traveling stash box... are you next?

Remember this box I showed you the other day? I received it from Jen over at Miss Punkie Pie...

Well I took a few things out that I really like and think I might use. A few fabrics (of course the polka dots called my name!), a pattern and a couple of zippers (free zippers! Yay!)

 Then I found some things in my stash to pass along and I put them into the already-overflowing-box...

 And now it is ready to pass on to one of you! I can only ship this very heavy box in the US. I'm sorry international readers. Only US readers can compete for this one.

Here's what you need to do:
Leave a comment on this post. Tell me what you are working on this week. Or tell me what you are hoping to find in the box.

For a second entry, follow my blog. Then leave a second comment telling me that you are a follower.

I will choose a random winner on Monday, October 15 and ship the box off to you next week! Good luck!

in my mail today

Last week I was the lucky winner over on Jen's blog of the traveling stash box. Today it arrived on my doorstep....

You might wonder what a traveling stash box is? Well, it's exactly like it sounds! This box has been traveling for nearly 2 years. It is jam packed full of fabric, patterns, notions and doodads (that's code for "the rest of the stuff") that other people have decided they no longer need in their stash. Fun stuff! If it arrives at your house, you dig through and find things you love to keep, replace them with things from your own stash, blog about the box, pick a winner to receive it next, and send it on. I'm not kidding you, this box is bursting at the seams!

Keep your eye on this space. In a few days I will show you what I have decided to keep from the box then we'll have a little contest to determine the next recipient.

learning to sew - lesson two

Two weeks ago, three fun gals from my junior high Sunday School class came over to begin learning to sew. We focused on sewing buttons that day. You can read about our first adventure here. Well they must have enjoyed it because they all came back today! They had asked if they could make drawstring backsacks, which I thought would be a terrific first machine sewing project. They each brought 1/2 yard of fabric and 3 yards of cording of their choice. I was so amazed at how quickly they took to the sewing machine!

I let them all use my Janome which has some nice features like a slow down/speed up lever (we stuck with "slow down mode" today) and a needle down...

The girls learned about fabric today, like what a selvage is, how to rotary cut straight edges, what a stash is (no we do not throw  away that extra piece we cut off!) They learned how to box the bottom corners and they did all their own pressing too...

By the end of the morning, there were three completed backsacks! Great job girls.

 We even made time to repair a torn pocket on a hoodie....

The girls want to make pillowcases next time. I'm so glad they are enjoying learning to sew!

potholder to swap

Next Monday is our next swap at The Quilt Asylum. It's a potholder swap. So I thought I'd better whip up a potholder. I had several blocks left over from our Kaffe swap, and they are so pretty I can't let them go to waste. So I took one of my Kaffe blocks and some extra Kaffe scraps and made a double disappearing nine patch block. Quilted it with some insulbright and....

 Hmmm. It's a potholder but it's kind of boring I think. Useful but not very swap worthy. Especially when I started seeing some that others had made posted on Facebook. Boo. So I started again.

I used some of the Halloween scraps I had left from my lil twister quilt and this tutorial and I like this much better. Here's the front...

 and a cool pocket on the back for your hand.....

Now I'm ready to swap!

Crafty Tuesday October

October? Really? How the heck did that happen? Well I'm not sure, but it is indeed October! The first Tuesday in October which means... you guessed it... it's 

Crafty Tuesday!

We had a big group today. Five of us crafting, chatting, munching... you get the picture. Trae was working away at her row for her row quilt (more on that later in the week).

 Joellen was stitching away on her Birdie Stitches blocks...

 Cheryl was scrapbooking looking through her youngest daughter (age 11)s baby pictures and chatting with Melissa, who was making journals for an upcoming women's retreat that she is leading.

 And I was sewing the binding on my Kaffe swap block quilt. It's done! And since I had these lovely assistants to help me, we all went outside for a photo shoot...

 And Kaffe on the back too....

What did you do to celebrate Crafty Tuesday?

pattern review.... Church Ladies' Apron

A friend of mine asked me to make her a couple of aprons for Christmas gifts. After the two of us perused Pinterest for a while, she decided she really loved these aprons. I thought the pattern looked really great so I ordered it online. It's the Church Ladies' Apron pattern. 

 I must say that this pattern did not disappoint! The whole pattern takes just one yard of 2 coordinating fabrics (I used some Denyse Schmidt fabrics I had on hand from Joanns). It went together in just a couple of hours. I love the contrasting pockets and the fun scalloped edge on the bottom.

 The really cool thing is that the apron is completely reversible! All of the seams are totally encased so there are no raw edges anywhere. Sweet!

I'll be keeping this one for myself (no, it doesn't match my kitchen, but really? It's so pretty!) and can't wait to make some more.

The Church Ladies' Apron Pattern gets 2 thumbs up from this girl!

hello? anybody still there?

Sorry I've been MIA for a bit! I don't have any awesome excuses. No crazy stories to tell. I wish I did. Maybe I should make something up just to make the blog more exciting. Nah. I'm just not feeling that creative today, sorry!

Some of what I've been working on I can't show you. It's that time of year, you know? I have so many projects going that need to be finished. But, you know how easily distracted I am, right? After I taught the young gals to sew buttons last weekend I just kept sewing mine. Then I added some embroidery. It actually came out pretty cute.....

 I've also been working on getting all of our London photos into a scrapbook. I haven't scrapbooked in a long time! I'm really enjoying doing it again.

Check back tomorrow for a pattern review and new sewing project. Oh, and this week is Crafty Tuesday again so I'll have some more fun stuff to share with you soon! Hope you had a great weekend.