WiP Wednesday #14

Today is going to be a quick post...I've got a month-long trip I need to pack for!

But...I have a finish this week and I am really happy with how they turned out!

These are the key fobs I decided to make last week.  As I said, I am heading out on a month-long family vacation in a few days, and I wanted to get these done for my sisters and friends as a little gift before I left.

I will be doing a full post on them in the next day or so, to talk about how I made them, what I learned making them, and what I will do differently next time I make a batch!

I also washed, pressed and cut out the fabric for the dresses I am trying to get made before I leave on Saturday as well. 

I am hoping to get all three of these done by tomorrow night at the latest.

WiP's finished - 1

9 Key Fobs (One still left to finish, I just need to get some matching thread for the topstitching)

New WiP's - 0

WiP's worked on - 2

Key Fobs

Pillowcase Dresses

WiP's NOT worked on: 4

Swoon mini quilt

Denim Rag Quilt

Star Baby Quilt

Couch Pillows

On the back burner/not started yet: 4

Bed quilt

Christmas Stockings

Secret gift #1

Secret gift #2

Total = 9 - down 1 from last week

Linking to Lee (button in the sidebar) @ Freshly Pieced!

Kid-Friendly Food - Pizza Rolls

I have two of the pickiest eaters on the planet. 

And unfortunately, they happen to be twins, which means they like to feed off each other.  What one does, the other likes to follow.  And with no older siblings to use as examples of how to eat their dinner, sometimes it is practically a wrestling match to get either of them to eat anything!

So when I find a recipe that all my kids eat (my youngest eats almost everything, so he doesn't really count in the equation) I make it.  A lot.

This is one of those recipes. 

I pinned this recipe awhile ago and have, of course, made my own changes until it is now how I like it.  I usually make mine with finely chopped pepperoni, green pepper, onion and olives.  But not too much or the filling will spill out once you cut the rolls.

I usually serve this with a variety of fruit and carrot sticks.

Pizza Rolls

pizza dough - enough for two pizzas (I usually use this one)

1 t. garlic powder, divided

2 t. basil, divided

1 c. sliced pepperoni, chopped
2 c. shredded mozzarella cheese
1/3 c. shredded Parmesan cheese

optional toppings: finely chopped olives,

green pepper, onion, mushrooms, etc. (about 1/2 c. each)

marinara or pizza sauce, warmed, for dipping

425°  Divide pizza dough in half. Roll each half into a rectangle, about 1/4 inch thick and 12 inches long.  Sprinkle each half with equal amounts of garlic salt, basil, cheeses, pepperoni and any optional toppings. Starting at a short end, roll dough up tightly to form a log. Slice into 1-inch pieces. Place rolls on lightly greased baking sheets. Bake for 10-15 minutes or until browned on top. Serve with warm marinara sauce for dipping.

***

Linking to:

WiP Wednesday #13

I wish I could say more about this week, but I really haven't done much more than prep work for some new projects.

(And I will apologize upfront for the icky photos this week.  They were taken with, and imported from my phone, so...)

I added 2 new projects this week:

1 - Pillowcase dresses.  We got invited to our friends daughter's first birthday next weekend.  It is in North Carolina, where we used to live.  So not only are we driving down for the party, but I am taking the opportunity while in town to have lunch with one of my BFF's.  I figured if I am going to the trouble of making one dress, I might as well make two more for her two daughters, too.

Because I love her.  And that's just what I do when I love people.

I ordered the fabric on Friday, so I am expecting it any day now (hopefully TODAY).  I got a couple different patterns in the "Apple of My Eye" collection from Riley Blake. 

I have to say, having three boys, I don't get many opportunities to buy a lot of cute, girly fabric, so shopping for these dresses was a lot of fun!

***

2 - The second project I took on is something of an experiment on my part.  A few years ago I received a monogrammed, fabric key chain as a gift from one of my friends.  

As you can see, it is now well worn and ever since I got my new sewing/embroidery machine, I have wanted to try to make my own to give as gifts.

I have seen a few (very few!) patterns/tutorials for these, but none of them were exactly what I wanted, or they were actual in-the-hoop embroidery programs, which I definitely didn't want! So, with no pattern, I am trying to figure out how to make these.  I have done some measuring and ordered the key fob hardware (which should arrive tomorrow, thanks to Amazon Prime!)

I didn't want to spend a ton on fabric and thread during the experimental phase, so I stopped at JoAnn's and picked up a few quarter-yards of fabric that matched the embroidery thread that I already had, and these are the combo's I came up with:

The pink that you see will be embroidered in black, and I do have a piece of purple that I will be using especially for my mom's, embroidered in white.

In fact, it is the same piece of purple Terrain that I am offering to anyone who is interested in doing the Purple Fabric chain/swap!

I wrote about it last week HERE, but I will briefly repeat it again now. 

***

Here is an excerpt from the letter:

This is a quilt tree – no money involved, just postage stamps, and a lot of fun!  Please send 2 (two) 6-inch squares of purple (or purple in it) cotton fabric to the first person on the list below.

Then remove the name you sent the squares to, and put your name below mine.  Next, copy this letter and send it along with 2 (two) 6-inch squares of purple fabric to six other people.  All together you will have cut 14 squares of fabric.  You will probably get at least 72 squares, which is enough to make a nice, cute, purple quilt. 

I have already sent off 3 envelopes of fabric, but I need 3, possibly 4 more people to send my fabric to. If you are interested, shoot me an email, or leave a comment below!

***

So, back to WiP's.  My Stats for the week look like this:

WiP's finished - 0

New WiP's - 2

3 Pillowcase dresses

Up to 11 embroidered key chains

WiP's worked on - 0

(Unless you count ordering fabric and hardware as "working on"!)

WiP's NOT worked on: 4

Swoon mini quilt

Denim Rag Quilt

Star Baby Quilt

Couch Pillows

On the back burner/not started yet: 4

Bed quilt

Christmas Stockings

Secret gift #1

Secret gift #2

Total = 10 - up 2 from last week!

Now I am heading over to Lee's @ Freshly Pieced to check out everyone else's WiP's :)

WiP Wednesday #12 -A Finish and a Fabric Swap

So I finished another WiP this week!  Kinda.  

I finished one of the two teacher totes I am making for my twins preschool teachers. 

Read the full post about it HERE.

And since tomorrow is the last day of school, I have to finish the second one today. Fortunately, I have everything cut out, it is just a matter of embroidering it and sewing it up.  It will look exactly like this one:

So, no other WiP's worked on this week.  And no new WiP's added.  Yet.  I have in mind a little something as a gift for a little girl, but I'm still in the deciding stage.

***

Also, I am trying to think of a hand sewing project that I can start.  I am going on a month long vacation beginning June 30th, and the thought of doing NOTHING sewing-wise for a whole month makes me kind of sad!  I just can't decide what to do.

Here are some of the things I am considering:

1- yo-yo's for a yo-yo pillow

2-  a Cathedral Window pillow

3 - One of the Quilt-Alongs over at Clover and Violet.

The only thing with all of these is that they would take some prep work, and I'm not sure I have the time to do it.  The yo-yo's would obviously be the least amount of prep work.  All I would need is scissors, needles and thread.  I could even gather fabric along the way.  Something to consider.

***
So in other news, last week I visited Becky's blog, and joined a Quilt Tree/Fabric Chain/Swap.  It is for 6-inch purple charm squares - Purple fabric, or fabric with purple in it.  She was wonderfully quick about getting my two purple charm squares in the mail.  Look at the darling fabric she sent!

I have to admit, I have eyed this fabric from time to time as I have browsed Etsy!

So, the way this thing works, I now need to find six people to send my purple charms to, who would them send purple charms to 6 other people, etc.  I already have 3, possibly 4 people on board, so I need 2-3 more. 

Anyone out there interested in gathering some purple charms that would want to participate?

If so, leave me a comment or email me, and I will send you your two purple charm squares and the letter.

I am pretty excited about this, because my mom's favorite color is purple, and I have been wanting to make her something.  However, I really don't have any purple in my stash. 

That is, except for this lovely piece of Terrain by Kate Spain.

So, if you want to participate, this is what you will be getting from me!

Anyhoo - Here are my Stats for the week:

WiP's finished - 1

1 of 2 Teacher Totes

New WiP's - 0

(But baby girl gift under consideration)

WiP's worked on - 1

Teacher's Totes

WiP's NOT worked on: 4

Swoon mini quilt

Denim Rag Quilt

Star Baby Quilt

Pillows

On the back burner/not started yet:

Bed quilt

Christmas Stockings

Secret gift #1

Secret gift #2

Total = 8

Linking to Lee @ Freshly Pieced!

Teacher Tote

I finished the first of two teacher totes that I am making my twins preschool teachers for an end-of-year gift. (I followed this tutorial HERE.)

This one, obviously, belongs to "Ms. Sharon":

She has been a wonderful teacher for my boys.  I am just amazed at how much they have learned in the two mornings a week they have spent in her class! 

Just the other day, Twin B was telling me all about how we live on Earth, and Earth is a planet, and planets are in Outer Space, and Mars is another planet and so is Mercury, and the Sun is NOT a planet, it is a star....

Wait, what??  How do you know all this, kid?? 

Obviously, an awesome teacher. 

And in my world, an awesome teacher deserves an awesome, handmade tote bag.  With her name on it.

(This is the top, detailing the contrast between the inner and outer fabrics.)

(And the lining fabric)

The coolest thing about these totes, is that I basically let my boys pick out the fabrics for it.  I took them to the home decor fabrics section (I wanted the exterior to be a little bit sturdier than just using quilting cottons) and let them go. 

Well, they are only three, and boys, so looking is not good enough.  Once they decided to start pulling out bolts and bolts, I decided to corral things before they got too out of hand, and limited their choices to what they had already pulled out.

That was how we chose the pink floral.

Then I took them to the cottons and, with a little direction (i.e: "Uh, brown and green plaid probably wouldn't be the prettiest for your teachers bag,  Why don't you go pick one of those black fabrics??") we finally decided on the black wavy dots.

I think they did pretty well for three-year-old boys!

Now, I just need to think of something fun to put inside the bag, and Thursday they will be sent to school with my boys. 

And I can't believe their first year of preschool is OVER.

Excuse me while I go cry a little bit.

Linking to these parties:

WiP Wednesday #11

Wow, I've now done over 10 Work-in Progress Wednesdays!

I'm really loving WiP Wednesdays because it does keep me on track with my projects.  I like being able to review each week what I have finished, and what I have worked on.  And I like being able to list future projects so I don't forget about them!  It's so easy to do that when you don't have a tangible place to list your ideas.

I wish I were a little more prolific and had more finishes to show for almost 3 months worth of Wednesdays, however, with 3 boys aged 3 and under, my spare time is truly limited right now.  Most people I know are actually amazed I get done what I do!

So, onto my WiP's.  I do have one finish this week, a rag quilt for a baby boy (which you can read all about HERE.

I wish I could say that I had worked on anything else, but I haven't.  This took up any bit of free time I had this week since it needed to be sent to Utah and hopefully arrive before the baby does!

Next Up is finishing the totes for my boys teachers.  Their last day of school is next Thursday, so these definitely need to be finished up quickly!

And I need to think of something to put INSIDE the totes.  Hmmm...

I also have been thinking about the quilting on my Swoon mini.  I think I know what I want to do for the quilting, so I am going to print off a picture of it to doodle on and see if I like it.  I want to finish that after the totes so I can move on to a completely fresh project afterwards.

WiP's finished - 1

Baby Boy Rag Quilt

New WiP's - 0

WiP's worked on - 1

Baby Boy Rag Quilt

WiP's NOT worked on: 5

Teacher Totes

Swoon mini quilt

Denim Rag Quilt

Star Baby Quilt

Pillows

On the back burner/not started yet:

Bed quilt

Christmas Stockings

Secret gift #1

Secret gift #2

Total = 9

Linking up to Lee @ Freshly Pieced!

Baby Boy Rag Quilt

In general I am not necessarily a rag quilt kind of girl.  (Which, I know, sounds strange considering I am in the process of making a HUMONGOUS denim rag quilt as I write this.)

I suppose what I should really say is, I think rag quilts can be cute and definitely have a place, but to me they seem more suited to rustic settings, not a baby nursery.

To me rag quilts are big, sturdy quilts that are taken camping or on picnics, or to lie back on with your whole family while watching fireworks in the summertime.

Because of that, I have never made a rag quilt for any of my babies, nor anyone elses.  In my mind, if I am going to make a quilt for a baby, it is going to be a pieced, quilty thing in lovely cotton fabrics.

However, a few months ago, a friend of mine who is due with her third son any day now, posted a picture of a flannel rag quilt very similar to this one on Facebook (In all honesty, I think this one is cuter, but I could be biased).  She loved it and wanted it, but couldn't afford the price. Specifically, she said, she liked the frogs.

Well, a few weeks ago, I just happened upon some frog flannel on clearance for $3 a yard.  Wasn't even looking for it.  I took it as a sign and decided my friend needed to have a frog flannel rag quilt as soon as possible!

Fortunately, JoAnn's had their flannel on sale for 60% over Memorial Day weekend, and because I am the proud owner of a military I.D., I got an additional 20% off my purchase.  I think the flannel for the whole quilt cost me a grand total of $8.50, and I pulled out my (free!) bag of batting scraps for the batting.

I started it last week and worked on it the past few nights after my boys were in bed.  I snipped the last snip last night and threw it into the washing machine at 11:30pm.  It was late, but wanted to see it done!  (because everyone knows the best part of a rag quilt is when you pull it out of the dryer in all it's soft, scruffily goodness!)

I'm really pleased with how it turned out, and I hope she is, too!

Now I just need to pack it up with a congratulatory note and send it off to it's brand new owner. 

Liknking to Fabric Tuesday @ Quilt Story (button in my sidebar)

And these parties, as well: