Another Sweet Pea Tote

I have wanted to make this Sweet Pea Tote bag for absolutely ages but have had a very hard time trying to find the “O” rings for it.  I checked out Michaels, Hobby Lobby and eventually found them locally at Hancock fabrics.  If you don’t have a Hancock s fabric store near you then I am reliably informed by Veronica of SewVery that you can find them at a number of stores on Etsy. 

I finally made this Sweet Pea Tote today, and I have to tell you, this is one very large bag.  I made this bag using Simplicity Pattern 2396 View C or D. This Sweet Pea Tote pattern, has to be the easiest one I have made so far, and it was extremely easy to cut out and put together. Especially seeing as I didn’t follow the pattern exactly! 

Originally I had cut out the pattern pieces to make it patchwork,  like you can see in the pattern photo, I had some scraps of Joel Dewberry fabric that I had left over from other bags I made, but I just could not decide on what other fabrics I had that would go with it.  I decided to scrap that idea and make the bag out of one piece of fabric instead of doing it patchwork like in the pattern instructions,  This made the bag even easier to make as I did not have to mess about with bias binding and the outside was basically just  two pieces of fabric.

This was my first time using magnetic snaps and I couldn’t believe how easy they are to use, I wish I had known this before as I would have used one in the Amy Butler Birdie Sling Bag that I made.  I can definitely seeing me using more magnetic snaps in the future.

 

 

To see how it looks if I had followed the Pattern, then check out the absolutely gorgeous bag that Veronica of SewVery made, she used some of my favourite fabric by Joel Dewberry.  I love her version.

The weekend I achieved NOTHING!!!

 

Nothing achieved this weekend:

• I couldn’t find a jelly roll that I had bought, to either make another table runner or make a start on a coin quilt. I found it today!
• I lost this book, and then found it today!  I could have made my life so much easier when it came to basting and binding my quilt if only I had this on hand, instead of having to keep looking at my computer I could have had this right next to me.

By the way, this is a fantastic book and I cannot recommend it enough, especially if you are a complete beginner to sewing like I am, and even if your not there is some gorgeous quilt patterns in it, especially if you like modern quilts, which I do.  This book is written by Elizabeth Hartman from the blog  Oh Fransson 

• I started on making a bag and then realised I didn’t have a metal slider for the strap, so that put that one on hold, so it looks like a trip to the store.
• I love Sweet Pea Tote bags and decided to make a start on a bag from from Simplicity pattern number 2396 View C or D.  Just bare in mind you may have a hard time trying to find “O” rings.  This weekend I  hunted high and low for “O” rings which I had no success in finding locally, so I will have to get them online, thanks to   Veronica at  SewVery      I know exactly where I can buy them.PurseSuppliesRUs-section_id=6523655 or at this store tantalizingstitches-section_id=6320069

Hopefully I will have something to share soon!!!

Giveaway Winner

 

Remember my Pincushion Giveaway to win one of these lovelies?

 

Well I can now let you all know that I have a winner!!!  I had 22 comments on this post, 2 of which were my own! so as you can see below the number chosen by random.org  is comment number 8.

Congratulations Kadie from Seven alive.

Thanks to everyone else who entered this giveaway and for all your lovely comments,  I am thinking of maybe doing a pincushion swap so if any of you would like to join in then leave me a comment and maybe we can set one up.

Happy Valentines Day

 

Hi all no photos to share today, but I wanted to wish you all a Happy Valentines Day.  It is my youngest sons 15th Birthday today, yes he was a Valentines baby.

 

Don’t forget the giveaway ends tonight, maybe it will be you!!!!!

Valentine Reversible Table Runner

 

It seemed like a good idea last year when Hobby Lobby had some end of season valentine fabric on sale, I snapped up a few half yards and had great plans for making some valentine décor.  So the fabric has been sat in my stash pile for over a year now and valentines day is only two days away (which reminds me don’t forget to enter my giveaway)  So I decided to make something with it!!! to be honest I no longer liked the fabric and was at a loss of what to do with it. 

That was until l came across an awesome and extremely clear tutorial to make a table runner on Amy Smarts blog Diary of a Quilter, the tutorial is very easy to follow,  and I whipped this runner up in no time.  I plan on making a few more table runners with this technique, go check it out. 

Table Runner Tutorial

When it came to the quilting part of this runner, I used it as an opportunity to test and use some of the decorative stitches on my machine.  I am not sure if they show up well in the photos.  I am still not in love with the fabric, but at least I have used it up and it is not going to sit in my stash for another year.

Back of the Table Runner

First Quilt - Finished

Finally I have finished my quilt. This is the first quilt I have ever made and if I must say so myself I am feeling pretty proud of myself right now. The front had been pieced together since last August, but for one reason or another I just seemed to keep putting off putting it all together. I think the fact that is such a large quilt (Queen Sizes)  was the reason and being my first time quilting I was afraid to tackle such a large project. I made quite a few mistakes and my unpicker is my best friend! I had no idea how to go about putting it all together but by looking at a few tutorials online I managed it.

For the basting of the quilt I used Elizabeth Hartman's Making the Quilt Sandwich Instructions from her blog Oh Fransson.

For binding instructions I followed the tutorial on Chasing Cottons blog, which has great photos on how to do mitered corners.

So here is the finished quilt.

This is the back.

Enabler Alert–Patterns On Sale 99 Cents Hobby Lobby

Just incase you didn’t know Hobby Lobby have Simplicity Patterns on sale for 99 Cents!!!!   As always I could not resist and bought myself a few patterns.
Here is one of them, yes more pincushions! I think this will be a quick fun project, I especially like the turtle/tortoise and the owl.

I know I have been missing all week, I am around just a little bit busy, I will have something to share with you soon, or at least I hope I will!!!! I am working on finishing something that I started last year!!!!!