Card Kitty, anyone? X8 :D

Christmas sewing is on-going!  I've been sick with a cold since the beginning of December and whatever I got done, was done while I was hopped up on lovely cold pills :D    However, after 3 weeks I'm finally on the mend, and have scaled down my Christmas prep so my To Do list is manageable enough that I don't have to stress. Is everyone else ready, or are y'all still trying to finalize things?  I try every year, but I'm pretty sure that I'll never EVER be organized enough to be done weeks ahead of time, haha. 

I mentioned in my last post that I had started a project for Christmas gifts, and happily, I got 8 done out of the 10 I wanted to do for Christmas (3 of the kids are away until the new year, so I actually have time to finish them without them being late).  The Card Kitty from SewCanShe.com is a WINNER.  EASY to make, and I like that there's enough ease in the project that if your stitching is a bit wobbly (mine is), things will still work.   Well done Caroline - thank you for the tutorial and the fantastic idea!  Here are some pics:

Kitty Cat Card Kitties X 2 :)

Basketball Card Kitties X 3 :)

Cherries Card Kitties X 3 :)

I made a minor change to the tutorial - some of my fabrics were on the thinner side, so I interfaced one side of the outer pieces and all 3 pockets, using thin iron-on interfacing.  That gave me just the right amount of body for the kitties :)  As I was taking these photos, I realized something - not only do these guys hold cards for the kids, they can also be stacked, Jenga style! 

8 pack stack :)

Basketball stack :)

Cherry stack :)

Sometimes - I amuse myself, LOL.  OK that's it for now - I need to get these bad boys and girls upstairs so I can start wrapping them - I have a few more pictures to post but will do that a bit later.  I hope everyone is enjoying their Christmas prep, or enjoying their Christmas prepared - whichever is applicable!  ;)

Last entry for Bag It 2017 :D

In the final lap, on the final day, in almost the final hours, I have 3 more bags to contribute to Bag It for this year :)  I made these for my 3 aquafit teachers - notice I used *healthy* fabrics for the outside, but inside - Christmas cheer!  AKA Lindt chocolates, LOL.  Even fitness teachers need a treat now and then, and it IS Christmas time!  I hope they like their bags - I'll be delivering them next week if I'm well enough to get back to class.  And if I'm still sick, I'll send them in with a friend :) 

Patty!  Thank you for hostessing this fun bag-a-palooza again - I'm 1000% certain that a huge amount of work goes on behind the scenes, and between you and the fantastic sponsors, this year's event looks like a roaring success!  I've visited the blogs for quite a few of the entries, and will try to get to the ones I've missed, when the Christmas sewing is completed. Sadly I can't comment on the bags that get posted to Instagram, but I did visit as many as I could :)  Best of luck to everyone who entered - whether we win or not, we got a LOT of sewing completed - and that's a win!  

Here's an almost finished project I started this morning - I couldn't complete it because I ran out of plastic canvas to use for the shaping/structure - I'll have to get more this weekend.  This is a Card Kitty - the tutorial is here, and was written by Caroline of Sew Can She.  It turns out that this is a really simple project to put together, and I'm planning on making several sets for Christmas gifts.  Caroline this is such a great idea, and it's quite easy to put together - I think the kids will really enjoy it!  Especially since I'm buying fun decks of cards from the $ store to include with the gift :D 

Front of Card Kitty (the thing at the bottom is the other piece of velcro, which hasn't yet been installed because I need more plastic canvas).  You can 3 pockets divided in half, so there are 6 slots for cards.  The height you see is basically 1/3 of the height of the carrier - Caroline has lots of better pictures on her site, of what it looks like.  Mine is about 85% completed :)

This is the back of mine - the raw edge at the bottom, is where the last piece of plastic canvas will get inserted - then that raw edge gets tucked inside and stitched down, and the other half of the velcro gets stitched on.  Winner, winner, easy chicken dinner :)  (yes, I'm a 12 year old boy!) :D

This is why you shouldn't drink and sew :D

 So ... yesterday I sat down at the sewing machine to work on a Christmas gift, and this happened ...

Yep - spilled my Diet Dr. Pepper on the table beside my sewing machine ...

... and on the floor ...

... and of course, all over the fabric I was sewing :D  Fortunately I had cut extra pieces so I brought these upstairs to soak, and continued on with the project :D

I severely underestimated how much time it would take for the gift - I thought I could get it done in a couple of hours one afternoon - I was wrong :D  I worked quite a bit yesterday, and today I sat down and finished it up.  It wasn't difficult in the least - it was just BIG :D   And here we have the finished set :)  I took these pictures outside - with the windchill it was -11C.  I was wearing boots, but no gloves/mitts - my fingers were FROZEN :D  Oh - and it was windy, LOL.  I persevered, though:

The project is called Pyramid Bean Bag Toss Game, but I'm calling it Flying Monkey Toss game because of the fabric I chose :D  The tutorial is here - mine is a bit bigger than the original and measures about 30" tall by about 48" wide at the widest part.  The bag on the left is the drawstring bag I made to hold the entire set - the game "board" folds up and will fit easily in the bag, as do the game pieces.

Here's the back of the game board - I added a tic tac toe board (made from ribbon) so the kids could play that game as well - they can use the game pieces from the Flying Monkey side :D  

And here are the game pieces - sorry, the picture got cut off a bit on one side - the sun was in my eyes and I was really cold :D  If you count carefully you'll find 12 bean bags - 6 in polka dots, and 6 in monkey fabric :)  They're stuffed with polystyrene pellets (from Joanns) so they have a nice little heft to them.  The kids toss them onto the game board and try to score as high as they can - I think they'll have fun :)  

Two mesh drawstring fish shaped bags - I made these for some greats that get to visit warm places more than I do!  I thought they could use these for carrying shells and/or beach toys :)  The tutorial is here - I resized these down to about 75% of the original pattern.  The mesh is from some mesh drawstring bags from a $ store - I can't find them anymore, sadly - this is really nice mesh - firm and plasticy - very easy to stitch!  Need to find more :D

Those projects finish the gift "set" I wanted to make - I have to get everything packed off and mailed ASAP so it arrives in time!  The two fish bags and the drawstring carry bag qualify for Bag It, so I'm off to upload them there - then I have to go clean up my sewing room and get ready for the next project that I need to get done, LOL.  Nothing like leaving things until almost the last minute! 

Christmas Boxy Bag Assembly Warehouse part deux :D

I just uploaded a post with pictures of 10 boxy bags that I've made for a Christmas donation project.  The bags are being posted to Bag It for 2017 but I couldn't add any more pictures, so I'm continuing the post here, as part deux :D

Here's the 10 pack of donation bags I posted a minute ago - I wanted a compilation picture for Bag It for clarity's sake :D

Another dinosaur boxy bag I completed (will be going to Blue Hills) :)

Another doggy boxy bag I completed - this one will be a Christmas gift for one of my aquafit teachers :)

This boxy bag is going to my sewy friend's sister for Hanukkah :)

So that is 13 bags for Bag It - you'd think I'd notice a reduction in stash (fabric, or zipper) but I do NOT!  I think if I had done 2 more bags, the reduction would have been very noticeable.  NOT!  :)  Patty - here you go, lol!

Christmas Boxy Bag Assembly Warehouse

In mid-November I decided I was going to do a project for a women's shelter in Toronto that I send sewn items to.  I thought I would do a bag for some members of my family, and donate them to the shelter in honour of those members :D  If I had thought of it earlier I could have done more members, but I did get 10 bags done so that's pretty good :)  They're all the same size - they finish to about 9" wide X 4" tall X 3.5" deep (quilted fabric is cut to 14"w x 16"t, and 1 3/4" boxes are cut from the seam allowance).  Presenting, in no particular order, The Ten Bags of Christmas :)

The Chris - in honour of my youngest son, the car guy :D

The Crazy Cat Lady - in honour of my oldest son Nick :D

The Graci - in honour of my brother/SIL's sweet golden Graci :)

The Heather - in honour of Graci's mom, my SIL, in memory of The Mouse of Thanksgiving 2017 :D  (this mouse actually crawled up my pants leg - we were SCREAMING with laughter trying to catch that errant little intruder without hurting it!)

The Jennifer - in honour of a niece who loves the kitties as much as I do :)

The Lleyton, in honour of a sweet great nephew :)

The Nash - in honour of another sweet great nephew :)

The Sandra - named after yours truly, and made with a remnant of fabric that I've been saving for just the right occasion because it's so pretty :)

The Sherry - in honour of my MUCH OLDER SISTER (!!!) who LOVES (hates!) flamingos :)  As the YOUNGER sister, it's my duty to annoy and bedevil my lovely sister wherever possible, which is why I chose the 'mingo :D

The Stacie - in honour of my niece who is big-time into cross-fit - I couldn't find exercise fabric, so I picked strawberries as an appropriate healthy fare for someone is is big on fitness :)

These bags will be entered into Patty's Bag It for 2017 - I have a picture of all 10 bags together but I can't add any more pictures to this post, so I'll post it separately, along with a couple more boxy bag finishes - I've been on a boxy bag roll :D 

Finally - a New to Me project :D

I try to participate in Fiona's monthly New to Me linky party, but haven't had a new to me item in months - until today!  As soon as I saw this bag posted at the designer's site, I knew it was a Must Do, and today I Must Did :)  I actually cut out 3 of them using 3 prints in the same line of fabric, so I'll end up with 3 bags, each a bit different.  For today, though, I'm happy to have the first one ready to post to November's New to Me - Fiona I finally made it to your party - where do I leave my coat, and where are the snackies??!!  ;)

 Presenting ... Tiny Bag #1, designed by Caroline at SewCanShe.com :)  It's a quick project, and very small.  I generally use WOWFIHOTSMAAGT (width of whatever foot I have on the sewing machine at any given time) for  a seam allowance, so my bag may be a bit smaller than the original.  Mine measures about 8" wide x 4.5" tall x 3.5" wide :)  Aren't the straps adorable?  Tutorial is here :)

 Here's a side view showing that the boxed corners and the side of the front pocket.  There's a pocket inside as well :)

Not surprisingly, I have pirate charms for the zipper pull - I bought them on Ebay a while ago to use on these pirate prints.  I still have more bags kitted ready to sew, and each of them will have a pirate zipper pull because that's how I rock :D 

Since I had time to myself today I got cracking on a Christmas gift - this wallet is part of the gift.  I've made several of these for gifts and to donate to the counselling center - the pattern is quick to make up, and very practical, with lots of pockets (including a zippered pocket - very important for holding coins!).  Tutorial is here :)


Here's the inside of the wallet - zippered pocket on the left, credit card pockets on the right, slidey-in pockets behind the actual pockets and a money pocket behind all of those pockets - lots of storage ;) 

I didn't have a small train charm for the zipper pull, so I used a gear charm :D  It's nice and flat so it sits well in the wallet :)

A few days ago I whipped up a couple of Magic Pouches to finish off some fabric remnants (the pink bags).

Today I finished up the last one I had kitted - the blue/purple bird print.  3 Magic Pouches to add to my completed list, and all of them are going to the counselling center.  Bonus for me, the Tiny Bag and the 3 Magic Pouches all qualify for Patty's Bag It, and I'm headed over there in a minute to upload a picture :D  Turn on the porchlight, Patty - I'm headed your way!  ;)

'tis the season ... part 2 :D

Well - I got laundry sorted and started, unloaded the dishwasher, made a pan of gingerbread cookie squares, made a pan of simple scalloped potatoes to go in the oven soon, texted back and forth with my SIL, and did some tidying.  What I thought could be done in an hour, took me twice that long, lol.  It doesn't often happen that things get done faster than expected - they tend to take longer!  And life goes on, and we're having scalloped potatoes for supper tonight so YUM :)

Here's the other set of bags I recently completed - these ones too, are from fabric from a friend, but these were quicky projects without a lot of extra bling - I just wanted to get them finished and sent to the counselling center.

Two floral zipper pouches :)

Close-up of the embellishment and zipper pull on bag #1 ... buttons from stash on the contrast band, and a bronze flower for the pull :)  It's quilted with soft golden yellow embroidery thread :D

The second bag is quilted with the same embroidery thread, and embellished with a fabric yoyo and button, and a little birdy zipper pull :)

Bags 3 and 4 are small pouches sized to use up the last bits of the floral fabric.

These ones are embellished with a heart and a flower zipper pull :)

Done and done - a bit of fabric and zipper stash used, 4 more bags done for the counselling center, and 4 more bags that qualify for Patty's Bag It for 2017 :)  Oh yes - and did I mention - scalloped potatoes for supper tonight - LOL!!  (No wonder I'm not skinny - I'm literally sitting here thinking about those cheesey oniony potatoes!)

'tis the season ...

... to be sewing!  And I have been doing so, between appointments and outings and visits from our boys and aquafit :)  Speaking of visits, I had to tear up the stairs to answer the doorbell just now - in time for the lovely UPS delivery man to hand me off a package - I didn't open it yet but judging by the weight of the box, it's my vitamins from Costco, haha.  There's another parcel coming from them as well, but I think it was coming from a far off distribution center (Calgary, I believe) so it'll take an extra day or two.  Are these cute or what?!! BTW - does it make your day when the delivery man is friendly and has a smile on his face?  It makes mine for sure :)

And back to our post in progress ... aka our irregularly scheduled post :D  Here are some of the bags I've finished lately - as per usual, I notice no dent in fabric or zipper stash - c'est la vie ;)  These 2 are going to the counselling center :)

Floral zipper bags from some scraps a friend gave me a LONG time ago :D

One of the bags is embellished with buttons - can you see all 7 of them? :)

The 2nd bag is embellished with beads and a button.  Most of the beads are a bit bigger than seed beads and I couldn't get a good close-up of them, but there are 7 beads and a button blinging this bag :D

Acrylic teardrop charm for one zipper pull ...

... and a (faux) (and large!  1 1/2" in diameter!  I even remember where I got it - on clearance at a Joanns near Bradenton, FLA several years ago, while shopping with my SIL :D) Mother of Pearl charm :)

The reverse of the bags, showing the cotton labels I added :)

Handmade #1 ...

... and Handmade #2 :)

Blogger won't let me add any more pictures to this post, so I'll do a 2nd one (in a little bit - I need to get supper and laundry underway first) to satisfy their whims ;)  These 2 bags are being posted to Elm Street Quilts Bag It for 2017 - hi Patty!