Hey Pam - this one's for you ;)

My bloggy buddy Pam and I recently gave each other a challenge to complete some specific projects each month - it's a very informal agreement, and we email back and forth with reminders and ideas :)  My goal is to sew 2 gifts and 2 new-to-me projects per month, and hers is to sew 2 gifts and a robot block :)  January is now completed - this is a good time to be in a later time zone - HA!!!!  *winks @ Pam* :)

My gifts were done a few weeks ago - two penguin bags :)  I had trouble with the new-to-me section of the challenge - suffice it to say I need to work on my grommet and paper piecing skills, LOL.  Since I was running out of time I decided to go with a tried and true project to donate to Blue Hills - but I would do them in new-to-me designs.  Somewhat of a cop-out, but the rules aren't written in stone ;) 

The flamingo penguin bib on the left is made with the bib pattern from stubbornlycrafty.  I modified the penguin applique from her zipper bag pattern (which I bought last year) to fit the bib.  I love how it turned out :)   The blue shark bib is a scrap buster - I have enough of all of the fabrics to make several bibs in each of the designs - I'll add a taggy blanket to each set and shoot them off to Blue Hills for the mom/kid reading program :)  I get to post this to Celtic Stitches "New to Me" linky party as well - I'm on a roll!

[X] January challenge with Pam completed ;)

[X] New to Me in January completed :)

Monday Makers! #23 :)

And posting on Monday - aren't I just the fancy one!  ;)

Hubby and I went on a Joanns run this past weekend - he offered, I accepted, we had a lovely time :)  I managed to pick up about 25 yards of fabrics on sale, and thanks to a couple of discount coupons from a lovely niece (thanks, Cassendra!) I got an even further discount on quite a few of them - SCORE!  Colour me happy :D

2 yard cuts of these prints - I bought them to make donation tote bags :)  My favourite is the pink elephants!

2 yard cuts (plus about 1/2 yard of each that was an end of bolt remnant) of a couple of my favourite Joanns fabrics - sharks and lime green polka dots - you can never have enough of these in stash, as far as I'm concerned ;)

More stash fabrics I always have on hand - red, and black, tone on tone prints :)

These Halloween prints were on sale for half price, so I picked up 3 yards of the bats and a yard of the dots - enough for 3 pillowcases for next Halloween :)

4 of 5 sub-sections :)

Here are a few things I've started or that I've been working on :D  This free paper pieced block caught my eye so I decided to make one to embellish a tote.  I had forgotten how much fabric gets wasted on these acute angles - it drives me crazy as I really REALLY hate wasting fabric :D   The pattern is very cute though, so if I must waste, I do, after all, have enough fabric for all those angles ;)

 Here are the projects I started for Monday Makers! #23 :)  At the top are 2 heart shaped zipper pouches that I'm making for my little neighbour girls for Valentine's Day.  Bottom row are the pieces all cut out for 2 Oriental boxy bags - the Oriental print and the green batik print, were remnants from a local quilt store - I was able to cut 3 boxy bags from the fabrics (one is already completed).

 Here's a close-up of the threads I used for the first Oriental bag - gold for the (very simple) quilting, green for the rest of the bag.  I have gold dragon charms picked out for zipper pulls for these bags :)

For fun, I'm adding jingle bell zipper pulls to the heart pouches - I have lots in stash, and I found several that had pink in them to match the fabrics I picked :)  These should be fun for the young girls!

 The pink monkey jingle bell I found in stash - I need to get more of these - they're quite adorable :D





I got my Monday Makers! #22 project finished - it was a set of 3 bibs and a taggy.  I just have to throw the pieces in the washing machine before taking a picture - I want to make sure all the seams and ribbons are secure :D  I melted a couple of the ribbons on the taggy when I was finishing it - I had to do a lot of froggy stitching, cut the bad ones out, and add new ones!  Lesson learned - I'll be more careful next time, lol!

Posted to Monday Makers! #23 :)

Monday Makers! #22 :)

BRrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr it's a sunny but cold day today here in the GTA (Greater Toronto Area) --- current temp is -9C, feeling like -15C with the windchill.  Brass monkeys beware!  ;)

Here's my completion from Monday Makers! #21 - a Berenstain Bears library tote with matching zipper pouch :D  The BB print was a scrap I bought at the local quilt store, and the rest of the fabrics were from stash :)  This will be a gift for a young friend whose parents and grandparents love reading :)

Here's my new start, for MM#22 -- to use up the last of these 2 stash flannels (both from Joanns), I'm making bib and taggy blanket sets.  I was able to kit 8 bibs and 3 taggies, with the possibility of making one extra bib if I have enough scraps :D  These will all be going to Blue Hills when completed :)

Last week I got to hen party (sew) with 2 buddies - No Blog Amanda, and Miss Nancy :D  Miss Nancy brought me a lovely surprise today - I know she'll understand when I don't explain what it is :D  Thanks Nanc - my kitchen looks quite amazing now!  ;)  Anyways - we whipped up (well, Nancy did far more than I did, lol) rice heating pads for the kids at Blue Hills, to warm them up after skating :)  We ran out of rice mid-stream and had to make an emergency rice run into town to replenish our supply, LOL.  Miss Amanda, I do hope you'll remember to butter tart us at our next hen party!  ;)

Posting to Monday Makers! #22 :)

Monday Makers! #21 :)

Monday Makers!  This is a project I've had in mind ever since I picked up the Berenstain Bears fabric you see in the photo - it was a small 8" X WOF remnant - I knew almost from the beginning that I wanted to make a kids library book bag with BB as the focal fabric :)  I had just enough to do a wide pocket in the front, a smaller pocket inside, and one zipper bag to go with the tote.  Everything is cut out and ready to sew - I'll get started on it tomorrow :D

Last week I started a couple of penguin pouches - I got get them finished then realized that they're made from the same fabrics as the 3 bags I finished last year as Christmas gifts for our oldest son's little neighbour girls :D  Since I could get two of these bags out of one width of fabric, I kitted a second pouch for each of the main fabrics - and now they're all finished :D  I have some penguin charms coming from Ebay so when they arrive, I can tuck the bags into my gift box :)  Pattern is available from stubbornlycrafty on Etsy (NAYY) :)

Here are a few use-up-fabrics projects I've completed recently:

Flex frame bags (5" x 5") to use up the last of that truck fabric (which was a remnant of a FQ from our local Fabricland).  These are going to Blue Hills :)

Donkey bag and two blue zipper pouches - these are going to Blue Hills :)

Drawstring gift bag using the last of the raindrop fabric (that co-ordinates with the donkey fabric in the previous picture - both are by Laurie Wisbrun) - this one is going in my drawstring gift bag bag 

:D

 I have a stack of projects downstairs to photograph but it's so cold outside and so dreary inside, that I keep putting it off - winter doldrums, I think!  At least I'm still sewing, even if I'm not posting :D  I hope everyone is staying warm and safe, and enjoying some crafty time!  ;)

Posted to Monday Makers! #21 :)

Edited Jan. 31/15 - I'm posting the penguin bags to the January Ho Ho Ho and On We Sew linky party - I thought I would add a photo of the penguin pendants I bought to use for zipper pulls!  They haven't arrived yet but I'm sure they'll be here soon - NAYY :D

Penguin pendants purchased on Ebay :D I'll add small gold split rings and hang these from the zipper :)

Monday Makers! #20 - first MM of 2015 :)

HA I just checked Nurdan's blog to see how much time I have to get my MM post in - I have 33 minutes - I forgot about the time difference!  I think I made it one time with 2 or 3 minutes to spare, though, so I'm not even close to being too late *she says with a sneaky grin* :)

I started 2 projects today - these are gifts.  I made some for Christmas 2014 and they were a hit, so I'm going to try again with some different young ladies :D  Here are the two bags ready to be appliqued (which will also quilt the fabric) - the pattern is from stubbornlycrafty on Etsy, and I've made about half a dozen of these cuties now - SO cute, and SO easy :) 

In a related "Monday start", equally worthy of being a Monday Maker - I pieced scrap batting for the penguin bags - scraps saved from going into the trash, and $$ saved by not having to buy more batting for a while - that's a win in my book :)

I did get last week's MM projects finished - 2 composition book covers.  The pictures were coming out too dark so I'll try again tomorrow.

I hope everybody had a safe and fun New Year - hubby and I stayed home NYE as usual, and our company didn't come because the Mrs. got sick. On New Year's Day we had a big family lunch with hubby's family - the only person missing was a niece and g-nephew who are in a different province - the rest of the gang was there - we range in age from 20 months to 70 years old!  It was a GREAT get-together :)