Giveaway I Won

I just found out I won a giveaway from Prairie Sewn Studios. I haven't received it yet, but I know it will be even better in person. I won a fabric vase. Linda and Laura are a mother and daughter team who wrote a book together and blog together, even though they live in different states. The book is called, Contain It! English Paper-Pieced Accessories. There is a fabric vase on the cover of the book. I am such a container freak as I love boxes, bags, etc.

Here is the cover of their book and you can order it directly from Linda and Laura or on Amazon or American Quilter Society too. Thanks Laura and Linda I am looking forward to receiving my vase.

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Blue Dew Drop Knit Cowl

My friend Tara gave me some yarn recently and I was drawn to the beautiful blue color of this yarn. I decided to knit a cowl and thought the Dew Drop Cowl would work for this yarn. It's an easy pattern to knit. I had an earlier version of this pattern and it was a long knit. There is an updated version in a shorter length now too.

Wrapped around a few times.

Wrapped twice around.

Close-up.

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Scrappy Green Zipper Pouches

I wanted to use up some scraps of fabric and my batting scraps too so I decided to make some scrappy zipper pouches. Sometimes I just mix up my fabric scrap colors, other times I like to use one color family of scraps. So I decided to grab my bag of green fabric scraps and make several zipper pouches. I ended up with 10 small bags and one that is slightly larger. I still have plenty more green scraps, but I thought that was enough to make for now. The green will be great for Saint Patrick's Day or Earth Day or for Christmas.

10 small and 1 large zipper pouches all in green fabrics.

The far right bag is the larger one and the rest are all smaller.

My friend Tara gave me some green fabrics that she didn't want and some of it was partially pieced together. I was going to donate it to one of my groups, but then thought of using some of it on these bags and it worked out great, since I needed small pieces. The fabric with the currency/money was one of those she gave to me and I thought it was a great fabric for a little bag like this and that fabric would make a cute wallet too. 

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Curious George Birthday Gifts

My daughter's boyfriend's nephew is turning 4 years old this month. He is the cutest little guy. His two favorite things are elevators and Curious George. I thought it would be fun to make a little quilt to hang on his wall of Curious George. So I surfed the internet looking for Curious George pictures and I found the absolute perfect one, which was a coloring book page of Curious George riding an elevator! How great was that? So I turned it into a quilt for Joey.

I also had a lunch box with Curious George on it that I wasn't really using. I had purchased it years ago around Christmas and it had some candy inside. I used to work at a local public library and a few times I wore a Curious George necktie. I don't wear the tie anymore either, so I decided I would give these things to Joey for his birthday because he loves Curious George so much and I was glad to give them to a cute little boy who would get some joy and use out of them.

Curious George Rides the Elevator quilt.

Curious George lunch box.

Curious George rides a bicycle neck tie.

All 3 Curious George gifts.

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Re-Organized Sewing Room

I used to have 2 sewing/crafting spaces. One room held my sewing machines and the other room held my cutting table, my fabric and my ironing table. Last week Mr. P. wanted to put the exercise equipment in the space that had my fabric, iron and cutting table. We had the re-bounder, the free weights, the weight bench, the mat and the sit-up thingamajig in the garage and it 's too cold this time of year out there. So I had to move it all out and put it in the other room. Well almost all of it out. The ironing table could stay and I got to move one sewing machine in the small table into that room with the exercise equipment. The large cutting table is now in the garage. Most everything else is all in my small sewing space. I organized some things, threw out some stuff and donated a couple of boxes of stuff too. I still have a lot of crap stuff, but I'm too worn out right now to purge any more things. I find it hard to know what to toss as I need my sewing and crafting supplies and some of the handmade things I love, but I could get rid of some of the ones I don't like as much. That stuff will be waiting for me another day because I didn't sew for 3 straight days because that's how long the rearranging took,

Then I needed to take my favorite sewing machine in for repair because the thread was getting jammed when I tried to free-motion quilt. So I cannot work on my bags for the bag of the month club until I can get my machine back. I could use another machine, but the one in for repair has more power since it's a semi-industrial and can handle the heavy layers, whereas my other machines struggle too much and then it's no fun for me or my machine. It will take 3 weeks before I get a call telling me what the repair will cost and then who knows how much longer before it gets repaired. So meanwhile I am working on other things that I can do on a different machine.

Here is my re-organized sewing space:

My sewing space has 2 doors that open into the room, but I now need to keep the one on the left closed so I have more space inside the room.

Closet on the left is stuffed full of supplies too.

My fabric is stored in wire drawers. These are the kind of drawers that you typically use in a closet space. I have a small portable design wall in front of the window. Those are the Quilter's Garden Blocks on there now. I got some curtains up now too. Mr. P. moved the curtains into the other room that were in this room.

Another view of the closet and the closed door on the left is giving me some space to put a couple of rolling carts that hold supplies and tools. Plus I have a hanging door thing with pockets that I made to hold some tools too.

Looking straight into the room. I do have an ironing board too, but prefer the ironing table in the other room. I have baskets of stuff under my table too. I am glad to have a sewing space all my own.

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2015 Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show Quilt Block Challenge

The quilt block challenge this year for the Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show (which is also the 40th anniversary of the show) is featuring fabrics designed by Tula Pink, called Moon Shine. Tula is also one of the Quilter's Affair teachers, who teach classes the week prior to the Outdoor Quilt Show. The fabric is presented by FreeSpirit Fabrics. You can find more information, including the contest rules here. The deadline for receiving the blocks is June 15, so you have plenty of time if you would like to enter the contest.

I have entered the contest myself  the past several years and I won an honorable mention 2 years in a row (2012 & 2013). It's a fun way to stretch your creativity by creating a quilt block. You never know if you will be one of the winners. You must use only the fabrics that are sent to you, but you can embellish with all sorts of things like buttons, beads, lace, trim, embroidery stitches, etc. The block can be appliqued or pieced or a combination.

Here are the 7 fabrics that were sent to me. Right now I am just looking at these until inspiration strikes and then I will create my quilt block. How about you? Want to join in on the fun and create a block too?

These are seven fabrics from the Moon Shine line designed by Tula Pink for FreeSpirit Fabrics. These are the fabrics for the quilt block challenge. You might receive these fabrics or some others from the line, or in a different colorway. They mix up the colors sent out, but you will receive a large solid for using as a background fabric if you do applique.

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Fairport Purse & Pouch

I tested a bag from a new designer, or at least Sara is new to me. The pattern is called the Fairport Purse and Pouch by Sara from Radiant Home Studio . She sells patterns and has a blog too. The Fairport Purse is larger and has grommets and a strap, whereas the pouch is a smaller version without grommets and you can add a wrist strap. I decided to make the larger of the two and then realized I didn't have grommets, so I made it into a large pouch, but didn't add the wrist strap in time. LOL!!! Still, it came out looking just fine and it's not so large that it really needs a strap anyhow. There are a lot of variations you can make to this bag, such as adding a shoulder or wrist strap or not, adding a pocket or not,adding a flap, etc. The yoke part on the bag would be a great place to add an applique or embroidery or patchwork. The pattern is written for a confident beginner, but those with more experience can add to this bag as it suits your needs or taste. You can purchase this or Sara's other patterns here. Without further ado here is my Fairport purse:

Here is my Fairport purse.

I added a divided pocket inside my purse. This pattern doesn't include pocket instructions, but it's easy to add a slip pocket if you want to.

This photo is the cover of Sara's pattern and show you the 2 bags in the 2 sizes. You can see here how it would look if you added a flap or either strap.

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