little drawstring bag

Yesterday I needed a little scrap therapy. I used small scraps, each of these rectangles measures 1.5" x 2.5",  and turned them into this fun drawstring bag.

I even decided to go with different colored casings for the string. I think it looks lovely, don't you?

I pretty much followed my tutorial for drawstring bag, making a few changes along the way - this pouch is slightly smaller and I added a gusset. 

Finished size of this pouch is 4.5" x 6.5".  It's a sweet little thing and holds my embroidery thread beautifully.

I might have to make a few of these in different sizes before I get all these scrappy drawstring bags out of my system though. Good thing I have tons of scraps to play with :)

Talk to you soon. Svetlana

social tote

Hello friends, are you having a nice Saturday? I hope so. Mine is off to a really great start - I spent the whole morning working on Carolyn Friedlander and Anna Graham's Social Tote.

What a fun project, I must say. This was definitely not the easiest tote to make, my brain still slightly hurts from all that thinking :), but so well worth all the extra effort.

And this Anna Maria Horner fabric plays so very nicely with some Architexture and Sketch, don't you think? I do really like this slightly unexpected fabric combination.

As I said, this was not an easy tote to make. Those dividers were tricky and I had to re-read the instructions quite a few times. The only problem I encountered was that one of the parts (large divider side) seemed to be about 2"-3" shorter than needed. I have no idea if that was me or the pattern and after much fiddling and not knowing where I went wrong I simply cut the part 3" longer and the crisis was averted, phew!!!

Now I'm definitely ready to tote my sewing project around the house in style :)

Wishing you all a very lovely rest of the weekend. Svetlana

value zig zag

Hello, happy Tuesday to you all!

I started a new scrappy quilt over the weekend. I've wanted to give Katie's value quilt a try for such a long time. Really, every time I make a list of quilts I'd like to make her value zig zag is among the first ones I write down.

I'm using 5" squares to make these blocks and I love how easy and effortless they are. And then it's time to trim and there's absolutely nothing easy and effortless about that :(  Trimming the blocks is such a tedious task, but the result is a perfectly square quilt so I make myself do it.

I've been trimming my blocks while watching TV, going pretty slow, giving my fingers and wrists plenty of breaks.
 

So far I have about 150 blocks all sewn and trimmed - I'm about half way there as I'd like this quilt to finish at 72" x 72", my favorite size right now. It's perfect for my little peeps' snuggling.

I'm curious, do you have a "bucket" list of quilts you'd like to make? Do tell.

Svetlana

Linking up to Lee's WIP Wednesday .

{no patchwork} quilted pillows

Can you tell I was on a pillow making spree? Yes, three new pillows in two days. And I only stopped because our house simply cannot fit any more pillows :)

They were so easy and quick to make. I loved digging through my stash and choosing which fabrics to use. I really like how very different all three of these main fabrics are.

This is our Lola pillow, my favorite. Love all these adorable happy kitties.

And here's Lola posing next to "her" pillow. She's the sweetest cat ever and totally needs a pillow of her own. Especially the one with cat pictures all over :)

More kitties on the back. You can find my tutorial for this kind of hidden zipper closure here.

I used the same method to install zippers for the other two pillows. It works so well every time.

Each pillow finished at 18" x 18" and I stuffed them with 20" forms to make them all wonderfully plump and squishy.

Thanks so much for stopping by, hope you all have a wonderful day. Svetlana

Linkin up to Pillow Collective

baby ohio star

It's snowing. Again! And very, very cold so I decided a day of letting everyone do what they like best (which means I get to sew without feeling guilty) was the way to go :)

I had this little Ohio star quilt top finished for quite some time but for some reason I could not decide on the backing and quilting. Until this morning, that is. I raided my stash and found enough yellow and green minky for the backing and before I knew it I had the quilt all basted and ready for quilting.

I went with simple straight line quilting about 1" apart. It gives the quilt a lovely texture without making it too stiff. I washed and dried it right away and I'm so in love with how perfectly soft and warm it is.

See? just the right amount of crinkles (in my opinion:)).

Finished size of this quilt is 36" x 36".

How is your Saturday going? Hope you're having a lovely time, too. Svetlana

patchwork trivet {a tutorial}

A while back I had a plan for a new improvish sort of quilt. I made one block and stalled, not knowing which direction to go.

And then I came across Michelle's lovely patchwork coasters which gave me an idea. I decided to scrap the quilt idea and turn this lonely block into a trivet. I know, it does sound strange to start with an idea for a quilt and end up with a trivet, but at least I'm not stuck with yet another orphan block :)

I couldn't even believe how quickly I was able to turn into something useful as well as pretty. Now, in case you'd like to turn some of your orphan blocks into trivets (or coasters if your blocks are smaller), here's how to:

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My block was about 14" x 14" in size and the trivet finished at 11.5" in diameter. You can, however use different sized block of patchwork.

Baste two layers of Insulbright to the wrong side of your patchwork and quilt any way you like.

Find a round object the size you'd like your trivet to be (I used a pretty large lid) and trace around it.

Stitch very close to the inside of the traced line to insure your quilting stitches will be secure once the circle shape is cut out. Use scissors to cut along the traced line.

Cut out the same size of a circle from your backing fabric (I used home decor weight fabric to make it more sturdy). Place on top of each other, right sides together and pin or clip to hold securely together.

Using 1/4" seam allowance, stitch all the way around the circle leaving about 4" opening for turning the trivet right side out.

Clip little notches all the way around the trivet's perimeter, press the seam open.

Turn the trivet right side out through the hole, smooth out the seam with your fingers from the inside, press, and pin (or clip) the opening closed.

Stitch all the way around (using 1/8" seam allowance). Give it one more good press and you're all done.

Any questions? Let me know. 

Svetlana

road trip case

As soon as I saw Anna's newest pattern for Road Trip Case I knew I wanted to make one right away.

 So, I purchased the pattern and since I had all the needed supplies on hand (somehow I even had clear vinyl in my stash) I got right to it and sewed the case that same day. Yes, I was very determined :)

This was my first time sewing with vinyl and the whole thing made me a little nervous. Surprisingly, though, it all went pretty smoothly and I'm sure I'll be incorporating vinyl into more of my pouches and bags now.

Aren't all these different sized pockets such a wonderful idea? I think they will be super handy to keep my cross stitch supplies nicely organized.

Speaking of cross stitch, I'm happy to say that I finally got back to my Woodland Sampler. I'm very, very behind, as you can see, but at least I started making some progress again :)

I loved making this case and I'm sure I'll be making more soon. I think it would make a great little artist case.

Thanks for reading. Svetlana