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The last two days I’ve been making ‘pockets’. Why? I have no idea - really I don’t. It started with a project I purchased/downloaded that was a miserable failure. How the seller can honestly charge anyone for that is beyond me. So, I set about changing it, making it better, and even easier! What the hell I’m going to do with them now? Don’t know. Maybe you’ve got an idea..I’d love to hear it.

These are yesterday’s items: –>

The large one is approx. 11″x12″, the smaller one is approx. 5″x6″. The small one was the remake of the disaster purchase. Supposed to be a small purse for teens/tweens. I left the strap off ’cause there’s no sense in putting one on the ‘practice piece’. Now, I wish I had - it’s nice. Next one will have an embroidery or some other sort of decoration, and a strap.

The large one was a test for size and alteration: made some minor mistakes. The embroidery should have been brought down more so the flap could be longer. Had some stitches to rip out and re-sew but all is well now.

Today I started fresh with these ‘pockets’. A faster, easier way to whip these up no matter what size you’re after. Instead of cutting a front and back I put the two together so there’s just one piece to cut for the front and another for the lining. Before I was cutting 4 pieces per pocket. Altering the flap is not a problem either. Cut the one end square, round off with a template (I used a saucer), cut 45 degree angles at each side, cut to a point…the ideas could go one and on.

Closures for the flap could be buttons, snaps, velcro, magnetic clasps and even ribbon.

Here is the pocket made today. I had this cut, customised, re-customised and sewn in less than an Oprah show. It’s approx. 8″x8″.

I have no idea what I’ll do with these. But I figure they might be great for holding anything you want to keep the dust off of. It would be easy to add a separator inside for two pockets in one. Or loops for pens. Hey, maybe I should add those straps back on for a cute bag! I did pick up some glittery cording in pink, purple and green the other day.

Oh, and I almost forgot- I’m going to write up the directions for these and give it away for FREE. A little pay back to the seller of the disaster project. I’d rather give something away than charge them for crap.

Yesterday I decided it was time to do something I liked to do. So, a sewing project of some sort. I dug through the stash and found some green print fabric that I had always liked. Not much of it left, but lets see what I can do with it. I have enough for 10 large blocks, but will only be sewing out 8. Gotta leave some left over in case I screw up later.

Second: Flowers. It’s Spring after all. Again, into the stash of embroidery designs already purchased. This project is going to be Stash Only. Don’t buy a thing. So, the Long Stemmed Wild Flowers from Emblibrary.com. The first one sewed out so well that I just kept going. Turned the TV on mute, plugged the Zune into my ears and listened to a shuffle of everything from Kiss to George Jones to Papa Roach.

Here’s the beginning (sorry, the scans suck)-

Then, fire up EQ6 and begin with a simple layout, bring in the scanned images, play around, scan some more fabrics, redo the layout, recolor, play, play, play until I end up with something like the top image.

Here are the scans of the fabrics I’ve used for blocks & borders-

I’m not sure if I like it yet, and maybe I’m not finished scanning fabrics and bringing them into the software to see what it will look like. All I do know is that it’s fun to do it ‘computerized’! A lot less ripping out seams.

When I’m done with the layout and design I’ll be sure to post the finished directions for anyone to download and use for themselves.

Yesterday I finished up the wall hanging! Here is the photo after the stitching around the appliqued pieces were stitched-

This project was very fast and quite easy. The hardest part was cutting all those tiny pieces for the highlights and lowlights of the tea pot, cup and saucer. The curvy steam pieces were a challenge as well.

The fabric pack set purchased from Erica’s had plenty of fabric for the top, back and binding. Even after I made a mistake of using the wrong fabric for the highlights of the tea pot! Ooops. Anyway, I was able to pull the wrong fabrics off and use the right ones.
Hopefully I will get the chance to do the rest of the whole set soon.

The last few days have been ‘odd’ for me. I am enjoying not having to sew every day! And have started a small ‘just for me’ project. This pattern is called ‘Warm Up’ and is created by McKenna Ryan of Pine Needles.

I have made the top for this one before, but didn’t like it at the time. I was pretty sick when I made it and just threw it away after having it sit unfinished for a few weeks. After purchasing a second fabric kit from Erica’s (best prices around for this fabric kit) I was ready to try it again.

There are 4 small wall hangings that create a larger collage. The others are ‘Just Coffee’, ‘Four Big Shots’ and ‘A Fresh Cup’. I have the patterns and fabric kits for 3 of the 4. The flower design of ‘A Fresh Cup’ (right hand wall hanging below) just seems out of place with the other three designs. So, I didn’t purchase that one. I like the three, and they will fit together nicely on the wall as they are.

Over the next few days I will layer (backing, batting and top), then free hand stitch around the applique pieces. A quick binding and this one will be stitched up!

You might notice that the top image looks slightly different than the same design shown in the set - I didn’t use the white Angelina for the steam (it’s not available locally and I forgot to order it from Ericas), haven’t done all of the stitching just yet and the top image is a scan.

Well, it is finally finished! Woo Hoo!! I had hoped this would be finished in time to send as a Christmas Gift, but that was not to happen.

Mom, this is for you. I’ll be shipping it out Monday morning. I hope you like it.

The picture above shows a close up of the table runner embroidery. Below is the full table runner. There are 4 coasters as shown in the top most photo. All items are backed with a pretty iridescent green fabric.

You can read about the beginning of this gift and the direct link to purchase the Jacobean Pumpkin set here.