little projects

This week I made myself a new Sunday bag.  I kind of made this up as I went along so that it would fit my tablet perfectly.  It dresses it up for Sunday best since I keep my scriptures and lesson manuals on my tablet.  Nice and handy.

And the wall quilt for my grandkid’s play area is finished and on the wall.  This corner of our house is in the basement so the light isn’t great for picture taking.  But it really is a bright and cheerful addition to the family room. 

My latest read is “Remembering Isaac” by Ben Behunin.  Mr. Sunshine and I met the author one day a few months ago and when I invited him to speak at our book club, he came!  …and everyone loved him!  He has written several books.  This one is about a young man named Jake, who is a village potter finding his place in a small Pennsylvania community with a long history of pottery.  The author is a potter too and I see him in this book.  I am almost half way through and really enjoying it!

coloring books & the book I’m reading now

I whipped these little book bags up the other morning.  They each hold 6 crayons and a few smaller sized coloring books … perfect for a carry-along project… sort of like me and my take-along sewing bags.  So nice to have something to do at all times.  They should keep my two granddaughters occupied for a little while.  They were made with love and I hope they like them. 

 

This week I am reading “Summer of the Monkeys” by Wilson Rawls and am about half way through.  It’s a fun story.  I thought it might be like “Where the Red Fern Grows” also by Wilson Rawls.  That was a special book for sure.  But this one is its own story and is keeping me entertained.  I’m looking forward to finding out what finally happens between Jay Berry and those monkeys.

Thanks so much to Norece, a reader of my blog, for recommending it.

And now I’m going over to link up with “Whatcha Reading Tuesday.”

Have a wonderful day everyone!

for my daughter

I came across this old candle holder and it seemed to call out to me,

“Make me into a pincushion!” 

So I did.

As a gift for my daughter…

with love.

 

And thanks so much to Kathy for the lovely pincushion pattern. 

thought I’d give it a try

I’ve long admired Natalie Jo’s blog, Picalilli Days.  She makes the most beautiful pincushions and this year she was so generous to run a tutorial on how we could make one of our own. 

So I tried it. 

It was fun but it wasn’t easy. 

I really like my little girl pincushion

but it’s probably the only one I’ll ever make.

Besides a wonderful talent, Natalie Jo has a lot of patience.  I admire her skills even more now.

learning to sew

 

This kid’s going to be a quilter…

 

 

I can tell already.

Time for a new bag

Today I poked around in my sewing room a bit and then decided I needed to sew a new bag.  My all time favorite go-to bag is the Buttercup Bag pattern (by Rae).  It always holds my stuff just right and is fun to make.  I enlarged it a bit this time and put a flap on it.

 

 

I notice this is only my second post for February and the month is nearly over.  Not that I lack any projects to work on, I’ve just been preoccupied for a bit. 

I did manage to keep “building” more little houses.  They are great for working on… a minute here… and a minute there.  And that’s all the time I’ve had is minutes.

I have my fingers crossed for much more sewing time in March.

Small projects

I’ve been thinking I needed a new pincushion but wanted something interesting to work with.  When I came across this candle holder, I knew right away I had found what I was looking for.  It was a fun, quick project and turned out just the way I wanted.

And today I brought out these pretty little pieces of Jo Morton fabric that I bought way last year.  I want to use them for a small project. 

Right now I’m in the mood for a few small and simple projects.

tis the season for keeping secrets

I’ve been very busy at my sewing machine…but it’s that time of year when you just can’t post about what you’re up to.

  Isn’t making surprises so much fun?

Keeping children warm

The weather is getting colder here.  So I’ve been sewing fleece hats for children, along with a Humanitarian Group I belong to.  I needed a model but had a hard time getting this one to hold still for even a second…

 

Aha…  gotcha!

I’ve made 29 fleece caps so far… and there’s more on the way.  Sew fun!

His first tux

Last night my daughter and I had some play time with this guy for a fitting.  I've been sewing a special outfit for his blessing.  Sewing such tiny little armholes is very tricky.  Just enough room for my presser foot...no fingers and barely pins.  I finally hand sewed the sleeves in and then machined them.  But the challenge was worth it for my newest grandchild.  I still have to add a soft satiny blue bow tie and buttons in the back and he'll be ready for his big day. 

BTW, the quilt he's laying on was his great grandfather's baby quilt. 

P.S....I just had to edit my post to add a photo of the final product...all finished and pressed....not as cute as the baby...but cute.

R & R

Mr. Sunshine and I have been out of town getting some rest and relaxation and spending time with family.

While I was there, (in Idaho) I picked up some beautiful red fabric for Karen’s 5” red/white fabric swap.  I’m really excited to be able to participate.

 

I also found a fabric outlet store and came away with lots of other wonderful fabrics as well.  Average price….$3.60 a yard!!  And all quilt quality…the kind of fabric you like to sit and caress…it just feels so heavenly and looks so pretty.

 

My mother-in-law, sister-in-law, Rhonda and I spent an afternoon sewing some tiny book covers.  I had my camera with me but didn’t think to take a single picture of us working together at the kitchen table.  I don’t know why, other than we were just too involved in what we were doing.

 

My sweet little Featherweight came with me and she sewed like a dream.  I just love her.

We shopped and ate and played games and visited and had a great time.

 

I also got in some nap time and finished two good books.

I highly recommend them both.

It was wonderful to get away for awhile.  Now we are both refreshed and ready to dive back into our normal routines. 

Notebook Fun

 

Buy a mini composition book for your purse and make it fun with a fabric cover…

 

Like it so much that you whip up a few more to share…

 

Then play with fabrics and before you know it, you’ve sewn even more.

 

I found this cute idea over at Obsessively Stitching.  I think I caught her “obsession”  because I know I’m not done making them yet.

Watch me grow!

When I go visit my parents I can still see the pencil lines on the kitchen doorway where my mom marked the growth of all the grandchildren.  The kids loved to have her measure them and make their mark.

I want to create the same kind of memories for our grandkids so yesterday I stitched up a growth chart to hang on our wall. I found this fun monkey fabric in my stash and made it up as I went along.  I still have to figure out how I am going to mark it.  Any creative ideas?

              

27 inches and thirty inches tall so far.  We have a lot of wonderful growing up years ahead of us.

And another one…

Of course I couldn’t stop at just one bag…no…Nanette’s pattern was just too much fun to put together. 

I had some favorite fabric strips that were saved together and thought they’d be perfect for this, except the pattern calls for 4 inch strips and I found that mine were only 2 to 3 1/2 inches wide.  Drats! 

So I donned my thinking cap, jimmy-rigged the pattern a bit, did some extra piecing and came up with this.

Woohoo!  I like it.

Other than the lining, I used only scraps.  No two strips on either side are alike and there wasn’t even enough to make two handles of the same fabric…they are similar but not the same. 

 

A new bag and a little lighter scrap bin.  I’ve used those favorite fabrics nearly down to crumbs.

Scrappy Afternoon

I just got this pattern by Nanette of Freda’s Hive.  Also Jodi at Pleasant Home is inspiring us to use our scraps… so I rummaged through my scrap bins for pieces to make this and enjoyed a quiet afternoon at my sewing machine. 

Those little bits of leftover fabric are now being put to very good use.

Small but Finished.

Oh-oh!!  July is almost over and just this morning I realized that although I’ve been busy sewing, I didn’t have a finish for the One Project A Month Challenge!

So I dug through my UFO stuff until I found this cute little fabric box (by Sue Daly) that I had started almost two years ago but never finished. 

I went right to work and had it together in no time.  So crazy to think I put it off this long since it was fun to make.  And I love it how it turned out.  So sweet!

Now I have another project crossed off my list and more room in my cupboard.  Thanks Kris and Peg for keeping me motivated!

Scrap Bag

I was sorting through the scrap bins when these two fabrics landed beside each other on the table.  When I noticed them, they struck me as ideal for that new bag I’ve been needing.  I found a third scrap to match and all together there was just barely enough to do it.  So this became my weekend project - made entirely from the scrap bin.  Woohoo!

Mr. Sunshine and I also planned to get some outdoor projects done but the weather wouldn’t cooperate.  This past week we’ve had lots of rain, wind and chilly cold.  So weird for June.  Instead, we spent the time playing indoors with our granddaughters.  Which is way more fun than yard work. 

for sweet little girls

My latest stitching project… 2 little dresses for my 2 little nieces.

White dresses with pretty pink pinafores.

 

 

         So sweet!