Saturday, January 19, 2013

Field Study Fever

I absolutely fell in love with Anna Maria Horner's newest fabric line Field Study the moment I saw it! I love all of the rich, vibrate colors and fun prints. I was so excited to get my hands on it and start working! 
Over the weekend, I set out on a quest to make the perfect makeup bag for my little sis to take on her mission for our church. These prints were the perfect thing to use because everything about this fabric totally reminds me of her fun style.

I knew I wanted to do a quilt-as-you-go method like I used on my Quilted Weekender Bag. So I started by creating a rough pattern for the bag and cut out the panels in duck cloth and batting. Then starting adding strips of fabric and quilting with straight lines until the duck cloth panels were completely covered. 


For the inside of the bag, I used laminated cotton so that it could be wiped out in case of makeup spills. In the "lid" of the bag, I added some places to store brushes. Once my panel for the makeup brushed was done, I sewed my zipper into the correct panels and then assembled the bag. 


And of course I had to had a little "Made with Love" tag to finish it off. I got my tags from Lilla Lotta on Etsy. They are printed on cotton twill tape and I love the personal touch they add to my projects! My sister absolutely loved it! Job accomplished! :)  



 After I was done with the bag, I started a new quilt... Over the Christmas break I noticed a crazy spur of the moment quilt along pop up on Instagram and I couldn't help but join in on the Scrappy Trip Along! There is a great tutorial for the blocks here. There is a big group pool on Flickr and if you look up #scrappytripalong on instagram you will find a tons of yummy scrappy pictures there too. 

So far I only have 6 blocks done, but they are so quick and easy to put together! Probably the quickest quilt I have made so far.. I have big plans for making lots more this weekend so I will keep you posted on my progress. This is my first quilt along to follow along with and I am having lots of fun watching what everyone else makes. I just need to decide how big I want to make mine! Lap sized or queen sized for my bed... We will see how long I last! :)

I love everyones totally scrappy versions, but for some reason I can't bring myself to go totally random scrappy. I have to have some thread in each block that ties to the next so I decided to use the spotted in a crowd elizabeth blue on each diagonal so I can connect the blocks in some design at the end. I may have to get y'alls opinions for layouts when I get a bit further so stay tuned! :)


Have a great weekend!

Wednesday, January 9, 2013

Happy 2013!!

Happy New Year everyone! I know that I am a week or so late, but I thought I would do the famous "last year round up" anyways! 

Last year was a really crazy year for my family. I lost my brother at the end of February and the rest of the year was spent in a whirlwind of grieving and just trying to take things one day at a time. It is so cray how one person missing in your life can change everything.

One thing that did help me stay grounded was this blog. Having a creative outlet is so important to me. Sewing was so soothing and healing when times got rough or emotions were high. And having you readers help to brighten my day with a sweet comment, a "like" on Facebook, or a pin on Pinterest meant the world to me! So thank you to everyone that has helped me through this last year- friends, family, readers, bloggers, etc. I love you all and am so grateful to "know you"!

Here is to an awesome year!