While I knit away on Elisa's Nest Tote (it's going smoothly this time), I thought I would share some finished projects.  Before we went on vacation, I finally sent Marianne and Sasha their prizes from my birthday giveaway.  It was about time.

This one went to Marianne.  I must admit I like this one so much that I almost made another one for myself.  I may still.

Here's Sasha's new belt.  I used some of my Denyse Schmidt fabrics and couldn't be happier with how it all came together.  I just love these fabrics.  And for you observant types, yes, that's the belt up in the new banner.

Because I was so tardy in getting these prizes made, I whipped up something extra for each of these ladies.

These little clutches are from Amy Karol's book.  Super fast and easy to make.  I didn't have elastic cord on hand so I used some 1/4" elastic and it worked just fine.  The vintage buttons and the fabric are all from the stash.

A tulip t-shirt for our 7 year-old neighbor

And a turtle for our 6 year-old nephew and cousin, Evan.  Hope you had a great birthday!  Thanks to Beki for the inspiration on this little guy.

Have a great weekend!

In the interest of full disclosure:  I swiped this idea from Leslie.

We never seem to have enough clean place mats so I bought a bunch of Martha Stewart dish towels and cut them in half vertically (fold top to bottom, press and cut on pressing line).  A quick hem to the cut side and for $9.99, I had 14 place mats instead of 7 dishtowels.  Well, make that 28 place mats - I made two sets.  Less laundry for me.

Yes, my laptop sits on the kitchen table for now.  I have grand plans to make myself a little desk out of an old door up by our bedroom, but for now, this is command central most of the time.  The kitchen is the hub of the house anyhow.  Of course, I do move it when we sit down to eat.

Another great use for these dishtowels:  skirts like the ones I made the girls last year.  Throw on some embroidery or applique and they would be super sweet.  If you make them, just be sure that both ends of your towel have trim instead of just one.  Of course, you could always use one without trim and add some yourself.

Happy Thursday!

I don't want you to think that I have abandoned my sewing machine.  I swear I haven't!  I am working on a couple projects that I am not ready to blog about.  I hate secrets, but that's the way it has to be for now.

What I can and want to talk about is Amy Karol's fabulous new book, Bend-the-Rules Sewing.

First off, I love the title!  Love it!  Mostly because I do bend the rules when it comes to sewing.  I fully admit to being a lazy sewer at times.  I am glad I know the right way to sew because it comes in handy when I want to take some short cuts.  I know what I can get away with.  Case in point:  the Heidi Headband.

I made this a couple of weeks ago in about 15 minutes.  I kid you not.  I used a scrap of brown silk and some gorgeous ribbon that Nolan and Georgia gave me for Christmas.  In the book, Amy calls for twill tape so you can tie the headband at the nape of your neck.  I substituted elastic and when the piece I sewed in was way too big, I cut it and then zig zagged it together at the right length.  I also used whatever bobbin was in the machine because no one but me will see the back side of the headband.  See, I do know what I can get away with.

Fuzzy photo, but you get the idea.  I have worn it over and over.  I am going to make a lot more of these for me and for the girls.

There are so many wonderful projects in this book.  I want to make the bibs for the babies that will be born into our family this fall, the clutch, the wallet, the small quilt and more.  Check out the flickr group for the book - there is plenty of inspiration there, too.  I am going to recommend this book to anyone who asks - it is perfect for a beginner, but has great projects for those of us with more sewing experience.  And I just love Amy's easy, witty manner - it makes for a good read.

Project::Sock Elephant

I made this little elephant for a birthday present.  The happy 6 year old promptly named her Ellie.  I used the pattern in this book.  Blair was the one who turned me on to it, but I was skeptical.  My only other sock animal experience was not good.  Then I saw Blair's dog and decided to give it another go.  The elephant is not perfect (my mistakes), but the pattern was well written and the book is full of cute little critters.

Color week::Blue

The sky at dusk and

me wearing a light blue shirt.  I am also wearing these beautiful earrings from Susan - you just can't see them in the shot.

In other news, I taught myself a new craft and am aching to tell you all about it.  I'll save that for another day.  Let's just say, I'm hooked.  Happy Friday!

I've made a bunch of small projects in the past week or so that I want to share.  I also want to participate in Kayte's color week and show off more of my good mail.  I am not sure how to do it all, so for now, projects and mail on the blog with a link to color week photos on flickr.  Sound ok?

Projects::a trio of t-shirts for three little girls with summer birthdays.

butterfly

frog (I used the Purl frog as my pattern)

fish

Color week::Today's color is Red/Pink.  I prowled around the house looking for something to catch my eye.  Normally, I can find something pink right away - the benefits of having two girls.  This was the first thing I saw.  Perfect.

If you have been reading this blog for awhile, you know I am a procrastinator.  So, it should come as no surprise that I didn't start thinking about the May/June Tie One On theme, the pocket, until the calendar passed the 25th.  I have many ideas - there are so many things you can do with a pocket.  Alas, I am short on time.  And for once, I was going to let it go and not get all worked up completing a project at the last minute.

Then it dawned on me.  I already made three aprons this month that were all about pockets.

These vendor aprons went to Renegade with Jen, Aprill and Meg.  I sewed a cotton prints to cotton canvas right sides together on three sides.  I turned it right side out and folded one third of the rectangle over so the cotton print side would make a band across the canvas side.  I stitched it down along the sides and then stitched dividing lines to make three pockets on each.  I added a long skinny patchwork waistband to the top enclosing the raw edges and that was it.  Nothing fancy, but it fits the pocket theme.

Of course, I made these a few weeks ago and submitted them at the last minute.  Do you think I will ever learn?

I have started this post about four times - the words just aren't flowing today.  I made this top for our friend, Tate, who was visiting with her parents and brother this weekend.  We had a great weekend, lots of fun with good, good friends.  I managed to squeeze in sewing this top.  Tate picked out the fabric and she looked through a couple of books and photos and chose this style.  Using the serger to finish seams and edges really sped it along.

My sewing machine is acting up and I just had the tension adjusted on Thursday.  Back to the shop it goes.  It's aggravating, but probably a good thing.  This house needs to be cleaned and I really would rather sew.  Looks like the choice has been made for me.  Hope you all had a fun weekend too.