Sewing

Sarah’s Backpack Is Finished

August 3, 2011 Karen 5 Comments

After that zipper pull came off, I had a date with my good friend, the seam ripper, to take it out and start over. By the time I got the zipper ripped out, I was O.V.E.R. sewing for a bit. While I love to sew, I really hate taking out stitches. Bleh!

quilted backpack hand made — Sarah's purple and pink backpack

Today was my day off, so I sat down at the sewing machine and finished up the backpack. It turned out really cute. I know Sarah is going to love it! I posted pictures of different fabrics on Facebook, and she picked the ones she wanted. I also gave her a choice of patches for the front, and she chose the Grand Canyon one. It does go with the colors very well.

It has a large zippered pocket on the outside so Sarah can take lots of her things with her.

It has lots of pockets on the inside too, big enough to hold a sketch pad, and some pens and pencils, and maybe a cellphone, but I don’t think her Mom lets her have one yet.

Fabgrandpa modeled it for me. You know he loves his granddaughter to do this:

And here he is again:

What a guy! Isn’t he just the cutest? The backpack has adjustable straps, and a loop at the top. It is not a hard item to make, just have to be careful of those zippers!

And the adjustable straps:

And of course, it has a FabGrandma label in it:

made by fabgrandma — fabgrandma label inside!

I’m going to do my best to get this in the mail to Sarah tomorrow. If you want one, just contact me here, and we can discuss what color fabrics you want. This backpack sells for $45 plus shipping.

Amelia’s Baby Quilt Pattern

July 6, 2011 Karen Leave a Comment

Baby quilt pattern, download pdf quilt pattern — Amelia’s Baby Quilt

Last year before Amelia was born, I made her an adorable baby quilt. While I was making it, I took lots of pictures so that I could make a tutorial on how to do it. I have finally gotten the whole project finished and saved in a PDF file, so that I can now offer the pattern for this cute baby quilt for sale!

baby quilt pdf pattern, downloadable pdf quilt pattern, baby quilt pattern — Amelia’s Quilt Pattern

This quilt uses half of a precut triangle pack, 1 yard of medium fabric, 1 yard of dark fabric, and 2 yards of a light fabric to make a 52″ X 43.5″ finished quilt. It is very easy to make, and the pattern is explained with lots of pictures so that even someone who is a beginning quilter will find it easy to follow.

baby quilt pattern, pdf quilt pattern, easy quilt pattern — I pieced the back to make it more interesting.

I have this pattern for sale in my store, FabGrandma’s Crafty Stuff. You can buy it and download it for $5.00. To get to the pattern in the store, click here!

baby quilt pdf, easy baby quilt pattern — Amelia with her quilt

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A New Tote Bag

July 5, 2011 Karen 1 Comment

I finally got a chance to sit down at my sewing machine today, and make a tote bag for myself. I have been wanting a new one ever since I got my NOOK Color, so that I would have a bag big enough to take it with me everywhere I go. I wanted to have pockets inside to hold all my stuff, like my Droid, my glucose meter, my shopping list, the charger for the NOOK and the charger for the Droid. So, here it is:

medium tote bag with lots of pockets — My new tote bag has lots of pockets

I made the handles longer than the pattern called for because it was more like a purse, and I wanted more like a tote bag.

there are pockets for everything in this bag. — Lots of pockets inside this totebag

I can take everything, even a change of clothes if I want to!

The fabric is all Laura Gunn — The inside is just as colorful as the outside

This bag measures 17″ wide X 9″ tall X 4.5″ deep. Lots of room without being too big, and lots of pockets to hold everything I need. If you want one like it, let me know, and I can make one for you for $45 plus shipping. I have a lot of different fabrics on hand, or you can send me a link to your favorite fabric store online.

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I Love To Sew

June 18, 2011 Karen 8 Comments

Yes, I do! Sewing is fun, and creative, and artistic. Sewing lets me take that pile of fabric over there:

or this fabric here:

and turn it into something beautiful and gorgeous and cute, like this laptop bag:

or this tote bag for my daughter in law made out of my son’s old Air Force uniform:

air force uniform tote bag — Sarah's bag made out of Seth's Air Force uniform

There are all kinds of things I can make and use my creativity, like quilts, which to me is the ultimate in sewing and art and creative juices flowing:

beccas quilt star of bethlehem — Becca's Lone Star Quilt

Spencer's Baby Quilt — Spencer's "Sleeping Bears" baby quilt

But, what sewing is NOT for me? Hemming pajama pants that are too long. Or fixing the crotch of your pants after they have ripped. That? is like me asking you to unclog the toilet. Like asking you to take out the trash. It is work. It is a chore. It is, well, just not fun. But, because I love you, I do it, and it takes me half a freakin hour to fix that crotch because those pants have some of the weirdest seams I have ever seen.

Mending pants is not sewing. Just so you know.

Blogger’s Quilt Festival

May 13, 2011 Karen 44 Comments

I missed the last Blogger’s Quilt Festival, because I didn’t find out about it until after it was over. I have had this one on my calendar for quite some time, just waiting to be able to participate.

I have been working on a lot of projects lately, from re-doing my RV bedroom, to making an elegant handbag for my sister for my niece’s wedding, to finishing up the T-Shirt quilt for Judy. I also have been trying to finish up a quilt for my son, Seth, and his wife, Sarah. The quilt I am making for them may look familiar to you, because I made one in the same pattern for Becca, which was finished last October.

I started the one for Seth at the same time I started Becca’s but since I DO sew for other people, and sew other things for sale, I have pushed his aside too many times. So, I am not allowing myself to start or work on any other projects until I get this quilt finished. (well, while it is gone to the quilter I can do something else). I have finished the top, and am working on the back. I think the next time I get a day off from work it will be ready to go out to Jorja, the lady who does quilting for me on a long arm machine. I am really excited to get it so close to finished.

This quilt, and the one I made for Becca, have not been easy quilts for me to make. As a matter of fact, if I had not already started the one for Seth, I would never have made a second one after Becca’s was finished. I would have used a different pattern. However, I have met the challenges these two quilts have presented me, and am very proud of the results.

Now, I am piecing the back, so this quilt will be very interesting on both sides. Can’t wait to get it done and show you!

To see all the beautiful quilts in the this Blogger’s Quilt Festival, click on the banner below.

Amy's Creative Side | Bloggers' Quilt Festival

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My Project For Today

May 6, 2011 Karen 9 Comments

When my sister saw the little bag I made for myself for Becky’s Wedding, she asked me to make one of her to wear to Stefanie’s wedding. She bought the fabric to match her mother of the bride dress. Today I made my sister’s bag for her.

evening bag handmade — My sister's evening bag

This bag is not very big at all–that is a 12 oz Coke sitting next to it. I put it in the pic to show how small this bag is. It will be big enough, though, to hold all the things my sister needs on the day of the wedding–some tissues, lipstick, extra batteries for her camera, her cellphone.

handmade evening bag — It has a magnetic closure so it will stay closed.

You can’t tell much by this pic, but the bag was made with three layers–one layer of rayon lining, one layer of a glitter sheer fabric, and one layer of lace. They are beautiful together, but they were a PITA to sew! Linda, I love you, but don’t ever ask me to make anything again that is made with slick fabric. I’m just sayin…..

handmade eveing bag clutch — Another view with a button

Here is another view with a glittery rhinestone button pinned on. Do you like it plain, or with the button?

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Oh, Judy! You Are Going To LOOOVVVEEE This!

April 27, 2011 Karen 8 Comments

We went down to Kanab, Utah today to buy groceries and pick up Judy’s T-Shirt quilt from the quilter. Oh, MY! is it ever beautiful! Jorja did a fabulous job on the quilting. I couldn’t wait to get home with it so I could take some pictures.

jorja hernandez did a fabulous job quilting this quilt — Jorja did a fabulous job!

hh designs did the quilting on this quilt — This quilting is just plain beautiful!

close up of quilting by jorja hernandez — Judy, you are going to love this!

more close ups of squares — I can not wait for Judy to see this quilt in person

quilted by longarm quilter — another square beautifully quilted

Now all I have to do is trim the quilt up, and put on the binding. I will do that this week, and post pics showing the last part of the t-shirt quilt tutorial.

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Making a T-Shirt Quilt Tutorial, Part 1

March 8, 2011 Karen 10 Comments

Here are links to the rest of the tutorial: (I’ll be adding more as I go until I get this quilt finished.)

Making a T-Shirt Quilt Tutorial, Part 2

Making a T-Shirt Quilt Tutorial, Part 3

Making a T-Shirt Quilt Tutorial, Part 4

Making a T-Shirt Quilt Tutorial, Part 5

Making a T-Shirt Quilt Tutorial, Part 6

Making a T-Shirt Quilt Tutorial, Part 7

Today I finally got the time to sit down and start on Judy’s T-Shirt Quilt. She had mailed me the fronts of about 25 T-Shirts for me to make into a king size quilt for her.

The first thing I did was cut each of the shirt fronts (and a couple of backs) into 14″ squares. The finished squares are going to be 12″, but I like to start off with things a little larger so I will have room to play. To do this, I folded each shirt in half, then in half again, like this:

Then, I used my square ruler to measure 7″ on each edge of the t-shirt. I used a Sharpie marker to draw a line using the ruler as a guide:

Cut on the lines:

A few of the T-shirts Judy wants in this quilt had a small image on the front or on the sleeve and then another image on the front. I cut these out and pinned them to the corresponding shirt to keep them together.

how to make a t-shirt quilt — Pin smaller pieces to the corresponding shirt.

If you have a T-shirt with a large image, you can match the edges of the image by placing a pin in one side of the image, and matching the other side of the image to the pin to line them up:

tutorial how to make a quilt — Sitck the pin through the fabric and find the other edge of the image

P3080045 — The image will be centered when it is cut

Next, I ironed some stabilizer onto the back of each T-shirt piece. I used Pellon SK135 Sheer-Knit Specialty Apparel Fusible, following the directions that came with it.This gives the knit fabrics a more stable feel, and makes them easier to work with in putting the quilt together. DO NOT skip this step, or your quilt will not come out right.

Next time, we’ll cut the squares again, and attach any appliques to the larger pieces.

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