Sew busy/ Giveaway

I know this is kind of a cheater craft but...
I did fill all of these wonderful baby shower gift
baskets with lots of goodies for the newly arrived,
or arriving soon precious little bundle of joy!

The twelve produce bags that took me most of the week!
Have you ever had a project that just seemed to take
forever?
This was one of those for me!
But they are finally finished :)

Lots of fabric covered journals for your writing pleasure!

Mr.P had to vacate his weekend haunt for this and the next
picture!
16 fleece blankets!
1 baby size
3 toddler size
12 adult size

4 quillows
My favorite,eeyore :)

Last but certainly not least,what you have been waiting for!
The Giveaway!!!
Sew since I have been such a terrible host at posting lately,
I thought that this would be a nice way to say Thank You
for your patience :)  (about my lack of posting lately)
These three fabrics above,Jolene brought me from
Mexico a couple of years ago when she was there
studying abroad one summer.
I don't know what type of fabric it is (sorry) it is a light
weight fabric.  And as you can see very bright!
I will be sending about 1/2 a yard of each
print to the winner.  And whatever else I chose that
will fit in the envelope :)

Sew,how do you win???
Just leave me a comment about....
Anything you feel like!
That's it!
You do not have to be a follower
But,make sure that I have some way to get in touch
with you  if you WIN
GOOD LUCK :)
Giveaway will run from 6/26/11 ~ 7/6/11

Embellished Tea Towels

This stack of hand/tea towels has been sitting in my to do
basket for quite awhile now.
So the other evening I decided what fabric to use on them.

Now all they need is a little ribbon around each set and they
will be ready to sell :)

Tweety pillowcase tutorial

Materials you will need for making one standard size pillowcase...
3/4 yard fabric for the body of your pillowcase
9 inch by 41 inch strip of fabric for the cuff
4 1/2 inch by 41 inch strip fabric for the accent trim
scissors & or rotary cutter
thread
cutting mat & ruler
iron
Cut fabric to specified measurements

Press accent trim strip in half lengthwise,wrong sides together

Pin the folded strip to the right side of the pillowcase body fabric
along a 41 inch side.

Match raw edges and sew through all
layers,using a 1/2" seam allowance.
If the pillowcase body fabric is a directional print,consider which
direction is "up" before pining & sewing on your accent strip.

Fold the pillowcase body fabric in half,right sides together,
along the 41 inch (side) edge.
Sew the side seam using 1/2" seam allowance or (French Seam).

FRENCH SEAM
To make a French Seam place the fabrics wrong sides together
and sew a 1/8" seam.

Turn right side out and press seam with right sides together,then
sew a 3/8" seam.  This will encase the raw edge and give a
nice finish inside the case.

Sew the short side of the border fabric right sides together
with a 1/2" seam,forming a circle.

Pin the right side of the border fabric to the wrong side of the
pillowcase body,matching the raw edges and seams,and sew
together with a 1/2" seam.

Turn under remaining raw edge of border fabric1/2".

Press all the way around.

Fold over to the right side of the pillowcase body and line up
just over the top of the original stitching.

Pin in place all the way around the pillowcase,being careful
not to catch any extra fabric.  You could press the fabric
away from this seam before pinning.  Which will help so
that you don't catch any extra border fabric in your stitches.

Top stitch the border fabric all the way around the pillowcase.

Press the cuff/border along the top to create a crease.

Press the side seam & along the bottom of the pillowcase.

Here is the finished pillowcase!
Hopefully this tutorial was concise and easy to follow. :)
Feel free to ask questions if you don't understand anything!
Have fun making yourself some new pillowcases!
(The pillow in the picture is actually a queen size.  So your
pillow case will be quite roomy on a standard size pillow)

Sewing & babies

Sorry it has taken me so long to get a post up.  The reason is
that I am going to be sharing a booth at a local craft fair on the
4th of July,with a lady who works where I do. 
Recently she ask me if I would be interested and I jumped at the
chance!
Needless to say my sewing machine has been smoking lately LOL!
The bags/totes above are a some of the finished projects.  The
fabric on the pockets is also the lining fabric.

Recently, Karen at Sew Much 2 Luv posted a tute on how to
make these super cute lil bags!  It was so easy peasy (just like she said)
to make these.  Thanks so much Karen,I no longer fear the zipper :)
My niece,sis, & a couple friends are going to love these!
The ladybug one at the bottom is for a friend at work who
just happens to love ladybugs.

Ha,bet you were not thinking of fawns when you read my title!
The other evening Mr.P and I went for a walk.  We hadn't even
walked a 1/4 of a mile when we came across these two little
guys!  They were hiding right in plain sight.
I hurried back home for my camera,hoping that they wouldn't
move.

As you can see they didn't!  They were on opposite sides and
ends of the log.  This one looks like he is trying to hide,the first one,
not so much.
I Love where we live :)

Finished Quilt Top

Today I finally had time to get my Posie Patch quilt top finished!
I am really happy with how this quilt is turning out :)
The weather even cooperated long enough for me to take a couple
of pictures.  Yay!

Here is a close-up.
Yesterday I took a FMQ class!  It was so much fun and I learned
a lot.  I forgot to take a picture of my sampler,so will have to post
a photo of it another time.
Next I will be working on my Posie appliques.
Wish me luck as this will be a first for me!

You are So busted!!

So we were sitting on the deck this evening enjoying the nice
weather.  I happened to look over at the tree in the side yard.
The two pairs of doves were in the crab apple tree.
So I went and got the camera.
When I came back this is what I saw!
Mr. P is going to have to move the bird feeders to the higher & longer
limbs of the tree!

Here is one of the doves at the top of the tree.
Didn't get any sewing in this evening, as I was baking some
things for a charity bake sale.
Darn Good Chocolate Cake
Poppy seed cake
peanut butter swirl brownies
Yum!
Have a great weekend :)

posie patch layout

Here is the  layout that I decided on for my posie patch quilt
top.
The quilt pattern calls for posies(flowers) to be appliqued in the
lower right hand corner.  I am thinking that I will put them in
both of the lower corners.
Am also playing with the idea of adding them to the back of the
quilt too.
What do you think?

Bacon & swiss chard over Alferdo pasta

Yesterday I posted a photo of my first bunch of Swiss Chard
from the garden.
This evening I used it to make dinner!

Recipe
1 package of bacon (I used beef bacon)
15-20 leaves of Chard (you could also use Kale,or one package/
bunch of spinach)
8 oz pasta (your choice)
Alfredo sauce
Cut the Chard/kale off the spine,and tear or chop into bite size
pieces.  If using spinach tear large leafs in half & remove stem.
Set aside.
Take bacon out of package and cut in half.  Place in skillet and fry
to desired dourness.
Put your pasta on to boil at this point.
Drain off most of the grease,leaving about 2 tablespoons in skillet.
Add whichever green you are using to the skillet.  Return to heat
and cook until your greens are aldente.  Three to five minutes,no longer
Remove from heat.
Drain pasta,return to pot and add Alfredo sauce and heat through.
Place desired amount of Alfredo pasta in bowl and top with greens &
bacon mixture.
Enjoy :)
Serves 3

This evening I was able to get my triangles cut for my Posie
Patch quilt.
Hopefully tomorrow I will have time to start putting the blocks
together.

Garden goodies & 1 community service bag

Here are the very first goodies from the garden this year!
There are about 10-15 leaves of Swiss Chard (sorry my picture
didn't turn out to good)
I know what we are having for dinner tomorrow night :)

This is my first bag that I will be sending to Mary Ann & Cindy!
Check out Cindy's blog for more details on how you can help
out too!
I used some upholstery fabric to make this bag.  It is reversible
and I added a pocket from a pair of jeans that I recently had to
retire.

Lunch bag for Jolene & posie patch fabric

If anyone is interested I am still needing
2 more followers to post a comment here
to be included in my Pay it forward.

Here is Jolene's finished lunch bag.  Saturday I got up early and was
able to get this made before we headed up to Denver to help Jolene
& her DH pack up the Budget truck with all their things.  Tuesday
they are headed to Indiana.

This is part of the fabric for the next quilt we will be making for
the quilt book club.
The quilt is called Poise patch.
The fabric I chose is Tonga Treats (lemongrass) from Timeless Treasures.
The two fat quarters are for my posies that will be appliqued on the
quilt.  This will be my first time using Batiks and also appliqueing!
Wish me luck :)  The white roll is Steam a seam for the appliqued
Posies.

On the way home this evening we stopped and took a couple
of pictures of three Antelope.

I waited for a few minutes,but this one would not look up,or
around.
Hope you all had a wonderful weekend!

Softie pattern

This came in the mail a couple days ago.
It is the softie pattern that I won from Saffron Craig Fabrics
in the Sew Mama Sew Giveaway Day!
I am so excited (I very rarely win anything)
This is going to be added to the other gifts for
my great niece's first birthday :)
Thank you Saffron Craig :)

This is going to be a lunch bag for Jolene when it is finished!
She saw mine and commented that it was cool (hint,hint) LOL!
If it isn't finished before she moves I will have to send it to her.
So I better get busy in the morning!

I am still looking for 2 more peeps to enter my PIF

~ Pay It Forward ~

I found this lovely post on a blog that I follow, Sopntaneous Threads.  You can read about Stephanie's pay it forward, which I am participating in and you can pay it forward through my blog by leaving me a comment, agreeing to the following:
(hold up your hand and repeat after me…)
1. I will make a handmade something for 3 readers of my blog- (if you would like to participate in the Pay it Forward, ie: you would like to get something handmade from me, you must leave me a comment telling me that you would like to participate). I will send 3 readers something that I have made, without warning within 365 days. (Pinky swear). (You can put your hand down now).
2. So, in order for you to get something from me- you have to say that you will do the same for 3 readers of your blog, so, it follows that you should have a blog if we want to keep this "paying forward" unbroken.
3. When you receive your handmade item (from me) you MUST post about what you received on your blog, and put a picture of the Pay it Forward button in your post. (You can copy and paste it from this post
This last part is optional, but would be fun- If you like, you can post pictures and your thoughts about what you send to the 3 people who will received something from you on your blog as well. Just give it a few days to travel in the mail. You wouldn't want to ruin the surprise.
So I am excited to send something Handmade (by me) to the first 3 Followers who leave me a comment saying
that they are willing to Pay It Forward (on your blog).
You Must have a Blog(so that I can get in touch and get your snail mail info!
You also Must Not Be a NO REPLY Blogger!  Because I will not be able to email you
and get your mailing info,which also means No Handmade surprise!!

on another note...
Here is my sneak peak from last nights post.

And here is the finished project!
I am calling it "Scrappy Bag"
because it is made entirely from scraps :)

The back side.