Sunday, April 29, 2012

Zakka along sewing kit

It's week four of the Zakka sew along & this week we made a linen sewing kit! 
The actual sewing of the kit was very easy, but I had the toughest time deciding on which fabric to use! It had to be perfect, & maybe even a precious fabric that I've been reluctant to use.I finally settled on this beautiful linen button print by Suzuko Koseki! How much more perfect can you get for a sewing kit?;)
I like black & white text prints for a neutral base & a little extra fun! I then added a fun yellow polka dot & a great twill measuring tape trim for the ties. 
 It's just the perfect size to hold my hexy making supplies. 
I've noticed some adorable little scissors in a few of the other sewing kits, can someone tell me where I can find a small needlework type scissors? I am in need of one to add to my kit. Thank you!
 All wrapped up & ready to go!
 This was a fun & easy project & I'm already looking forward to the project next week! 


Linking up with Lindsey & the 


            And Heather & Megan & 


                          Also with Megan & 


                        And Jenna at 

Friday, April 27, 2012

slice of ruby quilt

I am so excited to have finished this ruby baby quilt this week! I have to thank Kelly for swapping me the ruby strips already sewn together. All I had to do was cut them to size, and add the sashing & I had a quilt front! As soon as the backing came I quilted it up in a loopy style, so fun & easy! Can you spot the little special touch I quilted in it?

 This was also the first time I machine bound a project & I am very happy with how it turned out! I know now that, the small stack of baby quilts that need to be bound, can be done in a quarter of the time it usually takes me to hand bind them!
 Quilting in this loopy style makes it's easy to write something special into the quilt. In this one I quilted a little "love" in the top right hand corner!
                                                 
                                Linking up to Amanda & finish it up friday.


                                And  Amylouwho at       


                                Also linking up with Safieh & 12 quilts in '12!
                            
Have a great weekend & happy sewing!

Tuesday, April 24, 2012

Pretty {little} pouch received!

I mailed my pouch for my partner out on Friday & when I came home from the P.O. I had received my pouch in my box as well! The super talented swap mama Stefanie  was my secret partner! She made me this wonderful set of not one but two beautiful cosmetic pouches! 
 As if two pouches weren't enough, she also sent some pieces of ruby fabric & a pack of Aurifil threads! I've been seeing these all over bloggy land & am looking forward to trying them out.
 I love that they are both lined with laminate & will wipe clean of any spills or lotion leaks!
 They have such a great shape & I'm hoping Stefanie will do a tutorial of the bags sometime, as they'd make great gifts! Thanks again so much much Stefanie!! I just love them!! 
If you want to get your own little pouch in the mail & are interested in swapping, keep your eye on the Pretty {little} Pouch Swap group on flickr & join us on the 5th round!

Friday, April 20, 2012

Cloth napkins

I've just finished up sewing for the last swap I'm in this month. The Table Top Swap is on it's first round & we are swapping a set of four cloth napkins!
 After "stalking" my partner to find her likes, I settled on these new prints from basic greys new line "hello luscious". I am typically not a pink person but with the addition of the jumbo pink rickrack edging I think they turned out so sweet! 

 This is my favorite of the prints! Love that bold floral! Did you notice how lovely they coordinate with my Pfaltzgraff dinner plates?! 
 The reverse side is a perfectly matched robins egg aqua cotton.
 I love how the edges got a slightly rounded look to them.
They were a lot of fun to sew & now that I know how easy they are, I may have to make a few more sets in my colors!;) Just in case you'd like to make your own napkins here is the link to the tutorial I loosely followed! http://www.purlbee.com/spring-napkins/
In other news, look at this beautiful snowflake pyrex dish I found at the goodwill this week for $2.75!! Score!!! I'm going to use it in my sewing room to store my 21/2" squares, but will definitely pull it out again this winter & bake something yummy in it! Baked oatmeal perhaps?! That's my favorite winter breakfast dish. 


 Linking up the Amanda at crazy mom quilts & finish it up friday! 


                              And amylouwho at    


Edited 6.12.12, I'm also adding these to the summer sewing contest at Ellison Lane Quilts!! 
Go check out all the great entries!   

Wednesday, April 18, 2012

Pretty {little} pouch swap 4

I have been doing a bit more sewing this week! Pouches for the P{L}PS are due to mail on Friday, so I got that all done! It just needs to be packaged up with a few goodies & it will be off in the mail! 
My partner requested a "knitting" or "project" bag, so I set out to sew a big pouch & it sure should be big enough! 13"x14"! That will fit that big sweater you are knitting!! lol 
I used lots of brights from my stash & just sewed them up into a simple log cabin style block.
 I lined it in a cheery yellow claire blocks print, & used a big red zipper. I love how easy it zips up! 
Machine quilted following the squares made by the log cabins & added one row of aqua hand stitching around the block for extra texture & fun. 
Boxed corners on the bottom & heavy interfacing help it to stand up nicely on its own.
I had alot of fun making this for partner & really hope she enjoys it as well! Now it's just waiting to see which fun pouch I receive in return!

Tuesday, April 17, 2012

Zakka along pincushion

It's been so long since I've posted! So sorry! Spring has arrived here in full force & that means lots of gardening & outside work, & less time for sewing! Boo!

This morning before my girlies woke up, I was able to whip up a wee pincushion for the zakka sew along. Talk about a fast project! You must give it a go! I used a navy blue linen & a beautiful floral print from basic greys new "hello luscious" line, a strip of baby yellow rickrack & a bit of hand stitching with aqua blue perle thread. I love it!
Linking my pincushion to Lindsey at LRstitched. as part of the zakka along! 
Have a great week & I'll try to sneak in some more sewing soon!


~Karen