Swing Bag

Joel and I had a nice lazy Saturday today.  I chose to use part of my afternoon to make Amy Butler's Swing Bag - http://www.amybutlerdesign.com/products/patterns_display.php?id=18. 

I am pleased with how it turned out, and it was a really easy pattern to follow.  The other nice thing is that it is very roomy! 

This light is not true to color, but you get the idea.

The bag is completely reversible.  I think the patterned side can pass as a purse that can be worn with black, and the other side is brown.  So hopefully I will be able to get a lot of use out of this :)

Pleated Purse

This afternoon I set out to work on a project.  In the middle of working on a cute pleated purse, I made supper and stopped to make Joel some spice tea.  Unfortunately, Joel is not feeling well...he is coughing his head off and very congested.  Hopefully he will get better soon!

Anyway, back to the project.  Tonight I finished up the purse.  It is a really cute pattern that is free here.  It was a great easy pattern.  It took me a couple of hours to complete - including the distractions mentioned earlier.  I had never done pleats on anything...so easy and I think they make something ordinary a little unique!  Also, I had never put on a magnetic snap.  Overall, the magnetic snap was easy to work with.  The instructions on the back of the box called for you to add a small piece of cardboard to help reinforce the snap.  At first I was unsure of what to use, but then I went to the pantry and looked around.  I ended up using a flap from a nutri grain bar box...but any cereal box material would work nicely I think.

The fabric that I used for the outer part of the purse is an Amy Butler piece that I got for free at the local quilt shop on the shop birthday.  I really like the pattern and think it looks nice as a purse.

So...enough talk.  Here are a few pictures:

So...

I promise I'm still here. It's been a week since my last post...sorry about that. Anyway, I do have several projects in progress with a couple of family birthdays coming up and the secret sister project we have going on at church. I'll try to update soon on some of those projects.

On Monday I ordered this book...Weekend Sewing by Heather Ross. I can't wait for it to get here. It shipped yesterday, so hopefully sometime next week! I have read many reviews of the book on amazon and on other blogs and it sounds like a book to really be excited about. Over 40 patterns in the book. Right now I think the first one I'll try is this as seen on Film in the Fridge Blog. I'm nervous to be making clothes for myself, but I'm hoping it'll turn out great. Just from the pictures the shirt looks GREAT!

So I'll keep you updated on that front as well. Hope you're having a great Over the Hump Day!

Ragged Squares Quilt

I started working on this project last week and got sidetracked, so unfortunately it's still not complete. But I have been meaning to show these pictures for a while now. So here goes...

My version of the Ragged Squares Quilt as seen over at Crazy Mom Quilts:

All of the fabric is from Moda the Bistro line by Deb Strain. My sister-in-law Deborah started my stash of this fabric, and then I found the whole line at a little quilt shop that I happened to go into. I was very excited to get more pieces.

Layer 1

Layer 2

Top all put together.

I'm excited about this quilt. I think it'll be a good size for me to cuddle up under. I am also excited about the back (sorry no picture yet) because it is mostly a green color with a blue strip down the center.

It looks a little crazy with all of the patterns, but I really like how it all comes together and goes together.

Hope to finish the quilting this week and then I'll post those pictures.

Christmas season and a New Year

Joel and I have been on break for the last two weeks...it was so nice to be able to relax and do the things we wanted pretty much whenever we wanted. We celebrated Christmas with my family on December 25th at lunch, visited with more family that afternoon, and had Christmas with Joel's family on the 27th. It was great getting to see everyone including all of our siblings, grandparents, and most aunt and uncles. I love the Christmas season because it brings everyone together.

By the time we were finished making the rounds to all the family Christmas gatherings it was almost the new year. Joel and I went to visit his brother and family and got to stay for a couple of days and bring in the new year with them. On New Year's eve night we shot fireworks (it was COLD outside!) and then on New Year's day more family and friends came together to enjoy a lunch as a celebration of the year that has passed, the blessings our family has received, and to look forward with anticipation to the new year.

Yesterday during the sermon a verse really stuck out to me.

1 Peter 1:21 (NIV)

21 Through him you believe in God, who raised him from the dead and glorified him, and so your faith and hope are in God.

The entire verse is amazing because it reminds us of the sacrifice Christ made for us and that we are able to become a son or daughter of his by simply believing in Him. The last part of the verse is what really jumped out at me, "your faith and hope are in God." This verse was a great reminder that our faith and hope should NOT be in ourselves or the things we can accomplish but in God. So the prayer that Joel and I have for this new year is that we would allow ourselves to be guided by God in his wisdom and that we would focus on having our faith and hope in Him.

I hope you all had a Merry Christmas and a great New Year's celebration.

Just to let you know a little sewing did occur during the break (although not as much as I would have liked):

Baby boots...

With fun (but hard to sew on) grippy dots on the bottom!

Hope you're having a wonderful day!

Playing Catch Up...

So it's been several days since I last posted...and a lot has been going on during that time! We celebrated Thanksgiving with both sides of our families, and enjoyed every minute we got to visit with them. I have been reading all of the different ideas and ways that people celebrated Thanksgiving and how they remembered what they were thankful for...this year my family made a chain (the sort that you take off a chain each day it gets closer to Christmas) and on each chain link we wrote something that we were thankful for. It was really neat and fun to hear the different things people said.

So here's a picture roll of all the things we've been doing this last week...

First off some family pictures:

Wynn is looking so much like Sanders!

Sanders is looking so grown up!

Rebekah posing!
(Isn't her outfit adorable?)


The whole family.

A potential Christmas card photo...
(Check out my mom's new cabinets in the background)

The competing Christmas card picture :)McPhail family Thanksgiving '08

There has been much project work going on over the holiday...

This year we are donating to the Project Linus organization.

From the Project Linus site:

Be a Blanketeer

Our volunteers, known as “blanketeers,” provide new, handmade, washable blankets to be given as gifts to seriously ill and traumatized children, ages 0-18. It is Project Linus’ policy to accept blankets of all sizes, depending on local chapter needs. All styles of blankets are welcome, including quilts, tied comforters, fleece blankets, crocheted or knitted afghans, and receiving blankets in child-friendly colors.

So in order to help with Project Linus we are making and donating a few blankets this year. The picture above is of the one blanket I've made so far and the other one was made by my nine year old niece Madison. This was her first sewing project, and I think she did quite well :)

Madison posing with her almost finished blanket.

This is my first time to quilt on a machine...so let's just say I
need a little practice, but I think it's a good first effort.

I got in the sewing mood on Saturday...

A fabric basket...it's already full!

A Christmas present...

An organization tool...now that I am cutting Joel's hair there are several things that have to be kept up with in order to have everything when it's time for a haircut. So a bag was in order...

PJ Pants made with Amy Butler's pattern from In Stitches. These were a collaborative effort and I think they turned out pretty well. They are super soft flannel!

And finally (if you're even still reading) a few Christmas decorations...

Our tree all decorated

Finally, the presents have a home!

Well, if you even made it through this post I'm impressed! I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday. As you can see we were busy....

Everybody loves a giveaway...

Katie Jean over at See Katie Sew is having a giveaway. Loads of gorgeous fabrics just waiting for a good home. Go check it out! (If you do, let her know that I sent you! :))

A few projects...

Well, I finally remembered to bring the pictures with me so that I could post about some of the projects I've worked on over the last year.

#1 Christmas Stockings - Last year Joel and I were looking for stockings and we couldn't find anything we liked. So, as I mentioned in an earlier post, that is what started my whole adventure in sewing.

#2 First Purse - For my nieces birthday, I made her a purse...it was my first attempt at a purse, and I think it turned out pretty well. Hope you like it Maddi!



#3 Baby Shoes - I found this project idea here on Stardust Shoes. It was a fun project, my sister and I figured out together. These shoes Kelli and I made for Avi Grace. Since then I have made several more pair for baby gifts!



#4 Baby gift sets - At our church there was a spell where everyone was having babies! Here is one set I made as a gift (Bib, burp cloth, and shoes). The tutorial for the shoes is here, the bib and burp cloth here. (That site is Homemade by Jill...one of my favorite blog's to read)



#5 "Beach" bag - As seen in an earlier post, the girls in my family went to the beach last May. I made my mom a "beach" bag. The reason I put it in quotes is because it really wasn't heavy duty to where it would stand up on it's own like most beach bags, but she liked it! It is a fully reversible bag.



#6 First little girl outfit - I made this little outfit for Avi Grace because I wanted to see if I could! I used bias binding for the first time, and made little bloomers to go with it. I was pretty proud of this outfit.



#7 Pillowcase dress of sorts - I made this little dress for Avi Grace as a birthday gift. I think it's pretty cute, the only thing I'd do differently is to make the bow slightly smaller so it would be more proportional to her small frame. I found the tutorial for this dress here.

So there is a list of my "so far" projects. It has been fun making each of these items...I've learned a LOT and I have gotten really really good at using the seam ripper! :)

Here is one picture from AG's birthday last weekend.