different shapes

In December and January I did a fair amount of sewing.  My niece made a hexagon pot holder, which inspired me to do the same.  I figured I would try a circle, too, and was pleased with the one in the picture.  

50 Little Gifts

50 Little Gifts complied by Susanne Woods is a book worth looking at if you are interested in sewing some hand made gifts.  I have made some of the projects.  

One idea that was unique to the book was the memory game.

This little basket is another project that went together quickly.

I also made a water bottle holder.  

More projects in the book are a checkbook cover, a variety of bags and pouches, a baby bib, and a few pincushions.  

Sewing

One thing nice about summer is chunks of time to sew when I am not tired from teaching.  I made a few zipper pouches this summer for gifts-this one was my favorite.

I also am working on two different quilt tops.  The pinwheels are going to be a quilt for me.

 This quilt is going to be a graduation gift. 

sewing

This week as I am off school, so I have taken time to do some sewing.  Here are some pot holders that I made with scraps from my scrap bin.  My favorite is the one with the tiny squares...(one inch finished).  My sister is the master of using scraps.  I can see how it can be addictive.

pin cushions

I have been making pin cushions.  The first one I made I followed the directions for one called a skinny pinnie from my sister Amanda's book No Scrap Left Behind.  I made it last Monday, and since then I finished eight more pin cushions.  Once you make a couple, they do go together rather quickly.  The biggest challenge was to thread the needle with invisible thread to sew them closed.   The blue and green one and the pink and gray one are among my favorites.   I liked making these because they really use scraps-of fabric, batting, and interfacing.  It will be fun giving them away to my sewing friends.

quilt camp

Last week I went to an organized quilt camp for the first time.  My sister Amanda was the teacher for the weekend.  While many people had their own projects to work on, I decided to try making the pineapple block that she showed.  It was good that I was at a class or I may not have ever really figured it out.  I made six blocks, then realized I am going to need more cream/white fabric prints. 

So I made a few other things, including this placemat that uses Good Neighbors fabric from Connecting Threads.  The back is some cute bunny fabric and scraps from my sister's stash.  When I finished, I decided that I liked the back better than the front. 

more than I expected

Sometimes when I start a project, it is hard to know how much time it is going to take.  Making these hexagons is an enjoyable process even though it takes time.  While in Guatemala I got a good start...but then I ran out of fabric scraps.  One day in the summer or early fall,  my sister gave me some more scraps...and yesterday I was looking through my fabric, but it looks like I am going to need lots more. It is a good project for these long winter evenings.  Maybe I can get the blocks done by the time we are done with a Minnesota winter. 

zipper pouches

This week I have been doing a little bit of sewing besides the quilt I am working on.  I made this red, white, and blue zipper pouch.  It has a boxed bottom so it can stand up and hold something that is not really flat.  The bottom part did involve some trial and error, making it smaller than I originally planned on. 

This is the other zipper pouch.  It is flat, but still holds a variety of items.   It will be a gift for a little girl I know.  Zipper pouches go together rather quickly, I plan on making several more to add to my gift stash for my travels. 

weekend sewing

Sewing for me is often reserved for weekends because I have bigger chunks of time to work on projects.  Here is a pot holder I made for a bridal shower I went to on Saturday afternoon.  It doesn't take long to make one of these and it makes the gift unique.

A few simple bags I will use as gifts.  Sometimes when I am giving a bag like this as a gift, I make several so the recipient can choose the one that she likes best.  I have been making these kinds of bags for at least three years and like how quickly they go together. 

And the binding I put on a coworker's king sized quilt.  She doesn't like binding and I don't mind it.  This is the third quilt I have done the binding on in exchange for home cooked meals.  Binding a king sized quilt is a bit different than most of the ones that I make for myself.  King sized quilts are just so BIG.  I haven't ever made anything of that size and have no plans to do so anytime soon. 

finishes

This week has been a decent week for finishing things.  The most prominent finish in my mind is finishing the school year.  I am checked out and done for another school year.  Despite it being the last week of school, I got a few other things finished, too.

I found time to reread the two novels above-How Sweet It Is by Alice J. Wisler and Sisterchicks on the Loose! by Robin Jones Gunn.  They were both worth rereading.  I would recommend Wisler's book to anyone who likes baking.  Gunn's book is for people who like to read about adventure and friendship. 

 

I also made four pot holders.  They make nice end of the school year surprises.  

This quilt top got put together, as well.  I started it back in April.  I think I am going to add a border so it is a bit larger.  Have you finished anything this week?

Snow Day Sewing

Yesterday I had the day off because of snow.  Since my taxes are done (I did those on the March snow day) and I didn't have a book I was dying to read, I shoveled snow for a good hour and then I started a quilt. The inspiration for this quilt can be found on my sister's blog. I am not making it big enough for a bed, but leaning toward a baby sized quilt. If that is the case, all my nine patch blocks are done. It just needs sashing and borders.

a simple bag

On Monday, I made this reversible bag.  Finished I think it measured about nine inches by twelve inches.  The handles are around eighteen inches long.  The inside is pink fabric with white polka dots.  It is a custom made bag-a friend of mine doesn't sew and asked me if I could make bags for her to give as gifts to both her niece and nephew.  The bag for her nephew is made from baseball print fabric and a similar one can be seen here.  The thing I like about making these simple bags is I can complete one in less than an hour.  What is one of your favorite craft projects? 

new things

Three new things to blog about...

Number one is the quilt top I finished this week.  I won ten single yard cuts of solid fabric last year when I was in Kansas City with my sewing sister for the International Quilt Market.  I think I have enough fabric from the bundle to piece it together for the back.

The second new thing is the book Nora's Chicks written by Patricia MacLachlan and illustrated by Kathryn Brown.  Nora moves with her father, mother, and baby brother from Russia to the prairie of the United States.  She misses her old home and wants a friend in the new place she is living.  When her father brings home some chicks, she has new friends, but having new chicks eventually helps her become friends with a girl her age.  It was a well written book that I plan on sharing with my students, nieces, and nephews.

The third new thing is my writing sister's new website.  It can be found at www.anitadualeh.weebly.com.  I really like the image she chose for her home page.

Have you made anything new or found anything new lately?

sewing for a baby shower

This weekend I did some sewing for a baby.  Nothing like a deadline (there was a shower on Sunday) to get something done.  My friend is expecting a girl so I figured sewing some cute girl clothes would provide a personalized gift.  This little dress is made from Simplicity pattern 9602.  Even though it is the fourth or fifth time I used this pattern, it didn't seem much easier than the first time.  

I used the directions and pattern from Lotta Jansdotter's book, Simple Sewing for Baby to make the bloomers.  The title was accurate...it was simple sewing and the directions were well written.  The only thing I didn't like was there wasn't any approximate length of elastic to use for the elastic around the waist and legs.

In addition to the bloomers, I made these pants as well.  It probably took less than a half hour to make them. If you stumble across this book somewhere, it is definitely taking a look at.  It is a user friendly book for sewing, and I learned some things about clothes construction as well.  Someday soon I hope to try making the dress pattern from this book. 

making things

Making things makes me happy. Here are a few things I have made lately. Above are two blank books I sewed together. I LOVE making books cause you can choose the size and color to fit anything.

I made the pillowcase last evening and it might be a Christmas present. Pillowcases are easy and this kind only takes a yard of fabric and less than an hour if all goes well. Not a bad investment for a handmade gift.


The card is small (less than three inches by three inches) but will make a nice gift tag or little note for someone. I like projects that can be done in just one sitting, but I probably won't give up making quilts, cause they make great gifts for big occasions. What do you like to make?

bags

Here are two bags that I made following a pattern I found at morsbags.com. I adjusted the pattern a bit so I only need a half a yard of fabric. If you are an experienced seamstress, you could probably get one of these bags done in less than an hour. There are some French seams so there are no raw edges exposed when it is complete. This bag is a great quick project to make for a gift for a friend.

baby bibs

I am on summer vacation, but I seem to have plenty to do. Part of it is self-inflicted because I want to feel like I am doing something with all my time. And really, when I am not working it is a good chance to get some projects done. So one of my goals is to complete 10 baby bibs. Then when I need a baby gift I have something to pull out of my box to add to a children's book or two. These are two baby bibs I made this spring...so when I get done with my ten (I have five finished already) I will have a dozen. The bibs aren't hard to make if you have sewing experience. The thing that takes the longest is the binding. If you like to sew you can look at this link on my sister's blog and get the directions to make them yourself.

Do you have any summer projects?