vera bradley...

i've found that most people are either a fan or not a fan...

if your not... this post may not be for you...

i happen to be a fan...

what i like to do most is make things out of vera fabric...

it all started when i decided to make a quilt using the fabric napkins instead of FQs (they are 20" x 20")

my first trip to the local store that sells vera resulted in getting these nine... they had a few others but i didn't like them all...

Classic Black
Windsor Navy Lining
Windsor Navy
Java Blue
Medallion
Piccadilly Plum
Piccadilly Plum Lining
Hope Toile

Sherbet

i played in photoshop and came up with this layout with the colors i had.... the pattern is called "twist and turn" and was originally in one of the APQ magazines... they now have it on their site under "Country Windmills" as a free download...

I cut into my napkins and started making the blocks... by the time i had the units cut and sewn some new vera colors had come out...and i found more napkins of other colors and i added

Mesa Red
Kensington
Cambridge

and came up with this layout....the blocks are all sewn together... i just need to cut the sashing...put it together and finish it!

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next came my charm party tote... this pattern is addicting if you haven't tried it yet... so fast and easy!... i had already made 2 of them... i had enough scraps from my quilt blocks to get 2 charms from each color... I added in Botanica and took out Classic Black and came up with this....

the lining and straps are from the metro blue line... i love that line! (just got the natural version)

this bag is great because i can carry it with any vera purse and i'll always match!

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as soon as i made it more colors came out so i started saving them for a charm party #2 bag...

first there was
Peacock

then
Pinwheel Pink
Daisy Daisy
Yellow Bird
Raspberry Fizz

and then
Puccini
Frankly Scarlet
Caffe Latte
Night Owl
put me at 9... i only needed 3 more..

i saw a sneak peek and was so excited about purple punch.... i'd need
Hope Garden
Cupcakes Green
and Purple Punch and i'd be set...

this is purple punch... and i love it... and it came out... and they didn't make napkins... what was i to do?? i had 11 fabrics and i had been planning this bag....

i gave in and bought a "tote" and started to take it apart... i know many people told me i was nuts but i really needed the purple!!

here is the layout for my 2nd charm party tote...

and here is one of it done...

see it needed that purple!!!


so then i have 1/2 with all the stitching taken out and 1/2 a tote intact... i didn't need to cut it all up so i decided to make a tote that would be 1/2 the original and 1/2 a giant flower from the pattern... i cut and fused all the pieces and here we are...
here are the two halves.... the flower is stitched in place...
now i just need to quilt it and put the bag back together!

.....she has been in progress for too long!

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i also made this... a mini little table runner with an appliqued vera flower...

to match my mom's placemats....


she has a glass table and needs something in the middle for the napkins...salt...pepper and so on.... all the other runners i had made her were too big to go with these placemats and didn't match... it came together pretty quick... but the diagonal straight stitching took a while...

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and lastly here is what i did this past weekend...

i started making two mini miranda bags at the same time... one for me and one for a friend...

one looks like this...

and the other looks like this....it was all going well at first... but i was running out of time and my friend who was driving up to visit was almost here... so i stopped working on both and rushed to finish just the one... i had one handle on when i heard a knock on the door... so she got to watch me put the last handle on before she could enjoy it... she switched purses right away which was the best compliment i could have gotten!

side note--- here is the back of the hope garden from the purse... i followed the shapes of the flowers for the quilting... it came out pretty well and gave me lots of practice!


enjoy!!

nine patch update...

today is day 42... i started the day at 24 and i got 11 done so that puts me at 35... quite the bit of catching up and now i'm only 7 behind...


here they are all on the design wall...


i wasn't sold on all my colors at first but the more i make the more i think they all seem to work well together!

so the question is... how many do you have done?...

my kind of apron...

i don't cook. i mean i can if i have to but i try to avoid it at all costs. it is not like my mom didn't try to teach me... she did.. i'd just rather be sewing, cleaning..or doing anything but cooking...

i'm the kinda girl who makes quilts like this...

i do however like to grill... i guess it is the daddy's little girl part of me... so today i made my kinda apron...

so easy! it is from the Apron in an Hour tutorial.... but it didn't even take an hour! check it out... all you need is a FQ (red) and 1/2yd (fries) and your good to go!

the fabric is The Chef's Choice by Robert Kaufman... i've had it in my stash for a while and decided this was the perfect fit!

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and yes that is my nine patches behind me... today makes day 41 if i'm counting right and i'm up to 24... so 17 behind... the plan is to make as many as possible today to catch up!... i'll let you know how it goes.

once upon a fig tree

fig and i didn't have the same start as sonnet... we barely noticed each other at first. a fabric or two of her found there way into some of my projects but that was about it... and then it happened... somewhere around last june or july... the shop needed someone to make the sample for a quilt with all fig tree fabric... i wasn't immediately sold but being the overachiever i am i said "sure i'll do it" and was on my way... that is when it began...

here is the quilt i made for the shop... it is called hugs and kisses and is from the layer cake recipe book from cozy quilt designs... it is mostly dandelion girl with a mix of some other fig fabrics...

a close up...
it was one of the first quilts i quilted all by myself on my new machine... it has its little flaws but overall came out great and i love it...

we still have a few kits available at the shop... if you are interested let me know and i'll send you the details!... also if you buy one after learning abut it from me i'll throw in my table runner pattern for free! (it is sold separately in the shop.) it can be made from the leftover 1/2 square triangles from the quilt!

my table runner.... its my own pattern... the first one i ever wrote up formally and packaged for sale!

close up...
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my collection grew similar to sonnet... a little here... a little there... it didn't help when Pam was cleaning out her stash and was offering yardage and a jelly roll at 1/2 off! how could i say no??

the patisserie charm pack and matching yardage was my latest addition...

right before that i got this book...

so many cute things in here i want to make... such as...

and...
and...
and this...even thought i have no idea where it would go... but i just need to make it!
even my figgy scraps don't want to hang out with scraps... they hang out together with my figgy fabric...
here it is... the whole stash... i need to add some blues from urban indigo and purples from fig and plum.... hmmm....

oh and i think my mom heard me loud and clear...
but just in case...

direct link to club...
they posted what the first project is... yummy!!!

babies and their quilts...

babies and their quilts...

i have no babies... but there are babies in my life...

this is the story of "my" babies and their quilts

first there was elijah... his mom is in love with classic pooh so this was easy... he ended up with two quilts... one simple one was made before he was born from the book happy hour...

here he is napping underneath it...

and crying on it...

after he was born i made this one... it has photos of him and our family signed it when he was 3 months old... elijah is my nephew and this quilt has even more of a special meaning now because my grandfather recently passed away and his signature is on it... i'm sure elijah will treasure this one day...

elijah is growing fast and isn't a baby anymore... but he likes my quilts... getting pillows thrown at him... and getting his picture taken over and over again by my brother...

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and the came loren... it took a long time to figure out what to do for loren... loren's mom likes things simple and modern... his room is very neutral with dark wood furniture... what to do...

here he is with his big sister... they share a room so no pink... no blue... just neutral...
i found my focus fabric... grabbed some patterns... and asked his mom what she wanted... and here is the start of his quilt... all cut and ready to be sewn together... it is actually the girl quilt from camille's baby mine pattern... minus the middle section... just a simple quilt for my little loren...
i love my babies!

art star craft bazaar ... and project updates

on sunday i headed down to the art star craft bazaar down on penn's landing... there were a lot of amazing artists and it was hard to to spend a ton of money... i got some good stuff so i figured i'd share a few with you...


i got this charm pack of wool from giant dwarf

this fortune cookie t-shirt from day dream silkscreen

and this cute little girl's wrap dress made of full moon forest by eieio

i carried all my finds around in one of the bags i made at Betz White's make your own bag workshop at spool... it is a t-shirt... with some Neptune scraps to add some color... and hide a bad graphic

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here is a mini table topper from leftover charms... its reversible!


so quick and easy... i'll be teaching it as a free demo in two weeks... details to come!


i'm in love with hexagons... here are all my pretty cuts of cider mill road... i'm going to use these to make sugar cookies from the moda bake shop site...
and here is my nine patch update... only 5 this past week.. that makes me at 24 total...


enjoy!!