BABY GONE WILD... sewing up some Minkee

It is almost "baby time" in our family again -- time to whip up another baby quilt. The new mommy-2-be has chosen Pink & Brown as her color scheme, but also wants animals. While strolling thru the aisles at Road2California earlier this month, I spotted a stack of  animal print Minkees and a light bulb went off! Eureka... this was it! lol.

So far just the 80 squares are arranged on this make-shift design wall*, but I think it might be ok this way and will begin sewing the squares together tomorrow.  The outside edge will be very simple -- large pink rick-rack tucked into the seam... then just stitch the Minkee backing on and birth. A little tack-stitch at the intersections in lieu of quilting, and voila! Done!

That's all for today... I hope where ever you are that you have time to make something that makes you or someone you love happy.

Quilty hugs,

* Make shift design wall: A large piece of flannel tacked to a piece of wood that can be draped over the open doors of my TV armoire in the living room... not fancy, but it works! lol. And when I'm done it can be rolled up and stored behind a bedroom door. ;-)

TA DAH! Done... a little sachet bag

Feels sooooooooo good to finish. This sweet little project only took a few bits of time off-n-on for two days and done! Super. I'm happy. Another notch on the OPAM list!

This project is from the "Little Bit French" section of Willowberry Design's site. Please find their button on my left side bar.

First I printed the design on some Sticky Fabri-Solvy -- just run it through your printer like paper. Peel it off the backing paper and stick on your background and begin stitching. No prep, no tracing. I love this stuff!

After the embroidery is complete, it is a good idea to carefully lift the excess Sticky-solvy from your project and trim it away.

Plop it into some water and swish it around for a few seconds and PRESTO all the stuff dissolves and nothing is left but your beautiful stitching! Super. Now just blot on a clean towel and leave to dry, or if in a hurry press it dry.

Trim edges to size -- I cut my background about 1/2 inch bigger than I needed. A slightly larger piece is easier to hoop. After a bit of a trim, I sewed the side seam - a French seam, of course! This one is about 1/8th inch finished.

Now, position the seam down the center back and create the bottom seam... again, it is a French seam.

This was a fun and quick project. I enjoy making small gift items such as this and keeping a stash of them handy for quick gifts.

Thank you for stopping by today. I hope you enjoyed your visit.

Quilty hugs,

PLEDGE & A BLOG FACE-LIFT

Well it's about time I rearranged a few things on this blog. Now it has 3 columns: 2 are for gadgets, which hopefully will make it easier to read and find stuff -- like clickable BOM Buttons, etc..  The middle column remains as the posting and photo area.  It might take a few more tweaks before I'm happy with it, but this is a beginning.

PLEDGE: My sweet friend Marianna has written a Pledge on her blog and invited me to do the same. So, officially I have pledged to: STOP PROCRASTINATING... or, at least try not to. Marianna has a post on her blog and a button, too, I think. Currently we have used "list making" as a tool to stay on top of things more. This includes crafting and 'real life' stuff. Even housework needs tending to once in a while. lol. So... please wish us luck as we try to turn-over-a-new-leaf and make 2012 a more productive year with less wasted time. If YOU would like to take the pledge, too, please join us. All the info is on Marianna's blog.

I have a new embroidery project calling my name and I want to get a start on it while the light is still good. If you would like to join in with the "It's a little bit French" BOM, there is a clickable button on my left side bar.

That's it for now. Thank you for stopping by to visit.

Hugs,

PINCH ME! . . . I won

It is so exciting! I won the drawing over at Elefantz! Thank you so much, Jenny!  The fabric charms and the hand dyed cotton embroidery threads are sooooooo beautiful! And, it came in this gorgeous package all the way from Australia:

Jenny has a lovely blog and is currently running a BOM: "Promises & Borders". There is a clickable link on my left side bar. Go have a visit at Jenny's blog. You will find oodles of eye-candy and tons of inspiration!

I tell ya -- I am excited and thrilled all the way to my toes! lol. So, the next time you see a give-a-way or drawing, go ahead and sign up.  You never know -- you might be the lucky one!

Thank you for stopping by for a visit and I hope you will come back. Until then. . .

Quilty hugs,

IT BEGAN AS SIMPLE... then moved on from there

It really did begin as a simple idea: take 3 fabrics; cut into 5" squares; stack them up; make a couple of cuts; and, sew back together. Ok... I wanted to make more than two cuts b/c my beginning squares would be larger -- 6" rather than 5". Now I needed more squares [you need one more square than cuts you plan to make].

Well, so far so good, except I cut across a CORNER instead of cutting across the square! This tips the balance of the seam allowances which is why my finished 'squares' are rectangles.

I like to "clean up" the diagonal before sewing the last corner piece on... just keeps things neat and easy.

Now we have wonky sort-of-rectangles. Not to worry, a bit of squaring up and a touch with an iron will make them look pretty and neat:

I wanted to keep my blocks very simple, so I chose to do a feather stitch with my Janome6500 and King Tut variegated thread. The hearts are cut-outs left over from a H2H Swap I did a couple of years ago. I thought it would help settle the white areas down -- nope. Don't like it. Doesn't go well with my fabric, so I put them on my friend's blocks -- voila! Looks great [pic below]

This was a quick and fun project to do with a friend. We plan to take our "experiments" to Friendship Group with us tomorrow [Tuesday] to share.  Perhaps they will want to make some too.

Thank you for stopping by. I hope you enjoyed your visit and will come back again -- leave a comment and say 'hello' -- It is always interesting to hear the thoughts of others.

Quilty Hugs,

HOOKING MY BRAINS OUT . . . or how to make a dozen coasters in one day!

Ok... the oodles of coasters are DONE! Yippee. The hearts were fun and quick to make. Truth be told, I do love to crochet! I started off by watching a YouTube vid by the Crochet Geek that my sweet friend Elly sent to me. Thanks again, Elly!  Then I veered off and did my own thing. 

The same process with the kitty coaster. One of the gals in my DD's office is just crazy about Hello Kitty, so instead of making her a heart, I tried to make a Hello Kitty likeness -- it's close enough, I guess. lol.

So now it's back to sewing. I still haven't started my little Scrap Houses yet! ;(  I want to get started on them right away. Then there is the Batik quilt in the design process. . . .

I am grateful everyday that I am retired and of reasonably good health so I can sew, create, play with fabric, and visit with all of you on the Net!  And, it's good that I can bend over again, because Missy really loves to play "chase the ball". Here's how it goes: I throw/roll the ball, she watches it intently, I go fetch it and bring it back to her! She is a cute and fun kitty, but we all know who is the boss in this house! lol

Have a wonderful day -- thank you so much for stopping by for a visit.

Hugs,

A LITTLE PURSELETT . . . The 911 Bag

TaDah! Finished a couple of things today. First, a cute little purselett that I have dubbed "911", because I fill them with essential things a gal might need during the day at work: 'cotton angels', ponytail holder, small manicure set, bandaids, hand sanitizer, emery board, small sewing kit, etc.... All the gals in my DD's office love them. By the end of the year I hope to have made one for each gal.

Take 2 FQ. Fold raw edges to center. Fold over ends and top stitch for casing. Stitch up side... DONE! I do make tassels, or prairie points or similar to use as 'handles' to open purselett. Today I made strips similar to what we make for belt loops and added some buttons on the ends for fun.

Before joining the front to the lining, I made a small pocket for the 'cotton Angels' and top-stitched it to the lining.

Also today saw the completion of 10 new crocheted coasters. Pics for these Valentine's cuties will follow soon. I have really been on a crocheting binge lately... can't get enough of hooking! lol

Thank you for stopping by. I hope you enjoyed your visit.

Hugs,

AMAZING PLANET - A Beautiful Sunrise in California

This morning's view right outside my front door. Isn't it beautiful?

I grabbed my camera and ran outside -- I was in my jammies! lol. Wouldn't you know it... my neighbor next door had done the same thing! LOL. We enjoyed a good laugh together while we appreciated the stunning view!

Thank you for popping in to share this gorgeous sunrise with me.

I hope where ever you are on this amazing planet, that you have time to sew today - that's what I hope to do. Bye until next time. . .

Quilty hugs,