Sunday, April 14, 2013

A Little Early

Some might say these are a little late, I just say they are really early! I made Halloween placemats this fall. The fabrics were just too cute to pass up. After the placemats were finished, I had quite a few scraps left. Looking at the pile of Halloween goodness, I saw a table topper.

Isn't it lovely? I used this pattern to make table toppers last spring. Have you ever skimmed through the directions on a pattern you have made before. All the while, thinking "Oh yes, I remember how this goes?" This is the feeling I got when reading the directions. Well, after piecing the topper, I couldn't quite put my finger on what was wrong.

This pattern will make two table toppers with just a little extra main fabric (solid black) and backing fabric, so I always make two. I finally figured out what went wrong when I put the second one together.

Notice on this table topper that the black fabric with the eyes makes a really nifty point that appears to be behind the colored triangles? I sewed these in the wrong direction on the first one. The first one still looks cool, so I decided to keep it that way.
My 9 year old will be making Halloween placemats that coordinate with these table toppers, so I think I will keep one of these for her when she gets older. I know that is a long time from now, but it will be here before know it.
Off to sew something! Maybe I should finish the last baby quilt or should I work on the very bright spring midi bag that is calling my name? Decisions, decisions.
Heather

 

Sunday, April 7, 2013

Vacation

I spent this last week in sunny Florida with my family. My Mother-in-Law is a quilter also! This yearly trip always includes a day trip to some local quilt stores. This year while shopping my Mother-in-law spotted an adorable pattern for a little bag called This and That. I am a sucker for bag patterns, so I bought the pattern and the supplies to make it.

She was nice enough to share her sewing machine with me, since she was making a baby quilt. I spent two days of break using the down time between activities to put together some This and That bags.

While my mother-in-law pressed or cut, I sewed. It worked out well and I put together four bags. Originally, I intended for three bright colored bags to be for my 17 year old, 9 year old, and me. Somewhere along the way I realized that I forgot the 4 year old. How could I? So I gave her mine and made one for myself with Moda's Juggling Summer fabrics.

These bags were super fast and easy! I made all of these in two days while sharing a machine and going out to do other things! No need to fear the zippers on these, they were easy to add and look great.

This pattern calls for one charm pack and one fat quarter. For these three brightly colored bags, I used one charm pack and three fat quarters. This would be a great project to use up some scraps, which I have in abundance of around here!

Off to get ready for the work week and sew a little something!

Heather