I {Heart} our Sunday School Teachers, Part 2

I'm back, just like I promised  :)
And if you don't know what I'm talking about, read this first.  I'll wait for you.  :)
Ok, so what could a Sunday School teacher use? A bag to carry their teaching materials to church, right?

and inside:

I used a blue thread to meander-quilt the body of the bag.  It blends in nicely with the front, not so much the lining, but I decided I was fine with that.

Here is the second bag:

I quilted with blue thread again, this time in straight vertical lines of uneven spacing.  I think it looks a little like rain falling :)

and here is one of the lining pieces with the pocket before I put the bag together:

I pieced four triangles of the rainbow stripe fabric together to get that lovely squared-off effect.  I really like this pocket :)

Well, that is two gifts.  What could the Preschool Sunday School teacher use?  Some quiet time alone with a cup of coffee, I think  ;-)   Well, I might not be able to provide the quiet, but I did stitch up a mug rug and coffe cozy.

the front is inspired by this block at Sewn:

the back with cozy:

and one more:

Happy Stitching  :)

I {heart} our Sunday School teachers, Part 1

About two weeks before the last day of Sunday School, I decided to sew a little something for each of my kids' teachers.  I wanted them to know just how much I appreciate their service for my sons.

The quiet voice of reason in the back of my head said I wouldn't have enough time, but I didn't pay any attention.  Darned if it wasnt right, though.  Ah, well.  The gifts are done now, and I trust a little delay won't diminish the sentiment.

The fabrics I used were Noah's Ark by Jim Shore.  It seemed an appropriate choice  :)
Above is the large focal print, and here are the other fabrics I had to work with:

I originally bought these fabrics to make a large bag for myself to carry all those things you can't seem to leave the house without when you have youngsters.  But I had been carrying childish diaper bags for so long, I decided I really didn't want to carry a Noah's Ark bag around after all. 

So the fabric has been languishing in my stash.  And that bothered me, because I liked it and wanted to use it.  For awhile I thought I would get a little more of this and that and turn it all into a baby sized double wedding ring quilt.  I wanted to use various colors to make the arcs into rainbows, with fussy cut Noah's Arks in between, the tan Two-By-Two print for a border, and the rainbow stripe cut on the bias for binding. 

It would have been great, I know it would have.  But I just had to admit I didn't want to buy anymore fabric. Or invest the time in a difficult pattern for a quilt without a future home. 

So, when I popped the top off my stash and Noah's Ark was staring back at me, I thought, Aha! I'll turn these into...

{sorry to leave you hanging, but the sun and my schedule are finally cooperating so I can get the last pic taken.  I'll be back later, promise}

Keeping you in the know...

Ok, so this isn't hot-off-the-press anymore, but in case you haven't heard the news yet, Sandi Henderson's Henna Garden fabric is going to be reprinted.  I'm so happy, I could squeal  :)  I just love Henna Garden, especially in Pumpkin {'cause anything called pumpkin has got to be great, right?} and I've been chasing after the colors that are still missing from my collection.  Do you love Henna Garden too?

And it gets even better -  visit Sandi's blog, and vote for your favorite color to be reprinted.  I'm trying to resist the urge to 'stuff the ballot box' for pumpkin  ;)

a finish (!!!) and a WIP

first, the finish:

It's a bag for holding all those plastic grocery bags, and it makes me ridiculously happy :)
I love the fabrics, I love how this type of useful handmade iteams are starting to pop up all over my house, and I love that those plastic bags are out of the fishtank. The boys are hoping this means we will be filling the tank with goldfish now :)

By the way, this was the bit of patchwork my machine ate a few weeks ago when it got hungry.  Remember that?  I do ;)

that is what it looked like when it was all flat  :)
I used a tutorial from the Moda Bakeshop to make my bag, but I did add an extra row of charm squares to make it longer (a 10 gallon fishtank holds a lot of bags, I wanted to make sure I had room for them all)

and the WIP?  a 62"x75" sampler I have been working on for ages for my MIL.

I had a few hours at home without the kiddos {!!!!} (don't get me wrong, I love 'em and all, but, you know...)  so I pulled my big ol' roll of batting out of the closet, a can of 505 spray and fix, and the top.  I decided this rare child-free time was perfect for basting because 1)  I needed to take over the whole kitchen floor, and 2) just incase anyone turned on a fan and accidently set off an explosion at least my kids would be safe, and 3)  if breathing the vapors caused any lasting damage, again, at least the kids would be safe

Does anyone else find the back of a 505 spray and fix can scary?  I ought to save that thing for Halloween.  "It was a dark and stormy night.  She reached for her can of 505 spray and fix ...."

I know, I know, I'm just a big chicken.  :)

Anyway, here this baby is all basted:

I think I'm going to keep it simple and quilt a grid of straight lines running horizontally and vertically.  Because I just. want. it. done.

So what have you been sewing on?
I'm linking to Fabric Tuesday at Quilt Story and WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced.  Two link parties, one post.  It's kind of like that two birds, one stone thing, you know?  ;)
You can check out the buttons on my sidebar if you are so inclined.
Happy Tuesday/Wednesday to you!
And if you are wondering, my kitchen is still standing  ;)

Pinwheels

The colors in this photo aren't very good - in real life, the solid is a pale yellow and the floral is a pinkish/salmon, but you get the idea, right?  :)

This is block 4 in the We Can Do It! Sampler.  I chose to reverse the light and dark, just for the fun of it  :)
I am a bit behind already with this sampler, but I'm hoping to get caught up this month by doing two blocks a week instead of just the one.  I've also finished block 2, but I'll get you a picture of that in another post.

If you haven't yet, you really should check out this QAL, the posts are fantastic, full of info and inspiration, everything you could possibly need to master each new skill being featured.  And have I mentioned you also get a really cool button for your sidebar?  :)    {I really, really love this button.  What can I say, I'm easy to please}

wishing you sunny skies and uninterupted sewing time!
bye for now

hello...

Hi there.  How've you been?  Wow, I've just looked back at my last posts.  Seems like ages since my biggest problem was a broken sewing machine.  Nothing like a family crisis to help you get your perspective, know what I mean?  I hope to get back to regular blogging, although it may be a little off-and-on for the next month & a half.  I hope you'll bear with me.

My sewing machine is stitching again, but my desktop died {R.I.P}, and I replaced it with {my first} laptop.  Which basically means, I have stuff to show you, but it may take me the whole weekend to figure out how to get some photos up here ;)

I think I should end this post now, before it sounds too much like a bad country song, but I'll {hopefully} be back soon with some fabric-y goodness to share.

Take care, everyone