A lovely lunch tote...

Sometimes I get in random moods and just feel like sewing the most random things.  For some reason in my head, I felt like finding a great lunch tote.  Not that I really need one and I ended up making 3 of them, so I have no idea what I will do with them but I adore these things and I feel like I just want to make more and more because they are just so darn cute.  I foresee them being used as Easter baskets or gift bags or (duh) lunch totes.

This lovely pattern comes from Ayumi over at the Pink Penguin.  The link to this particular tutorial is here. The tutorial is precise and easy to follow, I think definitely suitable for a beginner with just a little bit of patience.  I whipped up 3 of these in a day, 2 for my nieces and the other one, I'm not really sure, I was just having fun playing with fabric.

I used the Milk, Sugar & Flower line by Penny Lane Fabrics for this one.  Doesn't that fabric just melt your heart?

For these two bright lovelies...well, I'm not sure.  It was in my stash but I don't have the selvedges and drives me nuts.  Any suggestions as to what fabric this is?  The accent blue and the pink dots are by Riley Blake, just not sure about that lovely geometric pattern.

                                      

What random sewing projects are you sewing up these days?

Xoxo,
A

                  

Noodle-Head Caravan Tote

 A couple of years ago I bought a quilted Vera Bradley bag on sale to tote all of my nursing equipment and information around.  It was a great bag with lots of pockets and compartments to store all of my stuff...notebooks, binders, scissors, stethoscope, hemostats...and so on.  I do love the bag but there are 2 issues: 1.) I think there are actually TOO many pockets...I can never find anything and 2.) I spilled a massive cup of coffee on it a few days ago.

Fail and fail.

Well, it was actually a good time for fail number 2 because it forced me to create something new and it was perfect timing because I finally received all of the equipment to make Anna Graham's Caravan Tote.  You can find her amazing blog and patterns here.  Now I know I already raved on about her in my last post when I was showing you her Caravan Pouch, which was the free pattern that came along with this Caravan Tote pattern, but I'm going to go ahead and rave about her again.

This pattern was like a dream to follow.  Everything was so simple and well-explained, and most importantly, I love love love the finished product.  I'm pretty sure this is my favorite thing I've sewn to date.  It just looks so freaking cool, I can't stand it.

I'm loving this bag because there are enough pockets to hold all of my stuff including the multitudes of alcohol swabs that I leave the hospital with in my pockets, and those little blue caps to cap off IV tubing that end up going through the wash and find themselves in the lint trap of our dryer.  Not to mention my notebooks, binders, scissors, etc. (see list above) all have compartments in this lovely lovely tote.  However, there are not SO many pockets that I can't remember where I put things, so they end up all mixed up together in ALL of the pockets.  Anybody have that problem, or am I just a complete train wreck?

Regardless, my problems are now all solved, thanks to Anna Graham and her amazing pattern-creating skills.  Thank you Anna Graham.

Xoxo,
A

Noodlehead Caravan Pouch

So I have 3 days off in a row this week and all I want to do is sew sew sew.  I mean, it's summertime, the weather is beautiful and I should be outside but I just don't want to.  It would be nice if I could bring my machine outside, which I guess in theory I could but then I'd take my contained sewing mess and transfer it outside and then I'd probably fight with my husband about it...so I'll just keep it inside and feel slightly guilty about it.

Lately, I've been into sewing accessories.  Pouches, bags, lunch boxes, camera straps, wristlets...I seem to go in cycles.  There are times that all I want to do is quilt.  So I'll do that for a while and finish (or start) a bunch of projects and then all of a sudden all I'll want to do is makes garments.  So I'll do that for a while until I'll just feel like sewing something else.  Eventually, I'll come back to quilts, or garments, or whatever the prior obsession was and the cycle will start all over again.  Does that ever happen to any of you?

So anyway, yesterday I made this Caravan Pouch created by Anna over at Noodlehead.  I love her patterns so much.  They are always so precise and beautifully photographed and easy to follow.  The finished products are gorgeous.  Now this pouch is actually a free addition to her Caravan Tote created as a tote for knitting or crochet materials.  Now I tried my hand at knitting and I didn't stick with it for very long, so I plan on using it for lugging all of my nursing supplies to and from the hospital.

I don't yet have all the supplies in hand to make the tote but I was itching to try this pattern, so I just made the pouch so far.  Needless to say, I adore it.  I added a removable strap because I tend to carry things around my wrist or else I lose them.  It's good to know one's faults eh?

Xoxo,
A

Playground Quilt - A Long Work in Progress

So this little gem has been sitting in my WIP pile for a few months now and I finally broke it out again this week.  I almost have all of the blocks complete, but with trying to add things to the store and our recent move and any other excuse in the book that I can think of, this little lovely has been sitting lonely in my chest for a while. 

I started it as soon as Bonnie and Camille's latest line, Daysail, came out.  I love this line so much.  The colors and textures are a perfect depiction of a day out on the water.  The colors come together and can feel masculine or feminine...the perfect gender-neutral palette.  I made my blocks using a layer cake and it works perfectly to cut into the 4.5" and slightly larger squares.

 The pattern comes from Camille Roskelley's book Simply Retro.  I guess it would be an understatement to say I am obsessed with this book.  The pictures and colors are beautiful and there is not a quilt in it that I would not be willing to make.  Her instructions are clear and precise and her added tips are perfect for the novice or experienced quilter.  This may sounds like a sponsored post but I assure you it's not...I don't really have any readers so it wouldn't really benefit them to sponsor me, ha.

 Camille calls this pattern Playground.  She created it for her boys and reminisces about their younger years on the playground.  To me, it reminds me of those orange life rings...which is ultimately what made me decide to use the Daysail line for this quilt.

Hopefully there will be more to come with a finished quilt soon.  Until then...

Xoxo,
A