Category: Friends (Page 3 of 6)

A Big Day at our house!

September 3, 2013 / Patty

Tomorrow will be a big day at our house! It’s daughter’s birthday and also the last two drug chemo day. Although she will still have two more treatments after tomorrow, the end is in sight and those two are not as nasty as the one tomorrow. So we will celebrate! Tomorrow she will still feel ok. Starting Wednesday afternoon, Thursday and Friday will not be very pleasant but she knows that. So tomorrow we will celebrate. The birthday seems to be a significant day to have the last double treatment.

This of course requires a celebration. We will have some family and a couple of friends to have dinner and celebrate. This also requires a few gifts. My kids are very “green” oriented and dislike paper waste including cards. I really can’t just give up the cards because I like them but I can do something about the wrapping so I decided it was time to create re-usable gift bags.

I have to admit that until I found a remnant of birthday fabric at the store the thought had not crossed my mind. So I created three different kinds of bags. The first bag that I did is somewhat narrow and tall. I lined it with orange fabric, put some handles on it and a snap at the top so it could be closed and the contents will stay secret. I think every good birthday gift should be a surprise and hate it when the packaging fails! The second bag is just a drawstring beg. Sort of a medium size that will accommodate many sizes and shapes of gifts. The third bag was an experiment. I wanted a bag that was easy to close but also a little bit fun and different. This is the bag from the cupcake fabric. Although it’s hard to tell from this photo I hemmed the top of the bag, and then sewed colored elastic into the side seam so you can just stretch the band around the top of the bag and it’s securely closed and adds a cute little top to the bag. All in all the gifts are ready for tomorrow, we’ll get the chemo done, dinner will be started in the crock pot before we leave in the morning (pulled pork) and we’ll all be glad when tomorrow is over and the day has been celebrated to the best of our ability!

Zig Zag quilt.

July 14, 2013 / Patty

A new zig zag quilt has been finished! This has been on my design wall for a while as I contemplated what I was going to do. The new parents are Florida Gator fans and wanted this to be a nod to their Gator loyalty. When I looked at the Florida Gator colors however I just couldn’t see making a baby quilt with just blue and orange which are the main colors. Now I actually am fond of both blue and orange with a touch of green but for a baby this seems a bit intense especially when the gender has not been disclosed. Mom and Dad have chosen not to find out ahead of time.

I knew I wanted to use half square triangles but was undecided about the zig zags or make them using arrows. I also wasn’t sure about the colors. This is version number 1.

I ended up using a royal blue, a green an orange and a fabric that was mixed but included those three colors. I had all of these in my stash. I did end up buying a different orange because I wanted one that was brighter with all the white. Once I got the zig zags done I had the dilemma of the border. I cut the half square triangles with my Go cutter and the finished pattern made a 12″ square so I knew that I wanted the border to be about 4″ total but I really didn’t want to use another fabric or re-use one of the fabrics. I stared to play with some quilting software that I had received for Christmas.. EQ7 or Electric Quilt and ended up with alternating squares and rectangle of the white and colored fabrics. One day when I was walking through JoAnn’s in search of something else, I found this stripped fabric that had all the same colors in it as well and knew this would be the perfect fabric binding. The back I also ended up purchasing and that was a piece of yellow flannel with green alligators Finally the baby quilt was ready. Mom and Dad were pleased, I was satisfied and the baby is due in a couple of weeks. Nice to have this one finished and nice to be pleased with the result.

Embroidered Dish Towels and Pot Holders

December 29, 2012 / Patty

Embroidered dish towels and pot holders were on my list this year. That is my list of gifts to create. I have a dear group of lady friends that I play bridge with a couple of times a month. We’ve played together for 27 or 28 years. We play bridge only with one another and although playing bridge is the reason we tell others we are getting together there are really several goals in mind. One of these is to catch up on news, share our concerns and happy tales and the other is the table snacks and desert! Good reasons for good friends to get together. After we had played together for a few years we started to exchange Christmas gifts. Some years I have a good idea that I will work on for months ahead of time and other years I don’t have a good idea until shortly before Christmas bridge. This fall has been challenging as far as time goes so I didn’t really have any good ideas until after Thanksgiving when my brother invited me to go on a road trip with him to Palm Springs. I knew there would be time in the evenings for handwork and decided that I wanted to embroider some dish towels. In the week that I was gone I managed to finish three towels and when I got home I added some hot pads and the gifts were good to go. The embroidered dish towels and pot holders were fun to make.

Pot holders are another project that I always love. They can be fast or take some time. I have simple ones and more complicated ones that I use in my own kitchen. Along with the dish towels I added a mitt type pot holder and a simple square pot holder. I have both kinds in my kitchen and use them all. I found this great fabric with grapes and apples that was a darker fabric I knew would be perfect for simple pot holders. They were multicolored with no white. Pot holders get dirty so quickly I like ones that don’t show the food stains so quickly. Merry Christmas dear friends.

I Won!

December 28, 2012 / Patty

I won some new patterns and I’m so excited. Although I read many blogs I don’t often leave comments or enter giveaways. There are many reasons.. sometimes I don’t have anything to say or there are so many people commenting that one more just doesn’t seem to add anything. Some days I just don’t feel like it. At the beginning of the month however I did make a comment on the Ever Kelly blog and I won a set of her patterns. They are so cute! There is a playmat, a fabric house, some play figures and a quilt. Her Storybook Lane fabric line is so cute! I’m hoping that someday I will have a granddaughter to make these for but until that time, I may have to make them for my new niece. So thanks Kelly I know I’m going to have fun with these and it was so much fun to have them arrive in my mailbox!

Another finish!

December 11, 2012 / Patty

Another finish! There have been several more but it’s getting closer to Christmas and the time is slipping away. This finish is a baby quilt for my daughters friend. The new mom isn’t really a pink person so I found some other fabrics that I thought would suit a little girl so it was girly but not pink. These colors I am fond of myself. I cut 5″ squares and followed the pattern on the Accuquilt guide. I guess I didn’t take a picture of the back but it was just a tiny pink and lime green polka dot fabric. I love the way this one turned out and think the new mom was surprised and pleased.

Another zip finish!

November 24, 2012 / Patty

Another zip finish. I’ve made so many of these this year the process has certainly gotten faster. It’s a project that I still enjoy however. My dear friend Gretchen has recently had another birthday. Yes, for all of us they keep coming around. I don’t always give gifts but this time I wanted to bring something to let her know I was thinking of her. This little zip pouch fit the bill. It’s made from linen and cotton. I don’t sew often with linen but I do like the way it looks. It is a bit fussier to sew with however as the fabric stretches and frays easily.

A new little coaster

September 7, 2012 / Patty

A new little coaster was made for a friend. And it was good. There is a woman who I have worked with off and on for at least 15 years. Our lives have changed over the course of the friendship and we are both interested in crafting. She is very creative and has a great eye for papercrafts, decorating etc. I love to sew. Recently when she was in my office she saw one fo the over sized coasters that I was using and decided she really needed on and did I sell them? This is on my list of things that I want to do but of course my head is swimming with ideas and more things that I would like to do than I realistically have time or energy for. In the middle of the night however, all things seem possible and I do have an Etsy store set up and have visions of filling it with all sorts of cute hand crafted items. For now however I had some tumbler shapes leftover for one of my frenzied cutting sessions with my AccuQuilt Go cutter. Since I have cut these out I knew that’s how they were going to end up but it wasn’t at the top of the list until last weekend. I sewed them into a little coaster, took it to my friend and she squealed with glee at how perfect it was and how much she loved it. Oh, I do love those enthusiastic folks and I was filled with smiles at her pleasure. Such a little thing but it made my day.

Rag blanket finish

August 22, 2012 / Patty

A rag blanket finish happened this week. It actually was fun to do and I’m pleased with the finished product. When I first bought this die I thought this would be a great way to use the flannel remnants. As it turns out, because you use two pieces of fabric in each block the remnants don’t go very far. I knew that I was making this blanket for a little boy and have since learned that the mom is already in the hospital waiting for this little one to appear. It’s a bit early for his arrival however so they hope he will take his time! In the end, I was able to mostly use fabrics from my stash. I did end up buying a small piece of yellow. Hubby was a bit reserved about the project but was also impressed after it had been washed and dried. Like he said, it almost makes a chenille type fabric after it’s been in the wash and I’m sure it will get softer with each wash. I think I’m off to make another.

The Next Step

August 14, 2012 / Patty

The next step in my adventure was to match up the strips and the zippers. I knew that I wanted each of the zip pouches to be unique. I wanted the strips in pairs of patterns and also didn’t want to be too random and stuck at the end with odd color combinations of strips and zippers. I took the roll ups apart, matched two of the plain prints with a patterned print and then added a coordinating zipper. I laid them out on the cutting table about 20 at a time and them clipped them together with a binder clip and put them in a basket. My friend and co-director volunteered to sew the strips together and press the seams open. That was a life saver for sure! With a few strips isn’t not so bad but when you are talking in the neighborhood of 70 or so.. this accounts for some extras and several “test” pouches.

When I got the strips back from Linda, I cut the strips in half and restacked them with a layer of batting. At this point I could baste them and head for the sewing machine. Now it’s on to the next step.

Camp and a Girl Scout 100th birthday celebration.

August 12, 2012 / Patty

Camp and a Girl Scout 100th birthday celebration. What do they have in common? Well of course, this is a Girl Scout camp so we have to celebrate the birthday. As a co-director my thoughts deal with staffing as much as girl activities. The adults spend many hours planning and preparing for camp and then volunteer to spend a week of their summer as camp counselors so 160 girls can spend a week out doors cooking, canoeing, swimming doing crafts, archery and nature activities. Of course there is singing and learing to work in a team environment as well. We are an all volunteer run camp so money that is collected from the camp fee is used for the camp rental, food and camp program. At the end of the week we like to celebrate with an all camp campfire and thank the adults who helped with a small token of our appreciation. It’s always a challenge to think of something that might be fun, meaningful, useful and not just a trinket. Last year I realized that the Robert Kaufman company had produced a wonderful line of Girl Scout fabric. I knew it would be fun to make something for the staff and for the high school girls who worked as program aids. The dilemma was as we are a non-profit organization and volunteer run camp we did not have much money for thank you gifts and buying fabric to make gifts for 80 people was in our budget. I also was concerned about sewing 80 items in enough time for camp. My original thought was pillow cases. I knew from experience that I could make pillow cases in an assembly line fashion and with several months lead time I could probably make 80. The Robert Kaufman company agreed to donate Girl Scout roll ups. If you are not a quilter you may not have figured out that pillow cases were not happening with roll ups. Roll ups consist of 40 2 .5″ strips of fabric. I was thrilled with the donation but knew I would have to come up with a different plan.

The thinking cap went on and now I was to plan #2. After a bit of experimentation and discussion with my co-director we decided that zip pouches for the adults and lanyards for the girls would be perfect for the fabric available. The adults would love the Girl Scout fabric in the zip pouches and the girls would find the lanyards useful for their schedules and their whistles.

The next project was to order supplies and make a few trial versions.

All was ready for step number two.

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