First Purse

This is the very first purse I have made. I have the Amy Butler Messenger purse pattern which I sized down 80% to make this purse. Not sure if I like it or not, but I figured I took all the time to make it I might as well carry it and see if it grows on me. If I make it again I may make it a little different.
Here is the front, it has a flap and two front pleated pockets.

Here is the front flap and two pockets, The flap has a zipper. (My very first zipper)

Here is the back of the purse, with one more zipper.

Here is the inside of the purse. It has a tool pocket with a zipper.

So that's it, my purse. What do you think? Still not sure myself if I like it. I don't know if its the pattern itself, or the fabric I don't love. Maybe it will grow on me.

Be sure to join Modern Swappers, Sign ups end June 1.

Check in tomorrow as I will have some things that I finished for the Spring to Finish.

Quilt Festival

Yes, its the last day to enter.


I wasn't planning on entering because I really have only finished two quilts completely (other than my two charity quilts). The rest of my quilts are finished tops, or awaiting bindings. I was looking through my pictures on flickr and decided I really love this quilt and wanted to share it!

This quilt is my "Star Bright" quilt and it was made for my 4 year old daughter, Aliya. One day I decided to make a quilt for her and she went to the closet and picked out the fabric she liked (pink...lol) and we headed to the LQS to find coordinates. I also wanted to try some paper piecing, I used Carol Doaks book. My daughter picked out most of the stars and I tried to steer her in the right direction. This is the result!
This is also my first time doing free motion quilting. At first it was horrible. Tension problems, broken needles, and worst of all skipped stitches. This led me to get a new Machine, my BabyLock. I had to tear all the quilting I had done (about half the quilt) and start over. I must say I am pleased with the result.
Finally we backed it with two different flannel prints, to make it warm and cozy, and added a label. Of course since my daughter helped to make her very first quilt she had to add her mark!
So that is my favorite quilt! I love it because it is finally done! It really look me a long time to make. I had soooo many problems come up while making this quilt! BUT I learned so much and got a new sewing machine out of it! YAY!

Finished my block....

.....Just in time. This block is for my Sew 2 Speak bee and I must say I was a little intimidated by it but once I put it together it wasn't as hard as it looked.

And I told you I am building my stash while I am here so this is what I added this week. Amy Butler....mmmmm

And some Lizzy Dish, this was on sale so I got some.

Don't forget to join us in the MODERN SWAPPERS flickr group. I promise it will be lots of fun so don't be shy! So far we are up to 9 swappers. I want to get a few more before we start. Sign up will be until June 1st.

Have a fun, safe weekend.

My tip: Don't forget your sunblock!

Modern Swapper

Here is the Flickr group: Modern Swapper

Please join! If you know anyone who you would like to join then pass the word on. I really want this to be a fun group.

Remember its only quarterly so that gives you plenty of time to find cute little items to send to your swap partner.

So join the flickr group and lets get the ball rolling :)

p.s. if anyone is good at making icons please let me know because I am not.

Hey modern swappers?!?

So I was thinking today about starting a Modern Swap. I know there are a few on Flickr already but I wanted to start my own and invite anyone who reads my blog. (and of course their friends if they wish to join).
I wanted to see if anyone would be interested before I started anything.

So here are some of the details I was thinking about already.

I was thinking of having a quarterly swap, starting in June and ending in September. The next swap would start September and end December and so on. This gives everyone more than enough time to get a fun swap package together.
For a swap there must be fabric (of course), something handmade, and some kind of decoration of fun thing for your swap partner to decorate their sewing space. (I know mine needs it)
Of course I need a partner in crime to help me figure out the details of the swap so if anyone wants to help me out let me know.

What would you like to see today?

Well I have some more stash, I know bad girl. I can't help it. I just love fabric :)
First we have some Verna and some Amy Butler prints.

I also decided to make a purse. It will be my very first one so we will see how it turns out. I resized the pattern to 80% since the original was pretty big. Here is the fabric I bought for it.
And...look what I found!!! I am so excited about this. Tula Pink Neptune. Found at a LQS. Wonder if I can find some more to complete my collection. If you know where I can get some let me know :)
Finally, there is no stash without some of this in in....yummmm. How I love Heather Ross!

Inspiration quilts

I went to the local quilt show this weekend and saw some great inspiration quilts. I tend to be drawn these.
I plan on making one of these, if not all of them at some time, with my scraps from quilting. I don't have enough scraps for anything like this now but when I do you better believe I will make some of these. I just love them!

Friday Night Sew In!

Well I didn't get much done at all, and this is why. This is the view out my mom's front window Friday. We didn't get power back until 9 last night.

I had to get something done, so I finished blocks for one of my bee's Pretty in Pink (link in my sideline). Wish I could have done more but I had little time to quilt.

Now, would I be nuts if I bought a generator to power my sewing machine? ......lol

My mom and I are going to a local quilt show today so Maybe I will have some pretty stuff to show on Monday. Lets hope :)

Have a great weekend :)

Zoo day!

Well I took so many pictures that I would probably kill your computers so this is your peek at our Zoo day! We saw and fed the Giraffes, saw turtles, Longhorns, Cheetahs, Peacocks, Goats and much more. I did get some good pictures and got some bad ones too.

So other than the encounter with the crazy woman who thought it was ok for her 9 year old to cut in front of my patient 4 year old to feed the Giraffes who had been waiting for the past 5 minutes. We had a few choice words after I told him to wait his turn. Then when it finally was her turn some little girl kept stealing her lettuce from her to feed the Giraffe. Ugh! People can just be so rude sometimes. Seriously!

So overall great time at the zoo.

More stash!

My mom and I went to this awesome store this weekend that is 2 hours from her house. They had a complete section of Moda and had tons of Moda lines that are currently out. I would say at least 10 or more lines. So this is what I got, courtesy of my mom :) she spoils me.

Moda Hunky Dory jelly roll. I have the perfect quilt to use this in but I still need a Honey Bun and some background, binding and backing in this line.

Various fat quarters.

Moda Cherish 1/2 yards

This was found at another store, it is Pat Sloans line and it is so pretty in person. The reds just pop!

Fabric as promised!

I realized today that I have a Love-Hate relationship with my mail carrier. They bring me bills...blah. That's the part I hate! But on certain special days I get things like this! I really love days I get pretty stuff.
First are my FQ's of Riley Blakes Bloom and Grow in two colorways.

These are also Riley Blake Bloom and Grow in 1/2 yards each.

And this is the perfect little package it came in, all pieces were perfectly folded and ironed! Very Nice!

Next is the Patty Young Flora and Fauna in Red and Aqua FQ's

More Patty Young in Raspberry and Lime FQ's. These are probably my favorite, they are really pretty! I will probably order a few more of these.

And something else I have had my eye on, Moda Freebird by Momo in 1/2 yards each, except I think I got the end of the bolt in the top left, red flower, because I have close to a yard of it. I'm not complaining!

And there is the Lone Ranger, I call him that because he was ordered by himself to go with my Black/White/Gray collection seen here. I have 1/2 yard and its the Ta Dot in Stone.

So that was my Mothers Day present, or should I say presents! I am working on building a stash so lets see how long it is before I cut into these babies. I still need some solids to go with them so maybe they will sit there for a little looking pretty. They might even make it all the way back to Texas with me in one piece. Wouldn't that be nice.

What do you do on Rainy Days?

We make crayon totes and have indoor photo shoots! Nothing better to do so this is our day.

This is the front of the tote. It has a spot for crayons in the red part, I just don't have any right now. We will be making a trip to the store when the weather gets better.

Back, has pocket with Velcro.

Inside, a place for her markers and coloring books. It also has another small pocket.

I made it reversible so that we can hide her name in places like Airports. That way she can still use the bag. Here it is reversed.

And the back.

Now for the Photo shoot.....

Right side out.

Inside out

Dun-nuh-nuh-nuhnu....bat dog! (that is supposed to be my interpretation of the batman song) and yes her ears stand straight up. Aliya carries her around everywhere! Her real name is Bella.

And of course I had to include a picture of her using the product! It works! YAY!

I wish, I wish, I wish!

I wish I would win EQ7! So far I think I still have a chance. I really really want to win it. Especially since I hardly ever buy patterns since all the quilts I like are usually super simple to make and I can come up with my own pattern. I would really like to make my own patterns in EQ7 instead of scratch paper...wouldn't that be nice!

Ok, now that I am done wishing lets get down to business. Ok, so there isn't business to get down too. Just me blabbing.

I did order my Mothers Day presents to myself. I guess my husband gave me permission. Since I am out of town he said I could buy some fabric....soooo, I BOUGHT some fabric. Hehe! Doesn't he know that he should never tell a quilter to buy fabric. I went a little crazy, but I did good and got a sale. So, I will show all you wonderful fabric lovers what I got later this week when I get my greedy little hands on them! Ohhh I am so excited!

You would think when I buy fabric that I can make my fabric want list smaller, well not me! When I buy fabric, I always find more that I want and the list ends up getting longer instead of smaller.

I will leave you with a picture of my little AllieKat (Aliya) she is so silly!

Spring to Finish

My posting for the Spring to Finish Challenge. Well its May 10th and time to see what everyone has finished. I have actually accomplished tons! I only finished a couple things which are my Quilt for Kids quilts seen in this post. I have also finished three tops this month. My Mom's quilt here, My Mod Sampler here, and this one! My Star quilt made from Moda Frolic line.

Also have backs and batting ready for two quilts to be quilted. These are my Mom's quilts that I am quilting for her.

And three more quilts ready with backing for two of them and thread for all of them. Ready to be quilted.

Finally, One more quilt on the rack ready to be quilted.

So, I am still working on a lot of stuff but I did finish my Quilt 4 Kids that I have had since January. Still have to finish the above projects and my bee blocks for the month. We will see how much I get done this month. Wish me luck.