Time for Some Catching Up: Smallish Projects of Late

Hi friends!

I've got a few things to share with you, so be prepared for an onslaught of posts from me.  :)

My Etsy shop had a record breaking number of orders in March, which meant that I was pretty busy for the months of March AND April (I even had to close my shop to catch up.  Even now only half of the listings are up).  But I am officially all caught up now and it's time to share a few non-Etsy projects I've finished since... well, December.  ;P

First up are these Vinyl Project Bags. I made these as part of a swap for our Guild back in November.  Check out the tutorial for these HERE:  Thimbleanna Vinyl Project Bag.
I couldn't stop at just one, so I made four.

Funny story - I knew I wasn't going to be able to make it to our November guild meeting, so I dropped these off with a friend to swap for me.  When I went to pick up my new bags from her, I was a little surprised to see one of my own bags (since we were swapping) in my little pile.  I didn't think much of it, though.  I just figured it was because I made so many bags and there weren't a lot to swap around. I was actually pretty happy I didn't have to part with all of mine in the end.  Several months later, I went to use said bag and discovered I had somehow sewn the zipper in wrong, so that the pocket part was completely closed off!  Ha!  I think my friends must have had a good laugh over that one when it came time to swap.  :)  Luckily, this was a pretty easy fix with a pair of scissors.  ;)

Next up is another swap from December.  This time we were swapping Red and Green Mini Mini quilts.  Here is the one I made (if I'm remembering right, it measures about 6.5" square).  I've been dying to try these cathedral windows style hexies for awhile.
I got a cute little wreath shaped Mini Mini in return and I love it. 

My mom has been hinting that she wants a non-Christmasy winter table runner for awhile.  So I whipped this up for her and it was so much fun.   I was inspired by THIS photo on Pinterest, but other than that I just sort of went for it.  This one was a little hard for me to give away...

And finally, I made this football pillow for our family Superbowl Party.  Looking back, I probably should have made the laces much shorter, but there you have it.  My Grandma used to make one like this every year for her Superbowl parties (which were a big deal - Grandma had 7 sons, 1 son-in-law, and a whole lot of grandkids).  Then we would all bet on the final score and the winner got to take home the football pillow.  As luck would have it, I was the winner this year.  ;p

And since I feel the need to document, but not so much the need to take pictures - I want to mention that I also made a few pillowcases (Batman for Jaxson, Superman for Bronx, and Frozen for Adele - the little girl I babysit once a week), a dinosaur crayon roll for Noah, and a car mat (from a panel) for Noah.

The End.  For now.  I'll be back soon with a few bigger finishes.  :)

Catching up!

Oh man, November and December were CRAZY!  My Etsy shop exploded, which is a good thing of course, but it kept me super busy trying to keep on top of all the orders.  Not to mention the commissioned quilts I started in October and finished in December (more on those later).  Whew!
But for now, here are a few quick photos of some of the things I made in November and December 2015.  :)

Korbin's Growth Chart
One of my long time/favorite customers on Etsy (who happens to be my sister-in-law's mother) ordered another growth chart for her newest grandson.  The mom requested red/orange/gray to match his brother's blue/green/gray growth chart.  I had fun trying to get some artsy shots of this awkward shaped object with my weaksauce camera and yellow walls and toddler helpers.  :)  But the best part about making this growth chart was getting to deliver it personally.  Korbin's grandma is one of the sweetest ladies I know.  :)

Starburst/strings pillow
I thought I had some pictures of this, but apparently I don't.  I've been using it for three months on my rocking chair, so I pulled it out for a quick photo just to prove I actually finished it.  ;)  More photos of it HERE.  I made this pillow as part of my guild's challenge to make something from scraps.  I pulled out my TINIEST scraps to make the two sides of this pillow.  I really want to make something bigger with my strings someday - I have a TON of them.




Noah's Stocking
Whew!  Now everyone in the family has a stocking.  I should have taken a picture of them all lined up.  It's a little embarrassing - you can definitely see the progression of my sewing skills over the years!


Camera Strap Cover
My sister is an avid Harry Potter fan and a self-proclaimed Ravenclaw, so I whipped up this blue and silver camera strap cover for her fancy new camera.   Tutorial HERE.

 I also made a whole bunch of these little tissue holders to give as gifts at a party.  I made a few extras for myself, of course.  Tutorial HERE.

Crayon Rolls
I made these for my boys' 4th birthday.  They LOVE these little notebooks, so I had to make a spot for them.  They are also obsessed with all things super hero lately.  (Although if you were to ask them now, they would say Darth Vader is their favorite...)

Lastly, Rummy mats!  I made 12 of these babies in 2 1/2 months.  Yikes!  Next year I'm going to make them ahead of time so I'm not completely swamped during the Holiday season.
I took this picture one day to show the difference between my very first Rummy mat and my 30th Rummy mat.  I would like to think that my skills have improved.  ;) 



 Wahoo!  These are finishes #2 (pillow), #4 (stocking), #11 (growth chart), and #12 (crayon rolls) from my Quarter 4 Finish-Along list.  Linking up!

A Few Recent Makes

Once Cheyanne's Quilt was finished, I got to spend some time on a few little projects.  It always feels great to make something quick after a big project. 

First up - remember the Dresden plate mini I made for my guild swap?  Well, at our meeting one of the ladies mentioned that she had seen someone sew a giant Dresden on the side of a skirt and the idea rooted itself in my brain.  So I made myself a Dresden skirt.  Fabric is from the absolutely gorgeous Bright Sun line by Sherri and Chelsi that I won in a giveaway.  :)

We attended a wedding for our friends (the bride is from Taiwan) and I whipped up these quick "his" and "hers" towels.  I'm really hoping that says "hers" in Chinese...

My nephew turned three, and of course he needed something handmade from me.  I decided on a crayon roll.  

I even included a pocket for a mini notebook.  Now both of my twins have decided they MUST have one of their own.  

I LOVE this fun transportation fabric.

And then Emily Herrick posted about this book on Instagram and I went right out and ordered it because - CRAYONS!  Also, it's an adorable book.  :)

And here are all the bee blocks I've made that haven't made it onto the old blog yet:

For Vickey:

For Jaime:

For Vickey:

 For Kristen:

For Brittney:

For Jaime: