Finish it Up Friday

I finished a whole handful of skirts!
These two were made solely for the purpose of having a reason to wear these shoes.


On the left is Flora in the Alchemy line by Amy Butler. On the right is Stella 203 by Dear Stella.
The right skirt is inspired by this Pleated Chevron Skirt tutorial by Crafty Cupboard. I say inspired because I follow tutorials and patterns the way I cook from a recipe. Barely. By the time I'm done I've fudged so much it can hardly be from a pattern.  The left skirt is loosely based on a bunch of shirred skirt tutorials from Pinterest. Then I slid some elastic between the top two rows of shirring to make it sturdier. All have pockets inspired by the Chevron Skirt.

This next one is because I LOVE this fabric! Okay really I love all the fabric but these colors are me to the Nth degree.


I made the skirt and the bag which was supposed to be just a simple little project bag....that got a zipper, decorative stitching on the straps etc. Pat W's picture has better lighting.


I have a small square of this fabric left and I'm saving hoarding it for something special!
The binding on this crib size quilt is finally finished! Mary started it a while back, passed the blocks to me recently, I assembled and quilted this project and Val and I both worked on the binding this weekend so she could practice!


It's a group project! It will go to Kansas or Fresno MCC world relief auction.
Another WIP that has been going on for some time has been our lawn. It finally feels like a finished project as I picked up our cute lawn mower today! I kind of want to call her Poppie because of her bright orange coloring! She looks like a beetle all collapsed to go in my car.


Luke came home to change shoes just in time to help me unload her and got to take her for her first run around the lawn.


He did the edges and then I took care of the middle when he went back I work. She drives like a dream!


Maybe someday our lawn will be strong enough to apply weed killer! Yay Kansas weeds!
Dad, Cheri and Cindy are coming out this way so I picked up some grown up soda from the liquor store. (No you can't just buy it in the grocery store here.) I found these fabulous ideas. Has anyone had them before? Am I the las person on this planet to discover them?


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I'm linking up with Crazy Mom Quilts for Finish it Up Friday!

The Latest Plarn Bag

Is made out of plastic grocery bags from SaveMart. 

In an attempt to give the bag more structure, I have made the base rectangular and seamed it to the circular body.

 This bag is easily holding 10 standard size cans of food. I love how durable these things are!

 This is what it looks like without 10 cans in it. 

These bags are the greatest...and THIS one can be found in my ETSY shop here! 

Plastic Bag Bag-Plarn

That may seem like a redundant title but this post is all about bags made out of plastic bags. They had sort of slipped my mind because I hadn't used them in a while, but when I took one to the Farmers Market last Saturday I knew I needed to get the rest of them out! They're so light and structured it makes carying them easy and not at all like a burden. When I was looking for a  batting I had tucked away for my dino quilt I found a batting, my bag bags, AND my box full of folded bags. Time for my first tutorial!!!

                

Here are all some of the bags I've been saving for this project. They take up less space when folded and I like  having them grouped by type so I can use the same kind in one bag or make a design.

 My neat box of folded bags is a far cry from what I found at Luke's apartment back when I took the pictures for the plastic yarn (plarn) making tutorial.

Step one is to fold the bag the long way (hotdog style) as pictured in the picture below on the left.
Then, as pictured on the right, cut  off the bottom and the handles and quarter what's left.

 The quartered pieces when opened up are loops. Connect the loops as pictured below. I don't know the name of the technique the best way I can relate it to you is how you connect rubber bands.

 Keep connecting them to make a longer and longer chain. (See below.)

 Then start winding it up into a ball.

To make a bag you'll need a ball approximately the size of a volleyball.

If you're wanting a bag like this I totally encourage you to make one! I know that many of you take your own bags to the store and don't have plastic bags laying around. If you would like me to send you a bundle of bags  to get you started or would even like me to send you a ball of PLARN (plastic yarn) I would be happy to do so for the price of shipping. If you are wanting a bag that you don't make get a hold of me and we can work something out! Making a bag tutorial to come tomorrow!
***Added Later in the Day***

Starting at the top and working left to right in rows
Row 1: Target, Target, Target, King Super, King Super
Row 2: Walmart, Walmart, Misc. Blue, Albertsons, JoAnns and random green, Grey and Silver
Row 3: Bed Bath and Beyond, WinCo, WinCo, Misc. "skeins" and stack, Tans
Row 4: Black White and Red, Vons and Safeway, Savemart, Savemart, Savemart, Savemart
Row 5: Savemart, Savemart, Savemart

It's Purse-onal

or maybe custom made by me would be a simple way to say it. Okay readers, you've been ratted out. I was at school and I found out I had an anonymous reader and today Cindy said someone emailed her about a purse they saw me carrying on my blog. I promise you can comment! I don't bite! How am I going to sell myself as a full fledged blogger if no one knows I have readers? Sigh. Some day. Anyway, about the purse.

I'd been admiring this Jessica Jones fabric for quite some time (Cindy really really likes Jessica Jones...it's gotta be the name!) I wasn't really sold on the oranges and pinks though. I liked the prints, but could they really fit in to my life? I'm a blue, green, purple sorta gal. (If you couldn't tell by the shower curtain I helped...scratch that...picked out. I used my purse to pick out the towels. Anyway, then I found the fabric, and the free bag pattern. I made my order (jCaroline). Then I made my purse. (Free Pattern Here) And my laptop case (No pattern yet, no pictures as of now. I don't LOVE the laptop case, but it makes me happy, and its got enough laptop protection to serve as a pillow to. Kind of caused problems for the little featherweight sewing machine. Trying to figure out how to hid the botched up stitching.)

Making the purse went smoothly, and has simple directions that are fairly easy to follow. I was afraid of making the zipper pocket, even considered making it non zippering...it was easy peasy. Don't be "scurred" you can do it!

Next up is a bag for all these crazy notebooks I'm carrying around for the credential program. I have a different coordinating fabric. Speaking of the credential program...I've been assigned to second grade for my initial student teaching. Pray for me.

In The Bag Part II

Leslie, my co-worker is getting married in September. I had gotten some towels (I couldn't resist towels, the way they're on the shelves...they're just asking to be a "One in Every Color" post.) but I wanted to jazz up the present a bit. Make it a little more fun! I thought about getting her some magnets...she HAD been quite entertained by my infatuation with my dot magnets. Then I thought I have to do something crafty, because she thinks I can do anything crafty and I gotta keep my fans happy. I thought I could do my own wrapping! Just as I was heading toward the customizable wrapping aisle in Michael's a packaging inspiration came to me. Wrap the towels in a bag she can use over and over!

My embroidery has improved vastly since the beginning of the felt flowers so I felt confident abandoning my old puff paint ways and going for some "big girl" crafting. I took inspiration from Leslie and Daniel's invitations and incorporated a peacock feather.

Filled with towels and accented with bow!

Laura volunteered to model for me! For the record, she isn't the soon to be Mrs Lee who will be receiving the bag.

I'm pretty excited about this little project. I hope she likes it!