Surfin' Santa Pillows

Finished these pillow covers for my brother, Doze, and his wife, Pam, who live in Florida. I thought they turned out pretty cute. I had gotten this Alexander Henry Surfin' Santa fabric on clearance last year at the quilt store. I thought it suited them in Florida.

I sewed the backs with a zipper closure. 

In addition, I made them 2 pillow cases from the Surfin' Santa fabric. 

Linking to Sew Bittersweet Designs December Link Up

Pyramid Pouch

I finished this Little Pyramid pouch

It was a little project that turned out pretty cute. This is a design from svetlana.

I also finished this cute cell phone/card holder that is in this book by Noodlehead Handmade Style by Anna

Trying to get some Christmas projects completed. 

I also made my own Christmas card for my Aunt Mary. I just love it!

I am going to write inside tomorrow and mail it.  I sewed the paper-pieced block and my husband centered it in the card.   I think my Aunt will like it. 

Have a Merry Christmas!

Linking toElm Street Quilts Bag It

December Goal

I have a few goals for December but I want to finish pillows for brother and his wife with this cool Alexander Henry fabric - "Surfin' Santa". I found this fabric on clearance last year at the quilt shop and I thought it was perfect for my brother since he lives in Florida.

Kind of looks like my brother, Doze, just hangin' out having a drink!

Linking to Sew Bittersweet Designs-Lovely Year of Finishes

Journal Cover

Finished the journal cover that I have been working on.

I think it turned out pretty cute. This is a paper-piecing design from this book- Playful Little Paper-Pieced Projects. I was a little unsure if the notebook that I purchased at KMart was going to fit, but it fits very nicely. I followed the measurements from the book, so I guess it was for this same size of notebook.

Picture of the back.  

Picture of the inside.

This is a Christmas gift for my sister, Cathleen. I embroidered her name on the front. I think she'll like it because she's always jotting things down. Linking to A Lovely Year of Finishes

Journal Cover-November goal

My October goal was finished one day late. So I'm attempting a November goal. I am making this cute journal cover for my sister for a Christmas present, so I really hope to complete it.

I printed out the paper pieces and have sew the first 2 sections so I'm on my way.

My sister is always jotting notes down, so I figured this would be useful (and cute) for her to use.
Linking to Sew Bittersweet Designs

Downton Abbey Tote

Finished my Downton Abbey Tote today.

This is one side. I was trying to text while sewing. I kind of thought tea went with Downton Abbey. These are paper-piecing designs from Playful Little Paper-Pieced Projects.

I thought a dress and hat went with Downton Abbey, too. This design is Charise Creates Vintage Dresses.

 Still trying to perfect my paper-piecing skills.  It's hard to get the "words" correctly. Hopefully, only quilters look real close. This hat is During Quiet Time Straw Hat.

Plus, Stitch Patchwork.

I used a pattern by Chris W Designs, Stow It All Tote.

Few pictures of the inside showing my zips.

This tote is a nice size to carry necessities. I think I'll enjoy toting it around and then maybe sit down and have a blissful cup of tea.

Downton Abbey Tote

This is my October goal. Stow it All Tote made with Downton Abbey fabrics.

Still cutting and sewing, but I hope to have this done by the end of the month.

Daysail Snail's Trail Yard Flag

I've been working on this yard flag off and on for a while. So now that Summer is getting over, then of course I decide to finish it. Oh well, there's always next Summer to put it in my yard.

I followed a pattern from an old book I have, "Best House on the Block", by Leslie D. Anderson. Here is a picture of her flag.

Here's a photo of my paper-pieced Snail Trail blocks. I only wish I would have chosen a darker fabric instead of the print with the white background and flowers. Because it doesn't show up as well against the white solid. Maybe once I get the borders added, it might show up better. I'm putting it in my yard anyway!

Linking up to  WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced Daysail Yard Flag and My Quilt Infatuation Daysail Snail's Trail and Scraptastic Tuesday at She Can Quilt Scraptastic Tuesday

Halloween Tote

I made this small tote for my sister since her Birthday is the beginning of October. I thought a cute Halloween tote was kind of a different gift.

I used glow in the dark thread for the handles. I thought it might make it look funny walking around in the dark. Party on!

It is reversible so here is the other side. I liked the Spider webs.   

This is a pattern by Serendipity Studios. Serendipity bags It makes a cute tote and you don't have to spend a lot of time on it. 

Linking up to Handmade Halloween at Needle and Foot

Pinwheel Beach Bag

Finally finished this beach bag that seems like I've been working on all summer. 

This is a pattern by Clover and Violet called Sophie.   Clover and Violet - The Sophie Beach Bag If I had it to do over, I would have paper-pieced the pinwheels because some of my pinwheels' points are off. It looks ok from a distance, but of course, I notice my mistakes.

What I liked about the pattern was the little pouch that attaches by snaps to the inside. I can keep small items in the pouch and larger items in the beach bag.

I'm going on one last beach trip up to Lake Erie so I am going to use my new beach bag for that trip.  Linking up to Sew Mama Sew.Sew Mama Sew Community Match  

Cushion for Motorhome

We purchased a new motorhome last Fall. The table comes off and converts to a bed for another sleeping area. Well, what they gave us for the cushions were 2 small pieces that you place together and then put a sheet over them. We had 2 people sleep on it so far, and both people said the sections kept lifting up. Not a comfortable night's sleep. So I decided to make a cushion to fit.

You can use either side. I had the patchwork fat quarters from Fat Quarter Shop - Mill Book 1892. Plus I had the backing Grunge fabric. My camper fabric is brown, tan and beige. This matches good enough because I didn't want to buy any more fabric. The foam was pretty expensive because I had to have 5" deep. I could only find it online. The width was exactly right, but my husband had to cut the rounded corners with a 8" hacksaw. It worked ok. The cushion is nice and stiff to sleep on, now.  

Linking up to Finish it up Friday at Crazy Mom Quilts. 

Crazy Mom Quilts

Baskets

I made these baskets for my Easter dinner way back in April, but never blogged about them.

I followed this tutorial by Amy Smart. She's so talented (and Smart)!
http://www.diaryofaquilter.com/2015/03/fabric-basket-and-fabric-eggs-tutorials.html

I made one for me and one for my Mother who was coming for dinner. They looked very cute at the end of my table.

My Mom chose the pieced basket on the top to take home. The bottom one is a cheater print. This fabric is Whitewash by Moda and I just love it. I gotta say I love just about everything Moda.

So here's just another Spring-time photo of my baby, Lucky, passing by my tulips that are long gone in my backyard.

Have a great Summer and Happy sewing & quilting!
Inquiring Quilter - Wednesday Wait Loss

Tshirt Quilt Finished!

This is my project since about January - tshirt quilt for my nephew, Sean. Sorry the photo is not the greatest. I took it on our pool table.

Sean graduated on Saturday, May 30 and I gave it to him then. My sister asked me to make this for him back in the Fall. When she showed me a photo of a tshirt quilt, it looked easy. But this was more work than I envisioned. First of all, I wasn't even thinking about interfacing the back of the shirts. But that was easy enough. Then to make sure the blocks are centered. Sometimes that's a little difficult because some of the shirts have a lot of space and some have very little.

I basically followed a pattern in a "Quilts 'N More" magazine I had. I think it turned out ok. Sean seemed to like it.

Here's a close up of one of the blocks. I think this block turned out pretty nice. The Spirit Band was one shirt and the C Band was another shirt. I just added more of the blue tshirt to the sides of the C Band and than added it to the Spirit Band shirt. The corner blocks are set on an angle which I kind of liked.

The quilting gave me some trouble. First I quilted in the ditch. And then I decided to quilt a crosshatch. Well, I used the quilt guide from my machine and I ended up with wavy lines. So I picked out a good bit of those. Then I decided to draw the lines on. I should have done that from the beginning. Oh, well, trial and error. 

One thing I learned about some of these tshirts. A few have what I call "paint" on the shirt. After sewing through a couple, I finally figured out to sew up to the paint part, backstitch and cut the thread. Then jump over the paint part (such as this Spirit Band above) and then begin sewing again. 

I'm glad it's done and presented to my nephew! 

Here's a couple more photos.

This is a XL Twin size quilt so it should fit his college dorm bed. Or can just be used lounging on the couch.

Sew Mama Sew Giveaway

Welcome to my blog. This is the first time that I am participating in the Sew Mama Sew Giveaway.

I am offering this pattern and enough batik fabric to make this table runner.  The dark blue batik can be used as the feature fabric.  There is enough on the right side to make the top and on the left you can piece the back and binding together.

I have sewn this table runner and I really like it.  Here is my version. 

If you would like to win this, please leave me a message. Since I listen to audio books on my drive to and from work, if you know of a good book, that would be great. If  not, just let me know if you like this giveaway. Please leave your email address in the message.

You can follow my blog if you want to because as of today, I only have 2 followers. But that is not a requirement. I will have my husband pick a number out of the number of messages left for the winner.
http://www.sewmamasew.com/2015/05/giveaway-day-sewing-craft-supplies-fabric-patterns-etc-2/