Winslow Market Tote

I made this bag for my daughter-in-law for Christmas.  The pattern is called "Winslow Market Tote"...also by my boss, Kathy Mack.   :)     This bag went together so fast and is pretty big.   That black and white Paris fabric is a pocket and there is one on the other side too.   I used mostly fabrics from the "Matisse" line by Alexander Henry.....I wanted a french themed bag and those worked well.  

Crochet Hook Holder

Now that Christmas is over I can share some of the things I made.  For my daughter I crocheted a lovely lace scarf....but forgot to take pics!   Oops.   But I did remember to take pics of the crochet hook holder I made her.  I used the Pencil Roll pattern by Kathy Mack and adapted it a teeny bit for the hooks (just made it shorter in height).   Easy and fun.....just like I like.

Here it is all rolled up:

This is the outside of it...such cute fabric:

This is the inside with the flap down....covering the hooks:

This is it all opened up...I left room for her to add more hooks:

I think this pattern works well for any straight items.  And its easy to adjust the height and width if needed.   It sewed up pretty fast so would be a great pattern to have on hand for a quick gift. 

Fabric Wrapped Rope Basket

I made a fabric wrapped basket for the first time for a friend a while ago.  I wasn't able to blog about it until her birthday....which was this month.  :)   It turned out really cute.    These baskets are super easy....and easy is what I like!!!  

I didn't take pictures of the wrapping part but it wasn't complicated.  I bought 100% cotton clothesline cord that was 3/16 inch.   I cut my fabric strips one inch wide, no need to be exact.  Then I started wrapping at an angle....gluing at the start of a strip and every 5 inches or so.  I only wrapped a couple feet at a time.  Then sewed around and around and around and......!

I sewed with a wide zig-zag stitch. (4.5 width and 2.5 length on my machine)

To make the sides, I just tipped the piece up like this:

And there it is all finished and filled with pretty goodies for my friend.  Can you see guess the color theme of her gift?  Hee, hee.  

I have lots more cord so will definitely be making myself one.  

String Snowmen

I just saw these on Spidatter's Blog.....LOVE them!   So simple and so cute.  Thought I'd share.   :)

Odds-n-ends

Since I can't seem to motivate myself to think of blog post ideas, I thought I'd post some random pics I've taken lately.

This one is indicative of what we find after the grand kids have been over for a visit:

Surprises behind doors!   This was a Beanie Baby that was hiding...and a rat of all things!   :)



Miss Heidi with one of her precious smiles.  Mommy and daughter are beautiful, if I say so myself.

And this frequent visitor to our suet feeder - a Pileated Woodpecker.  

 The pic is blurry cuz I have to take them from inside the house...through the window.  

Portable Changing Pad

I bought some laminated cotton for a project and my boss at Pink Chalk asked me if I wanted to take extra and test a pattern for her.  I said ok.  :)      It's called "Time for a Change" by Melanie Hurlston of Melly & Me and is a really cute portable changing station.

This is the one I made.   I had some trouble with the laminated cotton.  I was sewing with it on top with a regular foot and it just didn't want to move.  I turned it over and it worked better.   A friend told me she uses a Teflon foot with laminates....gonna have to check into that.   Also the pattern had a teeny boo-boo...the directions for putting in the flaps are opposite of how the pattern front picture shows it.  Not a big deal but it really needs to be like the picture so that the wipes & diaper can't fall out the sides.

 
And this is mine all closed up.    See those puckers along the curved edge?  That's my mistake.  I made regular straight grain binding instead of bias.  Not sure where my head was!   Doesn't look too good but I wasn't about to rip it out. 

Pretty cute, huh?