Another try at making a purse

I decided to make a purse and wallet to match.

I adjusted a pattern I had. I made it a little smaller than the pattern.  I made up the pattern for the wallet.  I like the way they turned out!

Another beautiful morning in South Louisiana

As much as I love to sit at my sewing machine, I can not resist sitting on the back screened patio to take in the beautiful mornings we have been  having here.  Enjoying a great cup of coffee and the quietness of the morning are such a wonderful way to start my day.  I wish you could hear the birds.  They are squabbling over their territory in the bird house we put up.  It is too funny to watch them chase each other.  I can hear a whisper of traffic in the background but other wise it is very very quiet.   I am including a picture of my view....wish all my blogging friends could stop in for a cup of coffee one morning!

You can see the bird house we put up above the fort on the swing set we have for the children.  Our oak tree (in the background) is the prettiest I have seen in the last few years. I sure hope a hurricane never takes it away from us. We have two swings and a glider under that tree that we enjoy in the early evenings.  Even when the temps here are in the 80s and 90s, it is cool enough under the tree to have a great visit with family and friends who stop by.

Every girls dream?

Just had to share this.....

Another new purse

this time I used the same fabric for everything, lining, pockets, purse and handle.

How do you like the black and white!  It goes with this wallet I made too.

A new purse

I made this bag a couple of days ago.  It is fun to make these. I have another one cut out and ready to be put together. They are perfect size for traveling.  I made one for my DIL a few months ago to use as a diaper bag.  I even gave my embroidery machine a try and put my monogram on  one of the pockets.

I refuse to be defeated!

I ordinarily only post about things I have made, but today I have to share something personal.
I may have mentioned that I have rheumatoid arthritis.  Two years ago this month I was diagnosed with RA.  I have to admit it was a scary thing to hear.  I did go through a mourning period but I have tried and tried to not let it stop me from doing what I love to do. (take care of my grandchildren, spend time with my family and friends, participate in church activities and sew)
It has been a challenge but I keep going.  I have tried (I think) all of the meds out there. Painful shots, infusions and lots of pills.  The med I am on now, Enbrel, is helping a lot.  Still have very swollen hands and fingers and pain here and there. I miss the life I had before. The predinsone (steroid) helped put 45 pounds on me.  I am now somewhat in control and have managed to loose 24 of them.  I have to keep going because I know that the extra weight is not good for my knees and feet.
For some reason, this morning I feel so sad and disappointed in my self for letting it get to me.
I have a wonderful family and a lot of caring friends but I feel so alone. I do not want to be a burden on anyone. I try to do everything for myself. I hate it when I get like this.
Sorry I am so pitiful today.  I have to shake this off quick!

I am working on a couple of projects in my sewing room so I guess I should go to my sewing (therapy) room and get started.

thanks for listening.......I will try not to write like this again.

Trista's quilt

I finally finished everything on this project.
Here is a photo of the quilt with the pillow shams I made.
It is for a full sized bed.

I also made a valance for her window (no photo) and I posted a photo of the little version of this quilt on an earlier date.

My new toy!

Do all of you wonderful quilters out there have this kind of iron?
 I just discovered it and bought it as a birthday present to myself.

I am looking forward to putting to use when I work on my next project!

Here is a photo:

Another quilt completed!

I finally finished this project.  A friend asked me to make a quilt for her three year old daughter.  She will be moving into a full sized bed and she needed a quilt for it.
She said she wanted a "princess" type theme.  I wanted it to be simple but special.  It took a while to come up with a design I liked.
I hope she likes it.   I am working on some pillow shams for her and I made a valance for her window.  I hope to get a photo of the room later.
For now...here it is:

Hoppy Easter!

Happy Easter everyone!  We had a beautiful day.  My children and grandchildren were here. We also celebrated my 60th birthday.
They gave  me a great new camera!
Here is a photo of my three precious grandsons.

Michelle brought this cute little chicken. So cute.
I hope you can open the video.   Be sure to turn up your volume so you can hear her song!

Pillow cover for an online exchange

For this exchange we get a different project each month.
For February we had to make a pillow cover for a 14" pillow form.
I did March's project first so I  had to get on this one right away because I have another project for April!

I decided to make a pillow with a theme well known in New Orleans.  I hope the person who gets my box of goodies will like
this pillow cover!

here is a photo of the front and back.

My first attempt at making an ipad cover

My nieces are going to be using ipads for school next term.  They each got an ipad 3.  Hailli came over two days ago and asked me if I could make a soft cover for hers.  She bought a pink (Otter) box to put it in for protection but she wants a soft cover to keep it in when she has to carry it in her back pack for school.  She picked out a couple of matching fat quarters from my stash and this is what I came up with.

I embroidered her name in the lower right corner.  Then I just let the fabric take me along for a ride.


I quilted it using 2 layers of Warm and Natural batting

I did the binding  and trimmed it to fit the ipad

this is the front...

this is the back

I added the pink velcro.

the otter box thingy she bought is the bright pink

this is the front opened!

this is the front...it is closed

it measures about 8 1/2" by 12 1/2 " when complete.  I think she is going to like it.

Pillow cases?

I wanted to try something different so I am taking part in a "Stocking Exchange"  It will run for the whole year.  Each month we have something to make.  It's fun to have a different project each month. I have learned something new with each item I make.

Check out http://wastelandwallowing.blogspot.com/ to read more about the exchange.

This month ( March ), we had to make pillow cases.  I decided I wanted to make Christmas pillow cases.  I have never made pillow cases before.   I like the way they turned out!  Let me know what you think of them....

Thrift store plaid shirts recycled

I went to the little thrift store in our town and bought a few large plaid  men's shirts for 50 cents each.
They are just big enough to make shorts for my grand sons. I was able to make a size 2-3T for them.  I cut out 4 and have already made two of them. They love to sleep in these.

Here are a couple of photos.  I should have taken a picture of the shirts before I cut them up.   The sleeves on them have a lot of fabric too but I don't need it.  If anyone wants the left over fabric from the shirts, let me know and I will send it to you.

another pillow case dress!

These are fun and easy to make!
I made this one a little while ago!
sweet

Cute burp cloths

I had these cloth diapers that I never used.  They were washed and dried to allow natural shrinkage. These burp cloths measure about 17" X 14".   I added fabric to the middle to make them pretty!
Here is one laid out flat.....

Here are a few that I made.   I may put some in my Etsy store but if you want to order some just let me know by leaving a comment here on my blog.  In the Etsy store they will be $5.50 with free shipping in the US (lower 48 states only)

Trista models her new pillowcase dress

Here is the little princess that I made those pillowcase dresses for!
she is soooooo sweet and she loves her new dresses.

Another pillowcase dress.....

I love these cute little dresses and they are so easy to make that I had to make another one.  It took just about an hour for me to make this one.  I am still slow!
I used 5 fat quarters.  I cannot wait to see this on my little friend!  I will have to take a photo of  her with the dress on and post it.

Here is a photo:

First try at making a pillow case dress!

I  had some fabric left over from the little quilt I talked about in my last post.   I found a simple tutorial online about how to make a pillowcase dress.  I always thought they would be difficult to make.
It was not hard to do at all.  I plan to make a few more!
click here to go to the tutorial I used.....
http://www.themotherhuddle.com/tutorial-fat-quarter-pillow-case-dress/

Here is a photo of the dress....front and back
Let me know what you think of it.

front

 back

A sample quilt to try out a design!

I am working on designing a quilt for a special friend's three year old daughter.  She gave me some ideas of what colors she wants and  showed me a sweet little crown she would like  on the quilt.  I was not able to find the exact fabric she wanted but I picked up a few 1/2 yard pieces of fabric and came up with this.
It is only about 25 inches square so her daughter will be able to use it for her dolls.   I will work on the "real" quilt over the next couple of weeks once she decided if these are the colors she wants.

What do you think of it!