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As you know, Wendy and I get together during the week to work on projects. Sometimes they end up in the garbage after a hard days sewing..and no, not just because we might be day drinking…and other times the universe smiles upon us and we each walk away from the day with a little something special that we can pat ourselves on the back for.
Yesterday was just that sort of day! We’ve been wanting to make this Lollipop Bags pattern from Atkinson Designs for a while now and since we have the pattern available in the shop, then there’s no better time for a pattern review for everyone who’s thinking of purchasing it.
I assured Wendy that, as with any Atkinson Design I’ve tried, the pattern would be easy to follow and have clear instructions with photos. I was right. Her signature zipper instruction was good…step by step and at NO time did I think to myself…how’s this gonna work!?! You will never fear another zipper again.
Even the cute fabric flower was a snap to make. The hardest part of the pattern was just taking the time to turn the flower strip inside out.
The only thing I think I’d do different, is add a light weight fusible interfacing to the clutch strap for more stability and I might mix it up a bit by quilting my next one. You could even personalize it with a charm zipper pull, especially if you’re going to leave the flower off.
Other than that, I’d give this pattern an A+. It’s cute. It’s easy. We finished two in one day!
What are the other treats besides Lollipops, you ask?
We have lots of new patterns to add to your to-do’s for this year in the shop. Click HERE to view all of the patterns we carry in the SewModDesigns Etsy shop.
For Paige…..
I made this for you.
What will it be? What can I make? It will live in my stitching box for as long as it will take!
A bag? Oh, that would be cute. But how many do you really need?
A pillow? No. Sophie would lay on it and Kitty would pee.
I thought about a journal cover. That was what was almost to be.
But then one day, Inspiration came to me. A sweet little something with a capital “P”.
Hehehe😜 Happy Valentine’s Paige! 💕
…or tea…or coffee. Whatever your favorite winter drink is, I’m sure it could use a little ‘glamming up’.
Or how about making a little something for your Sweetie Sewistas? 💕💕
If you’d like to surprise someone this Valentines, all it takes is the pattern, 2 pieces of scraps, a piece of batting, a button, and an elastic tie. You can find the colored elastic (hair)ties at Target. They’re the tiny, skinny ones in the girls section where the barrettes are found.
Follow the directions on the ‘Handmade Holidays‘ blog post found here. I eliminated the patchwork and embroidery this time. I simplified.
Finish up with your handmade fabric labels for a personal touch. Grab a gift card from Starbucks and toss some candy hearts inside your disposable cup! Yes. Starbucks will give you a free, unused cup if you ask sweetly!
I made these cozys for the CLMQG board members and one lucky girlie from the guild meeting gets to walk away with the one filled with goodies as a door prize for February. It’s not only filled with sweets, I added embellishments too, like cute buttons and sweet crocheted hearts(thanks mom)! Personalize your cup to suit your Valentine! ❤️
I get caught up in the excitement of starting something new. The wonder of its potential greatness. I accomplish just enough to satisfy my need…then something shiny and more pretty catches my eye. Sound familiar?
Uh huh..thought so. Now, since we’re all in the same boat, I guess there won’t be any judgement when I say … I started another Christmas quilt. I just can’t help myself! I have all of this other work to do (UFO’s) and I start another project!? It wasn’t my fault. I was going through my Christmas stash and came across the Anna Griffin Isabelle fabric I had been hoarding.
It’s shiny and pretty. It’s got that vintagey feel.
It’s tough photographing a quilt in 0° weather after a blizzard. I froze my ass off out there today. I have no place to lay it out. So, till the deep freeze melts, you get partial views…and obviously wrinkly ones. Who has time to take perfect pics when your toes are getting frost bite!
I made it with the Fruitcakes pattern and used Kona Snow as the background. I’m gave it my treasured Lakehouse black dot fabric for the flange, backing and binding. And those scallops on the border fabric...you know, the ones you can barely see in the photo… Love it! You’ll have to take my word:)
The guild had a charity sew-in a couple of Saturday’s ago. We donate quilts to breast cancer treatment and surgery patients at Centegra Gaver’s Breast Cancer Center in McHenry County. I whipped up this little lovely. A quick quilt and a great way to use up some stash for a good cause. It’s in Paige’s hands now too. I think she’s gonna be pretty busy…
I did happen to finish 1/2 of a UFO this week. One of two bindings are now marked off my list! I’ll post the entire quilt pic soon.
Until then, pour a glass of wine, put your feet up & enjoy your weekend. You deserve it!
Label it Easy!
Label it Fast!
Label it Awesome!
A quick tutorial on how I made my own labels in Microsoft Word.
To create my fabric labels, I purchased the June Tailor Iron On Quick Fuse Fabric Sheets For Ink Jet Printers in white from Jo-Ann’s. This package came with three sheets @ $9.99. May seem a bit pricey but I used a coupon. And after everything was said and done, they ended up just costing around .07 cents apiece. Not bad if you ask me!
Open Microsoft Word.
From the Page Layout tab set your margins. Adjust the margins by clicking on custom margins at the bottom of the drop down menu and adjust the settings to .2 with the up/down arrows for the left, right, top & bottom. If needed, this can be adjusted later also.
From the Home tab, you can either design your Name by clicking on the Theme Fonts and size and typing your Name in…
And/Or choose a high resolution image to add from the Insert tab. This can be done one of two ways…To insert a picture, click on the Insert Tab on the header bar and click Picture. Choose a picture from your files. Or you can add a picture to word by copying a picture from your photos and pasting into the Word document. To do so, go to your photos, right click the desired photo, choose copy. Go back to your Word document and right click in the space, choose paste.
Adjust the size of your image by right clicking on the image and use the arrows to determine the height and width. Most of my labels were between the .5″ (height) & 2″ (width) range. This label is .37″ x 1.5″.
Once you have the dimensions that you like, right click to copy. Click off and next to the image, tab and paste the image to fill the row. Making sure you leave enough room to cut the labels out after they’re completed.
To make life a little easier, highlight the the row. Copy and paste the row to fill the page.
If you happen to end up with an extra page attached to your label page you just created, simply click on the blank page and hit the delete button on your keyboard to remove it. We don’t want to end up printing blank pages attached to our label pages.
Save your document. Print a sheet on regular paper to make sure that your sizing and spacing is exactly how you like it before inserting a sheet of the label paper. Make any necessary changes .
If it’s to your liking, remove all the printer paper from the loading tray and place a sheet of fabric label paper into the printer. Make sure it’s placed so that the labels will print on the fabric side, not the shiny, fusible side. For my printer that means loading the fabric side of the sheet face down…
Only print one sheet at a time!
Let dry a bit..a few minutes. Cut your labels apart using scissors or a ruler & rotary cutter and do a happy dance because you just saved yourself some $$ and made some cute labels!
Now go make something fabulous and put your name on it!
Minor left-behinds and forgottens…
For Paige. A market tote that was 90% completed. Finished at our January sew-in.
For Me. A Sophie bag made from a yard of quilted fabric.
The quilted yard spent so much time tucked away, I didn’t have any more of the matching binding, but I do believe I’m glad! Because I’m totally in love with the black polka dot. It makes the bag fabric pop alive don’t ya think?!
For Wendy. When cats fly…Another quilted yard turned into a carryall bag. Made by Wendy during one of our weekly therapy sessions.
For ZombieGirl. A zipper pouch. Leftover fabric from my bag embellished and monogrammed for her sewing accessories. It’s my job to teach ZombieGirl that Sewista’s are stylish!
I’ve made a resolution this year to hand make at least one shop sample a month. This can work out one of two ways…I’ll either be super prepared for quilt shows or I’ll be all sold out…either way it’s a win, right?!
January’s hand made cuteness is a baby quilt made from the Riley Blake line called “In The Ocean“. Schools of fishes, seahorses , smiling jellyfish, and mulit-colored bubbles will make baby’s room bright and playful.
I used the panel fabric for the center. It features all the main characters for the quilt and framed it with a border and a flange in a Kona red called Lipstick.
Multi bubbles are on the backing, and it’s bound in the red. I quilted it with a wavy stitch…wavy, like the ocean…
If this quilt kit actually makes it to the shows, It will be sold with the sand pail, but as for now, that’s just a shop display..it would be kinda hard to get that pail to the customers with cost effective shipping! Kit price is $40. That includes everything to make it, including top fabrics, binding, backing, pattern and is available in the SewModDesigns shop. If you’re looking for something simple, this one’s for you. I used one day to make it and one day to quilt it!
This kit makes a perfect snuggle blankie for baby. Use it to throw on the floor for playtime or decor for the nursery. It’s small enough to take with you for a stroller blanket or use with the carrier. Have a baby shower to attend? Bring handmade!
Or if you’re interested in purchasing the handmade quilt, it can be found in the SewModMakes shop!
LollyGagging that is…-verb 1.Procrastination in its fullest. 2.Purposely finding other things to do other than what you should be doing.
The CLMQG is having a UFO contest from January-October. The idea is for members to register their forgotten loves for $2/project…unlimited. All the money collected goes towards prizes. Once a project is completed, you get a stamp of approval and your registered quilt/sewing item goes into a quarterly drawing with a chance for a grand prize in October!
I’m going to register 5….and 3 of these are doozies. They’re going to be time intensive. Lots of handwork/applique. I’ll need to be disciplined in scheduling time for them, which sometimes can be a problem. I already sew for SewMod and there’s only ‘sew’ much time in the day!
Dare I estimate how much time I’ll need for each completion?
Susan’s Dresden Garden. (8weeks) A CrabApple Hill embroidered bluework quilt. I’ve had all the fabrics and finished over half of my embroidery work so far. I’ve even made some of the pieced Dresdens. It takes a lot of commitment to stitch the same Dresden, with the same color floss 12 times y’all. What can I say..even though it’s going to be positively beautiful when completed, it’s boring the hell outta me!!
Batik Spools from the book by Edyta Sitar Friendship Strips And Scraps (2weeks)
I started this quilt about 3 years ago with Shelley right before my move and didn’t find the time or the actual project until about a month ago. I’d really like to finish this one up. I just need to work on applying the applique to the borders, then it’s off to the quilter.
SewMod Halloween Row Quilt (2weeks)
My row quilt has been on and off of my design board so many times I’ve lost count. It was up there as recently as two weeks ago. I want it to be spooktackular and I think it’s paralyzing me creatively. I have a few ideas I’m playing around with. It’s just a matter of conjuring the right spell.
The last two are basically just about crossing something off my list and freeing that space up in my closet and my brain.
Batik Tuffet (1week)
The foundation pieced tuffet is almost completed. I have one more section and I’d like to also write an accompanying blog post with tips and tricks to making and finishing a tuffet. After the top is completed, it’s just a matter of assembly.
This one pictured is Paige’s Batik Tuffet…
And lastly, 2 Bindings (1week)
Just waiting for these to come back from the quilter. I’m considering these 2 as one finish.
My time estimates are assuming I’m not wasting time lollygagging around on Pinterest or whatever Netflix series I might be binging on that week. Also..3 out of the 5 projects requires them being sent to the quilter and that alone can take 4-6 weeks.
What I wouldn’t give for just 2 extra hours in a day…Who am I kidding? I’d probably just end up doing more lollygagging…
Did you hear? SewMod has a new sister!
Because sometimes you just gotta get your quilty craft on and make something.
SewModMakes is your online boutique for handcrafted items designed by a variety of artists.
We all Need2Create & I am blessed to be surrounded by many talented friends & family members who have joined me to share their handcrafted items in this shop.
We specialize in hand embroidery, crocheted items, quilts and yoga accessories. You’ll also find some of our shop samples there too. We love to sew and craft and being creative for us is a way to express ourselves, reconnect with our creative spirit & share it with you.
Look for more craftiness coming soon. Check out the site and our about page for more details and let us know what you think!
SewMod’s Christmas Sale is happening now! Everything in the shop is 15% off including all previously reduced merchandise.
Santa says stock up now so you can start those handmade holiday gifts!
Sale runs November 26th-December 2nd, 2014.
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