The Hazel Pouch Trio by Clover and Violet in the works

Between some muddy cross country meets this week........And I mean muddy.  I have seriously never seen or cleaned off so much mud from so many things in such a short period of time.......I have been pattern testing the soon to be released Hazel Pouch Trio for Clover and Violet.

It's a welcome relief from all of the mud and rain here, especially when you have been out in it!

I'm making the largest of the three bags in the pattern.

Jennie from Clover and Violet mentioned that this size makes a great take along sewing bag and that you can fit a small embroidery hoop in it.  I don't embroider, but for some reason putting an embroidery hoop in here sounded good to me so I went with it.

For the outside of the bag I chose the brand new line Prairie and the low volume print from the fabric line called Maker.

Prairie just arrived in my mailbox earlier in the week and I used it right away.  That's rare for me!  Usually I have to let it sit for awhile before I can bear to use it.

  

Now normally I would be opposed to a white bag.....if you are wondering why please refer to the first paragraph.....but once this combination entered my mind there was just no going back.

I've been trying not to overthink fabric choices lately.  

Thinking about fabrics too much has been holding me back.  Will a fabric be better off in this or that? Will I have enough left for whatever I'm not even planning on making yet?  Will I ever be able to get this fabric again if I NEED it?  

These are some of the things that go through my mind before starting a project, which I've been trying to ignore and just sew what I want to sew!

Fabric is meant to be used and to find a home in a great project, right?

Back to the bag.  It's amazing!

So far, quick and easy.  I enjoyed quilting all of the squares just beside the seam.  I'm going to have to try that on a quilt soon!  

Next, I need to cut the lining. 

I'm deciding between the white Maker fabric for the lining or a coral text font print that I have, and I need to make a decision and get on with it, because I'm ready to start using this bag from the Hazel Pouch Trio!

I'm off to make a decision and to start cutting. I'll be back and update my progress soon!

Some Minis and More winners and a bit of Farm Girl progress too!

I've been busy, but not busy with blogging!

Behind the scenes I've been doing some hand quilting on my Floret mini.  It's really enjoyable.  A great project for just sitting and relaxing.  I'm close to finished.  I think I keep putting off actually finishing because I like it so much.  I guess I'll just have to plan to start hand quilting something else.  I do have a 'few' quilt tops waiting to be quilted.....

Pulling fabrics for my Vintage Tulip Mini for Minis and More is on hold for a few days while I wait 'patiently' by my front door for the mailman to bring me my next fabric order.

In other news,  I'm going to be testing a pattern for the first time!  I'll let you in on that more later, once I've gotten started on it.

And of course I'm still sewing my way through the book Farm Girl Vintage by Lori Holt.  And I've got the pictures to prove it

When Lori's sew along started I thought I'd have no problem putting together two blocks a week.

 Well, I was wrong about that.  I have fallen a bit behind, but I prefer to think of it not as falling behind, but as doing the blocks on my own terms. HaHaHa!

I've just decided to enjoy Lori's posts on Farm Girl Fridays and do the blocks as I pick out the fabrics for them.  Some come together faster than others, so I'm just going with it.

And now the good part, the quarterly Minis and More winners! 

The randomly drawn lucky winners are Mary from the blog NeedledMom,  Sandy from the blog Loves To Quilt and Brenda!

If the winners will please email Sherri with their mailing information she will be sending out some fun prizes.

Sherri and I would like to thank everyone for participating last quarter and we look forward to receiving your pictures for next month's Minis and More Parade featuring Vintage Tulip Mini by Camille Roskelley!

Have a great weekend!

Minis and More Parade Day!

Hey everyone! 

Can you believe its September already?  I know I can't!

It seems like just yesterday I was wondering what we'd be doing this summer, and now its gone.

  My kids have gone back to school and everything!  I might even get my fall decorations out this week.  That might be pushing it when it's still so hot here in Florida, but I've got to make my own fall here, because we don't have much of it in this area and it's my favorite season.

Time to start the parade!

If you remember, the pattern we were working on in August was Mini Juniper by Joanna Figureoa of Fig Tree Quilts.  We have lots of quilters who have a head start on their holiday sewing!

Mindy made her's using beautiful, soft colored FigTree fabric for the blocks. The border is a bit wider on her quilt because she plans to do something different to finish it off.  I can't wait to see what it is!

Kansas Troubles fabric is what Nancy choose to make her Mini Juniper wall hanging with this month.  She picked Kansas Troubles so it would go with her other Christmas quilts. Nancy made her version with fewer blocks.  Beautiful mini Nancy!

Kristen from the blog Meadowbrook made this lovely version.  She had such a good time making her's she plans to make another using some lighter fabrics to change it up a bit.  Kristen may or may not add the outer border depending on if she finds the perfect fabric for it, because she is very happy with it right now. I love that the reds she used are so bright and cheery!

Christmas text fabric and tree fabric too!  Karen is happy to have a holiday project finished.  Her Mini Juniper is bound and ready to go.  I love the background she used here.  It makes her Junipers really stand out.

Here's mine!  I have to admit I was a little intimidated by the angles when I looked at the pattern for the first time, and I wasn't so sure I was going to enjoy making this one, but it turns out that I couldn't stop making those little trees! I even made extra trees! I loved it!  It was fun to have some challenging, but definitely doable sewing, in a cute little mini quilt.

Okay, drumroll please.......

The next pattern we'll be making is one from Camille Roskelley of Thimbleblossoms!

 Mini Vintage Tulips

A big thank you to Sherri for letting me use her photo of the pattern.

 I don't know about you, but I'm really excited about making one of Camille's mini quilts.

They are so little and sweet!

My guess is that you can find all the fabric you need somewhere in your stash.  You simply need a charm pack and a fat quarter of background fabric to make the quilt top.

I've only ever made one of Camille's minis so far, but that's certainly going to change this month!

Send your Mini Vintage Tulip pictures and your link, if you'd like one to be included, before October first to

Sherri if your first name starts with A-L

or to me if your first name starts with M-Z

so we can include you in next month's Parade.  We'd love to see your tulip mini quilt!

Don't forget to see the rest of the Parade, this is only half of it, on Sherri's blog A Quilting Life and be sure to stay tuned to hear about this quarter's Minis and More prize winners.

Happy sewing!