Button Down Your Stuff

A couple of months ago I got the cutest little set of fabric buttons made from Reunion fabric by sweetwater. I HAD to have the buttons. A-dor-a ble! Their label Crew project that month was a pattern for three cute little pouches/bags.I finally got around to making a little bag. 
It's 5.5" x 5.5".....
Perfect for: small camera
                  cords and chargers
                   pair of glasses
                   2/3 of a nook e-reader (yes, it fit...super tightly, but it did fit)
                   snacks
                   receipts/coupons/other small paper goods
                   a couple of rolled up undies
                   etc.......

Well, you get the idea. Now for the pics...................

Look, I even paid attention to the directional fabric!! So proud.

EEekkk. I should probably top stitch that, huh?

A size comparison incase 5.5 x 5.5 makes no sense in your brain. I always like a good visual.

I've really been enjoying small, quick, easily finished projects lately. They make me feel accomplished, especailly while I am in the middle of longer, more involved projects. 

A nice little pick-me-up, if you will.

Do you like to take a small break from a big project and finish a little something too?

OOOorrrrr, are you a one project kinda person?

Nosy Nellie's  Inquiring minds want to know.......

New Neighbors

Yeppers, we've got ourselves some new peeps in the 'hood.  They don't have any kids yet, but it won't be long. They can get a little noisy, but it's not the kind of noise you dislike.  

Would you like to meet them?

Okay, meet the Dove family...............

I think she has finally realized that we aren't after her or her egg(s) because she and her mate have stopped trying to dive bomb us every time we walk out the back door. LOL She even stays put when I open the slider. As you can see, she was eyeballing me pretty good, but she let me get a pic. Gotta love a zoom function, eh? I was about 8 feet away....way closer than yesterday. :-)

Meet the Ghastlie Family

The newest Alexander Henry print is a portrait gallery of the Ghastlies. 

O M G....I ♥ it...a LOT!.

Their names, their spouses, their children...priceless!!

Meet the infamous family:

There are some others on the outdoor prints, someday maybe we'll get their names too!
Seriously one of thee most fun prints.....ev-er!

Pink Polka Dots are Ghastlie

Especially when they keep a lovely little zipper bag closed. 


I cut out a few little leftover Ghastlies and used them to pretty up a canvas zipper bag. 
My purse is gonna be sooooo fun (okay, more fun since it's red leather croc).

Front 

She was my only whole person.

Back 

These two were on an end so that's how I used them too.

The zippers are a little short so the metal piece shows on one side, but I can live with it. If I can, I'll just take a deeper seam.

Beware!!!! I ♥ the Ghastlies and they are going to pop up nearly every time I sew something....at least for a little while!

WOW! I got to sew two whole days in a row!!! Wooo and Hoooo!

Quilt top done!

I started it awhile back, then the baby came early, then I kinda got into other stuff, but I decided I needed to "get 'er done." Sooooo me and  Lily-bit went to work.


The progress:

Miss Lily was not much help. Every time I got up, she hopped up. 

That table top is super clean because I had to wipe it down a whole bunch. LOL

Now, to get a cute backing fabric and sandwich away. I am machine quilting it for ruggedness and I am pretty sure there will be a fair bit of free-motion design involved. It'll be a surprise to us all. LOL

Grocery shopping can be a Ghastlies Experience

Using the keykalou grocery bag pattern once again.......my all too frequent trips to the grocery store just got a little more fun!

I give you THE GHASTLIES: 

I have some Sebastian Ghastlie just waiting to be a bag too! Meeeeooowwwwwww

 

And the Upcycled Bag........

........winner is:

Number 17......let me go look and see who is post 17....hope it's not me or I'll have to random it again..... The official winner is: Marcia! Send me your mailing info oh lucky one!


Sorry for the totally ungeeky pic, I could not find a way to get that frame to copy. I know it can be done, I've seen it, but I don't have a lotta time to keep trying to get it to copy sooooooo, the lame way won out!


Congrats Marcia.....hope you like it in real life!


Oooooo, Edie C suggested this route, let's see how it worked!

Hey!!! It worked!! Big thanks to Edie!!!
Glad I didn't close the page yet!! 
Edie, I may just have to make you a little bag too for helping me out!!

Can't wait for the next hop!

Leslie Rahye's Earth Day Blog Hop

For this crafty adventure, we were challenged to 
reuse/recycle/re-purpose some no longer useful/leftover item(s) and turn it into something wonderfully crafty or artsy.  I jumped in with both feet!




First, what to reuse? 

Ah, on old, ugly apron that I already cut the ties off of and reused (ooo, a two-fer)

Cut it up...really up

 There wasn't enough apron left for all the pieces I needed, so I went to the sewing closet for some leftover fabric. I vowed to use nothing new, except thread....hard to recycle and respool that, eh. 

Who knew I had some of the quilt block fabric leftover from, ahhhhh, 13 years ago!

A little creative piecing to create a useable size

Next thing ya know, I've got a cute little bag.

Perfect for lunch; a mini shopping trip; crochet; toys, trick or treating...anything really.
Wow! how my style has evolved since this quilt block was made. I still love orange, but I've really gotten into the bright retros and b/w and let's not forget The Ghastlies!
Ah heck, my style is all over the place, but a lot less traditional than it used to be.  


Please check out my fellow Earth Day Hoppers to see how they found creative ways to help ol' Mother Earth. (keep reading....all the way down....something fun is a comin'!)

Guess what? This little bag can be yours! I know right....
How, you say....
Leave a comment and your contact info and Tuesday morning, not so bright and not so early, I will do the whole random number generator thang and one of you lucky hoppers will be the proud owner of this little beauty. If you don't want to be entered, but want to leave a comment, that's okay too....just say so.

Let's go surfin now, everybody's learnin how.........

I went on a 13 hour road trip from the CA Delta to Arcata, CA....

I HAD to have a pic of this.....H  A  D

They were everywhere...it was surreal.

I mean really, all that greenery and no visible water.......waiting for a killer wave.

More signs....

I love this one!

As you can see, I made it to and fro, Tsunami free

R.I.P. Dick Clark

The end of an era......


I used to sooooo look forward to Saturday afternoons. Soul Train was good, but it was no American Bandstand. And how will I get through a New Year's Rockin Eve with Ryan Seacrest?

What do you do with a leftover cobbler?

A cobbler style apron that is!!!

You upcycle it! That's right, Earth Day is this weekend and I am participating in a blog hop. The challenge is to reuse/recycle something by channeling your bad crafty self!

My item to reuse/upcycle: A cobbler's apron that was a requirement when I was a memeber of the Contra Costa Guild of Quilters. We wore it at the quilt show when we worked it. Now they can wear any style apron. :-P~

See the guild block.........

A closer look..... 

http://www.contracostaquiltguild.org/

I already cut off the ties and used them in a dress I made awhile back.

I never, ever liked this apron......it shifted and hung all funky anytime you put something in the pockets.....very uncomfortable and truly unflattering...and I was a lot thinner way back when...like 20 pounds!

What will I turn it into? You'll just have to wait for the big unveiling Saturday. I am even reusing some scraps to add to my project because I cut this puppy allllllllll to pieces!

Happy Almost Earth Day

Today is.........

 

My last day of work!

Tax season ends tomorrow at midnight and all my prep duties end today.

Ahhhhhhh, I get back about 30 hours a week.

Hopefully I can be a productive at home as I was at work!

 

Oh Hail no!

April on the Delta......this is not normal, but it;s kinda fun if you don't have to be out and about in it.

A few seconds into the downpour

a little bit longer

a minute and a half

lookee here, the beginning of a snow cone!

Grocery Bag Review

Yesterday I posted that I made a loverly grocery bag. It IS pretty and if I could get more of that stripe, I sooooo will, but I digress....

As promised, I took my new bag to the store and compared to my old, crusty canvas bags.

1 - Looks, the new bag sooooooo wins

2 - Size.....that's a tie

3 - Sturdiness.....that's a tie

4 - The right squareness for groceries.....tie

5 - Where the old and crusty wins....handle placement

Bear in mind, this is a highly subjective issue.....I have one peep that LOVES her keykalou grocery bags and 4/5 is a really good score....really good. I just like the way the bag is carried with the handles attached in a different way. 

Pics:

Size wise, pretty similar...right now they have differing amount of stuff in them, but they pretty much hold the same volume of stuff.

See how the sunflower bag has the handles attached front and back?

The new bag has the handles attached front to back.

Maybe if they were a tad longer............I just don't know.

The bag is a keeper and I will make it again with the handles attached front and back and just a smidge longer. I will use canvas next time for some stiffness.

Overall score: 4/5 stars.....5/5 for easy to sew.

Do you have a favorite grocery bag pattern? Do you love this keykalou pattern? 

What say you?

♦ ♦ ♦

 

It's in the bag, baby!

I did a little bit of sewing this week.....a very little...bit by bit....10 minutes here, 20 minutes there, 5 minutes to ponder the next time I might get a few minutes.........

What did I make?(in addition to finishing my steampunk Easter wares) A simple little grocery bag in AdornIt's Long Live Vintage fabric line. I ♥ it big time!!

As you can see, four different fabrics combine to make it all pretty aaannnddddd....... reversible! All the stitching makes it functional.

 Full frontal baggery

 I can't wait to take it on its first grocery store run. Okay, I can wait, it's just too pretty to get all dirty from shopping.
I'll letcha know how it compares to the beater canvas bags I already use.......it already is heads and tails cuter, that's for sure! 


The bag is a pattern from Keykalou. Very easy....v-e-r-y.
My friend Karen says it's  "f  t  s" fun to sew!
Actually, it was! 
The corner treatment is much different than I am used to but easy peasy nonetheless.
If you feel the need to be green and stylish, this is your bag, baby!

HAPPY EASTER

Crafty overload or too many margarita eggs?

leslierahye's Hippity Steampunk Easter Blog Hop!

Welcome to leslierahye's Hippity Steampunk Easter Blog Hop! 

I am a fan and a follower of her blog. 

We are celebrating Spring & Easter--Steampunk Style! 

She has gathered together a group of awesome steampunk artists and we all made a little somethin/somethin to celebrate this time of year! I am as excited to see their creations as I'm sure you are!!! This is a one day hop. Below you will find links to everyone on the hop, you can start at the beginning and hop through in order. Be sure and check out all the stops as some have blog candy!! Alas, I did no blog candy, but I did do items for Easter and spring!!

I never really considered myself an artist since I sew, but I do love steampunk and I just had to play!

First up, a cute little Easter Basket.

I used the clock motif and a zipper flower.
(the zipper flower is a bit heavy)

( I have enough clock fabric to make an awesome steampunk corset!)

For spring, a sharpie painted bubble gun!

It's a bit rustic, but I love it! And yes, it works!!

Side by side

Easter bunny ready

Hop on over to the other blogs and see what they have created!

I can't wait to hop on over myself!