellon and I added it between the 1st the 3rd pocket as well as the large main body piece.  Instead of sewing two pocket pieces together to form each pocket, I folded the fabric and placed the top of the pocket on the fold for cutting.  (Less sewing)  I sewed velcro on the 1st pocket piece before assembly and the inside main body piece.  I then top stitched the top flap, trying different decorative stitches.  Fun! Five of the them are going to people whose bags I made last year, one will go to someone whose bag I haven't made yet!  I made alot of bags last year, so you'll be seeing more of these before December!   

These are my two favorite!  I added the buttons, but I bet a yo-yo would be cute too!  Sew many possibilities . . . ric rack????   Happy Quilting !

Odds and Ends

I worked on a few little things this month while I wasn't feeling well, and they added up to a few more finishes!  I made the snap bag for my daughter to hold her knee high stockings that she uses for figure skating practice.  I noticed she had a smushed box in her skate bag, so I used two fat quarters from her stash! She loved it! 

I had been meaning to try the 3D idea for a flower wallhanging and I like how it went, altough I wanted to add a little something to the fower part but didn't have the right color, and honestly - started feeling worse and just wanted to finish it.  I will definately work on this idea again.  I am still trying to use up the scraps from the Purple & Orange Fower quilt from January! I STILL have fabric left!  My last finish for April was this scarf - Starbella yarns came out with lots of new colors in this crazy yarn I love - this color was perfect for my daughter and perfect to work on when my energy was low.  Happy Quilting!

Another WISP/UFO Complete!

I actually put the label on and bound this quilt on the 12th of April, right before my Guild meeting and shortly before I started coming down with bronchitis.  It is the last thing that I quilted on my longarm.  In 2011, I won 15 of these blocks at my guild, as part of the block of the month program. I loved the blocks and bought two to do, and was so thrilled that I actually won them!  I also received a few undone blocks, and some material leftover from the cutting of the blocks.  The block pattern was called "The Unnamed Block" which isn't very creative, but when I started playing with the layout of the blocks I realized just how versatile it is.  I could have laid out the quilt in so many different ways, but I was a bit restricted with what I could do with the limited amount of fabric that was provided. I sewed additional blocks, and I like how I did the last border bit with the corners.  I would love to do this again with some of my stash someday. I used just about every bit of the fabric, I even made a pillowcase for it.  When I first brought this home and showed my dear hubby, he just loved the vibrant colors.  He isn't very outspoken about my quilts, but he made it known how much he liked this one.  I don't think I mentioned this before, but this past September, he was reassigned in the military to a new post about 4 hours north.  Our family has remained here since my son in his last two years of high school and in a very good program.  My hubby rents a small basement apartment 3 hours north of here and comes home every Friday night and leaves again Sunday night.  His only complaint has been about how much colder it is there, and that the apartment always seems cold, so when I decided to make this for him, I used a micro fiber blanket as the backing.  I also used 80/20 batting, so this is a pretty heavy quilt!  The blanket I bought (from Target) was 90"X90" so with some of the leftover backing I made a couple of hats for him, since he is well, "folliclly challenged" it keeps his head warm!

 He LOVED the quilt and brought it back with him that weekend and says it was amazingly warm! Mission Accomplished!  Happy Quilting!



(The label is open on the right short side and also acts as a pocket for him to keep his extra hats)

April 1XMAS Item

This month's Christmas finish is a gift that is actually for this past Christmas, but it's still a Christmas finish just the same!  I bought the fabric to make a purse/tote for my niece, but couldn't decide what to make, so I wrapped up the fabric and asked her to choose.  She knew immediately what she wanted, unfortunately I was not so immediate in making it!  I mailed it to her in time for Easter and made sure I put extra little goodies in it since she was so patient!  The pattern came from the book Sew What! Bags by lexie barnes.  The tote in the book was made from Mexican Oilcloth, so it had no lining. My DN wanted it quilted, and we both thought it should be bigger and have pockets on both sides and I thought a large inside pocket would be good to hold a pattern or book and the straps are longer and different.  I forgot the ties until too late.  I guess it's a totally different tote.  Anyway, it was fun constructing it, I hadn't made a box like tote, so it was a good experience and I had a lot of fun quilting it!  I have leftover quilted fabric, so she needs to tell me what else she wants made from it (hint, hint).

Below is a photo she sent me after she filled it! Can you spot the sweet little bunny she knitted? She is too clever and talented!  Happy Quilting!