OK.....Here we go!

I've loved quilts for as long as I can remember and I've always wanted to learn to make them myself. Recently I've dipped my little toe into the quilting pond by making a table runner and a quilted bag, but a "real" quilt still seemed a bit overwhelming! I bought the fabric and the pattern and I've just been admiring it for weeks now. But today I'm going to get started. It's time to really dive in. Over the next few weeks I'll post my progress. We'll see how this all works out :) It could be the start of a whole new love affair.

Yesterday I did a bit of sewing for my sweet daughter in law, April :)



April asked me if I could make some flannel "baby wipes" for Sofia. She uses cloth diapers and flannel wipes and of course I said "yes".  I love the soft pink flannel. Way cuter than boring white :)




April also asked about a zipper bag to keep little things organized in her diaper bag. She picked the fabrics herself. I love this Cosmo Cricket yellow fabric! And it looks cute with her diaper bag too!





Red Canvas + Cosmo Cricket + Sweetwater = Happy!

 I loved the tote bag that I made last week from the upcycled shower curtain so much that I decided that I needed to make another one right away! I used red cotton canvas for the outside and the lining is from the Cosmo Cricket "Early Bird" collection. And because I'm totally obsessed with Sweetwater's fabric labels, I had to add one to this bag as well! I added the extra pockets inside and the re-enforced bottom.

How cute is the Happy Happy Happy label?

I mean seriously?

I know it makes me happy!

Fabulous Friday!

We finally made it to Turtle Rock Park! We brought old bread along and the boys had such a great time feeding the ducks!



I love this picture! We live in the city and I love when the boys get a chance to be outside enjoying nature.




My adventure boys!

  

What could be better than having your snacks at the top of the slide? (Or the "Rescue Ship" as they called it :) They had a long hard day of saving the world.....that makes anyone hungry right?



I just had to show you how cute Sofie's carseat turned out! Definately not FTS....but definately worth it :)



Is Nana feeling better now?

 I was planning on taking my 2 oldest grandsons to visit their cousin and go to a fun park that is new to them. I've been saving old bread to feed the ducks and the boys have been excited about going. But Wednesday and Thursday have been rough days for me and I wasn't able to leave the house at all. I hate dissappointing the boys. In the meantime I decided to finally make the sun shade for the car seat I re-covered a few weeks ago for little Miss Sofie. It makes me happy to think of her looking up and seeing nothing but pink and orange flowers above her :) I also made her mommy one of those handy hand santizer holders. At first, Sofie wasn't a fan of pacifiers but she has recently decided that pacifiers are pretty cool after all, so I made her a couple of leashes and the cute little bag to hold them as well. My daughter in law had told the boys that I wasn't feeling well so we would have to go to the park on a different day. While I was talking to her on the phone I could hear Elijah, our oldest grandson, in the background.... "Mom.....is Nana feeling better now?" It's so nice to know that they look forward to seeing me and spending time with me :)

My grandsons rock!

I think that today looks like a very good day for the park :)



Shower Curtain - Tote Bag Upcycle

Before

After

A month or so back, I ran across this fabulous cotton canvas shower curtain at my favorite thrift store for $1.91. You KNOW I had to have it! I knew that I wanted to make some kind of tote bag, but I needed fabric to co-ordinate with it. I ended up taking the shower curtain with me to M & L Yardage and found this great fabric called "Mod Charm" by Anthology. It was exactly what I was looking for! And at $4.98 a yd it was perfect! I used this great free tutorial that I came across over at Noodlehead. Seriously....you need to jump over there and bookmark this one! The tutorial is very easy to follow and totally FTS! I love everything about this bag! In my opinion, it's the perfect size! Love love love it!!!



These fully lined outside pockets are wonderful!

I added a divided pocket to the inside for my keys and cel phone. I also added 2 rows of top stitching around the top edge and down the center of the outside pocket for some added detail.

I love the added detail of the strip of bias along the pocket edge!

I wanted to give my bag a bit more stability. I cut a piece of plastic canvas that is just a tiny bit smaller that the base of the bag.

I tacked it loosely to the inside of the bag so that it wasn't too rigid. Then I flipped the bag inside out through the lining opening and stitched it closed.

Overall I love this bag! These are not my colors at all, but I think I'm going to keep this one for myself. The tote only takes 1/2 yd of fabric and 1/2 yd of lining. I spent $2.50 for lining fabric and $3.00 for the handles and less than 50 cents for the outer fabric. I'd say that's a great deal! I have so much of the shower curtain left over. I'm thinking pillows maybe?

Tiny Cuteness :)

Back in the early 80's besides rockin' the spikey short hair and HUGE earrings (yes...I really thought I looked WAY cool at the time), I was sewing baby clothes while my kidlets were napping, to sell at the local swap meet on Saturdays. I was a stay at home mommy of 2 and it brought some extra cash into our household. Back then, I could sew an entire outfit for my daughter for about 85 cents for the fabric.

 Butterick #3088 was my "go to" pattern of choice for my little side business. I bought it in every size. Back in those days you had to buy multiple patterns if you wanted multiple sizes. It's a perfectly adorable basic jumper for boys and girls. Totally cute and totally FTS (fun to sew). I can remember cutting out 4 or 5 at a time in different fabrics and then sewing them up in no time. I even took custom orders and made matching outfits for siblings. There are patterns that are just classic and don't go out of style. And when they are simple in design, you have lots of room for embellishing or adding your own "flair". Even using these old patterns with the new fun designer fabrics makes some totally adorable little outfits! For this little jumper and hat for Evie I used Riley Blake's Quite Contrary and mixed it with some Robert Kaufmann fuchsia polka dots and some pink gingham. You could add ruffles at the bottom, or giant rick rack, the possibilities are endless!  What old patterns do you have stashed away that you could breathe some new life into?

It's a BIG day for my little Etsy shop :)

A few weeks ago Alicia from La Famille wrote on her blog that she would like to share some love with some fellow Etsy shops by featuring them on her blog. 

 She said she would choose 5 shops, one for each day this week.

 And guess what? Today it's me!

 Alicia is super talented and has a fantastic Etsy shop herself.

 She was featured in Country Living Magazine last month!

 How cool is that?

So hop on over to La Famille today and share my excitement

and check out the other crafty goodness as well!