testing

I got back from Hawaii a week ago, but the day we got back my Mom came to town (yay, we had so much fun!) but I was pretty busy.  So things around here should be quiet . . . for about three more days because we are leaving on Tuesday to go to Utah for my brother's wedding. My Mom had a birthday while she was here so I thought it would be fun to make her something.  She  was thinking that she would like a bag to take to church with her that would hold her iPad, so chose the pattern and the fabric.  This was really fun to put together. The Sophia Carry-all is an Amy Butler pattern and is kind of a little sister to the Weekender pattern.  I have made the Weekender: And on a scale of 1 to Weekender, this was about an 8. It isn't really any easier, it is just smaller. But it was fun to make and I was able to put it together in about 4 evenings (the Weekender took me about 2 weeks!). The exterior and piping are both Michael Miller prints and the interior is Ann Kelle remix dots (I

I was able to finish Harper's patchwork tote yesterday and she is just thrilled.  It is so great to make something for someone who appreciates it, even if that person is only 4 years old.  I am really pleased with how the bag turned out and I am a little bit addicted to making these.  I might accidentally make a few more. I asked her if she could stand up and model the bag for me, but he told me "no" because she was too busy sitting. Stinker. You can kind of see the lining in this photo.  I used a pink Japanese linen blend for the lining.  For both of our totes I used a layer of batting inside Essex Yarn Died in flax which is so wonderful.  I need more.    In other news, I won something!  I entered my Swoon quilt into the Blogger's Quilt Festival a few weeks ago, and even though my quilt wasn't nominated for anything, I did win one of the random prizes which was a $50 gift certificate to The Quilting Garden .  I enter giveaways all of the time and have never won

My daughter and I started working on a little patchwork bag today.  I let her choose the fabrics from the scrap bin and I think she did a great job!  We finished one side during my son's nap so hopefully we can get this finished up tomorrow. I also started working on a quilt for my husband.  He has been asking when I was going to make one for him, but I never know what he will like so I have put off choosing a project.  When I saw this quilt on the Geared for Guys bloghop: I showed it to my husband and he really liked it.  So I ordered the book (which has quite a few useful patterns in addition to this one).  I currently have my fabric cut and have started to piece things together.  I will admit, if I had known that it involved appliqué (didn't even occur to me!) then I probably wouldn't have bought the book.  I do not like appliqué. The other problem. . . how to quilt it?  I don't know what I'm going to do.  I am not very comfortable with free motion, especially on

Several months ago I promised my sister Carly that I would make her a quit for high school graduation. She is going to the same college that I went to, so I wanted to make her something twin-sized to take with her.  I picked these fabrics out and they have been sitting on my shelf forever waiting for me to choose a pattern.  After I finished my Swoon quilt I was drawn to the Hopscotch pattern, so I decided to add a couple rows and columns to the pattern to make it twin sized. First of all, let me say that I REALLY enjoyed making this quilt.  The pattern is great because it looks harder than it actually is.  This quilt is important to me so I took my time making sure things lined up and I enjoyed the process of putting something together that I am really proud of.  I quilted it with diagonal straight lines about an inch-ish apart.  The fabrics are mostly Innocent Crush with a few other Anna Maria Horner prints and some miscellaneous fabrics mixed in.  The solids are Essex linen in whi

So I keep seeing patchwork totes like these  all over the place, and since I have an overflowing scrap bin and I am in need of a giant tote I thought I would give it a shot.  I used this tutorial , only I made mine way bigger.  This project was FUN and it was pretty EASY so I would definitely recommend it.  My 4 year old has already put in a request for a miniature version for herself. It was fun to dig through my scraps and put some of my favorites to good use.  I also chose a few that I knew my kids would like.  And I lined it with this red Outside Oslo print that I adore.  I just put one pocket inside because I know myself and I know that I tend to just throw everything into a bag without even attempting to be organized  I definitely think I will be making more like these in the future.