May is For Makers

As I said before I am committing to purchasing a pattern each week from an Indie Designer. 

 This week is no exception,  

I purchased the School House Tunic pattern on ETSY from Sew Liberated. 

 If you want to make one too, you can purchase one right here.

Isn't it so cute? 

 I need to see what fabric I have enough of to make myself one.  

Looks like I need to find some Swedish tracing paper first though.  

I am wanting to make some clothes but keep putting it off.  

This purchase a pattern thing may wind up being pretty good for me 

and my garment making aspirations!  

I am making a link up again.  

Please use the Inlinkz blue button to link up any purchases you have made from 

an Indie Designer this week.  

~XOP~

Bridal Shower/Mother's Day Weekend

Last weekend was jam packed! 

 I finally, had that bridal shower I have been preparing for on Saturday.  

I drove the 2.5 hours (one way) with my SIL and that was nice.

  I love catching up with her.  

If you remember this is the one I have been making all the things for.

I will show you how I packaged the gift.  Let's "unwrap" the gift and show you.

This is how I brought the gift, all wrapped up.

I put everything inside a Pyrex casserole dish, a covered one.  So when she opened the cover...

She saw this.  Coasters were on the top

Next layer was the trivets

Under the trivets were the oven mitts

Under the oven mitts were the first set of dish towels

Under the first set of dish towels were the second set of dish towels

Lastly, when all was removed it revealed that I had glass etched their last name on the bottom (outside) of the Pyrex dish!  This way, if they have to take a dish, they always get it back!

The glass etching cream (Armor Etch) came from Michaels. 

 I used a stencil and a bristle brush. 

 I used my spray baste that I use for quilting to adhere the stencil letters to the bottom of the pan. 

 I drew a line with a Sharpie that was straight, so I could line up the letters.

  I cut the letters apart and spaced them on the dish, then held it up to make sure I liked the spacing.  Since I had to use the S and the L twice I had to make sure to leave room for those.  

Then I painted the cream on, let it set for 1 minute and washed it off in the sink.  

EASY!  

I have painted the bottom previously for gifts but I like this better and it will NOT come off.

OK so this is where I say, if you are my friend or relation and you KNOW I do this for showers, please don't do this at showers you know I will be attending.  

You would think I not have to say this but I know how crafty all my friends are! 

 Or just ask me if I am planning on doing it.  

If not, then glass etch all you want.  

Or etch something different, like glasses.  

If there is a stencil for it and you have glass, go for it!

Linking up with Crazy Mom Quilts

I leave you with a fun little flipgram of the whole loading process.

We went out to the farm for a Mother's Day brunch.  

Eric cooked eggs Benedict, sausage, hash browns, among other things.  

He made Mimosa's and also bought Diet Coke for me.

Weren't the plates beautiful?

My son brought me these beautiful flowers.

Beep was enjoying the warm day to enjoy a dust bath!

All in all a great weekend!

~XOP~

Kitten Mini Quilt Swap 2016

I participated in this amazing swap.  

When you joined you were assigned a secret partner to make a mini quilt and 

one other handmade item for.  

I knew immediately what I wanted to do for my partner.

  Although she has 7 cats so that made things challenging. 

 I decided to use the cat pattern my friend Kim and I are working on.  

She drafted the pattern from an antique quilt and I designed the quilt around that.  

Enough chit chat, want to see it?

I love how this turned out.  I made one cat that looks like each of her cats!

Her all orange cat (like my Jack)

 Her black and white  (like my Mosen)

Loved those mice on his bow

Her orange and white (like my Aiden)

Her Calico (like Autumn and Hallie)

 Her all black

Her all gray

Her gray and white.

I made a template for the cat face quilting which turned out excellent!

I used the Cotton and Steel cats for the back.

We had to send another hand made item and I made this pouch, using the Bee In My Bonnet tutorial.

I received a FANTASTIC mini quilt from my partner.  

Found out she lives in the same city as my daughter in NC!!  Small world.  

It's my JACK!!!!  Speaking of which, a pale orange tabby showed up in my driveway yesterday afternoon, just like Jack did.  

Not sure if he is a stray or a neighbor cat.

I also received all these goodies!  

Look at that Raccoon pouch!!  I love me some Tula.  And that FQ of aqua cat fabric?  Fantastic!!!

All in all this was a GREAT swap experience!!

Linking up with Crazy Mom Quilts finish it up Friday.

~XOP~

Indie Designer Link Up Week One

I hope you all have found some fabulous new patterns to share with all of us! 

 I *think* I have figured out the link up thing.  

I am going to try out the free version and see if I can make it work 

before I change over to the paid version. 

 I also want to know that I will get some people to actually link up before spending my money 

on a link up tool.  

It is not as cheap as I thought.

  Just as we are paying for patterns I guess I need to realize that if I want to use a tool

 I will have to pay for that too.

(photos borrowed from the ETSY site)

I found the CUTEST cat pajama bag pattern. 

 I had seen it on Facebook and found out the woman posting about it was actually the designer. 

 It is called the Cool Cat Pajama Bag Pattern and you can find your very own copy right here.  

I love finding new, unique things to make for small children, and lately for baby showers.  

Wouldn't this make a great sibling gift to go with that new baby present?

There is a boy and a girl.  I am wondering if I could make a tutu out of tulle for the girl too?  

This shows how the back opens up for easy PJ storage.  

 I suppose storage of treasure would work too.

Now for the link up info. 

 Did you find a great pattern you want to share with everyone?  

Please link up in this list. 

 People can click over to see what you have found too.  

~XOP~

May Is For Makers

Have you heard about the May is for Makers event that is going on? 

 Lindsey over at LR Stitched started this.  Pop on over and check it out.

Basically, for the month of May, folks are pledging to support Indie designers.  

You don't know what an Indie designer is? 

 It is a designer that is not affiliated with a major company or organization. 

Someone that has not hit it big, so to speak.

 You all know some.  I'm sure of it.  

That little ETSY shop with the cutest stitchery patterns.  

That one blogger that has the best quilt patterns.  

I would consider myself one of these people.  

I have friends that are these people.  

Some of my favorite patterns are from these people.  

Have you met Lorna over at Sew Fresh Quilts?  She has some amazing quilt patterns. 

 How about Kelly at Jeli Quilts?  Her paper pieced patterns are to die for.

Whimsy Quilts has been asking Indie designers to link up their info on her Instagram page.

  Many folks are pledging to buy one pattern a week for the month of May 

to support these amazing designers.  

We all love stuff for free, but designers can't support themselves that way.  

If we don't participate maybe some of them will stop designing.  That would be a travesty!  

As a designer myself, I know I have doubts and wonder if my patterns are good enough for people to spend their hard earned money on.  

Many of the patterns out there are not super expensive.  

Skip that cup of expensive coffee and buy a pattern or two this month. 

 I will be doing this and sharing each week the new pattern I purchased. 

 I was going to do it on Monday, but since it is already Tuesday, I think I will post about the pattern I  buy on Wednesdays.  

You can link up any designer patterns you purchase on that post too!  

I will see if I can figure out how to make a linky list.  This will be a new skill for me!

I would love to hear your thoughts on this.  

I would also love you all to participate and show your support for the Indie designers out there.

~XOP~

A Quilt Exhibit by Bonnie J. Smith

I work at the University of Michigan.  

Yesterday a friend told me about a really cool quilt exhibit there.  

We walked over to the building to see it and thought you might enjoy the quilts too.

My kids were all swimmers.  

My son stopped after a few years, but both my girls swam through high school.  

The younger one swam at Michigan State for a year too. 

 My husband and I were YMCA and USA swimming officials for over 10 years.  

Needless to say, swimming was a major part of our lives for a long time.  

These quilts were fantastic.  

I hope you enjoy them as much as I did.

I took a photo of one of the signs, as pictured here, but not all of them.

This one reminded me of practice lanes!

I hope you enjoyed the show here as much as I enjoyed sharing it with you all.

Happy sewing!

~XOP~

Look at That Face!

I finished the first top portion of one of the trivets.  Isn't she great??

Definitely a WIP at this point.  Stay tuned.  Don't forget to go over to 52 Quilters and visit!

Linking up with Let's Bee Social.

~XOP~

A Quick Post

Don't forget to come and visit me at the 52 Quilters blog this week.  

Most of my posts will be over there.  

Last night I was working on a trivet to go with the oven mitts

 I made for the bridal shower next weekend.  

I was playing with my fabrics and thought I would share.  

Pop over to 52 Quilter's tomorrow to see what I ended up choosing.

Here are the two faces together.

Happy sewing!

~XOP~