-tote bag challenge!-

For The Sewing Summit we were given these awesome, HUGE bags full of swag.  They were just simple totes, but when we got home we were told that was on purpose.  They challenged us to remake our bags and make something unique as long as it was still a bag.  

 I went to my scrap basket and was going to do some "rainbowy" patchwork.  However, as I set my bag down I noticed the little 2.5" charm pack that had been part of our swag.  I had pulled it earlier for a different project, but I knew it was perfect for what I wanted to do!

So I embellished my bag with simple patchwork and a wonky star.  I backed the patchwork with some more canvas to make it extra sturdy since I knew a lot of stress would be put on the seams.  I wanted to use this bag for my more portable projects so I also cut the bag down and made it a little smaller by a few inches. 

 I decided to free motion stitch "Crafty Stuff" to add some more flair to the plain canvas.  I used some of the Aurifil thread that was also part of our swag! (Very serendipitous!)  It was a wool thread which I had no idea what to do with, but it was perfect for this use since it is a heavy, thick thread and makes the words stand out more.

I lined my bag with this fun starburst print.

For the back I just kept going with the patchwork.  I also took off the handles and replaced them with  these simple blue and pink patchwork ones!

I definitely enjoyed this challenge and now I have a fun project bag as well!  There is nothing like waiting until the last minute!  I have had this bag complete for almost a week and a half except for the handles.  The last day to enter was today, so I got my booty up to my machine and  finished it up! ;0)

We are having...

1. Quilt for Maddie, 2. serendipity1, 3. Finished if you're a girl quilt, 4. Far Far Away 2 Quilt, 5. 28 076, 6. Georgia's Quilt, 7. Twin baby quilts, 8. Zig Zag Rail Fence Quilt Pattern, 9. Molly Miceli, Just Growing in Sunkissed, 10. Busy Bees Quilt Block for Tacha, 11. strawberries & champagne baby quilt, 12. Quilting Divas block for Susan, 13. www.flickr.com/photos/25254510@N02/6356719683/14. Not available15. Not available16. Not available

a GIRL!  

I thought for sure we were going to have another little boy, but I guess God had other plans.  ;0)    Right now Josiah will remain our little prince.  

So now the planning begins!  I made this mosaic of girlie quilts, and I am excited to make a special quilt for this little one.  I am definitely feeling "stars" right now, and also some combination of pink and yellow.  I love this Daisy Cottage line and am definitely thinking these fabrics will somehow hop into her quilt.

Happy Thanksgiving!

I have been working on this little hoodie for Juliana the past couple of weeks.  I tend to get an urge to crochet around this time of year.  It is so cozy to sit in a chair under a blanket and watch a movie.  I found this pattern from Bonita Patterns and fell in love with this pattern.  It uses the crocodile stitch which I had never done before.  It is definitely a more involved stitch, but thanks to Youtube I figured out after trying to figure it out on my own unsuccessfully.  I am hoping to finish this one up tonight and get started on one for Felicity.  

I can't believe that the Thanksgiving weekend is already coming to a close!  We had such a lovely Thanksgiving with family and lots of good food.  We switched our family and dining rooms, which was wayyyy more involved than I thought it would be, but I am super pleased with the new layout.  We went and saw the new Muppet movie.  About half way through the movie Juliana came over to me and whispered that it was the Muppets!  She had been insisting they were called the Muffins.  Glad I know what I am talking about. ;0p  Yesterday I got to spend some time with our modern quilt guild working on a little Christmas table runner.  It was so nice to sit, chat, and sew with no interruptions!  Today was spent at church and selling advent wreaths.  It was such a great four days, and I am so thankful for my sweet little family.  It is going to be hard to go back to "real" life again!  

Now I am moving on Christmas sewing.  I have had a number of completed projects, but I am finding it hard to get pictures and on the blog.  I am really going to try harder!  I have a runner and some pillows I am hoping to complete this week for Christmas.  Then I have my Christmas presents to finish up, but I am trying to limit those to just a few as to not stress myself out. ;0p  We will see how successful I am at that. hehe...

What are you making for Christmas?  Do you have big plans?  

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

-we have a four year old!-

Felicity turned four over the weekend!  She was so excited.  She has been counting down the days ever since Juliana was counting down the days to her birthday.  It has been a long wait, but finally she is four.  Now she is counting down to five. ;0) 

We had her birthday party the day before, and she has been looking at the pinatas at the grocery store for months picking out the "perfect" one.  She settled on a blue unicorn with pink and white hair.  She named it "Star Heart".  Poor Star Heart really got smashed to smithereens    

One of the things she has been asking for was a princess purse and a wallet.  Both of my girls are intrigued by how money works right now, and they like to pay the cashiers at store and get "change".  They think it is so awesome that they give them money, and then they get handed money back!

I didn't make the princess purse, but I had this awesome little mermaid/ castle Japanese fabric scrap that was the perfect size to make a wallet.  I used Keyka Lou's Zip Pocket Pouch pattern.  This is the tall version.  This size would work perfectly for a cell phone!

The only thing I did differently was to use a lightweight fusible fleece.  I like how it makes it soft but firm.  It was definitely a big hit with the recipient!

Keyka Lou is also offering all her patterns right now for $5 until November 27th!  All her patterns would make great Christmas gifts!

-little mini-

I finished a little mini to enter into Amylouwho's Mini Challenge!  I stitched these little girls over the summer when we were on vacation.  I knew I wanted to make a mini quilt with them to hang in my girls' room, and this challenge was the perfect motivation to finish this project up!  These two little girls come from an embroidery pattern by Cathy Gaubert.  I changed the little girl on the left a little bit to look a little more like Felicity.

I kept the quilting simple- just added some simple straight lines at an angle using some light pink thread.

I used a red Kona to outline the embroidery, but I am not super pleased with how "bold" it looks.  I don't know.  I guess, I didn't hate it enough to change it. haha.  

Here it is hanging up in the girl's room by their window seat.  The cute little hoop above it was made for me by Darci in The Scrappy Hoops Swap!

I feel like I have gotten out of my sewing funk over the past couple of weeks- finally!, and I have been working on lots of projects big and small!  So, I am hoping to pop on here a little more over the next week or so to show you all what I have been working on!  

-pillows-

 I am finally getting around to showing the finished pillow I made for The Pillow Talk Swap.  I had a really hard time getting a good angle for this pillow for some reason.  Every angle just looked slightly off to me...ah well.  My partner for this swap is definitely a fun, cheery type person, so I went with something bright and scrappy.  For these blocks I used this template that I found via Flickr.  I love making things from my scraps.  I love hunting through and finding fun little pieces of fabric that bring back memories from past projects.  This block was perfect as well for some of those odd shaped pieces I have held on to.

Overall, I was pleased with how the pillow turned out, but I think I wouldn't have used variegated thread for the quilting.  For some reason, it ended up looking just a bit sloppy to me.  This pillow isn't the biggest.  It only came out to about 16", but sometimes it is nice to have a smaller pillow- I hope!  I added some turquoise piping around the edges, which I liked for the "pop" factor.  

For the back I just did a simple envelope closure with bright sunburst fabric I have had in my stash for awhile.

Last week I also received my super awesome pillow from fionapoppy!  This pillow is full of fun, simple details that really just make it something special.  I love it!  Plus, now I have a pillow to go along with my Authentic quilt!  

  

I love how she added the little "Make Life Beautiful" quote into that one square.  

Hope you all are having a wonderful weekend!  The temperature here has dropped twenty degrees, and I can finally say that fall is here!  Yay!