Summer Tote/Bag Swap

Hey there!  Dandelion Quilts is sponsoring a swap!  Head on over and sign up!  It's a bag/tote/purse swap!  You'll have until the end of July to complete your swap item and send it out.

Come join the fun!

Happy Monday!
Jen

It's a Party!

A charm party.  A Charm Party Tote in all its cherry glory.  I started this bag last Spring and for whatever reason, I put it aside.  Maybe I thought the fabric was too much to look at.  Maybe I got tired of it.  Maybe something else came along.  Who knows.  I don't remember but I pulled it out of my WIP basket a couple of days ago and got it finished today.

One thing I did different was make the handles longer.  I don't like short handles.  If I'm carrying a bag, I want to carry it on my shoulder comfortably.

It's cute.  I like it.  Great for toting things around this Summer.

View #1

View #2

Lining...

Amelia and I had a play date this afternoon.  My good friend from high school and her daughter.  We went over to their house and hung out all afternoon.  It was nice to just sit, relax and chat while the girls played.  We had a good time and can't wait to get together again.

Enjoy the holiday weekend!
Jen :)

It's huge and it kicked my butt!

My hexagon table runner is done.  It kicked my butt.  Oh geez.  For every one piece I sewed, I ripped three out.  I can't tell you how many times I ripped a full row out.  But enough to start fraying my fabric pieces so I finally said, that's it.  That's the way it's going to be.  I'm not going to stress about it.  That's my new motto, by the way.

I fell in love with this runner when I saw it on Heather Mulder Peterson's blog and bought a kit.  I've never used a 60' ruler nor made a hexagon but I thought I would give it a try.  I'm happy to say that I did but I'm not going to try again any time soon! 

So, a few of my hexagons are wonky and don't line up all the way but you know what?  I'm not going to stress!  I've asked Sharon to see if she had time to quilt it and I figured with all the quilting, it will disguise all the little issues.

Wanna see it?

And here's a wider shot of my table so that you can see how big this thing is.

Well, Amelia is home from school today.  She's not feeling well and finally decided to take a nap.  Hopefully that will settle her tummy.  :(

Now that is is done, I will work some more on Amelia's quilt and finish my Charm Party Tote that I started last Spring.  It feels good to have one project out of my WIP basket!

That's all for now.
Enjoy your day!
Jen

What I've been up to

Hi there.  I hope all is well.  I've been busy.  I got a few things done and I'm happy they are off my list.

First - End of the year teacher gifts for Amelia.  I made those cute pouches again.  I put together pairs of fabrics and Amelia got to chose 4.  I decided to make the pouches same outer fabric on both sides and no embellishments.  The easier the quicker the better.  I especially like the lime green zipper on the pink pouch.  Nice pop of color.

And the insides.  Only thing I have to do is slip stitch the turning holes in the bottom of the liners.

Next up (I love how this came out!) - a personalized pillow for Amelia.  It's a secret.  I'm going to give it to her for her 5th birthday in August.  I don't know why I'm saving it for then but I just want it to be a gift.  I have a little puckering between a couple of the letters but I'm not going to stress about it.  It's VERY cute and I want one for myself!  Same colors too!!  LOL.  I think I'm going to make them as gifts for the family kids this Christmas/birthdays.  It did take me a couple of hours to do her name but after that, it was smooth sailing.

One of the quilt shops that I've taken classes in a few times is having a GREAT sale until the end of the month.  Buy 2 yards, get 1 yard free.  I took a ride on Saturday and bought 16 yards of fabric.  SIXTEEN YARDS!  Oh my.  But 8 of them were "free".  That's how I justify my purchase.  LOL!  My stash is getting full now.

One last thing, I ordered some labels from Sweetwater Street.  I want to be able label totes and smaller things that I make for people.  I ordered 4 so that I can see the size and such.  Even though I really like the bigger ones, I think I'm going to get the small square with flower.  I think it's too cute.  I also want to get personalized ribbon for the same reason from here.  Now that I decided on this label, I can make my decision on the ribbon.

Enjoy your day!
Jen :)

Economic Stimulation

Hello there!  How is everybody today?  I have been busy creating but I'm not ready to show anything yet.  So why don't I show you all the fabric I bought last week!  We all love fabric!

Here it is.

The Birdie and Candy Land fabric will be made into pillowcases for Amelia.  I love pillowcases.  Quick to do and they show off fun fabrics.  Instant gratification is good in my book.

Next is some Wildflowers yardage by Heather Mulder Peterson.  My LQS has an annual anniversary sale in May and I got these for 20% off.  Not bad.  She just got these bolts in too.  I wish she had gotten more of the collection.  Maybe some of the reds.  But I'll take what I can get.  I have plans to go to another quilt shop on Saturday morning since I haven't been there in ages and see what they have.  Last time I was there, this other shop had Wildflowers.  I'm sure it won't still be there but doesn't hurt to check!

And then I thought I was done shopping.  But NOOOOOOOOO.

Here is some Rebel Roses yardage by Heather MP.  The story goes like this.  Last year some time, Heather was promoting some table runner kits and her Sizzling Sixties pattern book and a 60' ruler on her blog.  I LOVED the tablerunner so I snatched up a kit.  Never looked at it again.  Fast forward to a couple of weeks ago.  I have so many things started (don't we all) and other things waiting to see the light of day.  So I dug around and decided to make a new runner for my table.  I dove right in and started making my pieced hexagons ONLY to find out that I was shorted some fabric!!  WHHHHHHHYYYYYYY?!?!  I cried!  Of course the hexagons I started were the ones short fabric.

Okay, seriously.  What is up with Blogger??  Every third picture is going to be oriented wrong?!  It's fine in my folder.

I quickly ran to the computer (while swearing up a storm!) and found some yardage doing a quiltshops.com search.  FYI - LOVE that search engine.  It is marvelous!  One shop had 2 of the three I was missing.  I needed to substitute the blue print for another.  No one around had the blue print I needed.  A couple of shops in New Zealand did.... I passed.  Now that my additional yardage is here, I can continue working on my hexagons.  Hopefully I'll have the top pieced soon so that I can show it to you.

Enjoy your day!
Jen :)

Another Finish and Zippers

What a boring post title.

I got my 6th block finished for the Jelly Roll Sampler done.  CUTE!

Another thing I tried was installing and sewing zippers.  I tried once and my attempt didn't come out very well.  So I never tried again.  Until I saw Jen's cute little pouches.  I needed to hunt down the pattern (my LQS had it - last one too!) and give it a try.

SUCCESS!  I'm quite pleased in how it turned out.  I have a bunch of fat quarters that I bought a few years ago when I started my sewing adventures and never used them.  Now, when I look at them, I have no idea what drew me to them.  So I put a few to good use and made a practice pouch.  I love how I even had a button to match!

Why is this picture orientated wrong??  It's fine in my picture folder.  Darn blogger!

I gave this one to Punkie.  She saw it and immediately asked if it was for her.  How could I say no.  She has since filled it with her pennies.  LOL.

I'm going to make these for Amelia's teachers as end of the year thank you gifts.  I think I'm going to put a gift card to Target in each of them.  Just have to sit with Amelia and pick out some fabrics to use.

But this has me thinking, I wonder how hard it would be to install zippers using tote patterns that don't have them?  It can't be that hard, can it?

Enjoy your day!
Jen

How about some Punkie Pie?

It's been a while since I posted some pictures of Amelia.  So here you go!  Enjoy!

Ignore her hair.  LOL!  Sometimes it has a mind of its own.

Twirling.  She loves to wear dresses and tops that can twirl and flare out.

In her pink tutu skirt.

Best for last.  On her BIG GIRL bike!

Enjoy your day!
Jen

Some Finishes

My computer and camera aren't friends anymore.  For whatever reason, the computer is ignoring  my camera hardware.  I tried uninstalling and reinstalling the camera drivers - no such luck.  I don't know what happened.  So I went out yesterday and got a external card reader; all is well again!

What I've finished up...

First off my To Do list and they have been there quite a while - pillowcases for donation to Jackie's quilt guild.  I am the worst procrastinator ever but they are done.

Next up, my potholders for the third potholder swap.  My partner is up for anything so I went with Verna and did some string blocks.  First time I tried them.  I think they came out okay.  Please IGNORE the fact that the little string block in one of the potholders is totally crooked.  I didn't notice until I was putting the finishing borders on.  Let's just pretend I meant it to be like that.  ;)

I also tried a Tuffets pin cushion out of some Verna.  I like it.  I'm making one for myself.  I filled it with crushed walnut shells and backed it with hot pink crushed velvet.  Of course, I pressed the darn thing and it doesn't look very "crushed" now but I like the texture.

And here are the potholders, one by one.

Enjoy your day!
Jen

Happy Mother's Day

A few days early but I would like to wish everyone a Happy Mother's Day!  Hope you all enjoy the day!

Amelia and I will be going to my Mom's for a little while on Sunday.  To be selfish, I REALLY don't feel like going.  How bad is that??  I really want to stay home and enjoy my own Mother's Day.  But my Mom laid on a good guilt trip so now the two of us will go and see her for a few hours.  I told my brother I would be there so he's going to come over at the same time.  I haven't seen him since Easter so it will be good to catch up with him.  I was hoping my mom would come to my house for the day but she's not budging so I'll be the good daughter and go there.  Sigh.  So much for sleeping in on Sunday!

I'm making good progress on my potholders for the third swap.  I will post pictures soon.  And I have a pillowcase to stitch together tomorrow and send it off to Jackie.  I wanted to send two.  I have one done and the second one just waiting for me to get going on it.  I am the worst procastinator ever!  :)

Happy Friday!
Jen

And Another - EQ7 Giveaway

EQ7 giveaway!  Go and check it out!
http://prairieprimrose.blogspot.com/2010/05/win-eq7.html

Do you EQ?

There are a couple of giveaways out there for the new EQ7!

Here's one...
http://bloominworkshop.wordpress.com/2010/05/04/eq7-give-away/

Jelly Roll Sampler - Block Five

I had some time today before picking up Amelia from my in-laws so I got block 5 done for the Jelly Roll Sampler that I'm participating in.

This one is blue and yellow.  I like it!

And here are all 5 so far, together.

Enjoy your day!
Jen :)

Pincushion Swap

I have signed up for another swap!  This one is for pincushions and we have all summer to create a "fancy" pincushion.  Now, I don't know how fancy I can get; I'm not that creative but I have a few ideas.  So if you are interested, Amy is collecting names until the end of May.

I like the idea of having 3 months to work on the swap.  That schedule will work out nicely between vacations and such.

It will be fun!

Enjoy your day!
Jen

Two more Bella Bags

These are going to Poland.  For my cousins.  My mom really liked mine and thought that Gosia and Inga would enjoy them too.

I made another one in Frolic.  This one is for Gosia (Inga's mom).

And I made this one in Freebird for Inga.  She's fifteen so hopefully she will like it.

I like the green butterflies for the lining.

And here they are together.

That's all I got for now.  Enjoy your Sunday!  Amelia and I just got back from the grocery store. Now we're going to have some lunch and play outside.

Jen  :)

Go on over...

And wish my friend, Kris, a Happy Birthday!

Today is her special day.

Happy Birthday Kris!  Enjoy your day!

I have some projects to show you - I should have them done tomorrow.  So come back to check them out!

Amelia and I are off for our "Day of Beauty".  We both need haircuts and then we're going to spend the afternoon with my mom.  The weather this weekend is beautiful!  So, I need to get off this computer so we're not late for our appointments.

Enjoy your day!
Jen