Hartland fun!

I'm sure that we all love retreats...I know I do!  I went to a retreat recently up in the Sierra Nevada mountains of California.  It was beautiful!

The Reedley Mennonite Quilt Center sponsored the weekend, and brought up some items for sale from their store!  Yes, I did my fair share of shopping.

The space was large and filled with great light.

My great friend Dotty and I shared this little corner of the room.  That's my 'Jemma' (Janome) out front!

These are my completed projects from the weekend.  Love these little minis.

 

This is the outside of the sewing building.  There was even a guy who sharpened scissors for FREE!

 



Cloth napkins and table clothes for each meal!  The food was fantastic.  Lots of choices.

This is the building we stayed in.

Great accommodations!  Only Dotty and I in this BIG room.  A great time was had by all.  It will be a whole year before I get to go to another retreat.  Sad face!

Linking to:  Anything Goes Monday at Stitch by Stitch!  Sew Cute Tuesday at Blossom Heart Quilts!

Redesigning from horizontal to verticle.....not easy!

 

A few months ago, I volunteered to pattern test for my dear friend Lorna of Sew Fresh Quilts.  We had a choice between 'I love 2 sew' and 'I love 2 quilt'.  I chose the 'sew' mini.  I knew that someday I would make the 'quilt' mini also.  The problem, the wall space I have to hang them on is very narrow and the 'quilt' mini is designed horizontal!  I contacted Lorna and she graciously said to 'go for it' and redesign it to verticle....so I did.  I set about redesigning everything about this mini.

 

I started out on graph paper and it seems like it took forever to figure it all out.  I have a new appreciation for pattern designers.

 I took all of my pieces to the last retreat I went to and started sewing this little beauty there.  I had cut out several wrong pieces and failed to take my scraps with me.  So, I had to set this project aside and work on other projects that I had taken.

 I had to shrink down some of the elements, and change around all of the settings.  The 'quilt' mini has a pink sewing machine.  And I added a 'needle' to each of the machines.

 Because they live side by side, I quilted and bound them the same.

I think that they look great!  Thank you sweet Lorna, for the permission to mess with your lovely design.


Linking to:  Let's Bee Social at Sew Fresh Quilts!  WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced Quilts!

Yep, I couldn't resist!

I to fell into the 'Nail Polish' mini craze!  I tell you what, the minute I saw this cutie, I knew I had 3 wonderful ladies that I simply must make these for.  My sisters!!  Yes, all three of them do their own nails and use ugly towels under their hands and polish while doing so.  I thought that these would make great birthday gifts for each of them, so I set out to find out their favorite colors.

This is a FREE download from the Fat Quarter Shop.  They even have a tutorial on YouTube!  This pattern is super easy and fast.  I suggest you get it for yourself or as a gift.  If you have a friend that loves polish, give her the pattern with all the needed fabrics and her favorite nail polish!  Christmas is coming you know.

This little cutie turns out 14x22.  I did some 'organic' line quilting.  I like the way it makes this mini lay flat.  Easier to get your bottles to stay upright.  I sure hope they each like these little gifts.

I told you about my ruptured disc with my last post, well, I have sense had surgery on my lower back.  It has made sitting at my sewing machine difficult, but I think that I will be cleared for normal activities soon!  This little cutie was one of the first projects I tried about 1 1/2 weeks post surgery.  No pain at this point....just fatigue!  This has been the longest 3 1/2 months of my life.

Linking to: TGIFF at Quilt Matters!  Finish it up Friday at Crazy Mom Quilts!  Can I Get a Whoop Whoop? at Confessions of a Fabric Addict!  Anything Goes Monday at Stitch by Stitch!

Everyone needs a home!

My daughter brought to my attention, that her phone and sunglasses had no home!  Well, I felt bad for them.  Then she brought to my attention that she wanted ME to make them a home....now I get it, I was to make a zipper pouch for each.  Weeellllll....I love making pouches, and I was happy to fulfill her request.  She loves cats, and I had the perfect fabrics for her to choose from.  She also went through my patterns and chose which suited her phone and glasses best.

 For her sunglasses, I made the 'Across the Pond Pouch' from Cabbages & Rose for Moda.

 Then I used the two sided zipper pouch for her phone.

I hope that she enjoys this pair of dandy pouches.  I also added some beads for the pulls.  I have just started doing that with my zips and it is so much fun!

Linking to: Sew Cute Tuesday at Blossom Heart Quilts!

Have you seen the 'sew together' bag all over?

I have, and love them to death.  This is the 4th one I've made, and I don't think I'll ever get tired of them.  If you are interested in this pattern, it was created by Sew Demented and is for sale on her blog.

First off, I went through a bag of scraps that I bought from Christa of Christa Quilts and picked out some coordinating fabrics.  Then I sewed them together to make a piece of 'fabric' for the outside.

Then I started quilting it with matchstick quilting.  This was at the beginning, so the lines are further apart.

I love making my 'sew together' bags scrappy.

The zippers are my favorite part!

A little surprise inside of the pockets.

This one went right back to Christa!  Christa, I hope you enjoyed using this little 'sew together' bag at Market!

Finish It Up Friday at Crazy Mom Quilts!

I really don't like to dust...really!

So, I'm thinking that if I can cover all the horizontal surfaces in my sewing room, I can wash!  I almost have them all covered, and here is my latest runner.

I found this stack of pre-cut pieces, and decided that I'd just use them to make this runner.  Why cut into something new, when I had all of these perfectly good rectangles?

I decided to do a flower FMQ.  Well, I'm not real good, but this was a wonderful forum to practice.

This is that little table that I made in high school wood shop a million years ago.  It adds a bit more color to this corner for sure.

One less surface to have to dust each week!  I have sense gotten a 6 shelf bookcase.  I have my work cut out for myself.

Linking to: Sew Cute Tuesday at Blossom Heart Quilts! Let's Bee Social at Sew Fresh Quilts!