Not-Ugly Car Trash Bag

September was Craft Book Month at Craft Buds. I didn't get over there as often as I'd like, but that's the nice thing about blogs. I can go back at my leisure and catch up with all the fun!

I tend to buy craft books for inspiration, but don't really use many of the patterns. Although that is starting to change. I wracked my brain for most of the month as to what to post about. This morning when I got in the Jeep I looked in the back seat & saw one of my first sewing projects. The Not-Ugly Car Trash Bag from One Yard Wonders.

This was a fun & fast project to put together and sure is nice to have in the car. I still love this, although I can see some of my beginner mistakes, which drive me crazy! :)

I didn't have the parachute buckle the pattern called for so I used D's instead, which work perfectly fine for me.

Someday I'd love to make a new one and, now that I'm thinking about it, they would make a great gift for someone since they don't have to be used strictly for garbage.

Thank you Lindsay for inviting me to your fun linky party! :)

Success!

After my gigantic fail the other day I had to seriously rethink the bee blocks for my fellow hive members. OK, it wasn't that big of a failure, but I did "waste" most of Sunday on a now orphan block.

I decided to stick with something I know & go back to my friend the square. I chose Heather's Orange You Glad I Chose a Nine-Patch! Block, designed for the Blogger's Block a Palooza sew along. Here are my blocks for my 4x5 hive members!

Mustard, coral, & raspberry for Janeth.

Tomato, corn, & ash for Amy.

Aqua, red, & white for Elaine.

I love the Little Apples turtle & the sewing machine. :)

Green, grey, & aqua for Laura.

Blue, green, & grey for Michelle.

{Sew} Modern Monday

It's Monday! Which means it's time for another {Sew} Modern Monday with Megan at Canoe Ridge Creations. It's been a few weeks since I linked up, but I've been stitching quite a bit lately. Plus I'm super excited to meet Megan & many others at The Sewing Summit in less than 2 weeks!!!

They're taking registration until October 1st. So there's still time if you want to go.

I did some more crochet this week to ensure that I got the basic stitches down. I actually learned some crochet several years ago, but I now realize I only learned the single crochet. Which is probably why I grew bored with it after only a few weeks. :)

A fun new scarf...

...with a scalloped edge!

Next up was these Citrus Twist Dishcloths. I made too many stitches for the border of the blue dishcloth so the sides are a little wavy, but I figured out my problem for the green one & I think it came out pretty nice.

Next came a big fail. This block was supposed to be for the 3x6 & 4x5 bees. Remember my first attempt which was a little boring? Well, this was my "fix", but the squares came out to 6 1/4" instead of 6 1/2" which made the final block too small. Plus, look at all those unmatched "corners."

Maybe I'm being too picky, but honestly I think I'd be a little disappointed if this showed up in my mailbox, everyone is these groups are so talented! Unfortunately, that means I just wasted some of my very special 1001 Peeps, but I'll figure out something to do with this poor little orphan block.

Sadly, this also means I'm back to square one with having no idea what block to make and, of course, I waited until the last week to make these. I had the best intentions to get them done sooner, but it just never happened. :(

If you have any suggestions on what block to make (11 times over) I'd love to hear your ideas!

Another success! I finished my I Love Patchwork Pouch.

I used Martinique by 3 Sisters & Whimsy by Fig Tree & Co for the blocks and muslin for the rest. I'm beginning to discover that I love muslin as much as Rashida loves linen! It's such a great neutral. Especially for the colors that I normally work with.

So this week I'll be sew sew sewing bee blocks and hopefully making a bag or two to carry with me to The Sewing Summit.

Thanks for visiting!

Fave 5 Friday - Autumn Style

It's Friday! Time to celebrate the week!

Everyone's invited to play along. All you have to do is grab a button (see, over there on the sidebar?), post 5 pictures from the past week or so, and come back and link up to the party. How easy is that?? Please also include a link back here in your post so that your readers can join in if they want.

Today is the Autumnal Equinox in the Northern Hemisphere. In laymen terms, it's the First Day of Fall!!! Can you tell I'm excited? I love autumn; the colors in the trees, the way the sun lights up the prairie, the cooler weather, the different birds that start showing up. Fall also happens to be when my anniversary & birthdays are, but that's just frosting on the cake.

This year I also happen to be going to the very first Sewing Summit, in October. You may have noticed the button on the left saying "I'm going!" Well now that it's less than 3 weeks away I guess I should start thinking about what I'm taking/making for my trip. :)

And without further ado, here's my celebration of the week...

I overhauled our bedroom this week. It was in desperate need of a vacuuming. 3 dogs create a LOT of fur! I also decided that it needed to be rearranged because the flow of the room just wasn't right. I wish I had gotten before pictures, but I forgot. Basically all I did was swap the dresser & the bed, but that's some big furniture to move by yourself. I also hauled the mattress out to the porch for a nice afternoon airing out. I still need to adjust the wall decor (see the blank wall reflected in the mirror & the pictures partially covered by the mirror?), but that's something I need to think about a little longer.

On Sunday we drove down to Torrington to go to the quilt show. There were only a handful of vendors, but there was some pretty cool stuff there. One of the shops (located in the Black Hills) carries a lot of Australian Aborigine fabrics. I got these great fat quarters which I hope to be able to part with & swap at the Sewing Summit. I also got a fun new bag pattern. I plan to use the FQ in the upper right, which has lots of interesting Australian creatures on it, as the main fabric.

Like I previously mentioned I love the glow that the sunrises & sunsets create on the late summer/early fall prairie. Here's one of the ranch's windmills.

September sunset.

I love the shine of the sun on the water tank. This is definitely my favorite shot of the week.

Thanks for visiting!

The link will be open through tomorrow so please feel free to link up anytime between now & tomorrow night.

WIP Wednesday...on Thursday

So I wrote this yesterday and then forgot to post it. So here's my WIP Wednesday post...on Thursday.

The ranch my husband, Jake, works for is primarily a cattle/hay operation, but they also outfit for hunters throughout the year. They guide for deer, antelope, buffalo, elk, pheasants, coyote, & picket pens (prairie dogs).

So I decided that Jake needed a camo shirt to look "legit" for the hunters. I found a camo t-shirt fabric on sale at Joann's. I can't remember what pattern I used, it's a baseball tee style pajama top. The problem with finding shirts for Jake is that he's tall & super skinny. He has a long body & long arms so I added approx. 6"(!) to the lengths when I cut. I didn't hem the bottom because I was tired of fighting from the sleeve hems, but he tucks his shirts in anyway so it doesn't really matter. He also had Popeye arms so I had to let out the seam in the forearms about 1/4". For all the alterations I had to make it doesn't look too bad, if I do say so myself. :)

Showing off his bobcat.

Now he's just showing off, but isn't that a beautiful buck he's pointing at? That's mine. :)

Instead of putting a tag in the back I embroidered my brand right below the back collar. At first I tried to add it directly to the fabric with no additions, but it kept bunching so I cut a small piece of mid-weight fusible interfacing. I ironed that to the inside of the shirt & then it was a piece of cake to embroider.

I've thought & thought on my 3x6 & 4x5 bees forever and finally decided on a block. The problem is it's almost to "simple" of a pattern. Good thing I tried it in my colors first. I'm going to stick with this block, but make 4 smaller ones to add more movement.

Pouch from I Love Patchwork by the very talented Rashida Coleman-Hale. This is the lining. I just have to attach the lining then you can see what it really looks like. ;)

My first large-ish crochet project, a new scarf for winter.

Sunday Brunch

The other day I was looking through the freezer trying to free up some tupperware & I came across some blueberries I had frozen last year. I think they were supposed to be used in smoothies, but since we rarely have milk I don't drink smoothies very often. After thinking for a minute on what I could use them in, I decided to make a blueberry sauce. I've made cranberry sauce for holidays so I figured it couldn't be very difficult.

So I pulled them out of the freezer & left them to defrost for a couple hours.

I added enough water to cover the berries. Then the sugar. I used probably about 2 Tbsp.

Then I brought it to a boil.

Stirring often.

The blueberries didn't pop open like cranberries do so I mushed them up a bit & kept them boiling until it reduced down to a yummy looking sauce.

We ate it over ice cream and it was absolutely delicious!

Fave 5 Friday

Today my 5 favorite pictures are all about sewing. Enjoy!

My design wall. On the top, more progress on my Hometown Heart & Home quilt (sorry the giveaway on my LQS blog is closed). On the bottom, my Little Apples HSTs and blocks that have started arriving from the 3x6 & 4x5 bees.

Sherbet Pips demo quilt for my work is finished!

I learned how to use the longarm this week. So far, I've only learned to use programmed designs, but there's a lot to that too. You don't just set it up & let it go. Well, maybe a little. :) Hopefully soon I'll be able to learn more detailed & free motion quilting. That's what I'd like to do for my sister's wedding quilt.

The lovely Amy (needledfig) taught me how to crochet yesterday. We had a great lesson on all the basic stitches. She made them so easy to learn. In return I showed her how to do hand piecing, which is how I'm doing by Farmer's Wife Quilt. I think I got the better end of the deal. :)

I was so excited about my new skill that I found a tutorial for granny squares and made this fun little thing. There are definitely some problem areas, but I'll get it eventually. I also started a cowl for winter, but when I got to my 4th row (of 145 stitches!) I realized that I had, in fact, gotten it twisted. Blargh!

I designed a flannel charm pack scarf this week (so stay tuned for a tutorial soon). Sorry about the goofy self portrait. Jake was supposed to be my model, but it never happened.

Lindsay from Lindsay Sews posted this charm pack on Flickr to swap & I jumped at the chance! I am such a fan of Tula Pink. I love all her whimsical designs. I swapped her a Hometown charm pack & one of my fun little sketchbooks. This charm pack is going to become kitchen goodies. I am in desperate need of new oven mitts & have super ugly pot holders, so soon I will have beautiful bug-y decor in my kitchen instead! :)

Thanks for visiting! If you'd like to join the party just post your 5 (or so) favorite pictures from the past week. Be sure to mention that you're linking up here & there's a button on the sidebar if you'd like. Then come back here and link up. It's as easy as that!

Pay it Forward: Misfit Style

I'm sure most of you have heard of the concept of paying it forward. Someone does something nice for you and you turn around and do something nice for someone else (without expecting anything in return). In my eyes this kind of giving is the ultimate example of good karma and the Golden Rule. And although I can be selfish at times (who isn't?), I really do try to give from my heart when & what I can.

Which brings us to this fun little game of Pay it Forward. Great name, huh?! :P

Amanda of Little Treasures by Amanda and Selina of Sew It Up, who never hesitate to jump in and help others, got the effort started. My fellow friends and Misfit Quilters have gotten in on it too and I’m joining in. It's very inspiring to see so many talented people participating!

I know you’d like to play along too, here’s how:

1. I'll make something handmade for the first 3 people who comment to this post. What I make will be a surprise and will arrive to you when you least expect it. Doesn’t everyone love a surprise?

2. I have 365 days to make and deliver it to you. But there’s a little catch, to get a handmade giftie from me, you have to play too! This means you take the pledge to send something handmade to 3 of your blog readers. It doesn’t have to be a quilt, just something handmade! Easy right?

3. In case it wasnt obvious in #2, you have to have a blog.

4. Once you comment here, you have to post about Pay it Forward on your blog and keep it going!

This is one of the easiest commitments you’ll make! You can make anything you want. You have a whole year to make it and send it. Simple! Even if you aren’t one of the first 3 to comment on my post, you can still do something nice for someone else by participating on your own blog. I would love to hear about it!

*Because I signed up for a couple different Pay it Forwards (who wouldn't want to receive a handmade item from the very talented Misfits?) I will be sending a handmade item to the first 7 people that leave a comment. So leave a comment & repost this game on your blog, remember you only need to send to 3 people, and I will contact you for your mailing info soon.

You do not need to be a Misfit to play, but if you'd like to join our Misfit Quilters swaps visit the blog to see what we're all about.

Have fun!

Fave 5 Friday

Well this is week 3 of my Fave 5 Friday linky party & I'm trying to get it posted in time for more people to participate this week. What a novel idea, huh!?! :P

If you'd like to play along just create a blog post with your 5 favorite pictures from the last week (or so). If they are pictures you've found online please be sure to credit them accordingly. I now have a button (See? On the right), so go ahead and grab it, add it to your post to link back up to my blog. Then come back and link up your post. It's as easy as that!

Here are my favorite from the week...

I love sunrises on the prairie!

I love how the early morning light turns everything a beautiful fire-y orange.

The sunsets are pretty amazing too! Jake got this picture when he was checking water & the windmills the other day. Pretty nice office, huh?

On Sunday we went up to Devils Tower for a cowboy music/poetry gathering. We met up with friends we hadn't seen in a year & met even more Facebook friends this year. It was such a beautiful relaxing day, we took the dogs & I brought some hand sewing to work on.

Today, Jake had a dentist appointment so I went with him down to Torrington, which is about an hour drive. While he was in the dentist chair I went downtown and found some more fabric-y goodness. I'm going to use these to make more sketchbooks. These books will be going with me to Sewing Summit (for sale or swap)! :)

I also visited a used book store in town and found these.

I'd have to say it's been a pretty good week. Can't wait to see what you all have been up to!