Random pics of some things I've made and haven't shared

For a baby shower gift

another MQ top

Baby Bento box for niece

                                                   Second cat's meow quilt for my sister

                                                       

                      Made for a friend out of some really small scrappy blocks her grandmother had made.

Finished my JUQ MQ

This is my first ever mystery quilt and I loved making it so much I've started another one. I've have started and finished many things during the cold weather we've had but I can honestly say the weather hasn't bothered me because I do get to stay inside and look at the beauty of it rather then go out and feel it's bite. I feel very thankful for that. My husband is very supportive of my love for sewing, and doesn't mind that I spend so much time in my woman cave. Here's what I have accomplished in the last few weeks.

   

                                                                                                                                                             1. I got the borders on my MQ. I added the surrounding row of diamonds, a red pin strip and a big wide scalloped edge. I thought that with the border fabric not having much going on that the scallops would be nice and I'm glad I added them. I was challenging for me, but I'm glad I gave them a try. I learned that I love scallops and that I will not be making them so deep any more. Try to stitch those tight curves was a well, no so simple and took a very long time. Longer then hand stitching the binding down. But It's done!!!                 

2. I got another UFO quilted and bound. Happy to have another project done and out of the way. I pieced this a few years ago to use up some of the scraps I had. It is very beautiful on our big white bed. I'm sure it won't be here long, Someone will see it and love it and it will be gone. It makes my heart happy knowing they go to those who will love and cherish them.                                     

3. This is just a simple drawstring bag I made at the request of a dear friend. She asked for a gym bag with  a drawstring and had found one online she liked but asked me if I could make her one like it. I put 4 pockets on the inside and she just loves it.

4. I have step one done on my other MQ and have made 2 pillow cases to match the pink and white stripe quilt I had made. Today, I'm working on a throw pillow to go with the pillow slips and quilt.

Happy sewing!!!
Donna

Quilted bags

A few small quilted Christmas gifts!

Past projects

 Oh my it has been nearly 2 years since I posted on my blog. I have to say it's been a great 2 years and lots of life changes. I moved back to my hometown of Madisonville Ky. I also married my childhood sweetheart. I'm happier then I've ever been. But I really don't want to talk about me. I had much rather talk quilting and sewing. So I think it would be much easier for me if I just share pics of some of the thing I managed to get done here and there along the way. Some are good, some are bad and some I love.

This is a quilt I was commissioned to do. It is 125"x110" Sew big I couldn't get it all in the pic without having to move furniture. So I opted to just fold it in half and get a pic. but that was fine since the other half looks the same as this half.

 

 Folded and ready to ship. She loves it by the way and I have to say I love it too. I'm thinking of making me one.

Place mats and baskets for my sister. 

 mini for my other sister.           

 Bear quilt for grandson John.

 Quilt for my daughter. This one obviously needed more quilting on it. I think I can still manage that although it is already bound.

 The back.

 

 Made 2 of these boyish quilts both were donated. One to a burn unit in Texas and another to a shelter for children. I've been meaning to see (since I've moved back to my hometown) if they have any organizations here in our area that I could help out by donation.

 7 stocking, 6 made of the kids and grandmothers clothing fabric. The other one was for the dog.

 Mini for a swap.

 Bandana dress made for Scout.

 Placemats I made for us. Oh that big pile of baby clothes is for another project I was working on in the next pic. She wanted a quilt made of her daughters baby clothes and I was working on making the dots out of them.

 The dots out of baby clothes.

 Postcards made for a friend.

 Well, no sewing here but I did use some homespun in this wreath I made out of an old horn I picked up at a yard sale. I knew when I seen it I wanted to add some greenery, berries and a plaid bow. Was so simple but I love it.

Coasters I seen on Pinterest and liked so much I made us some. 
I do have some more things to share. I'll have to drag the laptop out for those pics. I also have another finished quilt and 2 tops finished up to share but I'll have to get pics of those before they head out to their new homes. I have already started the next 4 or 5 quilts in my head and even have fabrics picked out for them. I almost forgot I have made many bags/ pouches to share as well. I'll have to break out my camera tomorrow. I wish I was a better picture taker. Seems all my pics are either blurry or the color is off. I'm not sure how to set the thing and have probably done something to the settings because I can remember at one time it took pretty good pics. Someone suggested I clean the lens, so I'll be sure to do that first too.
I have missed blogging, I sure have tons to catch up on my love to read list of blogs. I hope I find time to sew in between I know how I lose total track of time once I get started looking at all the pretties everyone is making. 
I also want to wish everyone a Very Merry Christmas and The happiest New Year!

I almost forgot

I told you I would post a pic of the buttercup bag I made my sister. It didn't take no time to make this and was one of the easy things I've made lately. Here's a link to the free pattern. Make sure you show us your buttercup bags!!! madebyrae,blogspot.com/

I've gotten behind

On reading everyone's blogs and posting on my own. But I've have been terribly busy getting ready for the big retreat. If you look on my side bar you will see a COF retreat countdown clock. When I first put it there I had over 190 days. Boy has the time flew, now I find myself in a mad dash to get everything done. I have got the tutorial I promised, all drafted up and ready to post the day I leave (April23rd) can't do it any sooner or I may ruin the little surprise I made for this great group of ladies. I had quite a few projects/challenges to complete. So, as soon as I return I'll be posting lots of pics, I know everyone likes pics. I'll also be taking several classes and will show you what I accomplish at those as well. There was a spot come open at the last minute so my wonderful sister was able to now join in on the fun. The best part is she is going to fly from Ohio down here to Ga. to fly back up to NH with me, where we'll have a stop in Pa. What's so great about that you ask, well not only has it been far too long since I have got to spend time with my sister, but I have been terrified about traveling alone and have came close to backing out several times. This is a once in a lifetime event for me, I have never attended a retreat or quilting class, and the best part is getting to meet 70 of my online quilting friends, and spend time with my sister. We will also be taking a big trip to Keepsake quilt shop, woohoo. I've only been to 2 quilt shops before and although I thoroughly enjoyed it they were quite small and a bit of a drive so I usually do all my shopping online. I decided I had better bring an empty suitcase to haul my loot back in, and it's a big one too : ) We will be playing FQ bingo, show and tell, making the Miranda bag, we will be doing a meet and greet where we all will be wearing the T-shirt we created to represent our state, they have too many things on our to do list for me to possibly list them all. So after 2 suitcases and a purse later I decided I needed more, so I made a tote for my sewing things. My sister wants me to make her one of the cute little buttercup bags that she seen some of the ladies on the HGTV message board make and the tutorial for them is on madebyrae.blogspot.com/ I hope to get started one that tomorrow, and possibly finish it and post tomorrow. But for now the only thing I can show you is the tote, which is a Simplicity gardening tote pattern but I loved the big pleated pockets and it has 12. that should hold all my stuff. It looks rather small in this pic but it will hold my pocket book, laptop and all my sewing tools, camera, cell phone, a few good books and of course some snacks(fig newtons for me). I have the matching apron pattern, if I have time I'll be making that too.

Remember the purple pokla dots and checks

It was for my PIF gifts. Now that some of them have made there way home you can see what they turned into and where they went here and here. I still have 2 more on their way out that are a little different but I can't show those yet. I also made this cute little lady bug bag using the tutorial from here. It's for someone who loves ladybugs. It's not very big but would work well to keep jewelry in while traveling.

Tea/ Coffee Cup Pouches

I joined a cuppa swap on the HGTV board and we are swapping tea/coffee cup blocks. Fun, fun, fun I like all the cup quilts I've been seeing, and for me I love scrappy so the variety will be perfect. I sure am hoping we do another swap making the kettles. I would like to have kettles in my quilt too. I wanted to show you the little tea cup pouches I made for my 9 partners. I ahd a hard time with the zippers but I still think they turned out so cute and hope they like them.

Got some sewing done this week

I finally got around to finishing some things. My DGD school is having western day tomorrow, so we thought instead of buying an outfit we'd just add this ruffle and belt to this skirt for her. She loves it. I did have to go back and sew around outside top of the ruffle to keep it from poofing up so much. I had already taken the picture before I took it over to see if she liked it. Once we got it on her we decided it wasn't laying down too well, so I pulled out Katelyn's mini Janome she got for Christmas and run another seam on top and wa-la, it worked and looked great on her. I wish I had of took my camera with me, so you could see it on her. And speaking of Katelyn she making her new cousin a quilt. She's doing quite well I'll show pics soon of her progress. I have a few to take apart but most of her seams turned out good.Next I made a roll-up for my sisters paint brushes. She needed something to carry them in to class. I told her a while back I'd make on for her but just got around to getting it done. I made this just like they make the crayon roll-ups only I added a handle and vinyl to the inside. I put vinyl over the inside fabric so when she put her brushes back in and there still wet it will work out better. I still have to pick the tissue paper out of the seams. I didn't know vinyl wouldn't feed thought the machine so I laid that on top the vinyl so it would feed through. I was going to sew a flap of vinyl to fold down over the top of them too, but thought it might make it hard to get the brushes out so I'm just going to lay a piece of the vinyl inside to lay over the top of them too. I left the ribbon pretty long because I wasn't sure how much she'd need to wrap around, she said she usually carries 30 brushes to class. I didn't know they made 30 different brushes. I learned something about painting! I hope it works good for her, if not I'll try again and try to work it out. I also got some pants mended for a friend which have been mended so many times before the only thing that was holding them together was the seams. What is it with men that they won't give their pants up even when they are practically all patched up. Just about every part of these jeans have been patched. I don't doubt that in 6 more months I see these pants come back to me. I also got some mini's done, Ill be posting them in the next week or so once my partner has received them
Wanted to update this post. My sister got her roll-up and loves it. She said it is just what she needed. Here's the pic she sent me with the brushes in it.

Creating keepsake ornaments

I'm sorry the original link didn't go to the page for how this works and the tag to use so I've added this link which will take you to the tag for the ornaments. Today, I learned that crafters all over the world are making homemade ornaments and leaving them in public places for others to find with a tag downloaded from the Creating keepsake ornaments blog. This is so much fun and a great way to share the spirit of giving. I made 3 drop offs to day. The first one I made at the news stand. The second at the station near the house, and the 3rd on the way to my DD's. Now , on the third on I did the drop and went in to buy a drink, and on my way out I seen a man had already pulled up to the pump and found the little snowman. He had the biggest smile, of course he didn't know it was from me, but it sure made me smile too. If you are interested in doing this here the link.

Chili peppers

My DD has asked me for the last year to make her some chili pepper place mats. They took me 2 days to make and I know I should have done it sooner. But I just had too many other things going on. Now she has no idea she's getting these. I'll put them under the tree. The colors go perfectly with her kitchen. I thought when I started these yesterday that they'd be pretty simple and only take a day, forgetting about all the binding which took a whole day to stitch down. I would have never thought it would have taken me 2 days to make 4 simple place mats, LOL. I watch a lot of sewing show and they make things look so simple. I watch Sewing with Nancy yesterday, and she constructed a nice bag with a zipper closure and lining. Now she done the whole thing in a 30 minute episode. I told Cliff it's not as easy as she makes it look. She a very experienced seamstress and makes things look as simple, but it not quite so simple for me. Maybe I should have just bought the place mats!!
Now, I'm off to make some kitchen curtains for DD#2. She has her kitchen all done up in apples, it's really cute. Everytime me and Cliff go to Cracker Barrel we can't leave without buying something for her kitchen, I'm hoping they'll get in some chili pepper stuff, before my other daughter feels forgotten. I have some great fabric to work with and I am hoping they turn out nice. I've made plenty of curtains so maybe I'll get these done in a timely matter, so I can finish a couple other things I like to make before Christmas. I thought I was done with all my gifts, but I just keep thinking of all the things everyone would love to have and I can make. I'm even thinking if I have time I'll make matching pot holders and dish towels with the small amount of fabric I have left over.

My attempt at Holiday PC's

I join a swap for Holiday PC on the HGTV message board. I had to make 4, I made several with the button wreaths and then got worried that they might not go through the mail. So I made some that I could just stick stamps on and mail. I ordered some plastic envelopes for the button ones so I'll probably just send everyone 2 PC. Now for me the hard part is deciding which one to send to who!

I made the cat a Christmas present

I hate mice, but the cat loves them.

I made some pincushions tonight.

I made several of these a few months back for a pincushion swap I was in. I love these pincushions, so I thought I's make some for gifts, I'm sure my friends will like them too.

Have you ever heard The Story of Stuff? Well it's important to me and I hope it is to you too. Please take a look at this.

Another gift

My sister sent me 2 long pieces of her Tatting, she said she didn't know what to do with them after she made them and they have been sitting in a tote ever since. So, I decided to use them for trim on pillow cases which I will send to her as a gift. I used a WOW cotton. I thought a print might over power the beautiful tatting. I think she will be surprised and I know she will love them. These will look good with her new quilt.

Fabric baskets

I made this little basket today. I think it is rather cute. And I like the way the little handles hold your scissors. I just sewed bits of fabric together, to make my blocks. then squared them up to 6x9" added 1.5 in red strips to both sides and the top of the blocks. then sewed a 6x9" piece of fabric between the blocks to make the bottom. It should look something like this.

Layered pellon, batting and the fabric, then quilted it. Made a black lining 11.5x18.5. Next I folded the quilted piece right sides together and sewed down both sides, done the same with the lining. next I sewed box pleats in the basket and lining. Turned the basket right side out. Made handles, pinned them to the side of the basket. Slipped the basket (right side out) into the lining (wrong side out) sewing most of the way around, leaving and opening about 6' to turn the lining over the bag and into place. Last step to sew a seam all the way around the top of basket to close the lining.