Library Bag, AMH Mini, and Pouches

I was so close to a few finishes last week which makes for a big finish this week. I finished up my library tote bag, my Anna Maria Horner mini swap quilt, and two pouches. The AMH mini was my ALYoF goal for June and I'm so happy with it. But first, the library bag, take a look...

I finished our library bag and have already put it to good use at the library. It was so helpful! You can find the pattern for this here on Craftsy. It is a bit smaller than I expected but holds books nicely as long as they are mostly picture books or small chapter books. For the letters there is a paper piecing option as well as an applique option.

The kids all chose fabrics from my stash for the books and the letters making this another fabulous stash project.

I didn't love anything I had for the lining so I grabbed this from my LQS. Isn't this print fun! Totally worth the splurge especially how the rest of the bag was all stash.

I also finished up this mini for the AMH swap. I'm so happy with how it turned out! This is the Raindrops pattern from the Fat Quarter Style book. I just took five blocks from the pattern and it was the perfect mini size.

I was worried it would be a little plain so I jazzed it up with some great quilting. I did spiraling straight lines on the drops and then pebbles in the background. I'm so happy with the results!

When making the geese for the mini I sewed another line 1/2" away from the first. I always do this and have many tiny HST lying around. These were pretty good size and the second geese for the center of the drop blocks made these cool castoffs so I created a pouch out of them.

The sides are different due to the scrapy nature of the project. It's a nice little pouch and a great size for the extras I included in her package.

I also whipped up this pouch for a swap partner. This is for the Animal in You Swap and my partner likes white tigers. It's AMAZING how difficult it is to find white tigers for any craft. There are a few orange tiger things around but they are mostly geared toward babies so I couldn't even change the colors. I was so excited when I remembered this print from Cotton and Steel and made a large size Open Wide Pouch for her.

My last project for the week was cleanup. I should have taken a before picture but image things piled so high I couldn't see surface or fit a fat quarter on my cutting mat. I'm about to start quilting a twin-size quilt for my little man and needed the space. I hope I can keep it like this for a while because it's so much nicer!

That's me for this week! Thanks for stopping by! I hope I have a Fancy Fox quilt to show you next week but we'll see how it goes. I find I'm having less time to craft with the kids home this year. I keep wanting to play with them instead. I love that my productivity is taking a hit for such a great reason! I'm linking up with the June ALYoF party, TGIFF, and Finish It Up Friday.

Knit All the Things!

My house has been taken over by a love of knitting and I couldn't be happier. However, that does mean I don't have a sewing project for a finish this week. I do have several knitting things for you to enjoy and the promise of a sewing finish in the near future.

I finished putting these together for my AMH swap and a library bag. I was so excited to finished these up but I got distracted with a few things.

First was this. I love how it turned out. It's based off of Thimble Blossoms Norway pattern. I got the piece of wood from Hobby Lobby and just worked out the pattern.

Then Hobby Lobby struck again with knitting looms! LOVE! My three big kids were able to do it totally on their own! The baby made a good effort and Alex would try for a few stitches and move on. They were so fun to work on. My kids even sat and knitted with me as we watched a movie last night. My husband says he needs better power tools or something to bring them over to his side.

Then we got this awesome pom-pom maker in the mail and had to make some of those to add to them.

Here's our finished projects. One for each kid and an extra.

The big three in the back made their own with very little or no help. They all picked their yarn, one new skein from the store and one from stash.

In between helping them I finished up this! This is the North Star Hat you can find the pattern on Craftsy here.

I'm pretty in love with it but can't decide if it is for me or to sell. The colors and pattern are perfect but I'm kind of in a hat knitting craze lately and have so many hats.

Well, that's me for the week. I'm so excited about what's been happening here. The kids and I are having great fun in the Summer so far. We have activities for each day of the week but our happiest times are on Library Monday and Crafty Thursday. I'm linking these up with my favorite stops. TGIFF and Finish It Up Friday.

Road 15 Pillows and Elephant Hat

I marked some great things off my list this week. I finished up my Road 15 pillows which are on my Q2FAL list and also the knit elephant hat that I've been working on. I also started my AMH mini which I know I am going to love. Let's start with the pillows.

Here they are! I used the Candy Dish pattern from Jaybird Quilts with the Hex N More ruler. The fabric is Road 15 by Sweetwater for Moda with Kona Snow for the background. How's that for source citing! ;)

I originally had these pillows planned for my couch but after I finished the quilt that was to match I wasn't as in love with it as I hoped I'd be. Enter my mom who needed fun, bright, and modern pillows for her basement couches that included deep red. Winner winner chicken dinner! She even has a thing for houses so this is perfect. Also, enter Father's Day for my step-dad as the perfect gifting opportunity. Don't worry he'll love them too and gets really excited when I make them things.

I love this text-ish grid print and used it, in various colorways, on the back of all three pillows.

I finished the pillows before dinner and then jumped right into cutting my Anna Maria Horner swap mini. Excuse the dark picture. I haven't touched it since this other than to mark the lines on the back of the squares. I hope to make great progress this week.

I did finish the elephant hat though! This is the Tembo pattern but a little altered. I removed the big elephant because I wasn't feeling it. I love it like this though. I will have to make more of these. This one is being sent off on another swap adventure.

Just for kicks I gathered up all the things I have knit thus far for a fun photo. I started mid-October 2014 and have been fairly obsessed with it ever since. It wasn't a whole hour after the elephant was done before I was itching to start another project, which I have.

Thanks for stopping by! It's been a fun week. I'm linking up with my favorite stops at TGIFF and Finish It Up Friday.

June ALYoF Goal and Progress

I was on a little trip yesterday and missed posting my Friday finish. I made great progress on a knitted elephant hat, finished a scripture bag for my son, and picked fabric and a pattern for my next swap in line. The swap project is my goal for June since it is due the start of July.

Here is what I have for my Anna Maria Horner mini quilt. I am going to make five blocks from the Raindrops pattern from the Fat Quarter Style book. I will finish this as my goal for June. I am super excited about this one and can't wait to see it come together.

My son needed a new scripture bag. His old one decomposed at nearly every seam after only about a year and a half of use. I made this one up by myself taking the things I liked from several different bags. It took about 1/2 yard of fabric that my boy picked out and one 18" double pull zip. I'm so happy with it and already planning my next one.

I'm making great progress on my elephant hat too. This one is also part of a swap due in early July. My daughter was sad that I'm letting this one out of our house so I may need to make her one in the future.

I'm making my step-dad new couch pillows for Father's Day. I have cut them out since this picture and just love the Hex N More ruler! It made cutting out three pillows super-quick and almost fun - I am not a fan of the cutting stage.

Last week I showed off what I sent in my swaps and this week you can see what I got in return. I can't believe I was lucky enough to snag this one. I tried this block before and it was a miserable failure. I love how she did the colors and the awesome text background! The little extras were perfect too.

Here's the basket that I got in return on that swap. I can't believe the amazing extras she included. It was so fun. The basket was fun too, especially the lining fabric. The colors are so me too.

Well, that's me for the week, thanks for stopping by! Not much progress as we were out of town for three days but I took my knitting along and love how much I got done there. Next week I hope to put those pillows together and get started on my AMH mini.