Grow in Love Frame

A while back I was crafting with a friend who had brought over some cute scrapbook papers.  This one with plants on it caught my eye and I wanted to make something with it.  I matched up the colors and took out a gardening stamp set and this is what I came up with.

I didn't have any sayings went with a gardening theme, so I used this Scripture, Grow in Love from I Thess 3:12.  I added some sweet images from a set called Gift From the Garden.  I am thinking of a friend who loves to garden and I might give it to her. 

It mkes me want to go outside and do some planting.  :)

Asian Ladies Zippered Pouch

I love to make small zippered pouches for my myself and for my friends.  They come in so handy when you need to organize things.  I have some special ones that I use to store my charging cords for my electronics so that I know where they are when I need them.

One day when I was out a second-hand craft shop in my area, I spotted this pretty fabric with these Asian ladies on it.  I knew right away that one of my friends would love something made with this fabric so I bought a yard of it.  She loves everything Asian, especially if it has ladies on it. I turned it into this cute little zippered bag.  It even has some fabric with Chinese print on the inside.  

I made a small zippered pocket for the outside and added some charms to the zippers pulls.  And guess what, she loved it!  Now she can bring the Asian ladies with her wherever she goes.  :)

Mini Charm Star Wall Hanging

I've been wanting to make this wall hanging for about 2 years now.  I first saw this pattern in Pat Sloan's "Learn to Machine Quilt" book and really it.  I started this in January at my quilt retreat and today I am so happy that it is finally finished! 

For this project I used a lot of fabrics from the "Nest" collection.  I love these colors and they seem to go so well with my decor.  If you look closely, you can see a couple of the birds that I put in there to give it some visual interest.  :)

It seems like I did more ripping out seams than sewing in this project, but I'm really happy with how it turned out.  I didn't read the pattern very closely and had some issues with fitting the outer edges of the star to the inner squares.  But with the help of one of my quilty friends, I finally got it to work!

Here it is hanging on the wall in my family room.  I love how the colors coordinate with the room.  Thank you, Pat, for such a great pattern! 

Here is a pic me working on the quilt this week with my "helper" Ginger.  Today she sat on it while I hand sewed the binding onto it.  She gives her approval.  :)

Bird Carry Along Bag

I love making things with birds on them.  They're a lot of fun to craft and decorate with.  While out on last year's Shop Hop (shopping trip for quilters), I found this pretty fabric with cute birds on it. 

When I decided to make this project, I knew that bird fabric would be just perfect!  So I made this carry-along bag and featured the birds.  The bag isn't very large and is made for a quick run to the store or when you don't need to bring a lot of things with you.  On this side of the bag is a zippered pocket that you can slide your cell phone and wallet into.

Here is the back of the bag that has a pocket for tucking in a little something.  I centered the bird fabric so that the little birds stood out for the pocket.  I made this as a gift for one of my friends that also loves birds.  It has a long strap so that you can wear it as a cross-body bag.  I hope she likes it.  :)

Star Table Topper

I've been home from work for 5 weeks now and I'm going through all of the unfinished projects and working on them.  I haven't even started anything new yet and that's a biggie for me!

Today I finished this Star Table Topper that I started in January.  I am making a Star Wall Hanging from Pat Sloan that's called Mini Charm Star and I had some problems getting the center piece to fit with the star points.  This is one of the "rejects" that I had made and just added a plain center piece to make it fit.  I decided to finish it and make it a table topper. 

I finished it today and I actually like how it looks on the table.  I put my basket of felted hearts on it and well-ah - I love how it looks.  :)

Have you ever made a mistake on a project and then turned it into something else that you liked?

Happy Easter

Easter was pretty quiet this year and because of the quarantine and social distancing I didn't have anyone in my family over for to celebrate.  However, I did watch church online and cooked a nice dinner.

I made this Easter card using Grace's Garden stamp set from the Mini Catalog.  I saw the idea for this on Pinterest from Laura Seki.  I used the purple flowered paper from the Best Dressed designer pack and colored in images of the flowers from the Garden set.  I especially love the little kitty and the bird that comes with this set.  It reminds of the little kitty that lives in my house.

I got carried away stamping and coloring the flowers so I had a couple left over for the inside of my card.

I hope that next year my celebration will include people.  :)

Table Runners are My Thing

In my upstairs hallway I have a long, thin black table that sits at the top of the stairs.  I decided during my time at home that it needed a runner to go on it.  I've been fond of this artwork piece made by Kelly Rae Roberts and I thought that I would pick out colors to match this piece.

I found some pink and some plum fabrics in my stash and then added some greens to go along with them.

I basically just cut them out into strips of various widths and sewed them together.

I have a couple of green quilts on the shelf below and I like how the colors coordinate with them, too.  I love seeing my little runner in the hallway every time I go upstairs.

What do you think?

Vintage Holiday Quilt #4

I've been working on some of the UFO's (unfinished objects) in my sewing room during this time of quarantine from the Corona virus.  There's quite a few in there, but at least one more is done! 

A couple of weeks ago I finished this Charm Square quilt that I had started about a year and a half ago.  The fabric came in a monthly sampler box called Sew Sampler from the Fat Quarter Shop.  I cut the charm squares in half and sewed them into rows and then put borders in between the rows. 

It is certainly not a hard quilt to make, and I wanted something to go in my vintage trailer.  I love these colors and this fabric called Vintage Holiday from Bonnie and Camille. 

For the quilting, I quilted stars and swirls onto the quilt.  I did it on my domestic machine and it did take a while to get all of those stars on it. 

I'm really happy with how it came out and I'm looking forward to summer to do some camping.  Hopefully campgrounds will re-open by then!  :)

Jungle Fever Baby Quilt

Last month we were supposed to have a baby shower for a woman that work with. She's having a little boy and said that her theme was elephants.  I looked around in my craft room and found this cute elephant panel and decided to make a baby quilt for her.

I added some colorful pinwheels along the edge of the panel and then made a strip of squares for the top and bottom of the quilt.  I picked the colors from my stash and thought they matched so well with the panel.

Then I added a dark blue strip to frame in the panel.  And surprisingly I had some elephant fabric that matched the panel that I used for the borders. 

I used the same blue for the binding and just love how it all turned out.  It was my first time working with a panel and I was unsure how it would turn out, but now I feel like I can use panels in my quilts without fear! 

I pieced the back using the elephant fabric.  So cute, right?

Of course, I had to make a card to match.  :)

I took it over to her house last week to give the quilt to her and she just loved it.  I can't wait to see pics of her new baby on it. 

Rainbow Cards

Here in our area we have what is called the "518 Rainbow Hunt."  People are putting rainbows in their windows or making displays with rainbows for those who are in quarantine to see when they go out on walks. 

So I thought it was a good time to make some Rainbow Cards.  For this card I used an old flower punch to cut out flowers in a rainbow of colors.  You could use any flower punch, heart or butterfly punch for this card, etc.  Then I added a few green leaf cut outs so the flowers weren't just floating along the edge of the card.

And I love the saying taken from the Picture Perfect Birthday set that will make anyone happy if they receive this card.  Add a textured background, some pearls and a bow of silver ribbon and this makes a very happy card. 

I got the idea for this next card from Linda Parker on Pinterest.  I stamped butterflies from the Butterfly Gala set in Versamark onto a piece of shiny cardstock.  Then I embossed them using white emboss powder.  I sponged a rainbow of colors onto the card which made the butterflies stand out.  The technique is an old one, called emboss resist. 

Then I added a couple of punched out butterflies and a saying from the wonderful So Sentimental set.  Very different from the first card, but still an awesome rainbow to create.

Have you seen any rainbows around in windows or on doors?

Encouragement Cards

We've all been affected by the Corona Virus pandemic that is sweeping across our nation in some way.  For me, I'm home more than I usual, and I've been spending some time in my craft room(s).

 This week I wanted to send out some encouragement cards to a couple of my friends.  I looked through some of my sayings to find something appropriate and I found this saying: "The journey of life is best shared with a friend.  We'll get through this together."  I thought that was so fitting for these uncertain times.

I used the Best Dressed designer papers and thought they looked so pretty paired with purple cardstock.  The flower is from Tea Together and the sayings are from Good Morning Magnolia.  

Do you like to send cards to people to encourage them? 

Under My Umbrella

This past week was very rainy here in upstate NY.  What better thing to do on a rainy day than to make Rainy Day cards?  I took out a new stamp set called Under My Umbrella and made some cute cards with it.  I love this set because it comes with a punch.  And you all know that I love my punches.  They're so quick and easy.  :)  I got these ideas from Mena Green.

The punch only punches out the umbrella and the handle.  So you do have to cut out the boots and the flowers, but they don't take long.  For this card, I colored in the boots and the umbrella, but you really don't have to because you can punch out cute patterns from any designer paper.   I got the idea for this card from Jaimie Barbarczy.

This folded umbrella works with the punch also.  The paper that I used for this is from last year's Tranquil Textures.  I watercolored the background and them stamped the raindrops onto it after it dried.  I got this idea from the Stampin Up catalog.

Then I saw on Pinterest that Sandy McCullough had added the little Meerkat to the boots!  This makes the card even cuter.  I had so much fun today working on these.

I used the Best Dressed designer papers for most of the cards.  I had a lot of gingham left over from last year, so I added that, too.  And the sayings are all great.  You can use these cards for any day.

What do you think of this set?  I think I'm going back into the craft room to make more.

Tea Party Favors

To go along with my "Tea Party" card class, I made these cute little tea favors.  They're made using a 6x6" square of designer paper and come together so quickly.  I added a tea bag, a granulated honey packet and a little spoon. 

I had so much fun making them that I made a LOT!  I decided to bring them to my demonstrator's meeting for each of the ladies. 

To keep it simple, I used all green designer papers, including the pretty Garden Lane and the Peaceful Poppies paper.

I found the spoons at the Dollar Store and tied a green ribbon around each one.  Then I stamped the Cup of Cheer from the Cup of Cheer stamp set.  If you'd like to make these, and trust me, you won't be able to make just one, click here for instructions from Chic n' Scratch.  You'll be glad you did.  :)