Origami Fun!

Origami is an form of art that I admire.  I am always amazed at the shapes than can be made with a piece of paper using many precise folds.  One of my co-workers made a coaster that reminded me of a piece of origami.  These coasters are very quick and easy to make.  They also take such a small amount of fabric.  I like the idea of making a set and tying a ribbon around them for a gift.  I made 2 and I use them on my desk at work for my coffee breaks!  Fun to make!

Here is where I found the directions:
http://allsorts.typepad.com/allsorts/2006/11/crisscross_coas.html  (a very fun and colorful place to visit)

Christmas stocking!

I love to make Christmas decorations but how many can a person have?  And I particularly like to make stockings!  I've knitted a few, sewed some, cross-stitched, embellished bought ones and just love to make them.  I don't know what it is about the stockings that I am so fond of but they are just things I like at Christmas time.  I found a solution!  The local quilt shop is collecting stockings for Lighthouse, which is a charitable organization for those in need.  They have a Christmas shop for their clients each year.  Yay, I can make stockings anytime of the year and donate them for a worthy cause.  Here is my first one.  I have so many other things to do right now but I had to stop everything and make a stocking!  I used a piece of pre-quilted fabric that I had in my "stuff".  I also found the ribbon of bells in my collection.  I buy Christmas things every year just thinking that I might be able to use it someday or just because I like them!

(They are also collecting doll blankets and I can't wait to make a few of them.) Doll blankets a little later as I have some other projects that I have to finish first.

red-eyed tree frog

red-eyed tree frog that bugs someone

A friend of mine let me borrow this pattern.  I made it a couple of months ago.  It was fun to make and is probably my first "patchwork" quilting project.  I wanted to try out some of the fancy stitches on my sewing maching so I quilted it with this flowery stitch.  I put the frog on my grandson's bed that he sleeps in when he visits.  When he saw it, he came downstairs and thanked me profusely and said it was soooooooooo cute.  But, then when it was bedtime, he asked his dad to put the frog in another room because it was "sorta buggin' him".   Must have been the "buggy" eyes.  Hahahahahahahhaha  I got a big chuckle out of that!

Take Me Out to the Ballgame

When I saw this fabric all I could think of was a special 18 month old little boy very dear to me.  One of the patterns I purchased was a pattern of several toddler hats.  I changed it a little bit because I wanted to make it adjustable.  I cut out the hole in the back and added an adjustable velcro strip to the back.  If I had it to do again, I would make the bill stiffer.  Live & learn.  I hope it fits him!  Even if it doesn't, it was a lot of fun to make!

I have fabric left so I will have to think of something else to make!

Pattern Sales!

The fabric store that I frequent the most had patterns on sale for 99 cents for the past 2 or 3 weeks.  Well, I couldn't resist.  I bought a bunch of craft patterns that I normally would not have purchased because the regular prices are outlandish!  I'm not really a cheap person, but, anywhere from $15.95 and upwards to $25.95 per pattern is too outrageous for me.  I bought approximately 10-13 patterns in all and at 99 cents each.  That's what I call a good deal. 

Wristlet Purse

This pattern might have been easier to figure out on my own!  The directions were not explained clearly.  (so maybe the deal wasn't such a great deal after all)  After much ripping and sewing over again, it turned out cute.  It also is much smaller than I expected and will only hold my cell phone and maybe a couple of tissues!  When my youngest daughter saw it, she said, "That's just my size purse."  I happily gave it to her.  I will eventually make a larger one for myself.

  

Contemplating................

Thinking...
         thinking...
              about what my next project will be. 

Here Comes Peter Cottontail

I saw this cute little bunny pattern in a library book.  Since I have tons of fleece in my stash, I thought that would be a fun little project.  It really didn't make a significant dent in the stash!  The pattern was a bit frustrating because the directions said to cut out the pattern and add enough for a seam allowance, which I thought was odd.  Unfortunately, I forgot to do that!  So I tried to sew it together very close to the edge.  My own embellishment is the belly button.  :-)  The bunny hopped right into my grandson's arms!

puppets

Butterick pattern 4209

I made these puppets for one of my grandsons.  They were so much fun to make!  Since I'm a kids' librarian, I love puppets and I use puppets all the time in my story times.  I'll never grow up because life is so much fun with kids (especially grandkids).

A few more tote bags I've made in the past

Past Projects while waiting for sewing machine repair!

front                                                                              

I made this small purse from a piece of fabric in my stash. It is denim with embroidered details and a few sequins. It's a nice size to take to a conference or shopping or anywhere that I don't feel like carrying a regular size purse. I put 2 pleats in the bottom and elastic on the top of opening. This way it's not a flat purse and I can actually carry quite a bit in it.....wallet, keys, cell phone, sunglasses. It has two pockets inside for cell phone and whatever. I even put a pocket on the back where I can slip notes to myself, tickets, etc. For safety, the strap is long enough to cross over my shoulder to opposite side. If I don't want to carry it on my shoulder, I tie a loose knot in the strap to make the strap shorter to carry by hand and it still looks cute.

I really like the fabric and I have a lot left. I don't know what I originally bought it for but I like what I did with it. Back to the stash bin goes the extra!

 
 
 
 
                                                                                                                   

                                                   

Oh no!

I had to take my new machine in for repair.  I tried to use the buttonhole function for the first time and it doesn't work!  I'll probably be without it for at least a week and a half.  Will I survive? 

Finished!

I finished the cowgirl/western backpack!  I made a couple small changes to the Chloe pattern.  First, as I mentioned in a previous post, the bag was too small so I added another piece above the strips.  Secondly, the pattern called for gathering the top of the bag and sewing to a band.  But, I thought it might work better with a drawstring so it can be opened wide to put things in or find things more easily.  I enjoyed making the backpack and I will probably make another one someday. 

side/front view

view under flap

                                                                                          back of bag

Backpack

I am working on a quilted backpack.  The free pattern can be found at http://www.pbtex.com/PBTex_CHLObakpak.pdf .  It is called the Chloe Quilted Backpack from P&B Textiles.  I really like the sample bag but I decided to use a different color theme.  I chose reds and blues that resemble a cowboy/western theme.  After sewing the strips together, I thought it was going to be a little too small so I added an extra rectangular piece above the strips.  The quilting is plain straight line machine quilting on a diagonal.  After the quilting, I don't know if I really like quilting.  It seems to me so boring to sew numerous straight lines over and over.  Maybe if I had tried some freestyle quilting I would've enjoyed it more.  Even though I have done a lot of sewing throughout the years, I have only done one quilting project and that was an easy log cabin pillow.  I hope to finish this project in the next couple of days and I hope I'm not disappointed.