hello

I finally got around to some sewing - careful, don't fall out of your chair with surprise or anything :)

I must warn you, the pictures are terrible.  I took them on a dark & rainy day, and since this bit of fabric goodness was a gift, I really couldn't wait for the sun to shine.  I do hope you can forgive me.

I've made this tote bag a couple times now, and I adore this pattern.  The bag itself is quite large, and the pockets are huge.  Everything that went into this tote were materials I had on hand.  I even pieced together batting scraps to get the sizes I needed.  I always feel so clever when I do that :)

Looking at this bag in real life makes me want to squint :)  I've had this fabric for about eight years, and it came from my aunt's stash before that.  The lining is a solid pink that matches the pink flowers.

I went through six colors of thread - not intentionally, they kept running out, you know.  {so very satisfying to use up a bunch of spools}

The bag's outsides & lining are quilted in a meandering pattern.  After a couple hours of that {and an undisclosed amount of swearing} I decided to get a little more adventurous on the pockets.  Unfortunately I didn't think to take pictures until the bag was finished, but here goes!

Well, I suppose you can see what I did here :)

Can you see the stitches on this one?  It was inspired by some lovely FMQ by Hoosier Tony.  Toni's stitches reminded me of a dandelion flower {one of my favorite flowers}, and I just had to give it a go :)

That's about it for the bag.  I filled it with some oatmeal cookies and sent it off to its new home.
It looks as if we will be snowed in tomorrow, so hopefully I'll have some significant progress on my DP QAL to share with you.  I hope you all are finding the time for more sewing than me :)

I'm going to bring this post on over to Quilt Story for Fabric Tuesday.  Hope to see you there!

Drunkard's Path QAL

I know I'm a bit behind schedule, but I have started working on my Drunkard's Path QAL.  It took me a long time to decide what fabric to use.  I was going to purchase new fabric, since the QAL directions start with charm squares and I don't have any in my stash,  but in the end I decided to use the Happy Mochi Yum Yum that I had on hand.

My Happy Mochi had been set aside to make a starburst quilt, but I needed more of the collection to make that pattern work.  So by my reasoning, by not buying more fabric for the starburst quilt and not buying new fabric for the DP QAL, I saved quite a bit of money which I can spend on a different quilt, hahaha :)

I'm using Kona Coal with my Happy Mochi Yum Yum.   Does anyone else think that name has the perfect rhythm for a conga dance?  Go on, try it {Hap-py Mo-chi Yum-Yum} :->

I've got my charm squares cut, and most of those cut with the template.  With three weeks to go, I'm sure I can catch up.  After all, there is a giveaway at the end :)

I'm linking up to WIP Wednesday - hop on over to see what everyone else is doing.  It is Lee's WIP Anniversary, I really don't think you want to miss it {hint hint}
Happy Wednesday Everyone!

The Hungry Caterpillar goes to Blogger's Quilt Festival

Hello!  This is my entry for the Blogger's Quilt Festival at Amy's Creative Side.  I know I'm squeaking in at the last minute, but I've actually had a hard time writting this post.  I was putting myself to sleep :)  I'll try one more time now, with a little less blah blah blah, shall I?

This is 'The Hungry Caterplillar Quilt'  {I know, I know.  I can really pick a creative title for my quilts, can't I?}  I made this quilt for Son #3 in August of 2009, and I am so glad I wasn't lazy and put a label on this quilt, because I just had to go check it for the date *grin*

The quilt measures absurdly wide x ridiculously long.  If you aren't familiar with this standard of measurement, it converts to just a tad too small for my queen sized bed, but I bet I could make it work if I could ever wrestle it away from my son :)  {I made this quilt for his twin bed}

The pattern is my own design, a bit of simple piecing and some machine applique. 

If you aren't familiar with The Hungry Caterpillar book, the caterpillar eats a different fruit each day of the week, eating one more fruit than the day before, until on Saturday he pigs out and has a stomache ache {for the longest time, my son would beg for a stomache ache when we read that part}

I appliqued all the fruit he ate, with the days of the week, on the top of the quilt.  There was a panel that I cut up and smooshed into the top where ever it would fit.  When I had the main portion of the quilt in two pieces, top and bottom, I realized one was wider than the other.  Oops.  I added bits of the dot fabric here and there until the pieces were the same size and stitched them together.  I don't even remember where the extra bits are anymore :)

My Mom quilted it on the longarm, and as you can see she did loops around many of the motifs.  {ooh, poor caterpillar has a tummy ache :)}

 bound with the dots

I backed the quilt with the repeating stripe, but I needed a little more,so I added a strip of scraps to the side to make the backing long enough.

Thank you Library Quilting Ladies, for holding up the quilt so I could get a picture.  Because around the house, it normally looks like this

Thanks for stopping by :)

November small blog meet-up

Hello Quilters!  It is Small Blog Meet over at Lily's Quilts today!  And guess what?

My Janome has been getting some R&R this week, so I really don't have anything much to share :)

Should I share a little bit about me instead?  Ok, here you go:

Sock Monkeys creep me out, they always have.
I really love {}'s.  I don't know what they are called, or how you are supposed to use them, but they are a lot of fun :)
Some of the best things about this time of year are pumpkins, cranberries, and homemade soup, don't you think?
I love rollercoasters, but I'm terrified of the ferris wheel - sad, but true :)
I enjoy snowshoeing, and we've already got enough snow to give it a go!
I make a great Alfredo sauce.
I didn't like sewing when I was a kid, now I wish I could spend all day sewing - a bit silly, isn't it?

Well, if you are still reading after this bit of nonesense, you are very sweet, and patient.  Please leave a comment so I know you were here, I'd love to pop on over to your little corner of blogland, too.