Tool Caddy turned Art Caddy

I knew that I wouldn't use the quilter's tool caddy I made and that it would just start collecting dust in my sewing studio...so I actually had a cool idea....turn it into an Art Caddy. I went to the dollar store and bought a pack of crayons, colored pencils and an activity booklet and loaded up the caddy. I gave it to a 3 year old and she loved it...... Mom loved it too! The activity booklet fit perfectly in the top flap and the zippered pockets could hold all sorts of art thingys for a child. I think I like it better as an art caddy than something used for quilting or sewing.

I just finished this tote which I also gave to the 3 year old who just loves purses. Actually, the art caddy fit perfectly into the tote. It turned out to be a nice gift. The tote was easy enough and I got the pattern from the Spring 2010 edition of Quilts and More from Better Homes and Gardens mag. that I picked up during Shop Hop.

Tonight I hope to start on my daughter's UGA tote, then her friends Gone w/Wind tote, which I'm still working out in my head. Tomorrow is the 24th....the night I go back to work after being off for two weeks. It's been a great two weeks...a "doing what I wanted to do each day" vacation. It's been great and I guess it's now time to get back into a routine.

Thanks for visiting. Happy Quilting! Happy Living!

Shop Hop Day 3

I'm done. It took me 3 days, but I was able to visit all 11 stores and now I'm ready to relax just like Pooh Bear. That shop's theme was As American as......"a picnic". I logged 425 miles in the car and the weather was great. Sunday, today is the last day for Shop Hop Hoppers and it's rained all day. I'm glad I did it when I did.

These are the items I bought on my 3rd day. The set of UGA fabrics are for the tote pattern for my daugther. The Gone w/Wind fabric panel is for a tote for daughter's dorm-mate who just loves the movie. Haven't figured out how I'm going to use it yet, but I'm sure it will come together just fine. I also bought some of that Best Press starch. I hear it's all the rage among quilters so I'm going to give it a try and see how long a bottle will last me.


Here are the day's freebies. I have collected 55 nickel squares. That's something that can be added to my stash for future use. I'll have to get out my nickel quilt pattern book.


These are the charms from Day 1 and 2. We have here As American As.....Mark Twain (frog), a picnic, the family dog, movie and popcorn, folk art and best friends. Also is the 2010 Shop Hop charm.


Here are some of the quilts from day 3. I've really seen a lot of great quilts which have given me inspiration.

This store's shop hop theme was "a movie and popcorn" and they had some great movie inspired quilts.

Versions of the shop hop quilt.

Another year done and lots to add to my stash and project list and UFOs and missed deadlines......life goes on.

AND life is great.....even with the rain.

Thanks for visiting. Happy Living! Happy Quilting!

Shop Hop Day 2

Just a-hoppin along day. Made it to the 3 stores that I wanted to get to and probably put about 120 miles on the car....forgot to look. I will give the grand mileage total after tomorrow's adventure. Also made it home before the Friday night Atlanta traffic was in full swing....a very important goal I achieved.

Here are the freebies from today's goodie bags.

......and this is what I bought. I plan on making the overnight bag with the clearance fabric shown below. Dark print on the outside and light print for the lining. The Quilter's Pocket Reference is the bomb! I held on to that through-out the store since it was the last one! The Painless Paper-Piecing book was rather painless as in only costing $10 (possibly a mis-price) I hung on to that also.

Here are some of the quilts that were on display. I was so caught up in the offerings of the stores I almost forgot to take pictures.

The is another version of the Shop Hop quilt. I like the corner options.

Tomorrow I plan to visit the last three stores. Hopefully the beautiful weather will hold out. Today was sunny and in the mid 70s. Had my windows down all day.

Thanks for stopping by and experiencing some of Shop Hop with me.

Happy Living! Happy Quilting!

First Day of Shop Hop

1st day of Shop Hop. Visited 5 of the 11 stores today and put 170 miles on my car. Below are some pics of quilts that were displayed and of course that had kits available. It was a fun but traveling day. I ate breakfast and skipped lunch but brought snacks to eat along the way. Did not want to spend the precious shop hopping time eating, especially since I wanted to get 5 stores in today.

These are the freebies I got today. All stores are giving out a pattern of their block for the Shop Hop quilt and 5 nickel squares which some of the stores have included a nickel pattern. Then some also are including other quilt patterns, notions, coupons off and candy.

Here is what I bought today. I tried to keep to my fugal fabric buying. I did buy from clearance bolts that were $4 per yard. If I couldn't find clearance fabric then I bought a pattern and fat quarter. I spent about $12 at each store, but of course could have spent hundreds. Since I did not win the lottery this week I have to pace myself with all 11 stores. I would like to support each one and spend a little at each. I did though spend over $60 at my LQS. They always have their 5 yd bundles for $30 but was offering a $10 off coupon for April for anything in the store if you bought two...so I bought two and already know how I'm going to use the $10 off next month. This makes the fabric bundle actually $5 per yd which is not bad. Maybe I'll go back and get two more and another coupon. It's pretty easy to spend money in that store!

Here are the charms that each store was giving if you spent $10. The charms were based on the stores themes. We have here "As American as"........apple pie, westerns, Disney, Disco and 4th of July.

Below are pics of just a few of all the quilts that were displayed.

The star quilt is a version of the Shop Hop Quilt that each store did.

An raffle quilt by a guild with proceeds going to the local Humane Society.

Another version of the Shop Hop quilt.

Okay I need to call it a day. I have to get up early for another day of Shop Hop. I'm visiting 3 stores tomorrow that are spaced a distance apart, so my driving distance will probably be about the same as today.

Thanks for visiting. Oh...by the way...I missed my deadline for my hubby's b-day quilt. Oh well....What's life if we have to adhere to deadlines all the time....I seem to just watch them fly by me anyway....but I do try. Happy Living! Happy Quilting!

Not going to work = more time to quilt!

It's absolutely amazing how much quilting and sewing I can get done when taking a home vacation and not working. But then again....I need to work to support my fabric buying...so I guess I will just have to continue to work. Darn!

Today I had a leadership luncheon/retreat (for work during my vacation week) but was out of there and at the LQS before 2pm. I finished piecing my hubby's b-day quilt and needed to get the backing fabric and lighter binding fabric since brown came with kit. I ended up rearranging the log cabin blocks on EQ5 and decided on the layout as shown below. I ended up with browns on the outside and needed a lighter binding fabric.

The binding fabric looks more yellow in the pic than what it actually is. It's a poka-dot beige color which contrasts the outer brown quilt fabric. The brown backing is 108" which I would advise anyone who has access to 108" to always use. No cutting and piecing the backing. Just unfold it and spread it out. It's great stuff and my LQS has a large selection so it's what I always use.

Below is hubby's pieced quilt. No worry about him seeing it on here because I don't even think he know's what my blog address is. I think he will like it. I'm off to the pool table upstairs to make the quilt sandwich, then when I get up in the morning all I have to do is quilt and bind it....sounds so simple and easy...yeah! Hopefully I will finish it tomorrow in time for his birthday on Wednesday. I guess I actually have until Wednesday evening to get it finished. Wish me luck.

When I was at the quilt store today, they were making these kits for Shop Hop. I just had to have one. Daughter is going to UGA in the fall and has repeatedly asked for a Georgia quilt. Well low and behold...here it is...pieces all cut and ready to sew and I already have the pattern. I'm glad they sold me one today and I didn't have to wait until Shop Hop.

I think I will lay it on her bed, still in it's packaging, and when she comes home this weekend I will tell her that her Georgia quilt is on her bed. She will probably roll her eyes and throw the package at me....but I'm still going to do it.

The pieces are cut to go with the Take 5 pattern. This is such an easy pattern. It went really fast the last time I made it and I had to cut the fabric. This should go really fast since the fabric is already cut and all I have to do is start sewing....what a wonderful kit and it was only $45. I know....I know....what about my fugal fabric goal....I have no excuse....I don't have a comment about it and I'll just leave it at that and move on.

Have a great night and I hope to be posting pics tomorrow evening of the FINISHED b-day quilt. Thanks for visiting. Happy Quilting. Happy Living.

Finally done with it.....yea!

For the last two days I've been working on this Quilter's Tool Kit Caddy. Of course I wanted to use fat quarters so I had to refigure all the cutting while jumping other hurdles...but it worked out fine. I also needed a break from big projects and did not want this to go into my growing UFO pile. Here is the front. I was glad I was able to use up some my fat quarters. It's bright and happy looking.

This is the back. I used two 16 inch zippers to close the entire caddy. That was a hurdle to install the zipper, but with a little patience and a slow sewing speed, it went in ok.

Opened up it has two zippered pockets on the left, a sectioned tool holder on the right with a pocketed flap also on the right.

Filled with tools and pattern that can be taken anywhere. I'm sure I will make use of it.

Pattern is from Pat-e-Patterns and I picked it up at my LQS. They have some cute stuff on their website www.Pat-e-Patterns.com. Quite a few "useful" items.

Have a great rest of the night. Thanks for visiting. Happy Quilting! Happy Living!

Gotta Go Sew....Gotta Go Sew

UFOs are taking over my world! I just need to quit buying or start sewing faster. Neither of which I seem to do very well! I did not think that I was a perfectionist, but maybe I am just a little. I've taken off work (paying job) until March 24th.....a much needed time away. Maybe I can get some projects started and completed or should I reverse that and say "completed and started" or better yet "completed and completed".

Atlanta Quilt Shop Hop is Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday which I am looking forward to immensely! It generally takes me about 3 days to complete at a leisurely pace. My goal this year is to buy from the older but yet still stylish section of fabric....in other words...the clearance section..... which would help me to meet my yearly goal of being more frugal with my fabric buying.

Currently I am working on a quilt for my hubby's B-day...March 17th...It's a Log cabin quilt design called White Chocolate designed by my friend and quilt teacher Pat Wys...... http://silverthimblequilt.com/

I love the browns...it gives it such a rich color....and it looks more like a manly-man quilt. I better get finished sewing on it. I only have a few more days.

I also attended a quilt show in Macon on Friday.....Heart of Georgia Quilt guild. Really had some awesome quilts, which I will post pics of soon enough. (I'm still getting use to this new computer).I feel so inadequate now as a quilter though....at least it gives me something to strive for.

Have a great day