Birdie Sling

You might be wondering - hey what happened to the quilt? I'm still working on it - it's quilted and the binding has been machine stitched on. Now I'm working on hand-stitching the binding to the back of the quilt. It's my TV-watching activity and it's going to take many shows to finish but I am getting there!

In the meanwhile here's another recently completed project! It's the Amy Butler Birdie Sling pattern in Denyse Schmidt Country Fair home-dec weight prints. This is one HUGE bag! I really like the way it came together except that I wish I hadn't used fusible fleece interfacing in the handle. It's a bit too stiff. I'm hoping that some use will soften it up and make it a bit floppier. I really like the pleating on the outside and the simple structure on the inside. I changed the pockets on one side - I like a rather small pocket for my word ID badge.

In progress - I love these prints!


Peak inside at my small pocket and lining. I love adding a bit of detail to the top of pockets now (see my AB Swing bag too). I think it looks fun and it helps you find the pocket too!

All done!

Making Progress -- Quilting

I'm not sure it's fair to call this my *first* quilt since I started and abandoned a rail fence quilt last year. Apparently my 1/4" seams were not 1/4" and nothing was aligning correctly. :( It was very frustrating and while I'd like to get back to it one day, who knows when that will be.

But I'm trying again, this time with the easy and very forgiving Brick Path pattern from Amy Butler. It's one of the free patterns on her site.
I got all my "bricks" cut out, arranged them and pieced the top together! Next I need to trim it even, pin the back, quilt, and bind! I'm skipping the batting since I'm using a very fuzzy/furry backing. I already did a test quilting piece with it and no problems. I'm planning on doing a simple stitch in the ditch quilting. Too much quilting on the furry fabric looks odd.
Here's how it looks so far!
All cut and arranged:


All sewn!


And hopefully soon I'll have more progress to report!

An Ode to Swing Bags

Oh Swing Bag, how I love thee!



I've gotten my money out of the Amy Butler Swing Bag pattern and then some. Really, I've made at least a dozen by now. I found I could make one out of two half yards, a fat quarter set, or really whatever piece I had and using a pieced construction. It's reversible, is a great size for me, looks good almost empty or stuffed to the gills. I even like that it has an open top so items can stick out if needed. It's a great basic pattern to build on. I usually add a covered button/loop closure at the top, plus a pocket or two.



My latest is really simple, just two Amy Butler (yes I have a lot of her stuff) prints from the August Fields line. These are heavier weight (heavier than her Nigella line) so no interfacing at all required --easy peasy!

Here's a look back at some of the others I've made:



Plus my very first, and still a favorite print of mine, Alexander Henry Mocca

Wristlet Testing

I was blog-hopping one night, looking for some fun craft blog to add to my Dashboard when I came across the See Katie Sew blog. She had just posted that she needed one last tester for her wristlet pattern. So I commented and later that night I was sewing up Katie's pattern (now available at her Etsy shop).

Here is mine:


There's a nice finishing step for the top at the zipper:


I'm already thinking it would look stunning in a red/black/white or a black/taupe combination....

Nate promptly claimed it as his own to put cars in. What can I say, at least he appreciates my handiwork!

It's a fun project to make out of smaller pieces. These are 3 of the fabrics in my Amy Butler Brick Path quilt. I'm really hoping to actually COMPLETE it. I've cut the bazillion pieces and laid out the pattern yesterday. I need to iron it all before I start piecing.
I'm better with smaller projects frankly!

Oooh la la - oven mitts almost too pretty to use!

I have to say I love how these oven mitts turned out. I used this free pattern from Savvy Seams and some more cute Lizzie Dish fabric. Our old, plain oven mitts were so grungy they really needed replacing. Now I'm worried we won't use these they are too nice!

More kitchen goodies

First off, aprons:
I started out with plans to make ONE apron, then thought to make another as a gift, needed to make a less-girly one for my husband, and got distracted by yet one more pattern. So one turned into four. But now they are all done!

I've already posted the Lizzie Dish/denim simple apron for my husband and the simple Lolli Dot laminate child's apron gifted to a friend's toddler.
Last night I finished up my super-girly Emmeline apron! It's already quite a feminine pattern and then I made them up in some adorable Farmer's Market prints. It's reversible. The pattern is pretty darn involved for an apron, but I'm pleased with the results.








Last week I finished another apron, a half-apron. It's the apron overlay that is part of the Amy Butler Barcelona skirt pattern. I love the skirt pattern but had ignored the apron part until now.
It came out OK... I had to alter it since I made it too large initially... and really I'm not sure I'll get much use with it. It's meant to be a fashion apron over jeans or a skirt instead of a functional apron I think. I feel a bit too old for the look honestly. I think the pictures make it look nice, but not sure it's me.




But that's not all! I finished up another kitchen item - a stack of bibs for my baby boy. He's a spitter-upper, drools like crazy lately and will be starting food soon so it's bib time! I made 4 with more of the Lolli Dot Michael Miller laminate (and I still have tons left!) each trimmed with a different color of the pindot bias trim. So cute!


And then nine more that are a cotton print backed with minkee. All so soft and cozy!


AND I started working on two over mitts with Lizzie Dish prints. We could really use some new ones so I'll be finishing these up soon too.