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

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! 

Floral and teacups fabric = no more :D

I've used up the last of the pretty floral and teacups fabrics that my friends Mickie and Carol gifted to me when I visited them in August :)  These 3 bags qualify for Bag It 2017 - hi Patty! :)




I ended up making 10 bags with this collection of prints, and all of them are going to the counselling center.  Mickie, Carol - thank you, and I hope you like how your gift ended up :D 

More stash sewing - I used up these 2m cuts of fabric for a set of pillowcases for the counselling center :)  I have more fabric picked out for stash busting pillowcase creating purposes ... as well, and also along the lines of stash sewing, I'm working on a Christmas gift project that should use up a few meters of stash.   It involves zippers.  SURPRISE!  :D  Details to follow at a time and place TBD ;)  So far, flamingos and dinosaurs and doggos* and sharks are involved ... and I think some mice will be joining in for fun :D

*BTW - speaking of doggos, have you seen the We Rate Dogs site on Twitter?  I don't Twitter but I get occasional updates about funny posts, so I hop over to check things out.  This compilation arrived this morning and made me laugh ... the Iraqi Speed Kangaroo is particularly funny :D  If you have a few spare minutes and could use a laugh, check it out (NAYY) :)

7 of 20 denims - I had some fun :D

Another pair of kids jeans has now been turned into zipper bags ... all of these will be going to Blue Hills :)  They also count as a 6 pack for Patty's Bag It 2017 :)  I used labels, tags, waistband elastic and pockets from this pair, along with bits and pieces that didn't get used up with previous pairs - I keep everything in a shoe box so I don't misplace or mix anything up :D

Zippy embellished with ribbon, a 3D button, a crab charm (LOL) and several jeans tags :D 

 I embellished this one with blue ribbon, a pocket (you can see on the front and back where the pocket had been paintstakingly removed for reuse :D), a mermaid charm and a size tag.  This zipper pouch is a size 14 - HA!

I've been working with fabrics that had been gifted to me by my friends Mickie and Carol during a visit to Pennsylvania this summer.  The teacup applique was a scrap in a collection of floral/teacup prints.  I embellished it with an Old Navy jeans tag, a pocket, and a bird zipper pull :D

More fabric from Mickie & Carol!  I embellished this pouch with a sweet purple floral strip, some buttons, an acrylic bead zipper pull and a little cotton tag :)

The roses and teacup charm appliqued on this pouch was from Mickie and Carol :)  I also added a mouse zipper pull and several tags - the Smile one is a direct order for the recipient to smile about the tag above it :D

Bicycle pouch!  I quilted this one with variegated fabric, added a Smile tag and a bicycle zipper pull :)

I still have 13 pairs of jeans to work through - they're currently stuffed in a plastic shopping bin that's under the table I'm typing at - I'm kicking it with my slippered foot right now because it's in my way :D 

Current count of completions from the jeans:  8 + 5 + 6 + 7 + 7 + 6 + 6 = 45 :)
Updated Bag It 2017 count = 33! 

I'm pleased with this one as well :D

(hehe topic is a reference to this post :D)

Today I used some more teacup fabric from Mickie and Carol, and made this simple pencil case :)

Teacup pencil case, measures 11" wide X 5" tall.  The back is 2 more framed teacups (but with different frame colours).

What's a good side to go with a cup of tea?  A slice of cake, of course!

I used a long zipper for the bag, so some of the extras became the grab tab :)

I do love sewing ... and now whomever is gifted the bag (it's going to the counselling center), will KNOW that I Love Sewing :)

Pretty polka dot lining - this isn't the same polka dot print from this bag - this one is a bit more turquoisey - it still works nicely :)

This pretty finish will be going to the counselling center when I get a few more items made - and ... it's being posted to Bag It 2017 (hi Patty!) as my entry #23 :)  Oh - if you want some awesome inspiration - check out the linky party for the challenge - I've already found several new blogs to follow, and some patterns to check out :D