Fantasia by Sara Lawson

I had the opportunity to work with Sara Lawson of Sew Sweetness new fabric line called Fantasia recently. I love the feel of Art Gallery fabrics, they were a pleasure to work with! I wanted a picture with Holly in it because she is 5'5" and I wanted you to see how far it hangs.

My favorite print is definitely the unicorn in the grey color way. It resembles a chalk board and I love the storybook quality! The cute novelty prints in this line are the mushrooms & horseshoes~ great for fussy cutting and accents.

 The small floral is so pretty, I put it inside the bag. It comes in both pink and teal & would make great clothing. Thank you Sara for letting me play with your new collection! The bag will be listed in my shop in the next few days here. The collection should be available by the end of this month!

Crazy Love Messenger Bag

There are oh so many things I want to make with Crazy Love, but I decided to go for my messenger bag. Its a great way to mix up the fabrics. I've been playing with separating the colors more, but really this line calls to be mixed up, eclectic, fun & bright. You just can't go wrong. Flap: Priscilla, front/back Natasha, sides& inside flap Joann, insides Natasha pockets with Cecilia walls, strap on top a mix of it all! If you've been hesitant in mixing fabrics before, this line makes it easy! I've posted various combinations on my flickr under 'fabric choices' if you would like suggestions~ otherwise, dive in! This bag is now available in my shop! :)

Patchwork Diaper Bag

I had the pleasure of sewing a patchwork diaper bag for Nakia recently. Its one of my favorite things to sew~ well anything patchwork is! :) I used 5" squares and just trimmed down as necessary to create this aqua, lime and teal bag from fabrics by Amy Butler, Jennifer Paganelli, Patty Young & Michael Miller. She ordered a changing pad in Patty Young's Hummingbird and wanted an aqua/green bag so I added that print to the mix and any others that coordinated. Jennifer's Ann Flower Mural was added towards the end because as I walked by my fabric wall I noticed it would be gorgeous in the mix. I enjoy impromptu fabric mixes. You never know what coordinates sometimes until you are sewing along and you see one more who wants in on the fun! Tomorrow is the last day of school for my kids, so I've got lots to do today. Hope you are enjoying your day!

Practical Bag

I made the Practical Bag by Tanya Whelan last week for Holly. She needed a beach bag to match her bathing suit for beach day at school. She chose Jennifer Paganelli's Queen Street fabrics & this pattern was so easy to sew together! This would be a great summer project to teach your kids to sew. There is no interfacing, buttons, or zippers. I would have liked a pocket, but you can definately add that easily. It takes a yard for the outside and a little less than a yard for the inside, so if you have a fabric stash you can easily make this on a whim. This may be the pattern for teacher gifts this year.

Mom and Dad's Bags

I had the opportunity with a custom order to make a diaper bag for both mom & dad. This was a fun order because I hadn't made a bag for a dad yet, and the mom wanted Anna Maria Horner's oilcloth/laminate fabric. More pictures are posted on my flickr site~ link on the right side~ of the inside of these bags. She chose Happy Campers basketweave for the outside and Joel Dewberry's woodgrain & a Happy Campers scene for the inside of the dad's bag. The laminate was a little tricky to work with when the laminated side was face down on my sewing machine and the other side facing up was laminated. I had to kind of manually pull the fabric through. When the non laminated side was down on the sewing machine it was a breeze to sew. I definately need to change my needle now, too as it dulls it a little. All in all, I would make it again. Hope the husband and wife love their bags!

So St Croix Project

Couldn't wait to make this diaper bag for my shop! Love all the brights together! As previously blogged, I won a set of FQ's from Jennifer Paganelli & heres my second project. I made a baby blanket first and it sold right away, so I didn't get to blog about it, but will post a pic on the sidebar later. If that was any indication, So St Croix should be flying off the shelves! :) I added some of Jennifer's other fabrics to the semi log cabin flap. It kinda looked like it was going to be a quilt in my previous post, and I do have one in the works, but this one went to a diaper bag/moms bag. My daughter made a perfect 5'2" model, as so many moms seem to be that height! Now available in my shop: http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=42745607

What To Do With 24 Fat Quarters?

I was given the challenge to create a patchwork diaper bag, blanket and burp cloths from 23 fat quarters a customer gave me. I was giddy for the opportunity. I added one fabric from my collection to make an even 24 using Amy Butler's Midwest Modern and Daisy Chain fabrics. I started off cutting 5 1/2" strips and sewed them in groups of 3. I then began placing them where needed. For the bag flap I actually used the scraps from cutting the ends off of the strip groups. I put light blue minky on the back of the patchwork blanket. I am so pleased with the way it all came out. The aquas and greens really glow! It will be so hard to mail this package out today! :)

Diaper Bags

My custom diaper bags have become a popular item in my store. I really love making them and mixing it up! It's fun because everyones taste is a little different and I get to play with so many fabrics! This diaper bag I made to sell because I just love the new Dance With Me fabric from Jennifer Paganelli. The "cheater" patchwork reminds me of my bedding as a tween. As soon as I saw it, for some reason I thought diaper bag, so I used that fabric for the flap and then used coordinating fabrics from Jen's other lines to pull out the colors in the patchwork. I call it "groovy cottage" because it has a 70's flavor with cottage coziness. I get to do a "real" patchwork diaper bag for someone in Amy Butler's Midwest Modern2 & Daisy Chain in aquas and greens. I am itching to make it and can't wait to post pics. She also wants a baby blanket and burp cloths. Quite a beautiful set in the making. I still can't believe that I do what I do. Creating all these beauties is a dream job for me!! God is good!