Fat Quarters and Insul-Bright

My sister and I discussed a new set of potholders for her kitchen. She wanted something bright, simple and functional. No grommets, no hoops to hang from, no frills. Just hardworking square potholders that could double as a trivet.

2 fat quarters and some Insul~Bright later...success.

A perfect pair of potholders.

Bye-Bye Stinky Room

See those cute little sachets in the middle of this picture: I saw these little sachets while strolling through the baby section at Target picking up diapers, wipes and those handy, oh so handy little bags at the top of the picture. I immediately picked up the package and almost threw it into my cart thinking 'This is great! A cute little lavender scented sachet with baking soda to absorb the odors! Perfect for the twins stinky room!' (Despite the Diaper Champ it still just isn't as fresh as I think it should be.) Then I stopped. Why spend $5 on 2 of these sachets??? I could make these!

So, yesterday during the twins nap (which is hardly never longer than 30 minutes...my children think sleep is for the weak...especially sleeping at the same time...I think they have a pact for one to keep watch while the other sleeps!) I made these:

Scraps of fabric from stash were used and all I had to purchase was the baking soda.

I placed one in the bottom of the diaper champ and one in a Longaberger basket hanging from a peg above the changing table.

The result: A breath of fresh air in the twins room. All for the low price of 57 cents.

A favorite project.

I was going through some of the pictures on my Blackberry today and realized that I had taken these pictures of a zip pouch I made for my Thankful Things Swap partner with intentions of blogging about it after I knew she had received it...but then I guess I forgot about it!

I made this little zip pouch out of some linen and red hounds tooth decor weight fabric I already had in my stash. The best thing about it...the monogram! I love ANYTHING that is monogrammed.

I had plans of making up a bunch of these to give as gifts this Christmas but didn't get to it...oh well...there is always next year!

It's like a mini-factory over here

I set up my embroidery machine and while it is working I am hard at work on my Bernina.

I'm just "sew" efficient.

Holiday Pillow

One button tufted holiday pillow complete. I love the neutral-ness of this pillow. The ivory background and gold snowflake design (found in my stash) will easily allow me to use it all the way through January. Now...to find time to make another...

Crossing things off the to do list

This cake plate was one of my favorite bridal shower gifts. A couple of months ago when I pulled it out of the cupboard to use it the top came completely off of the pedestal. I was crushed. I sat it aside hoping I could salvage it later and piece it back together. Well, I finally found the time. Thanks to some E6000 my cake plate is like new again.

I also have had "try freehand quilting" on my to-do list for awhile. I decided to make a little thank you for my mother-in-law for having us at their house during the remodel. I whipped up these cute little hot pads/trivets and gave the freehand quilting a whirl. It was fun...must do this again. Though I couldn't imagine doing this on an entire quilt...I guess I'm a small projects kind of girl at heart.

I also made a set of 4 quilted coasters for my sister as a thank you for taking my belly pictures over this past weekend. They all have pieced tops and linen backings. Love how they turned out. Plus, I got to use my walking foot! I tied them up with a little antique lace in a lime-y green, attached a thank you and they were all ready to go! Hope they like their gifts cause I really appreciate them both so much!!!

Quilt #2 Finished (this one is not for either of the babes)

I actually sewed this quilt top at about this time last year...then I got the bright idea that I would hand tie the quilt. So I did. And I didn't like the result. So then I ripped it all out and decided I could try to machine quilt it myself. So I did (part of it). And I didn't like the result. So a couple of weeks ago I sat down on a Friday night and ripped all of that out. Then the next day I took it to my long arm quilter. Love the result. While we were out of the house for the great bathroom remodel (staying at the in-laws) I hand-sewed the binding on. After pulling it out of the wash/dryer I was smitten. I love it.

So simple. But the medium stipple stitching with the rows of multiple different moda fabrics (from a jelly roll) with a simple cream/tan damask border is quite striking in person. The photos really do not do this quilt justice.

There is something so satisfying about completing a quilt.

Happy Anniversary Sis! Hope you had a great one!

Tomorrow is the big day...check back here for the gender announcement of my twins!

My Bernina and I are friends again

I'm sure my Bernina was wondering what happened to me. Over the summer, my sewing mojo was...well...non-existent. Cooler weather thankfully has brought it back. I spent most of the weekend working on sewing projects so I should have plenty to share this week.

First off is my FIRST EVER completed quilt. I've made quilt tops in the past but they never made it to the long arm quilter, much less to the binding stage. So, I was thrilled that I finally finished this Yellow Brick Road pattern baby quilt. I am so proud of the binding. This is something I never thought I could do. But thankfully, one of the nurses at work showed me how to hand sew on the binding in just a couple of minutes between patients and it turned out better than I could have ever imagined (mitered corners!). I owe her one! I picked out this awesome varigated brown-pink thread for the quilting work...love it.

Everyone who has seen it has asked if it is for one of my babes. Well, if "A" or "B" ends up being a girl this quilt is all ready for her! We still don't know what we are having yet though. I purchased the fabric long for this very project long before I found out I was pregnant. Could that be a sign? If I end up having 2 boys...well, the next lucky friend to have a girl will probably get it.

[Front view]

[Back view - chocolate brown with pink polka dots]

Isn't my DH just the best model???

The verdict on the pattern: LOVE IT! Easy to understand, easy to come together. Will definately make this quilt again (especially if we are having one - or two - boys).

It's all about the shoe

Soon, DH & I will be packing our bags for our annual fall weekend retreat at a posh resort across the state. It really is one of my favorite times of the year. We get all dressed up, have fancy-shmancy dinners, get to sleep in a soft-as-can-be feather bed and I get to spend all day at the spa on Saturday. DH's favorite part is that the cottages we stay in have honest-to-goodness fireplaces that he can build an honest-to-goodness fire in. It is a nice and relaxing weekend. Every year, one of my favorite indulgences before we go on this little trip is that I get to purchase a new pair of wild/fancy shoes. My dress choices are kinda limited this year due to my pregnancy. I'm just a little to big to look good in my formal dresses I have on hand and a little too small for maternity dresses to look cute. So this year...it was all about the shoes to make my sorta simple black dress look fantastic. So, I picked these Carlos Santana shoes...affordable, super cute and can go with many dresses/outfits in the future. Very sensible...well except for that heel. :)To keep these little beauties safe in my luggage, I decided I needed a proper shoe bag. Perfect pattern found in Simple Sewing with a French Twist. I love this pattern...super easy to understand and super fast to come together.




Plus side to this little project...it could be so adaptable...make it a little smaller for a great cosmetics pouch or coin pouch. Line it with iron on vinyl and it would be perfect for toting that wet swimsuit around during the summer. Make it a little bigger and it would be the perfect bag to put your dirty laundry in while on vacation so when your re-pack your bag to come home all of that laundry is in one place...okay...now I know what my next sewing project is for this week!
After visiting that Carlos site to find a picture of the shoes I purchased at macys, I found these lovelies. I have a chocolate brown dress that these would look fab with. DH, can I have these too...pretty please???

Edit: Well...after searching the internet high and low the lovely Roulette Brown Leopard Carlos shoes are not available ANYWHERE in my size. Bummer. If anyone happens upon this shoe in a size 7 please let me know! Now, I feel like a crazy woman and want it that much more! :)

Mark another off the to-sew list...or not...

I've been wanting to make a camera strap for my sister (the awesome photographer) for quite some time like those of Adrienne and Jade. For whatever reason though, I just couldn't imagine cutting up the strap that came with the camera. Plus, I wanted this to be a surprise so I couldn't exactly steal her camera strap...I mean she uses it every day. So, after studying my own camera strap I figured there must be some way I could make it all on my own. After a trip to JoAnn's, I figured I had all the supplies to give it a try. Now, like I said, I've been wanting to do this for a while. My trip to JoAnn's was back in July. So, it was quite comical last night when I decided to actually sit down and figure this out. I couldn't find the pleather (fake leather - vinyl stuff) I had purchased. After much whining and searching ("DH have you seen my pleather?" - ask your husband that...it gets quite a reaction), I found it and settled in. The result...

Not to shabby. I used buckle fasteners so that the straps that attach to the camera are fixed in place and the strap itself can be removed and exchanged. It is much easier to remove the camera from the strap with this setup than the strap that came with my camera. Now...I'm addicted. I feel like I need to make 2 -3 more different straps so she can interchange them based on mood. Or maybe holiday ones. Ooo, the possibilities. Now, I gotta make one for myself too...so I can't exactly mark it off my to-sew list just yet.

Productive Saturday

I have recently lost my sewing mojo but I am determined to get it back now that cooler weather is around the corner. I woke up this morning determined to mark something off of my to-sew list. So, I finally made the backing to this Yellow Brick Road baby quilt I made a while back. The above is a sneak peak of the quilt top. The backing is solid and in the brown with pink polka dots fabric. I finished up the backing and sewed the binding into a long strip. Plus, I was extra productive today...I already took it to the long arm quilter! She told me it should be ready in about a week. When I get it back the binding is already ready to go...I'll get it all wrapped up and then hopefully post it sometime next week.

Also, equally productive...sorting wedding pictures! DH & I have been married for 2 1/2 years and all of our wedding pictures (aside from the professional magazine-style album our photographer had printed for us) have been sitting in a tote since we ordered them! Shame! I had big plans to scrapbook all of the photos and incorporate the invites, cards, ribbons and the like but with the babies coming I knew that would never happen. Plus, I'm not much of a scrapbooker (hehe that sounds funny). So, I purchased these nice leather-bound albums from Target (where else!?! - love that store!) and spent the evening organizing and filing the photos away. Now DH can stop asking me when I am going to finish our wedding albums!

Hope you all had a productive (and relaxing) Saturday!

Getting prepared.

Finally got a little sewing done. I completed a trio of burpies to stash back for future use. I love these...so quick and easy to make, so darn cute and it is the perfect project to use up some of my fabric scraps. I see making at least a dozen of these in my future.

While you are here...check out the new gadget blogger has added as a option for our blogs. It's over there on the sidebar called "Followers" - sign up - follow my blog! :)

Amy Butler goodness

I have been wanting these Amy Butler Lotus line fabrics for a good while now. I've been meaning to buy them to make a strap for my camera like the ones made by Adrienne and Jade. So I finally order the fabric from etsy, get the fabric in the mail, carve out time to make it tonight and NOW I can't find my original stinkin' camera strap to use to make the new strap!

Argh! Eventually, all of the pieces will fall together so I can have a cool camera strap too.

Onesie #2

I'm addicted.

I just finished freehand embroidery onesie #2 with another "vital organs" theme. I love these. I couldn't even wait to wash out the soluble top stabilizer before I took the picture!

I was thinking of doing a freehand embroidery tutorial (the way I do it anyway)...would anyone be interested?

Mi corazón.

I have been dreaming of doing this for a loooong time. It all started with this ThreadBanger video on freehand embroidery by GirlPopcorn (she makes awesome stuff! although, I didn't follow all of her steps for the freehand emboroidery - I thought my own way seemed a little easier). I knew I had to try it but couldn't exactly decided on what to stitch until I saw these at Sublime Stitching. Once all things were in place (pattern, onesie, thread and time) it only took about 45 minutes from start to finish.

And I couldn't be happier with the result.