It's WIP Wednesday!

Lots of sewing going on here. I am making new pillow cases for the grandsons. Here is what I have so far:

 This one is for B, who finally has his own pillow and needs a case that is his and not his brother's.

 This has to be one of the cutest lines ever, with the dapper foxes and the glasses over houndstooth.

Then, for V I made bicycles and topped it with Confetti Dots by Dear Stella. Love how this one turned out. Now, gotta go stash diving and find something J would love! I also started quilting on the baby quilts.

I am quilting diagonal lines on this one, two inches apart. Loving it so far. Linking up with Freshly Pieced today. Talk to you soon.

Yay! It's Here!

In the immortal words of Yogi Bear "It's a pic-a-nic basket!" I bought it for the picnic blog hop coming up.

Isn't it pretty? I ordered it from Peterboro Basket company. So excited for this blog hop!!!

Time to Quilt

This is the first post I have done in a while that hasn't been linked up to someone else's post for some reason. Feels good. I have been piecing like a mad woman over here, with so many baby quilts and a few other things with deadlines. Now, It is finally time to quilt.

This is the back of my picnic quilt for the blog hop. Can't show the front yet, but this baby is quilted and ready for the binding, as soon as I figure out what that is.  I do have an idea.

 Then I began making backings for the baby quilt tops that are finished. My baby quilts tend to be about 40-42 inches, more or less square. I have lots of one yard cuts that are wide enough, but not long enough, so I started adding a piece of something else to lengthen it.

You can't tell here, but the strip of yellow is off center, as is the brown above. That makes it a bit more interesting, I think. I have one more done, but for some reason I can't get that picture to upload. I tried 3 times. So anyway, I have 3 baby quilts that will get basted and quilted over the next week or so.

 And lastly, I have begun playing with these. I tried them on some neutrals and on some black and white fabrics.

I haven't decided yet, but I am leaning toward the neutrals. We'll see. Have a great week and I will talk to you soon.

Sunday Stash # 17

Sew, here we are. Sunday again. I have been seeing and drooling over Jeni Baker's new line, Dreamin' Vintage. The colors so soft and the patterns truly remind me of vintage sheets from the 60's or there about.

 I bought half yard cuts from one of my favorite shops, Hawthorne Threads. I wanted to choose only the prints I really loved and thought I would use. These first three are from the cool colorway. It was hard to narrow it down to these, but I am trying not to go fabric crazy again.

 These are the three I chose from the warm colorway. They are even better in person. Now that I see them on the computer, I am noticing a bit of shadowing. I am not the best photographer. The softness of Art Gallery Fabrics is unbelievable. I think I know exactly what I want to make with these.

 This is a half yard of Crosshatch Sketch in coral, by Timeless Treasures. I love the Sketch fabrics. They are the perfect addition to a stash, no matter the color you choose. This coral is so very pretty.

 And look, a happy coincidence, it goes very nicely with the Dreamin' Vintage fabrics too.

Se there you have it. Talk to you soon. Linking up with Molli Sparkles for Sunday Stash.

A Friday Finish & a Little Tutorial

I have had this idea in my head for awhile now. I thought it might be perfect for Mother's Day gifts and I think I was right. So quick to make and inexpensive too.  Let's have a look, shall we? First of all, here is what we will be replacing. My daughter knitted these for me from cotton yarn a few years back. They were well used and held up pretty well. But lately, they look shabby and worn. Time for some new ones.

So after much thought, I bought these at Target. You get a four pack for like 4 or 5 dollars. And, they are white so they go with everything.

Then, all you need is a quarter yard of fabric, your machine, your iron and about and hour and you can make a set of these. Yup, one hour. Ready to see how?

 First, take a towel and pin four pleats in the top of it. The top should be about 6 inches across after the pleats are in.

 I used my walking foot to stitch across the top, about half an inch down. No need to back stitch. This is just to hold the pleats for now.

              This is how it looks at this point; full at the bottom and gathered at the top.

 They, I drew a pattern like this, to make the top of the towel that holds it over the handle of the drawer or oven. You can shape it however you like. You just need to enclose the top of the towel and create a hanger for it. I cut two of these for each towel.

Reinforce the top of the holder with interfacing. You will be making a button hole here in a moment and you will need it to be sturdy. With right sides together, sew a 1/2 inch seam around all sides except the wide bottom end. This is where you will insert the towel in a moment. Clip your curves and trim your seams back to 1/4 inch and turn it right side out. Give it a press and turn 1/2 inch hem up to the inside of the piece. Sorry, I forgot to photograph this.

 Insert the pleated end of the towel and pin in place. Then, stitch across the bottom. I stitched two times, right next to each other for extra strength. Then, I top stitched 1/8 inch from the edge all the way around.

It gives it a finished look.  Next, you will make a button hole. The size of the hole will be determined by the button you use. I recommend about a one inch button for this.

 You want the button hole to be vertical since this will be pulling down on it. This again helps to stabilize the top of your towel. Cut open your button hole, sew on your button and you are done.

 I loved how quickly these came together. I thought they would be perfect for Mother's Day gifts. If you have any questions, I will try to answer them in the comments. I plan to make a couple of sets of these for my daughters. I just need to find out what colors they would like. Have a great weekend. I will be back later today to announce the winner of my giveaway.
Linking up with Crazy Mom Quilts for Finish It Friday.
The Winner of the #300 post giveaway is Carrie P. I will be emailing her soon.

WIP Wednesday: Sneak Peaks

I had a bit of a conundrum. I have lots of works in progress to tell about, but I can't exactly show them to you. One is for a blog hop, which will have a reveal in about 3 weeks or so. One is for a challenge I signed up for, since I clearly need more projects. Same thing there, wait for the reveal. The third is a swap and I am waiting to get my partner before I start it. Those, along with all the baby quilts that need to be basted and quilted and the two quilts for V and B. Whew...lots of WIPs.

So I decided to get creative with my picture taking and I am not going to tell you which picture is which quilt.  Ok?

Have a great rest of the week. Talk to you soon. Linking up with Lee at Freshly Pieced.

Sunday Stash #16

Ahhhhh...Sunday. I love Sundays all year long, but in the spring, with the birds singing in the background it's heavenly. So here is my stash post for this week. I know I said I would settle for the horse print in white from the Wee Wander line, but after that post, I thought, lets just look and see if any more had come in to Hawthorne Threads. You know, just a look. And then this happened:

 They had completely restocked! So I bought a half yard of each and now I have all three colorways, which was not my original intention. But these are so pretty.  And then, just to get something else I had been thinking about, I bought this:

 This is the Fox and the Houndstooth by Robert Kaufman. I love those dapper little foxes and I thought this would make something cute for B.  I think it's going to become a pillowcase.

 Those vests! Those hats! the bow tie and monocle! I love this cute fabric! I am now waiting on some grey houndstooth for the pillowcase edge.

And look at the selvedge! How cute is that? Hope you have a great Sunday. Linking up with Molli Sparkles for Sunday Stash.