The Bag Lady Strikes Again

A dear friend had a birthday and knee replacement surgery last week and I wanted to send a care package. She loves pink so if it was pink, I included it 

and of course I wanted to mail it all in a cute bag. I have quite a few stashed, but nothing pink so I made a few:

I used the Lined Drawstring Bag pattern. I have definitely gotten my money's worth from this pattern. I'm betting I've made 100 of these bags through the years in all sizes (these are great for Christmas gifts!). So while I was at it, I made 2 more bags - this little patchwork cheater print made cute bags

I popped into our local quilt shop last week to look for a coordinating print for something else and picked up this fun wine print 

so wine bag making was added to the que

And while I was rifling through a pile of fabric, I came across some bag pieces I had cut out probably sometime last year so I finished those off 

I don't do much gifting anymore, and I still have a few left from earlier bag making marathons but it's surprising how often I reach for one of these and now I ought to have enough to last a little while:

Under the Needle: April

April didn't give me much time behind my sewing machine, but I did finish a couple of projects and that's always a good thing.

I finished 17 of these lined drawstring bags although I've been working on them since March. This was the first batch:

And here's the 2nd:

I'll bet I've made close to 100 of these bags through the years. I even laminated the pattern because I use it all the time. For the most part, I've used Christmas fabrics, but with this last batch, I concentrated on making them for general gift giving. You can find the pattern here: Lined Drawstring Bag

I was mailing some packages and I just really like popping items into these bags as an alternative to wrapping.

I also finished this VFW Donation Quilt

                                                

And stitched the binding down on this Amish Farm Baby Quilt

                                     

I've still got 2 quilts here to bind so hopefully there will be a few finishes in May.

Under the Needle - August

 July and August are supposed to be our rainy season. We're still waiting...and praying. I've only had the mower out once and that was just to cut one little part of the yard where I've been watering the trees like mad in an attempt to keep them alive.. but hope springs eternal and today I am happily stitching as the rain puddles outside my window:

We've had a lot going on around here, but a girl that loves to make quilts will always squeeze in dabs of time to work on them. After I finished our Girl's Sequoia Quilt for her Birthday, I stitched up a couple of puppy-inspired drawstring bags to send flea and tick meds for her hound puppies. It's less expensive at our vet clinic than anywhere else:

I also finished piecing all the blocks for my Scrap Dance Waltz quilt and it is now a top waiting to be pressed:

It's hard for me to wrap my mind around the fact that it's already August, but August it is. I was craving some mindless sewing so I have been sewing HSTs for a pattern using a layer cake:

It took me 4 days to draw my lines and get the squares trimmed and starched, and and then my mom called and asked if I could make a baby quilt for a friend of hers. Of course! I was tickled that she asked. The theme is woodland critters. She told me that the invitation was cute so I asked her to have the neighbor, who is also a friend of ours, send me a photo of it:

Yep, cute! And I remembered this fabric a friend has used for a baby quilt a few months ago:

Perfect. And then the dilemma began. Settling on a pattern is often the most time consuming part of the quilt making process for me. This fabric is sweet, but it does not play well with others. Plan A looked promising:

Until I laid it all out:

No. Plan B:

No. On to plan C:

Better, but not quite and I did a lot of ripping to add that brown. Then I thought of another tweek, but I just did not have the heart to rip it all out again and remake those QSTs. So I thought about using 9-patches and commenced to making those.

Still not loving it. That was plan D. Sigh. I'll be back with plan E. Sheesh.

Lined Drawstring Bags

I've probably made 30 of these little bags since 2011:

Yes that is a snowman in my kitchen, and yes it is July, but the picture was taken in December. :) These bags are the brainchild of Jeni over at 'In Color Order' and you can find her free tutorial here. She also has a pattern for sale and I love the numerous size options. Most of the ones I have made have been for Christmas:

But I have made a few for kiddos and used them to wrap pillowcases:

One year I made lots of potholders for friends and I made matching drawstring bags for the gift bags:

I've made a ton of those potholders too - Deanna, over at Wedding Dress Blue shared a great tutorial for these  here and I can't tell you how much I love these potholders.

I actually need to make more since I've given them all away and friends, and friends of friends, keep requesting them. Those of you who have them, had better be using them because they get better when you do. Last week I made a few more of the gift bags  with the leftover chuckwagon  fabric:

I gave the small one to our girl with a tea towel and money for lunch when she drove through on Monday with a 24' trailer to pick up a load of supplement for her heifers. I got to hug her neck and meet her assistant and then she brought me their leftovers which was perfect although it would have been even more perfect if I had eaten it with them. :)

When I was sorting the other day, I also ran across this western tapestry fabric. Probably about 10 years ago, my MIL made pillows and she gave me the leftovers:

I never knew what to do with it and last week it just hit me that it would make great drawstring bags. I just made sizes that would make the best use of the fabric I had left which amounted to 1

2 - makes a nice gift bag for a wine or whiskey bottle

3

little bags and a laundry bag that is 30" tall.

I gave it to our girl when I met up with her yesterday to get Harvey. We are keeping him while she is away at a Nutrition Conference and I thought this would be a useful way for her to store her dirty laundry while at the hotel. They are fun and fast to put together and I love the extra touch they add to whatever you are gifting.