Jungle zipper pouch set :D

The sun is still shining out there - it's a wonderful day! I got another set of projects ready for their photography session, and will deliver them (along with the pillowcases) to Miss Amanda tonight for delivery to Blue Hills :D

Here's the whole set hanging on the line :)

Giraffe drawstring gift bag :)

 The smallest of the zipper pouches

Two more pouches

The last 2 pouches

And finally - the drawstring bag with all the pouches inside :D

6 little pillowcases, hanging on the line ...

... the wind blew them around and then they were fine so I waited for it to calm down then took some pix :D

Finally the sun is out so I can get some pix of finished projects - these pillowcases were stitched up this month, and believe it or not, I always ALWAYS press them after they're finished.  That isn't very evident from these photos, though!  After my projects are completed and pressed I fold them up and put them in a Rubbermaid container to keep them dust free until I can get pictures - that doesn't work well on pillowcases, it would seem!  Just imagine them crisply pressed :)

The 6 pack :D

Pretty gingham with little flowers :)

Dinosaurs :)

Construction (left) and leaves (right) :)

I'll hand these off to my friend Amanda tonight @ aquafit for delivery to Blue Hills - that's 6 meters of stash "done and dusted"!  :)

More Les Grenouilles :D

A couple of months ago I posted a collection of frog themed bags I had done up to use up some scraps and bits and pieces - while rooting around in my stash for something, I found more froggies :) I chopped and quilted and interfaced and zippered, and made 4 front zip pouches for Blue Hills :)  I think I had enough left over for a pillowcase, but I'd have to go looking to see if I'm remembering a real thing, or if my mind is making sh** up :D

Here are the bags hanging on my clothesline - each one is just a little different than the rest.  The quilting was done with a different colour for each bag, and the zipper pulls are different as well.  I'll be delivering these tonight to my counselling center contact.  Hope they like them :)

4 front zip pouches - tutorial by Kristin Link, here :)

Apples + pizza + dentists + denim :)

Here's a little pouch I whipped up this morning using some denim I upcycled from kids jeans bought @ the thrift store for $1/pair :)  My dentist gives me a goody bag when I'm a good girl and don't bite him (lol), but I have a better use for these items - this shall be going to my lovely contact @ the counselling center tomorrow when I see her @ aquafit :D

Upcycled denim zipper pouch ... with apple applique :D

Back of pouch - the little label says "Handmade", but I couldn't get a clear close-up >:(

Let's just fill it with extras from my dentist! (I prefer my own brands to his, hehe)

We don't always need to be *totally* healthy, so I added a pizza zipper pull to the bag ... for fun snacking purposes ;)

There's a reason that redheads are called carrot top :D

And I don't mean THIS Carrot Top!  I mean THESE carrot tops :)

(Collage created in this program)  My 3 carrot zipper pouches - tutorial here :)

 Aren't they cute?  I made mine a touch smaller than she did, to use the zippers I had on hand.  I cut the fabrics to 5" x 10", quilted them with regular quilt batting, then trimmed them down to 4.5" x 9".   Vanessa's video is very well done - I would say it's aimed at beginners.  I have to poke through her other stuff to see what else she has gotten up to - I'm really pleased with my carrots, lol.  Thank you Vanessa from Crafty Gemini Creates (website here, and youtube videos here)!

Is anyone else seeing carrot zippies in "heirloom" colours now, or is it just me?  ;)

Photo nabbed from Candace Cooks - she posted a cool recipe for Honey Roasted Heirloom Carrots that sounds pretty delicious - I should try it :D  I see the heirloom carrots @ Costco every time I'm there, but have never tried them!

Here's another project I recently finished - the pattern  (NAYY) is from Winterpeach on Craftsy - there are 3 designs in the one pattern - bunny (the one I did), chick and lamb :)  I expect I'll be doing all of them eventually - they're very cute :D  The original design is quite tiny, so I increased it to 150% - my bag finished to about 11" tall (not counting the ears), and the round base is about 7" wide.

Winterpeach bunny drawstring bag :)

What what - bunny butt!  Because I'm a 12 year old boy :)

Next time around I'm going to do a yoyo for the bunny tail, and stuff it a bit.  Or stitch a pompom onto a yoyo and then stitch it on - I think that would be cute :)

OOoooOO I just realized - both of these projects can be posted to Fiona's New to Me linky party for April - YAY :)

Superheroes and ladybugs :)

I needed to make a couple of bags for gifts - I was thinking duffle type bags, but smaller.  I like making boxy bags and I thought they would upsize nicely, and they did :)  I actually used the main measurements from the large Retreat bag from Emmaline bags (version 2.0) for mine, making the appropriate changes from zipper top bag to boxy bag with straps :D  They're a bit smaller than I would have liked, but other than that they're just right :)  It's a beautiful sunny day today, so I went outside and propped the bags on DS2's car - he's working with his dad right now, so I borrowed his trunk for a prop.  Don't tell!  ;)

I did the superheroes first (fabric from Joanns) - it's a bit awkward manipulating fabric pieces that size (20"w X 14"t, approximately, before quilting and trimming down) - awkward, but not difficult.  And I watched several episodes of Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries while I was stitching :D  They measure about 12" x 6" x 6" --- the pink one is a bit shorter and fatter, and the superheroes one is a bit longer and skinnier :D  Now I need to see what I have in my stash of goodies to tuck inside, and then I need to find a box to wrap them in :)

A rip-roaring su ... errrrrrr ... failure :D

Today I decided to try a new to me pattern from Craftsy ... I can't find a link for it on Craftsy, but here's a cached version.  It's called Glitter It All Pouch by zuckerkuss.   It's a zippered vinyl pouch with fabric bands at the top for the zipper install.  It's made with a double layer of vinyl and you pop glitter between the 2 layers, then stitch it up.  Cute, eh?  I WISH!  I've made a few zipper bags in my day (lol), and this one BEAT me - it really did.  After 3 muck-ups I said screw it, and pitched it in the round filing cabinet - aka the garbage can :D

It was hard to get pictures because of the vinyl and my lights, plus the problems are hard to see.  I used a teflon foot so I shouldn't have had so many problems - I'm not sure what happened.  I basted the 2 pieces of vinyl together with only a few stitches going awry.  Then I stitched the fabric bands together (no vinyl involved) and that worked out well too.  However, from there on in it was a sinking ship :(  I used double sided tape to "baste" the fabric band to one end of the vinyl, but when I started to stitch, the fabric shifted and the vinyl and fabric went off kilter.  I didn't notice that, though - I noticed that the stitches were AWFUL.  I think there were only about 10 stitches across the 8" width ... and my machine is set at 14 stitches per inch!  I tried at least 3 seams across each piece of vinyl+fabric - no go.  I tried from the right (fabric) side - and I tried from the wrong (vinyl) side - no success.  Then I noticed that one of the bands had shifted.  At that point I screeched (yes, I actually did, lol) >:)  

In this picture, you may be able to see the multiple seams where the fabric meets the vinyl - none of them are a good seam.  Also - the right edge of the fabric should be aligned with the line on my cutting table - at the bottom it's about 1/8" past the cutting line, and at the top - it's about 3/8" - it shifted by about 1/4" from bottom to top!  

The 3rd and final problem is that somehow a bunch of the glitter landed in the seam area, and I stitched right over it - enclosing the dumb glitter in the seam.  That wouldn't have been the end of the world, but it was a lot of glitter so there wasn't much left in the bag itself, lol.  #nailinthecoffin !

I've sewn vinyl before and haven't had this many problems.  I think I'll just put my vinyl away for a while and try something else - between this bag and the horrid HORRID search capabilities @ Craftsy (has anyone else noticed that?) I don't even want to think about vinyl or glitter right now :D

I'm going to post this to Fiona's New to Me linky party for March - hopefully my next new to me project goes better than this one did :D  At least I didn't waste a zipper - silver lining?  :)

A couple of finish photos ... and a salad :D

Got veg?  If you have some broccoli and a few other items in your fridge and pantry, you might want to try this recipe - I made it recently and WOW it's good!  I made a few changes from the original recipe to use up what I had on hand - dried cranberries instead of raisins, 2 whole peppers instead of 2 halves, and walnuts instead of almonds.  I chose poppy seed dressing instead of coleslaw, but I think the latter would be delicious as well!  I think I'll try a pear next time instead of - or perhaps in addition to - the apple :D   Hubby and I liked it - the kids liked it - the leftovers (there weren't many) were fine the next day - this is a 5* recipe :)

And now back to our regularly scheduled programming sewing!  ;)  I've been getting in some good sewing time over the last few weeks, and have some finishes to show you.   These items were made to use up bags of scraps I had in stash for ages (years!), given to me by a friend :D

Drawstring gift bags :)

Close-up of the beads I added to the drawstrings - some of them are glitter beads :D

9 bags from a collection of Dr. Seuss themed scraps :)

Drawstring bag made with the last of the Dr. Seuss scraps - I sized it to hold the other 8 bags :)

3 more Dr. Seuss bags ...

2 more Dr. Seuss bags ...

... and last but not least, the last 3 of the Dr. Seuss bags :)

All of these bags are going to Blue Hills next week - I'm pretty sure someone (someoneS!) will enjoy them :)

I have another collection of bags made using some construction fabric - it's getting overcast outside so I'll try to get pictures tomorrow :D  EDITED @ 4:15 p.m. to add ... it's a good thing I got the photos earlier because it's snowing out there now!  Just a bit, but YIKES!

Gigi :D

You'll recall that yesterday I posted this picture as a clue to a project I was working on.  I did manage to use all the bits and pieces in the project, although, not all of the ric rac was needed :D

I posted the finished bag earlier today, and now I have a couple of close-up pictures to show off the details.  It's really just a simple drawstring bag - nothing fancy about that - but I'm very happy with the little bits and pieces I incorporated to match the bag to the contents :D  In the second picture I hope you can see, from the angle, that the ric rac tail is 3D and hangs loose from his butt - as a real tail would ;)  I'm all about the accuracy!  *wry grin*  :)  The 3rd picture shows the blue monkey scrap that I used up by sticking it on the back ... and the last picture is the bag with all 9 bibs tucked in :)

And now hubby and I are headed out for dinner - enjoy your evening (stay warm, if you're in a snow squall area!) - I'm planning on stuffing myself on souvlaki!  :)

The "big" reveal :D

Yesterday I posted a bit of a teaser - a couple of pictures of a notiony collection that was to become a "thing" instead of just "a weird collage".  I did get it done last night, and this afternoon I braved the cold (current temp with windchill = -20C :D) to grab some pictures in my back yard :)

A long time ago - more than a year, I'm sure, a sewy friend gave me some fabric left over from a project she did.  There were several (approx.) 1/2m pieces along with some scraps.  I used up pretty much every inch of the fabrics, and ended up with a lovely set to donate to the counselling center :)

And here we have ... The Jungle Collection ... featuring Gigi the Giraffe ;)

9 bibs in varying sizes, plus a drawstring bag to hold them all :)

A closer picture of the drawstring bag, and the monkey and giraffe bibs :D

The polka dot bibs :)

The giraffe bibs, providing the theme for the drawstring bag ;)

Here's a view from the back - I was staring right into the sun so I couldn't really tell what I was featuring in the camera, lol.  I didn't get the entire set in the first photo ...

So here's the last couple of items - the blue square on the back of the drawstring bag is one of the last scraps from the pieces I was given :D

The free pattern for my giraffe applique is here :)  I want to get a close-up picture of the front of the drawstring bag - I didn't really capture it while I was outside, and the pictures I took a minute ago in the kitchen were rather ... crap.  Hubby and I are going to the Fabricland "grand opening" - his idea! (haha as if) - so I'll do that when I get back - I'm sure it'll still be sunny ... hopefully it won't be squally! ;)

A before picture ...

(or two, lol) ... here's a wee collection of *stuffs* that I picked out for a project I want do do.  It's just a simple thing, to go with some other simple things I worked on during this last week while I was down with a cold.  When the meds would kick in I'd come down to the dungeon and get some stitching in, with my trusty box of Kleenex roll of toilet paper @ my side :)

Hmmmm this is an interesting assortment of things that appear to have a couple of things in common!

Apparently we're supposed to smile!  So I am :) 

I shall be back tomorrow with pictures of the finishes, if I don't perish in a snow squall!  The current weather report for my town is:

Snow Squall Watch

Issued at 19:01 Friday 10 March 2017

Snow squalls are expected to develop. Under the snow squall bands, visibilities will be significantly reduced due to the heavy snow, and snow will quickly accumulate.

Snow squalls may develop to the southeast of Georgian Bay tonight. 

Current temp is -11C feeling like -19C with the windchill - that's a mite nippy!  However, it's still winter, despite the fact that all of our snow was gone - spring won't be here for another week or two - we shall Keep Calm and Carry a Big Snow Shovel :)  Hubby and I are going out for supper tomorrow night with friends - the weather better co-operate or I'll have to have words with Mother Nature :D