Tilly and the Buttons

I picked up a recent copy of Mollie Makes the other day, and I really loved looking through it.  One thing that caught my eye was a skirt pattern by Tilly and the Buttons.  Tilly's web site is fabulous.  It's full of patterns and tutorials and help for sewing clothing that you would actually want to wear.  There's even a guide for designing your own fabric.  I think I will be spending a lot of time learning from such an amazing seamstress.

Liberty Bias Tape

I posted about these wool blankets from the Purl about a year ago, and I'm thinking of them again.  They sell the Liberty bias tape in their shop, and it's so lovely.  I think this would be a fun project!

Pendleton

As we drove back to Washington from Utah a couple of weeks ago, we stopped in the Pendleton Mill Store.  Of course we love their clothing and blankets, but we could not afford anything - until I found some fabric by the yard.  This lovely 100% wool was $5.99/yard!  I, of course, made a zipper pouch with some of it (lined with Liberty).

Sewing!

I got a new sewing machine, and I've been putting it to good use!  My first project was a tie for my husband.  (Pattern from the Purl here.)

Then I made some of these cute travel Kleenex pouches.  (Pattern from A Spoonful of Sugar here.)

This little pattern was so great that I was able to adapt it for other pouches!  I made this little Swiss dot pouch for my phone.

And then I made one for my Kindle out of some of the fabulous Victoria and Albert fabric from Rowan.

Purl Soho Prism Quilt

My sister alerted me to another fabulous quilt - this one even uses Liberty of London fabric!  It's from Purl Soho, and I love, love, love it.

Anna Maria Horner Well Composed Blouse

I was looking at some lovely Liberty projects online the other day and found this fantastic top made by Melissa at Polka Dot Chair.  She used the Well Composed Blouse pattern by Anna Maria Horner.  Find it here.  I really want this blouse!  Will someone make one for me?

Zipper Pouch

I've been madly sewing zipper pouches lately.  I made this one for my husband's gift exchange at work.  (He works with all ladies...)  I'm including a cute washcloth, some lotion and soap that I made, and some Burt's Bees lip balm.  Fun!  I found the zipper pouch tutorial here.

English Fields Quilt

I finally finished a quilt that I dreamed up in 2009 when we first visited England.  I wanted to make a patchwork quilt that would look like the farms and fields of the English countryside.  It took me a while to figure out how to incorporate some diagonal pieces along with the rectangles (and to gather all of the green fabric).  I sewed straight rows through the quilt to look like furrows.  Last year when we visited England, I bought a ball of yarn made from the wool of the sheep at Blenheim Palace.  I used it to tie the quilt randomly so that it would look like lambs in pairs or threes.  I like the effect that it created on the back.

 

Bathroom Update

The curtain that I had made for our bathroom just wasn't cutting it anymore...  So I found some fun fabric at Jo-Ann and made a new valance.  (I also installed a roller shade - my dad would be so proud.)  To complete the new look, I got these towels from World Market.  People tend to spend a lot of time in their bathrooms, so I think it's nice to change things up.  What do you think?

Quilted Zipper Pouches

If your mom is like mine, she will want something handmade for Mother's Day.  I can't get enough of zipper pouches in all of their varieties.  Here's a fun quilted version from the Purl Bee.

Liberty Valentine's Gifts

Liberty has a lovely Valentine's Day Gift Guide on their web site.  If we had tons of money and nothing to spend it on, I would ask for this beautiful bumblebee ring.  I've also been thinking lately about sewing patches of Liberty fabric onto shirts - so imagine my surprise when I saw this sweater!  (At 320 pounds, I think I might be able to make one that's more affordable...)

YW Quilt

One of the things keeping me busy before my craft fair was a quilt that I was making for the 18th birthday of a YW in my ward.  I pieced together strips of fabric in the various value colors for the top.  The back and binding were light grey with flowers, and there was a white border around the back.  The YW each signed their name along the bottom with fabric markers.  It got so stressful that I forgot to take a picture of the finished product!  But here's the top...

Car Coasters

One of the things about my new car (new to me, that is) that I don't think was very well thought out is the color of the interior.  It's a black car with a light tan-ish interior.  That's great for the leather seats, but for the carpets not so much.  Also the cup holders seemed to be showing every little bit of fuzz or speck of dirt that came their way.  So to keep them looking presentable I sewed some fun little car coasters.  I just measured the bottom and then sewed some scraps together and trimmed.  (They do have fabric on the back and batting.)  I was happy to use some of the last bits of my favorite squirrel fabric. :)

Waverly Fabric

I found some really great fabric for valances in our exercise/laundry room.  I'll have to post a picture when I've finished them.  I hung a collage frame with pictures of various national parks that we've visited, and I was looking for something kind of Southwest-looking.  I liked the Santa Maria (brighter one), but we decided to go with the Mayan Medallion.  It's made by Waverly.

Handmade Gifts

My sister, Beth, is the needlework wizard of the family.  She made me these adorable embroidered dish towels for Christmas.  She also crocheted some dish cloths for me and sewed these cute rickrack trimmed napkins.  What a fabulous gift!

Ribbon Bracelets

I didn't end up making many gifts for Christmas, but I did make some ribbon bracelets.  I found the idea in an old issue of Martha Stewart Living.  (See the article here.)  These are the ones that I gave my sisters.

Bathroom Shade

Here's another peek at our bathroom.  I found some great fabric at JoAnn's to make a semi-Roman shade.  It's not the most professional, but it is functional, and I love the fabric.

Drawstring Bag Project

Did you see these drawstring bags on the Purl Bee?  So cute - and useful!

Finished!

I finally finished the quilt that Sara started for me for Christmas!  The piecing was fun - and actually not too difficult.  Then I found some chambray to go around the edge and on the back.  I tied the middle and then machine quilted around the border and added my initials on the back.  It will be nice and warm when winter comes!

Bibs

A few of my friends are having babies in the near future, so I've been sewing a lot of bibs.  I really liked the fabric that I found for this one.  I got a fat quarter of it on clearance.  So cute.