Sew Coupon Crazy!!

My daughter is coupon crazy!  She is super into savings right now and I claim a little bit of that nice trait. I never bought clothing and other things unless they were on sale while she was growing up.  I never was that in to coupons though.  But she is working on teaching me all the ins and outs of using coupons.  We've gone shopping several times and have had lots of fun saving money as well as enjoying each others company.


When my daughter and I last went shopping, we both had our reusable bags, our lists, two binders (1 small and 1 bigger) to hold all of our coupons.  I also had my new All You magazine since I hadn't had time to clip those. It seemed like a lot and it did take up a lot of space in the buggy.


One of my favorite crafty blogs is Sew Dang Cute, and they are sponsoring a contest called Crafting with the Stars.  I was so excited!  I knew I could combine my love of sewing and crafting with my new "almost love" of couponing.

Now that my Wal-mart finally got smart and restocked the fabric to the store, I went shopping for just the right material.  I already had the natural colored pre-quilted fabric and just bought 3 different but coordinating  green, brown, lt. turquoise prints. I used my embroidery machine to label the tote and sewed it together.  Not terribly complicated.  

But I just had to try it out. The Dollar General is the store closest to my house.  I found an empty aisle to dress my buggy (tie the tote to the buggy) and pose it.  It works great!  There is room for my binder and my reusable bags. There are two pockets that I put my scissors, my list, ink pen, and my small cut coupon binder.  There is also a ribbon with a key ring so my keys or scissors can be attached if needed.  Even my wallet was easily protected and I didn't have to worry about carrying my purse.  When shopping is done, I can zip it up and not have to worry about my things falling out.  Success!!

Wish me luck with the contest!  

Pinwheels

One of my friends has a baby girl turning 1 next month. Mom is planning a pinwheel birthday party. So I decided to make a few pinwheel hair bows in her planned colors. I've never done this before so I experimented with the sizes.   The biggest is a 4" square and the smallest is a 2" square. Well, we'll let her choose the size she likes and then make a few more. I found the tutorials for these creations online. Check them out if you want to give them a try.
The pinwheel ribbon hair bow can be found here.  And you can find the fabric pinwheel hair bows here.
Let me know what you think.  

Linking up with Today's Creative Blog" . Go visit and see all the creative people out there.

Giving Quilting a stitch....

I'm taking advantage of my "free" time during summer (between classes and taking Tori places) and giving quilting ago. My dad and sister traveled to Texas to the Neeley family reunion.  I have always admired my cousin Lonette's quilting and finally got the courage to try one myself.  Since I wasn't going to be at the reunion, I felt a little safe concerning possible scrutiny.  Anyway, I already had 4 quilt squares put away for a later project. I got those out and decided to embroider some Texas graphics on 5 more squares.  Rag quilts are easier to put together and likeable. I also cheated by using the stippling pattern on my embroidery machine.  I've got to practice a little more with that.

While they were gone to Texas, I used a few more of the Texas fabric scraps and made a 16" Sprocket pillow. I think it is pretty cute but I will definitely line 
the next one I make. The  tutorial is on the Cluck Cluck Sew website.

My next project is called the Colorful Coins Quilt.  I saw this tutorial also on Cluck Cluck Sew!  It's a great website!  Now I just need to figure out the backing.  I'm thinking of a nice baby flannel.  Then it will top quilting time.  I hope I can do it!  Wish me luck.

A few firsts in my sewing room

I made my first ticker-tape wristlet following the wonderful tutorial of Mandy at Sugar Bee Crafts.  It wasn't so difficult, but I can tell that I need quite a bit more practice.  Anyway, it will suit its purpose.  I needed a little bag for ink pens and my GC ID card for my college courses.

I also made a hooded baby towel for a special little friend.  Easton was born a few weeks ago and I meant to give this to him at the hospital but mom went home too fast.  Oh, well.  He will get it soon.

I entered a Swap-bot challenge to make a potholder for a partner.  I tried to follow some of the neat ideas I had seen through the internet.  This potholder is a little bigger than the norm.  Partly because I embroidered a cute little pig driving a corn-on-the-cob race car on the off-white quilted fabric.  Above the piggy is veggie material formed in a 2" pleat.  Red binding completes the potholder.

My 2nd pillowcase dress

I am a participant on the online swapping site-  www.swap-bot.com. My latest swap was to find my partner something she might enjoy from a thrift shop.  So I went to our salvation army not having a clue as to what I would get.  While at the Salvation Army, I always look for fabric usually in the form of leather or suede skirts, baby flannel, bedspreads (chenille or quilted), and sheets.  Buddy, this time I hit the jack-pot! I found a gorgeous vintage looking piece of material. It was a thin and stiff cotton with chenille flowers and vines all over.  I knew exactly what I would do with it.  And no, I selfishly decided to keep it for myself.

I have a number of friends with baby girls who I love to sew for.  Little Alita was going to be the lucky recipient of this new pillowcase dress.  It is lined with a nice white cotton quilting material so I can be reversible if necessary but I would be afraid that the chenille fabric might be itchy.  I added a cotton trim, around the bottom.  Gorgeous and such fun to watch it all come together.

Now I'll just have to convince dad to send me a picture of his baby wearing it.



And no, I didn't forget my swapping partner.  She got a beautiful vintage red glass candy dish that I filled with some old buttons.  She (said) she loved it!

My First Pillowcase Dress

Well, I made my first pillowcase dress for my cute little test subject, Elin.  I can't wait to see her in it.  I cant believe how easy it was.  Now I'm working a pair of bloomers to go with it. Coming soon.

Baby Stuff

One of my friends is having her very first baby next month (she really hopes this month).  She asked me to make her a diaper bag but she wasn't really sure what she wanted it to look like. I searched and finally found something I liked and something that I hoped she would like.  Puppies..... who doesn't love puppies? Puppies and stripes... even better.  Take a look.

I'm also going to show you a couple of embroidered burp cloths and a personalized pillow made especially for Easton.  Cute, Cute, Cute.....