Cool Blog and fun patterns

I have to share this blog with you tonight. I found this while reading another blog and have been so blessed by the things that are shared. There is a devotion to the Lord that is refreshing and all the fun crafts are the icing on the cake for me. Today she shared this new bag pattern. I am a fool for bags! Love them. I will share some patterns for bags I have made below but I had to give first dibs to this one.
http://prairieflowerfarm.blogspot.com/search for the Prairie Flower Book Bag Pattern

Here is another pattern I found on-line that looks easy and super cute.

http://henriettashandbags.com/paulas_slouchy_sack_pattern.html


Here is a pattern for a laptop bag.
http://www.craftandfabriclinks.com/laptop_tote/laptop_carrier_pattern.html

This little purse is made from fat quarters. :) cool!
http://sewmamasew.com/blog2/?p=737


I love to make my bags out of charm squares.

Here is a pattern that I have not made but I believe it will be my next project! :)
http://www.popularpatchwork.com/news/article.asp?a=5448

This is a link to a website who has a free pattern download for a similar bag that I have made many times. In fact, this is the bag that I have given to some of my dear friends as a gift when I have the time and the material to put one together.

The link shows a bag with 47+ charm squares for the body of the tote. The bag I have made is similar in width but I use 27 squares for the body plus 8 for the handles.
http://buttonberry.typepad.com/buttonberry/2008/03/its-a-charm-off.html


Another really neat idea is to get 2 place mats, sew(right sides together) around all the sides except the top. Turn out and sew a handle(s) on the bag, perhaps a button, snap or tie to close and voila! You have a very nice and functional, not to mention sturdy bag. I went to the thrift store and bought some belts for $1 to use for my handles. All the bags I made were larger and I wanted them to have long handles so they could be used to carry things such as books, etc.

I made one for each of my girls for Christmas. They love them and use them when the go to the library.



Here are a few links to some patterns I found for this bag:
http://scribbit.blogspot.com/2007/07/placemat-purses.html
http://www.jcarolinecreative.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Store_Code=JC&Screen=TOTE


I have also made my own patterns for bags that I have seen and wanted to try to make. I start with a general size reference and shape and then go from there. Typically, the quilter in me spends a lot more time focusing on the geometrics of the pattern, but it all usually comes together nicely. I have found that if I use a strong sturdy backing for the handles that they last longer, as well as not too many pieces in the handle at stress points. This I learned from experience, as I have been repairing my own bag recently. :)

Perhaps this will put you in the mood to sew!

Blessings to you !

Baby Quilt Fun

I just finished this quilt as a gift for a baby shower we will be attending on Saturday. I had a lot of fun picking out the colors and putting the quilt together for the soon-to-be mommy and baby.

There is an awesome little quilt shop that has wonderful fabrics to look through located in a town about 30 min. away. They also have tons of quilts, quilt tops and projects out for display to enable that creativity in you to take hold. Well, I remembered a quilt top that they had on display many months ago and the colors were just what I wanted. Unfortunately, after many stops at local material stores( only a little closer to me) I realized I could go no where else to get what I wanted. It isn't necessarily unfortunate, just meant a lot of running and I should have been listening to that still small voice telling me to go to the quilt store first...since I already knew they carried the color schemes I was looking for. :)

Thankfully, the material was still there and I was able to pick through to get what I wanted in a short amount of time. Since the pattern was one I had seen and then put together in my head of what I wanted it to look like we had to do a little math to decide on the ending measurements.

The store owner showed me this warm and fuzzy material I used for my backing a suggestion. My only request was that it was to be very soft.. it was for a baby. I was thinking of a flannel or soft sateen but this little furry velvet ( my feeble attempt at description) is indulgent. To quote my youngest daughter and husband... " Ohhhhh, this is so soft". I think my response was exactly like this. My daughter went on to say.. "Momma, will you make me a quilt with this?" And come to think of it, my husband did the same! ha!ha!

I knew I wanted the squares to be 6 inches so I cut 6 1/2 squares of each fabric and then for the fence rail blocks I cut 2 1/2 x 6 1/2 in. rectangles, then sewed them together to make my block .

It did not take long to sew my fence rail blocks together and then to piece the quilt as I wanted it to look. I actually drew the quilt on a piece of paper and colored it in to match the fabric.

Because of the backing and the terry cloth material (the white squares) I chose to tie the quilt with brown embroidery thread rather than quilt it. I personally like the bows vs the ties so this quilt has bows on it! I flipped the terry cloth fabric ( if you look you can see a design on it) so the design was going a different direction in each row. I did that with the fence rail blocks as well. In the first picture they are at the bottom left, it is hard to see them the way I laid the quilt for the picture but I wanted to show the back fabric. You can see the full quilt below on my table.

It turned out very nice and very soft! :) I hope the new momma will enjoy it.