I Occupied My Sewing room for the Friday Night Sew-In!

Hello!  :)

I occupied my sewing room most of the day, into the night Friday.  :)

Remember when I showed you this fabric and told you I was making something for my 23 year old son & my hunky dude with it? Did you guess what I could be making?

Here it is . . .

Still don't know what it is huh? Well it's a bandana! I made two of them. They like to wear them occasionally as do rags. Of course they were very simple and quick to make. I just measured another bandana. I then added 1/2" to the measurements for seam allowances and sewed them up. They will make great stocking stuffers for my two older men.  ;)

I almost got all the jammie pants done. All seams and hems are done on 5 out of 6 of them, but the elastic's not in them yet. I had got a deal on the elastic online at JoAnn's, with free shipping, and it hadn't come in yet. Of course it came in today so I'll be adding it tomorrow and sewing the elastic holes closed. I almost finished sewing the 6th pair up but ran out of thread. I was almost done too! Of course I used a special color. Now I have to go buy some more tomorrow. Oh well.  :)  I took pictures of them although they didn't turn out too well and you can't see much (sorry!).

Here are the one's I made for my oldest son Jay . . .

Here are the two I made for my youngest son Pete . . .

And these are the two I made for my only daughter Jess (the unfinished pair is still inside out) . . .

I have to say this was a very productive FNSI! I really wish I had got them completely finished but will do so tomorrow. It will be nice to cross these items off my to do list.  :)

Thanks to the wonderful hosts for hosting another successful FNSI!

Until Next Time . . .

Don't Miss Out on my GIVEAWAY!  :)

Elvis & Priscilla... may they live a long happy life!

Meet Elvis (left) and Priscilla (right). They are my only pets. (I will eventually get a dog and cat too.) I love animals! (Are fish animals?) Ok... let me rephrase... I love pets! Elvis & Priscilla are Betta's. I have never had Betta's before but my hunky dude has. He got Elvis a couple of months ago. He talked about always wanting to breed Betta's so I kept saying, "I'll get a female and you can breed them." I found another fish bowl and the thrift store and my hunky dude got Priscilla for me. What else could I name her since Elvis was already in the house!  :). I don't know a lot about Betta's but I do know that they have to be kept separate as they fight. (Exactly how you breed them I have no clue so I'll leave that up to the hunky dude.) So they live next door to each other on our coffee table. They often interact together... it's so cute! Eventually the hunky dude will breed them but for now they are my friends and entertainment. I never knew fish could be so interactive with people. Any time I'm around Priscilla she greets me... and when I wave at her she dances for me. Yes I may seem a little over the edge with my fish but they are the only pets I have and I am a pet person.  :)  It's been driving the hunky dude a little crazy but he's getting used to it and actually seems to be interacting a little more with the couple than he was. I've even seen him smile at them more often.  :)

So you might ask why I'm talking so much about my fish. Well... first of all they are my pets and part of my life and of course I have to share them with you!  :)  Secondly I made the quilted table topper they're sitting on just for them. Every time we cleaned their bowls and put them back on the table there always seemed to be some residual moisture on them. Hunky dude was putting a towel under them but that was so boring. I had some scraps laying around that I thought would be perfect. I had to go get a little more to add for the backing so I picked up one that looked like water to me and I got down to business. The fabrics remind me of water and are really fun!

It was a simple design and I even tried a little free motion quilting in the sashings. It's very rough but was fun! Here's the back side.

I'm really happy with how it turned out and how it sets the fish off nicely! Have you ever made a project just for your pets? I would love it if you would share!

Until next time...
Cherise  :)

p.s. I would love it if you follow me! I will return the favor! Have a Nice Day!  :)

They're Done!

The potholders are done! I'm so excited! Not just because they're done, but because they should have been relatively quick and easy to finish ... but of course it didn't work out that way.

Originally I wanted to bind them in a solid chocolate brown fabric which I had on hand... or so I thought. It turns out I used it all up already on another project (I could have sworn I still had some!!!). So what do I use now....hummmmm. I looked in my stash and saw a medium brown... it seems to match nicely so I cut it, iron it and sew it on the potholders.

While I was getting ready to hand sew the back edge down I looked at it again... it didn't look right. I walked away from them for a while and then came back. They just didn't look right. Although the color matched it just didn't jive.... if you know what I mean. They needed a dark brown. Out came the seam ripper. All that work was for nothing... oh well.

Now what? Do I go to the store and get more of the solid brown? I wasn't sure.... so again I walked away and came back later. Then it hit me. Why don't I just use the Thanksgiving print fabric for the binding? Afterall it was mainly dark brown. It looked like it would work.

So... I started all over again... cut... iron...... wait a minute... What if I add some rick rack in there too?! It's solid dark brown and it would tie it into the apron more (plus look cute!). So I sewed the rick rack on... hoping that once I sewed the binding on I would still see it. Next came the binding.... I pause to peek and make sure you could still see the rick rack... you could!!! Yes!!! Finally something worked out the way I wanted on the first try!!!! WooHoo!!!

I finished sewing the binding on. Sewed the back on by hand... and... I'm done!!! A quick finish on a project turned into a day long event... oh well. It's done and turned out cute! (Much better than with the other fabric.)

Tomorrow I'll work on getting the apron and potholders (plus a couple other goodies) packed up for my swap partner and mailed out. I also need to get started on "Happy Quilting's, Stars Quilt Along". I'm already a week behind. Hopefully I'll be able to catch up quickly. Melissa's great and has already been there to answer any questions I've had (since I'm a beginning quilter).

Until next time...

Cherise :)

Potholders

I sewed today! I wanted to make my swap partner some potholders to go with her new apron.

I used the two fabrics from the apron and added an additional one I had in my stash. I came up with a simple design, fussy cut some pieces, laid out the blocks and arranged them in a way that pleased me.

Potholder 1...

Potholder 2...

Then I proceeded to piece them together and cut the backs. I was happy with the way they were looking so far.

I layered them together with some Insul-Bright batting and machine quilted them with a simple checkered pattern.

Potholder 1...

Potholder 2...

Backs...

I was tired and hungry so I decided to quit for the day. I'm hoping to get the binding on tomorrow. Sometimes I wish I could just finish a project on the same day I start it. Oh well... maybe next time. :)

Welcome!

Here's a little about how my journey has brought me here to this quilting and sewing blog...

About a month ago I happened upon a quilt blog (can't remember which one... sorry!) I found myself reading the whole thing (yes from the very beginning). I was fascinated and in awe! Then that blog led to another... which led to another... and so on. I was hooked!

I learned to sew in high school and have sewn off and on over the years. I've always admired quilts and said "someday I will quilt!" I always put it off until later because I had other things going on. Now that day has come with the help and inspiration of so many wonderful quilters out there who readily share their talents and love of quilting with others. I thank you! :)

I had some fabric on hand, although not very much, as I had made a major move last year and got rid of most of my fabric stash (major regret!) I went shopping and picked up some tools and fabric to get me started. It was so fun and so exciting! I forgot how much I love fabric! I found some patterns at Moda Bake Shop that I wanted to try. The first was a grocery bag holder, which I needed as my bags were totally out of control! If your bags are also out of control you might want to make one for yourself. :) My boyfriend also wanted one as his bags were out of control too! Here's the bag. I think it turned out pretty good.

I wanted to start with some small projects to get the hang of things. My next project was a runner, also from Moda Bake Shop. I'll show you it and tell you more about my journey later. Right now I'm going to blogger Heidi's blog, "Handmade by Heidi" and join her "Friday Night Sew-In". I've seen so many blogger's participating and I wanted to also... and now I have a blog and I can! :) Please check it out if you haven't already.

Until next time... I"m off to go thrifting... wonder what goodies I'll find!

Cherise :)