May finishes #2 :D

More pics of May finishes ...

Flex frame bags made with remnants and scraps 

Batik pouch with black/white gingham lining - the batik was the last bit of this particular fabric from stash :)

Front zip pouches made with fabric samples from an Amish quilting store in Pennsylvania :D

More front zip pouches made from samples :)

WOW this photo was taken at the same time as the previous 2 - I have no idea why it's so washed out!  Princess front zip pouches that are the same pretty pink as the bags in the previous photo :)

And because you asked (no, you didn't!), here's another example of the lovely washed out syndrome!  I was gifted these fabric scraps a long time ago and finally got around to using them up.  There was only enough of each print for one side of the bag - so the back is a different print than the front.  It works though - these are really pretty (IIDSSM) :)  Again, pics were taken at the same time so why one is faded and the other is not - I have *no* idea!  >:/

Front zip bags made with scraps (aren't those prints gorgeous?!) ...

... and the back of the bags, in different scraps :)

And now that I've got pics, these bags are all going in the pile for Belinda's Place, wooooooooooooooooo!  (Commenting is disabled for the time being, while I work some things out in life :D)

Photo catch up -- May finishes #1 :D

Despite the fact that my dungeon is still freezing - around 60F - I managed to get a lot of sewing done in May - while wearing a very warm hoody and generally - long pants as well! My poor achy fingers though, lol >:D Many boxy bags were completed for Belinda's Place ...

... and some flickies were made for the kidlets at Blue Hills.

Lots more bags to share - I mainly did SMS front zip pouches and boxy bags last month, and got quite a few done!  I hope the ladies @ the shelter enjoy them - hubby and I will be doing a big drop-off sometime next week :D

I'm turning off commenting for a while - Google/Blogger is having problems with them, and I have things on the go right now - some good (spending more time offline with friends, and getting outside more), some bad (friends with health scares), and some in the middle (catching up on things around the house).  I got myself a pedometer and I'm actually enjoying "feeding" it and racking up the mileage!  I had no idea that would happen to me almost as soon as I started using it - I'm putting over 10k steps on it per day, which is pretty. darn. good.  :)

More pix to follow - but now, I'm going to go outside to chit chat with my neighbours, whose adorable kiddos are outside playing basketball.  When more than one neighbour is outside at the same time, there WILL be chatting!  :)

Bras, anyone? :)

I finished this bag this morning for Belinda's Place.  I don't usually get pictures so quickly, but in this case I wanted to send them to a buddy, so I got 'r done :D  IIDSSM, this is a really pretty bag - I'm quite pleased with this finish :)

Finished boxy :)

Not surprisingly, I had a charm for zipper pull that worked quite well with the theme of the bag ;)

Lining fabric - from Ikea!  

The strap :D  I didn't even fussy cut that - it was a total fluke!

Handmade tag :)  You might be able to see the pale pink embroidery thread I used to stitch this tag down - the bag is straight line quilted with this thread - it's  shiny and satiny - very pretty :)

I have a couple of bits left of this bra fabric - I've just pulled some fabric from stash to use for the accent for a drawstring gift bag featuring these bras, and I think I have one more piece in the "to be kitted" pile to make something.  Who doesn't need a pretty bra - or a bunch of bras - in their life? LOL!

Some of my favourite recent finishes :D

A while back, I spotted a fun paper pieced fish pattern @ Craftsy and had to have it.  It's free!  I made the fishy block, then dug through my black and white scrap bin to make this very simple tote.  I added an eye bead instead of paper piecing the tiny little iris that's in the pattern - easier and less fiddly, plus - who doesn't like using eye beads, amiright? ;)

These pencil cases were made using the last of a collection of scraps I had been given years ago.  The two on the left were pieced onto used colour catcher sheets, an item that's rarer than hen's teeth here in Canada.  Where it IS available, it's priced similarly to the price of gold ... GRRRR!  However, it's widely and inexpensively available south of the border, and luckily I get to go south of the border regularly, thanks to my long-suffering husband, LOL.  I buy them for my friend Nancy as well, and she kindly gives me her used ones to upcycle :D  It's a thing we do, Miss Nancy and I!  :D

A couple of those bags have beads on them, for fun and bling ;) 

More bead bling ;)

While I had my b&w scrap bin out for the fishy tote, I whipped up a few more b&w bags for the donation box.  Another simple tote ...

... a Bella clutch, and 2 earbud pouches :D  I think I made a few more bags but they got gifted before I could get pictures :D

This last bag is actually my favourite of all of these bags - it's not fancy, it's not big, it's not made with lovely quilt store fabric.  I just used scraps from my blue scrap bin, and made a regular zippy.   I stitched the scraps onto a base I had patchworked from batting scraps, then I cross-hatch quilted the outer pieces with blue variegated thread.  I added some buttons from my button collection, and called it a day.  I think scraps are the jewels of the fabric world, and this type of pouch, made with what are basically, throwaway supplies, gives me The Happy Feels :D  Plus - it's cute!  ;)

More April finish pix :D

More photos ... all of these items are going to Belinda's Place as well, except for the last boxy bag (which is likely going to be a gift) :)

8 flex frame pouches

The ones in the front were made with flamingo scraps :D

A princess boxy bag with princess zipper pull :)

I got a bit bored with flexies and boxy bags after making so many, so I started making what I call SMS front zip pouches - these were bags I learned to make years ago from a tutorial from Kristen Link from Sew Mama Sew.  The free (free membership to Craftsy is needed) video tutorial is here, and there's a tutorial here for doing the bags in different sizes.  Here are 2 stacks of finished bags on the table in the sewing dungeon - will try to get pictures this weekend - I was making bags in whatever sizes I could to use up bits and pieces and tail ends of fabrics - I plowed through a lot of zippers!  :)

Stack on the left is SMS bags, stack on the right is regular zippies :D

April finishes :)

Right on the heels of the March finishes post which went live a few minutes ago (almost a month late, due to my error :D), here are some of my finishes from April.  It was a dreary, cold month with crappy weather (including an ice storm that packed quite a wallop!) but things are, happily, getting sunnier and warmer :)  I found out a few days ago that the temperature in my sewing dungeon was 60-61F for who knows how long?!   I knew it was uncomfortable but until I saw the results on a thermometer, I had no idea it was THAT cold - no wonder my poor fingers and hands were aching so much.  Hopefully now that it's warming up outside, the dungeon will warm up as well.   

4 boxy bags for Belinda's Place

Bird zipper pull :D

Mushroom zipper pull :D

Pizza zipper pull (the fabric features Italian pasta pictures, haha)

Seahorse zipper pull :)

Cat tall pouch (also for Belinda's Place) with a double zipper pull ...

... zipper pull features a cat on one side ...

... and on the reverse - a mouse :D  And yes - I *do* think I'm funny - in my own mind, anyways!  ;)

More photos coming ... ;)

Some March finishes :)

I got a good number of bags completed in March - these are just some of them.  I delivered 28 boxy bags to Belinda's Place, and the 9 below, which we'll deliver this week, mean that there are enough bags for the residents of each room.   I'll continue to make bags because homeless shelters never empty.  Fortunately I have stash.  Lots of stash.  And lots of zippers!  ;)

Boxy bags :)

Flex frame bags :)

I'm particularly fond of these flexies!  The last time we bought eyeglass cleaner @ Costco, it came with multiple eyeglass cleaner cloths.  We couldn't use all of them, so I saved 3 and tucked one in each of these bags.  I think these will be very handy, and they're certainly cute :)

Working on my black and white scraps - 6 flexies :)

Orange scraps flexy :)

I was working on using my stash of black and and white scraps and the last of my flex frames - by the time I finished the 6 pack above, I was really tired of that colour combo, so I broke out a different bag 'o scraps :D   Orange for the win!  ;)  I'm now out of these small flex frames so I've ordered more from Ebay, and have started prepping fabrics for more pouches:D  They're so easy to make - the frames are simple to install, and the end result is an awesome - and useful! - bag :)

In case anyone gets a hankering to make some similar flex frame bags, here's the math I used for these ones:

• sunglasses case uses a 10cm frame, and I cut my quilted and/or interfaced fabric to 5"w x 7.5"t (X 2 outer and 2 lining).  Casings - 4 1/4"w x 2.5"t (X 4 pieces)
• the larger pouches use a 12cm frame, with quilted/interfaced outer and lining fabric cut to 6"w x 7.5"t.  Casings - 5 1/4"w x 2.5"t (X 4 pieces)
• I use the width of my presser foot for a seam allowance - it's a bit wider than 1/4" - it doesn't really matter what the exact number is, as long as it's 1/4" "ish" :)

Of course ymmv and you can use whatever size cuts that work for you :D  My list is just the sizes I used for the finishes I wanted, or to use up the scraps of fabric and batting I had on hand :)

Apr. 27/18 -- OOPS!  I scheduled this post to go live on April 3, and didn't check to see if it had done so.  It didn't - I forgot to hit publish so it was still in draft mode, LOL. 

Easter chick treat bags :)

I had several crafty Easter projects planned - of course, Easter snuck up before I could complete my mission, so I only got these little cuties finished :D  We just got home from grocery shopping and I need to put the groceries away before they defrost - I wanted to get this "placeholder" post done so I could finally post a New to Me to Fiona's linky party!  Back in a few, LOL!

Ok - it's a few later!  The tutorial for these bags is here - thank you, Crystal, for such a cute project - I'm going to make more for next year, but I was thinking about doing them in Easter/spring colours - pink, orange, yellow, soft green, soft blue, light purple - I think that would make an awesome collection :D   Pretty much the only change I made to the tutorial/pattern was to upsize the pattern pieces by 50% - I have a hard time working with really tiny bits, so increasing the size made the bags easier for me to make, plus it made them big enough for the jelly beans (in Easter egg and carrot shapes, hehe) and chocolate eggs that I picked up :D  I gave these to a friend to add to her grands' Easter bags :)

Posted this project to Fiona @ Celthic Thistle Stitches, New to Me linky party for March ... here :)

Ups and downs ... and life goes on :)

I'm not going to get into details but there have been some "ups and downs" in suddenlysandraLand, so while there has definitely been sewing going on, the computer was kind of taking back seat to other things :D 

The biggest thing that has happened is that the counselling center I've been sewing donation items for, has "changed direction" and no longer needs my goodies.  I contacted a women's shelter in a nearby town, who said they were happy to take what I could make.   I'll have to find another place that wants kid/baby stuff, but at least for now, I can concentrate on things for the ladies :D  There are 37 rooms in the shelter, so I planned on 37 boxy bags to start, so everybody gets one :)   I still need to sit down with them to find out their long term needs, but for now my goal is 37 :)  I've delivered 12,  have 16 more finished, and have 9 more kitted to stitch.  I have lots of supplies - fabric, zippers, batting, notions - I'm on it!  :)

Here are some finish photos - a blog post w/out pix is like a Buffalo run without visiting 4 Joanns stores!  ;)   This first set of photos is projects that I need to save until I find a place that needs kid stuff - most of these were made prior to the Blue Hills change.  I'll post the newest items on another post - Blogger has photo limits :D
 

6 pirate boxy bags :)

2 pirate Tiny Bags and a superhero boxy

For fun - a couple of monster zippies :D

More finishes, before I ship them off to their intended recipients :D

Lots of photos today!  I'm just waiting for hubby to get home from work so we can hit the grocery store and Costco - until I hear the garage door opening, though, I can play on the computer, hehehe.  The grocery list is made and the sale flyers are in order, so I'm ready to run :D

Here are a bunch of projects I've completed in the last few weeks - using up bits of this and pieces of that - everything (except the pillowcases) is being donated.  This represents a nice chunk of stash busted - wooooo!  :)

Loon pillowcases - I made these for some friends who have a trailer at Loon's Landing in the French River area ;)

Baseball zipper bags - during my last trip to Pennsylvania (hi Mickie! hi Carol!) I picked up some "sample" books from a lovely Amish quilt store - each one contained fabric samples in a particular theme - I'm currently working on the - as you can tell - baseball theme :D

This baseball zipper pouch doubles as a Dental Goodies bag - I've tucked in the goodies that my lovely dental hygienist (hi Rubina!) gives me :)  

Library tote bag  - my original post about these library bags is here - thanks, Pam, for the inspiration :)

Another library tote ...

Another library tote ...

Another library tote - this one is quilted, using fabric I was given by Mickie+Carol during my last PA visit :D  

I was able to make this pouch to finish off all the squirrel fabric :)

Close-up of the squirrel fabric - isn't it adorable?!

4 flickies :)

2 fall boxy bags :)

Fall Bella Clutch :)

Two more boxy bags - floral, and chickens --- the chickens fabric is from my friend Nancy - hi Nanc!

Stay warm, people - the groundhog knew what he was talking about when he forecast 6 more weeks of winter - we're not finished with this crap just yet!  (Don't believe a word that Shubenacadie Sam says - he doesn't know what he's talking about :D) :)