Last finishes of March :)

 These are blocks I made for a sew-along that starts on Monday - I decided I wanted a different focus design in my zig zag tote, and this is what I came up with - mine will be a log cabin tote :)

 Boxy bag using some beautiful floral fabric my sister gave me :)

 This yummy floral corduroy was a remnant I got @ Joanns during one of my Buffalo runs last year - it made for a lovely pouch :)

 Thank you Miss Mickie for the fairy scraps you gave me during our last visit - they made for a perfect girly messenger bag!  I added a velcro closure and a pretty shell button to the flap :)

This monkey messenger bag is an Easter gift for a 4 year old boy - it has a magnetic snap on the flap, and of course, a monkey bag needs a monkey button to be considered complete :D

ETA:  my husband and oldest son voiced their opinion that the monkey bag is too girly for a boy - they didn't buy the "but ... but ... but it's a MESSENGER bag!" theory.  I'll save it for a girl and make something manlier for the young lad --- maybe something with farts or boogers or something ;)

A few minutes later - the third guy, aka DS2, just gave me his opinion, and he agreed with the other 2 guys - too girly, LOL.  I've been outvoted by testosterone!!!  :D

If you like Downton Abbey ...

then you'll probably like this as well - what a hoot, and they certainly GET the characters from the original!

Before and after :D

My youngest son asked me to make a kettle cover for his job site - the kettle keeps getting full of construction crap so he thought a cover would be handy.  Mom to the rescue!  I won't admit, however, that after he asked me to make it I forgot all about it for a month, and felt like a twit when I finally remembered!

iLANT = iBling :)

My DS[ister] gave me some blingy supplies last year - I finally girded my loins to LANT (learn a new technique) and added some sparkle to a pouch I made :)  More of THIS in my future, that's for sure! 

 Here's a pouch I whipped up with some leftover bits and pieces from a similar bag I made for a young lad.  This one has a Shrinky Dink construction cone zipper pull :D

And here we have a tote set made to use up the last of some denim and the heart fabric that I used for the lining and straps.  I actually made 2 zipper bags but one of them got a dirty smudge from my iron - I was unable to get it out so *poof* out of sight, out of mind into the Goodwill box.  It isn't HORRIBLe, it's just not as nice as I would like.  Someone else may not even notice the spot, but it's pretty much all I can see when I look at it, lol.

More goodies for Blue Hills :)

Pillowcase :)  I have just enough of the kiddy print left over for a tote bag :)

Quilted Canada zipper bag - note the maple leaf tab holder that holds an ... awwwwwwwwwwwww ... heart carabiner :)

We're in the home stretch using up this grouping of fabrics - I finished this zipper bag today, and have just a few little squares left :)

This is why cats rock :)

If the embedded version doesn't work, here's the link.   I like the guy @ 0:45 - honey badger black and white kitty just don't care!!!  ;)

And - since this is a sewing blog - here's some sewing!

Easter gift for Lleyton "plus one" ;)

St. Patrick's Day bibs for next year :)

Mini boxy bags - these measure 7 x 3 x 3, and are made with baby wale corduroy (so soft)!  For my future reference, fabrics were cut 10" X 12ish", and 1" boxes were cut :)

Tall pouches - one for Blue Hills, one for a Christmas gift :)

Baby wale corduroy tote bag for Blue Hills - 15 x 13 x 3.5 ")

Pillowcases for Blue Hills :)

More pillowcases for Blue Hills :)

The hair. THE HAIR!!!

REDHEAD!!!  To die for!!!!!  Lleyton's first St. Patrick's Day (almost 3 months old) :)

Wearing the bib from Auntie Sandra :)

Sleeping redheaded beauty :)

The hair just KILLS me!  Speaking as a redhead with one redheaded son, I surely do love the red hair on my great nephew - there's red hair on both sides of his family, so hopefully it will stay red!!!  And spikey, heehee!!

Mystery project completed :)

 Here we go - the mystery project I posted about yesterday, completed :)  It's a kids messenger bag - I've never made one before!  The tutorial is here - it was very easy to follow :)

Here's a view of the inside - the outside of the flap was supposed to be the blue lining fabric, but I got things reversed a bit - will correct it on the next one :)
It's a smallish bag as it's for kids, but it can hold 5 DVD's perfectly :)

Here's what it looks like from the side.  I made a couple of changes to her tutorial:  instead of using interfacing on the outer layer I quilted the fabric with batting.  If I had been using denim as she did, it might have had enough body to stand on it's own.  But the quilting weight fabric needed a bit of help to give it enough body :)  I also added a velcro closure to the front so the flap wouldn't flap open (pun intended) :D

Here are a few more recent finishes:

 These fabrics were from scrap bags I bought from a quilt store in Pennsylvania last year.

Here's what I used for the back - this luscious print was picked out and given to me by my sister for Christmas last year :)

Here's a Bah Humbug pouch - an early finish of a Christmas gift ...

and here are a couple of "use up some bits and pieces" zipper bags - these will go to Blue Hills. 

Mystery project :)

I needed a record of the layout for this quilt as I have to take the blocks off the wall, and wanted to be able to look it up when I get working on it :D

Here's a little project I'm working on - can you guess what it might be?  I've never made one in this design, it has no zippers (LOL) and I originally found it - and repinned it - on Pinterest ;)

Here's a close-up of the fabric - this was a print I got @ Joanns a few years ago on clearance - this project will use up the last bits and pieces I had in stash :)

Mannequins and a pillowcase :)

Nancy and Amanda came over last night for a sewing hen party - my husband calls it a chicken party, and when Nancy rang the doorbell, he announced to all at large ... "One of the chickens is here!"  :D 

Veggies and dip and cookies were eaten, tea and diet Dr. Pepper were drank, 3 sewing machines were put through their paces, and productivity was, as per usual, not very high, LOLOL.

Amanda's pincushion

Finished!

 Nancy's evening didn't go quite as smoothly as one might wish for - her mannequin  needed a bit of sculpting to trim her down from gym teacher Brunhilda to sexy Marilyn Monroe :D

She did manage to fix my scissors and my dinosaur stuffy, so all was not lost!  She said she would finish her pincushion today, and I expect she did just that :)
 

I made a pillowcase (for Blue Hills) and worked on the dinosaur :D  Not exactly record-breaking productivity, but we sure did have fun, LOL!

Bug quilt finished :)

Here's the baby quilt I finished yesterday - it measures about 40" square, and is backed with navy blue minky.  This is the "cropped" version ...

... and here's the uncropped version, LOL!  Hey - it's sunny and warm and definitely clothesline season!

The neighbours whose house you can see in these photos, have just had solar panels installed on their roof.  A news crew was here this morning to film a story about them - I wonder if hubby's tighty whities (well, blueies!) will be on the news tonight? ROTFL!

In the pipeline :D

 This is a baby quilt I'll be working on later - I had to check something so I threw the blocks up on my design wall (aka a sheet of foam insulation, LOL). 

 This is the beginning of the UFO I'm working on now - another baby quilt :)

 Two zipper bags I've recently completed - the one on the right needs a beaded zipper pull - will work on that tomorrow.  Those fabrics were bits and pieces of scraps I bought in a scrap bag @ a quilt store in Pennsylvania last year!

Here are the backs of the above zipper bags - this is a lovely piece of floral fabric my sister sent me for Christmas - it's PERFECT for these bags!

 I made this bag to use up the last of the reclaimed denim from my husband's work jeans :D  I've been trying out the decorative stitches on my vintage (but fairly new to me) Singer 411 :)  It doesn't have a wide variety of stitches, but it'll do!!!  ;)

This is the lining of the above denim zipper bag - Tigger :D

Laundry day ... and a puppy rescue!

Here in my little town north of Toronto, it's currently 63F (17C) @ 6:15 p.m. - what a gorgeous day it was today!  I think this is the earliest I've been able to hang laundry outside, lol!  I took this picture just a few minutes ago - it was much brighter and sunnier earlier :D

  This will make you cry - it did me!!  <--- edited to add ... GOOD cry - not BAD cry!!!  It's a very happy ending!!

Almost done ...

This is a "use up stash" quilt that's almost completed - it measures about 40" square (I think, lol) - it just needs binding :)  I got the stitch in the ditch quilting finished today, so hopefully tomorrow I can complete the binding :)  This project has been under construction for quite a while now - I'll be glad to get it done and off of my UFO list, lol!

Bag for Cade :)

Shrinky Dink zipper pull :D

I was recently asked to make a bag for a young lad - I hope he likes it!  This was my first time using Shrinky Dink - it was pretty freaky when it curled around itself in the oven, lol!  After a bit of poking with a pin and another round in the oven, it straightened itself out - WHEW!  Next time I'll try a picture - the instructions linked to some pdf files with fun things to trace - robots and aliens and fairies etc. :)

(LANT [learn a new technique] = the zipper pull!)

Pink and orange - gorgeous!

Here's the first zippy I made with my newest batch of Zipit zippers - I saw this one on Pinterest and loved the design and colour combo, and wanted to make one for myself :) 

Here's a close-up of the zipper pull - this was a freebie in my zipper order, and worked perfectly with the bag.

 The back is quilted onto warm and natural batting, as is the front.


The lining - hot pink tone on tone :)



And on a completely unrelated note --- PML ... possibly NSFW, but watch to the very end - the little girl is the BEST!