It arrived...

What could be more exciting for a someone who sews, than a lovely box of fabric.  Especially fabric randomly won as a give-away!  This is the Quarter Bundle of Le Femme from Robert Kaufman!

A whole bundle of beautiful linen fabric.  

This is one of my favorites.  

Thanks so much to Lindsey of LRStitched for hosting such a fun sew-along, and for working with sponsors like Robert Kaufman fabrics to provide some great gifts for participants.

Here we go ... the 2nd half of Zakka!

It kind of amazes me that I've been sewing Zakka for 3 months!  ...with a new project every week!  Now on to the second half.  This week's project is a hot pad.  Everything was going along fine until I realized I had not read the instructions!  After all, isn't "skimming" the directions good enough??  I can't believe me, a teacher, is even considering that question!  So... on this one, I'll just let you in on a little secret.  If you cut your basic circle before quilting the piece, it's very likely your circle will look more like a lopsided circle when finished. :)  Here's my first go-around.  I've already got material cut out in Christmas fabrics to try again -- this time following the instructions!

I used some of my favorite Amy Butler fabrics for the front -- along with one strip of white linen.

This Amy Butler dot fabric is one of my all-time favorites.

The binding is cut on the bias out of the white linen.

Sew binding together as shown in this picture and the next to make a long enough strip.

Fold the strip in half lengthwise and press.  Then pin all around the circle.  My piece was just about a bit too short so tucked the ends in together -- just barely, but it fit.  Sew around the edge with machine, then turn the binding to the back and hand stitch in place.  It's really quite easy.

Pockets for grabbing that hot dish.

The lopsided circle potholder! :)  

The back.

I will be posting my hot pad here.

Aren't they darling?

Zakka #12 -- Happy Couple Hand Warmers.  I like to think of them as "Candy Striper" helpers.  While I really don't see myself putting these in my coat pocket to keep hands warm, I can imagine them as  useful "boo-boo" heat pads in my school clinic!  And, so, Nurse "L", I'm giving these to you to help for all the many times I send little ones your way for you to "fix" whatever ails them!  

Inside each cover is a rice-filled bag ready to be heated in the microwave.

"The girl" -- I had not embroidered for quite some time, so this one was my "practice" one.

"The boy"

This project comes from the Zakka Style book by Rashida Coleman-Hale.  I am posting my project on the project linkup here.  This sew-along has been fun to participate in, and we are now at the half way point with 12 more projects to go.  There is only one I have not done (Week 2 -- The House Pouch), and I'm thinking I'll need to go ahead and make that one as well.  Just to know I've made them all!

Tea anyone?

Two days early on a Zakka sew-along project is reason to celebrate with a tea party! For this clutch I used a felted wool from a sweater I had bought some time ago.  I originally used pieces of it for a pin cushion.  Even though it is a wool piece, the lavender color and white linen corners give it a "springy" look.  The zipper pull was an ornament from a hair clip that had lost it's clip!  I love using what I have to create something new.  A recent post on Purse Palooza (purse patterns reviewed and prizes offered!) featured a bag from Carolina Fair, on which she used felt as an interfacing.  I tried it on this bag and love the soft, just right feel it gives the bag.

Back to the tea party -- what kind of tea would you like?

I was going to...

I was going to work out in the gardens today, but a steady rain is falling.  (Yipee -- I don't need to water!) Because it's raining, I thought about going to school to get ready for summer school, but the dreary day makes me want to stay in and sip tea and get into a good book.  When I started looking for a good book, I came across a quilting magazine and found a pretty quilt.  I thought about beginning to cut out the pieces for the quilt because yesterday I found this...

A quilt frame found at my local thrift store.  I'm so excited!!

... but then I saw a magazine picture of a painted pillow.  I made this yesterday ...

First try at painting on fabric.  Needs a lot of work! :)

... and thought perhaps this would do fine for a porch rocker pillow??  My thinking on these early days of summer remind me of the book, "If you give a mouse a cookie"!  I seem to go from one thing to the next never quite settling into something. Each year at the beginning of summer break from school I realize how ordered my life is around a schedule.  It happens every summer, and this summer is no different -- by about Friday morning, I'll be relaxing, not worrying about a lack of schedule and then -- Monday morning -- SUMMER SCHOOL begins! :)

Zip Organizer

Ten weeks of Zakka sewing!  I'm just about half way through the Zakka Style Sew-along.  It has been great, and I'm so happy to say that last week I won the give-away from the Messenger Bag entry!  Yipee!!!  The prize is a lovely collection of fabric.  I'll post pictures when it arrives.  This project, the Zip Organizer was my most challenging yet.  The most difficult part for me was the zipper and binding.  For some reason I had to get that seam ripper out several times for the small zipper on the front.  Too much in a hurry! :)  The end product, though, turned out great.  

Cutting the pieces -- measure twice, cut once!

The green fabric is August Fields by Amy Butler. 

Folded and zipped.

And now for the inside ... drum roll, please...

Credit card sections on the left, and plenty of room for a checkbook and bills on the right.

I think this zipper on the front is one of my favorite features -- even though I did have to rip it out 3 times!

I've added my project here http://www.inlinkz.com/wpview.php?id=160978

Zakka Week #9

This weekend turned out to be busy with visiting and a trip to the Skyline Drive, so I really did not expect to get the Zakka Messenger Bag finished.  Much to my delight, though, I WAS able to complete it.  I made a really big mistake, though I'm not telling what it is.  If you know what a messenger bag is supposed to look like I'm sure you will figure it out! :)  Has that every happened to other sewists out there?  You cut something before measuring twice -- and suddenly it's too late to fix an error!  Oh well ... messenger bag turned to "bag".  I really enjoyed this project, though, and may try another one at a later date.  I'm posting at http://www.inlinkz.com/wpview.php?id=158467

The front

The back

The inside w/ pockets