Scraps of My Life

Minis, Bees, and Purses, Oh My!

I've long been a follower of the Sew Can She blog and all the great tutorials Caroline offers so when she announced the Monthly Mini Quilts sew along I knew I wanted to join in the fun. It's a great way to use up scraps and make something cute for the studio wall.

January - Friendship Mini

February - Candygram Mini

I'm also participating in the Sewcial Bee Sampler hosted by Maureen Cracknell and Sharon Holland. I decided to use Hand Maker fabric by Natalie Barnes. I love the colors in this line and I like how the blocks are turning out so far.

1 - Patience Corners

2 - A Dandy

3 - Flock

And lastly, the two other purses I made from the Block of the Month Club 2016. This cute small bag is the Polaris by Sara Lawson of Sew Sweetness. I made the strap longer and adjustable so I could wear it as a cross-body bag. Next time I make it, I'll add an outside pocket for my cell phone.

This is the Gabby bag by Emmaline Bags. It's a roomy bag with a zip pocket inside.

That's it for this week. What have you all been working on?

Where Did the Time Go?

I didn't mean to ignore my little blog for so long. Let me just say, 2016 wasn't my best year. Due to some hard times at work, I wasn't feeling particularly creative or much like sharing when I did finally make something. But lately I've been missing it, so to start off 2017, here are some projects I made last year.

I made this cute Viewmaster pillow for my sister for Christmas. It's from The Paper-Pieced Home by Penny Layman.

One of my goals last year was to use some of my scraps in quilts so I made this baby quilt for a coworker. The pattern is Triple Star from Scrap-Basket Beauties by Kim Brackett.

My quilt guild (South Sound Modern Quilt Guild) displays our challenge quilts at the annual Arts Walk every year and the challenge last year was to use the patterned fabric and any solids in an improv quilt. Now just the word "improv" scares me. I am much more a "follow the pattern" kinda girl. But I had been wanting to try some of Jean Wells' techniques so I thought this might be just the right time. This quilt was inspired by her book, Intuitive Color & Design. 

Just like a lot of quilters out there, I've been saving selvages for a while and finally decided it was time to make something. This is a little purse I made for my niece using the Camera Case Wristlet pattern by Michelle Patterns. I sewed each selvage to a piece of cotton fabric, overlapping each strip and sewing with a zigzag stitch then cut out the pattern. My niece loved it.

The following three purses are from last year's Bag of the Month Club. 

This is the Backgammon Bag by Betz White. I couldn't find this pattern on her website, but she has a lot of other great patterns. The Backgammon Bag has a big pocket on the outside and a zippered pocket on the inside. It's a nice size purse for everyday use.

This one is the Window Shopper by Sewing Patterns by Mrs. H. It's huge and holds a lot of stuff. It's more a tote bag than a purse.

I made this Brooklyn Handbag by Swoon Patterns for my sister's birthday. She loves it and uses it all the time. The black fabric I used for the straps and the bottom of the bag looks like leather, but is actually Kraft-Tex paper fabric that starts out stiff but softens when you get it wet. 

So even though I wasn't blogging about my projects, I was actually making stuff. I hope you come back soon to see what else is on my cutting table.  Thanks for stopping by.

December Daily & 30 Days of Lists

As I've done in previous years, I combined my December Daily with 30 Days of Lists. I've found that it makes it easier and quicker to have them both in the same binder. That way I can write down my list for the day and also print my daily picture and write a quick journaling card and the day is done. This year I used a 6"x8" Project Life binder, pocket pages, Hello December Project Life cards, and Christmas paper all from Stampin' Up. Here's the cover and a few of my favorite pages.

I made a few Christmas presents this year, but forgot to take pictures of them.  I did, however, finally make a tree skirt and our new kitty Leonard really seemed to like it.

The pattern is Kaleidoscope Tree Skirt from the book A Merry Christmas with Kim Schaefer.

Yesterday I spent the day cleaning up the studio, so now it's all nice and neat and ready for a new year of projects. Some of the planned projects are:

• gray, black, and red quilt for my husband
• shades of blue quilt for my nephew's high school graduation gift
• an improv challenge quilt for the South Sound Modern Quilt Guild
• quilt guild quilt-along from Patchwork City by Elizabeth Hartman
• finish the blue and yellow quilts for the guest room
• purses from the Bag of the Month Club
• One Little Word with Ali Edwards
• Project Life for 2016

What projects are you starting in 2016?

 

WIP Wednesday - A Baby Quilt and La Passacaglia

I have a few works in progress right now.  First up is a baby quilt. I fell in love with this quilt as soon as I saw it and when I heard there was going to be a new baby boy in our extended family, I knew it would be a great baby quilt. The green, orange and gray color scheme seemed perfect for a little boy, so I decided to use pretty much the same fabrics as in the original quilt. 

The pattern is Hourglass Wall Quilt by Brigitte Heitland from the Spring issue of Modern Patchwork Magazine. The fabrics are Reel Time, also by Brigitte Heitland.

These blocks are really big and went together fast. I just need to add the gray border and then quilt it. I pieced a couple of small blocks for the back and I'll fill in with the same gray fabric from the border. I'm not sure how I'm going to bind it yet. I have a lot of fabric left, so maybe I'll do a scrappy binding.

Another work in progress is La Passacaglia. Yes, I'm been bitten by the La Passacaglia bug. I was seeing all these beautiful English Paper Pieced designs on Pinterest and I just had to try it myself. I ordered the book, Millefiori Quilts by Willyne Hammerstein at Paper Pieces along with the starter pack of paper shapes and just jumped in.

I started with Rosette 1 and am loving it. I've been working on it in the evenings as I watch TV with my husband and I have four stars left to complete. I've done some EPP in the past, but mostly just hexagons, so these teeny tiny triangles have been a challenge. I'm looking forward to picking out the fabric for the next rosette. I still don't know if I'll make the whole quilt or just enough rosettes to make a nice sized wall hanging.

I fussy cut the center star on this rosette and I think I'll try fussy cutting more of the pieces in the next one. This time I just wanted to get started sewing so I didn't want to take the time to fussy cut a lot of the pieces.

So that's what I'm working on right now. With the holidays coming up, I'm starting to plan some gifts that I want to make, so I'll have some more projects in the works soon. 

Thanks for stopping by and checking out my projects. I'm linking up with WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced.  Check out all the great projects everyone else is working on over there.

Little Projects

I found this cute little English Paper Piecing Travel Kit online at thezenofmaking.com and have wanted to make it for awhile now. I finally decided to cut everything out and work on the hexagons on our road trip to Sunriver in September. Once those were all done, I sewed it all together and now have this great organizer.

As you can see, it has three pockets to hold two Altoids containers, scissors, thread and finished hexagons. I really like it and am glad I finally decided to make it.

I love to decorate for Halloween and wanted a new table runner for the holiday, so I made the Diamond Charmer Table Runner from Fast & Furious Home by Gudrun Erla. This is a great book with lots of quilt as you go projects.

I used a charm pack of Halloween fabric (Midnight Masquerade by Deb Strain) and this small table runner went together very fast. I had a little problem with the inside corners on the binding, but a quick Google search turned up lots of tutorials and I was able to get the binding done and start using my new Halloween table runner.

I'd also like to introduce you to the newest addition to the studio. I've wanted this Tula Pink Bernina ever since I first saw a picture of it. For some reason, they're hard to find and I was fortunate that my local Bernina store was able to find one for me.

I've name her Peggy after my grandma who taught me to sew. She's just the right size for taking to quilt guild sew days and classes. Much easier than packing up my big Babylock Symphony. I took her on vacation to Sunriver in September and worked on some small quilt projects while my husband golfed. I really like her and am so glad to have her in the studio.

I'm happy you stopped by and hope you enjoyed my finished projects. Come back tomorrow for WIP Wednesday to see a few projects I'm working on now.

Where Bloggers Create 2015

Welcome to my studio and the Where Bloggers Create party hosted by Karen Valentine at My Desert Cottage. 

 

Not a lot has changed since last year, although I did recently repaint the room in a lighter shade of blue and add this cute orange and blue bird rug.

This is my scrapbooking area where some of my stamps are stored on shelves built by my dad. My computer and Silhouette Cameo are in easy reach so I can quickly cut files as I'm working. I'm addicted to 6x6 paper pads and keep them handy in my Raskog cart from Ikea. 

I painted this organizer recently in this great shade of blue. It was black (see picture above) and I like it much better now.

One of my favorite new storage solutions is this Spicy Shelf I added to the cabinet above the Silhouette. I love how easy it is to see all my paints now.

I have my sewing machine, Singer Featherweight, and serger set up on the counter along the wall, but can easily move them when friends come over for a sew day.

In this picture you can see the ironing station my husband made for me and my cutting table that is a dining room table that belonged to my Grandma Zangl.

This end of the room is where my Avante Handi Quilter resides. I also store baskets with fabric and batting underneath.

My design wall is surrounded by bookcases full of quilting, sewing, and scrapbooking books. The shelf on top holds some of my childhood dolls.  On the wall above the treadle sewing machine, which belonged to my Grandma Skog, is a shelf built by my dad that holds fat quarters.

Well, that completes the tour. Thank you so much for stopping by and don't forget to check out the other amazing studios here.

I couldn't resist closing with this adorable picture of Zoey "helping" in the studio.

Around Here

I don't know where the time has gone, but all of a sudden I realized that I hadn't blogged since November. Here's a few things I've done in the last couple of months.

Sewing - Patchwork pillow for my sister Terri out of a jellyroll of Mary Engelbreit Christmas fabric.

A snowman tablerunner for my sister Paula from the Art to Heart book, Table Please, and a crocheted star garland.

Tote bags from A Quilter's Dream pattern, Half Moon Bay, and zipper pouches from the Noodlehead blog. I made these for my high school girlfriends for our recent trip to Hawaii.

Making - Just a few cards for friends and family. All stamps and punches are from Stampin' Up.


Art Journaling - I've never art journaled before and am having fun following along with the Documented Life Project. Those cute little bird stamps are by Dina Wakley.

Vacationing - I went to Hawaii with my girlfriends from high school and we had a blast. It was wonderful to spend time together and we all can't wait to do it again.

So, that's what I've been doing lately. Thanks for stopping by.

 

30 Days of Lists & December Daily

I've been thinking about how I want to document my 30 Days of Lists for December and I decided to use this little kraft grid journal from Stampin' Up.

I went through and glued pages together to make them a little more sturdy. I'm going to decorate my pages using "Blissful Blizzard" paper by Fancy Pants Designs and other Christmas embellishments from my stash. I'll write my lists on more Project Life cards. I don't think I'll ever run out of those little cards!

I'm still undecided on my December Daily. Yes, I know I should get moving on it since December first is fast approaching. I have a book I started putting together a few years ago and then didn't use, so I'm thinking I'll start with that, but I'm still  not sure.

Are you all ready for the next round of 30 Days of Lists and December Daily?

Flashback Friday

In 1996 my sister Paula and I attended our first Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show. Even though we hadn't quilted very much, we decided to enter the quilt contest. The theme was "sunflowers" and we picked this appliqued and pieced wallhanging. 

The flowers have yoyos and buttons in the center and we quilted in the ditch and used a leaf stencil on the border. It really could have used a lot more quilting in the "sky" but we were pretty happy with it.

Next week I'll be sharing the supplies and ideas for my December 30 Days of Lists book and my December Daily book. Can you believe it's that time already?

Me: The Abridged Version

I just completed Cathy Zielske's Big Picture Class - Me: The Abridged Version where you journal about your life using nouns from A through Z and then add pictures. I found it fun, frustrating, and ultimately rewarding. It was time consuming to come up with the words, journal about them and then take or find pictures to complement the journaling, but I'm really glad I did it. 

Here are a few of my favorite pages:

If you ever have a chance to take Cathy's class, I highly recommend it.

Thanks for stopping by and check back on Friday for another Flashback Friday project.