Teardrop Bag in Patchwork

I had a custom order for the Teardrop bag from Amy Butler in patchwork and adding a flap and inside zippered pocket. I was up for the challenge! Nellie wanted purples, pinks and blues and so we decided on Heirloom & Ginseng by Joel Dewberry, Innocent Crush by Anna Maria Horner & Flower Power from Jennifer Paganelli.. I cut 4 1/4" squares for the body and 4 1/2" squares for the strap. The trim piece along the top as well as the 'hips' are all Wilflowers fabric. I had a flap pattern I use for my diaper/wipes case and it was the perfect size~ it just needed to be a little longer, so I went with that. I put a magnetic button in the middle of the front pleat and the flap for closure. Inside Nellie wanted a zippered pocket, so I used the Mail Sack pattern~ (one of my all time favorite bag patterns) to construct that. The other side is a patchwork pocket that is divided. I'm really happy with the way it came out & I hope Nellie is too! :)

What I'm Working on Today

Had to delete the last post~ those huge spaces were bugging me! No more tutorials from me unless I figure out how to close those gaps. I did hit 'delete' in between, then when it posted there were those huge gaps again, so forget it! Here's Elena's quilt top done, I'll be quilting this cutie today. Its grey and icky and this top brightens everything!! Its got the voile, so I can't wait to see how it quilts. :) What are you working on this weekend??

WIP Gray, Chartreuse & Blue

In between orders I'm working on this new color combo. I started with Anna Maria's Lovesme Lovesmenot in leaf and Amy Butler's English Garden in bluestone. I really liked them together, so then I pulled out some coordinates from my closet from Jennifer Paganelli, Patty Young, Denyse Schmidt as well as AMH & Amy. Oh, yes! The Coriander in pine looks lovely with it! I was kind of excited about that, and Patty Young's Hive and Hummingbirds in lime~ gorgeous!! Then, I got some of the Ty Pennington's Impressions line and was super excited to add those. Its really coming along and I really do love it. I'm not a huge gray fan~ its the smallest section in my fabric closet~ but I love this color combo. Not sure how long it will take to complete, but I work on it a little each day! Sewing room update~ slooooooowly coming along. Hope to start the stucco part Saturday. Maybe 1 more month of no heat?? I'm really tired of being cold!

Patchwork Bag

I am just in love with this color combination! Liz originally wanted a minky blanket with these fabrics, which I previously finished: http://www.flickr.com/photos/sewfunbymonique/5132977045/ but then decided to add a patchwork bag and here it is! Normally I just use interfacing on all the pieces, but this time I added batting and quilted the pieces. It was definately thicker and more difficult to go through the layers when putting it all together. I used my walking foot and pressed on! More pics on my flickr page. I am linking to Sew and Tell Fridays!

Hobo Bag for Robin

Just finished a hobo bag for my sweet friend, Robin. I used a pdf pattern from Sweet Pea Totes. I purchased it from http://pinkchalkfabrics.com. (You can also get it directly from http://www.etsy.com/shop/sweetpeatotes ) Kathy has a great selection of patterns that I love browsing. I've made her mail bag before and loved it. What I love about pdfs is you can have it up on your computer and follow along with pictures. So great for people like me who love to have a visual! I posted more pics on my flickr & you can see Tina Givens' Opal Owl on the back~ a beautiful surprise & compliment to the Glam Garden, Bubble Burst & Henna Garden all picked out by Robin.

Grape Crush Throw Finished!

I posted my WIP earlier this week playing with the new Innocent Crush fabrics. Looooooove them! I guess I'm on a purple kick lately. I'm excited that so many new lines are including different shades of purple. Love it with blues!! This one has reds, too for a kick. I combined Innocent Crush with some Amy Butlers, Valori Wells and the woodgrain is Moda. I kept it mostly Anna's fabrics including Garden Party, Good Folks & Drawing Room. They all play nicely together. I went back and forth~ minky or a traditional quilt? I ended up with the minky backing using the thicker fleece minky since we are coming into cooler weather & this would be a great snuggler. More pics posted on my flickr. Happy Friday! Linking to Amy's Sew & Tell~

http://www.amylouwho.com/

Fall Wardrobe

One of my favorite quick & easy projects is appliqueing fabric to tshirts. My mom uniform consists of jeans & a tee or sweats and a tee, so I enjoy adding beautiful prints to the shirts. Paired with a coordinating cardigan or zip sweatshirt and I'm good to go! Fabric lines I used from top left: Nest by Valori Wells, Glam Garden by Josephine Kimberling, Innocent Crush by Anna Maria Horner, Bliss by Bonnie & Camille and Bell Bottoms by Jennifer Paganelli. Its all raw edge applique & I use thread to attach in the same color as the tee with a zigzag around the edge. The Bliss & Bell Bottoms I used pinking shears & then just straight stitched just inside the design so the edges fray a little. Which one will I wear today??

Grape Crush

Got my order in from Whipstitch Fabrics and Hawthorne Threads with Anna Maria Horner's Innocent Crush line. I have to say, these colors do not disappoint!! Even though I am really partial to this grape group, I love all of them!! I am really drawn to the plum/navy/ice blue combo, so I was excited to piece some of the fabrics together. As soon as I got Lovesme Lovesmenot #1), I knew my plum woodgrain fabric would look awesome with it~ its from Basic Grey's Eva. These fabrics would look great on a fall bag or throw~ even baby bedding for adventurous moms!! Can't wait to see the rest of the line~ home dec, voile, velveteen.