Let's Go Fly a Kite (a kite quilt that is)

I started this kite quilt back in 1998! I was living in Washington state then and visiting my friend in Oregon for the Sister's annual Outdoor Quilt Show. I bought a Fon's and Porter Love of Quilting Magazine at one of the quilt shops in Bend, Oregon and this kite quilt was on the cover. I loved the quilt and wanted to make it. So when I got back home, I went to a quilt shop in town and bought all the fabrics for the kites. I wanted bright sort of whimsical colors for the kites. I bought 1/4 yard of all of them and maybe some I bought 1/2 yards (can't remember it's been so long, lol). I can remember piling up the bolts of these colorful fabrics on the counter, while the owner of the shop was helping a customer. The customer looked at my piles of fabrics and asked the owner, "What is she making"? I think she was impressed by the colorful fabric choices I made, I guess? I think I sewed the kites up quickly and some of the border pieces too. Then a few months later we were moving to New Mexico and so everything got packed up.

When we unpacked everything, I know I must have seen the start of this quilt, but maybe I wasn't as excited about it anymore, I don't remember. A few years ago I found it in my UFO pile and finished sewing the border pieces. Then it sat again for a long time. 3 years ago I decided to put it together. I added the border and quilted it. Then cut the binding strips. I even made the label, dated it 2013. I don't know what happened then. Maybe we were rearranging the rooms and it got shoved into the UFO box again? Well I found it and saw I had even pinned the label on the quilt back and only needed to sew the binding on the quilt and then embroider the kite strings on the kites to finish it. So finally I got this finished in June and had to cross out the 2013 finished date on the label (actually said May 2013) and add June 2016 instead! It's finally done and hanging up so we can enjoy it. Better late than never.

Ta Da! It's finally finished!

Hanging in the bedroom on Mr. P's side of the bed because he loves it!

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Dollie Cross Body Bag, Enlarged

I recently made the Dollie Mini Cross Body Bag by Swoon Patterns (a free pattern). Well I wondered if I enlarged the pattern how it would work. So I enlarged it and added some slip pockets inside and side gusset pockets too. It came out nice, although the gusset pockets could have been larger at the top (with a snap or elastic perhaps). What do you think?

I used a red, white and blue variegated thread and decorative stitch to topstitch the flap and tab.

Slip pocket in the back of the bag.

Since I enlarged this bag, I decided to add a slip pocket inside against the front of the bag.

I stitched a decorative stitch down the center of the strap, added a slip gusset pocket on both sides too.

To show you the scale difference, here is Mini Dollie and Bigger Dollie together.

And another view of the 2 side-by-side.

Both of these have sold.

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Lacy Knit Poncho

Remember a while back I showed you the knit shrug I made, but I didn't like how it fit me and I ripped it all out? Well that is the same yarn I used to knit this lacy poncho. I followed the instructions for this, but the neckline came out huge! Was it the yarn I used that made a difference? Who knows? I thought ugh, not again! I didn't want to rip this out because I liked the poncho, but with a neckline that was large enough to fit around an elephant, it wasn't going to stay on me. It was even too large to use as a skirt! So what to do? Since the top edge was crocheted, I decided to crochet a long chain and weave it through the neckline and then tie it in a bow in the front. Looks okay on my dress form here. I haven't actually worn it yet though, since the weather is too hot for wearing a poncho right now. I will wear it in the fall at least inside my house. It's such a lovely soft yarn (thank you Tara for the yarn).

The pattern was an easy knit and I don't know why the neck came out so large. I knit it on circular needles and I couldn't tell until I bound off the stitches, since they were all bunched up on the needle. If I crocheted more around the neck to cinch it in tighter, then the poncho would have grown in length and I didn't want that either. I am beginning to wonder if something is wrong with me or the patterns or the yarn? Everything looks great and just like the pattern, except for the huge neckline. Remember that Seinfeld episode with Elaine and her big head? Well even this poncho would fit over Elaine's big head without a problem, LOL!!!!!

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Dollie Mini Cross Body Bag

The Dollie Mini Cross Body Bag is a free pattern by Swoon Patterns. I loved the shape and style of this little bag when I saw it, so I wanted to make one. You can make the accents in faux leather if you want. I thought I would give it a go in black faux leather for the accents. But when I sewed the tab piece onto the flap, the faux leather puckered and well needless to say, I ripped it out and used cotton fabric instead. I gave away the pieces of faux leather I had. No more faux leather for me! I much prefer sewing with cotton fabrics. I like that I can press the fabric too. I still used a black fabric for the accents and I love how this sweet little bag turned out.

Since this is a small bag, it can be made with just a little fabric and it sews together rather quickly too. This style and size bag would be perfect for a teen or a younger girl (you would need to shorten the strap for a young girl) too. It's great for when you don't want to carry a lot and want your hands free too. Thank you Swoon for this sweet pattern.

I used a decorative stitch down the middle of the strap and even got brave using a contrasting pink thread. I sewed the strap into the side top gusset instead of sewing strap tabs with rings on the sides.

This is a very small bag. Just large enough to hold a few essentials like a small wallet, phone & keys.

The back has a slip pocket.

Back slip pocket.

This bag has sold.

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My Zipper Pull Tutorial is Showcased

Pam of Threading My Way has showcased my Zipper Pull Tutorial with Beads and a Charm. Thanks Pam!

Pam also featured my Lunar Bag on June 11th too.

It always feels good when something I make is featured on another blog.
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Civil War Reproduction Fabric Crazy Quilt Pillows

Mr. P asked me to make him a couple of pillows for our bench. I asked him what he wanted exactly and he asked if I had any more fabric left from the Civil War reproduction (Twister) quilt I made him a few years ago. I did have a lot of scraps left, so he asked for a crazy quilt style and he wanted both sides of the pillow made that way. He was very specific that he did not want the back to have a flap (for inserting the pillow form). It took me a day to make the crazy pieced front and back sections and then I sewed them the sides and stuffed in the pillow forms the next day. He really likes them and I am happy that he does.

Here are the 2 pillows, side A.

Here is side B for the pillows.

I started them all with a 5 sided shape and sewed pieces all around log cabin style.

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2016 Quilt Block Contest

I entered the Quilt Block Contest this year (QBC) from Sisters, Oregon. It's part of the annual contest they have in conjunction with the Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show. I received 5 fabrics and had to make a 9.5" unfinished quilt block. You can make any block you want, but you must use all 5 fabrics. You can embellish the block any way you want to using a variety of materials too.

Here is the block I came up with. I used machine stitches and hand embroidered French Knots, added a bit of yarn with metallic thread, sewed on buttons and added some crystals to the block. I am quite pleased with how it turned out.

The teachers who will be teaching the entire week before the quilt show will vote on their 5 favorite blocks. Then they tally them up and the one with the most votes wins the best in show and receives $50 plus a number of blocks, including their own block back, and some fabric to use for borders and binding. The other winners will receive a number of the blocks, including their own and some fabric too, just no cash award. There are usually 5 top blocks chosen as winners, although that number can be more or less depending on how many entries they receive in the contest. I was lucky enough to win some blocks in 2 different years in the past, but I haven't won the best in show.

Here is my block for this year. I think it is the best one I have entered so far.

I added some orange crystals and some clear crystals in the center. 

A bird. Lots of French knots in a variegated floss.

I added a touch of metallic yarn next to the yellow machine embroidery stitches.

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The Walker's Water Bottle Sling

I bought this pattern by Whistlepig Creek at a recent quilt and craft show. I really needed a place to carry a water bottle when I am walking, especially in this hot weather. The sling is made using an insulating material (I used Insul-Bright), so hopefully it will keep my water cooler longer. The pattern is well written and goes together fairly quickly too. You have the option of adding one or two pockets (front or back or both) and you can add a flap to the pocket(s) or not. I chose to make 2 pockets and I added flaps to both because I didn't want anything to fall out. The pockets will fit a cell phone, keys, a small snack, driver license, etc. Plus the pockets have a pleat at the bottom so that they can expand a bit. Here is my sling~

I used batik fabrics on the outside and a light denim inside. I bought the main batik fabric on sale at a local quilt shop when they had all fat quarters on sale for only $2! The batik I used for the strap and base I already had.

Besides the topstitching along the edges, I sewed a wavy stitch down the center.

I also added another stitch at the base here.

I used Velcro closure and sewed a sweet little heart button on the flap.

The light denim lining is quilted to Insul Bright.

I wanted to buy a water bottle for my sling, but didn't want plastic and the stainless steel ones were rather pricey, so I found a bottle of Virgil's root beer at the local food co-op and bought it mainly for the bottle. I later saw empty bottles like this for sale at an import store costing a bit more! May as well buy the bottle with something inside for a few pennies less. I love this bottle as it's totally leak proof and the cap is attached so I can't lose the cap that way. Best of all it fits perfectly inside my new water bottle sling! Yay!

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Tutorial for Making a Zipper Pull With Beads & a Charm

I have had some requests for a tutorial on how I make my zipper pulls, so I will show you how through a series of photos. I was going to try and learn how to do a video tutorial, but I haven't had the time to even learn how to use the video yet.

The pdf version of this tutorial is on Makerist and if  you click on the Makerist logo on the right side of my blog, you will be taken to all of my patterns at Makerist and will see this one there to click on.

These zipper pulls add a nice touch for any bag that you make and are really useful too, especially for those zippers that do not have a large enough metal pull on them already.

Please go to Makerist for the pdf. Thank you.

Here is an example of my beaded zipper pull with a charm.

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One Ringy Dingy, Two Ringy Dingies (Call Me Maybe)

I was lucky enough to win a copy of Lara Buccella's new book, Crafted Applique...New Possibilities  and wanted to try something small to test out Lara's method. Lara Blogs at Buzz in Bumble. Lara did a free tutorial of her Call me Maybe telephone appliqué for this cute rotary dial telephone as a guest blogger on Sew Mama Sew last month*. Of course Lily Tomlin's character, Ernestine the telephone operator came to mind as I was working on this appliqué. (See update at end of this post).

I love both Lara's appliqué method and this cute telephone!

I used some tiny rickrack instead of cutting out fabric for the cord. I fused the rickrack down using the same method as the fabrics and it worked great! I think the rickrack looks more like those curly phone cords. Remember how the cord would twist up and you had to drop the receiver to let the cord untangle?

I ended up hand stitching around the dials because my straight stitching on applique just isn't too neat! These were too tiny to machine stitch straight.

I am so pleased how this cute telephone came out. Thanks Lara for writing a wonderful book! There are definitely some new possibilities to explore using your appliqué method. You will be seeing a lot more appliqué from me.

*Update: Unfortunately, Sew Mama Sew site appears it is no longer active (as so many bloggers have left their blogs 😢). I am afraid the tutorial where this appliqué telephone was given as a free tutorial is no longer there either. You can try contacting Lara Buccella to see if she will give or sell you the pattern? Also, the Call Me Maybe telephone appliqué is not in her book.

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