Dog Cushion Cover

Awww check out my beautiful lady!  (and her dog bed, the subject of this post.  Do you want the long story?  Too bad, here it comes: 

 

I was browsing around in Homegoods, as I have a habit of doing, and I saw this glorious dog bed - large and round, zebra patterned cushion, iron-look scrollwork.  It was a beauty.  It cost about $60, and steal-of-a-deal I'm sure that was, I'm sure if I spent $60 on a dog bed, Hubs would have freaked. 

So I decided to make River a nice, personalized bed instead, with stash fabric to boot, so the cost would be almost nothing.  Ha!  That foam - with the 50% off JoAnn coupon almost as much as the froufy dog bed from Homegoods.  Sheesh. 

Anyway, here it is.  I put in a zipper so I can take it off to wash it.  It's a bugger to pull on and off, though, so I don't think I'll do that too often.

Love my embroidery machine!  She seems to enjoy it, depending where I put it.  If it's right next to our bed, she will lounge on it during the day, but if I move it to an unacceptable spot (like an open area by the door), she has no interest.

At least she's pretty.

Baby Quilt

If it seems like I'm jumping from one project to another without actually finishing much, um, you're right.  What can I say?  Old habits die hard and I want to try out everything my new machine has to offer.  Wednesday was our one month anniversary together and we're getting along swimmingly.  I even had my first class about my new machine last night, and that was so much fun!  I pretty much never meet fellow seamstresses, so it was cool to meet some other ladies, too.  I can't wait to have the next one next week.

Here is a baby quilt top I made with a specific recipient in mind.  I pieced it together a couple of weekends ago, and it went really quickly.  It's about time to put on some borders and quilt it if I'm going to have it finished before someone's big arrival!  I'm going to dabble in a little free-motion quilting as well as copious amounts of stitch-in-the-ditch.  I always thought free-motion quilting sounded impossibly difficult, but we did just a smidge of it last night and it's not that bad.  Just takes practice, and I doubt the baby will mind if I use his blanket for that.

I used my embroidery module to do the applique embroidery parts, and I strip-pieced the 9 patch squares.  I used a pattern in a book, which I'll tell you about when I finish this sucker.

Embroidered top

Here is my newest top for me!  I had to try to make a top for an adult using some embroidery from my new machine.

I put on three coordinating designs, including one on the back for funsies.  The pattern is my usual Butterick 3344 top, which is now so out-of-print that they don't have it on the website anymore.  I modified the front to have crossover pieces at the top.  I had to be creative to use the pieces of this top, which was ruined in the wash.  :-(  I was so sad when that bit the dust that I stuffed it away for two years before cutting it up.  :-)

I've started a fancy dress for my mom, so expect some half-finished progress pics of that.  It will take me at least a few days to make, but I am LOVING it so far.  The fabric is the red shown in the middle of this post.

Lazy Girl Designs Miranda Day Bag

I finished my purse and used it today.  It's Lazy Girl Designs' Miranda Day Bag.  I've had the fabric and pattern in my stash for about 2 years and don't know why it took me so long to make it!

I love it and only made a few modifications.  It calls for batting and interfacing to provide the structure.  I used one layer of fusible fleece, and while it does stand up on its own, if I make it again, I'll use the recommended structure materials.  

It has lots of inside pockets and easily holds my wallet, phone, checkbook, sunglasses, pens, and various other little bits I feel the need to tote around.  

Another change I made was to sew the side seams a little bit to hold them in.  Make sense?  You can see it in this top view.

Here's a look at the velcro closure and the fabric-covered acrylic base, also from Lazy Girl Designs.  I bought everything at a quilt shop, but they also sell online.  The main print fabric and the blue is from a Moda holiday line, but these particular fabrics don't read "holiday" to me.  The green is a mystery quilting fabric that coordinated nicely.

If I make this bag again, I'll use a magnet snap closure, add a zipper top, and do the recommended interfacing, but other than that, this pattern is the perfect everyday bag for me!

Paul wanted to show you the velcro tab.

He also thought I should show off my work.  So thoughtful.

Atkinson Designs' Cash and Carry

So here is the little pouch I mentioned earlier.  The pattern is Atkinson Designs' Cash and Carry.  I bought a kit with enough fabric and a zipper to make one of the pouches, but the pattern actually includes instructions for four different designs.  I made the Pocket zip to hold store discount cards and punch cards, which are exploding out of my wallet.  It's the perfect size for that.

The only thing I don't 100% love about the pattern is that while it is lined, the inside isn't finished super nicely.  It's fine for it's purpose, but it's not exactly beautiful inside.  Still, it's a very cute, fast pattern with excellent instructions, and I am sure I'll be making more.

 Here is a sneak peak of my current project, a purse, which became much more fun once I could monogram it.  I still haven't technically finished the black pants, but wouldn't you know, the store is out of the buttons I need now, so more waiting.

First day of school shirts

I made both boys shirts for the first day of school, even though only one was actually going to preschool (much to the little guy's disappointment).  As I ran back in the house to grab my coffee (gotta have that for the drive to preschool every morning), big brother decided to get started with the photoshoot and snapped a bunch of pics of little brother.  Then they both scrambled in the car and refused to come out when I was ready, coffee in hand.  

So... photos were taken in the school parking lot in front of this lovely white truck (not mine).

The pirate-themed embroidery designs are from Designs by Juju, about which I have nothing but good things to say:  the designs are great, the customer service is great, the prices are great.  The fabric for the shirts is an old purchase from Chez Ami fabrics.  I still have a bunch (bought it on clearance $3.50/yard), which is great.  It's a great stripe knit for boys tees.  The ribbing is plain brown from JoAnns.

Both boys were really proud and happy with their shirts, so I'm just enjoying that and not thinking forward to the day in the not-too-distant future when they'll no longer want mom's shirts.  :-)

NEW MACHINE!!!

Oh my GOODNESS!!!  My awesome husband surprised me with an anniversary present of... wait for it... a new sewing machine.  Not just any sewing machine.  The sewing machine I have coveted for years.  A Bernina Artista.  Sorry to brag, but you know how it is.  

I've only done a few things on it.  It makes uber-beautiful automatic buttonholes.

Sews on buttons easily (technically, I guess I could have done this with a zigzag on my other machine, but whatevs)

More buttonholes.  If I hadn't gotten too many of the wrong size and too few of the right size buttons, these pants would be finished.

This is the first thing I made on the machine, the night I got it.  It's a kit I got at a quilt shop in Delaware. I'll post more info on it in a bit. 

 And, of course, I've been fiddling with the embroidery module.  I'm totally going to be one of those people who embroiders something on EVERYTHING... cause I can.  This is the first thing I stitched out on my own (after the in-home demonstration) and it was too pretty to throw away, so I put that sucker on an old kitchen towel.  Instant cute kitchen.  My house will be a sea of embroidered flowers shortly.