Penny Goop

The opportunities to play with this little one are endless.  But having her all to myself because she is on Spring Break is the best.  Sister had to go to school.  But that is okay.  Sister got her grandma day the week before. 

I love playing with her hair.  She sat still and let me put braids on the sides.  What you don't see is the pony tail that she insisted on in the back.  This one has a fashion sense that is all her own. 

When you have a day at grandma's, it is always fun to do something different, something messy, something that maybe you don't get to do at home.  We decided to clean pennies.  There were three suggested ways to clean pennies in the book we looked at......lemon juice, tomato catsup, hot sauce.  We decided to not try the hot sauce.  Pennies were located, ingredients and other supplies found, and the experiment began. 

Could this penny be any dirtier??????

Messy catsup.  How fun is this?

A brush seems to help when using lemon juice.

A little of both worked the best. 

Of course, the scientist got to keep the pennies.  But she needed a little pocket to keep them in.  We retired to the sewing room and she picked out fabric scraps for a penny pocket. 

So much love and fun!

A Bag For All Seasons

This pattern caught my eye when I first saw it mentioned on the TQS web-site.  Then I didn't think about it for awhile until they offered it up at a sale price as a kit with the fabric included.  On impulse, about a year ago, I bought the kit and it sat in the basket of "things I want to make someday".

Sometimes you just have to wait for inspiration and "rediscovery" to hit.  While cleaning up and puttering about a bit, I came across the pattern and the fabrics and they called out "Make me!".  So I got out the cutting mat, the other supplies like fusible fleece, and set myself up at the dining room table to begin.  And all was good and moving along until.......... 

I sewed two wrong sides together.  So I picked up my trusty Alex Anderson 4-in-1 Tool and did a bit of frog stitching.....rip-it, rip-it, rip-it. The 4-in-1 Tool never leaves my side when I'm sewing.  I use it for all kinds of things.  It's a wonderful tool Alex and the fact that it doesn't roll around is the best idea ever. 

On to the project.  A few more steps along the way............

Give credit where credit is due.

 

 

An extra sturdy strap is a good idea.  I added a little stabilizer.

Now it was time for leaves.....lots of leaves......60 to be exact.  They all need to be cut out and fused.  But in my typical fashion I didn't fully read the steps so I ended up with the Heat N Bond on the fabric before I had traced anything.  The fabric was so dark that even a light table wouldn't work for tracing.  I stewed for awhile and then came up with a solution.  I photo-copied the leaf patterns and stuck the pages down on the Heat N Bond with double stick tape and then cut out the leaves.  Worked beautifully.  Caught up on a little recorded T.V. while cutting. 

I'm so clever.  I kept patting myself on the back for solving this possible insurmountable problem.  I have a feeling that I am not the first person to do this. LOL 


On to leaves.....many, many leaves............60 leaves. 

OOPS!  Back to frog stitching. 

 

 

Add the vines using satin stitching.

I was feeling so accomplished.  I was sure I must be heading straight for the finish line.  On no.  You are supposed to quilt around all the leaves and vines.  That would be 60 leaves PLUS vines. 

I was totally determined to follow the directions. I quilted and quilted and quilted.  And then I began to put it all together.

Here it is!  Isn't it cute!  It has a magnet closure and lots of sturdy inside pockets.  I love it but I will not make another one with leaves.  I might make another one with the basic pattern but NO leaves, not even less than 60.

Learning to Sew

I had promised DGD#1 that I would begin to teach her to sew on a machine when she was six.  She turned six in February and she remembered.  Of course I gave her a sewing kit of her own to jog her memory.  We finally found a day when she didn't have school and her sister was at preschool so we could sew together.  I can tell it is going to take a lot of patience on my part to slow her down.  She already thinks that she can "sew by herself" next time she comes.  Best of all, she enjoyed it and wants to do more.  We'll take it one step at a time. 

Great book for introducing a child to sewing

Look Nahn Nahn!  I'm ready to sew!

Finished Fishes

Fish Nets is finished.  Ahhhhh.......the satisfaction of a project finished.  I learned alot from the class I took with Mickey Depre at Road to California.  I'm lovin' Deco Bond for applique.  It makes the process so much easier and helps to stabilize the project for stitching.

Fish Nets - pattern by Mickey Depre

Water for the fishies to swim in

The binding came out pretty good.  I sewed it down from the front.

It was a fun project.  I got it finished in a timely manner.  It's cute.  It's going to the silent auction at Escuela Bilingue Internacinal.

Love Those Humbags!

About 10 years ago I bought a pattern for something called "Humbug  Bags" by Nancy Restuccia for Make It Easy Sewing & Crafts.  I think over the years I have made at least 60 of them for various gifts.  They are so easy to make and everyone I have given one to has exclaimed how cute they are.  I usually put a little something in it like candies or scented hand-wipes or whatever.  I personally use them for all kinds of things.  I keep our charging cords in one for traveling.  I keep one in the car with mints.  I put sewing supplies in them.  There are endless uses for these bags.

Over the last two days, I've made two of the medium size bags to give away.  One just got delivered today and sadly there is no picture.  It was very cute with Shasta Daisies on it.  This evening I made another one for my son for his upcoming birthday.  I'll fill it with his favorite Jelly Bellys and then he can use it in his car for carrying whatever he wants.  He loves music.  Hence, the music fabric that was used.

Humbug Bag for Jon

What a fun gift to make.  I have gotten so good at these that I can usually sew one up in about an hour.  One time I needed to make 12 of them for gifts and I created an assembly line to do them.  I never seem to tire of making them.  The other thing I like about them is that they provide a great way to practice machine quilting.