I Am A Lucky Girl !

I have pinned a few ipad cover tutorials onto Pinterest.  

This is my favorite one.

The tutorial can be found at Fresh Lemons Quilts.

I decided to make one for myself.

Isn't it darling?  I love "Walk in the Woods" fabric by Aneela Hooey.  I thought this would be the perfect project to show off "little red".  The top is covered with little toadstools.

 Unzip the zipper to reveal the gray lining and a full sized pocket from the top of the case to the bottom.

Inside the bag is a pretty pink lining.

Isn't this beautiful?

All pictures look incredible on this ipad with its HD resolution.

I am a lucky girl because my dear husband took me to the mall, straight to the Apple store and let me pick out my very own ipad.  He always knows how to spoil me.  

Thank you Ricky, I have been a lucky girl for 32 years :)

Look What I Won!!!

I love to read other people's blogs.  When I find an interesting one, I follow it.  Blogs give me ideas, including  lots of inspiration.  I sometimes enter giveaways, and have won a couple of things lately :)  I was reading the Vintage Trailer Lady's blog.  She had a yard of some really pretty fabric,  and asked what project she could use it for.  The suggestion she liked the best, would win a fat quarter bundle.  




I said:  CynthiaMarch 22, 2012 9:56 PM

You could make a one yard apron. Use the cute western print as the skirt and use a contrasting print (like red polka dot) for the waistband and pockets. Then trim the skirt and pockets with jumbo pom poms :) Can you picture it?

She said she loved the idea, and this wonderful bundle came in the mail:  The 5 fat quarters came in a cellophane envelope, tied with ribbon and raffia.

There was a really cute tag under the ribbon.

Yes, it did feel like my birthday :)  

I spread out the fat quarters so you could see the colors and the prints.  Aren't they cute?  Very retro.  Thank you Vintage Trailer Lady!

Every week, Randi at I Have to Say has a fat l/8 Tuesday. All you have to do is leave a comment, and you could win one of her fat l/8th bundles.  I was the lucky recipient!!!  Mine are called "beachy" colors.

Randi even included a little button pin, the silhouettes could be me and Kennedy :)

Randi runs a great shop on Etsy called Fresh Squeezed Fabrics.

Randi also has a monthly sew along on her blog.  I have a board for it on my Pinterest  called Randi's Sew Alongs.

Thank you so much for creating such an interesting blog :)

DIY Fireplace

We have been in our new home for less than a week.  There is a wood burning fireplace in the family room.  It was dirty looking from the smoke stains.  I thought it would look really clean and fresh if it were painted white.  Went to Lowe's and got some paint for stone, a white satin.  I never like flat paint, and gloss would be too shiny.  Satin was just right!  Like the three bears and their porridge....lol

Do you see how the stains make the paint look dirty?

The blue is tape.  I enjoy that part of the painting, taping out the areas you don't want painted.

The white fireplace will match the wood entertainment center that our TV doesn't fit into!

The white paint really makes the beige paint look dirty!

Finished!  I think it looks great!  It was really easy, the paint didn't soak into the stone.  The paint went over the existing color so easily.  A really simple and inexpensive way to spruce up a room.

I came home from teaching a quilt class and my husband had the mantle completely decorated :)

Swoon Quilt class

I wrote about the Swoon quilt that I made in my very first post on this blog.  

http://dreamquiltcreate.blogspot.com/2012/03/my-swoon-along.html

Part one of my Swoon quilt class was Saturday at Sew Katie Jean.

We had a lot of fun together, talking, laughing and getting to know each other.  Oh, and we sewed too, of course!  

This is Kristin, she is a really good friend of mine. 

These are Kristin's fat quarters that she is using in her quilt, with Kona white for the background.  Her colors are all off white prints. I think she is very creative to think of this combination.  The colors are so simple but will be very rich looking together.

Our goal was to finish one block today.  I love Kristin's block!  She is going to put the finished quilt on the wall behind her couch in the family room.

This is Lydia, she is an instructor at Sew Katie Jean.  Lydia signed up for the quilt class as soon as she saw my finished Swoon quilt.  She loved the color combinations so much that she chose the same ones for her quilt with a few exceptions.

I asked Lydia if she comes to Sew Katie Jean very often.  I was referring to the sewing room at Katie Jean's.  She said, "I used to come all the time until my husband showed me the visa bill."  lol

Here is Lydia's finished block.....beautiful!  Two of my favorites, the pink polka dot is Children at Play by Sarah Jane and the flowered fabric is Ruby by Bonnie and Camille.

We meet back together to finish up the quilt in a month.  Their assignment is to make 2 blocks a week, and finish cutting the white for the sashing.  It takes about 3 hours to complete a block, including cutting the fabric.  To be continued.......

Fortune Teller

I bought this pattern at Pine Needles in a kit, complete with all of the fabric except for the back and the binding.

This is the pattern.

The fabric included in the kit was Chez Moi's Posh by Moda.

Lots of blue, pink, yellow and brown.  I fell in love with the fabric.

I use the quilt as a tablecloth for special events.  I only put decorations on the table though, not food!

I backed the quilt with green, a print like the pink swatch shown above.

Unfortunately, the colors don't show up as vivid as they really are in the quilt.  The swatches of fabric are true to color.  I love this quilt, it's colorful and happy.

Smarty Girl Book Bag

Heather Bailey's Smarty Girl Book Bag.  I really love this pattern, I have made 7 of them! (Only 4 of them are featured.) I love the size, it holds magazines, notebooks, textbooks, lots of fun things.
There aren't any pockets on the inside, I guess that's why it's called a book bag.  It doesn't hurt that Heather Bailey is one of my favorite designers.  I love all of  her designs.

Did I mention that these bags are a lot of fun to make? Choosing fabric for a project is one of the best parts.  I like this bag with its contrasting colors and prints.

I like the surprise blue on the inside!  

The colors match on this bag but the prints are contrasting.

With all the reds and greens, this could almost be a Christmas bag.

Notice how comfortably the magazine sits in the bag. Lots of room.

I love the butterfly prints, the orange and the aqua,with hints of red.

Lots of polka dots too!

I did something a little different under the flap, I lined it with selvages.  I have a whole box full of selvages that are waiting for a project on my "to do" list.  Do you notice that the lining is different from the butterfly fabric?

The bag strap is very comfortable, it is long and never falls off my shoulder.  I like to wear the Smarty Girl Book Bag across my shoulder too.

This bag is very "pink"!!! A girl can never have too much pink :)     I like the yellow and minty green against the pink.  

Green......with pink peonies, my favorite flower.

I hope you have enjoyed my Smarty Girl Book Bags as much as I enjoyed making them.  Maybe I should make some more!