Bag It!

The day I hear the birds chirping when I pull into my work parking at o'dark hundred, is the day I can almost taste my most favorite season - Spring!

Maybe it's the sun, maybe it's cuz my birthday's in spring or maybe it's because the darn gray of the northwest is finally giving way but I love love love Spring! And, Spring includes my favorite holiday - Easter!

More on Easter later...

But what I do want to talk about is my new spring bag!

Jess and I headed to RubyStreet Quiltworks in Tumwater a few weekends ago without any projects in mind but just a chance to see a different quilt shop. Isn't funny how you go to certain quilt stores for certain things, just knowing that you'll find exactly what you needed at each one?

Anyway, we came away with Christmas material, Halloween material and one dinky yard of Spring material...yes, it was February! And, yes, we do realize these holidays are 9 months away but honestly, you have to get what you like when you see no matter what month it is...

So, I found this pretty pink material and knew I needed a new bag for work. I have one from Target that I like but I can never find just a big bag to put stuff in - without all the bells and whistles. Honestly, I can barely find what I need in my tiny little purse - do I really need 10 pockets in a giant catch-all bag that I will immediately forget where I put that thing that I need right this minute?

Ok - I'm monologing...

Anyway, one Spring bag is what I ordered so I went ahead and made it this past weekend.

Here are the materials:

1 yard of super cute spring material that I threw the selvedge string away already (yes, I know, sacrilege) so don't know who the designer is but I think is robert kaufmann

1 package vinyl fuse to make the bag waterproof

the stiffest interfacing you can buy to make the bag sides stand up

lining material for the inside

I had fun using the vinyl fusing stuff but it does really help to read the instructions.

And, about 2 hours later, I had my Spring bag.

Upon completion of said bag, I realized that I sewed the inner lining inside out! Awesome! The super sweet black thread shows through on the seams on my super cute pink bag...I just left it.

But, I will work on it this weekend because it is just so darn cute and I really do want it to look nicer than it is right now.

I had to include this photo because Coco is photobombing me!

In the words of the original piano man: "You're only human, you're allowed to make your share of mistakes" Billy Joel...besos JCoy

Heart Pillow

From this:

to this sweet heart pillow

in 20 minutes!

Take one felt heart from the dollar bin at Joann Fabric, one square of red felt, 2 pieces of 12 inch red and white striped xmas fabric and some pink ribbon, sew it up and stuff.

I made the table runner under the pillow a couple of years ago. I'm creating quite the collection of Valentine textiles!

Take the road that leads to awesome! - JCoy

Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your hair...

Or the art of letting go and actually cutting into your fabric!

A funny thing happens when you start to sew - you start to accumulate fabric! And then you start looking for inspiration which leads you to blogs, which leads to pinterest and instagram. Lucky for me, I haven't been sucked into the last two but I do love me some blogs!

Finding quilt/craft inspiration blogs inevitably leads you down the path to favorite fabric designers which, of course, leads to hoarding said fabric designers fabrics.
Again, lucky for me, my house and budget are pretty small so I tend to hoard just the things that are just soooo cute that I couldn't possibly live without them...I would just wither and die!
Which leads us to the Rapunzel fabric from Heather Ross.
When the fabric came out, I bought one little tiny yard of miss rapunzel in the sweetest pink color. (I also bought the owl and pussycat, sleeping beauty and the suns - apparently i was flush with funds that day!)
And there she sat, in the little fabric bin I have under my sewing table. Every couple of months or so, I bring out the bin, look through all the "good" fabric and think, oh i should really do something with this...immediately followed by
"no, it is soooo precious, i can't possibly take my scissors to such cuteness!"
Then, I would fold it back up (the other way so as to not have the creases all be in the same spot) and back she would go into the bin.
Until one day, I decided enough was enough! and made my way to the giant fabric store and found some coordinating fabric to make me the cutest rapunzel quilt!
And then...mom saw the photo of miss rapunzel and asked for the smallest bit of it for her birthday - no problem, i thought, i'll just go on etsy and get some!
HA!
Apparently, miss rapunzel and all of her counterparts are going for a gazillion dollars!
Oh no!
I cannot cut into rapunzel now - she is worth too much money - A whole yard!! Why, that's worth like a hundred dollars!
What am I doing, what am I thinking?
And then I saw other heather ross fabrics for sale on etsy and
OH MY GOD!
What was I thinking cutting into those cute matryouskas and the stripes and making a quilt and why, why, why, did I put the VW van material in that window and now it is faded!!  Am I a fool?
A day passed...(no cutting into rapunzel)
And then, I walked by the shelf with the little pile of fabric and I thought, "Why yes, i guess I am a fool!"
A fool for wanting to live with the cutest fabric!
To have a cute quilt of smiling stacking dolls to pull out of the cupboard and put on the couch and make me happy.
And, yes a fool to put the van fabric in the window but it makes me smile every time i walk into the laundry room.
And, what about miss rapunzel?
Well - see for yourself!

She is no longer entombed in the fabric bin but is free to mill about with the other quilts.
Everytime I see this sweet little quilt, I will be happy to know that I was brave enough to cut into the "good" stuff!
Do you dare cut into your favorite fabric? Did it give you heart palpatations? Or are you happy that you can now enjoy it in some way besides sitting all lonely in a bin?
PS - as you can tell from the photo, I didn't get too crazy with the cutting, just the stripes to keep as many little rapunzels intact! Bravery does have its limits, you know!

Get out there! JCoy

Hearts on the Line

On my way down to Jess's house a bit after new years, I hit Target in the hopes of scoring some cheap Christmas decorations. Imagine my delight at finding everything 90% off! Awesome!
I found some fun stuff that I'll share with you next Christmas but, I found these primitive wooden hearts that I knew I could repurpose as Valetine's decorations. And the best part? They were 10 cents each! Score x90% off!

Here's the before:

Here's the after:

I used all the materials I already had: pink metallic craft paint, red glitter paint, sliver and black sharpie paint pens and of course, glitter!!

I hand wrote "Love is all you need" about the hearts and then strung them up with pink polka dot ribbon on a retractable curtain rod. I hung the rod between our living room and family room/art space to add a bit of love.

Love is really all you need! Well, and hearts at 10cents a piece!

Stay crafty my friends - JCoy

Valentine's Day Heart in a Bottle

I believe that you should celebrate Valetine's Day every day!  After the lull of January, who can resist red and pink, and hearts and chocolate filling the stores? After all pink, hearts, and chocolate are three of my favorite things!

I decided to combine those three with glitter to share with you. Here is an easy project to add to your Valentine decor!



Supplies needed:
 - empty clean bottle
 - skein of funky yarn
 - glitter
 - craft paint
 - skewer
 - plastic lid from a disposable coffee cup
 - cardboard from the recycling bin
 - glue
 - foam brush
 - scissors

Directions

Starting at the bottom, use the foam brush to brush glue on your bottle an inch or so at a time. With glue still wet, start wrapping your bottle with the yarn. Keep gluing and wrapping until you get to the top. Set aside to dry.

Paint your skewer with your favorite pink paint (I am using metallic pink craft paint). Set aside to dry.

Clean the lid from your coffee cup and cut a heart from it. Cover one side with glue and sprinkle liberally with your favorite glitter (I am using the Martha Stewart line from Joann Fabric). Set aside to dry.  Cut a heart from your recycled cardboard. Glue and glitter this heart as well.

After everything is dry, glue the plastic lid heart to the front of the bottle (I had to use my glue gun for this part). Glue the cardboard heart to the skewer.

 

Fill your new heart bottle with candy and stick the skewer in (the candy will hold the skewer upright).  Give to your love and enjoy together!

Stay crafty my friends - JCoy