Its A Wrap~

A therapeutic rice wrap, that is. :-)

The last gifts I sewed before Christmas were 4 of the therapeutic rice wraps.

I knew if I made one for one person, everyone else would want one. LOL

I decided to base the size on a hand towel because I wanted to make open ended covers for them.

The embroidery designs are from various Anita Goodesign sets.

I used cotton fabric, thread etc for the actual rice bag that you can heat in the microwave.

I just measured to make them slightly longer than the towels, and as wide as a folded towel.  

I did sew channels to help distribute the rice and did this by pressing folds into the tube~ folded in half and then each half in half again. Filled a channel with about 2 cups of rice, pinned it to keep the rice in place, and sewed it closed, closing the end after the last 2 cups of rice was added.

They were a hit! Two got used on Christmas day for sore backs and necks. LOL 

Whew! I feel like I really accomplished a lot of Christmas sewing, but next year? I am starting sooner! ;-)

Until next year~  ;-)

Happy stitchin'!

...and a Little More Sewing~~

Since these gifts have been received and opened, I'll show you them next. ;-)

First this sweet tote from All People Quilt.~

My recipient took this photo and it is so much better than the one I took that I hope she doesn't mind my using it. ;-)  I don't have the name of the pattern at the tip of my fingers, but if anyone wants it, I can look it up. It was fun to make and I think I might need to make one for me now. ;-)  The below photo was pre-quilting. :-)

I also sent out another set of placemats to a friend~

 

No pattern, just using some charm squares.  I did do one fun thing with these~

I used Susie's Magic Binding  Tutorial

It worked great!! :-)  Along with the placemats I sent a hand embroidered dish towel and I think she was tickled to pieces to get something hand done. LOL  This friend loves all things vintage, so I knew the 30's squares would fit well into her kitchen. 

I am finishing up a few things for our family here and will have them under the tree by Sunday. I'll show you those after Christmas. 

Until then~

Happy Stitchin'!

And a very merry Christmas!!

 

..More Christmas Sewing~~

I did get everything I made as gifts mailed out, but I am still sewing.

These things might or might not have been mailed. ;-) LOL

First a set of placemats....

 

I had one of those Moda Scrap Bags of the line 'The Potting Shed' by Holly Taylor.  

These scrap sacks have all the fabrics you would find in a jelly roll, but they are the end cuts~ they aren't 2.5 inches wide and they have the selvages on them.  They are probably only 36 inches long too~ I don't think I ever really measured!  Since I have a long term selvage project in the works, these are perfect! And pretty inexpensive too.  After I cut off the selvages I usually have 1 3/4th's to 2 inches of strip left.  

I didn't use any pattern for these, just sewed strips and played. I didn't take any photos of the backs~ they are just a green print.

Next up, a mini quilt....

 

I really should have photographed this with a ruler next to it. The little stars are 4 inches, making it an 8 inch mini.  Again no pattern.  Just playing with a charm pack of

'Vintage Shirting & Dress Prints' by Barbara J. Eikmeier for Fabri-Quilt. 

And a set of cloth books~

I don't sew & turn cloth books like the directions on the panel tell you to do.

I press interfacing to the pages, use some fancy machine stitches to sew the

pages together and then use my wavy edge or pinking shears to trim.

I wish I had taken closer photos of the fancy stitches~ some were really fun! But,alas,

I finished them, took the photo and got them into the mail.  I'm just lucky hubby asked if I took a photo! ;-) 

I am still sewing a few last minute things as well as working on Bonnie Hunters Mystery Quilt.

Am I crazy? Well, my blog name should answer that one! LOL ;-)

Until next time~

Happy stitchin'!!

Christmas Sewing~

I can't show you everything I am sewing for Christmas gifts because...

ahem, hi Mom! :-)  Some things just need to be secret a while. LOL

But I can show you this sweet mug mat I made for our DGD.

The machine embroidery design is from Sweet Pea.  If you have an embroidery machine, she has a lot of cute designs!  She does a little sew along every month and this was November's project. I just finished mine late because of our November travels.  The cookie block is a little pocket.  Santa is done in velvet and his beard is a double layer of flannel.  I think I may have to make another for me! LOL  ;-)

Are you finished making the gifts you want to make, or like me, will you be sewing until the last minute?

Until next time~

Happy stitchin'!!

Buttons!!

I love buttons, although I've never had very many~ but that changed for me this week! :-)

My friend sent me her button box because she is downsizing her sewing things.

I am just thrilled she thought of me! :-)

Just look at all these beauties~~

And that isn't all! There was a little smaller tea can too.  

I have been enjoying sifting through them and I found this 'key' in them.

At least I think it is some kind of key to something~ do you know?

Do you have one or have you ever seen one?  

I am real curious about it and have written to her too. ;-)

Are you busy sewing gifts for Christmas?  I have a few more to do,

sorry no peeks yet. I'm not sure who reads my blog! ;-)

Until next time~

Happy Stitchin'!

A Little Catch Up~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

First~ JJWelch, you asked a question about my fabric in my Oslo Craft Bag. But didn't leave me an email address, so I hope you see this. :-) Congratulations on your new featherweight!  The fabric I used is called 'And Sew On' by Fresh Designs for Henry Glass. I found it in a little shop in Yelm, WA called GeeGee's. Their phone number is on their website and they are some of  the nicest quilt shops ladies I have ever encountered!  Good luck!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Next~ 

I have over 120 4-patches in that pile of strips in my previous post!  :-o I even surprised myself!

But since I need over 200, I had to go back and cut more strips. After sewing them up, I am still 30 short. Will I ever get these 4-patches finished?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Finally~

While gone on our trip Liz at Moments blog revealed her newest pattern~ Grace

I had the pleasure of testing this one and I really enjoyed it!

It is unique.

I made mine in Christmas fabric that I picked up at Hobby Lobby last year.  I love this festive fabric!

It is decorator weight, so I didn't need a lot of interfacing.

The inside is another Christmas looking print I had in my stash. :-) Don't you love a healthy stash?! LOL

I have started carrying this one this week and have gotten some lovely comments.  :-)

Are you busy doing holiday sewing? I have a number of irons in that fire and will be back soon to show you some completed projects. Until then~

Happy stitchin'!!

Sew On!

Hello!

I know it has been a while, but life does happen. In this case my sweet sister-in-law passed away and hubby and I made the 1500 mile (one way) car trip to get back to the mid-west for her services.  It was a bittersweet trip.  Although she was in constant pain from a number of health issues, she never complained. She left us way too soon.  :-(

On the flip side of that trip, we were able to see our families.  His sisters flew in for the services, and we spent a day traveling to visit his Mom in a nursing home.  We stayed with my parents as they were centrally located... and no way I was going to travel 1500 miles without spending a bit of time with them! ;-)  I got to spend some time sewing with my Mom, and I even scooped snow on our last day. LOL  We got back here right before Thanksgiving and spent the day with 2 of our kids.  It was a great day and they spent the night so DD and I could do a little shopping and crafting too. :-)

My niece spent time studying in Ghana last year and she sent my Mom a box of fabric.  Really interesting batik fabrics.  I wish I had taken a photo of them all.  Anyway, we made the Barbados Bag by Pink Sand Beach Designs .  

One for my niece and one for my DD.  Sorry the lighting is kind of dark. 

I guess snowy days will do that. ;-)

Are you sewing on Bonnie Hunter's  En Provence Mystery?

The first step is 4 patches~ lots and lots of 4-patches!  Yesterday I went through my bucket of neutrals and cut a 2 inch strip from each of them.  My neutral bucket has really gone down! There was a time that I couldn't get the lid closed~ now it closes with room to spare. ;-)  Anyway, I don't think I have enough strips for 220 4-patches! :-o  

This is all my strips sewn together.  Any guesses on how many 4-patches I will get? 

I know there are some uglies in there! LOL Maybe if they are small enough... ;-)

That's all for now~

I'll be back to see who guessed closest as soon as they are pressed and cut. ;-)

Until then~

Happy Stitchin'!!

A Fun Craft Bag~

It has been quite a few months since I tested this pattern for Sara @ Sew Sweetness.

 

The Oslo Craft Bag~

 

 

She designed it for a magazine and now that the magazine has released it (or however that works! ;) ), she is able to share it.  And guess what!!??  She is offering it as a free pattern for her newsletter subscribers. So be sure to hop over to her blog and sign up! wink-wink!

I found those nifty button mitten clips at Hobby Lobby and decided to use them for my handles. I made faux leather handles. At the time I was waiting for my FL, so couldn't photograph it with handles.  Now it is in the motorhome which is covered for the winter, so no pix. Sorry. It is really a great size tote for all your sewing or crafting needs.  The pockets on the ends snap closed and there is a divider inside. Be sure to check out all the tester samples at Sara's blog!

Until next time~

Happy Stitchin'!

Thinking Christmas?

First, thank you for stopping by and helping me with my quilt layout.  I still haven't quite decided what to do, but I will let you know! ;-)

Second~ did you realize there are only 7 more Fridays until Christmas is upon us? Yikes!!!!

So if you are frantically sewing away, I'd like to share a free pattern that I had the pleasure of testing with you~

...the Yuletide Stocking! This is a brand new, FREE pattern from Toriska! This is an easy pattern, and a pretty quick sew. There are multiple variations so you can personalize your stockings for your whole family.  Not only is this pattern free, but Tori is running a sale on her other sewing patterns through Monday. You can find the coupon code in this blog post: Yuletide Stocking
You can also download the pattern on Craftsy: https://www.craftsy.com/…/yuletide-christmas-stockin…/463983

Since I tested this one last month, I kinda didn't have Christmas on my mind yet~  ;-)

:-o  All I can say is, the pattern really is versatile! LOL  I added rivets to the front for my ribbon, and gently pointed one of the cuff variations. The testers all did a nice job with their stockings, so be sure to stop by Tori's website to see them.

Until next time~

Happy Stitchin'!

Ideas Wecome!

Good afternoon! It is another rainy day here. The perfect day for sewing!

I got myself caught up on a BOM I am doing with a group of friends from the former HGTV message board.  The leader chooses a block each month and everyone makes it in 'their' fabrics.

I decided to use up some of my CW scraps and to prove that I am, look at this~

 

I needed 2 rectangles 2 7/8 x 5 3/4 inches, I only had one~ so I sewed together every last scrap for the second one. LOL 

I don't think it shows at all in my block~

The block on the left is Farmer's Daughter  and the right block is State of Georgia

Both are 10 inch blocks from Quilters Cache.

This is a shot of all my blocks together.  The BOM does not include finishing directions, we are each to do what we want.  And that is where y'all come in!  Do you have any finishing ideas for me?

Sashing? Colors, type etc?  I am open to lots of suggestions!  This is most likely not the final arrangement~ I just threw the blocks out there~

That's it til next time~

Happy Stitchin'!!

Still Sewing..

I was at retreat when Liz from Moments blog released her Rubie Crossbody Bag, but I did get my pattern test completed in time. :-)

I used an outdoor fabric with a waterproof back, the front kind of shimmers and was very hard to photograph! 

It was really fun to add the rivets and special little touches. And under the cowl there is a hidden pocket~

which you can't even see in the photo!  Do you like my wild lining? LOL

I also tested a quilt pattern for Amy @ Kati Cupcake. It isn't on her site yet~ it will make its debut at market next week.

It is called 'Perfectly Perfect'  and I think it is!

I love the effect of the stars exploding!

It measures 68½ x 68½ inches

 Once it is quilted, you will find it on my bed! ;-) LOL

I have had my sewing machine humming all week and will have more to show soon!

Until next time~

Happy Stitchin'!!

17 Zippers!

Good afternoon! 

I spent the weekend at a local retreat and got a lot of things accomplished~ including putting in 17 zippers! 

That is a record for me. LOL I also got 9 large quilt blocks together, and few other things I will show another time.

This photo does not include all of the zippered things I made, because some are going to be gifts. ;-)

And two I dropped off at our local quilt shop before I took pix! :-o  I am going to be teaching classes there and dropped off the samples... exciting!!!  I have never taught a class in a quilt shop before, so if you have any tips or hints for me, I would really appreciate all the help I can get!  :-)

The patterns from top left~ 30's Playtime Pouch from Sew Lux Fabrics  There is a trio of patterns in the set, and it happens to be on sale now. ;-)

Top & bottom right side~ Needle Holder Project Pouch from Birdcage and Thread  

I did make a couple slight changes to the pattern.

And bottom left is the 'Cheerio' Wallet by Kati Cupcake 

 This one is for me, I noticed my wallet is starting to fray! :-o  I guess it really isn't good for a person who makes wallets to have a ratty one herself. ;-)

Although western WA suffered through some terrible winds and buckets of rain over the weekend, we stayed warm and dry at the retreat center.  Both there and here at home we had pouring rains, but no trees down or power outages.  Our temps have been on the chilly side. Today our high is 53º so far. Of course, I did manage to bring a cold home with me. :-/

I hope you had a good weekend and are getting lots of things accomplished this week.

Until next time~

Happy stitchin'!

Quilting & A Winner!

Some of you were very close! :-)

We were hiking the Cape Flattery trail on Washington's Olympic Peninsula.

A truly gorgeous area! 

Thanks for all your guesses! The winner this time is .....

Woolen Sails!  :-) Congratulations!

If I could have your snail mail addy, I will send a little surprise out on Monday. 

In quilting news~ yes, I still do quilt. Quite a lot actually, but that is a whole 'nother post! LOL

Anyway, I finished a store sample last week for my local quilt shop. Yes, I have a quilt shop in town!! :-) I was so happy to find it! And really surprised to learn she had been open nearly 2 years!!! But she is just now getting really set up, making a classroom, finding teachers etc.  It is all really coming together and I was thrilled to sew a sample for the shop.

This is called Autumn Meadow and is a free pattern on the Riley Blake website. 

It measures 45" x 45". 

I quilted it in an allover floral pattern. And for the first time, I braved sewing a binding on by machine~

I used a ton of clips, and it worked!! I only got a little wonky in a couple spots, but overall, I was very happy.  I figured she will eventually sell it, and the sewn binding will be sturdy for a toddler, and handle many washings with ease. 

I hope you are enjoying a little quilting too~

Until next time~

Happy Stitchin'!!

One More Game?

Are you ready for one more guessing game?  :-)

Where was I?

Yes, there will be a drawing involved.  ;-)

Today I quilted and bound a wall quilt. I love when there is some quilting going on here! LOL

I need to wash it before its photo shoot. Hopefully the weather will cooperate~ we are expecting rain.  If you are in Florida, or any of the states in the path of Hurricane Matthew, please be safe! I am sending lots of good thoughts your way!

Until next time~

Happy stitchin'!!

Looking For A Quick Gift idea?

I recently had the pleasure of pattern testing a trio of crossbody/clutch bags for Designz by Nancy Stroop.

The collection is called the Sapphire Fold Over Bag Trio.

These bags are such a quick sew~ and would have been even quicker had I not decided to machine embroider the quilting on the lightweight denim. ;-)

This is the mini size~ a perfect little clutch size.

I had such fun making the mini that I went the next size up and made the midi too.  This one is where the quilting took a bit of time, but I love the texture and I think DD will too. ;-)

The midi size.

The back.

The pattern trio will be on sale for the next 48 hours, but even her regular price is a nice price!

If you make one (or more) please let me know so I can stop by your blog and see it!

 

Until next time~

Happy Stitchin'!!

More Sewing and Winners!

Winners first~ but please don't let that stop you from commenting again! I loved all your comments!<3 p="">

Unfortunately I couldn't answer them all, or I wouldn't have been able to do the sewing part of this post. ;-)

Hubby chose two winners out of the bowl.

One from those who got it right~

Delcia R. said...Has to be Leavenworth, WA. My hubby's favorite gelato spot is right below Visconti's.

And one from those who took the time to guess! 

dianne said...I dunno ... looks like fun, though!

Congratulations Delcia & Dianne!

Delcia~ you are a 'no-reply commenter' meaning I can't email you for your address, so please email me! My email address is in my profile.

Dianne, I will be emailing you shortly. :-)

And thank you everyone for playing along. We were in Leavenworth, WA and certainly enjoyed our time there! It is a beautiful Bavarian town. (and has 2 quilt shops!) ;-)

On the sewing front~ I am all caught up with my Temecula Quilts Circa 2016 blocks!

My boards kept wanting to fall off the step, so they look a bit jumbled. Also 3 managed to stay on the ironing board, so totally missed their photo op! ;-o  Now I just need to catch up on the HST's for the outside border.

Next I got my two BOM blocks finished for August & September~

Both blocks are from Quilters Cache, but I may have changed one of them a bit. ;-) 

The top one is called Dakota Gold and the lower one is Crazy Anne. 

Both are 10 inch blocks. After doing all those 3 inch blocks~ these seemed huge! LOL

I also finished a pattern test that I can't show you, and one I can show from a while ago~

The Pampering Pouch is a free pattern from Samantha @ Sewing Patterns By Mrs H.

Find it HERE

This was a fun sewing project and I am planning to use mine for thread I want to take to retreat. ;-)

I didn't have the required frames that Samantha used, so I used boning in the channels~ It holds the bag open really nicely.

And that is all for today!

Until next time~

happy stitchin'!!

Did I Mention A....

Giveaway?

It doesn't matter if you guessed right or wrong, a guess gets you in the hat. :-)

(See previous post.)

Where Does the Time Go?

If you know the answer to that~ please share!!! ;-)

I am home again from another wonderful trip. Can you guess where we went?

I took my sewing machine along this time and actually got some of my mini Temecula blocks done. I'll post their pix as soon as I finish one more. ;-)

In the meantime let me show you a bag I did as a pattern test awhile back. I didn't dare show you before because it was made as a gift for a friend. And her birthday was today!

This is called the Kitty Rose from Toriska Patterns. I enjoyed sewing it~ especially knowing my friend would love it too. ;-)

And I think I forgot to show you the quilt I made for my DGD.  Who can go wrong with a little mermaid quilt? ;-)

                         This was before quilting. I cannot find the after it was quilted photo right now. :-/

I'll be back soon~ a few blocks to sew up. ;-)

Until next time~

Happy stitchin'!!

Hellloooo!!!!

Honestly~ I did not plan to be gone the whole of August!  And I planned to have another giveaway so you could guess where I was for half the month, but... the day before I was scheduled to leave I was checking out my 'travel' camera. A little Fuji that I loved. The motor had died! :-o So I went in search of a new 'travel' camera and found a little Canon I liked. I took a lot of photos! BUT! They did not include a cord with the camera! When I called they told me it was an accessory I had to purchase! :-(  Not happy.  So, no photos from that trip. Yet. In the meantime, I will be going on another next week and I plan to take my camera that is bigger, but I can get the photos off of it, so stay tuned for that guessing game/giveaway. ;-)

I got back from my trip, tired but very happy.  I had to get right to work on two pattern tests that I accepted. The first was a breeze and I will show you as soon as the pattern is released.  I finished up the second one today and absolutely love my bag! But this pattern is not for the faint of heart... and especially not really suited for a little home sewing machine. My Pfaff steamed through most parts, I had to hand crank some, and hand sew when the machine just couldn't do it. :-o  I can't wait to show you my bag though!   Stay tuned! :-)

I also had a block swap to get swapped and sent back out.  I love doing string block swaps! The blocks are so happy, and it does help control my scraps.  This time I chose a B&W center with brights for the strings. I was thinking a donation quilt down the line.  Not sure where it will go yet.  Aren't my blocks happy?  There are 6 blocks in each stack~ different centers and fabrics in them.  It should make a wonderful child's quilt.

So what have you been up to? Can you believe it is September 1st???!!!

Have you started thinking about Christmas gifts?  What are you making?

I need ideas! LOL

Until next time~

Happy stitchin'!!

Drawstring Bags and Other Stuff

I don't like drawstring bags. :-o

I don't know why, but they just bug me.  ;-)

But I wanted to make DGD a little bag for her little toys~

no zippers, just something simple.

So I googled, and went through Pintrest and~~

then I saw this post~

 Storage Solutions

And my little light bulb started flashing!! LOL

Did you ever make bound buttonholes for a garment?

Did you ever make 'cheater' buttonholes with bias tape?

I did! I did! 

And I remembered how easy the bias tape ones were! LOL

I didn't follow her tutorial to make my little bag~ I wanted it double sided, so the Hello Kitty print would show through in the back of the bag. I didn't want exposed seams, so I used more bias tape, and I didn't need it so large.

I had a remnant of the Hello Kitty fabric, pink parachute cord and an idea.

I love how it all came together!

Did you know WalMart sells the parachute cord in all sorts of fun colors? 

I'm getting a little collection. :o

I was quite busy this past week making baby items.  A new grand is due any day now. :-)

I made a diaper bag a while back~

Pattern is the Nappy Bag from Sewing Patterns by Mrs H

Now I added a quilt~

all various flannels

And burp cloths~

I didn't have any pattern for the quilt or burp cloths, just playing around.

I am working on getting the binding on a quilt for DGD too.  So hopefully pix of that soon!

Until next time~

Happy Stitchin'!!