Quilted Front Zippered Pouch

For AGES I’ve been wanting to try the Scrappy Makeup Pouch tutorial on Noodlehead.

A little block of time recently appeared, and here it is! Anna’s directions are crystal clear, and the sky is the limit on fabric combinations for this cute little bag.

Thank you, Anna! ♥

P.S. Here are some of Anna’s other fun pouches . . . they’re on my list, too!

Gather Clutch Tutorial

Lil Cutie Pouch

Zippy Wallet

Open Wide Zippered Pouch

Binder Pouch

Pencil Pouch

 

I won a beautiful crocheted clutch!

Look at this GORGEOUS clutch crocheted by Sarah of Photosarah Crafts! She had a recent giveaway, and I was the lucky winner! I love the color combination, and Sarah’s work is impeccable. Please check out her blog for all sorts of fun projects, like pouches, scarves and mittens, bunting, baby clothes, cards, and quilts. You are one talented lady, Sarah! ♥

Crazy Quilt Pillow

My sister took a crazy quilt class and made this fun block. I love the fabrics she chose and all the dashing embroidery stitches she added for a-la-mode. Then she gave it to me to make a pillow! I used a square of black and white striped fabric from my stash for the back. Thank you, Susan! ♥

You’re My Type

The lovely Courtney of Make All Things New recently had a contest for one of her fun graphic design prints, and I won! I love old typewriters, so I did a little play on words and chose “You’re my type” for the text. I’ve already hung a full-size copy in my office and printed smaller versions to make note cards. Thank you, Courtney! TO MY OTHER BLOGGY FRIENDS: Will you please take a minute to visit, like, comment, and even follow Courtney’s blog today? She is one AMAZING lady! She has two six-year-old girls with enormous personalities.  She loves to sew, craft, draw, and paint. She teaches library, gives art lessons, and creates custom quilts, prints, and invitations. She is also painting a mural for her church nursery and sets for a play, mentors teens, and makes movies for a youth service—all on top of keeping her home running. She and her youth pastor husband feel that God may be calling them to Romania full time to work with orphans and the Roma people and are traveling there this summer to get a feel for what the future may hold. Oh, and Courtney has an Etsy shop, too! Please read these posts about the causes her shop supports . . . but you might want to grab a hankie first! Courtney, you put your heart and soul into making the world a better place. I’m so happy to have met you! ♥

Chevron Halloween Pillow

Even though I named my blog for pillows, I haven’t made many lately, have I? But here is my latest cushiony creation concocted from scraps of last year’s Halloween pillows, a fun black and white remnant for the back, and some of my grandma’s mismatched black buttons. I knew I wanted to do a chevron design, and I found a perfect tutorial from Nicole at Modern Handcraft. Thank you, Nicole . . . and have a fun Halloween, everyone! ♥  P.S. The other one is a sweater pillow from my earliest blogging days . . . it’s the softest, coziest cushion in my  house, and I love getting it out when autumn arrives!

A Quilt Mystery: Part 2

In September, I told you about the lovely but mysterious 1927 quilt top we found among my husband Dave’s parents’ belongings. You can read about it and see photos here. Thanks to Dave’s cousin Betsy and some considerate and determined librarians, I’ve found a home for it! Here are the latest updates:

• Betsy and her parents recognized some of the names and thought the quilt top originated in a small town called Quinter, Kansas, where Betsy’s mother was born. (Betsy’s mother is Dave’s dad’s sister.)
• I contacted the library in Quinter, sent a photo of the quilt top and a list of all the names on it, and asked if they could confirm that these were community families and perhaps find out what the “HHC” on the bottom right quilt block stands for.
• The librarians found several of the names in old high school yearbooks. They also found old news articles about a quilting club called the Helping Hands Club. We were on the right track!
• One of the librarians tracked down the granddaughter of Helen Martin, a woman who created one of the quilt squares. I’ll put a photo of Mrs. Martin’s handiwork below. Don’t you love how she embroidered her name? And we even have a spider web for Halloween week!
• I’ve contacted the granddaughter, and not only does she want the quilt top, she has all the minutes of all the Helping Hand Club meetings in her possession! So she is going to research them to try to answer our remaining questions: (1) What was the occasion for creating the quilt top? (2) Why wasn’t the quilt ever finished? (3) How did the quilt top end up with someone who has ties to the community but isn’t represented on any of the squares?

So . . . watch for “A Quilt Mystery: Part 3” . . . coming soon! ♥

A Quilt Mystery!

My mom-in-law had a quilt top among passed-down items tucked away in her home. When we helped her move to a smaller apartment, I asked her about it and she didn’t remember ever seeing it before. So I put it in a safe place and decided to try to solve the mystery someday. The time has come! The quilt has twelve muslin squares with embroidered names/designs and one square that says “HHC” (Happy Homemaker’s Club???) and the year 1927. First, I took a photo and checked with other family members to see if any of them recognized it or any of the names on it. Even though none of the names are relatives, I do have a lead as to a community where it may have originated so I’ll be starting there. My hope is that I can return it home, either to a quilt club or library, where it can be displayed—or the beautifully-embroidered squares can be detached and given to individual families–and, hopefully, find out the occasion for its creation, why the project was abandoned, and how it ended up where it did. Yes, I FINALLY get to carry out my fantasy of being Nancy Drew when I grow up! I’ll keep you posted! ♥

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Country By Design

Today I’d like to introduce my blogging friend Linda of Country By Design.  I checked out Linda’s Etsy Shop and ordered this beautiful handsewn gift card case . . . but she also sent me a matching quilted bookmark!  How sweet is that???  Linda also has quilted table runners, place mats, pencil cases, cosmetic bags, pouches, tea wallets, and other fabulous fabric items.

Click here for Linda’s blog.

Click here for Linda’s Etsy shop.

Or, find them anytime on my Shop Love! page above.

Thank you, Linda! ♥

Crazy Tree Notecards

When I put together the Persian Plum kit I received from Books Quilts and Sewing’s giveaway, the first step was to sew a small, neutral-colored square onto a larger colorful solid or floral triangle and then cut the tips off both. This left me with a stack of perfect little triangles, and of course I decided I must do something with them as well! I always keep a stash of blank notecards and some craft glue handy, so here’s what I came up with (adding a tiny strip of one my other remnants for the trunks). I think they’ll become a nice little gift for a friend or family member someday soon! ♥

Persian Plum Pillow

This is a fun week! I just posted about the great vintage apron I received from Moosewood Vintage, and now I am the lucky recipient of ANOTHER blogging give-away . . . this gorgeous Persian Plum quilt block kit from Books Quilts and Sewing! And, Michael (the quilter) added a $5 gift card to Michaels (the store) to the package . . . what a lovely surprise!  Truthfully, I’d never pieced a quilt block before, but I knew it would be perfect for a pillow so I eagerly dove in. It was sort of like putting a puzzle together . . . and I soon learned that when the directions say to press, DO IT! Here’s my beautiful new pillow, featured in a back porch photo shoot.  Oh, and Michael has ANOTHER give-away going on right now . . . you have until July 7 to enter. Click here for information, and plan to stay a bit to browse his blog. Thanks, Michael! 🙂