The Tammy Project Bag

It is time for another Madame Samm blog hop and this Tammy Bag was one fun bag to make.  First of all, I never in my life thought I could ever make a bag like this...and now that I have, I want to make another one.

I have four pockets on the outside of the bag which allowed me to use three different fabrics,

and two larger pockets on the inside.  I love having the right bag to carry the right stuff...and this bag will be so useful in so many ways.  I surprised myself this time and thank you Madame Samm for the pattern with all the photos, it made a world of difference.  If you would like to see some different renditions of this pattern, go here for the list of others hopping today.  Happy Stitching!!  --Kristen

June 13th ( thursday)

Les

Marlene

Lisa

Anjeanette

Kristen

Marica

Lynn

Gingini

Linda J 

Nicole

Judith

Say It With Flowers

It is time once again for another fun blog hop thanks to Madame Samm and Carol.  The challenge for me this time was what NOT to make.  There are so many fun things with flowers.  

I have always wanted to make a little "catch all," you know, for my on the go projects or to just keep by my sewing chair with all those supplies that are so necessary, but oh so annoying to looking at.  

I had found a tutorial to make one of these, but I changed it so much I really did not follow it at all.  I had some left over 1-1/2" squares that I used around the bottom, and I made little handles for the sides.   

I used my Accuquilt GO! to cut out my flowers (even adding one to the bottom), some of the buttons that were my grandmother's for the flower centers, and machine quilted the entire bag.  My stash was used for everything, which I had challenged myself to also do.  It never ceases to amaze me if I just look at what I have I usually can find everything I need to make something.  Here are the others joining me in the hop today and thanks for stopping by.  Happy Stitching!!  --Kristen 

June 3^rd

Marla’s Crafts

Hanging On By A Thread

Moments

Lixie Makes It

Tied Up In Ribbon

Made By Me In Red

Nanny’s Nook

Sew Incredibly Crazy

Cindy’s Crafty Creations

Meadowbrook

What A Week...

This last week has been exhausting to say the least.  We had the long three-day weekend, which was wonderful, but I could have used five days, and it was the last week of school.  I always seem to forget that the last week of school is full of added activities besides the normal ones.  Thank goodness it is all over with and I say "Bring on Summer."  Of course that would mean we would be able to turn our furnace off.  Never in my life do I remember having the furnace running in June...but last night it did.  It was just too cold for me, and I have to say I was wonderfully warm all night!

I did get some late night stitching done over the holiday.  I am working my way across the 12-month "A Dozen Buzzin's" patterns by SamSarah, and I have just started the second border of May.  I'm still enjoying it which is a good thing as I have to keep flipping through the 12 patterns.  It is a cute project when finished, and I have just the place to display it.

This is a project in color placement using a couple Kona solids charm packs.  I am using a Schnibble's pattern and in all my excitement of trying to keep the fabrics in color order, I forgot to cut enough pieces.  I realized this at about 1:30 this morning.  It gives me a little more to think about while I'm working on it.  I realize I've been absent for a while, but I have a couple of blog hops coming up and a few vacation days which will be spent waiting for my son while he is in out of town day camps.  That means there should be ample time to explore quilt shops AND spend a lot of time sewing.  Happy Stitching!!  --Kristen

Big Plans For The Weekend

Every time there is a long holiday weekend I tend to do one of two things, I either plan to do so many things I am overwhelmed and never accomplish much, or I plan nothing and get a few things done, knowing if I had planned ahead a little I could have stitched more.  I am also one of those people who does not really like to sit still and do nothing during these weekends, so this year I thought I would try something different.  Like plan to work on two projects and see if I can't make some major headway on both of them.

This is one of those 12-month cross stitch pattern projects and the fabric is 4 feet long.  The border along the bottom goes the whole length of the fabric and it is completed.  Now I need to start working on the main patterns.  I'm hoping to get at least a few months' worth of patterns stitched this weekend.

This should be completed or near finished by Monday.  It is a small Schnibble.  The apple blossoms were flying like snow in our backyard this morning and the lilacs are beautiful and smell so sweet that I can't help but bring in a bunch everyday.  Spring has finally sprung, although late, but I will take it.  Happy Stitching!!  --Kristen

It's English Paper Piecing and They Are Not Hexagons

I found this kit a while back on one of our excursions and I could not leave it behind.  Now that it is finished I'm so glad I didn't.

I fussy cut the fabrics so that each flower was centered.  My only wish was that the fabric had three colors of flowers rather than just two.

I think these would be so fun for little girls to put barrettes in , but obviously I can get a few more spools of thread in there yet.  The paper pentagons are left inside to give it structure, and I did actually thread baste these rather than using the glue pen.  I'm so excited about my finished project...of course I bought two, each in a different color.  This did not take long to make so I may just have to start the other one tonight.  Happy Stitching!!  Kristen

Some Of My Favorite Things

Geta asked bloggers to join her in sharing some of our favorite things we love for quilting.  I instantly thought of two things I learned about in the last machine quilting class I took.  I use my home sewing machine to quilt my quilts, and although I still have a long way to go in having something look "picture perfect," I have noticed a great improvement using these two items.

The first are these Machingers quilting gloves.  I have tried a lot of different gloves for quilting, but these are by far the best I've found.  I can change bobbins and rethread the machine without taking them off.  They also have the grips on the fingertips which make moving the fabric while quilting a lot easier.  The best part, they are not that expensive.

My second favorite product for machine quilting is the Quilt Halo from Sharon Schamber.  I do not understand why it works, but it does.  I think maybe when a quilter is beginning to free motion quilt we sometimes become overwhelmed with the whole project rather than just focusing on working in a smaller area.

You can see in these photos how I move the quilt with the hoop while quilting (it has grips on the bottom of it).  This is just a small practice piece, but honestly, it works on bigger projects too.

I will usually start out with the hoop on a project and then as I become more accustomed to the project I'm working on I will eventually put it aside and work without it.  I have found when I start with it I do tend to work in smaller areas even after I stop using it.  I'm actually much happier with my quilting than ever before.  Like I said though, I still have a long way to go.

Don't forget to visit Geta's blog for all the helpful tips, tricks, and products that others have shown.  And thanks to my 12-year-old son who so happily took these photos for me.  :)  Happy Stitching!!  --Kristen

Happy Mother's Day And We Have A Winner

I lost track of the date.  YIKES!  Anyway, the Random Number Generator chose #22 as the winner of the book... 

 

Nancy said...

I don't think we have any special plans for Mother's Day. My daughters both live out of town and I don't think either will be able to come home. But they will call. Thanks for participating in the giveaway.

Thank you to all who entered.  I hope you all have a wonderful Sunday.  Nancy, I've sent you an email.  Happy Stitching!!  --Kristen