Travel Fun

Vacation Time!

My sister (Lou) and her crew have been on vacation this week! When they were in the planning stages, Lou mentioned that she thought a backpack would be easier to handle instead of a regular purse. My ears perked up and I, of course, said "No problem, I can make you a simple drawstring one." As I pondered the idea, I was afraid that  the drawstrings wouldn't be enough cushion for her, so I went to Pinterest and found convertible bags! These are super cool, however, not exactly what I wanted or had the supplies for. So I did a bit of pattern squishing and made a trial bag. the straps pull up so it can be either a backpack or a shoulder bag. Abby loved hers, but Lou requested a couple changes- such as a water bottle pocket and a tab for the inside pocket (which fit her phone perfectly - rather amazing since I didn't measure it at all.)

                             When I brought Abby's bag over to the house AC was teasing that he needed one too, so Aunt Bobbie decided  to oblige. I ended up making one for each of the boys. 

Lou texted me the first day and said
it works great

Then Lou mentioned that she could use a travel pillow as well. I found this  dog bone one on Pinterest - it was very simple to make. I stuffed it with fluff and poly pellets (that I picked up at a garage sale for 25 cents a bag.) 

Whilst looking for the dog bone pillow I came across these seatbelt pillows.  Their vacation is a Road Trip so each of the kidlets needed one! I used fabric on hand except for Miah's- but I had a coupon for 70 cent fat quarters at JoAnn's so I only spent $1.40 on it. I aslo made the two little boys snap coin purses from Sew Can She or as we call them "Grandpa coin purses"  but I seem to have forgotten to take pictures.

Well that was dumb!
I stitched the entire pillow
right side to wrong side
My seam Ripper got a work out

Elijah's pillow even has a "DogDog"pocket

I got a wee bit carried away with the travel sewing and made a toiletry bag for Lou- the one she had was given to her like 20 years ago and had seen better days. I used this tutorial which is not in English Thanks to Google translate I was able to figure it out. I used a Priority Mail Tyvek envelope for the

I also made a small zipper bag to match

top and bottom interfacing and the cover from a coloring book for the sides. I was able to scavenge the hardware and strap from the original bag. I should really record Lou's reactions- they are always the best, she makes gift giving fun!

For the Boys!!

I am sew glad you stopped by for my "For the Boy's" post today! I get to share my day with some of the best stops on the hop, including our cheerleader Amy and Madam Samm herself- you DON'T wanna miss her post! She does a great job keeping us hopping and keeping up with "that other Lady!" Thank You Madam Samm and our fantabulous Cheer leader Amy for letting me be a part of this hop!

As soon as I saw this hop I knew what I wanted to do- I have been saying since I saw the tutorial forever ago, I need to make one of those for Azariah's cars. Azariah (aka AC) LOVES cars. The other boys play with them but they are AC's favorite thing! so of course he has lots n lots of cars and I decided those cars need a home- Enter in "the Lego Bag"
I found the link here
http://tonicoward.blogspot.com/2010/09/lego-sack-tutorial.html but tweaked it using this tutorial as well http://www.freshlypieced.com/2011/10/12-gifts-of-christmas-lego-storage.html






  I couldn’t get a picture with AC’s cars because it is his Christmas gift,
so I used the cars in the church nursery.



The mat lays flat for play (I didn't get it very flat for the picture)

It not only is a reversible play mat but it also is storage-
all AC has to do is pull the handy dandy drawstring and poof the cars are all picked up!

and the drawstring makes it easy to hang up!

I used the Happy Town* Panel by Jacquelynne Steves of The Noble Wife and have been collecting car fabrics for the outside. My handy dandy Crop-A-dile (from my Fairy CaMom) worked great to set eyelets for the strings. The drawstrings are two 72inch boot laces. (I had originally used ribbon but it was a bear to untie.)

it's reversible

 

 

Stanley thinks it's great for kitty storage too!



  

 

 

 

Now Seth can look dapper for Sunday School
even whilst drooling!

MY next project was a bib for Seth, one of my Sunday School students. I saw the idea on Pinterest and kinda just made up the pattern, I used upcycled denim for the front and part of a towel for the back.

 

 

 I started this project way back in May, however, I never finished it- it was supposed to be an e- reader cover for Nehemiah. I had him draw the picture and I appliqued it. It was fun project to use all Sherman's fancy stitches on.  Well, his brother stepped on the e-reader so the e-reader is no more- but he is still my artist. I added a pocket so he can put a notebook in it and added some pen holders and a snap to close it.

 

I asked Miah to draw a bird with the sun in the background

 


There is also a pocket behind the pens

 

 
 
 

I hope you enjoyed my projects and have a great time visiting these other stops on the For the Boys Hop- I have found a lot of great ideas for my boys!

November 15^th 

 

Everyone Deserves a Quilt

From This to That <---- you are here!!

Monkey Makes Three

Just Quilt It  

Life, Quilts and a Cat too

Thimblemouse and Spouse 

More Stars in Comanche

Sew Incredibly Crazy <-------our fab Cheerleader!

Sew We Quilt <------ the incredible!

 

 
 
 

 

Newfo for may!

Miah's drawing- I asked for a parrot with the sun behind him

Last week I borrowed Miah and we went shopping. At every store Miah looked for a cover for his e-reader, to no avail. So Aunt Bobbie decided to make him one. I wanted something with parrots but couldn't find the right fabric. So I went with applique. Miah drew me a picture and I tried to copy it.
I tried to get it finished for the memorial day picnic but for got to add the sleeve to put the cardboard in to make it stiff. Oops!
I worked some more on the tie quilt and have decided that silk is a pain to sew!

 

I did most of this post from my phone! but I haven't figured out how to make the pictures smaller or caption them. I did the post while sitting at my desk so I could check it on the "real" Computer :)  

a closer look

Last friday I gave you a sneak peek of Abby's Birthday Gift. This Friday, not only do you get to see the whole thing, but I also have Miah's Christmas gift finished too!  I am so pleased at the way they turned out. Sometimes the idea in my head does not translate to the paper the way I envisioned it. but this time it did!

I am a big fan of Susan Branch- (her stickers are my favorites, & I just snagged some of her fabric) her blog is so much fun and her newsletter "Willard" always makes my day. So between Susan and the Treble Clef that I showed you here  I was inspired to make this-   

 and


















I did make the sun's rays a bit darker so they show up better




















Have you read the book Oceans Apart by Karen Kingsbury? It is one of my all time favorites. In the book there is a little boy and his mom is a stewardess. Since she often has to leave him overnight, she sings a song that she made up just for him. Well, that song inspired me to have a special song for each of my kidlets that would remind them that their Aunt Bobbie loves them no matter what.  That is what I used for each of these pictures/sketches whatever they are. Lijey and Ace will also be getting their songs for Christmas. Lijey and Ace's will be a little more difficult in the drawing aspect because Ladybugs and Suns are easier to draw than Dinosaurs and Kangaroos.  You could use any song that is special and anyones name. The only difficult part was getting the song to fit right on the name- good thing Miah has two songs- even then I had to add a lengthy "from" message. Elijah has two songs as well, but they are both rather wordy and his name is short so I had his mama find out which one he liked best.
           Last Friday I was unable to finish Abby's because I didn't have a pink colored pencil. So on Saturday, I "kidletnapped" Miah and we Had to go to Hobby Lobby! We wandered the aisles for 3 hours! When Lou texted to see if we were on our way home, Miah said "yeah right- its just the two of us at Hobby Lobby and she thinks we are on our way home?!"  We had a ball and got some good sales on Valentine's Day and believe it or not -Christmas stuff!