Gingercake's On the Go Organizer (Giveaway)

I hope your Thanksgiving was as great as mine. Last week was full of carefree family time and high-calorie meals. But when I woke up back at home Monday morning, I realized it was December 2nd, and I was completely unprepared for it. Damn you, late Thanksgiving! I'm not usually a person who lives my days in checklist form, but now it's time to get serious. 

At least now I have one gift checked off, thanks to Virginia of Gingercake (and a second cut out!) This is her On the Go Organizer, which might now become my go-to quick gift this year. It was so fun to pick out coordinating fabrics from my scrap pile and come up with a really polished finished product, thanks to a thorough and enjoyable pattern. I found this old piece from AMH's Innocent Crush line which is probably one of my favorite prints ever. I had just enough for the outside of my organizer.

The inside pocket is RK's Essex linen in black, same as the contrast on the outside. The lining and pockets are more little scraps. I love the way the pattern has you zig-zag stitch the pockets on. So much less bulky!

This will be a teacher gift that I'll probably fill with a couple of goodies like this. There are so many different uses for an organizer like this, and I think I'll eventually need my own since I might be the most unorganized person I know. 

It's nice and sturdy with layers of interfacing and batting in the middle, and I had to use my walking foot when it came time to put it all together. But even then, I broke my needle into three pieces while topstitching and I'm pretty unhappy with my stitch consistency. This is not because the pattern uses too many layers though... I think I'm finally realizing that it's time to upgrade my machine. I think saving up money for a Juki needs to be my big goal in the new year. It's exciting to think about purchasing my own machine, because I didn't get to pick out the two I've owned so far. They've been great to me, but I do A LOT of sewing and quilting. I need a real workhorse!

Anyway, another thing I really love about this pattern is the cute button closure. I didn't have any elastic cording, so I just used this aqua fold over elastic, which worked great. I think a long piece of leather cording wrapped around the button a few times would also be really cute.

Want to win your own copy of Gingercake's Organizer PDF pattern? Just leave a comment and your email. I'll pick a winner Friday, December 6. Also be sure to check out Gail's beautiful organizers, and look around the Gingercake pattern shop for more wonderful gift ideas.

A Lush Pillow Gift

A few weeks ago I made this quilted pillow cover for my good friend Julie's birthday. She's actually my boss at Sewn and she's pretty awesome and she's the sort of person who probably hates that I'm even mentioning such things, but I'm doing it anyway. I always like to make her something for her birthday because she doesn't get to sew for herself very much. She is usually too busy teaching the whole city of Cincinnati to sew. Last year I made her this pouch to celebrate our shared love of Arrested Development, and the year before I made her a pretty sewing machine cover. 

The piecing here is simple, just a great print with a couple borders. The deer and the woodgrain are from the line Lush Uptown by Erin Michaels, which I ordered from Pink Castle Fabrics. (I always feel like I need to use fabrics that Julie couldn't just pull off the shelves at Sewn herself to make something with. Foreign ingredients I guess.) The first border is just a Bella solid that I thought made the prints pop, but I don't remember the name of it.

The quilting is my current favorite as you've seen here and here- spiral quilting! Especially easy and satisfying on something only 20" square. I kind of just randomly chose the middle of the tree to begin the spiral, and it wasn't until I got done that I realized it was a good thing I didn't start on the deer. Julie's not really a big hunter.

THE BACK. 

I was scurrying to take a few pictures on my phone before rushing out to her birthday lunch and I didn't even have the time to put it on a pillow form. But the good news is that it looks great as a pillow and she liked it a lot.


Julie, I think it's safe to say you are the only person who has ever gotten handmade birthday gifts from me three years in a row. Including my kids. I don't know what that means... 

The Christmas Gifts- Quick and Dirty

Not that the gifts I made were particularly quick and/or dirty. Hopefully, none were dirty. But I  figured I'd run them all down in one post today so we can all just move on with our lives already. Christmas, you are SO OVER right now.

So early on in December I made the decision that I wasn't going to stress myself out trying to sew everyone an amazing gift. Definitely no full quilts for anyone this year. (Last year there were two. Rookie mistake.) I also decided to sell the Charlie Brown ornaments in my Etsy shop. They had become so popular that it just seemed really stupid not to do it to earn some extra Christmas cash. I did earn some good cash, but I also didn't have much time to sew the gifts I did want to sew for people, therefore we spent more on Christmas. Catch 22. But it was a lovely Christmas, and now all that Etsy money will be used for our trip to Vegas next month to see my younger brosef get hitched. Exciting! (P.S. The shop is back open, if anyone wants a head start on next year.)

This one was actually a birthday gift for my mom. She turned 60 last week, and I turned 30! We had a really nice family celebration and she loved this pillow. Now I can't stop dreaming of a whole church dash quilt.

This doll quilt was for our best friends' daughter, Lily. (You may remember some of her modeling from PR&P.) Lately when she comes over to play, she is always carrying around the Grinch placemat as her "camping mat." She dances with it, uses it as a cape, a stage, a magic carpet. So I knew she needed her own. I used all scraps plus a fat quarter that came from Delia on the back. (Thanks Delia!)

This one is for their son Ryan. It's actually a 16" pillow cover, but I hadn't gotten the form yet when I took pictures. He LOVES Sonic. Which is kind of hilarious for a 5 year old in 2013. I love the way the felt appliqué looks on the Julia Rothman Type print I got at Sewn. 

I made four of these boxed-bottom zip pouches for Hendrix's teachers, but all I got was this late night IG pic of a couple of them. I really wanted to keep the triangle one for me. 

Lastly, an exciting gift for me! My mom got me a FQB of Lizzy House's Pearl Bracelets for my birthday. This is definitely my favorite print ever and I'm so excited to have every color. I've already used up 6-7 of them. We found them still in stock at Fresh Modern Fabric, although I think they only have the half yard bundles now... which I might go back for soon!

A Very Go To Christmas: The Billy Car Mat

Have you looked around Go To Patterns yet? It's exactly the kind of place sewists like us enjoy browsing. It's all your favorite independent pattern makers at your disposable in one marketplace. And there is something for everyone- kid patterns, women's clothing, toys, bags, and even quilts.

It's all the brainchild of the very talented Andrea, and I was so pleased she asked me to be a part of the Christmas tour de go-to.

I got to make the Billy Car Play Mat and Roll-up by Handmade Therapy. This is a great pattern for a beginner who wants to make some adorable kid gifts this season, or an advanced sewer who wants to crank out a quick project. Either way, the payoff is great if you know a little car enthusiast. 

It's a mat with fun roads, but it also holds up to 8 cars securely. And it's only about 17" x 11" so it's a great travel toy and easy to slide into your purse or diaper bag.

It only takes about a fat quarter of fabric plus a few other supplies that you probably already have. I used a Michael Miller Vehicles print on the inside and a number print from Reunion from Moda on the outside. The pocket panels are scraps of a canvas from Ikea. 

Make sure to check out more amazing versions of the versatile patterns in the Go To shop by these talents on the tour, and enter the rafflecoptor below to win some wonderful fabric and pattern prizes.

Handmade Therapy Nov. 29

a pretty cool life. Nov. 29

Sew Much Ado Nov. 30th

Simple Simon and Co Dec. 1st

The Cottage Home Dec. 2nd

Sew country chick Dec. 2nd

Nap Time Crafters Dec. 3rd

A Little Gray Dec. 3rd

skirt as top Dec. 4th 

you & mie Dec. 5th

Boy, Oh Boy, Oh Boy! Dec. 5th

Me Sew crazy Dec. 6th

see kate sew Dec. 6th

Delia Creates Dec. 7th

The Southern Institute Dec. 7th

Enter to win a shopping spree at GoToPatterns.com and Sew Fine Fabric!

 

THREE WINNERS!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

If Tobias Funké had a drawstring bag...

I don't know if it would actually say this, but it sure would be this fancy. Maybe it would say this, and maybe he would use it to keep his make up handy for blue man group auditions. 

If you don't know what I'm talking about, I would be nice and try to explain it but... it would become one of those things where your friend is telling you about some show/movie/lifetime madefortvmovie they love and it involves a lot of character backstory, and they do such a good job at it that for a second you think the story is going to payoff. But then it doesn't. Never does. 

Anyway, it's Arrested Development and you can at least watch the ten second clip. 

I made this as a birthday gift for my boss at Sewn Studio, a fellow AD fan. I actually introduced her to the gospel of Arrested Development, so yeah. I'm pretty much her favorite now. It didn't dawn on me that I should make this exact thing until the day before her birthday, but it really wouldn't be as fun any other way.

I used Jeni's great drawstring bag tutorial. Whenever I make one of these I immediately want to make one for everyone I know. Then that never happens. I think next time I'll make it a Carl Weathers quote, "Baby, you got yourself a stew!" complete with embroidered hambone. Is this the beginning of a completely unreasonable series of AD themed bags? I would like that.

I'm not so much with the embroidery, but I'd like to practice more. This I just wrote on the fabric and then backstitched over. Then after I pieced everything together I added a scrap of batting under the exterior part of the bag and did some random hand quilting. Then my hand got bit off by a loose seal.

Grandma's 85th Birthday Quilt

This is my husband's grandmother Lottie. She turned 85 this week! One of the main reasons we made this long trip to Florida was to celebrate her special day. We threw a big party and about 80 friends and family members showed up to honor her amazing spirit. It was such a great time.

Of course, I had to make her a quilt for her birthday! Isn't it funny when you start quilting how no other gift could possibly be as good to give someone on an occasion like this? I literally felt like I couldn't have avoided making her this quilt even if I had tried. Oh the quilty powers...

I wanted to make her something with a very vintage feel. Someone at a CMQG meeting a few months ago had brought in a vintage bow tie quilt someone in their family had made that had red as the background. I'm not sure why, since that's not normally my thing, but I was enamored with that red and decided I would have to use it in a quilt one day. The solid I used is Bella Country Red. I almost couldn't buy a color by that name based on principle alone. Country red? But it was the perfect color for this quilt.

Most of the prints are DS Quilts for Joann's, which I bought because someone gave me a gift card there. Then I added a few other fabrics from my stash. I really regret using that lime green AMH hugs and kisses print. I hate feeling that way about one little decision when a quilt is finished. That color shows up in some of the other prints, so I thought it would work well. When I finished those individual blocks, I hated the way it looked on the red but figured I should just keep going and it would look fine in the whole quilt. I was wrong. Blurg. Of course, no one else but me minds that. Lottie was over the moon excited about the gift, and still keeps talking about how she can't get over it. That's all that matters.

One thing I am happy about is the way my free-motion quilting turned out! The meandering stipple thing really stresses me out when I try it because I don't have a plan for where I am going. I mean, I try to make a plan, but I get lost and freak out :)  So with this I used a retractable chalk pencil (new favorite marking tool ever!) to mark my rows of loopty-loops. From there, it was pretty smooth sailing and I finished really quickly. Much faster than the close straight line quilting I normally do.

The back is almost all leftovers and the binding is pre-made Moda bias binding in Bella Silver. We carry it at Sewn in lots of solids and it is the best time-saver. You can buy it by the yard, and it is just as soft as Moda Bellas, because that's what it is.

The cracker pattern was inspired by this quilt I spotted in a Tennessee antique shop. I loved the simplicity of the block pointed all in one direction like that. I had never seen this pattern, but of course once I had it on my mind I began seeing it pop up around the internet, like Angela's beautiful modern version. I constructed my blocks like this, but changed the dimensions to make them oversized.

We are still here in Florida, having a wonderful time. But man, am I having sewing withdrawals. And I still have until Monday to home to my machine!

Oh Yeah! (Stuff I forgot to show you.)

It seems like Christmas happened ages ago. Somehow I forgot to show you some more gifts I made, besides my brother's quilt and Hendrix's puppet theater. Feel free to comment about how this is yesterday's news and nobody gives a tail shake anymore. Or, you know, say something nicer.

Or you could just come up with a caption to this picture that explains why my mom is trying to get fresh with me...

This is actually a Christmas gift for myself. I made several of these Anna Maria Horner figure eight scarves for gifts this year and this is the only one I have a picture of. (Plus, my mom is cute. Awwww.)

I made my niece and nephew a couple of pillowcases for fun. Sorry about the crappy picture, I just had to show it because I think this fabric is so cute!

This potholder set is for a bachelor friend of ours that is moving into a new house soon. Single guys never have enough of this stuff, or any of it really. Plus they are super excited about gifts like this. Really nothing better than potholders for your average single guy of 30 :)

And here's just a few bibs that were stocking stuffers for Elsie. The fabrics make me happy when I see them every day. While she drools on them.

Alright. Captions: GO!

Handmade Gifts Received

Before I show you some of the gifts I made others this Christmas, I had to show you the amazing handmade things my family gave me. They know I love some handmade. 

Nana made Elsie this owl ornament for her first Christmas. Here it is with the one she made Hendrix two years ago. I love how cute and unique they are, and the kids love them too.

 My mom also made me a mini quilt! Couldn't you die from the adorableness? I love how she free-motion doodled around each bird. This one is going up in the sewing room for sure. It's a project from this book.

And Nick got me the entire Amy Butler Lark collection! Not exactly something made, but it will become something made. And he figured it out all by himself. It seems like people aren't too crazy about this collection, but it is by far my favorite Amy stuff yet. I've never been overly excited about her stuff before, but something about the colors in this one totally get me. I'm just loving navy lately and I love what she did with it here.

He also got me those earrings from Etsy. They came with the most amazing packaging I've ever seen, including that little cut out card.

Finally, I had to show this mini my prolific quilter grandmother gave me when I saw her at Thanksgiving. Cute and very true. Hi Nanny! 

Also, it's my 29th birthday! I don't remember the last time I had balloons on my birthday, but someone surprised me with these tied onto the front steps today. I love it! (I still think it was you Julie!)

So happy birthday to me! Too bad it's just a regular Wednesday for the rest of you suckers :)

Tree Skirt

December means lots of making going on, very little time to blog about it. Also, blogging is not exactly discreet this time of year. So I'm gonna be sporadic and undependable around here, but you guys are used to that shenanigry. Here's one more gift I gave early though. It's a tree skirt I made for our bestest friends, Edie and Nathan. (By the way, if you are looking to get married in Ohio, he takes pretty fantastic pictures of such things. I'm just saying.) We have a Thanksgiving dinner with them every year, either the weekend before or after the holiday, so I gave it to them then.

The fabric is that linen I always use, plus a couple of Cloud 9 Nature Walk prints from the shop. I've always thought that collection could be very Christmasy. The trim is also from the shop, it's pre-made bias binding from Moda Bella solids that you can buy off the roll by the yard. Greatest thing ever. It's a bazillion times softer than the pre-made stuff you can get at bigger chains. Although you now I love making bias tape, when you just need a nice solid one, this is a life-saver.

They just re-did their Christmas decorations last year to be all red-and-brown-woodsy-looking, so I think it works pretty well under their tree. I kind of want to make one for myself and everyone I know now, but that probably won't make the cut this month. At the top of the list next is a stocking for Elsie, and I plan on knocking this one off. Fun, right? Happy Christmas sewing!