FABRIC SALE!

I know, I promised not to purchase anymore fabric but who can resist a sale, especially a GOOD sale!.....There's a sale going on at www.jcarolinecreative.com/ and the price I could not resist (cotton canvas as low as $3.50/yd)!  The people I came in contact with were very pleasant and accommodating w/my many requests to check if certain shades matched.  This is what the Postlady delivered:

Yup, 14 yards total of cotton canvas....Learned to love canvas after visitng this website.  They even make cute little labels like these:

Can't wait to use these labels..... I'll show ya what I've been up to with canvas....give me some time, okay...Thanks for visiting!

Friendship Bag

Here's a little bag I made out of little tid bits of fabric that I just couldn't get rid of.  I got the tutorital from here.

It got rave reviews from my daughter and her friends so more bags to make...got lots of 'FRIENDSHIP BAG" fans out there..Oh, the straps are made of my daughter's favorite jeans that she outgrew but didn't want to get rid of so I convinced her that we'd made something out of it.  Since we used only a small portion of her jeans, she's saving the rest for more projects....she's becoming a little "leftover fabric saver" like her mom.  Guess we'll need to start saving for the next storage shed.  I have a feeling she may take over my space.

Thank you Rachel Griffith for sharing your tutorial!  And thank YOU for stopping by!

Buttercup Bag

I fell in love with a bag I saw here and thought this would be a nice way to use up some denim in my stash bin.  Lucky for tutorials, this is where I leanred how to "free form embelish".  Keeping true to my New Years resolution, I went to my pattern stash and found a pattern I got from Made By Rae's blog .  Dusted it off and this is what I got:

            

I wanted to add a little more to it so and thought of "KANZASHI FLOWERS".  I first saw kanzashi fabric flowers here at "You Sew, Girl!".  I tried a few with the help of several tutorials from this flickr site and this bitty bits and pieces blog tutorial.  Instructions were easy enough for me to follow and this is one of my first kanzashi flowers and though it would be cute for this Buttercup bag:

Oh, I must add this the polka dot fabric was from a favorite hand-me down top of my daughter and it is also used as the interior lining.  Since the bag (minus the kanzashi flower) was entirely made from fabric in her "favorite clothes bin", she feels very connected to this. I added a little pock inside for her "little" things.

Again, I must thank all those who are so generous to post  their tutorials and provide free patterns and ideas! 

Selvage Potholders

I'm a fan for using every bit of anything to create another "something"....I found this blog and just loved how people create fabulous things out of selvages that were once considered as rubbish.  I collected enough to make these potholders after seeing this post:

There are a few selvages from my kids clothing when I did  little sewing for them when they were toddlers...

When I revealed my potholders, there were a alot of,  "I remember this fabric....", "Oh, this was one of my favorites...".  Nice to see that something as simple as handmade selvage potholders are appreciated.

Tsunami Day bags

Okay, so this past Saturday, all our eyes were on the television for updates on the tsunami that was expected to hit Hawaii around 11:05 a.m.  It was a day to stay safe and stay home.  What to do in front of the televisoin?  Sew, of course!  I dusted off a pattern, "The Hazel Hipster" I got from here and away I went.  My fist mini Hipster turned out cute!  The straps were a little too short for me to use across my body, but perfect for over the shoulder or a little girl across her body....

Bag #1:

Yes, it was a LONG day so I made more, this time w/longer straps and I also did one w/an adjustable strap and "d" rings.  Cute!  I just HAVE to try out the regular size hipster....

Bag # 2, 3, 4

At the end of the day, the State of Hawaii was really lucky to have "dodged the tsunami".  My thoughts and prayers to the the people of Chile who are suffering from the earthquake.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

New Years resolution time!  Here are a few things I hope to either start or complete by the end of 2010.  Trying to keep my goals realistic this is my list:

1.  Start the completion process of my VW Van wall quilt.
2.  Start the completion process of Gail Pan's Christmas BOM wall quilt  (pattern came from here)
3.  Start the completion process of Gail Pan's Christmas pattern (pattern came from here)
4.  Start a selvedge edge project (potholder and/or totes)
5.  Do a Which Witch Halloween wall quilt (similar to my Which Elf wall quilt)
6.  Dust off and start at least two quilt patterns I haven't touch yet from my quilt pattern box (would you believe some of them are as old as m 15 year old son?)
7.  Start my VWBug BOM wall quilt
8.  Make Mahalo (Thank you) totes for my kid's teachers, coach mom's etc. (an idea I got from my ever so talented cousin on Oahu, let's just call her "Aunty Holly")
9.  Start the slip covers for my sofa
10. Last but not least, give my husband, son and daughter all the love support they need from me and hope I am able to deliver only the best to them!

I will be "on the road" for the rest of the year so my blogging will be on pause until I get caught up. 

Wishing all of you a Safe and Hauoli Makahiki Hou (Happy New Year)!

PEACE ON EARTH

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Where did the time go?  I really thought I was ahead of the game:  early shopping, early wrapping and LOTS of time (I thought) to fnish up all the little things later.......Guess it won't work that way.  Today, I'll finish up a few more wrapping and baking.  I was so lucky to have out of town family visit and spend some quality time together, play Christmas games and just enjoy each other's company.  We also had a surprise visit from my husband's out of town college buddies.  It's this time of year I appreciate all my family and friends and all the good things that life has brought to me.  There's a quote I once read and it goes something like this:

BE GREATFUL FOR WHAT YOU HAVE, NOT UNGREATFUL FOR WHAT YOU DON'T HAVE

From my family to yours, have a safe and happy holiday season.

Mele Kalikimaka me ka Hauoli Makahiki Hou!

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!