Best Laid Plans

Back a little while ago I bought some dress patterns with the intention of making this dress for Easter.

Yeah Easter is Sunday so I'm thinking it isn't going to get made. I may make this dress because it is an easier pattern. 

But since I work in a church this is a bit of busy week so I'm not holding out hope. I'll probably wear something I already have. Dig a skirt or dress out of the archives. I'll let you know how it goes.

Military Diaper Bag

A friend of mine B recently had a baby. Her sister R  had one a few months before and I made her a diaper bag. Well B asked for one but in camouflage. Never one to turn down a challenge...I decided I could do one better. Her husband was deployed but he was coming home before her shower so I asked him for his help. I wanted  one of his old uniforms to use for the diaper bag. He said no problem. He came home for a visit and with the help of his mother-in-law and B I was able to get the uniform. B actually brought it into the building without knowing it. So with some interesting layout challenges I got it cut out. It went together beautifully. Her shower was yesterday and she loved it!! It was an interesting project to work on because it wasn't just a bolt of fabric it was something that her husband wore and that would be special to B and to her children. I actually had a woman at the shower ask about one for her because her husband is retiring and she wants a keepsake.

Weekend Baby Shower = Handmade Diaper Bag

The diaper bag

Inside the bag...pockets

The cool cell phone pocket

 I used a great pattern from Craft Apple. It went together beautifully and I loved it!! And the Mom-to-Be loved it too!!

Giveaway # 3 - An mncollins designs creation

So two giveaways in one day...whoo hoo!! For this giveaway you have a choice...if you win you can pick a handmade purse or a handmade spiral focal piece. 

• You can enter one or all three of the giveaways.
• Please post a comment on the post for the giveaway you would like to enter. 
• For an extra entry blog (or tweet or Facebook) about this giveaway (please post another comment).
• For another extra entry follow my blog or let me know if you already do (please post another comment).
• You will have one week to enter for each drawing.
• To be fair...you can only win one of the giveaways.

Option # 1

This purse is made with a black batik fabric that has white star bursts. It is machine quilted, has hard plastic purse handles and a magnetic snap closure. It is lined with a red batik. It has four pockets inside.

Option #2

 A Dutch spiral focal piece in blues, greens and purple. It is made with seed beads, #8 sized beads and teardrop beads. It is a very solid piece that will hold up to normal wear. The beads are all colorfast. It is beautiful on a silver necklace or you could easily work it into other beaded jewelry.

Deadline to enter this giveaway is next Friday, September 3rd. Good luck!!

Bikes, Blood, & Birthdays

You may be asking yourself what do these have in common....they were all involved in my weekend.

Friday - We rode the bike over to Bayside to watch Ghostrider on  their lawn. It was fun! We like that movie and watching it out in the open was a lot of fun and we had a nice evening for it. We did determine that drivers on the interstate (most of them) don't pay enough attention to bikers. They didn't realize we needed space too.

Saturday - We woke up and took care of  then I made breakfast. Then we took the bike back over to Bayside for their 12th anniversary. They had three ways to help the community...you could give hair to locks of love, you could donate food to the Food Bank, or you could give blood to the Red Cross. We decided to give blood...but J was too close to the last time he gave so he couldn't. I gave and had the worst experience with them finding a vein that I have ever had in my whole life. It took three people digging (literally) to find a vein. And then they commented it was slow...gee maybe because you stressed the vein. But I gave my pint. We ate some lunch and headed home.

A dear friend of ours was throwing a birthday party for her Mom so we went to that for a while Saturday afternoon. It was a lot of fun we saw people we hadn't seen in a while. And got to celebrate with her Mom. When I got home I realized I was quite sunburned on my back and shoulders.

Sunday - We had a relaxing morning. Then we went grocery shopping. Then we came home and fixed lunch. We spent the evening watching John Wayne movies...J loves them. I sewed a couple things. One of which didn't work according to plan. I'm not sure what happened so I'm going to have to revamp that one a bit. I don't know if I'll tear it apart and start over or if I'll just leave it and cut out new fabric. We'll see. I hate ripping things out.

So how was your weekend?

P.S. There will be three giveaways this week...a fabric one, a bead one, and a finished project one. I'll have pictures and entry options up tomorrow for the fabric one, Wednesday for the bead one, and Thursday for the finished project one. I haven't decided if I'll draw all together or if they'll be separate.

Bead and Sewing Porn is coming

I promise I will get some pictures up of the beads I bought at the bead show and the purses I'm working on. The weather hasn't been cooperative for me to get pictures. I'll try and get them taken this weekend.

Personal vs. Public

I enjoy writing my blog. I enjoy sharing my life with those who read it. I've had a rather personal thing hit my life this month and I've been trying to digest it enough to put it in words. It will come. And when it does I will share. In the meantime this is why I've been sort of quiet but I plan on breaking that this week. Then yesterday I woke up with a migraine. But thanks to better living through chemistry...I'm doing better today. So I promise to be more present this week. Here are a few highlights I may cover...

• My trip to the Intergalactic Bead Show
• My upcoming trip to a motorcycle Drive-in movie
• The purses I'm sewing
• The baby quilt I'm finishing
• A give-a-way
• My bead swap

Bamboo Batting

I recently used Fairfield Batting Nature Fil Bamboo batting in a baby quilt. I love it. It is similar to cotton batting in feel and it is very warm. It is light feeling which I like for a baby quilt. And it sews beautifully. It was great to work with and I will definitely use it again. Bonus it is good for the environment too. I bought it at Joann's but I'm sure you can find it many places.

Giveaway!!

For a fun sewing giveaway of the book Handmade Beginnings by Anna Maria Horner go to TaDa! Creations and enter to win a signed copy. It looks like a really good book for new mothers or for those of us who attend a lot of showers.