Another purse

I have a first cousin who is still in high school. Her Junior Prom is coming up in April and I wanted to help her out with the cost a little by making her purse rather than her having to buy one. Now we all know how picky teenagers can be about homemade stuff and especially about using it for prom so I knew this would be a task that I would need to put some thought into. Basically the only thing she told me was that she wanted it to be metallic gold with black accents and no straps, just a small clutch purse. Well I have this pattern that is small and has a zipper on the front that I though would look very neat as a smaller version. Then I had to set out to find material. That was a task and a half. The right kind of metallic gold without being too gaudy or bright. I finally found some but boy was it hard to work with as far as cutting and staying in one place. Then I decided to put batting in the layers and do some free motion stitching into a swirly design. I actually drew it out before doing it. Took me a couple of tries to get the feel for it. I actually had to do alot of pulling out of threads before I got something that looked kind of decent. I even added an extra flap into the design that wasn't in the original pattern to hid the zipper. It turned out like this.

After looking at it for a while I though , you know it looks good but not PROM good. So I ran to Michael's and Hobby Lobby and gathered up some beads and crystals and started to work on it. I added the beads into the swirls with shiny gold, silver and black. Then I added some of those heat iron on crystals for some shine. Then I thought about putting a tassel on the zipper but thought it would be even better to add some strings of beads that she could put around her wrist to carry it so her hands were free for eating or dancing. I hope she likes it.

Coasters

Ever get a pattern or instructions for a project that just don't make any sense to you? I found these cute little coasters and the instructions for them online. After downloading and printing them out I found it very hard to understand the instructions. I do that alot though. So I just looked at the picture and put together in my head as many of the instructions that I could, and then just made them on my own. I think they turned out rather well. Opinions and comments welcome :-) (wink-wink). I used leftover scraps from the baby quilt I am working on. And its the first time that I tried out the new free motion quilting foot that my good Blog buddy Sam sent to me!! (THANKS SAM!!)

Mom's Placemats

I found this very cute fabric on sale for a $1 a yard one day at Wal-Mart that had birdhouses on it. I had an idea to get a yard or so and then doing something with it for my Mom for her kitchen since it has a birdhouse theme to it. I had no idea at the time what I was going to do but one day walking through my favorite sewing shop the Stitcher's Playhouse in Smyrna I found these table place mats with homemade cloth napkins. So I went to an all day Sit and Sew and the ladies out there helped me out a ton and taught me all kinds of things in sewing I didn't know. I appreciate them so much. And then the look on my Mom's face when she opened them at Christmas was work the cramps in my neck sewing all day that session. I think they were great.

Dresden Plate

Sorry it's been a few days since my last posting. I did say that I was going to keep up and post daily but I guess looking back that's not a realistic goal with so much going on. I had eye surgery last Tuesday and stuff just kept taking up time. Anyways...

Ok so bought this cute little Dresden plate template a while ago and never could really figure it out. So one day a couple months ago I decided to make a few and see what happens. I actually ended up with a cute complete circle and decided to put it on a background to save it. Here is what I came up with. I also decided to learn how to do the multiple colors of bindings by cutting on the bias of material strips sewn together. Kinda neat huh. I just hung it on the wall in my craft room. Doesn't really have a purpose or anything. Maybe one day soon I will do a full quilt.

Update on Eye Surgery

Ask me if I recommend having eye surgery on both eyes at once.... HECK NO!! I look and feel like someone hit me in both eyes hard. Someone asked if I was having corrective vision surgery and I wanted to clear that up. I have a condition that comes around about every 6 months or so. Basically its like this, everyone gets styes on their eyes periodically or maybe just once in their lives right? Well for 99% of the people out there they just go away on their own after a few days. Well mine do NOT. Mine just keep getting bigger and bigger and harder to the point I have to go have them removed surgically. I believe this was my 3rd hoedown. They don't know why some people have this problem and they don't know how to prevent them. So I am just having to settle with having them removed by a surgeon and just keep my fingers crossed in between that they wont come back. The first time I had them on both eyes, the second was just one and this time it was both again. Only this time they had to do a little more work than expected so I have stitches and it hurt a lot worse when I woke up. Now don't get me wrong, I love my surgeon. He is actually one of the leading eyelid plastic surgeons in the country. He does excellent work. I have no complaints other than them not being able to tell me why they keep coming back or how to stop them. This time I had my husband ask him to write down exactly what the condition is called so that I can look it up. Because at this point I am willing to try even home remedies or herbal or anything to keep them from coming back. Now I cant make heads or tails out of this drawing he did for John about my eyes but what I can make out is this Posterior Blepharitis and then at the bottom is the work Chalazion I think. I think he even said in the office visit a few weeks ago that some Dr.s will recommend trying taking Flax seed supplements. So I have started taking a Flax seed Oil supplement as well. I am going to try and do some research on the Internet but keeping in mind that not everything you read on the web is true. Well I guess I will try and get some work done before I get too tired. Will get back to posting about sewing hopefully tomorrow.

Eye Surgery

OK so today I don't have a lot to say because very shortly I am leaving for eye surgery. I am not real happy about it either so I am not in a very good mood. I will just leave you with pictures of the bag that I made for my mom from the same pattern as I made my bag from, its the City Bag. I have been trying to get some followers so if you like the blog tell your friends to sign up. :-)

Hopefully I will have more to post tomorrow.

Baby Quilt

My best friend is having baby #2. I could say I was jealous but I love them all too much to be jealous. I can't wait to meet this little boy because baby #1 is such a character his little brother would have to be. For baby #1 I really didn't know how to make quilts yet so I just made a ton of those little tiny pillows that I made for the biscuit pillows and made one large blanket out of them. I thought it was so cute and they loved it. Was made in purples because I started it before I knew what the baby would be. Here it is.

So for Baby #2 I thought since I have a little more knowledge on quilts I would try it out. here are some pictures of me making it along the way. First off here is the fabrics I chose and let me explain why. I am not really a sucker for your traditional baby colors. I mean why does everything have to be "baby blue" or "baby pink"? Also I think a quilt should not only reflect the person you are giving it to in mind but it should also have a little personality from the one making it as well. I love stars, moons and sky themes. Anything celestial I guess you would call it. And the colors and theses of these three fabrics just jumped out at me so much that I had to get them. I just love the way orange and blue looks together. Also since this quilt won't be your traditional baby style quilt that means that little Baby #2 will be able to carry it around like Linus for years to come. How special is that.

Here are the fabrics I chose. I figured the swirls in the light blue and the orange would tie together and then since both colors are in with the dark blue it would work out great. Then the light blue also has stars on it.

So then here are some shots of the progress so far.

Don't you just "love" Chain Piecing!!

These little triangles took a while but they were allot of fun to see coming together

More Chain Piecing woohooo!!

Getting closer and closer!! Now we have a cute little square!!

Now add some sashing and corner stones. Lining those up just right took a little time and patience but it was worth it.

So I spent all day today adding borders and more cornerstones. Viola!!

Now I have to pick the backing which I think I am going to go with the darker blue but I will have to run and get more. I didn't know how large this BABY quilt was going to be, I guess I didn't look at the directions well when it gave the finished measurements. Then I need to get batting and get it quilted. After that comes my most "un"favorite part the binding. Gotta all be done by May!! Will post more as I get them finished.

Well that's it for today kids. Come back tomorrow and I will show you something new. :-) Peace