Hobbies

I have a LOT of hobbies, too many to remember actually. Lately I have been doing several baby, toddler and preschooler quilts. A few years ago I made a few larger ones as part of a humanitarian project. I also have one that I am sewing by hand and have been working on, off and on, for years.

I have to get one more finished tomorrow that is for a birthday that went by a week ago already! Then I promise, there will be more photos on here of all the quilts I have done. At least of all the ones I can find photos of.

To all my Facebook friends, I'll let you know when they are on here! :D

Have a great day/night. See you on the sunny side! (Here's hoping it's not raining again tomorrow.)

Birthday Party Tomorrow?

"Sure Savannah can come." We got the call for Savannah's friends' party approximately 24 hours in advance. A couple years ago I started making quilts for all the kid's birthdays we go to. Well almost all of them. This one was no exception. Could I pull it off? Here's what I did in a few hours! It's not perfect, but it will do for a 4 year old!!!!

Apparently no one can see the "K" on first look. Look at the purple squares! The material is kind of fuzzy, so they don't look all the same color in the photos.

Quilts

This year so far I've been able to complete three child/baby quilts. This is the first one made for Savannah's play school friend for her 3rd birthday. They had the party early and then moved several provinces away! Savannah still asks where Gabby is.

The front is flannel squares of 5 different prints. The back is a solid flannel piece of a different pattern.

The second one we made for baby Magnus. The baby brother of Savannah's best friend, Mya, who is also in our play school.

The front is fleece squares with a pocket and ribbon loops for attaching toys. The back is a solid piece of fleece that matches the front border material.

This last one is for baby Quinn. Yet another baby brother of another girl in our play school! (I'm sensing a theme!) The front is similar to Magnus's blanket piece of blue cotton material.

The writing on the front of the last two quilts is the name meanings I could find on the internet.

Evolution!

It all started with this coin purse I made for myself! Well, not quite, I got the purse idea from some of my old neighbors, but didn't try the purse until second. I love this coin purse. It's a bit odd and off center, but it holds LOTS of coins and various other things.

Here is the first purse I made:


Then I got asked to make some custom smaller coin purses from a pattern my customer had found. Little boys especially, love to use these as wallets. I've had a couple teenagers purchase them as well.

After those I made LOTS of purses and coin purses for the Christmas crafts sales we attend. Here is a teal purse. I made red, orange, blue, green, teal, and purple solid color purses as well as the mixed color purses like the first one I made. I no longer use the snaps to close the flap as velcro is much easier to use and I find it actually holds more of the flap closed.

The Educational Diaper Bag came next. Right now it is my favorite thing. So big and perfect for the Mum that likes to be prepared when away from home! My previous post is all about it.

Megan and Denver have the only two actual wallets I have made so far. They are a combination of Kool-Aid Jammers juice pouches and duct tape style wallets! Much easier to make that way than trying to figure out how to sew them and still have them fold properly. Megan's was actually made in the Fall. Denver's was just made last night.

This is Denver's

This is Megan's

What they look like when closed

Now here is a binder that Megan brought home to be fixed. She wanted a new binder, but I refuse to pay outrageous middle of the school year prices for a binder! It looks quite good I think! Even with all the Tic-Tac-Toe on the covers.

Educational Recycled Diaper Bag

The following information is mostly text and photos from my Etsy store page. I am quite happy with how this item turned out!! :) For the full listing please click on the title of this blog for a link to my store page.

This original is a versatile, large diaper bag made from recycled Del Monte fruit juice pouches. The pouches have all been carefully opened and thoroughly cleaned by myself. Also the glue from the straws has been removed from the front of the pouches.



It measures approximately 13 1/2 inches across, 10 1/2 inches wide by 10 3/4 inches tall. The handle (strap) hangs 22 inches when on your shoulder.

One side of the bag features a large pocket with a center velcro closure. This allows you to place smaller items in the bottom of the pocket and leaves plenty of room to place a bottle or two on either side of the velcro.



The top flap features two 3 1/4 inch velcro strips to allow you to adjust how you close the bag based on how full it is.



I really LOVE this type of bag as it cleans easily with a damp cloth if you or your child happen to spill something on it. It is also very strong and durable for years of use.

Pass it on to others in your family when you have finished with it! It also makes a great gift for a new or experienced Mother. Your toddler may also like it as a carrying bag for all his/her toys and special items when going on an outing. Great as an educational tool when in a doctors office (or waiting for some other appointment), you can make up games pointing out different fruits or colors. Also has fruit names in English and French if you'd like to experiment with another language!

Ornament Swap

In November I joined an ornament swap (as seen on my sister's blog). Click on "Ornament Swap" at the top of this to see the blog about it.

Just wanted to post the photos of the ornaments I've sent out to everyone on my list. So far I've received two back from fellow Etsy crafters. Can't wait for the rest to come in the mail!

I crochetted "Sugar Plums" and added ribbon accents and bows. In my letter accompanying them I said the recipient could add a bell to the center of the bow or hang a small ornament (my Mum has a porcelin dove in hers), in the space in the middle of the ornament.

For all you experienced bloggers out there: please bear with the messiness of my posts for now. I am having technical difficulties with my limited knowledge on how to do this!!!!

Catch ya later!