More sewing practice

Today, I wanted to make some felt boxes to store my sewing supplies in. I'm trying to get organized as I cannot comfortably create things with a cluttered table. I only had a 9" square of felt so I made a miniature box. It's about 5.5" square and I'm using it to house my sewing and quilting thread. Look it all fits in there since I have so very little thread. :) I should definitely buy some more. Previously, I was storing the thread in a ginormous basket which was taking up way too much of my table and really wasn't needed. I think I'm going to sew this differently the for the next one I make. I had a hard time smooshing this through my sewing machine.



I made this for practice yesterday from a tutorial found here. The instructions were so easy, I think even my hubby could do this one. Turning the fabric around was the hardest part for me. I don't have any safety pins (can you believe that?) so I had to use needle nose pliers. HAHA! Look how crooked I sew. I guess that's what practicing is for :) Pretty soon I'm going to have a room full of horribly sewn, ugly projects. I think I'll give them to my mom(an expert sewer) and see if she can hold back the laughter.


I'm still scared the needle will break and poke me in the eye when I sew. I'm so paranoid.

Best peanut butter ever

Just a reminder for myself in case I ever forget about this product. I'm not a big fan of peanut butter, but this one is soooooo good. I'm eating it right from the jar.

A little bit of everything

Luna is 12 weeks old. I'm going to be posting images of Gimli at the same age, if I have them. I can't believe I went weeks (sometimes two!) without taking a picture of my angel! I can already tell she's much thinner and will have a pointier face. Gimli had a blockier head and his ears were more perky. He also looked much more like a dingo than a dog at this age.


Here is Luna giving a kiss to her big brother. She looooves him.

Here is a place mat I made for Julia with my very own fish, Bubbles. I designed Bubbles in Photoshop and used the freezer paper stencil method to paint him onto the fabric. I used pearlized paints to give him a shimmery fish scales look. I think he came out pretty cute.
A close up of bubbles. He's smiling because no one is ever going to eat him!

I made this today during puppy nap sessions. It's a CD holder from Amy Butler's book, In Stitches. I probably shouldn't have started with this one as a novice sewer. I found the instructions somewhat confusing. (or maybe was because I was incredibly sleepy?) The stiff interfacing came out way too big and skewed the rest of my sides. :( I tried to repair the unevenness but I'm not sure if I succeeded. I had to hand stitch the handles on because I could not maneuver this thing in my machine. Don't look too closely. :)
I had planned on making a bunch to store my fabrics that were smaller than 1/4 yard, but with how crooked mine came out I'm not sure if I will.

I went to Denio's farmer's market and auction this weekend with Carolyn. I bought this adorable Totoro purse. It's just so cute!!

That's it for now.

plastic bag holder

I made a small version of this because we don't have to many plastic bags. When given the option my hubby and I will choose paper bags or bring our own. I barely filled up the bottom half and had to fluff it. We've been going through a lot of bags lately scooping up puppy poo. :) This is entirely made from scraps that were pieced together.

Teensy drawing for Kristy

I'm sorry it's late and it came out kind of funky. I should have probably turned the lights on but I didn't want to wake up the old puparoo. I'm disappointed in myself. I will poke my eye out with a spork for you.

The drawing is of James and Caine. The faces are about 2" wide. My fat pencil leads have got to lose some weight! :) Took about 3 days in between doggy babysitting breaks.

Look it's the floating heads without tshirt's draw in. :) I"m so lazy.

Zomg!!! I just realized I forgot to draw in James' dimples. I should be punished!

I finally made some coasters for me!

I've been getting as little as 2 hours of sleep lately because of my sweet new puppy. Even still, I have enough time to sew a coaster or two and this time it's for me! These were made from the scraps of the quilt I made in 2005. It's just my taste :) If only other projects were as quick and easy.

I couldn't get online for an entire day.

It's funny how much I rely on my computer for entertainment. It's a good thing yesterday was Father's day and most of my time was occupied.

I ended up making this coffee sleeve in the morning before we left. This one was made neutral for one of my hubby's coworkers. It fit's Starbucks paper cups and Pete's coffee & tea's hot and iced drinking cups. I specifically went to both yesterday to test it out :) I favor Peet's, and will only go to Starbucks when Peet's is closed. I know that Starbucks is more popular(with one on every street corner) so I made sure it fit their cups. I sacrificed my taste buds for art!

If I'm not having my coffee in the cafe, I'll feel better using these and saving all the poor cardboard sleeves. I see so many people having their coffee at Starbucks with their paper or plastic cups that I'm not sure if they are aware you can request an actual mug or glass. If you're going to be sitting their drinking it anyways, why not and save some waste?


Yesterday we had the prettiest sunset. This isn't the best angle but it was the best I could do from my backyard. The image doesn't really capture it's beauty. It was sooo vibrant.

Just a random photo of the pincushion my hubby got me. It's so used and abused.

Even more coasters

Hubby watched the pups for a bit last night and I had enough time to make more coasters. I love making good use of my scraps :)

Watermelon coasters

Yesterday I spent the day folding and organizing my fabric. I didn't know what I had because I never saw most of it. I'm forgetful that way. I'm lucky enough to have family members that are sewers. I would say at least half of this was given to me. I filled up about half of a bookcase. It seemed like so much more when it was in drawers.

I'm going to spend the day, between breaks from watching Luna, making coasters out of my scrap fabric. I have two baskets of scraps to get rid of. This should be a productive day. This first set is for my mother-in-law. Watermelon coasters to go with the watermelon napkins I made her some time ago. They have patchwork fronts and solid backs. I figured she could use whichever side she liked. It's always nice to have options. :)

Olivia placemat

I can't have a post without Gimli.

Perky ears, doe eyes, juicy lips=pure cuteness!

Placemats I made for our dining area. I have no idea who Olivia is but she was sure cute. She's almost too cute to eat on. These are the first placemats I've ever made. Finished dimensions are 14x18. My husband says these aren't very manly. Can you believe that? He suggested I make more manly ones. I thought they were neutralish. I'd consider pink placemats with lace not manly. He has no appreciation for the piggy.

A close-up of the fabrics.

Placemats on the table.

Pictures from a random Monday

Gimli is so beautiful

Such a bootiful puppy.

Luna-10 weeks





Look at that tongue!

Oxalis with a faerie figurine.

Gimli and his rings.

Action shots. He likes to shake them like mad and they pound against his sides.

Best fabric ever!

I'm totally in love with this fabric. I can't seem to find it available anywhere. It's by Heather Ross. If anyone can find it available somewhere let me know. I want to make it into napkins, coasters, a skirt, curtains, pillows, bibs, blankets etc. I'm obsessed with it and I must have it.

I made a totebag!

It almost looks halfway decent. I had a hard time picking out the material from my stash but settled on these two beauties. Instructions came from a book I got today but it seems like it could use some stiffness because the bag buckles a bit at the top. Well it's slightly encouraging since it didn't come out completely ugly :)

Whenever I sew I have this horrible vision that the needle is going to break and poke me in the eye or in the chest. I think about it constantly when I'm sewing on the machine. Anyone else do that as well? Surely I'm not the only one.

This and That

Luna giving Gimli a huge kiss!

She may look innocent butreally she's a minature beast of burden.

Eating something she shouldn't be.

First produce of the year. An eight ball squash, a strawberry and a Christmas grape cherry tomato.

Cherry curtain

Made this today while the puppies napped. It's a topper for our big window. It will be hung onto a rod with clamp rings. It's hard to see but the tan fabric has little cherries on it. I hand appliquéd the large cherry with scraps. The lighting and angle are off on this image. I'll take a better picture later when I get a chance or after it's been hung up.

Stuff I made in 2005.

There you go Kristy . . a very long post! Hope it doesn't take up your entire workday.

A snowman

This is the first quilt I ever made. I gave it to my parent's dog Max. He sleeps on it every day.

Homespun garland made by tying fabric to twine. My fingers were raw after this one!

Another garland made the same way but red. Look at my sexy Christmas gator!

Ribbon ornaments I made for the tree most of which were eaten by Gimli. Since they smelled like me he nuzzled (a bit too roughly) them when I left the house. A red one. . .

Silver and Burgundy

A doggy toy I made for my in-laws poocher.

A vintagy Halloween card.

A mitten for a garland I made.

My rustic looking Garland.

Little snowman pillow ornaments made from scraps.

He was experimental and came out kinda sad looking.

My cinnamon ornie hearts made out of muslin.

Raw vegan peanut butter doggies cookies ready for baking. I made Gimli a lot of cookies that year.

Stockings I made for the Cousin in laws doggies. Does that make sense?

The beginning of a quilt I started for my dad. He's very patriotic.

Halloween cards. I painted them with watercolors and pearl-ex. You can't see the iridescent coloring from this angle.

Some ornaments made from herbs. I glued them to Styrofoam balls and pinned ribbons on them! They were very fragrant.

Reversible watermelon napkins I made from my Mother in law. This was her fabric.

A quilt I made for us!

A close up of the leaf stitching. I never do things conventionally.