Just a bunch of little things

Howdy!  Spring!  Spring is here!  The sunshine and warm(er) temps feel SO GOOD after this lousy, cold winter.  I'm hearing rumors of a 70'F+ day on Sunday.  Already promised Punk a trip to the park and maybe a stop at Dairy Queen for a soft serve cone.

I've been getting some things done in the sewing room.  No, not cleaning.  That can wait until after Easter.  Truly?  I think I will be putting off the clean and re-organize the sewing room for months and months.  It is just a chore I don't want to do but then again, who does?  My machine does have to go in for a cleaning and service.  We are headed out of town for a few days soon and while I'm gone, my sewing machine will be headed out for some spa treatments.  I've been fighting lately with my walking foot and/or the dual feed on my machine.  I'm really pushing/pulling some of my projects when I'm sewing.  My machine isn't happy right now.

Onto what I've been working on.  Michele posted her Lollipop bag and I thought it was just too cute.  I haven't made one for myself yet but I made 3 for little Easter gifts.  I left off the rosette since I knew it would give me fits and I wasn't in the mood.  LOL.

I'm trying to get away from baskets full of candy for those that I give Easter gifts to.  I'm trying but it's hard not to load up kids with candy.  LOL.  I also don't care for the little $1.00 trinkets out there.  I end up throwing all those out.  They just clutter up the house.  With that said, I made the smaller size of the Lollipop bag for Amelia, my God daughter, and my cousin's daughter.  They can load them up with pencils or whatever.  A small bag of candy with the bag and I'm good to go.

I plan on making the larger one for myself.  It will be good to have in the backpack with band-aids, ibuprofen, and other smaller items in our upcoming trip to Disney this summer.

I found a tablerunner online using the Charming Stars tutorial on MBS and I shamefully copied it.  My fabrics are slightly different but not by much.  Everything was stash for this one.  I'm pretty proud of myself for digging in the stash first.  I'm getting pretty good at it too.  :)

Last up for now, I made a wall hanging for my God son using the Spell it with Fabric blog hop that Moda did a couple of months ago.  I made letter pillows for his big brother when he was born but I wanted something different for Jimmy.  While Jimmy is still a little guy, I used more sophisticated fabrics for him.  I just didn't want a baby look for his letters. I hope my cousin likes it.

One of these days I will make myself a whole alphabet quilt.  The letters were fun.

Enjoy your day!
Jen :)

Keeping Busy

I resolve in 2014 to be a better blogger.  Summer hit and my blogging took a hit and I've been struggling to keep up with it since.

I have been busy in the sewing room though.  Working as quick as I can to get Christmas gifts done and I can proudly say, I finished last weekend.  Phew!  However, my grandmother's quilt... it is quilted and looks awesome but I will be gifting it minus the binding.  I haven't had time to sit down and get the binding sewn on and then do the hand-work. I feel like a dope giving an incomplete gift but what can I say?  Work full time, daughter busy in school stuff and just life happens.  I'm okay with my decision.  I know she will love it regardless.  I'll let you know how she reacts to receiving the gift.

Okay.  What I've been working on:

Teacher gifts.  I made them both a pillow that I spotted in the Winter edition of Quilts and More magazine.

Cute?  I think so.  Need to make one for myself.  Well, I DID make one for myself and I used all the Christmas scraps I have.  Looks like a hot mess.  LOL.  So I'm not finishing it.  I will make one for myself out of Aspen Frost as I did for the teachers.

I made some soft and cuddly infinity scarfs and lip balm holders for my cousins, SIL and a friend of mine. All ideas found on Pinterest, of course.

My model:

I think they will enjoy their gifts this year.

The holidays aren't complete without some sewing for myself.  I started this tote back in November and finished it so that I show it off use it over Christmas.

The Twister Tote.  It's a nice size tote and would work well as a beach bag this coming Summer.

I had to add a band of the black daisies to the lining.  I was short about an inch.  I was so mad and was ready to scrap it all until that idea popped into my head.  Why I was short, I have no idea as you can see, the lining is very 'blousy'.  I'm not sure what happened there but I'm not going to stress over it.  It's just a tote for my use. It's all good in my book.  The interfacing of the bag is that Soft and Stable foam.  Oh it is awesome.  Expensive but awesome.  If the wallet let's me, I will be using it more in other totes in the future.

That's it from my house.  Hope everyone is ready for the Jolly Man.  5 more days, you know!!

Enjoy your day!
Jen :)

Mini Messengers

Another project off my list.  Happy to have them done.  2 are black and one is a Hometown patchwork.

Can you even see the black ones in that picture??  LOL!  Okay, here's one of it by itself.  I did a gray lining.

I hope the girls like them.  They will be getting them on Saturday.  I also had some time and got my next Swoon block cut and 2 granny squares done.  With Memorial Day weekend coming up, Punk is going to spend a couple of nights with my mom.  My husband is working so guess what I will be doing ALL DAY on Sunday??  Oh I can't wait!  I have a list.  Swoon is at the top of that list.  Next is getting my 12 Days of Christmas blocks sashed and pieced into top form.  Also on the top of that list is getting the last border sewn on my Postage Stamp top.  Imagine that??  I have had 3 out of 4 side borders done for months now.  I would like to get the last border on, figure out backing yardage and get this one quilted. 

What plans do you have for Memorial Day weekend?

Enjoy your day!
Jen

What I got

Hello there!  How's everyone doing?  I finally got a minute to sit down and show you what I received from Jennie for the Quilter's Day swap.  It is so totally ME!  I want to make more. 

It's a rainbow Swoon pillow cover!  OH I LOVE IT!!!!  I haven't gone to get a pillow form for it yet so I'm just admiring it.  But as soon as I do, it will be going on my bed.  Matches nothing on my bed but I do not care.  Thank you so, so much Jennie!!  Oh.  Jennie was kind enough to add some sweets to the swap package but um, they are gone.  :)

I lucked out and did some sewing this weekend!  I got those three mini messenger bags done.  Finally.  And did I ever show you my husband's bag?  He has a briefcase but hates lugging it around.  He just needed something to carry in the truck for paperwork and a calculator and whatever else he feels he needs to have.  He bugged me for a bag for months.  I finally broke down and made him one.  I used black duck cloth and  blue tractor lining.  Kept it as simple as I could so it wouldn't be too "girly" looking.  The handles are short too.  Beats a plastic bag, I guess.

A chick update.   They are big.  They aren't "chicken" big but they aren't cute chicks anymore either.  And I'm happy to say that they are finally out of my garage and in a bigger pen in the barn.  They are still too young to be loose.  Hawks you know.  So they are penned.  Probably by July they will be big enough to be let out and roam around freely (in a fenced in area).  I'm happy to have them out of my garage.  They stink.  I have no photos of the chicks because they are no longer cute.  :)  No, no.  I will get up to the barn and snap a picture to show.

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