Another Go! Givaway

Go over to Sherri's blog

And enter her givaway for

an Accuquilt Go!

There are allot of

Go's being given away

lately, huh?

Hope  I (oops)  You win!!  :-)

Wave Goodbye to Summer!

Guess what tomorrow is...

Can you read the flag?

Here's another hint from the side yard.

And the final hint from out back.

Tomorrow is the first day for teachers.

Big huge sad sighhhhhh!

So,  now you know why I was

not blogging last week-

my last week of FREEDOM.

However,

I did make 7 new blouses for work!

And I did some reading and cleaning

and lots of shopping!

My new Back to School purse is packed

and ready to use tomorrow morning.

I'll be in all day staff meeetings

all day tomorrow.

Another big sadder sighhhhhh.....

And will not be able to sew all day anymore-

just after work at night...

biggest saddest sigh of all!  :-(

Friday Night Sew-In and Today!

Last night was the Friday Night Sew-In!

Unfortunately, I was only able

 to do a bit of sewing.

I had my annual eye exam earlier that day

and I had a really bad headache

and my eyes were hurting,

 I guess from the dilation?  :-(

Anyway, I had some leftover strip sets

from a honeybun quilt project.

I absolutely LOVE these Moda

"Attitude Girls" fabrics designed by

Mary Engelbreit. 

The bright primary colors mixed with

 black and white just suck me in!!

And are soooooo perfect for a

"Back to School" purse!!

Anyway, all I was able to get done

 last night for the Friday Night Sew-In

was to sew those eight blocks

together into 2 sets. That was it,

I just couldn't focus or concentrate

with that darn headache!!  :-(

Today I felt much better and got right to work!!

I added black and red rickrack and

lined those two sets to use on the outside

 of the purse as wrap-around pockets.

I had the striped fabric in my stash. 

It is a heavier decor weight upolstery scrap.

Before I stitched those pockets on, 

I ironed fusible fleece to the back of each

 striped side piece and free-motion quilted it

with a heavy variegated thread. 

I sewed the pockets on about 3" from the bottom

 and also stitched through the pockets on some

 of the piecing lines to divide the pockets into

sections for smaller items like cell phone,

sunglasses and keys.

I trimmed down the top of each side in

readiness for using some cute ready-made

red and white polka-dotted leather handles.

I used that piece as a pattern to cut out

2 lining pieces, which I also fused a lighter

weight fleece to on the wrong sides.

  I added 2 pockets on those lining pieces.

With right sides together,

I sewed around all three sides

 of both outer and lining pairs,

but left a 4" opening in one of the

lining sides to turn it through!

Then I boxed the bottom corners and added a

 little fabric loop at the top of the back.

With right sides together, I pinned all

around the top seam of the two bags

and stiched  them together

with a 3/8" seam allowance!

I turned the bag right side out through

 the lining side seam opening.

Next, I stitched the side seam opening closed,

 and pushed the lining down inside the bag.

I top-stitched all around the top seam with

heavy decorative variegated thread.

I sewed the two pre-made handles
onto the top points,

and added a double button closure.

 

TAAAAAADAAAAAA!  :-)

Soooooo, WADDAUDINK????

Now I am ready for school!!

Stash Manicure

Today I am posting over at Rae Ann's

 Stash Manicure blog! 

Click HERE to hop on over there

 and read all about this-

Aunt Maggie's quilt...

andddddd

a question for you all, too!!  :-)

Machine Quilt Along

Christina over at A Few Scraps blog

is having an awesome 

Free Motion Quilt Along

Go HERE to sign up!!

Come join the fun-

(oh yeah, did I mention her

GIVAWAY, too??)

And let's improve our

free motion quilting!!

What a Mess!

I cleaned out my stash closet on Saturday,

but did not reorganize my fat quarters.

So, today, I pulled them all out and

started sorting them and refolding them!

This is where I store my FQ's.

It's an antique chest of drawers.

I used to use it to store my huge

collection of buttons that I used

in my doll craft business.

So, I just removed the 8

drawers and used the

empty "chest" as FQ cubbies!!

So, here they are all nice and pretty!

I got my machine back this afternoon!!

It's supposed to be a rotten weather

day here tomorrow-

rain, rain and more rain!

A GREAT day to sew!!

Stay tuned!  ;-)

Plan A, B, and C!!!

Really big, longgggg sigh...  

I took my sewing machine

 in to the shop

on Sunday for the annual

cleaning and adjusting.

I was soooo hoping to get a call

late this afternoon that it was all done

and ready to be picked up.

Another reallllly bigggg sigh...

no call, so it's not ready.

On the other hand, today was Bee day!

And boy can Lorraine cook!!

Listen to this menu-

coffee and homemade coffee cake

(with fresh peach and

raspberry streusel topping)

then for lunch-

homemade chicken salad

(with fresh peaches, nuts, lettuce and basil)

fresh canteloupe and

homemade peach muffins

and for dessert-

homemade key lime pie

HOLY COW!!  YUMMO!!!!!

So, of course, we ate and chatted

and ate and chatted

 and ate and chatted...

and did a bit of cutting

and sewing, too!

I sewed down the binding on my Plan C

the August Schnibbles!

I used 2 charm packs from the

Mary Engelbreit fabric line

Attitude Girls from Moda.

I used a vintage

Mary Engelbreit

print from my stash

for the backing.

I think this might just be my

favorite Schnibbles yet!!

Waddaudink???

I Dood It!!! I Dood it!!!! Whew!!

OK, so one of my CGQC goals for August

 was to clean out my stash closet. 

Now, REALLY! 

Does this lil' closet

look like

it needs to be

cleaned out?

SERIOUSLY???

Well, I decided that Saturday was

 THE day to get this job done!

So, I dropped my machine down out of sight...

got my new DVD collection out...

popped one in the player

and before I even started,

the Yogster was sacked out!

It took me 12 hours!!  I only left the room

to use the restroom, eat lunch and dinner

and feed and walk Yogi!

You ready to see it now????

Even Yogi woke up to see it finished!

TAAA DAAAAA!!

Ain't it COOL??????

A place for everything -

and everything in it's place.

(I AM my Mother after all!)

I even replaced the conglomeration

of old baskets with nice plastic tubs.

I am SOOOOOO glad it's done!

Tomorrow is bee day and

I'll be binding my Plan C Schnibble.

It turned out really cute! 

I can't wait to show it to you!

Oh, and we'll see what

I can do with these bits and bobs

leftover from those 2

charm packs...