Quilted Scripture Case

 We have a tradition in our family of giving a set of scriptures to our children when they are baptized. This August my daughter turned 8, so it was time to get a set of scriptures for her. Which meant she needed a scripture case....

(We are members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Click here if you want to learn more about what I believe) 

I don't have a ton of time to sew these days, so if I can find something pre-made that's cute and does the job, I'll usually go that route.

(I usually like to save my sewing time for English Paper Piecing on the couch in the evenings) 

I looked around at the scripture cases that were available and none of them were really jumping out to me, so I went to my stash and pulled some fabrics.

The main floral is Rifle Paper Co Birch Floral in Periwinkle from the Les Fleurs line, and the other prints are just random ones I had in my stash. 

I drafted my own pattern for this little case and it turned out darling. There are a few things I would tweak next time I make one, but overall it turned out just as I envisioned it. 

I have one more case to make for my almost 10 year old, because after seeing little sis's case, she pulled some fabrics of her own and has deemed her store bought case not quite what she wants. ;) And... I love that they still think it's cool that mom makes things for them, so I will happily make her a case as well. 

Carnaby Street Messenger Bag

Pattern: Messenger Bag from Oliver + S Little Things to Sew

I've literally had this post sitting in my "draft" folder for ages. I made this bag for my niece over 4 years ago and she still uses it to this day. She's now a senior in high school, and it makes me smile when I see her carrying it around. I'm not sure why I have never hit the publish button on this post- probably just that I have made over 9 of these bags now and figure "enough is enough" (haha), but it's a cute bag, so I figured it was worth sharing. 

I can't say enough, how much I love this pattern. It's very well written and after several years of putting the bag to use I can say that it holds up great and is very versatile. 

TIP: I follow the suggestion in the pattern and used a layer of duck cloth between the interior and exterior fabric since I was using quilting cotton and it worked great. Iv'e done this for each of the bags I've made and the only one that had issues was the bag that I put through the washing machine. The duck cloth shrank considerably more than the quilting cotton and resulted in the exterior of the bag looking loose/baggy. SO... if you are going to wash your bag in a machine instead of just spot cleaning it, I would recommend pre-washing your duck cloth and probably your quilting cotton too. 

I've been doing quite a bit of hand sewing lately. I've been working on my Kingfisher Stitch Along Quilt. I have close to 20 hexie flowers made so far, so I'm almost halfway. For my Grandmother's Flower garden quilt I used 1.5" hexies, so these 1" hexies seem to stitch up quick! I'm really excited to get them all finished and start arranging them on the background fabrics and piece the quilt together. This free pattern by Tales of Cloth and Stitched in Color is a great mix of EPP and machine piecing so if you are wanting a project with a bit of both, it's a good one!

What projects are y'all sewing??

Low Volume Strip Quilt

I've always loved the look of low volume quilts, but have just never gotten around to making one until this summer. I think the queen of low volume is Rita of Red Pepper Quilts. She is so talented and has such an eye for putting fabrics together- I love everything she makes! A few years ago she made a low volume strip quilt and it's been on "my list" of things to make ever since.

I wanted my quilt to read as low volume, but girly from afar, so I selected fabrics that had a white background but used a lot of florals and pinks. I cut 2x10 inch strips and pieced them all together randomly. If I were to make this quilt again, I would probably just cut 2xWOF strips and then piece them in long rows, then after they were pieced, trim the rows to 10 inch width. It would have been a lot quicker!

I made this quilt for my niece as a birthday/early graduation  present. I've been trying to do better about adding quilt labels to my quilts lately, so I stitched up this simple label and used leftover strips of fabric to create a log cabin-ish little block.

I backed the quilt in some white/cream flannel that I had in my stash (can't remember the brand, but it is the good stuff- not the thin, cheap kind), and then used my very favorite batting IN THE WORLD- Warm and Plush.  Julie Hirt did the quilting for me. She used the "daisies" pattern and I love how it turned out!  She has quilted 5 or so quilts for me and she does an amazing job!

The flannel backing, batting, and quilting combined to make one snuggly quilt! My daughter had a hard time letting me hand this one over! She begged me to make another quilt and let her keep it! haha

Meet Betsy the Kitty

Last year, my kids and I were walking though a high-end boutique in the city with home goods and also the cutest little kids/baby section full of cute little clothes, toys, and decor. My middle kitty-loving gal found a little knit cat that was both adorable and very expensive. She begged and begged to let me let her use her hard earned money to buy it, but I just couldn't justify the price for what it was. She quietly put the kitty away and we moved on to another store. 

Fast forward several months... Her birthday was approaching and I was trying to come up with ideas of what to get her and I remembered the cat. I found a link online of where I could purchase the cat, but again- the price tag was too high for me to justify buying it for her. I was talking to my mom about it and showed her the cat and she said "That's cute, but I bet you could make one even cuter." I wasn't so sure I could pull it off, but I decided to try. (She plays the role of a mom well and always has faith in my abilities- even if I don't have faith in myself ;)

Like I said, the original cat was knit, so it was all one piece. I wanted mine to be similar but with my flair- and obviously made with fabric instead of yarn since I don't know how to knit! ;)

I used freezer paper to draft my pattern. I like using it because it's large paper on a roll, but also because once I draw a pattern on it, I can iron it to the fabric and cut the pattern out effortlessly. All in all, the pattern I drafted worked out pretty nicely- only a few moments in the construction that I was scratching my head with the design. ;)

(If I were to make the cat again, I wouldn't make her head so wide, or her neck so long. The peter pan collar was an afterthought to cover up the long necked awkwardness! Is this a giraffe or a cat?!? haha)

I used linen fabric (found at Joanns) for the body of the cat and embroidered the face with DMC floss. For the bow and collar, I used Liberty of London Betsy floral in gray. Robert Kaufmann Chambray for the dress, and some scraps for the placket and dress detail. 

I didn't calculate exactly what the project cost since I had a lot of the supplies on hand, but I can tell you it cost roughly less than 1/4 of the price of the cat in the boutique- plus it was made by momma so it's extra special. ;) 

I named her Betsy because of the Liberty of London Betsy floral  that I used to accent her outfit, but my daughter named her Buttons- which I think is very fitting as well. She's already a very loved little kitty!

Hope you're having a wonderful day!

Thanks for stopping by!

xoxo, Ashley