Sew worth it !!

Batman bags -- fabric flowers --  ruffle totes - -
Oh My !!

Easter was so much fun !!

Emily loved her fabric flower pillow (it matches the quilt she made) and Lucas could not stop smiling about his Batman bag.  You can fit a lot of Easter Eggs in that bag gramma !!  

Jenna and Angelina loved their ruffle totes too !!

It was a special day.   Always nice to see those smiles !

Hope you had a special day too !!

Thanks for stopping by,

Karen

Easter Projects - Work in Progress Wednesday

Oh the joys of having 8 little grand-babies to bring Joy to our Hearts !!
and
the special little gifts you can prepare by venturing out in Blogland !!

Check out these cute little
"No Sew Ruffle Totes"
tutorial by Scattered Thoughts of A Crafty Mom !! They are so fast and simple -- and are perfect for the little girls on your list !!

In addition to the totes I whipped up this cute little outfit for Angelina's Doll Collection -- I purchased this pattern online for pennies -- it works up quickly (even after being away from clothes sewing for YEARS !!)

Next on the Agenda is a "Batman Bag" -- Lucas (5 yr old DGS) requested a Batman Bag when we gave Angie her Ballerina Bag for Valentine's Day.   

Out to blogland to find Lined Drawstring Bag Tutorials.

I think I'll use a combination of these....

The Silly Pearls Tutorial

The Creative Place Tutorial

And Sew Chic and Unique lists several lined drawstring bag tutorials !!  Take you pick !

Fun Fun --

Have a good day all and thanks for stopping by.

Linking up to Freshly Pieced WIP Wednesday and Esther's WIP Wednesday !!

Hugs,
Karen

Sewin on Sunday ! No Foolin !

Can you believe Easter is 1 week away !  Oh I have soo many cute things that I would like to make for our grandchildren.   One is this adorable little "No Sew Ruffle Tote" from Jamie over at Scattered Thoughts of a Crafty Mom !  She does wonderful tutorials and shares adorable patterns for your little ones.  If you're not already a follower -- you should check out the wonderful things there !

Above is my "mini" version of the No Sew Ruffle Tote.  I actually made two this evening - One for Angelina and one for Jenna (and I'm still considering making one for Emily too)...    Jamie's tutorial is just perfect -- check it out !  

My finished bag was considerably smaller than the bag that Jamie made.  I bought the canvas bags for 1/2 price at our Local Christmas Tree Shoppe -- the small bags were only $1 -- what a bargain !!   I chose the girls favorite colors and choose fabric from my stash for the ruffles. I used the OLFA Pinking Rotary Blade (pricey but worth it).   I followed the Ruffle Tutorial from "Ruffles And Stuff" blog - except I only stitched one line of straight stitch with my machine (instead of two).   

Believe it or not, I used the Hot Glue Gun to create the bag (rather than sewing).  Some of the seams on the canvas bag I bought were much to thick to stitch through -- I had fun playing with my Glue Gun -- that hadn't seen the light of day in years !!

Also, instead of using ribbon to trim the top of the bag, I made a finish piece from the fabric stash.  I cut a 3 inch wide strip of fabric, ironed in half wrong sides together, then opened up the fabric and ironed each 1/2 side toward the center.  I used my machine to top stitch the trim (and don't forget to put your tension back to normal before you attempt this -- I forgot once... oh well, the tension on that top stitching is a little crazy. 

Here is a picture of both of the bags I made this evening!  I just love them.  



Oh, before I go, I was out yesterday with my daughter-in-law/friend and our youngest DGS Ethan -- we tried on some funny bunny ears at the store -- isn't he just the cutiest little boy ?  He is 15 months now and such a joy to be around! 

Have a great week everyone -- and thanks for stopping by !

Hugs,

Karen

Applique Thursday

Yippeee!!  The stitching is complete !! 

I'm so excited about this piece --  "Flower Baskets" by Wooden Spool Designs -- I took the class some (way long) time ago and it was sooo much fun -- my sister Janet took it too... it is my 2nd all wool applique.  (Thanks Debbie - for such wonderful classes). 

Here is a shot of the last block while it was "in progress"  -- seems like for weeks I struggled with the colors on this one -- the shade of the basket is a little lite and it felt like the daffodils were disappearing on it... 

I turned to Sue at Liberty Cottage (ohhhh -- very nice wool at this shop !!) and she helped me pick out a new shade for the bottom of the daffodils -- they turned out wonderfully !!

 Now to decide on sashing & border !!

It will end up 2 x 3 for a beautiful wall hanging - and I plan to quilt it myself on my DSM -- just outline the beautiful wool applique.

I tested a few sashing colors today and wasn't happy with them -- but I won't give up!  I just LOVE the blocks and colors on this piece.  

 Such fun !!

Many thanks to Angie for hosting Applique Thursday !!

It makes me stop and ponder what I'm working on -- and share it too !

Thanks for stopping by,

Hugs,

Karen

Wool ! Who likes Wool ?

Karen's version of "Folk Art Melody" by Lori Smith

 Special thanks to the Cranky Crow for sharing a post today about a wool giveaway at Hungry Hook Primitives... such beautiful hand dyed wool.

One Block of "Flower Baskets" by Wooden Spool Designs

Check it out using the link above.... 

But I don't like wool --

No Way !!

BirdCams - Eagles, Hawks and Work - Oh My !

My sister Michele and I had a glorious day on Monday - driving to the rivers edge and spotting not 1 but 7 Bald Eagles!  Here is the reservoir that we visited.

The bird lovers that we are -- we enjoyed ourselves immensely and especially took pleasure in the fact that we had quality time together !!   I don't have many close up pictures of the eagles we spotted but I do have a couple of very special Bird Cam's to share with you.

As of March 23rd, the Alcoa Eagle Cam had hatched 2 young and a 3rd just working on breaking out of his egg.  For the most spectacular views of Momma and Poppa Bald Eagle -- and their young -  use this EagleCam link.

For a view of the Decorah Eagles (young yet to hatch) -- visit this link.  Any time now, the three eggs that have been laid will hatch.  It will be a joyous occasion.

Last, but not least, my place of employment, Cornell University & the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, hosts a Red Tail Hawk Cam -- three eggs have been laid, and now the waiting game begins.   See the Cam here.

I had a busy week at work this week -- and with such beautiful weather I didn't take much time to quilt.   Thankfully I spent time with my sister -- and my DH -- and enjoyed the wonderful spring weather here in the NorthEast United States !

Happy Weekend All -- Thanks for stopping by!

Hugs,
Karen

National Quilt Day Finish

A Tiny Little finish {wink} -- not much time to sew this weekend -- but I wanted to finish something -- it was National Quilt Day for goodness sake (and somehow I found time to go to a LQS that had 25% OFF !!)

So I raided my stash, choose this beautiful little ditty by April Cornell for Moda, "Natures Chorus", added a border, a binding (cheated a little and used a decorative stitch to complete the binding) -- a little free motion quilting -- and I tucked this little gem into our daughter Julie's car after our St. Patty's Day Celebration !!

Not bad for some quick Sewing on Saturday !!...  Anything to practice my FMQ - still learning the best threads and tension on my new machine !!

Hope ya'll had a lovely weekend !!
Thanks for stopping by.

{hugs},

Karen