Lilium Laptop Bag

I was so excited to make another bag from Sara at Sew Sweetness!  Her bags are really great and the patterns are easy to follow.  For me the hardest part of this bag was cutting everything out.  Once I got everything cut and ironed the bag went together so quickly and simply!  Her patterns are great to follow and affordable.  She makes it so easy for anyone to try something new out.  Even this quilter!  Here is a picture of the front of my finished bag.  It comes in 2 sizes in the pattern, laptop or netbook sized.  Or you can just make it into a cool purse.  

A view of the back with the only punch of color a red/orange zipper!

I loved making it as always and can't wait to (hopefully) make another one of her patterns!  If you would like to buy the pattern click here!

Children's Play Mat

I have been away for awhile and not blogging.  The good news is I have still been sewing!  I recently made a play mat for a little girl around the same age as my son.  It is a farm motif because her Daddy has cattle and a farm.  I think it came out great and I can't wait to make another one.  I used felt on the front, I used batting for stiffness and the back was a repurposed tablecloth.  I sewed green and blue for grass and sky and sewed them together with the backing and then flipped them right side out and top stitched.  Then I used plain white ribbon to make a fence and that was very easy to make into a curve.  

Next I wanted to add a tree made from felt, a water or food bucket made from felt pieces and stitched on with zig zag across the bucket.  And flowers to make it girly!  I made some of the flowers out of felt and some out of ribbon which I sewed together with felt in the center.  I used some pretty ribbon and sparkly yarn for stems.  

A butterfly of course with its wings unattached so they could flap!  And a sun made from felt and ribbons.  I hot glued the ribbons down and then top stiched across them over the sun.  

And the final project with a few puffy clouds and the finished flowers.  I also gave them little play horses.  Hopefully she loves it as much as I do!

'

You truly could make this any way you wish.  I plan on making a car racing one for my son.  Also the size was fairly large it is about the size of my cutting mat so around 24 inches by 20 inches.  

Bag Tester!

Again I was thrilled to be a bag tester for Sara at SewSweetness!  She has the most amazing patterns and ideas.  I'm not sure how she comes up with this stuff!  And her patterns and instructions are so good she probably doesn't need testers anymore.  Anyway I signed up to make this beautiful purse! 

I used fabric I had from Joanne's and the peekaboo fabric behind the grommets is from The Seam Shoppe I was talking about in a previos post in Key West Florida.  I always wanted to have a white purse so I thought why not make one for myself.  It is a spacious bag and I think it came out great.  I was able to sew it together in 3 days maybe 3 hours or less.  Which is short considering I have a little guy running around and trying to change my stitch settings on my machine! 

The inside fabric came from Hancock and was black with white circles.  I thought it was a fun contrast to the outside fabric.  I am planning on making some as Christmas gifts maybe a beach bag?  It is the perfect size for your towel, sunscreen and favorite book.  Thanks again Sara!

Seriously go buy this pattern I had so much fun making this bag!

Modern Constellations Quilt Top!

It is pieced... I know this picture is late because the quilt is already basted and I have started quilting.  I always baste with pins.  Here is a picture of the pieced top.  I hope to have this quilt done in the next month... My goal of 4 quilts this year is not going to happen if I don't speed up!

I am hoping to get a lot of quilting done today.  I have been using various widths of straight line rectangles and I think it is coming out well.  I have been using painters tape and my machine to help guide my lines and it looks good so far.  

Baby Shower Gift

Saturday night and basketball playoffs are on... BORING!  So I have been doing some straight line quilting to the modern constellations quilt.  I also wanted to update the blog.  I have a friend who is due in a couple of months with her first baby girl.  I wanted to use some of this cute fabric I bought at The Seam Shoppe in Key West Florida for a bib and burp cloth!  Here is the bib and burp cloth they are sewn right sides together leaving about a 2 inch gap and then flipped and top stitched.  I traced a bib I have from my little guy to use as a template but there are tons out there on the interwebs! 

I absolutely am in love with this modern children's fabric.  I have 3 more fat quarters of boy fabric!  I have another friend pregnant with a boy who I work with so maybe she will be getting a similar gift!  

I was also using my Janome and testing out some of the specialty stitches and added a little embellishment for the fun of it.  It was so easy, just choose the number and pedal to the metal! 

I also have decided wherever I travel I want to buy fabric and use it to make a quilt someday of all of my travels.  The Seam Shoppe in Key West had tons of options.  They had modern, traditional, beachy inspired, and Batiks.  If you are ever in the area there check it out!  They also have a website which I have linked to above.  

Next project....

I know I still haven't posted my constellations quilt top but I am hoping to have the quilting done this weekend.  Happy Quilting Day Saturday 3/16/13!  I got the fabric for my next quilt which will be a flannel quilt in the mail.  The fabric is washed and dried!  It is SO soft.  I have flannel (from a big box fabric store) on the back of my son's quilt I made while I was pregnant and it is nothing compared to how soft this flannel is!  I purchased a fat quarter bundle from Connecting Threads .  It is the Big Sky Lodge flannel seen below.  

This fabric is a great collection for a men's quilt!  

Here is my inspiration quilt I am planning on doing a log cabin quilt.  This quilt is by Jeni from In Color Order and she makes some of the most beautiful modern quilts!  She is so inspirational check out her other quilts under her quilts tab.  

I bought this gray herringbone for the background.

I can't wait to finish the modern constellations quilt and post pictures!  I also have been making some gifts for baby showers which I will post soon.  

Constellations Binding

I am anxiously awaiting the backing fabric for the constellations quilt.  I ordered it Monday so hopefully it will be here by the weekend.  I decided to do a scrappy binding with all of the constellations fabric I had left over.  This is a first for me, I typically use one fabric so I am excited to see the finished product and of course the finished quilt.  I already got the binding sewn and ironed.  Here it is!  

In the meantime I have been piecing the robot squares together in a chain and will keep doing that until my backing comes in for the constellations quilt.  

I made a little "square" of fabric from leftover triangles from the binding.  I might embroider the names and dates on it by hand.... or with FMQ.  Not sure yet but I would like to use it as a "label".