Birthday Bag

My husband was away for work last night, so I stayed up late making this bag for my cousin's birthday. It isn't really a practical gift since she has a 7 month old and has to bring diapers (and wipes, diaper cream, arrowroot crackers, fishy crackers, 6 cars, 2 books, well, you get the idea) everywhere she goes. But I didn't feel like making a practical gift, I'm always practical...I used a great pattern from Rebeka Lambert, artsy-crafty babe, that I found at Sew, Mama, Sew. I haven't made too many bags in my life, so I was pretty happy with how this came together. Fabric is Flights of Fancy by Paula Prass.There are a few puckers around the inside of the bag, but since the outside is flat, I can live with a few puckers. It is homemade, after all.

And what does our black lab, Trooper, have to do with pretty hand bags??? Nothing, but I couldn't resist adding a photo. We love that dog!
Sew, Mama, Sew announced their Give-away Day for December 2. Any ideas what I should give away? Fabric? Something homemade? I'd love some ideas! Something easy, but also something that people will want....

A Very Late Present...

My friend's little guy, Kai, turned 3 in September. SEPTEMBER! Yikes! And I just finished his birthday present. Oops. Where does the time go???
Anyway, I used the free pattern from Kellie at Don't Look Now. I love her patterns and quilts. The backing and binding is Bot Camp by Michael Miller that I got on a smoking deal from here.
I thought that this could be a place mat or a wall hanging. I'll let Kai decide.

FMF Freaks Giveaway!

Run, don't walk, run! Over to FMF Freaks for a fabulous giveaway. And don't forget to sign the petition while you are there. Wouldn't it be wonderful to be able to buy FMF at reasonable prices?Here's my FMF stash that I bought recently on etsy. LOVE those colours....now I just have to be brave enough to cut into it...

Friendship Bag Swap

I participated in the Quilting Gallery's Friendship Bag Swap a while back and received an absolutely lovely bag from Kris at Quilted Simple. I adore the fabrics, the colours, and the fact that she made it just for me!She included some fabulous goodies too. Charm squares by Robyn Pandolph which are so soft and sweet they will be perfect for a baby quilt. And a sweet cat applique- my daugter has claimed the lovely pink sequins for herself. And some pins. A girl can never have enough pins.

Thanks so much Kris. I'm really looking forward to reading Kris' blog...she lives on 20 acres and grows most of her own food. I'm so inspired....

Heather Ross Studio Sale

I got my package from Heather Ross ages ago. I was so excited to get something from Heather herself I forgot to take pictures. Here's what she sent...I think some of the Munki shirts may get sent as presents to some of my friends who have had babies recently. There seems to be a ton of new babies in our world these days. And isn't that wonderful???
And some yummy fabrics for me! I'm so excited to have a wee bit of gnomes and mushrooms!

Placemat Swap

I participated in the Placemat Swap over on flickr last month. Cheryl, my partner, asked for white and bright, and we decided to make 2 placemats. Now that I know that she has received them, I can show you what I came up with:

I used some of my favourite fabrics and scraps.And even tried my machine binding again. It really helped that the binding and the backing are the same fabric - it hides most of the oops!

Here is a close-up!Enjoy Cheryl!