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Sunday, June 26, 2011

Sew Much Fabric...Sew Little Time!

Hello Everyone!
I love my little sign in my sewing room. It's so true...I have lots of ideas spinning in my head since the summer has begun! But I have finished a few things too. So, I thought I would show you the beginning, middle or end of the following "sewing stories"!!!

First, here is the end of a two month cutting spree I had after reading a great book called Scrap Therapy. I had a lot of dear Sis Boom scraps that had been building up and I couldn't think what to do with them. That's when this book hit home and made a way for me to usefully cut and store my "scraps". Here are the three completed boxes of scraps:

                                                                                   
My finished boxes


Cutting, cutting, cutting!
Clockwise from top: Fat quarter and half yard cuts. Box of 2" and 3.5" squares. Box of 5" squares.










I am starting a few other sets of boxes with other fabric and theme novelty fabric as well. I am hoping to make some of the great Scrap Therapy Quilts and projects with these in the fall. 
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Does your coupon holder look like this?



Well, my hubby (who loves to coupon) was lugging around this awful holder which was too stuffed to even find anything in. So, for Father's Day, I made him a new one. Not only that, I wrote a tutorial for how you can make one too! Yaa! It's currently being tested by a few people to make sure it makes sense and "works". As soon as we are all happy with it, I will put it up for anyone who would like it! So here it is:
Back of organizer with two loops and velcro to attach to the shopping cart...hands free!!!
 Inside with 8 dividers:
 Plenty of space for coupons!
As a matter of fact, my hubby is reorganizing his coupons into the organizer as I write this post! So, I guess he likes it!
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Devon's Sewing Story:

My little seamstress loves to hang out with me while I am sewing and this is a cute little apron she made up! She cut all of the blue circles and glued them down. Then I helped her stitch down the blue center and ribbon...whalaaa...an apron!

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I also tested another pattern for Carla and Jennifer. This one is going to be a hit! It's the girl version of the adult shift dress I made last month......isn't it adorable?
Brooklyn wore it out to dinner the other weekend...it was cute and comfy and she loved it!


 Rockin it out! LOL!
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A Quilt that will get done someday! 
When I first decided to learn to quilt (2008) and get started sewing again, I bought this cute quilt kit at Joann's on sale. I thought that would make it easier. It turned out to be pretty challenging because it involved embroidery and stuff like that. I started it and then got very involved with making children's clothing in the mean time. I also purchased an embroidery/sewing machine and spent a good year working with that. Every once in a while I would take out the quilt and do a block. So this year (2011) I finally decided to finish my quilt. I had made a large quilt in the mean time......

That gave me confidence to try to finish this quilt! (Plus I redid my sewing room and felt ready!) I used my embroidery machine to add fun designs and the quilt top was complete! Yaa! Then I ordered backing fabric and pieced it together. Finally, I started layering, pinning, basting and quilting the quilt....




Here's where I am today on it. I stitched all the block and border edges and now I am working on quilting each block!

It's going to be a long process. And then there is the binding....I'll keep you posted on this story....more like an epic. Ha!
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Now, because the quilt above was so large, I decided to start a smaller quilt project with some very colorful fabric from Me and My Sister. I have to say that I love their fun and spunky prints and colors. So, I had this pretty quilt pattern that was the first pattern I ever bought! But it was too big! So I decided to let it inspire me and I drew out a small version.....
Then I collected some cute charms and fabric from Me and My Sister to complete the quilt with:
 Then I worked out how I was going to put this thing together! LOL!!!


So really this was the start of a Sewing Story....and I will have to finish this one up after I do the following project.

See I told you I was going crazy picking out projects.....
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I follow lots of sewing and quilting blogs including Qubee Quilts. Well, when Charlie asked if I wanted to join a Christmas Quilt Along, I said, "Sure, why not!" I quickly picked out and purchased some cute Moda Christmas fabric...and I am very excited for  our quilt along...it's not too late to join either. Check it out!

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Finally, I have been ordering some cute notions and sale fabric ( seriously, the Fat Quarter Shop is addicting!!!)   Ok so first, I ordered a bunch of knit fabric by Patty Young while it was on sale...yaaaaa.....I really want to learn how to work with it and maybe make some cute tops or dresses.
 I also ordered these two yo-yo makers....gotta try that too! I love the dimension it adds to projects!

Did I say I was done? Opps....look what came yesterday???? Whahoooo!!!! I have been waiting for these two Slice Fabrique Design Cards to be released! And I also bought some of the cutest Riley Blake fabric to go  with it.  Oh I have plans for this one!!!!


Even I am drooling over this one....I really think this is the cutest fabric....sigh! :) I bought it on Etsy from Treasure Bay Fabric. Great service!
Here are the cards up close! This is Critter Jamboree by Shari Butler....
 And this is Paris Apartment by Bari J Ackerman....so shabby chic...love!

I think I am in heaven....well sort of! At least I will be busy making things with all of this! So there you have it. The beginning, middle and end of several sewing stories for you!

Thanks for reading along!!! Do you have a sewing story project you would like to share? Please let me know!

Monday, June 13, 2011

Fabric Portfolio and Notepad Holder

Hello!
I am back again to show you a neat gift idea. It wasn't my idea but it is a great one! A fellow blogger and seamstress, Lindsay, aka Cottage Mama, came up with  this fabulous tutorial. Fabulous because I could easily follow her instructions and complete a bunch of these in the same weekend! Yahoo!


So here goes! 
Step one, pick out some fabric combos. I was pulling fabric off of the shelf and seeing how they looked together.
I had to make four notebooks so this is what I came up with. (I also used sticky notes to label each fabric part).
















Second, I picked up some supplies at the dollar store....


Next, I followed the tutorial and sewed them up! (The girls came in and checked on me when they snapped this pic!)


I made two on Saturday and two on Sunday. The directions and pictures really helped! I even tried covered buttons. Now I am totally hooked on them! My daughter suggested adding some ric-rac and I also used different types of decorative stitching. Since I had elastics, I added in an elastic to hold a pen on the inside. 

Next thing I knew, I was finished!






















I was thinking these would be perfect gifts for my daughter's teachers....great for their next faculty meeting! 





I would just like to thank the Cottage Mama for sharing her great tutorial! Go check it out!!!! She has a fabulous website/blog/store!

I am making a few dresses for the girls next...so keep checking back! Have a great week!
Love,
Cathy