Monday, September 30

Guadalupe Zipper Pouches

With all the rain on Saturday, I got some sewing done. 
 
I made these two zipper pouches to donate to the Guadalupanas ladies group fundraiser at Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Church in Mission (my hometown).  My Mom is in the group.  I was actually baptized there as an infant and married there in 2004.   I've been wanting to make them something for a while. 
I have two versions...  This is first zip is made with a folklorico style print fabric, very modern.  
Inside I used a goldenrod tone on tone print fabric, it was the exact color in the flower print on the outside.  (I love it when I have the right colors in my stash).
The second one was is a realistic painting print.  I've had this for a long time and have been wanting to make "something" for a while.  I was so afraid the stipple quilting would look bad across the faces of the virgens but I think it's hard to see. 
I am excited to mail these to my Mom tomorrow.  Her group has a meeting later on this week, I hope these draw in some cash for the church's needs.  I have a tote bag in the works for later on this fall, I am looking forward to donating that for the big Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe celebration in early December.  Hope you had a great weekend.  

Banana Bread

We had three over ripe bananas and  it was raining outside on Saturday afternoon (when we were supposed to go to our church picnic) so I made a quick banana bread to pass the time.  I used this recipe at Food Network.  It turned out great. 
Although we were sad to miss the picnic, our region of Texas is experiencing an Extreme Drought so we were grateful.  Our current lake level is at 49% so rain even on picnic day is a good thing. 
 
Hope you had a great weekend. 

Friday, September 27

Wine Cork Zipper Pouch

Here's a wine cork zipper pouch I made for a friend that loves wine AND does crafts with wine corks.  This fabric was just too perfect. 
My favorite thing is the wine corkscrew charm I found, it couldn't be more perfect!
Speaking of wine, I am ready for the weekend.   Hope you have a great one!

Wedding Pillow in B & W

Here is another wedding pillow for a wedding this weekend.  This couple loves black and white.



The pillow is 15x15, the fabric is a checkerboard suede like fabric.  I am loving making these pillows.  I am so glad it's Friday, what a long week it has been. 

Wednesday, September 25

Halloween Pillow

I have to brag.  My Halloween Sewing Swap group has been so much FUN.  We have a Facebook Group and 60 of the more than 70 ladies are constantly posting pictures and having great conversations.  No one really knew each other before the group and it has been so fun to read everyone's post, droll over Halloween Projects, exchange ideas, support each other and just plain bond.  We have already decided to do another swap for Autumn and I can't wait.  There are probably more than 100 pictures of Halloween projects so far.  I plan on making a slideshow or video of all of the projects and sharing them here after we are done.
 
In the meantime, here is another item I have made for my Halloween Sewing Partner.  The pillow is 10x10.   I sewed 4 strips of 2x2 patchwork and then attached it around the center panel.  I am pleased with how it turned out and to be honest I am going to hate to part with it.  Micaela has already made my promise I will make one with an M for her.
Hope you are having a great day!  Stay tuned for more Halloween projects in the coming days. 

Monday, September 16

Halloween Owl Pin Cushion

Welcome to everyone visiting from the Pin It Blog Hop.  Thank you to Kristen for cheerleading and Madam Samm at Sew We Quilt.  This is my fifth blog hop this year and I have enjoyed every single one so much.

I made this little owl pin cushion using several Halloween fabrics.  This is going to be one of the items I send my partner in the Halloween Sewing Swap I am hosting.  There are more than 70 ladies from all over the US and six other countries participating in the swap and I am so excited. 
                        

This is an in the hoop design from Reen at Embroidery Garden.  I used fusible fleece on the body to create a smooth look and stuffed it with polyfill and walnut litter.  Walnut litter can be purchased at the pet store and it's great for adding weight and sharpening needles and pins as you stick them in and pull them out of the cushion.

The fun thing about this owl design is that the wings open up and there is a pocket in the belly.  I fussy cut the witch to fit front and center as the pocket.  You can stick needles and special decorative pins in the wings and put things like a seam ripper and small scissors in the belly pocket.  In fact, if you put the small scissors in the center pocket, the rings on the handles should fit nicely over the eyes.  You also put two spools of thread in the two elastic loops that are sewn in the bottom seam to make the owl sit upright.

I hope my Halloween Sewing Partner likes this as much as I enjoyed making it for her.

Thanks for stopping by!  Be sure to visit the rest of the ladies in the blog hop today, tomorrow and last week.

September 10

September 11

September 12
 

September 16
Bloom Where I Am Planted   -- that's me!

Sunday, September 15

Zipper Bags

Here are a few zipper bags that I have made in the last couple of weeks.

Weenie dogs wearing rain boots zipper pouch for our daughter Micaela (we love weenie dogs). 

Also available in green. 

Bees & apples theme zipper pouch for a friend who just started teaching preschool and the theme in her classroom is bees...

Black & White spotty dog zipper pouch for our own piebald double dapple weenie dog Oreo, we decided he needed one too.

Dallas Cowboy zipper pouch for a big fan visiting my friend from Germany
Lion zipper pouch for a childhood friend who teaches Kindergarten and the theme in her classroom is Lions.


These are all available in my Etsy store, the button is on the right side bar.   Thanks for stopping by!


Saturday, September 7

Wedding Pillow #2

Last month I made a wedding pillow for my nephew and his bride.  You can see the pillow in this post.  After listing that pillow option in my Etsy store I got an inquiry for one in brown.  After much discussion, the customer wanted either a velvet or suede fabric instead of cotton or denim in a chocolate lighter than a Hershey bar.  I went to the store to see what I could find and found out the hard way that it is difficult to photograph brown fabric.  Anyway,  I sent her photos of the "brown" options and she picked this very cool stamped suede.


I think this turned out fabulous.  It would have taken me a while to try sewing with this kind of fabric on my own so I am glad I got the request.  Thanks for stopping by!  TGIF

Zipper Bag for Music Teacher

Our daughter's music teacher was off on maternity leave at the end of the school year so we didn't get to give her an end of the year gift.  I had been looking for fabric with music notes/symbols  in purple ever since our daughter was in Kinder (yes, a long time).  Well the other day, by chance-- I found the perfect fabric and the timing was just right to give her the gift at the begining of this school year. 

Here is the zipper bag.


The lining was music notes.

We appreciate so much what all of our daughter's teachers do, it's just one tiny thing to say Thanks.  I am so glad it's Friday.  This was a short week for me but it really felt long.

Thursday, September 5

Diaper Bag

A couple of months ago I made a pillow for a friend's daughter that was expecting a new baby girl back in July.  The Mom-to-be loved the pillow (featured back in June)  so much that she asked me to make a diaper bag in the same fabric.

Here it is....

The fabric is "Cute Patchwork" fabric by Michael Miller just like the pillow.  I did not use a pattern.  Katie, the Mom sent me a picture of what she had in mind and I duplicated.  I embroidered the name and appliqued initials on the front of the bag just like the pillow.


I made two big pockets on the back side.


On the backside, I added a magnetic snap closure and for the first time ever chrome rings to the 2.5 inch wide single crossover strap to kinda dress it up a bit. 
I am pleased with how this turned out.  I don't usually make bags for "sale", I hope she likes it!  Thanks again for stopping by!

Fabric Bin

This is the fabric bin/basket I received from Julie 'Hopkins' Laidlaw in the McKinney Modern Quilt Guild Swap last month.    You might recall the swap I made BettyPat with her fabric in late June.  I was in Hawaii the day of the swap but Julie and I finally connected a couple of weeks ago and I was in awe of the gorgeous bin she made for me. 
 
This bin, basket or swimming pool (as Julie affectionately refers to it) is gorgeous, GIANT (more than 12 inches tall and 18 inches wide) and I love it!  
 
Thank you Julie! 
 

The cool thing about this swap is that the recipient supplied the fabric. I supplied a variety of the fabrics that I have used to decorate and make things for my sewing room. You can see all of the pillows on my daybed in the background.  I actually tidied up a bit to take the picture.  I'll share new updated pictures of my sewing area in the next few weeks.  Thanks for stopping by! 

First day of school (last week)

Our daughter started 3rd grade last Monday.  We are not sure how long she will let us walk her to school but last week she had no issues holding Daddy's hand.   We took pictures in front of the school and in the classroom but this one was by far my favorite. 


I am behind!

Ok, so I blink and two weeks have flown by.  My goodness.  I got all wrapped up in the Halloween Swap, school starting for our daughter, Labor Day weekend, cleaning, organizing and sewing and haven't posted.  I'll be playing catch up in the next few days so hang on tight!  Thanks for sticking with me!