Fabulous Weekend of Finishes

February seemed to be lacking for finishes, so this weekend I looked around to see what I could finish. After a stressful week of work and class, it was so nice to spend Friday night with friends. We worked on charity quilts for Outlaw Ranch. These blocks were our progress for a couple hours worth of work. Thanks to Gaila we had an amazing meal and an awesome dessert.

Saturday Mikaela and I sewed together. We were going to make a dress and pants, but I lost the pants pattern, so we just made the dress. It turned out pretty cute and she was very excited. I've now found the pants pattern, so we can make those next weekend.

Since it was the end/beginning of a new month I cleaned up my sewing table and reorganized.

I made Missy a new collar. Not nearly as cool as the one Jen made, but it will serve the purpose.

I got several hours to work on my free-motion sampler. I had such a rhythm going on Sat. night that I even tore a section out and re-did it. It's hard to photograph since I did tone on tone. It' more about the stitching than the color.

I finished up my Barbados bag. I really like it and can't wait to use it more often.

The back is almost as cool as the front. I really like the size of it.

Sunday night I worked on quilting the last Friendship Swap Quilt block into a table topper. I used the same binding, so they will look good together. I am extremely pleased with how this turned out and it will look nice with the wall hanging when I hang it at work.

Mathew was so smiley this weekend. He is getting in his 4th tooth on the bottom and 8th overall. We spent the entire weekend at home since it was below zero for a high all weekend. The kids played in the tent and just had fun. I loved that I got some good sewing time in. I worked on a few other projects, but these are the finishes.

Slow December Sewing

Considering I've sewn for only an hour of December on my machine, I do not have much to show for the month so far. I literally finished this purse in the wee hours of December 1st. The kids went to bed on Saturday night and I stayed up and made the bag start to finish in about 4 hours. It's my only finish for December so far.

It's a sample for a class I'll be teaching in the new year called the Barbados bag. I really like the size and shape of it. I have fabric to make myself one, but it will have to wait until my samples are done. Deadline is Dec. 21st, so I need to get a move on.

Daddy was hunting on December 1st, so Mikaela and I spent the afternoon decorating the house of Christmas. She really wanted pretty lights outside and it was gorgeous - in the 50's, so I got out the ladder and put up my lights from college. Apparently they aren't pretty enough because she told her daddy he needed to buy some prettier lights and put them up. It's become a joke with us, since this is the first year in at least 4 that we aren't the scrooges on the street.

We also cleaned and decorated inside, putting up the stockings mom made and some of her Christmas houses. I love to see these and remember mom. It's also fun to have the house all decorated for Christmas except the tree and we'll do that this weekend.

Mathew turned 1 on December 5th. Since we were pretty busy, we gave him a few gifts and will have a party next weekend. He gave me his bottle, crossed his hands and fell asleep the other nights. It was just too precious. Wish his sister fell asleep this easy.

Here's a picture of him on his birthday, first thing in the morning before we headed to daycare.

He didn't want to sit in the chair.

This weekend my aunt and uncle kept Mikaela while Mathew stayed with Grandpa and Grandma. Aunt Janie made Mikaela a scarf and she picked out the yarn.

She also helped Mikaela color and cut out her hand prints for ornaments.

And they made glitter snow for the snowbabies. She had so much fun spending time with my aunt.

My college roommates and I got together for a quick night of supper and the Tonic Sol Fa Concert. We've been going to #TonicSolFa since we were in college and now have been trying to get together for their Christmas concert in Sioux Falls about every other year. It's so fun to go out with our husbands, catch up on our lives, and just enjoy seeing each other. I can't believe it has been 11 years since we graduated! I'm the short one on the far left.


Hopefully this week I'll be able to do some sewing after I get back into a routine. Last night my final paper was due for my finance class. It is turned in and I now await my grade. Hopefully my TA is approved for Winter quarter and I'll graduate in March. I thought about sewing, but need to clean and put stuff away from the weekend, so I decided going to bed was a better idea. Here's hoping tonight is a little more productive!

Grommet Purse

Tonight I was super productive! I cleaned, did laundry, and sewed. I put the grommets in the Wallet & Grommet purse I made last night. Then I made the handles and put them in as well. This purse is one of the quickest and easiest patterns I have ever worked with. I'm teaching a class in October on how to make it. It's probably my favorite grommet purse I've made so far.
This is the front of the purse, with the tie on the handle.

A close up of the tie, handles, and decorative stitching I did. I did a decorative stitch with King Tut thread on  the top and the handles.

The back of the bag. I love how elegant and dressy this bag looks. The grommets are a golden color.

I'll probably make the wallet too, just to see how it goes. It won't be tomorrow night though. I'm going out with my quilt shop friends for a night at the fair. We're going to look at the quilts and hang out and eat cream puffs. I've missed getting together with them, so am really looking forward to our girls night out.

Another Margo Bag Finished and Other Finishes!

Tonight I had 5 more finishes! I know this pattern won't last, but it sure feels awesome to have accomplished so much!  I worked today so I was able to pick up the 3 fabrics I needed to make checkbook covers. After a couple hour nap and supper, I made 2 checkbook covers to match the purses I made yesterday.

Then I started on another Margo, this one as a sample for the class I'm teaching in Aug. I wanted to try to get it done, start to finish in one evening. I cut it out and worked on each step, not changing anything from the pattern. I was able to get it finished in a little over 3 hours. Then I made a checkbook cover and wonder wallet to match. The wonder wallet through me for a loop, even though I've made hundreds. The machine came unthreaded and then I had the top on the wrong way. I finally got it finished though.

I love the checkbook cover. It's the pockets of the Margo bag too. I love how they turned out, but Paul says they look old ladyish. I think they look summerish.

I'm so glad I was able to get this sample done and I can take it in to the store on Monday.  I was also able to get one of the baby quilts trimmed up that I had quilted. I'm hoping to get the other trimmed up and the binding cut for both and put on tomorrow. I'll also be writing a paper for my graduate class tomorrow, so hopefully I get to have some sewing time.

Runaround Bag

This weekend I made this Runaround Bag from the GE Designs book Fast & Furious Quilt as You Go. It was actually trickier than I expected it to be, but I was able to get it done in a short amount of time. It's kind of hanging funny, but it looks really cool. While the colors aren't me, they do go well together. I'm up to 2 finishes for 2010! I think I'm doing well.

Another Grommet Purse

I showed the grommet purse I made to my coworkers and they loved it. They wanted it for a sample at the store. I refused to let it go, but since I had the pieces already cut out for another one, I made it up Sat. night. Two hours flat and it was done. I really like this pattern and have another one cut out for a friend.

Grommet Purse

At the quilt show last month I picked up the Grommet & Wallets pattern. I've wanted to make it out of this fabric ever since. I have a quilt cut out for a friend made out of the fabric and I just love the fabric. I went to make this last week and lost the pattern. I cleaned our bedroom and my sewing room looking for it. I found it at work, as it had slipped out of my bag. I started it Fri night, but was gone all weekend so didn't get it done. Last night I taught beginning machine quilting, so now sewing for me. I finished it upt tonight and I love it! It's the perfect size and it's so unlike any other purse I've made. I already have it filled to use tomorrow. I'll have to make accessories for it now!

My First Waun-a-Finish Finish!

Tonight I really wanted to finish up my first UFO for the Waun-a-Finish competition. Since I want to show it at Strip Club this weekend, I had lots of motivation to get it done. I had it cut out, but that was it. Originally it was going to be black and white on the outside and blue/yellow on the inside, but I changed the plan and went black and white charms on the outside, black fairy frost in the inside and handles. The first two pictures are of the front and back, then the two sides. The sides show the true color, the others were taken late tonight in not the best lighting. Good thing I tested my pattern as it's a bit different than what I had written. Jill helped me come up with the name Charming Beau Purse.

Charm Purse

I had this vision for a charm purse in my head so I started designing it on Sat. night. I put the squares together and sewed them the way I wanted. Then I made a lining to match. Sun. morning I got up early and put the snap in, quilted the front and back, and made the outer part and the lining. Then it was off to work. Everyone thought it was super cute. After work I put the ties on, made the handles, and attached it all together. I was happy with how it turned out, but I have another pack I'll make another sample out of. For this one I used the Moda Line, Objects of Desire.

Sassy!

In the land of Lazy Girl bags, I'm made a lot of the patterns. I probably own over half of the patterns. This was a new one to me and it caused me to stop and think several times. It's called the sassy and it fits next to the body. I started last weekend, but had to quit twice and come back to it a couple times. I just couldn't wrap my brain around it. Finally tonight it all sunk in and I finished it in no time flat.

The pattern calls for 3 different fat quarters, but I had 3 different 1 yard cuts, so I kind of did a little of this and a little of that. I only made this one and I'm not sure I'll make another, at least this week.

1-2-3 Go Purse

Sunday after work I prepared for the class I was teaching Mon. night. Then I set to work on this 1-2-3 Go purse from the Spring 2009 issue of Quilts and More. It was super fast and easy and I was done in under an hour. I used some fabric from the Moda line by Chi Moi and deco craft bond interfacing and I really liked it for purses.