Tablet Sleeve Finished

I finally finished  the sleeve I cut out for my hubby's tablet.  I used Faith from Fresh Lemon's tutorial.  Its a really well written tutorial and the sleeve went together easily.  My only problem was *my* problem of not being good at sewing openings closed in a pretty fashion.  Sigh.  

I used Etsuko Furuya's Mini Car fabric for the front....I LOVE that fabric!  And then I used some Circa 1934 by Cosmo Cricket for the pocket interior.  Cute.  

Happy tablet in his new cushy home.

I was Nominated!

Remember my entry for the Blogger's Quilt Festival?

Are you sick of seeing it yet?  :)

It was nominated  for the Doll/Mini category and I'm so excited.   I didn't seek any nominations (thank you, though, to who ever did) but I am gonna ask for votes!   Soooo...would you take a minute and go vote for my quilt here.   Scroll down....I think its the second to last category.  ANYONE can vote....you didn't have to participate in the Festival or be a quilter.  :)    Thanks a bunch.

It's a Wonder...

...I didn't buy these sooner!

See those red clips?   They are called Wonder Clips by Clover.   I had seen them before but only really read that they were good for holding on binding while you sewed. I figured I'd been sewing binding on for about 18 years without them and didn't need 'em.   When all my co-workers were buying them and raving about their uses I decided to join in....sewing peer pressure gets me every time! 

  I gotta say....they really are great.  I won't be using them for binding, but they were perfect for the zipper in the tablet sleeve I'm making for hubby (picture above).  The bottoms lie flat so they slide easily on the sewing machine.  And no pins means no distortion.  

Ok.  Enough said.  Time to get back to sewing.   :)

ps. I bought mine at Pink Chalk here, of course.

Pincushion Received

This is the wonderful package I got from my swap partner, Lynda, in the Fabulous Little Pincushion Swap.

Lynda is from England...one of my favorite countries!  Do you see that cord around the Union Jack pincushion?  It's so you can put the pincushion around your sewing machine....clever, huh?  And she made a slice of cake pin topper in celebration of the Queen's Diamond Jubilee this year.  Some day I'm gonna have to learn how to make those cute pin toppers and save money buying them.  :)

This was a fun swap and definitely one I'd do again.

Pincushion

This is the first pincushion I've ever made and I love it.  

It is for a swap I'm in over on Flickr called Fab Little Pincushion Swap.  I'm pretty sure my partner will like it...if I've figured out her likes correctly!  :)

I used a block from the Midget Block collection over on Sentimental Stitches to make the top.  Have you seen these little beauty's?  So cute.  They are 4.5 inch blocks and the patterns are free.  I used print scraps and blue Essex linen (from Pink Chalk Fabrics).   And those cute bird pins I got from The Chip Chop Shop.

I had fun making this and plan to try my hand at more pincushions.  

Bloggers' Quilt Festival Spring 2012

Hello to those of you who have popped over from Amy's Creative Side to see my entry for the Quilt Festival!

I've decided to enter a little mini quilt I made for a swap I was in.  It was called The Name Game swap...the purpose being to create a mini inspired by our secret partners blog.  We got to stalk their likes, etc, via our Flickr group.   I blogged about it earlier.   I had so much fun creating this little beauty.

This was my first time making Cathedral Windows and I enjoyed the process.....though it was time consuming.  I can't imagine making a full size quilt this way!   I used Kona Snow for the background and raided my scrap bag and button jar for the rest.....oh, and used this tutorial from Moda Bakeshop.

  I'm working my way through the list to see everyone's entries!    Thanks for stopping by and I hope you come back to visit again!

Edited to add:   My entry is #296 if you are nominating and/or voting.  Thanks!

April Bitty Blocks

These are all the black and white with a pop of color bitty blocks from April.  I love them all but I think the tea cup is my favorite.  I like how she did the "pop of color" as the tea bag tag....so clever.   My block is the two cats facing each other and the blue ball is yarn I fused on.

Go pop in and check out the current bitty blocks being made at the Bitty Block Committee group on Flickr.  

Mothers Day Firsts

Jenny and her family came over for Mothers Day and we went to the Bloedel Reserve on Bainbridge Island.  A first time visit for me despite living nearby for 20 years!    Bloedel is a beautiful public garden with 150 acres of natural forests and landscaped gardens.  I loved it and can't wait to go back again.

This was the easiest way to get pics of my grand children -- when they weren't looking!   :)

Nana is enjoying the view from the estate home while Heidi is looking for something to climb on.

Another first that happened on Mothers Day was teaching Liam to sew.  He has wanted to make a quilt for a while and Sunday was the day to start.

I worked the foot pedal for a couple of rows but then he did it standing up.  It actually helped him slow down to work the pedal himself rather than telling me to go faster!  We will work on it again the next time they come over.

So much easier to teach my grandson than my own kids.  Why is that?   :)

Great day.

A Month? Really?

I can't believe I haven't posted any thing in a month!   And now I discover Blogger has changed......and oh how I hate tech changes!!!   My head hurts already.  :)

I have been sewing this past month....and vacationing.   I have a few things to share but I'm gonna put them in multiple posts and help myself get comfortable with these new Blogger changes.

Last months Bitty Block Committee theme was Black & White with a pop of color.  My color was aqua.  This is the block I made for everyone:

I saw a poster online with these silhouettes of cats facing out and thought it'd be fun to turn them in and put a ball of yarn between them.   Pretty cute, if I say so myself.   I still have one more block to receive and when I do I'll post them all....so much creativity to see!