Gift Bag for a little girl...

A gift-bag for bunny!

I made this drawstring bag for a friend's little daughter, as a gift bag for the soft toy that I also made for her a while back and then ...<ahem>.... didn't get around to sending...
Suddenly last week I realized that the little girl's birthday was right around the corner and she didn't have her bunny yet!  For a while I wrung my hands and whimpered to myself about how I would never get it together in time and would miss her birthday again (yes, again...oh shame on me!)  Then I got ahold of myself and decided to make this carrying sack/gift bag to complete her gift and get it in the mail!!  Very daring and ambitious for me let me tell you, I am a terrible procrastinator....horrible, just horrible.....

more pictures after the link!

The Tea-Rose purse and drawstring bag

The Tea-Rose purse and bag

Here's a sweet little purse I made a while ago, based on a free pattern available at Belle Epoque.  I made this purse smaller than the original pattern by folding over areas of the pattern print-out before cutting out.  Then I dressed the project up with some pretty details.  I used a tutorial on Tea Rose Home for the flower, on the tutorial page it is used to adorn a ruffle shirt, but I liked the style with the "tails" hanging down as if they tie the flower on, so I used it for the bag.  I also stiffened the bag with some batting I bought when pondering on a quilt project a while back.  I didn't make the quilt but I have lots of batting now to make fun stuff with!

This little project is quite elaborate, there are many more fancy details that went into making it fab.  Follow the link to see...

Bunny Rabbit "muslin" - my design

This is my new rabbit, I made a "muslin" to test out the pattern I drew up, so this is plain muslin and chocolate colored cotton for the contrast areas.

Earth day organic fabric giveaway

Head over to DaisyJanie to enter the organic fabric giveaway!  Then follow the links for a total of 12 chances to win groovy new organic fabrics.  I entered comments on all the links today and so maybe I will win?  My plan is to make loads of re-usable grocery bags so I can avoid having to use plastic bags from now on.

Ickle Baggy Bag..

My latest creation...a little drawstring bag to hide those items in one's purse you don't want seen when you open it to pay for stuff in random stores...

Is this a Chrysanthemum Ball?

I made a toy/puzzle ball that I first saw on a cover of "Quilts Japan" magazine over at superbuzzy.. I looked all over for a pattern for it and then a tutorial showed up on craftgossip here, which I followed...with some modifications.

Something to make you smile..

I was just commenting on Stitch&Bake that there is nothing like a snoozing furry to adorn a quilt (visit that link to see why)...and then I thought of this picture.  This is not even a quilt, just some cheap old bedclothes, but notice how snuggly and warm they suddenly appear when one has the family pet pose on them.. Nothing quite like it is there?  Heck, that could be a bundle of greasy old rags she's laying on and it would look inviting!

Clearly this is how furnishings should really be sold, Macys should keep an army of sleepy pets in the furniture dept, they would sell beds and armchairs like crazy.  Or maybe this is the best way to shop for furniture - take your pet to the store and buy the couch it curls up on....

Any thoughts?

A Bed Quilt - is this enough fabric??

I am thinking about making a quilt.

The more I think about it and the more I read about quilting the more I realize what a serious thing it is to think about making a quilt!  I am practically paralyzed with terror in fact!!

So much so that I have needed to simplify this process by choosing the easiest design and breaking down the rest of my anxieties into key questions.  In my quest for the right design I have looked at lots of lovely quilts on the internet and I have to say I am most attracted to simple patterns that feature lovely fabric combinations.

So I decided to do a quilt top made from squares and then to consider adding some applique after the top was about done - once I can see how it looks and where it might benefit from some more "action".  The applique may or may not happen at all of course since I would like to get this done fairly quickly once I decide how to do it, otherwise I shall run out of enthusiasm y'know!

How I made fabric bows for my place mats

I put a little bow in one corner of each place mat, I think it really made them look finished.  I used the same ribbon as the trim that goes around near the edge and stitched it in white too so it would match.   I didn't have much of the ribbon as it was given me so I had to make sure I saved enough of the ribbon to make bows by calculating how much I would need to trim each placemat and still save some for bows.  The bows are not actually tied, they are made from two strips of ribbon, a long piece for the loops and tails and a smaller strip to wrap around the middle.

Follow the link to see how to make the bows like I did, step by step...

Kawaiiiiii!!!!!!!

Oh my god I have to share something right now.....I am totally losing my mind for Japanese prints right now - TOTALLY!!!!

Kawaii!!!  (This apparently means "cute" in Japanese...I think)

I am talking about fabrics of course,  and now I have to post pictures to show what is turning me completely gaga...  look and see!

Kittens!  Read on for more...

Placemats from nowhere...

Here are 2 of my 5 new tablemats.  They look super on the table (they now each have a bow on one corner too) and everyone likes them which is a major plus!  Table mats may not seem very exciting to some, so I should explain why they are are important enough to me to get in the way of making cool stuff like stuffed bunnies...  It's quite simple, I have frequent headaches, and a large glass topped dining room table on a tiled floor next to a huge window with not much soft furnishing to soak up the resounding "CLANG!!!" of plates and cups plonked onto it by the less sensitive members of the household.  The noise bounces off the afore mentioned hard surfaces and amplifies into a brain mushing sensation when it hits my ears....I can't take it I tell you!!!  Placemats it had to be, pronto!  

Kwazy Wabbits!

These lil' rabbits were SO much fun to make!  Just look at those little faces!  Adorable...and I am so proud because I embroidered and appliqued the faces myself to make them completely baby and child safe.  From what I have read, if a toy is intended for a child of 3 or under there must be nothing on it that could possibly be chewed off and become a choking hazard.  This means I could not use any beads or buttons for eyes or anything like that.  The free pattern I used recommended "safety eyes", but I don't have the luxury of running out to buy anything I want and I am too impatient to hold up a project when something else I already have can be pressed into service, so I bought absolutely nothing for this as I had all the materials around the house.  The pattern also called for me to buy pompoms but I got around that too....  So before I say more, I just want to say a big THANK YOU! to the person who posted this wonderful bunny doll pattern for free.