Clean up..again!

 Having to do a sewing room clean up here between projects.
Just finished up a cute baby girl sundress outfit and now need room to quilt a small quilt.
Have it all marked and ready to go.

Above pic taken a few years ago after redo from water leak damage.
My room is small. Very small. Though I am very very grateful to have a room, it can become a chore keeping it work friendly and still have room to move about!
The rule has always been all sewing related items must remain in this room.
This worked out well for a while. ;-)
Now I have more vintage machines, fabrics, assorted battings, interfacing, threads, ironing boards, and sew on!! Nothing is leaving this house!
So my plan is soon to clean out the large hall closet and put some of my machines in there. Easy to pull out and use.  The rest is just a matter of finishing up some big projects and put stuff away when done!!

I love looking at pretty rooms as much as anyone. My room is a working room though.
Do have a few things that are just for decor..;-)

Saw this "5 tips to organize your small sewing space" posted on Face Book and thought you all would enjoying looking and maybe finding some cool ideas for your sewing room or area!

Please share any tips you have that have helped you out!

Bags Bags and more totes and such....

 As you all know I love making bags or totes for myself and as gifts. Mostly I just do my on thing. Some I have used patterns . I have some new  bag patterns I would like to sew up!

Diaper bag size.

 Pieced and quilted big tote.

 Small one.

 Sweet little bag...

 ..with matching accessories.

 One year I made lots of these for all my cute beach babes.

Messenger bag for a special fella!

 Recall the ruffled top bags?? This pink pretty was for grand nices to use for her dance class.

A floral number.

 A flower themed one for a gal which loved her flowers and the garden shows.

 Made these for myself an a pal to use at the quilt shows. We need new ones.

The was for a cross stitiching gal to use for her projects!
Well there is more but you get the idea! Bags make great gifts!

 This evening while I was blog hopping I came across this wonderful FILLED LONG post on WITH HEART and HANDS ! Michele simple loaded it up with so many awesome links for free patterns and tutorials for tote, bags and such! I just had to share it with you all on my blog!
You will be busy for a long time checking them all out!!
Who knows maybe if you get busy now you will have Christmas gifts 'in the bag' long before DEC 25th!!

Thank You Jeanie!!

Jean who blogs at Jean Creates and Life in My Happy Place was having a d-stashing while cleaning up her studio. Jean so happily gifted this lovely pile of fabrics with me!!

 Buggy Barn quilt kit with pattern and some Kim Diehl in the tall yummy stack on the left! Thanks again so much Jeanie!!

Set it up here with some of my Kim Diehl fabrics to enjoy looking at for a bit!
To me this is a lovely photo!

The framed photo is of my BFF , Brenda , who passed in 2003.
Small angel painting hung on the cabinet door was a gift from a friend. It reperesents my Mama Angel and Brenda Angel. Love it!

So wanted to thanks Jean for her kindness which is why I made her this large retreat or class tote.

Left the top open with no closures so she could stick tall things inside like a cutting mat, rolled up things,etc... even a picnic lunch bag for two!


 Did quilt the outer bag and lining. Used a stiff interfacing so it would keep a good shape. Made some pleated pockets and flat one on other side.

Purchased these handles to use instead of fabric ones. Thinking maybe more durable for a well used bag. The bright colors of these pretty fabrics just said JEANIE to me. Jeanie is a lovely bright spirited gal and I am happy to have 'met' her in our blog world!
Thanks again Jeanie for all your kindness you share so willingly and hope you enjoy the tote!

Flag Day

Today, June 14th, is Flag Day for us here in the USA. Read about our Flag Day here.

We have a flag pole in our yard and proudly fly the red , white and blue everyday!

National Sewing Machine Day & One Hot Saturday!

Goodness it is a hot one in Olde Virginny today! Out here in the boonies we are at 91 F already.
Bet some storms brew up this evening!

We did get up early and went into town for the local farmers market.

Some goodies we picked up. Season here is just getting started. Weather had everyone behind this year. Snaps( green beans) and taters already cooked to go with our grilled rib eye later. DH already made up his cucumber salad  and is in ice box cooling. He had a tomato sammie for his lunch. Fried green maters one day soon!
We walked around market some but was getting too hot. As we were leaving ran into DH's cousin so they had to chat a bit till I said... I am melting fellas!! Haha!

Made me up a couple quarts of iced coffee to have ready for when the need strikes!! Made a big pot of strong coffee and added the condensed milk while still hot. Keep in ice box and add a couple ice cubes when I pour a glass. Yes some is missing...;-)
YUM!

 Today being National Sewing Machine Day is only fitting to sew! I clicked Bernie on to work on those flannel squares for a baby blanket. My days are passing by fast to have my projects all done by Aug!! I have some older/vintage/antique sewing machines that all need to be loved on but may not pull out today.
Sew I do hope you have pulled out a machine to love on or sew on today!!
We are so lucky to have these awesome machines to sew on for work or pleasure!!. Enjoy!

Wanted to share a pic of all our so called 'Easter' lilies all blooming at once. Smell so good too! Granny called them Angel's Trumpets.
Hummm have star gazer lilies too up front end but must have not saved that pic or lost it doing my save as! WHICH I SEEM TO DO A LOT! Crazy old broad all. the. time. these days!!;-)
Other lilies are getting ready to bloom as well. The Formosa tree is all bloomed out and full of hummers and honey bees! Speaking of which those honey bees are taking over the hummer feeders!! Never had that happen before so do not know what to do! Quite a few folks out this way are bee keepers. So know they are local bees!

Well back to sewing!! Have a wonderful weekend!!

In the Bag....

Well tote bags more like it. I have so far made three. One is hiding in the back. Cannot show it now.
After the bag is received will post. Will say it is a fun one!

So on to the two I can chat about!! I do not use patterns. Just use simple bag making technique. By using assorted fabrics, handles, batting with quilting, interfacing and Pellon products they are all different.
From soft to firm and large to medium size. Each has magnetic closure to snap shut!

This pink one is for a cute little gal as an over night bag. This is Amy Butler fabrics. 

Inside is nice and roomy. It is made to be tossed in washer and dryer if needed.

Love that big rick rack on the roomy pockets all way round! Have a few things to add inside before it is gifted.

Next one up is a Red Hat Lady bag! Just too darn cute!! Nice and sturdy keep it's shape bag.

Inside bright and cheery purple swirls to help see stuff near bottom. The pleated pockets can hold water bottles.

Cute shaped pockets with sweet rick rack on each side. Think the polka dotted fabric used for handles keeps it fun looking!

Another gift ready to be given! Do hope it is enjoyed as much as it was fun for me to create!

So best get to the cutting out of next project on list.
My list is long but I am crossing items off in a timely fashion!

We did get more rain. Was needed. Forgot to set my fern baskets out to get soaked though.
DH managed to get the grass cut finally Sunday after it dried off some.

The hummers are here again! I have two new pretty feeders and they will work me hard keeping them filled. Cats are so funny trying to keep up watching the little busy birds. Will try to get a pic of that one day.

Finished home chores all but some ironing.
May save that for tomorrow early AM so I can get busy in sewing room!;-)

Jelly Roll Twist Strip Birthday Quilt

 So went from top to finished quilt! Can read about that here and link to pattern.

 Was dragging on the grass a bit! Big enough to wrap our gal up in fabric love goodness!

You can see the squares in this picture. 

Here is the backing so you can see the quilting a bit better. This came from Connecting Threads a couple years back when they had a backing fabric sale. Matched perfectly! Glad to have it done and ready to gift!

This weekend I worked on some pretty totes. Cut another one out today. More on those later.
Now I really must get busy sewing up lots of baby things for our grandson's baby boy, Hunter, due Aug 4th!!
We also celebrate Olivia's 1st birthday on July 2nd!  Her projects have to be ready for her big day!
Lordy this sewing Granny needs to get a wiggle on!!

We have definitely entered summer here. Maybe not officially but temp wise for sure! Had to put AC on. Just could not stand it any longer.
Rain has slacked off too which means we have to water our flowers and garden stuff in the pots and hanging baskets from our well. Hope we get some rain this week.

Had some pc troubles too. DH got all my mess backed up just in case. He also did some clean up and other stuff I do not understand but now pc be zooming along nicely again.  ZIP ZIP instead of slow slow!

Reckon I best get up at at it! Nothing will get done me sitting here!