Playing With Fabric

All of the sewing I have been doing has contributed to a minor (okay, major) fabric obsession.  I love perusing different online fabric shops looking for inspiration.  Sew, Mama, Sew! is one of those shops and they are having a fun contest right now, Fat Quarter Idol. 

To participate, create a Pinterest board with fabrics from their shop in line with a different theme each week.  Mine can be found here. 

It was quite fun to go through all the options and put mine together!

Zipper Pouches and an iPad Cover

I have some more finishes!  I got a new purse a couple of weeks ago and in an attempt to keep it a bit more organized I decided I needed some zippered pouches.  These are pretty easy to make, the only tricky part is the orientation of the fabric when sewing on the zipper.  I've made several now, so I feel like I have these down pretty good.

Another project I have been wanting to sew up is a cover for the iPad I got for Christmas/my birthday.  I know I will want to take it with me out of the house, on trips, etc. and want it to be protected.  I used this tutorial from One Shabby Chick for a quilted cover.  The tutorial was very easy to follow and worked out perfectly.  I am pretty proud of my finished product and only messed up once while sewing it up.  I didn't read the instructions very carefully and sewed the velcro to the wrong side of the flap...oops!  And I didn't realize it until I already had the flap sewed in place.  It all worked out in the end, though.

My next projects will be some quilts.  I have 2 started and need to finish the one for my oldest daughter soon.  I plan to start at least one more very soon for a good friend and his wife who just had their first baby.  I hear that my cousin, who is graduating in June, may also want one for a graduation gift so that would be another.  Looks like I will be busy sewing for the next few months!

My Little Betsy Ross

Haley had to do a project on a famous American for 2nd grade that was due last week.  They also had to dress up as their famous American and had a parade at the school.  She chose Betsy Ross.  She did such a good job on her project, I am so proud!

I was concerned that it might be a little difficult to pull together a decent costume for her in less than 2 weeks but it turned out to be pretty easy.  I found a dress at Target that worked when combined with some props - plus she likes it and said she will wear it to school and such, so bonus!  I am grateful that I have been sewing recently and felt fairly comfortable tackling an apron and bonnet for her cosutme.  I also made up an American flag for her to carry around.  I think it all turned out pretty good.  She looked so cute!

My First (Mini) Quilts!

I have been really busy lately with sewing projects.  I have found that sewing is very relaxing for me so I have been trying to spend a few nights a week working on different projects.  It helps that my youngest goes to bed early and my oldest likes to spend the time with me in the bedroom while I sew.

I recently finished my first quilting project, a couple of mini quilts from the January Fresh-Squeezed Sew Along at I Have to Say.  My intention was to follow along with the sew along but sick kids, work, and all those other not-so-fun parts of life took precedent so I wasn't able to finish until about a week ago.  I think they turned out pretty good for my first quilting attempt!

I definitely need to work on my binding skills (the corners gave me some trouble) but I am pretty proud for my first foray into quilting.

I'm linking up to Craftomaniac Monday at Craft-O-Maniac, Friday Link Party at Creation Corner, Sundae Scoop Link Party at I Heart Nap Time, Saturday Seven Party at Positively Splendid, Free For All at Young and Crafty, Sew Modern Monday at Canoe Ridge Creations

My Cool Fabric Weights

Since I have started sewing a lot recently I decided I needed some fabric weights to make cutting easier.  I didn't really want to buy them and saw this idea from Piccoli Piselli for making some on Pinterest so I decided to give it a try.  My husband got me the washers, hex nuts, and adhesive for my birthday (per my request!) and I bought some ribbon and set to work.  They were really easy to make, just took some time for the adhesive to dry.  I stacked 2 of the washers together and glued them before wrapping them in the ribbon.  The hex nuts I just wrapped as they were.  Here they are.

I love them!  They work great and make cutting fabric much easier.

40 x 40

Tomorrow is my birthday.  35 this year.  Over the last couple of months I have felt inspired to start a 40 by 40 list - a list of 40 things I would like to accomplish by my 40th birthday.  Some of things I want to include are long-term goals or just items that I know won't happen in the short term, so I thought it would be good to give myself the next 5 years to accomplish everything.  Part of my reason for starting this blog was to provide some accountability for this list.  I figure if I have it posted on the internet for anyone to see (even if no one reads it) I would be more determined to accomplish each item.  It is still a work in process (not quite up to 40 items yet) and will be revised throughout the process, as needed.  For now, here is my list:

1. Pay off debt
2. Start a new job
3. Finish a quilt
4. Learn to crochet
5. Take the kids to Disneyland or Disney World
6. Go on a vacation with my husband - just us
7. Make a family recipe binder
8. Make a meal planner
9. Finish a filing system for all paperwork and keepsakes
10. Write a will
11. Get a tattoo
12. Learn to can food
13. Go on a zip line
14. Get the backyard in order & build a clubhouse for the girls
15. Start a blog to track my progress with this list
16. Exercise regularly - 3 times a week
17. Get new living room furniture
18. Finish fixing up the inside of the house
19. Get and stay organized
20. Complete a scrapbook for each of the girls
21. Have all 40 items listed by my 35th birthday (this didn't happen, so this is one that will be revised a bit)
22. Finish Christmas stockings
23. Write down the girls' birth stories
24. Make at least 1 recipe out of each of my cookbooks
25. Frame and hang my favorite pictures
26. Frame or finish my cross stitch projects
27. Fix up the front yard
28. Stop drinking so much soda
29. Make time to do something creative each week
30. Plan ahead more for dinners
31. Live a "greener" life
32. Be comfortable with who I am and what I believe; don't be so concerned with what someone else might think or if my beliefs will offend anyone
33. Train for & complete a mud run, obstacle course, or similar event
34. Take the girls on a beach vacation
35. For one year, make all gifts that I give

So, it is almost complete.  It's not really a "bucket list" as some others are that I have come across, but it is filled with things I want to accomplish.  If anyone is reading and has any ideas for the last 5 items to complete the list, I would love to hear them!  I can now cross off item #15, so I am already in good shape.  I'll post updates as I complete each item.  Let's see how long it takes me...

Merry (Belated) Christmas, Dad!

So, I often come up with a great idea and when I actually try to implement it, the reality is a bit of a fail compared to how I pictured it in my mind.  That happened with one of my dad's Christmas presents this year.  I wanted to make some of the presents I gave this year and for my dad I decided to make him some BBQ towels.  He is a big fan of the Dallas Cowboys and the Oregon State Beavers so I thought it would be fun to make some towels to showcase those teams.  My first thought was to embroider the team emblems on some towels in coordinating colors.  However, when I actually started to try that I quickly realized it wasn't going to work out quite so well.  I ended up making him another version, based off of this tutorial for Grillin' Towels from Craft Whatever that I found on Pinterest.  (If you would like to follow me on Pinterest, you can find me here).  However, since this all happened the day before we were planning to exchange gifts I didn't have time to get all of the supplies together and get them made that day.  So he got an IOU on these.  I finally finished them a couple of days ago. 

I think they turned out great and am pretty pround of myself, especially since I just started sewing again for the first time since 6th grade.  The tutorial was great, very easy to follow and understand.

I have to say, I'm getting hooked on sewing.  I'm most interested in quilting at the present moment and have some projects already in the works that I will post about as I finish them.  I also have some other smaller sewing projects in mind that I will include as well.  There is a ton of inspiration on the web.

I'm linking up to Tuesday Time Out at Reasons to Skip the Housework, Show Me What Ya Got Linky Party at Not JUST A Housewife, Fabric Tuesday at Quilt Story, TOO Cute Tuesday at Funky Polkadot Giraffe, Catch A Glimpse at A Glimpse Inside, Feature Yourself Friday at Fingerprints on the Fridge, Friday Link Party at Creation Corner, Wednesday's Wowzers at Oopsey Daisy, and Crafty Scrappy Happy me at Crafty Scrappy Happy.