Cute Little Wallets

I bought this great pattern by Valorie Wells called "Little Wallet" and they are just adorable. I made two the other day and they are so cute! They can hold credit cards or cash. I even put in some change and shook it around and it stayed put. I'm not kidding when I say "little" wallet though. Might be really cute for a child or for in that "fun" purse that you use on special occasions. They don't use much fabric and you can make the interior pockets scrappy and fun. I'm sure I will make many more!

Advent Calendar

I follow this GREAT blog and saw an idea that I just had to attempt to replicate.
Peanut Blossom Advent Calendar.
So I set out to:
#1 find such a calendar to "spruce up". Luck would have it that Target did have one fairly similar. So I got it.
#2 Select fun papers to do the job. Luckily I have a great resource at my church. A gal who sells "Stampin' Up" products.

So here is my product with MUCH help from Miss E. She did a great job helping me choose papers to combine and ideas to try. She became in expert gluer I must say!
They have loved opening it and finding the treasures and notes that lie within.

UFOs and not the flying type!

UFOs in the quilting world are Un-Finished Objects. In my sewing room, PLENTY of them reside. Samples made and never finished and left over fabric scraps just waiting for inspiration to strike. Soooooo I have been working on these "piles" around my sewing room and it is keeping me plenty busy! I even went to a quilt shop with a gift certificate in hand and DID NOT buy a piece of fabric. My piles at home are just calling to me to be creative with what I have and make something fun.

My Mom also gives me her great leftovers. It is like buying NEW fabric when I get something from her stash. Pictured above is a combo using blocks she had left over from a mystery quilt that she did. I made the diagonal striped blocks that are on a foundation square. VERY easy sewing. But it will be a cute quilt when done. DONE.... that is a word that fails me lately UNLESS it is a bag I am making as a gift OR something with a deadline.


But thinking about my life, I am a UFO.... an unfinished object. We all grow and change while we are kids, but once that "physcial" growing stops, then comes much growth in other areas. This spring I would like to grow in a few ways. Grow in my physical health. Grow in my ability to have patience with my kiddos. Grow in my ability to prioritize the important stuff day to day. I have a knack for the ability to ignore the piling laundry and go sew. Not always the best choice. Striking a better balance is what I would like.

So if you have any UFOs around your sewing room OR things in the corners of your life that you would like to change... Let me challenge you to do so! It's SPRING!! Great things are possible!

Baby Quilts Part 3

I made these 4 quilts for some kiddos who live in Kansas City. My cousin requested some quilts for them. She told me their favorite colors and I had fun making these colorful quilts to send to them. I tried some new patterns as well, which is always fun. The purple and green one with the stars was really fun and easy to do and quilt.



I have made several of these "I spy" baby quilts. They are so fun because you can play games with the quilts. My kids love playing "I spy with my little eye..." and it was fun to make quilts that could be cuddled with and played with as well.




This quilt wasn't a baby quilt, but was a graduation gift for one of our 1st babysitters! Her favorite colors are lime green, orange, purple and blue. WOW that was a fun palate to play with. I used a pattern from Atikinson Designs called Lucky Stars. The great thing about this pattern is that the stars "float". So you don't have worry about your points being perfect. Great for me as I was a beginner when I made this quilt.

Gala Purse

I made a really cute purse to auction off at the Gala for my kids' school this year.
This was the first time I had made this pattern calledMargo Handbag by Lazy Girl Designs. It is a pretty fun bag and I hope the winner likes it as well.

Purse for hire

I made my 1st "purse for hire." I have made oodles and gobs of gifts. I have made many store samples, some of which have been sold. I have also made some cute little library book tote bags for a friend, which I can turn out in an hour. But THIS my friends was my 1st "purse project" for hire!! My son has a wonderful teacher and she approached me to make a purse for her Grandmother for Christmas. I was so flattered! I have made many purses and bags for the staff at our school as gifts. But to make one for pay... hmmm... this is new for me. She said her Grandma liked tan, beige, etc. pretty nuetral colors. I had a gorgeous fabric hiding in my stash that plays on these colors, but is a little more interesting. I love how it turned out and so did her Grandma, which warms my heart to no end.

Baby Quilts Part 2

I really enjoy making baby quilts, as I may have stated before. I get to try new patterns and be creative and they are small and easy to complete.


This quilt I made for a great friend of mine. It is such a cute pattern with the pinwheel flowers. This quilt is made of batik fabrics and was fun choosing all the different green and blues to make the grass and sky!








This nursery rhyme quilt was made for one of my nephews. It was the color of his nursery at the time and a fun quilt. Kind of a "cheater" quilt as there is a large panel in the center. But the scene was so cute that I liked showing it in full.










This quilt is a popular pattern and a great one for beginners. It is called Yellow Brick Road by Atkinson Designs. I made this quilt for a good friend who lives on a farm. The fabrics have little piggies, cows, clouds and other animals. Looking back on it the colors are a little pastel for a boy. Much better "farm" fabrics have come out since then.







This fun quilt was for a great friend of mine from Graduate school. She loves COLOR and I knew her little girl would as well. Making all the stars in the sashing was great fun. The technique is not as hard as it looks. You add the triangles onto the long sashing pieces to create the star affect.

Baby Quilts Part 1

I realized that most of my posts this year have been about kids' clothes or bags that I have made. I guess that is what I have been sewing as well. But I got my start in the sewing world as a quilter. So I am going to share some of the MANY baby quilts I have made over the years. Baby quilts are such a wonderful way to get started quilting. They are easy to FINISH, and I don't get as bored with the design by the time I am done.



This "bubbles" quilt I made for a dear friend of mine. This was for her 2nd daughter. I saw this idea online and just figured it out on my own.












This quilt I made for a friend's 1st child. It was really fun to make a quirky, colorful quilt that fits her style. We were able to take the quilt and meet her precious little boy! I think he likes the quilt as well. The pattern was in Quilt Sampler Magazine.







This last quilt was made for my niece. We had this precious Beatrix Potter fabric the depicted Peter Rabbit and all the other characters in such sweet pastels that I couldn't resist. I believe that I put minke on the back of this quilt, which made it extra special to cuddle with!

The Cutest Bag!

I tried a new bag pattern over the weekend. I was with my Mom at a great quilt retreat at the shop I used to work for, Susan's Calico Creations. The pattern is called Six in the City by Artful Offerings. It is just a really cutesy, type bag and I had a lot of fun making it!

Left Overs

My Mom, a wonderful quilter, usually has scraps for me to take home when I visit. At my church we make quilts to donate and it is a good way to use up scraps!

So.. she gave me some AWESOME scraps of pinks and yellows from some baby quilts she made and here are the results. A quilt and a bag. (Yes.. those were SOME scraps!!) The kids' bag is going to be given to a raffle for a school event and the quilt will go to some great kiddo at Grace Place this Christmas.

Anniversary Wall Hanging

I was hired this summer to make a gift to celebrate a 50th Wedding anniversary. Kind of exciting!! My first project for hire!! They wanted the wedding photos of the parents and kids in the project as well as the photos of the grandkids.



I also worked in a "stained glass-like" cross.

This project was really fun. Again editing images and printing them off onto fabric and THEN, like a puzzle, getting it all to fit. I was not working with a pattern on this project, so it all came together as I went. I am happy with the result and the client was as well. I heard the Anniversary couple liked it as well, which is the most important part!

Taste of Summer

There is nothing that fully expresses the flavor of summer than home-grown tomatoes! As you all know, their flavor explodes in your mouth! My mother-in-law brought me some gorgeous tomatoes that we savored! BLTs, homemade sauce and caprese salad graced our table.

So in tribute to summer and great tomatoes, here is caprese salad!
So simple, yet so yummy!

1 or 2 tomatoes
1 package buffalo Mozzarella (it looks like a ball)
basil (sliced to to thin strips)
Balsamic vinegar
olive oil

You just slice the tomatoes and mozzarella and alternate them on your plate or platter. Sprinkle on the basil and then drizzle the balsamic vinegar and olive oil over it all. Salt and pepper to taste!
We love to have this with something grilled. YUM!

Seven Skirts

I have been blessed with six nieces on my husband's side of the family. If you include my own Miss E, that make 7 granddaughters in total. Because I am a wonderful auntie... cough.. cough.. snicker... snicker I decided to make them all twirly skirts and embellished Ts. It won't be long until they day comes when it won't be so "cool" for the 2 eldest girls to wear something that matches the little ones that are 6 and 7 years younger. SO.... I got to the task of finding cute fabrics that would appeal to all the girls. I found many of them at a great shop in Stewartville, MN called All in Stitches. Needless to say I had a grand time buying fabric for this fun project!

I had a project-for-hire earlier in the summer and thus procrastinated my task a bit! Luckily a friend of mine came to visit that week and she helped me turn out the skirts and shirts!

So enjoy my "oh so cute" nieces and their matchy outfits! I sure did!

As noted before, I adapted a pattern by Pink Fig called The Patchwork Skirt and T-shirt for this project.

Fun summer dress!

I was trolling several blogs that I follow and one of my favorites the polkadot chair had a great pattern on her Tuesday Tutorial!
I picked up these really cute fabrics at the shop I used to work at, Susan's Calico Creations in Fulton, IL. Mom and I went there for a retreat a few weekends ago. These fabrics are so fun and Miss E just loves them.



She had fun helping decide the layout of the fabrics! The pattern is pretty easy. A little bit of gathering. No biggie after ALL those twirly skirts I have been making!

More fun bags....

I enjoy making bags as gifts. Mr. G finished up preschool this year and I made bags for his teacher and aid. He enjoyed his year and learned many great things.

For Mrs. M, I used denim, Dick & Jane, and alphabet fabric. It was a new pattern for me. The bag pattern is the Miranda Day Bag by Lazy Girl Designs. I really love this pattern and will make many more I'm sure!





The bag for the teacher's aid was such a different style, but REALLY fun to make!
The pattern is Birdie Sling by Amy Butler. Again, such a cute pattern, that I'm sure I will have fun making again.

Just a litte something

My cousin had her 1st baby last September. I finally got to meet this little sweet pea over Memorial Day weekend. Of course I had to take her a twirly skirt an embellished tshirt! It turned out so cute. Just as sweet as she is!

Lynze's Quilt

I am a member of the Trinity Quilters at my church. We make quilts for graduating Seniors in high school to remind them of their church family when they go off into the next part of their life. I had the great joy to make a quilt for Lynze. She is the daughter of my good friend Anne.



Lynze likes to draw, so her Mom scanned many of her drawings and emailed them to me. I then printed them onto fabric to use in the quilt.




She also has favorite sayings, songs, poems and bible verses. I combined some with images and others just printed the text.



To finish the project, I hand quilted it with a "big stitch".
Lynze really loves the quilt, which makes me extremely happy!

My Student

My friend Sarah wanted to learn how to sew. I was very excited to teach her! We have daughters the same age and are having fun sewing for the girls and other projects.
Her blog is so cute! Here is the link so you can see what my star pupil has been sewing.

Simply Said

Twirly Skirt Part 2

As I was preparing to head to Iowa for a fun weekend with friends, I was reminded that sweet little "D's" birthday was the Monday after our visit. Well... what this curly Sue needed for her 4th bday was a twirly skirt. Miss D is a very girly girl! Loves shoes and all things twirly and princess-like!! Thank goodness I had plenty of extra fabric on hand for a skirt that would be similar to Miss E's. That way they could be cute matchy twirly girls together on ISU campus for VEISHEA!!
Her skirt was a little simplified. I used long strips instead of the patchwork squares! A piece of cake!!



Miss D enjoys her skirt! She was playing in the dirt with her skirt all around her. I couldn't help taking a few shots!

SPRING has sprung

Spring is finally here!! Not that I can complain about the winter we had. We had it much better than my friends and family in Iowa. So...as I a think forward to summer I get hungry for fresh produce that I walk out into my back yard to harvest!

My wonderful hubby recognizes my need to "grow stuff" and let me dig some new beds in our yard, inside our fence and out of reach of the neighborhood deer.

Mr. G was very excited about helping me plant the "garden". He helped me choose seeds and is a master waterer. With his help, I planted lettuce (2 types), radishes, spinach, carrots, broccoli and cabbage.









After Sandy tromped through the garden making huge pawprints on top of the spinach, I put up a rope fence to keep her out.
Hopefully if my efforts prove to produce great results.. these beds will become "raised" beds next year.