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!

Birthday Party Ideas

It's always fun to get ideas from reading blogs.  That's usually why we follow blogs, right?  To get ideas and create something of our own. 
As you may have guessed by many of my posts, I am a grandmother.
My daughter Lindsay loves planning parties and is exceptionally good at it :)  This is Charlotte's 2nd birthday.  Sit back and collect some ideas for your next party.  The theme of this party is "bunnies".
Use things you already have (green container and little porcelain bird on basket), buy paper plates, colorful napkins and clear cups and utensils.  
Lindsay embroidered the bunny and put it in a wooden hoop to put on Charlotte's bedroom wall.

Rose lemonade with striped and polka dot paper straws.

The food with Charlotte's name embroidered.  Flowers from the garden.

Young children have simple tastes.....Strawberry sandwiches and honey sandwiches, cut into two hearts with a sandwich cutter.

Let's not forget the peanut butter and jam :)

What little bunny doesn't love carrots and celery sticks in ranch dip?

The most decadent lemon cupcakes I have ever had, little chocolate eggs (Cadbury mini eggs) and more flowers from the garden.

The decoration to the right is a large wooden embroidery hoop with  different colors and prints of ribbon tied on.  See the bunny garland across the mirror?  Cute!!!

Tissue paper decorations bought at the party store, more bunnies and the plastic eggs are from Walmart, strung onto some twine with a needle.  The eggs came with holes in both ends.

Charlotte the birthday girl and her adoring sister Kennedy.

This is the adult food......chicken salad in an avocado half.  The chicken salad is rotisserie chicken with black beans, corn, tomatoes, and tortilla chip pieces.  It was soooooooo good :)

Charlotte received a "Fancy Nancy" outfit and played the part!

I need to mention that Maisie, another one of my cute grand daughters was at her cousin Charlotte's party.  I took lots of photographs and she came up to me as if she was saying "Grammie, is that you behind the camera?  What are you doing Grammie?"

"Is that really you Grammie?  Let me see....."

It's cupcake time Charlotte!!!  Love the individual cupcake holder.

Did you remember me telling you that those lemon cupcakes were yummy?

Every party needs some games.  All the kids are paying attention, it's the memory game.

I hope you were able to get some ideas for your next party :)

Charlotte's Princess Dress

I made Charlotte a princess dress for her second birthday.

I went to JoAnn's and bought the sparkliest fabric I could find!

The dress was very yellow, so I added some color and added a fabric flower.  You can find the tutorial here.  I also bought a trim at JoAnn's that is 1" wide elastic covered in yellow sequins.  I made a headband and attached another fabric flower.  Charlotte has the perfect hairdo for an elastic headband.

Fast forward to Charlotte's birthday.  All princesses must have glass slippers.  She is squeezing them onto her feet.....not really!  Real princesses fit their glass slippers perfectly!!!

Isn't it cute how she holds the dress up to see if it fits?  It looks like she has had a lot of practice :)

Oh thank you Grammie, I love it!!!

There's nothing like a little Princess music to set the tone!