Panthers Drawstring Bag

I made this drawstring bag from a pattern by Valori Wells Designs which I purchased at Quilting Adventures in Richmond.  It's a multifunctional little bag to store projects or gifts.  Since I had left over Panthers fabric from Evan's Panthers quilts, I thought this would be a cute project to make for him.

Kindle Covers

I wanted to make a cover for Evan's new kindle so I searched the internet for ideas.  I found a great pattern by 4 girls designs at their etsy site 4girlsdesigns.etsy.com.  It was a really cute pattern and I've made two so far.  It's a great kindle cover because there are pockets on the inside cover and a pocket on the back.

Coffee Cup Cozy

I saw someone with a really cute knit cozy for their travel coffee cup and so I just had to make one.  I crocheted this one pictured below by just crocheting in a round.  I would like to try to make one with a knit pattern using circular needles. I plan to make more with a variety of buttons.

Flower Bag

Check out the new flower frill template.  I learned how to make cute flowers to attach to my bags.

Hand Bags

I took a sewing class in December 2010 and learned how to make quick and easy hand bags.  

 

These bags were fun and easy to make.  I also made a bag for my sister-in-law to carry her dog in.  There's also a matching pillow with the dog's name.

 

Knitting Projects

My great grandmother taught me how to crochet when I was in elementary school.  I crocheted a few coat hangers and in college I learned how to knit a few scarves.  About a year ago, my friend Ally motivated me to start knitting again.  Thanks to her, I've learned new techniques such as cables and knitting with circular needles.  With her encouragement, I attempted my first blanket with a cable pattern and then another blanket with a checkered pattern.  I forgot how much fun and relaxing knitting can be!

 

Photo & Patterned Quilts

While making t-shirt quilts are a great gift to make for others, not everyone has a stash of old t-shirts.  So a few years ago, I decided to make photo and patterned quilts.  For Mother's Day in 2004, I made my mother a photo quilt of her three children growing up and sentimental old family pictures.

 In 2007, I made my husband a quilt of his favorite NLF team, the Carolina Panthers.

In 2010, I made my father a golf patterned quilt.

More T-shirt Quilts

Over the past years, I've made more t-shirt quilts.  In 2003, I made one for my sister and then in 2007, I helped my sister make one for her husband.

My friend Chelsey requested that I make her a quilt out of her t-shirts and I was excited to make that for her.  I sewed this quilt in March 2010.

In the Spring of 2010, I made my father-in-law a quilt with all of his running t-shirts.

T-shirt Quilts: The Beginning

I love sewing! When I was eight years old, I learned how to hand sew my Girl Scout Brownie badges onto my sash.  I remember watching my mother use her sewing machine to make my sister's Christmas play costume and thinking how amazing that machine was.  I learned how to use her sewing machine but it wasn't until college when I really started sewing. My grandmother bought me my first sewing machine for Christmas in 2002 and I started experimenting with it.  A friend explained how she made her awesome t-shirt quilt and since I had so many t-shirts, I wanted to make one for myself.  Since it was my first one, I tried to fit as many t-shirts as I could into the quilt and even made a row of t-shirt pockets.

 Turning old worn out t-shirts into a sentimental quilt began my adventures in sewing.  After I made my first one, I decided to continue making t-shirt quilts and so I made one for my sister and then for friends which I'll post later.  The purpose of this blog is to document my adventures with my sewing machine.