I'm on my long-awaited Spring Break from school.  I used to work at an office job, so I greatly appreciate the long breaks that I get by being a teacher.  The break is giving me some time to work on a few projects that I've put off for too long.

I finally finished and sent out my block for Corey of Sew New to Me Quilting Bee.  She asked for half square triangles made with lovely shades of green, blue and grey.

I'm spending part of my spring break in Salt Lake City to visit my brother, sister-in-law and their three awesome kids.  My parents are also flying in from New Jersey.  I've been needing a case for my iPod Touch, so the upcoming plane ride was a great impetus.  I had tried to make one once before but my lack of measuring gave me something too small.  This one is much better and now I can actually carry my iPod around in my bag without it getting scratched.

 

I wish I had made a small pocket on the back for earphones, but I'm pretty happy with how it turned out.

I made a quilt for my parents for this past Christmas.  I had forgotten to take pictures of it (since I was still finishing the binding on the plane ride to Jersey) but it turns out that my mom and dad can create a fabulous photo shoot for a colorful batik quilt.

  

Cristen, from one of my virtual quilting bees sent out a great collection of green and grey fabrics and asked for blocks with only squares and rectangles.  This was a great block to improv and I really like how it turned out - and I love how the different shades of grey and green look together.  This will be a really nice quilt judging from all of the blocks that have come in so far.  I tend to want to make my quilts bursting with colors, but I really was drawn to the simplicity of using just two colors in different shades.

I received several great sewing books for Christmas this year, and one of them was One Yard Wonders.  This book has some great ideas and I knew I wanted to try the charging station to help me be more organized when it comes to charging my electronics.  This cute caddy gives me a place to put my phone, ipod, and camera each day so they're charged and ready to go.  I used a Nicey Jane print for the outside and Freshcut for the inside - both by Heather Bailey.  I didn't have heavy-weight interfacing, so I used the lighter weight stuff that I had, and this could definitely use a bit more structure, but I think it turned out alright.  My hole for wires came out a bit low for some reason, but it still works just fine.

Christmas giving

I neglected to take pictures of several gifts that I made this year, so hopefully the receivers will take some pictures of their items in use so that I can post them here.

This quilt was made for my parents-in-law using some beautiful Hoffman batiks.  The colors really turned out beautiful together.  I quilted it using a loopy free-motion design and it really looks nice with the prints.  Clearly I should have taken a close-up to get more of the detail.

I love making a pieced back and this one came together nicely with rectangles left over from cutting these squares.  This blue batik is so beautiful - I was glad to have enough of it to make it the dominant fabric.

I made these coffee cozies for my co-workers using a pattern from The Sometimes Crafter.  They really turned out nice and now several of the husbands are asking for them, too, so I'm searching through my stash for less "feminine" fabric.

                  

        

I also made a Treasure bag for my  nephew, Harrison.  He loves to collect rocks and fossils while out with his dad, so hopefully he'll get lots of use from it.  The pattern came from Handmade Home and was really fun to create.

I really enjoyed being able to make so many gifts this year and hopefully I'll continue the tradition next year, as well.  I just need to remember to start earlier!

~Gretchen

The Winners!

Thank you, thank you to everyone who posted a comment on my blog.  My blogging experience is pretty new so it felt great to know that so many people were stopping by for a peak.  I had a blast going through all of the giveaways from Sew, Mama, Sew!  Onto the good stuff....

Random Number Generator gave me #20 and #220.

That makes kleiosbelly and CMEH the winners!  This worked out perfectly since they each preferred different sets.  I've emailed each of you to please send me your address so I can get these in the mail by the 12th.


I have a few projects completed from the Joy In The New Year Challenge that I will post about once the rain stops and I can get a few good pictures in.


`Gretchen

It's Giveaway Day!  Sew, Mama, Sew! is coordinating a grand day of giveaways all over blogland, and I'm happy to add to the mix.  I have two different sets to giveaway.

The first is a colorful mix of Galaxy batiks and some swatches of Christmas prints.

The second set is a few pieces of some Michael Miller prints, a half-yard of a Lakehouse green with shiny green polka dots and four fat quarters of Moda Woodland Bloom

To enter this giveaway, please leave a comment.  Make sure you leave a way for me to contact you and if you have a preference for which set you'd like you can leave that as well.  If you have a moment before you need to rush to the next blog giveaway, I'd love to hear about a favorite Christmas tradition, recipe, craft, or present.

I'll pick the two winners on December 6.

Thanks for stopping by!

~Gretchen

Bo Peep

Anna Maria Horner's book, Seams to Me was really the reason that I started sewing.  I was browsing through the crafting section at a book store when I saw the gorgeous pictures, prints, fabrics and patterns in her book.  I went out and bought a sewing machine and just had at it.  That was just about a year ago and I keep coming back to this book.  With Christmas coming, I knew that my two little nieces would love the Bo Peep skirts.  I love these fabric combinations and I think they fit each girl's personality perfectly.

This one is for Charlie

And this one is for Chloe

I thought that would be the end of their gifts...and then I saw this crown on Sew Mama Sew, and realized that a ruffly skirt isn't complete without a crown.