Weekender Bag take 2

Yet another scrappy project, the Amy Butler weekender bag. I made one in November and it ended up being a Christmas gift for my best friend Becca. I was originally going to keep the first one and make her one but as you know the holidays creep up and I ran out of time, so she got the first one. She loved it. As you know the first time you follow a pattern you do everything in order and whatever it says you do it, but the whole time  you are thinking to yourself if I ever do this pattern again I am going to do it this way, I am going to change this and so on. Well here is bag number 2 and although I think the improvements are good there are still some things I would change if I ever attempt this bag again. I am so tempted to give the pattern away so I will never be tempted to do it again, but the little devil inside of me says third times a charm. So we'll see.........

Fabric Baskets

As I mentioned in my other post I have been making things with the never ending scrap basket so here is another project I made with scraps, I had so much fun with the first one I whipped up 3 more. These adorable fabric baskets were a easy quick project. I think its quite addictive, and putting the colors together was a lot of fun.

Vintage Revival Quilt Blocks

I started my first sew along of the year with Sukie. We are sewing the blocks from the Vintage Revival  Quilt book. We are sewing 2 blocks a week for 10 weeks and then putting the blocks together to make a quilt. Here are my 1st two blocks. The top purple block is the classic tea leaf block and the bottom green one is the the classic double Z block. My fabric choices are from my scrap basket paired up with Kona white. I have decided that I have more scraps than I will ever use so I am on a mission to use them and this is the perfect project. I have been making several projects with the never ending scrap basket and I will post again shortly with the finished projects.

Modernista Holiday swap

Can't say too much just incase my secret partner happens upon my blog but I made this for my swap partner and I am hoping she likes it. I will be mailing it out this week so I will know soon. I can't believe how fast the Holidays are approaching I am working hard to finish many handmade Christmas presents will post as I get them done. The list is long.

Amy Butler Weekender

So I finally tackled the Amy Butler weekender bag. I have to admit I have had this pattern for over a year and have pulled it out several times to look over the supplies and instructions. I was more than discouraged when reading the tools needed, seam ripper was third on the list. For me this is not a good sign. HA. I did figure out later that you need it to open up the fabric for your zipper, which would have been great if ONLY thats what I used it for. I did have some troubles with the zipper but not with actually putting it in. I DID NOT look at the pattern right and thought there were 4 pieces but  there were only supposed to be 3 actual pattern pieces ( if I had only understood that you needed to tape the one piece to the  top panel piece to make it longer) so as I am going step by step and went to attach the top panel with bottom to main panel I was about 9 inches too short. AGH........ I had to take the whole dang thing apart get another zipper altogether ADD the 9 inches to the top panel now I have 3 extra seams, I was also trying to figure out why it called for a 30 inch zipper when I only used about 21 inches HA HA HA Jokes on me, BUT I tackled it. I succeeded and I DID IT!!!!!!!!!! Add that to my list of accomplishments. It is quite high on the list just below happily married for 20 years and 5 great kids. I am so happy with the way it turned out I used all my scraps and the only thing I had to buy supply wise was the Peltex and the interfacing. TADA.......

Zakka Along Week 19 Prettified Pincushion

I can't believe it's the last week of the Sew Along. How did the last 19 weeks fly by so quickly ?  I have enjoyed every minute of it, even if of a couple of the projects frustrated me. I have learned a few new tricks and I feel a sense of accomplishment that I completed all 19 projects.

 Thank you Lindsey and Debbie for hosting a great sew along.

I am so happy that I have quite a few gifts made for Christmas. The 2 quilts have already found new homes. One was a birthday gift for a  friend and the 2nd one was a wedding present for a couple who appreciate a handmade gift. I only kept 2 projects for myself, the cafe apron and the large drawstring shopping bag. 

Zakka Along Week 18 Sweet Trips Pillow

Ok, so once again I struggled with the little pieces. I had planned on making the front of the embroidery pouch  and then turn it into a mug rug. However, I was unsuccessful with the little pieces. At 10pm I asked my husband to take me to Kinkos so I could copy the pattern at 400%. I made the patchwork portion of the pattern and turned it into a pillow instead. I was able to use my mad piping skills, I learned from the 1st Zakka Sew Along, to create the pillow. The back of the pillow was made with scraps I had left from the front. All in all, I am pretty pleased with the outcome. As you can see my little Tofurky (the kitten) liked it too. He couldn't help but pose for the pics. He must have been jealous of the bunny.