Fabric Buckets

I have been making a bunch of fabric buckets for an upcoming craft sale. Really, I wanted to keep them all.  So cute and useful.

 I can't stop making them. 

They are great for scraps- either for scrapbooking or sewing.  Putting cosmetics or toiletries in.  They are very firm and stable.

If you are wondering why the labels say Pipers Moon, its because that is the name of my Etsy Shop.

Mini Duffle Bag

I have a thing for cosmetic /travel bags.  I love them.  I can't get enough of them.  Two years ago my friend gave me one for Christmas that she made.  I loved it and have been wanting to make a few ever since.

I had borrowed this book- Sewing the Seasons by Sandi Henderson; Wiley from the library and in it were instructions for this bag.  I decided to make the medium sized one, Its about 9 inches long, 4 inches high 6 inches wide. The book dimensions seem off to me- though it could be me.  Another thing I didn't like about the book and wondered if there was a page missing, is that the whole part about what do after you cut the corners, seemed to be totally missing. Luckily I searched the Internet for a similar pattern and found out how to do the corners.

Having said that there are a lot of cute things in the book.  I haven't tried any of the other patterns yet. There is a cute little tote in there but really I am on tote overload.

I love how the bag turned out. I didnt make it reversible as the pattern said.  I much prefer it one sided.  Seems like a lot of trouble for something I would not particularly use.

Never even noticed the 'Bring Me' printing on the bag until just now.

Some Days Yah Get 'Er Done... Some Days You Don't

 

Its funny, some days I go like a house on fire.  Getting a ton of stuff done in record time.  I sit at night and say to myself, whoa, I am feeling so good, I was able to get this and that done.  Other days, you cant drag me hard enough to get some stuff done.  Its like I am moving through mud.  And from what I understand this revolves around hormone cycles... figures. 

Yesterday was one of those get a lot of stuff done days. 

I picked up this little wooden crib at a garage sale two years ago for about five dollars.  It was enjoyed by my daughter for about a year and then it just fell apart.  But it fell apart at the seams.  I set it aside and figured I would glue and screw the thing back together again.  Well, I pulled it out and discovered that the wood screws that were in there were way too short.  So I swapped them out and now it is much sturdier- no glue needed. 

Since it was such a piece of crumb cake and I was so excited about getting it done, I made a little pad to put in it.  This way her dollies dont have to rest right on the wood.  Pretty uncomfortable, yah know.

A Bird in the Hand

A bird or two or three or four ( I am so addicted there probably will be more).  I can't stop making these pretty little birds.  I saw them on DIY with Kim and Chris, printed out the instructions (you can find it here) and have been goin' crazy with scraps.  I think I sew more with my scraps then I do with my collection of fabrics.  Well, no, I know I sew more with my scraps.

So here are some of my little chickadees.

Barbie Clothes 1

I have to secretly tell you about my newest adventure. Making Barbie clothes. I tell you in secret as they will be for Christmas for my girls. This one, although I followed the Just Crafty Enough idea of the week for Project Project Runway, I will not be joining. I just don't want to commit to something I may not be able to do at this time.

I have been spending my time finding patterns for Barbie clothes on the internet and at some time I will post them. This one I just made without a pattern.

What to do with my Farmer's Wife

It's a conundrum.  I have so much color going on in my blocks.  Well, too much color, really.  It is very difficult, at least for me, to decide how to set this one up.  Depressing really. So I set it aside.  I thought nothing really looks good with this.  Sashing doesn't set the colors far enough apart.  Too much chaos in this quilt.  I thought I had better set it with black or white?  Straight up and down or on point....  ???

 I dunno.

I even tried a different design.  I thought this would be kind of cool so I cut up all the white and sewed it together and thought it look rather silly.  Then I ripped it all out.  I did actually rip out that lavender block (the one in the inner square bottom left) that was sewed wrong and redo that one too.

Any suggestions on where to go from here?

Hearts That Found a Home

I have not been to many garage sales this year.  That's okay because sometimes I ge tthings I might not necessarily need.  I did find this pile of hand appliqued hearts.  I said to the woman who appliqued them, "are you sure you want to get rid of those?"  I appreciate the time that went into these.  I bought the pile for a dollar.  I will put something together because I don't want all that energy and time she spent to just sit there unloved.

The older fabric/Civil war type stuff and Americana is not my style.  While I like to look at it and have an appreciation, it just doesn't fit in my house.  Eventually I will find the right person to give it too.

Design Wall Monday: Autumn

I know it's not Autumn yet but I want it to be here.  It is my favorite season.  If I sew it then maybe it will arrive faster.

The two on top are totes for my kids for Halloween.  I am not sure about the pumpkins yet, probably a table runner.

I am not very verbose here but I wanted to share my Design Wall.  Click here to go to Patchwork Times and see bunch of other designs.  I wanted to say plethora but you know, it just didnt feel right on a blog.

The Farmer's Wife Quilt: Week 11

The Spool #84

The Spider Web #83

Lightening #92

The Farmer's Wife Quilt Along- week #10

Prairie Queen #70

Nope, I didn't do Iron Craft this week.  I had every intention.  My daughter was pretty sick so my energy was focused somewhere else.  And why do I have like, seven blocks this week?  Well I did manage to make two this week.  Then I started looking at my design wall and the wall on my flickr page and saw that I had not posted some.

Gentleman's Fancy #44

Calico Puzzle #16

Contrary Wife #21

Friendship

Bat Wings #5

Farmers Daughter #32

Design Wall Monday

I am new to design wall Monday. My friend, Jan, over at Quilting Revolution told me about it.  I was suppose to start posting it last week but fell a little behind the 8 ball.  If you'd liek to join in or check out what everyone else is up to then head on over to Patchwork Times.

Here is the complete bag.  It's huge.  I wanted it carry things to retreat.  I had seen it when I went on a Quilters retreat with my local quilting bee.  This woman had it.  She didn't have a pattern.  She told me that you just make it howver big you want and reduce the bottom row from each side by two.  I looked online to see if I could find something similar but didnt come up with anything.  I decided to wing it.  What the heck.  Live on the edge.

Picked out my fabric, cut squares and put it up on my make shift design wall.  My design wall is a tablecloth hung up with the wrong side facing out; tacked into place.  It may not be the most fashionable thing but it gets the job done.

I have been using this same fabric for my Farmers Quilt.

The squares are 5 1/2 by 5 1/2 inches.

I used purple for my sandwich.  I wasn't thinking because I should have used just plain muslin.  I was going to put a lining in anyhow.  Make and learn.  Right?

Added handles and lining.  I also added a loop to hook over on the other side.  I also added ties on the side when I sewed my front and back together.  This helps to give the honking thing some shape.  Because let me tell you, this thing is HUGE, honking huge!

When you sew up all the bottom you form a gusset without having to cut off the triangles and such.

All in all I love the bag.  It's very feminine and cheerful.

The Farmers Wife: Week 9

Duck and Ducklings #28

Evening Star #31

Iron Craft Challenge: Hot, Hot, Hot!

Yep, its been hot here too.  Like many places across the USA, we have been in the midst of a heat wave.  Can I tell you frankly that I hate the heat.  Anything is too hot when it gets over 75F, at least for me.  I am perfectly content with the weather when it is 30F.  After living in Phoenix, Arizona, I gladly moved back to the North East for the colder temps.  Around here, I really can't say that too loud, 'cause besides me and my neighbor, we are the only ones that like the cold. So shhh.

Iron Craft challenge this week was Hot, hot, hot!  I have been wanting to make this pillow case dress for a while.  Iron Craft gave me the much needed push to make it.  I have to tell you that you can whip one of these off in like, an hour, tops and that includes finding the pillow case and ribbon.

I found a few links that may be helpful if you want to make one.  Here is a video on You Tube.
And here is a step by step written explanation from Dresses for Africa.  You can donate some if you like!

Iron Craft: Stripes

I wasnt in the mood for red white and blue.  I did do stripes though.  I am so happy I actually got it done in time.  Wahoo!

An Auction and One Beautiful Quilt Later

About a month ago our local quilt shop/Bernina store was holding an auction of quilt tops and some other items- table runners and what not.  Whatever money you spent in the store you received in paper money for the auction. It was a blast.  I had never been to an auction before.

I had about 200 in play money.  I bid on several quilt tops but when the bidding got to high, I backed out.  My goal was to walk out of there with at least on quilt top.

This one I wanted because I have always loved ocean things- mainly fish and it is totally perfect for children. 

I lucked out and won the bid!  Yeah!

I decided to use it as my experiment quilt since I did not painstakingly piece the top together.  I saw this technique of pinning the quilt to the wall and spray basting it together- no bending over.  It worked like a charm.  So much so that I basted two more quilts that day.  If you want to check out how to do it, click on this link for a great tutorial.

One of the ladies in my quilting bee uses this technique as a quick, machine way of attaching the binding.  I figured the wavey pattern was perfect for this quilt.

This was also the first time I stippled a large quilt.

I am happy to say that it was pretty much a success!

Once Upon A Lily Pad- props and costume

My daughter's group of teachers has a play every year.  No other teacher group does this.  We are so very happy to be with these teachers.  They do 110 percent really, all the time.  They have been loving and caring and I could not ask for a better group of teachers over the past couple years.

THe play they put on this year was Once Upon A Lilypad.  My daughter was a blue jay. I whipped together a very simplistic costume for her.  I had volunteered last year to help out with the props.  In the midst of everything we had a death in our family but somehow I was able to pull it all together.  I made the lily pad above.  It is big enough for two children to sit on. 

 I used an old sheet that my Mother had given me.  Sometimes those saved things come in handy.

I also had some high loft batting she gave me and some pale green felt that I picked up at a garage sale years ago.  Happy to use that too.

My younger daughter had to get in on the action to so here she is sewing her first project- a mini lily pad. 

There are the bright lights of the play!

Here is my older daughter in her costume.  The beak kinda blends in with the driveway in the background, but you get the idea.

Here are the kids, singing their tunes. They did a SUPER job!  So proud of my girls: for the play and learning to sew but really every day I am glad to be their Mom and I am very happy for who they are!