Thread Bag - another wip finish!

I keep my thread in this bag a friend gave me when I'm at home

 And when I travel, I end up throwing it all in a grocery bag, so that I can tie the top shut

 

But another wip finish provides a nice ready-to-travel home for my thread!

Wet Bag Success!

I've been wanting to try making wet bags for six months, at least. Our older son swims as part of his preschool class, and our younger son is (should be) in cloth diapers.

My poor medium boy went through a whole semester of toting his undies/wet suit in a plastic bag. How uncool. How wasteful.

We already had the fabric, but getting invited to a fellow preschooler's birthday party was just the kick in the pants I needed to get the bags done. My kiddo helped me pick out zipper colors and straps for the handles, and I started the bags by doing some research during naptime.

A few tutorials that use PUL warned about it being very slippery to work with. A Lemon Squeezy Home recommends using baby powder to reduce the slippage, and I'm sure that would work great. However, I can't come near that stuff without getting it EVERYWHERE, so I opted to try my new glue stick. And it worked so well!

I ran a line of glue down the top of the PUL, then put the zipper on top. I could adjust the zipper, but the glue added just enough friction to keep things together.

One problem I have with installing zippers is the fabric seems to start "scootching" down as I sew, and by the end of the bag it's below where I started, and looks like an uneven mess. (Does this happen to anyone else? Is it because the zipper foot doesn't provide as much stability as a presser foot?)

To combat this, I usually pin the crap out of everything. But I didn't think pinning PUL would be a good idea, so I did this instead:

Oh yeah. I was so excited when I thought of it! And it worked pretty well.

I made my son's first, to work out any kinks. On his, I sewed all sides of the PUL, pulled the bag through, and sewed the outside bottom of his bag shut. On his friend's, I sewed the outer bag completely, pulled it through, and sewed the PUL together.

I liked the way the PUL lining finished better (and I usually pull through my linings), but I'm interested to see if either bag has wicking or leaking issues.

I'm really happy with how well these turned out, and I'm looking forward to making more in the future.

Of course when you give a little bag, you have to put something in it. DS1's friend had admired his Green Bay Packer zipper pulls, so when we were at the Christmas Day game, we picked up another set. A wet bag may not be super exciting to a four year old, but I know he will like the zipper pulls. GO PACK!

Sewing {S P A C E}

One of my hopes for the new year is to stay more organized. I like organization in all parts of my life, as I feel it is efficient, and I hope that it maximizes my time doing things I love with people I love, rather than dealing with stuff.

My sewing space is small, but has a lot of useable space. I just need to learn to use it.

Before I headed out for some end-of-year downtime, I spent some time cleaning and reorganizing my sewing area. I'm really happy with how things are now (and we won't discuss the fact that my spare bedroom is trashed with all the stuff I don't know what to do with or where to put!)

Here's hoping this space manages to stay clean and organized for most of 2012!

A bookcase full of wips/ufos

What is behind that magical door?

Diaper and wipe boxes may not be the best organizers, but they're already paid for!

And hopefully all of this organization will lead to an increase in fun times with these two goobers:

Drawstring bag addiction

If you spend any time reading quilting/sewing blogs, you have probably been seeing a lot of adorable drawstring bags popping up, like I have.

I think most of them are using the fabulous tutorial by Jeni of In Color Order. She previously posted a tutorial for this great bag, and now has made a pattern available with several different sizes.

I've only finished one so far, but I love it SO MUCH. Probably an inappropriate amount!

My favorite color, one of my favorite fabric designers, and a well written pattern. It's the sewing trifecta!

So, here's the one I've finished:

 

And here's what I have prepped:

It was almost painful to cut in to some of my favorite fabrics. But ooh, the new, scrappy possibilities!

More blogging ahead!

I think all slacker bloggers (like me) swear they're going to start blogging more. But I really am!

I even made a long list of ideas for blog posts.

Now if I could only find where DS1 left the list....

Sewing fun!

The last two days, I've been lucky enough to have a lot of sewing fun!

Monday morning I got a phone call from my new LQS. I won a $50 gift certificate at their open house last week! This will be perfect to pick up supplies for the embroidery class I'm taking in a couple of weeks.

Last night, I also got a lot of sewing time in after the boys were in bed. I got the binding on one quilt, the quilting done on a very mini, mini quilt, and removed and fixed and finished the binding on a small table runner. Yay!

I wish I had pictures, but the weather has been crap, and my three year old has been uncooperative in the quilt holding department.

I didn't get as much sewing done today, but I did pick up the new copy of Quilts & More, and take a few minutes to peruse it. I'm hoping to use the pattern by Julie and Jaybird Quilts to make a home birth themed quilt for a friend or two.

Our older son's birthday is at the end of the month, and today he told me he wants a Halloween themed birthday party. He really enjoyed Halloween this year, and somehow managed to dress up three times, twice with make up.

I didn't get his Halloween quilt completed, as hard as I tried, but this may be my second chance. I seriously almost have the whole top pieced, so tonight I sewed together all the pieces I had already pinned. I have a little unsewing and re-sewing to do tomorrow, but if bedtime goes well, I think I'll get the top put together!

Last, but definitely not least, tonight I participated in my first Talkin' Tuesday (#talknt) on Twitter. It was hilarious and sweet and warm, which was all very delightful. I'm looking forward to participating again in the future!

And because I don't have any quilt pics, here's a favorite from Halloween

Have a great day friends!

WiP Wednesday

If anyone knows where September and October went, please let me know.

I'm still having trouble sticking to one project, the evidence being that I didn't manage to complete a single Halloween quilt, despite having at least four in progress.

Oh but we will be warm and snuggly for next Halloween. I promised myself.

(Speaking of next Halloween, did you check out Tula Pink's Halloween reveal of her new line, Nightshade? It is gorgeous!)

Here's what I'm focusing on now. I'm hoping to get some sewing time in today!

Planning

Binding

More binding

A bit of stitching

Putting the pieces together

Today I'm linking up with Lee at Freshly Pieced

What have you been up to? Any big sewing plans for today?