Christmas Shoes

Made 4 pairs of these Christmas shoes  Quilted the ultra suede to stabilizer which made it very easy to work with.  Then cut out all of the tops and bottoms of the shoes.  Before sewing them together added some glass beads near the toes for a little Christmas bling

These were all smaller and one larger pair below - wish I had better bow tieing abilities

I wanted a better lining, but this worked out o.k. with only a few days before Christmas.  I have the hang of the shoes now and can put a pair together with lining in about an hour.

Update.  One of the mom's works at the office next door and I see her in the hall, but didn't know her name.  It turns out her name is Holly, so she loved the fact that the shoes are lined with the holly print.

Red Tote Blue Tote

I got this small piece of material at my textile remnant place and really loved it.  It has a large pattern to it so made these two bags which really don't look anything alike.  The solid colors are ultra suede from JoAnn's remnant bin that was quilted on a 45 degree angle.

The blue one, I kept and the red one gave away.  The blue one is smaller by 3-4 inches.  All are quilted with non-pill fleece to muslin and then lined with cute pockets, etc.  There is a large outside pocket on the blue one, but it is a little floppy so I didn't add one to the red tote.  The green check on the blue bag is the same as on Jeanette's bag.  Very easy to work with.

Here is the red guy all alone (against a white board at work).  Even the straps are quilted on this one.  One side is about 19 inches before sewing.  I love the brown in the background



Blue Shoes with beads

I have been having fun with these little shoes.  These were a little tricky as the material was silk and very slippery.  Then I thought they were plain and attached some beads.  Well, try and do that two times that the beads match.  Should have drawn a little pattern, but didn't think of it until there were about a million hours involved.  But they are cute anyway, and the baby, Sienna Wylde, is modeling them

The material came from the dress the Grandma had worn to her daughter's wedding (before the baby was born).  The Grandma is big on bling, so I was just guessing that the baby may be also.  Those are Grandma Cindy's toes peaking out there at the bottom

For this Christmas, Sienna received these orange shoes which were much plainer and quicker.  This fabric was a heavier silk and went together much quicker.  This orange fabric also had something to do with the wedding, as it is the bride's favorite color.

40 year reunion

 
 
This is a picture of me, Connie & Claudia.  We all are from the class of 1969 and were able to get together for lunch at the Mall of America this summer.  4 hours flew by like nothing.  Connie bravely attended our 40 year reunion, while Claudia went to the lake.  What did do I, work.  It was alot of fun seeing them again.

I wanted to have a surprise gift for them, but didn't quite finish in time. It worked out anyway as I thought of putting their initials on the bags later. If I had a fancy sewing machine, it would have been more interesting, but it's the thought. Our school colors were black, white, orange and hopefully everyone likes toile!

Another couple of bags

I guess I didn't get pictures of all of the bags, but here are two that are finished. Each has its' own charm. My friend Elaine did the quilting on both of these bags and I did the assembly. It was fun to work as a team. This is Lori's bag. I had the background material for a very long time, and should have taken a better picture of it.  The material has an Asian influence, but I loved it pared with the gingham check. Everything is decorator weight and the lining inside is the stripe. Sandwiched between is non-pill fleece which is great to work with.

The is Jeanette's bag.  The red is upholstry grade fabric, quite heavy, but the green gingham is a very light cotton and worked out very well as the other fabrics were plenty heavy.  I love Elaine's quilting.  There is a big pocket on the other side.  I was always going to make pillows out of the red, but never did.

Finally a new post

Laziness and computer problems slowed my blogging momentum, but in the meantime, I made a few things

This little bag was a "purse" for 4 year old Hailey. Also made matching shoes.  The little round edges at the end were a little tight on my machine, but fun.

2010 Goals

One of my goals for 2010 was to get a blog going about different craft projects, sewing, quilts etc. that I do during the year.  I have been so inspired by all of the people that take the time to blog about their projects that I just wanted to get in on the fun.  So today, put a bunch of posts out there that have been floating around in my head for awhile, but just didn't make it to the big screen.

I am hoping that now that once the initial post has happened, I will find more stuff to blog about and I won't have to feel like a peeping tom anymore.  Thanks to all of the people that have shared their projects!  Love them.  Kathy

Rocky's Sweater

My daughter Teri is the mother of two daughters, but the doting mother of two Chugs (half chihuahua, half pug).  Rocky had to have a Halloween costume a while back, so found some old crewel work yarn and added his initial to his sweater, so now he is a letterman.  His sister Annabelle, was a cheerleader, but her skirt kept falling down.  Bad cheerleader.

Jodi's wall art

This is an old thing, but has a cute story even if it is kind of very primative.  My granddaughter Jodi is part of the Red Bulls and was in Iraq during 2003-04.  Their bunks/sleeping quarters were small and had limited space.  Jodi is kind of a girly girl even though she is military, so made her this wall hanging which is basically a bunch of pockets hanging on a heavy piece of fabric so that she could store her magzines, books, remotes, etc.  Also made one for her roommate, and they enjoyed them and brought them home after their tour.  Wanted them to have something bright on their walls.  We also sent the adhesive hooks so they could move them around if need be.

Cooper's Blanket

I made this afghan for my coworkers son, Cooper is 3.  I had made him a more baby looking blanket, but when Aly showed me a picture of his room - which was very manly - we traded in his baby blanket for this man blanket.  Improvised a pattern from a pillow design that I have saved and coveted for many years, but had never made.  It worked pretty well.

Morgan's Sweater

This little beauty is the daughter of my coworker Aly.  Made this sweater for her from an old pattern book that my cousin gave me.  The copywrite date was 1968 (in Roman numerals).  It was very quick and easy crochet project

Weekend Bag

This leafy material was passed to me from a friend who got it from an employee who was trying to make a cover for her kayak.  She didn't like the outcome and brought the parts to work.  So paired this with some fabric I had on hand and used Smplicity pattern 2600.  Quilted it a little differently than the pattern, but the original fabric was the sunbrella and very stiff.  The lining is fleece, so once it was quilted, the bag is firm, but the texture is actually much less stiff than originally received.  So after the bag was finished, I showed it off a little and then gave it to the original girl.  She was very surprised and likes it.  Want to make my girls each one and tuck some pajamas or something inside.

Camo Diaper Bag

Another coworker also had a grandchild coming, but choose not to know the sex of the baby first.  The parents are all about Camo, so made this diaper bag for them.  The baby, was a girl, but guess this works just fine for all of the nursing equipment the new mom  uses.

Toile Shoes

I made these shoes from Simplicity patttern 2491 for a co-worker's new twin granddaughters who should be here in about 10 days.  Mom & Grandma both love Toile, so thought these little shoes would be a unique gift.  And after figuring out how to get them lined, they are also reversible.