August Charming Girls Club Finishes

The blue quilt top blanket (started back in April or May) was made for one of my grandson and then his little brothers (the twins) asked where their blankets were. They're a year younger and I had planned to make them each one for Christmas but because they were feeling left out I had to go to work on theirs now since they made me feel pretty guilty.

I quickly started on the second one (the green one) and finished it in about three days, complete with his nickname embroidered in the center.

I'm currently working on the last one for the other twin. I don't think I'll get it done till next week, but I'll give it a good try. The front is almost complete but I still need to add the batting and the back. We'll see how far I get. I keep getting side tracked and working on smaller projects.

(Check out the orbit in the picture with my grandson. I've heard of people finding them in their pictures but this is a first for me.)

I'm also finished the red lap quilt for myself. My legs are always cold. I'll get a lot of use out of it when we sit outside in the evening. Thanks to the CGQC I've completed a number of projects that I had put aside.

"Tutorial" Sewing Machine Cover

Sewing Machine Cover made from a pair of used jeans. Follow the instructions below to make one for yourself. Be sure to read all the steps in the instructions before you begin so that you know what will come next and how easily it comes together.

Steps to Follow:

Get yourself a pair of used jeans (I used a size 14 pair of woman's jeans).

1. Cut the legs of the jeans off just below the crouch.2. Make sure the the bottom piece you cut is straight (see above photo) so you can either hem it or add trim later.

3. Stitch a straight line down inside front of the jeans just below the zipper to remove the crouch. Trim off the excess piece. (see photo below.)

4. Measure the waist of the jeans laying flat and add 1.5 inches to that measurement. (My waist measured 16" and I added 1.5 inches which made the total 17.5 inches*)

5. Mark a piece (using the leg of the jean) 5 inches in height by the length you measured *mine was 17.5 inches. (my piece was 5"x17.5") See photos below.

6. After you've cut this out, round off the four corners as shown in the photo below.

7. Make sure your jeans are inside out and pin the cut piece along the back of the waist just below the waist band. Sew along this piece, stitching just below the waist band. Tip: fold piece in half to measure your placement. Place fold on the center below the waist band and pin.

8. Now remove your pins from the back part and pin the front and sides, pinning darts down around the sides to round the corners on both sides. Now sew this part (just below the waist band) and you are done with the top part.

This photo shows it pinned down.

This photo also shows it pinned down with the darts around the corners.

This photo shows it sewn all around with the pins removed.

This photo shows it turned right side out and how it should look. As you can see in the photo, it's sewn below the waistband.

9. Sew the hem or add trim to the bottom edge and your sewing machine cover is complete.

10. Optional: add embroidery or applique to decorate your machine cover as you desire.

This is a really fun project and the pockets on both the front and back of the jeans add storage for your scissors, bobbins, etc. I hope you enjoy making one for yourself.

Machine Cover Challenge "Here's Mine"

What do you think Jenny? Last night I went to bed thinking how can I put together a quick cover for my machine to enter your giveaway and this morning the idea popped into my head the minute I woke up.

Use a pair of those jeans you have stashed away was my thought. Who doesn't like jeans (even my sewing machine could use a nice fitting pair). I have this large stash of jeans that I try to recycle, so I went right to it and picked out a pair of jeans I thought would make a cute cover.

I cut the legs off, cut out a piece to cover the top inside the waist band, added some trim to the bottom and embroidered "Love 2 Sew" on the bottom. The pockets in the front and back add storage for scissors, bobbins, etc.

I took pictures along the way and I'm going to put a tutorial together. When I finished I thought this is a quick and easy way to turn those old jeans into a cute skirt too.

Thanks for the challenge. I now have a machine cover for my Brother C-6000.

Check out the post below for more info on the challenge and giveaway - it ends 8/31.

Here's an awesome Challenge.

Jenny over at Elefantz blog has a Sewing Machine Cover Challenge that ends on the 31st.

Stop by her blog and check it out! The prizes are great. One is pictured in the photo and the other is a great magazine. Visit her blog for more details and to view her finished cover.

I need a machine and a serger cover so If I have time this weekend I'm going to try to get one done.

Really Feeling Lucky

Can you believe that I won this cute Abbey Bag from Michelle's Quilts and Stuff for her 150th post! I am feeling so lucky these days. When I first saw this cute, and very useful tool to have in my sewing room, I thought I'm going to have to make myself one.

Then, while blog surfing, I came across Michelle's giveaway and silently said to myself, "maybe I'll be the lucky one" and low and behold I won. Thank you Michelle, you can be sure I will use it, cherish it and always think of you when I'm at my sewing table.

You have a great blog and I encourage everyone to stop by for a visit. Click here to view the creativity over on her blog.

I Love My Tea Towel!

Thanks Joan for the great tea towel! The design is so creative. You're awesome!

I am thankful to The Charming Girls Quilt Club for your friendship. Being relatively new to blogging, I had no idea that it would be so much fun and that I would develop connections and friendship with such nice and talented people who love and share the same hobbies from all over the world.

My husband and family have been amazed too at everyone's talents and the creativity we share. I hope that we can continue to share ideas and exchange projects. And you Kelly, (from the Charming Girls blog site), should be proud of the connections you've made possible through your club. I'm positive that I'm not the only one who feels this way.

I'd like to share that 5 years ago I moved 100 miles from my friends and family and had to give up the groups and classes I participated in. Little did I know that blogging would bring that all back for me.

Blog Award and Tag Your It

I've been tagged by dear Glenna over at Your Fabric Place to share 10 tidbits about myself with all of you. The TAG requires me to bestow this award and task on 10 other fabulous bloggers.

I suppose this is how we get to know one another and share our personal feelings and history to help form those friendships we make through our internet conversations.

No yawns please....




1. I'm married to my high school sweetheart and we're still inseparable.

2. Make me laugh and you'll see me cry too. Somehow the two go hand in hand with me.

3. I'm extremely sentimental. I tear up when I hear a sad story or a lovely song -- go figure??

4. At age 11 my mother taught me how to sew and I began making my own clothes and patterns out of newspaper (when your body is tiny the patterns don't have to be perfect to fit, but it's another story when you develop all those curves).

5. Shoes...I love shoes. Because I have a small foot (size 5), if I find a shoe I like and it fits, I buy it. This stems from needing a pair of shoes to match a dress for a special event and not being able to find it in my size when I need it. So now I always have a pair that will work perfectly in a pinch.

6. Dieting is out of the question since I can't pass up a piece of chocolate.

7. Gardening is another one of my hobbies.

8. I love to watch Disney movies with my grand kids and play a card game called "speed" with my oldest grand-daughter.

9. I love all types of music. My husband and I can pretty much listen to anything from the oldest stuff to the most current. Even the grand kids come to us sometimes to see if we have a song they want recorded.

10. When I was younger, I wanted to change my first name to a more popular one. A phase I guess.

Hey...I know some of you were yawning out there.

I'm really just a home body that enjoys quiet time, family and friends and doing what I enjoy.

If you've been tagged, post the award on your blog and tag 10 others. Oh come on...it's not that painful.

Tag Your It....

1. I Purr-furr To Craft

2. Sew Fun Quilts

3. Ouvrages d'une

4. My Favorite Things

5. Julies Open Window

6. Quilty Mama

7. Carenaraujo

8. Stitchin with Spike

9. Erin Learns To Quilt

10. Sew Perfectly Bagged

God Bless!!

Tea Towel Exchange fo Charming Girls Club Complete!!

My tea towel is done and ready to be mailed to my exchange partner Joan. I made four different towels before I was happy with the one I'm sending. This was my first time making a tea towel and I wanted her to be happy with the towel she receives. To make it more stressful, my sewing machine was acting up and not stitching well but I finally figured out that I had the wrong size bobbin in it (somehow I mixed it up with one from my other machine) after I wasted about an hour fiddling with it, cleaned the machine and changed the needle. Boy was I fustrated and worried I would ruin it. Ultimately I was able to finish it and move on to work on the blanket/quilt I'm making for my grandson.

Joan posted that she mailed my towel out last week so I'm watching my mail box with anticipation. Once Joan receives her package from me I'll share my pictures. Good luck all you "charming girls" with completing your projects.

UPDATE: Joan received her towel and recipe. Here is a picture of what I sent her. The recipe was for Keylime Pie.

Look What the Postman Brought Me!!

Yay!! I won a giveaway from My Favorite Things and it came in the mail today. The gift was a pattern called "Birds & Bow Bed Topper" and it looks like it will be a lot of fun to make. Just look at the intricate detail in the center. It's all hand painted. I'm not sure that my painting skills are of this caliber but I'm willing to give it a try. I might surprise myself.

Thank you so, so much Kerry! I'm planning to give it a shot on a long rainy day weekend.

Take a minute and visit Kerry at http://myfavoritethings-kerry.blogspot.com/ -- she has some awesome stuff on her blog.

Small "but fun" Projects

For some reason, I've only been able to fit in small amounts of time to sew lately so the projects I'm working on are quick ones.

These small Christmas projects are a few of the things I've been working on. This Christmas Bear is a favorite of mine so I thought I'd make it for one of my grand daughter to add to her collection of stuffed animals. These snowmen are a sample of an embroidery pattern I'm trying out for Christmas ornaments and appliques for some Holiday apparrel. The blue one I stitched out in one solid color thread (light blue) and the white applique I stitched out in the recommended colors for the pattern just to see how it came out. What do you think?

This gift bag is a really easy pattern to whip up for a quick gift wrap. It's very similar to a pillowcase pattern leaving the small accent piece open to slip a ribbon through to cinch it closed.

This little bag is a cell phone helper. Worn around the neck, it allows you to be hands free and still have quick access to your cell phone when you're expecting that important call. The fabric used here isn't the greatest but it was handy when I had the idea to sew it up and just the right size (it's just a sample). I'll need to use some nice cording and some attractive fabric for the one's I'll be making for stocking stuffers. This was really simple and quick to make. the ribbon was sewn in with the side seam so once you sew up both sides its done and very secure.

Enjoy A Crafty Moment!!

Giveaways

The giveaway list for August just keeps growing. Today I added about 4 more very generous blogs offering to giveaway some great items. Take a minute and check them out. They don't ask for much and it doesn't hurt to throw your name in the hat. You never know just how lucky you can be. I myself have won 4 giveaways -- something I never expected.

The giveaway list is on my sidebar close to the bottom of my blog. Good luck!!

I've Been Tagged - "You're It Now"

What does this mean? All good I assure you! Just a bit of blogging fun. I was tagged by Purr-Furr to Craft and I have to tell you ten things about myself (it wasn't that easy).

1. Like most everyone else I love chocolate.

2. I come from a family of 9 and I'm the middle child.

3. I'm married to my high-school sweetheart .

4. Besides sewing and crafting, gardening is one of my favorite past-times.

5. I have 4 grandsons and 3 granddaughters.

6. I love to sit outside at night and take in the view of the city.

7. This one is silly I know but I have this thing for Tone Loc's voice (most of you probably don't know who he is).

8. I'm very sentimenal and cry at the movies (almost always).

9. I have two dogs - Sugar my teacup chihuahua and CoCo my Shitz zu

10. I enjoy going to estate sales, bargain shops and collecting vintage jewelry.

Now I have to tag 10 people to carry this on. It's all in fun, however, I'll understand if you don't want to play. If you read this you're tagged - you can leave your list on my comments if you like.

More Projects to Complete

Here's what I'm planning on completing for the August Charming Girls Quilt Club: I'm hopeful that I'll get the blue quilt completed for my grandson (I submitted it in July but didn't get to it),


a small quilted throw from these red blocks I made back in June or early July,




and a quilted tote bag from this pattern or one given to me by another club member called the Big Bag Theory.


Two of these are projects I'd just like to finish. My grandson comes over and wraps himself around the unfinished blanket and makes me feel guilty because it's not done. This is first project I'll be working on. I'm now starting to work on Christmas stuff too, so I'll be fitting a few of those projects in between these. It's fun to push myself and see how much I can get done.

Happy sewing ladies.

Beautiful Thumb Cushions!!!

I won a giveaway for a pair of thumb cushions from http://sue-niven.blogspot.com/2009/07/thumb-pincushion.html and they came today. Thank you Sue...you have to share how you make them. The program for copying pictures to my computer isn't working right now so I can't show you the one's I received, so I'll tell you about them. On is burgandy and the other is green. Sue made sure I got two in my favorite colors. You just slip these little things over your thumb like a ring and they work great to keep pins handy when you're sewing.

Thank you Sue. I love them and hope you'll share your instructions to make them.

Driving Through The Mountains

My husband and I took a trip down to Los Angeles on Saturday afternoon to visit the kids. We headed back home early Sunday morning to avoid any traffic since we have to drive 100 miles. While driving up the pass, I took these pictures of the mountains and the sun rising through the early morning clouds. The views are so pretty, I love the desert (except for the extremely hot days). Check out the pictures on the bottom of this post. Every time we pass this huge rock it amazes me how much it looks like an old Indian face with the wrinkles and all. I was surprised at how clear the pictures came out on this one.

We stopped for breakfast and coffee and once we got home the entire afternoon was spent watching movies on LifeTime and looking at craft shows that I recorded during the week. I did a little embroidery on my Janome and made a snowman ornament. I was trying out this pattern for the first time and wanted to see how it stitched out.

I can say I had a relaxing day and also fit in a little blog surfing.

This is a photo from a distance. Check out the hugh rock in the center of the photo.

Here it is again, we're getting a little closer.

Here's another one that kind of shows you the size of it in comparison to the truck.

Check this out!! What do you think?