updated scripture bag

In September, my nephew earnestly explained to me that his scripture bag was 'babyish' and he would like a new one. (Yup, he's 7.) I started searching for boy fabric that wasn't 'babyish' and did not have pictures of skulls and crossbones. [Not that I have anything against that fabric ... I just don't think it should be used for a church bag.]  I first thought of camouflage, but when I fell across this Star Wars fabric at JoAnns (Camelot fabrics: Star Wars Schematics), I immediately called his Mom to get his approval.

The patten is my 'basic scripture bag' pattern blogged about here.  Navy blue duck cloth, Star Wars fabric, and orange Kona cotton.  As an added bonus, the font is 'Star Jedi'.  The lining is the Star Wars fabric with a pocket.

It was a quick project until I realized I sewed the lining in upside down.  I had already trimmed the corners, so I ended up cutting a new lining.  

I had left over fabric, so I made a pillow case.  I thought he'd enjoy examining the fabric in great detail.  It made for a pretty happy 7 year old and I'm enjoying 'favorite Aunt' status again.

bucket bags

Two of my favorite people turned 12 this month and I decided they needed a bag.  (Everyone needs a bag!)

This is a new-to-me pattern - 'Bucket bag' by michellepatterns.com.  I snagged it on one of her '$5 Friday' sales.  The pattern calls for 3/4 yard of exterior fabric and 1/2 yard of interior fabric.   I found both exterior fabrics at JoAnns (thanks to Dad for helping me pick them out).  The linings are Kona cotton that I had for other projects.   

The bottom is an oval and I really like the darts in the outside front pocket.  I changed just a couple of things.  I added fleece interfacing to the lining.  I really like the firmness and body it adds to bags.  I added an interior pocket - I used the outside pocket piece without the contrasting top piece and without the darts.  Then I added magnetic snaps to the top.  I wasn't sure if the magnetic snap would be able to be used ... but I love the look of them in the top of bags, so I added it.

It took an evening to cut out the two bags (cut out the bags, cut out 1 layer of Decor Bond interfacing for all pieces, cut out 1 layer of fusible fleece interfacing for the lining.).  They sewed up really quickly - I figure most bags take more time to cut out than it does to sew them.  Both bags were complete with two short evenings of sewing.

I really like these bags.  They were quick to sew, didn't take that much fabric, and my 12 year old friends looked really cute with their bags on Sunday.

Stats:  Fabric from JoAnns + Kona Cotton
size: 12" wide x 14" high x 5" deep

lanyards

A niece of mine, M. loves to play school.  Her favorite accessory while playing is Grandma's scissors on a lanyard.  For her birthday, I thought she needed her own.

I glanced at a few tutorials on Pinterest ... and did my own thing. 

These were super fast.  Cut 1.5" x ~36" of two fabrics.  Sew them together along the long edge.  Iron.  Fold the outside edges in so that they touch the seam allowance in the center.  Iron.  Topstitch down both sizes. 

She is just turning 6, so I wanted to make sure this was safe for her to wear around her neck, so I put Velcro at the ends (1.5").  As a bonus, the Velcro hides the raw ends of the fabric.

As a final touch, I made some name tags for her and then found some spare keys (that I have no idea what they go to) to attach to the clips.  Quick and easy birthday present that I hope she enjoys.

one fish, two fish, pink fish, aqua fish

I finished this quilt the end of January 213.  But for some reason, I never got pictures of the final quilt.  [hmm, procrastination followed by a broken camera.]

This quilt pattern is called 'kissy fish' by Freshly Pieced out of 3 charm packs of 'Bliss' by Bonnie and Camille.  I re-worked the pattern to make it charm pack friendly.

It looks like I finished piecing the 'fishies' around February 26, 2012 and couldn't decide on a layout.  I remember it taking multiple tries to use all of the squares I had.

Every time I tried to work on it, it just screamed 'PINK'. Which is a perfectly good color - and I do like it at times - but not in this quilt. My sister recommended a aqua boarder to bring out the aqua fishies. 

It still looked really busy to me, so I started matching up 'like' fishies  and I liked it again.  On went the aqua boarder (Kona cotton aqua) at the end of March and I snapped a few pictures on the fence.

Why yes, there is a boarder missing.  I ran out of fabric.  Evidently I used that excuse for a very long while.  The next pictures I have are of the quilting in January 2013.

I sewed along each side of the fishy squares and then did a wavy stitch in the boarders.

I though it looked a little like water.  As a bonus it was pretty easy to do.  Here's a snapshot of the back.

Just in case I ever want to do it again, here's the snapshot from my sewing machine.  Stitch 9, width 5.0, length 2.5

Here it is - finished and finally photographed.  This quilt took way too long to finish.  Can you tell I'm no longer in love with it?  :)  I thought I'd really like the fabric - but the red and pink are just too overwhelming for me.  I do love the aqua prints.  The green is one of my favorite shades.  Adore the polk-a-dots.  But it just didn't turn out like I was envisioning.  I think some projects are just that way.  Someday it will find it's way to someone who loves it.

Stats:
Pattern: Kissy Fish
Fabric: Bliss by Bonnie and Camille, Kona cotton aqua
Finished pieced ~March 2012, quilted January 2013.
Size: 

Here's a picture of  the quilt out of 'Good Fortune' fabric by Kate Spain done by my sister that she finished piecing over Christmas 2012.  I love her version. :)