Look Familiar?

I have been pretty busy over the last week, most of it did not involve sewing. My husband's business is finally starting to pick up a bit (phew!), so I've been with the kiddos what feels like 24/7. We all cycled through a nasty summer cold, had 2 more family birthdays, and got a cool new swimming pool. My wonderful husband did feel bad for me not having ANY 'me' time in awhile, and took the kids over for a few hours on Saturday AND Sunday. It was awesome. I worked on a bunch of long overdue stuff. First to get finished was this bag that I made for my friend Lily to donate to a charity auction that she is working on. Yes, it looks just like this bag that I made a couple months ago. I really loved the design, so I just mixed up the colors a bit, and I think I love this one just as much.

The hexagons do take awhile to sew together, but I don't think the bag would be the same without them. I'd love to make this same bag in a bunch of different colors. We'll see if I get around to it. I love the cute polka dot interior with my silly label - I think it makes it pretty fun. I hope they get alot of money for Intercambio de Comunidades, that's the charity that the auction will benefit. I was trying to figure out how many hours I spent on it - but with all the hand stitching it was impossible to track (plus I'm really slow).


Ahhhh, we've finally reached kiddie bedtime - I'm off to relax, or fold laundry...

Traveling Hexagons

Well, tonight is "Hexagon" night at the PMQG meeting. We're learning all about paper piecing and we're going to share projects we've made using hexagons. We'll be breaking into small work groups to cut, baste, and piece together little 1" hexagons. Since I'm leading one of the small groups, I thought I should make myself a cute little "traveling hexagon" kit.


I recently bought the book I Love Patchwork by Rashida Coleman-Hale, and it has an adorable little travel sewing kit in it. I did modify the design a bit, the original had a little pincushion in the middle section, but I wouldn't be needing that for paper piecing. I added a pocket instead, and I also added a spool holder.

Now I can fit my templates, paper pieces, scissors, thread, and needles all into one cute (and very brightly colored) package. I'm really looking forward to seeing the quilt guild ladies tonight, and having a look at all of their wonderful hexagon creations!

A Matching Purse

I had some scraps leftover from my summer diaper bag, so little Syd got a new purse. She's very excited about it. She carries it around and fills it with her brother's toys. Oh, and apparently tupperware. Just too cute not to share.

Summer Diaper Bag

I was finally able to finish my summer diaper bag that I had been planning for awhile. I made the piping and the strap way back here. It was my first time doing piping, and boy did it go smoothly with a piping foot. I made the bag at Modern Domestic, and their machines didn't even flinch at the massive amount of fabric, fleece, interfacing and cording that I sewed though. The exterior is an Amy Butler print that I have been drooling over for awhile, I just couldn't figure out what I would do with such a big print. This bag really shows it off well though.

The interior is a Michael Miller ta dot, I love the color of this one. The binding and piping are another Amy Butler print. The strap is a ribbon sewed to plain old cotton webbing - a great way to spruce up a basic material.

The inside has a key clip, 2 big pockets for diapers and wipes, and a cute little cell phone pocket with my fancy label on it. I didn't follow a pattern for this one, I just kind of had the image in my head. That proved to be a bit difficult since I started it one Friday and finished it the next. I really should have written down some measurements. Anyhow, it did turn out pretty nice, and I'm pretty proud of it. I finished it just in time too, it's my birthday today - so it's my present to myself.

Baby Boy Quilt

I've been working on this quilt here and there for awhile now, and I finally got a chance to get it done today. After a long night, that had followed a long week, I was able to get out of town and spend the afternoon with my friend Jan who is house-sitting at a gorgeous property in Corbett, on the Columbia River Gorge. It was a beautiful day. We had a few drinks, walked around the property a bit, but spent most of the day lounging on the amazing deck, that was more like an outdoor living room. I'm pretty sure Jan even dozed off a bit. I couldn't though, I was on a mission to finish hand-sewing the binding, and I did, finally!

The quilt is based on this one by Elizabeth of Oh Fransson! I changed the block size and set them differently though. The dogs were very interested in what I was doing. They kept wondering when I was going to let them lay down on it.


Here's the back, I had 1 block left over and then used some yardage of the same line as the front - Tula Pink's Hushabye. It makes a sweet baby quilt, but the prints are similiar enough that the 9 patch part doesn't stand out from a distance. I still really like it, and think it makes for a soft, soothing baby quilt.

It's in the wash/dry now, getting all crinkly and wonderful - off to it's new home soon! Happy 4th everyone!