Dog Nights

The Winter 2009 issue of Quilts and more magazine contains a segment on dog cushions.

I made one for Z, our cocker spaniel.


He is a happy canine. And the bed is machine-washable.

Minky Fabric

I gave it a shot after hearing about how soft this fabric is.

This is now a blankie for a baby boy due to arrive in June.

This is where I purchase most of my fabric.

The good hat day hat

January's one yard wonders project was "The Good Hat Day" Hat.

I find hats somewhat hard to make and the instructions on this one were not as detailed as I like them. I used fabric that Carla sent me from her giveaway.

The letter sachels

Amanda Sole's book has the cutest letter sachels.

Because I have lived in many parts of the world, I have gathered letters since the age of 13.

I made some of my own sachels.

To be used to safe keep the letters from my family.

I heard an author once speaking about letter writing and since then I photocopy most letters I write. Should my daughters ever want to look into their family history, they shall have all sides of the relationships.

This book seems interesting too.

Wishy Washy

This is another finished project from the Saturday sewing marathon.

I made an apron with a dish towel attached to the front because a girl needs to wipe/dry the hands often as she works around the kitchen.

Yeah, it's a neat little thing I put togther for myself.

Another Messenger Bag

The brother in law was in need of one for his small computer.

He chose the fabric.

Computer inside.

Pocket on the outside.

I found one

I chose Picture Collage Maker because it offers so many options. I played with it a little and shuffled the pictures several times. Here are the various collages it made for me.

These were some of the things I made in 2009. I had been admiring collages on my favorite blogs and decided it was time to get busy doing them myself. I love playing with pictures.

An overview

For the life of me I am having a very hard time with collage making software.

I tested this one, called Shape Collage but I don't see the nicely organized template full of plain old squares... sigh...

Finishing up a few things

As I moved my sewing machine and all the other tools, containers, and books, I made a mental note to finish up a few projects.

These were squares from a blankie.  They are now pot holders in my kitchen.

Another quilt in the making.  The front is finished.

A sachel bag.  I finished three.  These were originally made to give to a church collecting them for kids going into foster care.  The idea was that having a bag like this was better than throwing some belongings into a plastic shopping bag.

Another quilt front finished.

And another.

I did a lot of sewing yesterday. And some cooking and baking.  My family and job responsibilities don't always leave enough time for sewing, so some Saturdays are made for refilling the feeling I get when I sew or crochet something.

The goodies

The goodies from the giveaway are here.

Such lovely things I have received.

Uhmm, I must find a really cool project to work on, preferably for something for myself...

Works in Progress

The Tree Quilt has seen some activity.

The trunk is attached.

The flowers on the tree are as well.

The crochet blankie, sort of lets use all the leftover yarn kind, is also in progress.

It is a little something to keep the fingers busy at night,

Tid bits

I have friends in the Northeast and at times we have weather conversations which are most likely the standard weather conversations between an Arizonan living in the valley and someone in a frigid elsewhere.

Yes, today we were bestowed with a lovely high of 70 degrees. Just look at the sky...  They, on the other hand, are recovering from massive snow storms and very, very cold weather.

Meanwhile, I am moving my sewing station to another part of the house but have managed to finish up some pouches...

And started a crochet blankie...  and have a book to read, one of those for women over 47 explaining what our bodies are doing differently.

And...

I won my first blog giveaway prize.  Can't wait to see the goodies.

A sew along

Kelli is lauching her third sew along. 

I have attempted to follow along once before but did not keep up.

This book looks interesting and it just might be good for me to work on projects that many more women are a part of... 

Oh wait...  there is cooking too. 

I am thinking.

How I spent December 31st

After seeing this in my head for over a year, and after pouring over books to determine how to apply designs to a background, I finally just decided to wing it...  The general design is layed out.  I will probably do a little embroidering too. I am really stuck on how to applique...  Suggestions anyone?

Grasshopper got her bag, not shown here, so, as I expected, Snowden wanted one too.  Hers could not include pink so she picked out this fabric.  I even made a companion pencil pouch since I forgot to add pockets to the inside of the bag.

And I finished the brother in law's quilt too. Blue as requested as the back, and then I used pieces of the fabrics I had on hand for the front.

The day was a better one because I was immersed in creating. 

Happy Creative Year to all.