Bucket Bag Tote

Sometimes you just need to make yourself a gift. So how about a tote?

Maudie from #QuiltChat shared this really great bag she made. She found it while blogsurfing, and low and behold, the blog is owned by Chatter-friend from years past!
Andrea's blog is full of wonderful things. She is one of those fantastic over-achiever types that seems to piece a new top every time I look her up. (She really has some fun projects, so I hope you take some time to dig around a bit.)

Here are the directions that Andrea has posted for us:

Bucket Bag Tutorial, Part 1

Bucket Bag Tutorial, Part 2

Bucket Bag Tutorial, Part 3

Breaking the How-To up into bite sized pieces is a nice touch. Thanks Andrea!

And Thank you to Maudie for showing us this could be done.


This is another project for Thrifty Gift Maker hour, a live online chat held at #QuiltChat- all are welcome to join in the fun! I host Gift Maker Chat on Sundays @ 7 pm & Mondays @ 10 am Eastern US Time, but there are usually folks in around the clock if you want to chat at other times.

Another start- this one on a deadline

This is a fun project I have been putting off for a while. It is actually the winning posters from the Third Grade Poster Contest (something my local Association of REALTORS does each year.) We transferred the winning posters to fabric, and now I am making a quilt that will be auctioned off at our annual Charity Auction- whoever wins the silent auction bid on the item chooses where the money will go!
But I have been putting it off for a while... well... because of life and stuff LOL
I think I will switch around the posters so the attached essays (the contest theme is What My Home Means To Me) is on the outside. Maybe. But I am definitely using up the nine-patches I got from a batiks nine-patch swap.
I think I will just add white sashing strips between everything so it all stands out, including the blocks. Or maybe just equal sized white squares.
The light purple nine-patches will surround all the posters, and wander throughout the other, brighter nine-patches, just acting as a unifying force.

What do you think?

I think it will be eye catching for even non-quilters who will be voting on it.
Oh yes, I have to have it fully completed by December 7th LOL

Stockings!

It is Stocking Swap time again!

Everywhere you look, you can't help but read about guilds and groups and bloggers across the world doing their annual Stocking Swaps.

Autbekky, a fellow #QuiltChatter, has created a tutorial to help you make a stocking that you will be proud to send for any swap.

Just click here to visit her blog, Quilts and Such for the tutorial.
Note: Auntbekky shows a stocking made of fat quarters- but you could also make a very lively one made of crazy pieced fabrics. Of sparkly fabrics, of course!

And I just want to say Thank You to Auntbekky- she has agreed to help me in making the tutorials and projects for Thrifty Gift Maker chat, so that we don't have weeks of no projects. It is a HUGE help to me, as I wasn't able to do it alone. Thank you!

This whole Stocking thing is such a lot of fun. It doesn't seem to matter about your religion or beliefs as the fun of gift giving is pretty transcendent. And there are lots of stockings you can go out and purchase that are just as cute as possible.
But where is the fun in that???
Make one!

Here are some stockings I received in Swaps. So much fun! And each one so different. Yes, that smaller one is made of Potato Fabric, sent from Idaho. :)

What have you made or received in a Stocking Swap?

I had great success making a non-stocking: a Diva Bag worked much better for one swappee, as she doesn't celebrate the Christmas tree & stocking thing.
I made a jester boot stocking with bells on- I crazy pieced the fabric.
One year I made a red velvety cowboy boot stocking with crystals.
Oh- I received a Santa Bag made of sparkly burlap- that is a great bag!

It would be great to see links to other tutorials or projects that you all have come across.
Thanks for sharing!

This is another project for Thrifty Gift Maker hour, a live online chat held at #QuiltChat- all are welcome to join in the fun! I host Gift Maker Chat on Sundays @ 7 pm & Mondays @ 10 am Eastern US Time, but there are usually folks in around the clock if you want to chat at other times.

Gift from my Grandmother

I was just visiting Anne Heidi's blog, Piece By Piece, where she shared pictures of a stunning sewing organizer that she was recently gifted. It was made by her Grandfather while learning his craft of Carpentry. It is a beautiful piece of craftsmanship. (go look!)

Her post caused me to reflect back on a gift I was fortunate to receive: a quilt top from my grandmother. She hand-pieced this king sized Grandmother's Flower Garden quilt some time ago, in anticipation of sharing it with her grand-daughter. I was so touched when she gave it to me. And a little intimidated, I don't mind sharing. I feel I should really hand-quilt it, so I will wait until I am better at that particular skill.

I am very lucky to live so near to my Grandmother, and that I can ask her about the quilt. I will have to make sure to ask the story of our quilt. And I think I will take it to Guild for Showing-off-&-Tell!

This is a close-up of one of the blocks- Minnie Mouse!

What I should be finishing

I keep pulling out this project, then something else comes up LOL

I love these fabric. They just make the best Big Blocks and are gorgeous in the simplest settings.

I cut this out a while ago and as I was setting them into the wider sashings, I discovered I cut some of the larger blocks an inch wide. Yes, I feel smart. So of course, it went into a pile without being completed.

So I hope by posting the pics here, it will be a prod to help me get going on it! After I do some minor adjusting of course.

(I am making it for me.) (Mine, mine, mine, la, la, la.)

Random distraction

So... I have some minor distractions in my life...

Including a cute little doglet and playing with Photoshop to make doglet even cuter!

Not really quilt related... except she is my company while I sew.

Unless I am being REALLY boring and she decides to go chew on something.

Rotary Cutter Case

Going to retreats and sew-ins, I see a lot of different ways other quilters carry their tools. One of my favorites was a little case to carry a rotary cutter in.

This one has enough space to keep your cutter plus a spare pack of blades, and you can change the closure on the pattern to something else, if you like.

---> Directions & Downloads

Please let me know if you find directions for any other types of cases out on the web- I was only able to find a few!

This is another project for Thrifty Gift Maker hour, a live online chat held at #QuiltChat- all are welcome to join in the fun! (I have lost track a bit, lost count of the time LOL)I host Gift Maker Chat on Sundays @ 7 pm & Mondays @ 10 am EST, but there are usually folks in around the clock.

Wee Wonderful Elf!

This is a fun time of year to peruse the Web and see the fun projects that others are making. Just surf around and look at your favorite Design sites, sewing machine manufacturer sites and places like http://www.craftster.org/ and you will see so many great ideas!

This cute little Elf (see the pattern here) in redwork is from the Wee Wonderfuls blog of Hillary Lang, who always has something fun and cute in the works!

The design set is a girl-elf and boy-elf and her pattern shows these bits of stitchery on a pair of stockings. I may just follow suit with mine! Or it could be a cute bib, or maybe a little wall hanging, or christmas ornament, or...

Have you never done redwork? Have no fear!

This little elf-girl is my first attempt and it only took me about 90 minutes.

Redwork is a good introduction to hand embroidery and this pattern is a great start, and won't take you long at all.

If you would like more specific information about redwork, look here. And here is a good primer on the basic stitches you should know. (But basically, you just trace the pattern onto a fabric and use a needle and floss and sew it on!)

Happy Gift Making!

This is another project for Thrifty Gift Maker hour, a live online chat held at #QuiltChat- all are welcome to join in the fun! (I have lost track a bit, lost count of the time LOL)I host Gift Maker Chat on Sundays @ 7 pm & Mondays @ 10 am EST, but there are usually folks in around the clock.

Gift Cornucopia

Here is a charming little cornet, perfect for filling with candies or potpourri. Depending on your choice of colors, this could be used throughout the year. It would be quite pretty hanging from a Christmas tree, or alongside some stockings.

I found the idea at Yvonnes- a great site full of all sort of patterns to download. Click on the Free Patterns link and I am sure you will enjoy all she is sharing with the world.

Click here for the paper-piecing pattern. It might print light, so be sure to trace over the lines to keep track of where you are.

There are no instructions that go with the pattern, but it is pretty simple to figure out:

1. Piece the different parts of the Heart motif
2. Put those 3 larger pieces together to make the horn shape
3. It is basically done.

I chose to add some batting and a liner fabric, it helps it keep its shape better while hanging. And don't forget to add a string or ribbon to hang it with.

Another idea: Make the basic cornet design, then add appliques or lace or beads or other fun things. A whole set of these would be a very pretty gift.

This is another project for Thrifty Gift Maker hour, a live online chat held at #QuiltChat- all are welcome to join in the fun! (I have lost track a bit, lost count of the time LOL)I host Gift Maker Chat on Sundays @ 7 pm & Mondays @ 10 am EST, but there are usually folks in around the clock.

Not Having to Choose- Priceless

And a bit funny too.

I just noticed how well my Laptop and little Janome Platinum fit together on my sewing cabinet. LOL
Now... where to put the wine glass...