December Goals...

This month is always a roller coaster ride,as far as goals go!  Mostly because of all those last minute gifts that have to be finished up.

This summer Gil asked me to make something for a buddy and his girl,who were expecting...last week he finally got back to me!  The baby was born just before ThanksGiving,could I please make a crib sized quilt?  Of course I can,Ha,it just might not get finished until after Christmas.  This is the pattern I am using,the girl version(bottom quilt)

Although this quilt will be for a baby girl,mom likes yellow and chose a print from my stash that is aqua with tiny little duckies all over it.  These are the start of the pinwheel row for the quilt. (my ALYOF Goal this month)

This weekend I made a lot of progress on my Fall Frolic quilt top!  Sadly,it now has to be put aside so Christmas presents get finished.

Did you take advantage of any sales this past week?  This loot and 2 bolts of SF101(Shape Flex interfacing,not pictured,from Joann's) were my big splurge for the year!  Jelly Roll ruler,Tri-Recs rulers,Elizabeth Hartman's,Kona Roll up,Oakshot cottons bundle,darks(from Craftsy).  Thread box,also from Joann's.

Linking up:

A Lovely Year of Finishes

June Goal,a finish & a mini in progress

First the Goal for this month:

                                 
                           (photo source)

This is the last bag pattern in the Bag of The Month Club!  It is also my goal for ALYOF for this month.  I have not yet pulled fabrics for this but plan on doing that this weekend.

For mothers Day Jolene purchased me some fabrics from Fort Worth Fabric Studio,Thank You Sweetie !  Included in the package was an 8 piece FQ bundle with watermelon fabrics,perfect for some summer sewing projects.  Also included,3 yards of Moda Toweling,as well as another 4 piece FQ bundle and a pattern :)

You can down load a Free Tutorial on how to make these tea towels yourself from the link.  They are a quick project,the pressing takes longer than the sewing!  The pattern in my package is for a table runner so I will be making a runner to go with the tea towels soon.

Back in April I talked my friend Melissa into making the Wonderland Bag with me! (sorry Melissa,I could not find the post on your blog to add the link :(  After we had both finished she told me that her daughter thought the finished bag should be hers!  Which got me to thinking of reducing the pattern and making a smaller one so that they could have matching bags,sort of.

This is the progress so far.  the exterior is done except for the bottom of the bag.  I did make a few changes to this one.  No inside pockets,but there is one on one end(pictured above) and this one does not have the piping.  The handles are also much shorter making this a hand bag instead of a shoulder bag.  When it is finished I will post all the details.

The (Not So) Convertible bag

This was my ALYOF(button on side bar) goal for this month.  The Convertible bag,only in this case not so convertible...

The bag is designed to work either as a cross body bag or as a backpack.  However since my machine and the thread I was using to sew up this bag absolutely refused to play nice,even after numerous attempts at adjusting the bobbin tension...

This is where I decided to quit fighting and just have a cross body bag.(which I am quite happy with :)! Right below the two center points is where the tunnel for the backpack part of the strap was supposed to go.  If you look close you can probably see the needle holes from where I had stitched it.  Alas,the stitches would not stay in,which I noticed after turning the bag for the umpteenth time...

A look inside.  The pattern called for a zippered pocket on the inside and another one on the outside back.  I opted to omit both of them,and instead just have one slip divided slip pocket on the inside.  There was a little confusion on my part when arriving at the instructions on how to sew the lining and main body of the bag together.  I did figure it out,but had a couple bumps (resulting in puckers) at both side seams.  However I think that could be remedied with practice.

So here she is in all her glory,my not so convertible bag!  The pattern called for a thumb tuck,or catch.  Since I did not have one,and the bag designer was only offering the hardware in silver...I used a front buckle closure instead.  Took me a while to figure out how to make it work,but I managed.

Yes I will make this bag again,I really like it!  Next time I will be using thread that Lil Miss Janome can play nice with.  That other thread,well it is in thread      (the trash)

Saturday evening I finally managed to sew up the other five blocks for Kevin the Quilter.  So this week I can send off ten!  You can still make and send blocks into June.  Info is all at the link above.

During the Flags on a Stick hop I was a Lucky girl!  These lovely patterns came to me from Rhonda over at Revelly1.  They have been added to my "list".

These lovlies came from Shirley C from the blog Shirley C.  After I drool over the charms for a while I will decide what to use them for,and I am excited to start filling up the bobbin holder.

Last but not least are these two new additions to my library!  These are what I chose from Martingale for winning the March prize in the Big-City SAL!  This was a crazy winning month for me,even more so since I rarely win :)

April Goals...

ALYOF:

Since I did not get to the Convertible bag for March (bag of the month bag) it has been moved to my goal for  A Lovely Year of Finishes for April.  Wish me luck...

Aprils Bag for the Big City Bags SAL These are the fabrics I am hoping to use to make my Wonderland Bag this month.  I think that I will just be able to eek the pieces out of these half yard cuts (the pattern calls for 3/4 yard cuts).  If that does not work out I will be choosing different fabrics.

This months bag for the Bag of the Month Club  These are the fabrics I have pulled to make The Midtown Messenger Bag (I haven't printed the pattern off yet so no photo  of the bag for you)

As always there are also other sewing goals that I have not listed,but will post about as or when I work on them or finish them.    Speaking of which,this past weekend I made progress on my Triangle Quilt (button at the top of sidebar).  That will be another post this week!

Wishing you a week with time for sewing :)...

March sewing Goals

The months are Marching right along ;)  Which means that it is time to post goals for the new month.

I know this photo keeps popping up in my posts recently.  This was one of my goals last month...  Since I do not want to fall behind,The Butterfly Sling Bag Puppy Love Sling Bag is my ALYOF Goal.  Wish me lots of Luck...

 Big-City Bags SAL The next bag in the sew along is the Meringue Clutch.  There was only a small piece of navy (I know it looks purple in the photo) in my stash,so if there is enough of it for the accent piece and the strap I will use it.  Otherwise it will be the the lighter blue for those pieces and the lining as well.

BOMC March's Bag of the Month is the Convertible Bag!  I am so loving this club,and will be sad after the sixth bag is posted,because it will be the last one :(  What I am happy about is the improvement in my bag making skills,and the new techniques,tips,and tricks learned.

Of course there are more goals on my personal list for this month.  However I have decided not to post those here,but rather post about them as they are completed.

Good Luck to each of you with your own sewing goals this month!

ALYOF January 2014

Last year was a great year for finishes,so this year I am joining the 2014 A Lovely Year of Finishes Party again!

My first Goal of the year is...

To make the first bag in Sara Lawson's new Book Big City Bags.  This is the Fireside Bowl bag,I will be using Frou Frou by Kathleen Francour (the two outside prints) and the green Eiffel Tower print by Timeless Treasures fabrics to make my bag.  This will be killing two birds with one sewing project ;)

 As I have also joined Angela over at Sewing with Squeak in her bag sew along for the bags in this book!  Come on and join us,you know you want to :)  It is okay if you have not sewn bags or many bags yet,Sara's patterns are super easy to follow!  If you are not into making bags,then join the fun each month with your own projects,at ALYOF!

Novembers,Lovely Finish (ALYOF)

November is fast coming to a close,which means Thanksgiving is almost here!  I have so much to be Thankful for.  On that long list,is the ability to sew and create beautiful things from fabric,speaking of that...

This is what my goal(charm bag in progress) looked like at the beginning of the month.

This is what it looks like now,finished!  Yeah,another goal finish for the year :)

Sorry about the washed out color,but since it was already dark when I returned home from work this evening...the inside print is a purple all over paisley print purchased at Joann's.

If you like very large bags this is a bag to consider.  To give you an idea of the size here is my Janome 8077 in front of the bag,of course the bag is slouched,as it only has fusible fleece to add structure.

Lil miss Janome fits inside with plenty of room to add fabric,notions or whatever else you might need.  There is a full 6 inches of room on one end,or center the machine and have 3 inches on each end.  Although I do not plan on using this to carry my machine with me,it would easily work nicely for that!  My plan is to use it for trips to the fabric store,plenty of room to hold Lots of New Fabric ;)

Sadly,if I were to review the pattern,it would not get a thumbs up :(  The only photo,was not a photo at all,but a sketch of the charms laid out to form one side of the bag,that is it!  Luckily for me this was not my first bag,and so after reading and re-reading I was able to figure things out,or improvise to make the bag turn out.  If you are new to making bags,I would recommend waiting on this bag until you have a few makes under your belt.   One thing I did really like is the unique way in which the handle is attached,instead of attaching it to the tote it is threaded/looped through the tabs and then the ends sewn together.
This pattern is called,Charm Tote,and is by a local FiberArtist by the name of Susan Regan.  Her business name is Creekside Stitches.

Thanks for stopping by to checkout my finish,I hope you were able to complete your sewing goals this month as well!  Linking up with Melissa for the Finish Party!

Also linking up to Anything Goes Monday & Sew Darn Crafty

November ALYOF Goal

Just checking in to post my goal for this month,before time is up!  Remember my in progress,charm square bag?

Finishing this will be my goal for this month,wish me luck :)  Linking up over at Sew BitterSweet Designs

Mid ~Month check in (ALYOF) And GiveAway #4

The 15th of October already?  Actually it seems more like the middle of December around here,weather wise anyway.  It snowed off and on all day!  (I am so Not ready for that yet)

This months goal is to finish up all of the circles for the Candy Beads quilt,started while at Fabric Fest last month.  Progress so far,all of the 5" & 7" circles done!  Just need to get the 10"circles finished.

Although that might seem like an easy goal to some,this has been a super busy month at work so far.(there have been very few days that have not included overtime)  Then there are also two Secret projects that are in the works,one due by the beginning of next month,one due on the 12th.

Oh,Right,the GiveAway ;)             (GIVEAWAY CLOSED)
                                                       ConGratuLations to Renea!!!

One lucky commenter (following is never a requirement of winning here) will win:

• One slightly used (once at Fabric Fest) set of Circle Rulers
• The pattern/instructions for Circle Beads Quilt (by Lori Holt)
• One 3.5" stacker of Gracie Girl (21 squares)

What do you have to do for a chance to win???
Answer this Question...What handmade item would you buy/make to use as a stocking stuffer?  Could be for an adult or a child.  This giveaway will be open through next Wednesday Oct 23rd.  Good Luck!

October ALYOF Goal

Since it has become increasingly hard for me to get multiple projects finished in time to meet the deadline,this month I have  again decided on a single goal.

Recently I post about the Candy Beads quilt that was started while at Fabric Fest.

This is a photo of the circles I was able to get finished while there.  My goal for this month is to finish all of the circles needed for the front of the quilt.  Each of the three sizes requires 20 circles,for a total of 60 circles to make the quilt top.  If time permits,I will also start appliqueing the circles to the blocks...

What are you working on this month?

A Winner ~ A Finish (ALYOF) ~ and Another GIveaway!!

Firstly,my apologies for not having this post up yesterday.

The Winner of the two Kanzashi Flower templates is...

Barbara who said "always ready to try something new,thanks for the chance"  Congratulations Barbara,they will be on the way to you by Wednesday afternoon!  Thank you to everyone who left a comment,and you will all have another chance to win something again,at the end of this post!!

My finish for September ~ ALYOF

The Goal for this month was to pick a design from the Doodle Stitches book and try my hand at some embroidery.  Since I had not yet sent anything to my nephew for little Axton Rane,I decided now was the time.  So the design I chose was a little teddy bear.

Somewhere I had acquired a skein of variegated blue floss,so that is what was used for this first teddy bear.  He is a little wonky,but very cute and not half bad for a first attempt at embroidery!  I like him so much that I decided to do two more,one in brown and one black.  I hope to have those done soon.

August was my blog anniversary,but it slipped right by,as well as this month also.  Which led to the decision to celebrate a tad late :)  So...

This weeks Giveaway is...

Yes,it is another item from Fabric Fest!  Everyone received one of these little "Make & Take kits" with all of our "Swag".  Since I was too busy with my classes (didn't want to miss a thing) this kit came home with me,untouched.  What is in it?  Let me tell you,what you will win if you are the lucky commenter :)

• There are 5 projects included in this kit:
• UFO to Go
• Needle Nook
• Pincushion
• Scissor Holder
• Laminate Box Bag

Sound like something you might be interested in winning???  If so,leave me a comment on...
What your favorite thing about Fall is.  My favorite thing about Fall is,all the different shades of beautiful color on the Aspens,crisp mornings and evenings,the start to baking season,the list goes on...

Linking up to:

ALYOF September party

Sew Darn Crafty Linky

Free motion by the River (Tuesday)