Weekend Sewing & Giveaway Winners

Happy Monday everyone! What better way to start the week than with an announcement of my giveaway winners, yay! Thanks so much to all my new and current followers for playing along - if you didn't win this time no worries, there will be other giveaways in the future.

Winner #1 for the Zig Zag tote bag is:

#2 - Joy said...

That tote rocks my socks! I'm also a follower.

August 7, 2011 9:13 PM

Winner #2 for the gathered clutch is:

#19 -  JBlanton said...

Love the bags- following your blog

August 9, 2011 10:52 PM

Congratulations! I will be sending you both an email soon to get your address details.

Now on to the show and tell part of my morning - my weekend sewing updates:

1. For the love of Solids swap - Finished pillow

I hope my partner loves this as much as I do! Now I just need to figure out what smaller gift I am making to send along. Hopefully will finish that this week and get it checked off my list.

2. Next on the crafting list was another 4 x 5 Bee block - 3 down 5 to go! Also hoping to get these finished by the end of the month and mailed, even tho the deadline is not until Oct. 15

3. Last but not least - Charity Quilt top #4 - which is now completed and waiting with the others for the basting/quilting/binding step

This quilt top is made out of some old-fashioned Moda fabrics cut into 9" squares. Quick and easy to put together and I hope someone will end up loving it.

I have 1 more charity quilt top to make and then all 4 quilts need to be completed by Oct. 22nd for the big celebration with all of the children from LDS churches in our area who have been participating in the RED (Read Every Day (in your scriptures)) Program.  #5 is on my to-do list for this week... wish me luck!

Have a great week everyone!

Linking up with:  

Mini Bowtucks Bag #2

Here is the new mini bowtucks bag I made this week.

I used the same "Its a hoot - by Momo" fabric from the first one, just in pink this time. I love the way it looks. 

Its a good thing I love my mom or I would be keeping this one too haha. Alas, I promised it to her and to her it will go.

Just to give you an idea of the size, this is my Kindle in its green cover sitting next to it. In front is the matching zipper wallet/pouch I made.

Yay for quicker projects that don't take 3 months to complete... just 3 days haha. (Ok only about 5 or 6 hours... but spread over 3 days.)

Hope everyone is having a good weekend!

One last reminder... don't forget my GIVEAWAY - ends Saturday at midnight!

***And for an update to my dear readers... I will indeed be giving away BOTH the tote bag and the zipper wallet from that giveaway post... between blogger and google reader I reached 100+ followers, yay! Thanks for your support and good luck!

WIP Wednesday & Giveaway Reminder

Good Morning and welcome to WIP Wednesday!

First order of business... go check out my GIVEAWAY if you have not already, those bags are dying to go to a new home - ends Saturday August 13th at midnight EST.

Now onto the sharing... here is what I've been working on this week:

1. Mini Bowtucks Bag

Re-creating this yellow bag in pink for my mom 

I completed over half of the prep work last night and I think it will be finished in time to go visit her on Saturday. I just need to make the handles, side ties, and insert the zipper pocket on the lining, then the rest is just quick assembly sewing from there.

2. Charity Quilt #4

I hopefully will sew the 6 strips together this week and have the top completely finished.

It may not look like much here but I think it will be a nice "old-fashioned" looking quilt, using some older lines of Moda fabrics. I cut 9 inch squares cut from the fat quarters someone donated to make a nice simple pattern, alternating light and dark fabrics.

I may add a pieced border using some leftover FQs to make it a bit bigger & longer once the top is all pieced together.

One more top to go and then I need to quilt all 4 tops and will have 5 total completed - due by October tho, gotta get crackin'! :)

3. A new pillow - fabrics chosed by my husband:



Front and Back panels



I think I will try an invisible zipper on this one - will be a first for me. I made 2 panels when trying out this Amy Butler pattern and thought wow, this would be fun as a reversible pillow, so we'll see how that turns out.

After seeing these next to eachother while taking pictures, I also realized what a fun quilt this would be! Sooo... I think I'm going to have to make a quilt to match the pillow :) These blocks are so easy to make, it would come together very quickly. That will have to wait until lots of other projects are out of the way tho.

4. For the Love of Solids Flikr Swap

Here is the finished pillow top for my partner - love this pattern with the colors. Now I just have to figure out how to quilt it and decide on a "smaller item" to send along.

I need to get this package completed by the end of the month before we go to Alaska, because the shipping window starts during my trip so I'll have to mail it right when I get back - yikes! DEADLINES... ahhhhhh :)

Hopefully I will have more fun things to show you on Monday after some weekend sewing. I will also be announcing the Giveaway winner then too so make sure to come back, it could be you!

Have a lovely week!



100th blog post giveaway!!

*** Giveaway is now closed ***

So excited... I've finally made it to my 100th blog post AND I still have people reading my ramblings, woo hoo! Lately I have been doing a bit of sewing that I'd like to share with you, my lovely readers.

Object #1, a zigzag totebag of my own design, complete with an inside zipper pocket for your wallet or keys for school/library/whatever trips:

Fabric - Curio by Moda

Object #2, a gathered clutch using the Noodlehead tutorial and a fantastic zipper end tutorial from my friend Bree at My Crafty Crap:

 

Love those zipper ends!

And now onto the giveaway portion of today's message ;-) You can win one or both of these lovelies - here's how:

Leave a comment for each of these things separately if you do them for a chance to win:

1. Follow this blog or let me know that you do already

2. Share this giveaway through a blog post, tweet, facebook, etc. and let me know you did

This giveaway will end on Saturday 8/13 at midnight. I will announce the winner on Monday - as Sunday is a lovely day of rest around here. 

The item being given away is Object #1 - the Curio Totebag. However, if I reach 100 followers, in honor of 100 on my 100th post, I will draw another name at the end of the giveaway and that lucky person will get my gathered clutch shown above. If we don't reach 100, no fear, I will give this lovely clutch away at a future date. 

Good luck, thanks so much for stopping by and sharing my big blogging day with me, and have a happy Monday!

Linking up with:

WIP Wednesday & Monday (8/8) Giveaway announcement

Welcome to this week's Work In Progress Wednesday Report

(Some of my projects are one hold due to lack of time, so I'm only going to report on those I've been able to work on recently)

1.

I finally got my strips 1/2 way sewn - each one just needs a colored strip on the other side of the grey and then I can FINALLY start cutting. Hopefully this week I will be caught up.



Not sure why everything has a green tint - hopefully I will have a better picture next week once my strips are sewn and cut



2.

Block #6 Bow-Ties

3. For the Love of Solids Flikr Swap

Here are the options I gave my partner for a 20" pillow - I've received many responses and I think I am just going to go with #1 since that is the first one I made and I happen to prefer it as well:

Also, I think this would be a really fun idea for a blanket. Making 9 of these 20" squares in the same color but different layouts like above to make an approx. 60 x 60 quilt - could also add sashing. Def. something I will keep in mind for when I have time ;-)

4. New Project (O no!) - Argyle Diamonds for my Hubby

I have a fabulous quilt my grandma gave me when I was a little girl and it has no batting and is perfect for the summer - but only big enough for 1 person. Hubby decided he would like one too and picked out this argyle fabric and pattern - here is my first sample block:

They will be turned the other way in the quilt with about 4 or 5 across and 5 or 6 down - have not figured out the exact measurements. This will have to wait until I get some other things done, but I wanted to make sure he liked the layout before I ordered more fabric

That is all for my WIP update for the week. Hopefully next week I will be a bit further along on my Kaleidescope quilt & Bee blocks and can share those.

Now for an announcement... this is my 99th post!! You know what that manes?

Blogpost #100 is a GIVEAWAY!

Next Monday, August 8th, I will post my 100th Blogpost Giveaway so make sure you come back to check it out!

AND just for fun, if I reach 100 followers, there will be a second giveaway item up for grabs. 

See you Monday!

Where I sew

So excited to introduce you to my new sewing space! We have a 8'6" x 9' "den" in our one bedroom apartment which formerly was our guest room and dog room. After living here for 2 years and sewing for 1, I've decided I need my own space and our dining room does not need to be cluttered with crafting supplies anymore. Therefore on Saturday I took over the room and reorganized and here it is, my own little crafting space:



Sewing corner with lots of natural light during the day




Flannel design wall - functional if not fashionable :)



My mom bought me this sign - so true!



Fabric, book, and supply stash

Other than creating this little space, I did not get anything crafty done over the weekend. Hopefully will have some more projects and pics for you tomorrow.

Also, make sure you come back next Monday for my 100th post giveaway!! I've got something cute made up for one of my lucky readers - it could be you!!  And if we reach 100 followers I'll have a second item to giveaway!
 Linking up with:     

Summer Blogger Quilt Fair

We have a county fair every year in my hometown in Indiana for Labor Day called the Blueberry Festival. We are the county seat so we get to host this fun event. It is your usual fair with rides, tons of yummy food, and lots and lots of booths to check out. Unfortunately, there definitely was never a quilt contest and it seems such a shame. That would have been so neat to see and might have piqued my interest in quilting long long ago.

I doubt I will ever make a quilt amazing enough for a real quilt contest at a fair, but I'm happy to link up one here:

 

Here is the quilt I have chosen, nicknamed "The Blue Beast"

This lovely monster was a Father's Day present for my dad this year which I delivered in person over 4th of July weekend. It is my first king sized quilt and maybe my last haha. It took me around 4 months to make this quilt, start to finish, including quilting it on my home machine. I learned A LOT about my machine, quilting, the value of spreading the quilting process out over a long span of time instead of marathon quilting sessions, and lots of "what to do better next time" tips. Its not my best work, but I am proud of what I learned and proud of how it turned out in the end inspite of the many challenges I faced during the process.

 My dad loves it, it keeps his bed looking pretty and him warm at night, so I guess I can't complain :)

Hope you like "The Blue Beast" and hope you enjoy checking out all the other quilts being showcased!

Weekend WIP Update

Hello and welcome to today's episode of "What I worked on this weekend" haha
Considering that it was in the 100s here and it wasn't worth it to go outside for anything but pool time, there were a lot of movies, crafting, and napping at our place... ie. a LOVELY weekend :)

That being said, let's get this WIP Update started:

1. Kaleidescope QAL:


FINALLY got all of my grey triangles sewn on and everything ironed - now I just need to pair them up, then pair up again and voila, 29 more blocks will be completed! Now if only it could be completed as fast and simple as it sounds haha.

I am definitely behind and will not have this completed by August 4th with the rest of the group but I've come to terms with that and I'm ok. :)


 
2. We Can Do It! - Skill Builder Sampler:
Block #5 and the last of the HST's (thank goodness! hehe)

3. A Zig & A Zag QAL:
**Pictures to come maybe on my Wednesday WIP update if I have time for one, started working on this last night and might actually make some headway this week!

4. 4 x5 Modern Bee on Flikr
I need to make 5 blocks - one for each of my bee members - here are the first 2:

They just happened to choose the same colors, which are also my colors for this bee! I really want to keep these blocks and work them into my own quilt haha... but I'll be nice and mail them on ;-) These crazy blocks are super fun to make, just takes about 1.5 hours and I'm a little burnt out on creativity afterward so I like to space them out.

5. For the Love of Solids - Swap on Flikr

Just got my partner today! So excited to get started on her project! I'm thinking coal, violet, dark violet, and 2 colors of turquoise (darker and lighter). I'm not sure about a pattern or block style, or if I'm going to make a mini-quilt or a pillow cover... we'll see what I come up with. Fabric.com is having a sale on Kona Cotton and with the 15% off coupon I have, it is only $3.60 a yard, can't pass that up!

6. Children's Charity Project

Last year I mentioned that my church was working with the youth in our Sunday School's across Delaware to earn quilt squares for reading their scriptures. I volunteered to make 5 quilts for our group by October... kicking myself for taking so much on haha but its nice to give back. These quilts will be a reward for the children's efforts to read their scriptures throughout the year, and will be donated to local chartities.

1 finished, and 2 tops finished - here is top #2 that I just completed on Friday:

I just want to say thank you SO much again to those bloggers who posted about this project and/or donated fabric to our cause. Definitely could not have made these beautiful quilts without you! So glad to donate my time and talents to supporting our youth and community... gives me the warm fuzzies inside ;-)

7. And re-posting this from earlier in the week - a charity bee block for Sew Fresh Fabrics:



Cabin Fever

 Linking up with:    

Awesome Heartsy Seller and "Cabin Fever" - a charity bee block

First thing this morning, I want to share this awesome Heartsy.me deal with all of you.



If you don't know about Heartsy.me, its an online voucher source for Etsy stores. Each day they share various deals from various shops, and you can even browse future shops and vote for ones you'd liked to see featured.

Starting tomorrow (today for VIP members) - for 16$ you can get a $38 voucher to Aggieray.
HEARTSY LINK & AGGIERAY LINK

That is a great deal and the seller is super nice and helpful!
I am a VIP member I got a $48 voucher for the same price - and got to buy mine a day earlier than normal members.

Want to know what I purchased?

No joke - $16, including shipping, for this fabulous bag! I'm soooooooooo excited to get in whenever she finishes it, as it was a custom order. So if you are in the market for a new handmade bag at a great price, check out Heartsy for the voucher and Aggieray for the wonderful products!

Other than my great shopping experience this morning... I also wanted to share my new charity bee block. Sew Fresh Fabrics was offering a small scrap bundle to readers on their blog, and asked in return that we use the scraps to make a 12.5" quilt square with the scraps, then keep the rest for our scrap bag. Here is what I came up with last night, I really like the way it turned out:


Cabin Fever

I love participating in charity projects, even if its just one block for a bee, it makes a difference.

Hope you are all having a wonderful Friday!

Its going to be in the 100s here today with high humidity, as always.

I hate heatwaves but I'm leaving work early to go enjoy the pool to stay cool :)

Delaware is not in the west... it should not be this hot here!