It's a crocheted flower world!

Panty bag :)

 Here's panty bag 1 of 2 that I'm making for an order - the sweet lilac crocheted flower was a surprise gifty from lovely noblog Anna in Germany - see, Anna, I told you I was using it right away, lol!  It didn't even spend a night in my house before it found it's new home on a pair of panties :D

Crochet and FSL flowers :)

Here are the rest of the flowers she sent (you can see that one purple one is missing in the photo on the left, lol) - I believe the two red ones on the right are "FSL" (free standing lace) made by an embroidery machine - now just how cool is THAT!  Thank you again, Anna!  (I wonder if my machine does that - I have no idea!)

And here are some crocheted flowers gifted to me by my partner-in-crime Nancy - some are missing because I've already used them, LOL.  Thanks Nanc - see you tomorrow night - are we going out for dinner first, or ... ? 

Cape or no cape - she's still awesome! ;)

As my friend Nancy posted on Tuesday, we recently met up with a lovely blogger friend who was up from the States to get her son situated here in Ontario for his upcoming college year :)  Susan it was fabulous meeting you - I hope we can do it again soon!  Susan brought us some lovely gifties - check out my stylin' gift bag, kitty fabric (how appropos!) and black and white prints for my black/white/lime quilt :)

We visited Quilt a Bag in Markham, and I picked up a few goodies - 2 sets of fat quarters in luscious greens, a fat quarter of an adorable Japanese print, and a purse closure in a style I haven't used before - Nancy and I will have to learn together how to use them (Ann from QAB assures us it's easy, lol) :) 

Here are the stash-busting bibs I made this morning - I used up the last bits of both of those fabrics - these will go to Blue Hills :)  

Next project on deck is a custom order for pair of panty bags - I have them cut out, but need to dash to the fabric store for the right colour zipper - despite my large *ahem* stash, I don't have one that I want to use :)  I'm sure you can imagine what a hardship it will be for me to visit a fabric store ;) 

More little finishes :)

Here are a couple of recent finishes ... mainly using up the last bits and pieces of fabrics, and using up some of my sweet crocheted flowers!

 IIRC, the yellow/black fabric and the black/cream fabrics were from a garage sale @ Country Concessions :)  These will go to Blue Hills :)

 "Dumpling" sized [6" tall x 7" wide x 2" deep - ish] rainbow gift bags for my sister :)

Christmas gift bag and composition book cover - Wendy, do you recognize 2 somethings in this photo? ;)

 Here are 3 flamingo bibs for Blue Hills - I was using up the last bits and pieces of the flamingo flannel you see on the little bib on the right.  The backing (not shown) of the bibs is the same fabric, patchworked with the pink flannel as I didn't have big enough pieces :D

 I love this fabric from Joanns - here's a little zipper bag (which will probably be a gift), embellished with some pretty flower buttons :)  The lining is red TOT - really luscious!

Here's a close-up of the buttons - I think they probably came from Joanns - they really finish the bag nicely!



(Edited to add, on Aug. 30 - WOW - I just noticed that this post is still in draft format - from August 19?  I wonder why I never posted it, lol!)

The pics I couldn't post earlier :D

If this is posting, it's because I sheduled it for a time when Blogger's brain fart would hopefully be over and I would be in bed sawing logs :D  Here are a few more projects I finished this past week :)

Two Christmas bibs

Two plaid bibs

Green zipper bags

Another golf bag set

Summer zipper bag set :)

Sometimes you should put the sewing machine away, LOL

When this happens, and you've already stitched and zigzagged the seam, you should go directly to bed :D  Do not pass GO, do not collect $200!

Or - you could laugh at such a silly (and correctable) mistake, fix it, then donate the pillowcases to Blue Hills :D

OK, Blogger is being piggish and won't let me upload any more photos so I'll try again later.  You get what you pay for, I guess :D

*Insert whimsical topic here* :)

I needed a few large gift bags for some projects I've been working on, and fortunately had Christmas fabric in just the right amounts :)

3 pillowcases for Blue Hills, using up some fabric that Nancy gave me!

I'm laying on the couch with my laptop - the cat just jumped on the couch at my feet.  He likes to sleep there but he won't settle down until he gets loving - he's headbutting my leg and won't stop until I rub him with my foot, lol.  King of the house is spoiled! ;)

August FNSI report :D

8.5"x9.5"x3.5" wet bag

While Nancy and I had FNSI fun last night, I didn't get as much done as I could have. At the last minute I decided to make only ONE wet bag (even though I had 2 kitted) as I wanted to try washing one before making a second one.  A bag meant to carry the occasional dirty diaper needs to be machine washable, lol, so I'll check the project washability before proceeding with more of them :D  The bag certainly looks adorable though!

Secondly, I forgot to take my zipper bag templates so I was only able to get the travel themed bag set started.  I got most of the boxy bag done, and got the zipper bags interfaced - I couldn't go any further without the rest of the supplies.  I probably could have gotten the entire set done last night if I had been more organized!

Nancy was so organized that she even had bobbins wound in the colour I asked for, lol.  She got a gorgeous bag 95% completed - she was the photographer last night so I'm waiting for her to upload the photos to her blog :D (Edited to add - YAY!  Here they are :D)

Another fun FNSI under our belts - I'm going to go see what everybody else got up to!

FNSI prep :)

Tonight I head over to Nancy's house for our monthly FNSI sew-in :D Drinks will be drunk (mostly non-alcoholic, but you never know :D), junk food will be consumed, carrying on will take place, and some sewing projects may even get worked on and/or finished ;) Most definitely - fun will be had!

In preparation for tonight's festivities I pulled out a few projects to work on.  The brown/green project top right is a wet bag that I want to try out ... below it is a set of bags I'd like to make for a Christmas gift, and on the left is my zipper bag from Wendy, holding the little bits and bobs I may need tonight - the zipper bag is a safe place to keep track of them :)

I'm looking forward to seeing what the other FNSI'ers come up with!  The flickr group is a fun to check out after the sew-in - hopefully everybody will post their photos :)

Beatrix Potter :)

Phone and internet were out for part of the day today - I was reduced to using my cellphone for phone calls *shudders*. I'm not one of those people who walks around carrying a cellphone like it was glued to my hand, unable to put it away for even 2 minutes ... unlike most of the people who ride the local bus and who shop in the local stores!

A few recent finishes ...

 The flannel (a Beatrix Potter print!) is actually a pale pink but at this time of the night I was unable to get a good photo.  Lovely bibs for someone with a little girl:)

 Here are some composition book/notebook covers made to use up the last bits of this Christmas fabric :)

 This photo doesn't really show the lovely deep pink of the pillowcase cuffs - the camera seems to have a mind of it's own at this time of night, lol.  These are for Blue Hills :)

The fabric for both bags is the same colour, so I'm not sure why the top bag appears darker.  The ladies are quite the golfers! ;)

Angela's ants :D

I've had this blog post prepped for a couple of weeks now, but didn't want to send it live until the recipient received the bag. I just got an email from her and she was definitely surprised (happily surprised, I think!) so I can send this through now :) My friend Angela in Germany recently had a problem in her apartment with ants - of course, as a friend, I couldn't let that pass without a "read between the lines" response - could I? ;)

Stitching the ants onto reclaimed denim :)

Finished stitchout - so cute!

The anty lining and the cherry outer fabrics :)

The completed lining :)

A peek at the finished lining :)

Completed bag :)

Bacon, spinach & tomato orzo salad - delicious!

Make this - it's delicious!  Trust me!!  I use Kraft calorie wise sundried tomato dressing instead of their dressing, and heavens it's amazing :D

Here are some zipper bags (I know, I know - I've never made any before - this is something totally new for me! *snicker* :D) I made from some cute dec weight fabric - they're all with batik and will go to Blue Hills :)

Here are a few more for B.H. - the denim one (top right) has an embroidery on it that says Electric - I thought that was suitable as the denim was reclaimed from electrician's jeans :D

I was making bibs with some stash flannel, and I accidentally appliqued letters on them - OOPS!  I just don't know what I can do with these now! ;)  I think I'll send them to a random person-to-whom-I'm-related and let her worry about them :D

And last but not least - gorgeous crochet flowers and hearts that were a surprise from SUPERMOM - aka Susan in GA :D  Susan is an internet buddy that Nancy and I are hoping to meet sometime in the next few months, YAY!  Thank you Susan - I can't wait to bling with them - I think I know what I'll be using them on ;) 

Sunbonnets, panties and skulls :)

Here are the Sunbonnet Sue zipper bags I made for Mickie in Pennsylvania as part of a swap - notice the beautiful crocheted flowers I used on them (from Trish in Ohio!) :)

Here's the panty bag I made as a surprise for Susan (in Georgia) - she sent me a surprise back - I'll get a photo tomorrow - they're very pretty ... and useful! ;)

 And last, but not least, the zipper bag I made for a young lady in California - she's here from Sweden to go to school!  Her mom Tina is probably missing her "baby" - I think some of our other internet buddies will be sending Miss Amina some surprise mail too, to make her feel at home :)

Want to know what a dope I am?  I found a website a few weeks ago for a tractor pull in a nearby town - Bolton.  Hubby and I were planning on going tomorrow.  I went to their website to get directions, which showed that it would take 9 hours for us to get there.  That didn't make sense, as the town is only an hour away.  Until I realized that the website is for a tractor pull in Bolton, MA - not Bolton, Ontario :D  Good thing we didn't head over - hubby would never have let me live that down, LOL!!

Plowing through stash :D

Here are a couple of pillowcases for Blue Hills that I finished today :) [finished up the last of all 4 of those fabrics!]

Some patchwork bibs for a young lad named Keaton - isn't that a great name?  It reminds me of one of our Canadian national treasures - the delightful Michael J. Fox - as Alex P. Keaton :D [almost finished the scraps of those prints :)]

Loralie golf ladies boxy bag - isn't this fabric a hoot?!   There's a matching zipper bag somewhere in my craft room, so the two will go as a set :) [2 more sets kitted with the last of this fabric]

Now THAT's what I'm talking about!

My friend Nancy has learned how to make these, and gifted me with some pretties today!  To me a hand crocheted flower on a handmade zipper bag is like caramel topping on ice-cream - better just gets better :)

 Yesterday's finishes - a largeish zipper bag and a pair of pretty pillowcases for Blue Hills :) 

Today's goodies - a veggie gift bag (this one makes me laugh), a boxed bottom doggy zipper bag and a wolf batik zipper bag :)  The wolf batik was sewn onto a piece of caramel coloured linen, and I used another batik for the lining - this one is SWEET!

 Here are the blue scraps I pulled out of my scrap bin for a patchwork project I want to try ...

... and here's the fabric I pulled to pair with mint green PUL to make a wet bag - Sherry I hope you like the fabric!  This is my trial run of the tutorial as I've never worked with PUL before - I can always do it in a different fabric of your choice - I have lots of PUL :)   I suspect I'll be making more than a few of these if the pattern bag design suits the intended recipients :)

Duck Duck GOOSE! [safe for work - and kids :D] :)

Later in the day - the video is showing up for me intermittently - must be an internet hiccup! If it isn't showing up, click here :)

I Love Grandma :D

Two of these are for my favourite grandma-to-be, and the other two are for a different grandma-to-be - I spotted the fabric @ Joanns on Friday and couldn't resist!  Sorry about the photo colours - when I try to brighten with Irfanview it changes the whole colour scheme!  *scratches head* :)

 Here's a close-up of the cute Grandma fabric :)

One more completion - a boxy and zipper bag set :)