Eastern Edge Show & Tell

Now for some more photos from the May meeting of the Eastern Edge Quilters' Guild.
Enjoy!

Credit Card Holder made by one of the students

 from my last Fantasy Fabric Workshop 

Casserole Totes

The festive season is almost here. It is the time of year for parties and visiting with family and friends. Sometimes we bring goodies and casseroles with us. What better way to transport a hot pot than in your own casserole carrier. I found a few free patterns. Check them out! 
Casserole Tote from Craft Town
Embroidery Library has one
Dixie Doodles 'Cozy Tote' Casserole Dish Carrier
Round Casserole Carrier
12 + Casserole Tote and Carrier Patterns from Tipnut
Fabric Dish or Dish Insulator 
Casserole Carrier
Insulated Carrier
Handy Tote for 9" x 13" casserole dish
Quilted Forest Pattern 
Kitchens Accents from Fiskars
Quilted Insulated Casserole Carrier  
Another one! or two
Tutorialfrom Cackleberry Cottage
Here's a great place to get recipes to use with your new casserole tote: Kraft Canada

Evening Purses

Photo by Leon Cooper

Back in April, I blogged about Tote Bags & Purses. A couple of years ago, I made a couple of evening purses for a wearable art exhibit. I designed several types. The base fabrics are all made with lots of decorative yarns, threads and glitzy fabrics. The five shown here have shoulder straps that are tucked inside the bag. They all have magnetic snap closures. All the purses have detachable art pins so that you can wear them on a jacket or sweater (if you so desire). I thought that the wearable art pin was a unique addition. After the show, I decided to make more of these for the Fine Art & Craft Fair here in St. John's. Some of these evening purses were also on exhibit in Korea last fall.
The black and red shoulder purse has a fold over flap with a magnetic snap. I made a series of different fold over flaps. Most of the shoulder straps are hand made as well. This particular purse is one that I kept for myself as it matches several of my outfits.

Now for the free patterns (not mine)! I came across a textile site by Linda Matthews with lots of free purse, tote & handbag patterns and tutorials. It's worth a look.

Going on vacation . . . be organized!

School will soon be finished for another year and families will be going on vacation. If not a lengthy vacation then day trips to the beach or on picnics. In any event, I found some sewing/quilting projects that might be useful.
Back Seat Vehicle organizer
Travel Tips 
Baby Wipes Case
Travel Pillow
Picnic Tote and Tablecloth 
Sew Great Travel Accessories 
Travel Jewelry Case
Travel Bag Patterns and Projects 
Pot Holder Travel 'Sewing Project' Kit   - this is a quick project!
Travel Sewing Kit 

Traditional Quilting

I'm not into traditional quilting even though I belong to two quilt guilds. However, a lot of my friends do beautiful quilting. I have made a couple of quilts and one is for a queen size bed. My daughter, who lives in Chicago, has claimed it.

I just discovered Cluck Cluck Sew , a site with easy to follow (visuals) directions for making traditional quilts, applique pillows, and easy tote bag. Lots of links to other free tutorials and patterns at Cluck Cluck Sew as well.
For example:
oven mitt pattern
square pin cushion (PDF file)
fabric beach balls
little boxy pouch
bird ornament  (lots of patterns)        


I think I got off the track a bit! I was writing about traditional quilts, wasn't I ?!!! So much for a short attention span. Here goes again:
How Stuff Works has a traditional quilt patterns channel library.
I've mentioned Quilter's Cache before. They have oodles of patterns.
Check out Canadian Living
Bed quilts at Free Quilting

I hope this helps you get into the quilting mood! Now I need to get inspired to try something new, however it won't be making a quilt!!!

 

Spring

Well, tomorrow is the first day of spring! I must say that St. John's has experienced a full week of beautiful weather. Maybe we'll even have a spring this year as the weather is often quite unpredictable. I have finally gotten some work done in the studio. It's been a struggle to get the mind in gear and do something productive. I have signed up to take a seminar next weekend on Cultural Product Development. This should prove interesting.

Last evening, I did some searching for Spring projects for both embroiderers and quilters.

• Erica's site has patterns for machine embroidery. Welcome spring with a free embroidery of flower pots and a watering can. 
•  The Floss Box and Needlework have lovely free line drawings for hand embroidery.
• For quilters, You Can Quilt This, has lots of free projects to help welcome spring! Here's a spring basket from Quilters Online Resource. This site has lots of nifty stuff for quilters.
• A floral sampler, from Coats & Clark , might be the right project for you !
• About.com has some spring paper piecing patterns for scrap-booking. However, why not use them with fabric instead. The baby lamb is a cute one for a baby quilt!
• I like this spring-colored felted bowl. This also comes from About.com.
• I love the spiders introducing Homeberries! Scroll down to see the little 'Whimsical' free hand embroidery designs.
• Check out e Quilt Patterns for a Spring Treats Quilt Pattern and Spring Celebration. These are paper pieced.
• There is a Welcome Spring Quilt at Cranson Village.
• Hoffman Fabrics, Spring Fling, is ready for quilters.
• Need a new tote for spring? Try the Luscious Bow Tote from Kaufman fabrics.
• Cross stitch your way into Spring with Free Patterns Online.
• McCall's Quilting has a simple Flower of Spring quilt block.
• I like this coiled fabric basket from Cultured Expressions. This is a nice site to visit.
• If Easter is your thing, go to Craft Ideas.
• If you like Baltimore Album applique, check out the block at Marcus Fabrics.

I think I have exhausted the list of Spring stuff I found last evening. Enjoy looking at the sites I found. If you find some more interesting sites, please let me know. You can reach me at judy@cbiz.ca 
or leave a comment at the end of this post.

Happy Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's Day everyone! I'm not much into quilted or stitched heart stuff and as a result didn't post any free patterns from any of the sites I visit. However, I just came across something on twitter that is useful. It's an altered heart shaped candy box tutorial. Recycle that candy box that you received today and turn it into a pincushion or storage box for applique . . . This tutorial is a great way to practice free motion stitching too.
 Alice Burke also has a bunch of tutorials using new & recycled materials.

Here's a pattern for a heart tote bag.
Lots of Hearts quilt
Valentine Heart Block
Cross Stitch Heart
Heart Quilt Block
Valentine's Day Cross Stitch Patterns
Tri-Rec Heart Block
Heart Blocks

Now just think what I would find if I was really looking for this stuff!!
Happy quilting and stitching.

Happy Birthday Joan

Today is my sister's birthday. She was the receipent of a Pisci Fantasticus. For me, it is often difficult to know what to get that special person. However, I do know that people love receiving gifts you make yourself. Sometimes that gift may be something baked in your kitchen, stitched by hand or by sewing machine. I found a few things that might be suitable for a sister, mom, aunt, granny or friend.

Here is a nice reversible placemat or centerpiece mat for a dessert or candy. A clutch purse that's simple to make would be perfect for a special sister. Check out a travel shoe bag and cosmetic bag. For the person who sews (or for yourself), here is an armchair sewing organizer. For those who live far away, why not make a felt cake (yes, you read it correctly). I just had to include this one. Sorry Joan, you get a real chocolate cake when you get home on Monday!! A kimono needle roll looks interesting, also this water bottle tote. Tea anyone! Find out about the insulated tea cozy, oven mitt and table runner. There, these projects should get you motivated.