Out of Season...

I'm a bit out of season with this post.  And while I'd like to think I'm just really ahead of the game, in fact these little guys have been in the works for a couple of Christmases now...and all it proves is I'm horrible about starting projects I don't finish.

Santas!

More Santas!, a photo by gnomemade quilts on Flickr.

My summer is significantly lighter at work than any other season, so I'm trying my best to get some projects done while I have the time.  With that in mind...this past week or so, I finished up these four Santas!  Aren't they adorable?

I had made a few before for Christmas presents over the past several years for families and friends, but I still had some felt left over to make four more!  I must have cut these guys out over a year ago and had the best of intentions to get them finished.  But without anyone in mind to  give them to, they took a back seat to all the other shiny items that distracted me.

But, with my Quilt Guild's craft show coming up, it motivated me to finish these guys up.  We're keeping one, and at least one will be heading to the quilt guild.  Not 100% certain where the others will find homes, but I'm thinking I might have some more family or friends who wouldn't mind a seasonal addition to their family!

More Bags!

In an effort to get through some of my stash, get ahead of the game (which never happens) and help out my quilt guild, I continued making Drawstring Bags for my guild's bi-annual quilt show boutique.  

I've got a bunch of fabric floating around my apartment that I can't seem to part with, but I'm never certain what to do with.  This is mainly in the form of fat quarters and scraps, so I figured I'd bust into them for this project.

I had already made several bags which I posted last week, but really got on the bandwagon and got nine more done!

Three more bags - I made two of the one in the middle

Not sure how I feel about the color/pattern combo.

Made two of each of these for a total of four!

So, those - along with one more item, which I'll post soon, will be heading off to the Quilt Guild boutique!

I love these bags and Jeni's In Color Order tutorial (and pattern you can buy) is so great!  There will definitely be more in the future.

London Fabric

On my shopping trip, I happened to come across this super cute fabric at another store near the LQS. 

I spent several weeks in London when I was in college as part of a summer project and absolutely loved the city, so I was immediately drawn to it - with all the landmarks and whatnot.  

Add to it my cousin is finishing up a semester in London and I just had to pick it up!  I'm going to attempt to make a pillow out of it with some jumbo ric rac and buttons and then send it a long to her.  Not quite sure how that's going to go...but we'll see!  Thankfully, I think I purchased enough to try again if I mess up!

Drawstring Bags!

My local quilt guild holds a bi-annual Quilt Show.  The next one is scheduled for the end of October - so just a couple months away.  The call has gone out to the guild to provide some items for a boutique we'll be holding as part of the show.

Now, with my work schedule, if I don't get anything done before August - it's just not going to happen.  So, I figured while I had the time and motivation, I'd work on some items for the boutique.

I wanted a fairly simple, but still fun project.  I was immediately drawn to Jeni of In Color Order's tutorial for her lined drawstring bag.  I had made two of them before for Valentine's day and knew they came together really cute!

Now, I know how hard designers work to make a pattern - so I wanted to make sure this was all on the up and up.  Since my guild will be selling these items, I purchased her pattern which provides instructions for a bunch of different sizes!

I went through my fabric scraps and put together some fun color combinations.  I stuck mainly with the original size in her tutorial - but made one larger bag as well.

Here are the first four bags I made.  The one with the trees is a bit larger in size.  The red and black ones have sheep knitting as the top fabric!  I wish I had enough scraps of that left over to make it the body of the bag, but just the top panels were a tight cut!

Here are some close-up shots.

Sheep and red bag!

I figured the fall one was appropriate for an October boutique!


All in all, I think I ended up making 13 bags.  I just need to take some photos of the others!