Market Bag for a Worthy Cause

I'm a sucker for a worthy cause. Maybe I shouldn't say that too loud but it's true. Arch Street Center is one of those causes I deem worthy. They do so much good in our city and have been hit hard by the economy in recent years. Every year they have a fund raiser which includes a fish bowl raffle and silent auction. I wanted to donate something to the cause and thought a market bag would fit the bill.

I modified a tutorial I found on Sew Mama Sew! It was originally for a garden tote. The size was just what I was looking for but not all the pockets and handles. The tote is quilted for durability.

Inside I added a removable zipper pouch for money, change, cell phone, lip balm, parking stub, whatever you might need while at market. I was vastly disappointed that I couldn't find my pouch hardware. I had to substitute hardware of lesser quality. Growl.

I also sewed up some little produce bags. I used muslin and some scrap fabrics to "cute them up." Wow, that's some bad grammar!

Here you can see that the bag really holds a lot. I've got onions and three kinds of fruit in the little bags.

Although tiny, the little pouch is mighty. I've got bills, my cell and lip balm inside with room to spare.

Just a sample of all you can put in the produce bags. I'm itching to make some for myself.

I made them using french seams. This is the first time I've made french seams and I'm in love with the process. Especially for something like these little food bags since most people don't want threads attached to their food. French seams are totally enclosed which eliminates the little threads that are inevitable on cut fabric and tidy up the inside of the bag. My mother would be proud.

give away (but not by me)

I've been under the weather for several days so don't have anything to show you but wanted to send you over to Make It Do for a fantastic give away. Although if I was selfish I should make that link send you somewhere else. I'd really love to win the book myself. But....in thinking about Lent and what to do for our family, I've decided we're going to focus on being selfless, on thinking of others every day. So, even though Lent doesn't start for a few days, I'm doing my first selfless act and pointing you in the direction of a great give-away. Have a lovely Saturday.

And the Winner Is...

Heather! I picked Heather, because she told me she would use the fabric to help her daughter learn how to sew. The fact that I know Heather and her daughter may have swayed me a little, if I am honest. I learned to sew about the time I was 7 or 8 and loved hanging out in my mom's sewing room with her little scraps of fabric. Knowing that my fabric could help the next generation continue a craft that I love was just too much for me. And since Heather's daughter is such a lovely person to boot, my mind was made up.

Everyone had great responses to my questions and I smiled every time I got a new email on these posts. Thank you for making my day. I have also had a great time checking out some of your blogs. I haven't gotten to them all yet but will keep plugging away.

Thanks especially for the book recommendations. I plan on making a list and taking to the local library.

And thanks for visiting. Come back again soon. Now stop reading my blog and go to Church.

Last chance

Today is your last chance to comment for the Big Box Give Away. I'll be picking someone late this evening and posting tomorrow about the winner. Above is another stack of fabrics you will receive in the box. The blue stars fabric above was actually a little decorative valance in our old house so it is sewn into a tube. The fabric is so lively that I wanted to include it and hope you don't mind ripping a seam. I almost want to pull it out for myself to make a wristlet after seeing the patterns on the Oh, Fransson! blog. I want to know how she gets her zippers looking so perfect and may just spend the $10 for the pattern to find out. I'm still debating. I am working on two more pillows and went to the Fabric Outlet near my house for zippers. All the zippers and hardware and trim is so inexpensive there. I bought four zippers (17 inch and 6 inch), four small D rings and a clasp hook. My bill was $3.35. I think I'd pay that for one item at JoAnn Fabric.

My coffee pot is calling my name as is my sewing room. I hope you all have a fun filled Saturday. If you live in my neck of the woods and want a music filled evening, check out this site. My hubby is playing there tonight and the kids and I are going to take a picnic supper.

A few more peeks

Here are a few more peeks at the fabric in the box. I will pick someone late tomorrow evening so the comments will be open until 8pm my time (Eastern Standard). This first shot is of some fabric that I have had laying around for eons. The top two I used to make a fish costume for Nathan years and years ago. It was pre-digital camera so I don't have a picture for you at this moment. It was a great costume and maybe I'll scan the picture in and show it to you if I have time later. Anyway....I don't have a whole lot of call for sequins anymore but I'm sure someone could make something fabulous with it.This cowboy print is one of my favorites. I have made lots of coasters out of it and a mini quilt. I've wanted to use it in a larger boy quilt but never got around to it and probably never will. This is a fairly large piece. Click here to see the coasters. I don't think I ever took a picture of the mini quilt. At least I can't find a picture. I made it when we were moving and that explains the lack of pictures.And finally, some Japanese inspired fabric. I bought it to make this quilt which is 7/8 finished and sitting in my cedar chest. Now that I think of it, maybe I'll add it to the box with the pattern. I love the little Japanese kimono but am not totally fond of the pattern overall. So, there is one more goody for the box.

A few more peeks

I am thrilled with the responses from you all! I haven't had a moment to sit down and peek at all your blogs but plan to do so soon. Maybe tomorrow morning since I don't work on Fridays. I'm also going to see if I can find some of the books you are mentioning. There are a few that I'm not familiar with and I'm going to do my best to find them! Thanks. My favorite thing to read is still what makes you smile. Because what makes you smile, makes me smile!

Here is a little reproduction feedsack love for you. When I saw this fabric I knew I had to have it. Click here and here to see what I used it for. There are several pieces for you in the box.
I participated in a coaster swap some time ago and my coasters had this fabric on one side. When I was shopping one day I found the fabric and since I love the coasters I thought I'd have to have some of this. I think its Robert Kauffman but I can't remember off hand.
Finally, a little fun. My husband's cousins had babies last year and I made them each a blanket backed with some of this soft minky fabric. The left overs are all yours. I think this fabric would make some great softies.I think I'll pick the winner on Saturday. Again, it has been great to hear all your comments. Keep them coming!

Heather Bailey

I am overwhelmed with all the comments! Thank you for sharing a wee bit of your life with me. I am always looking for books to share with my boys (hey, could you ask your husbands what books they loved?) and I love to know what makes others happy, so #3 and 4 on the required comment list are my favorites to read. I can't wait to have a minute (or several hours) to look through everyone's blog!Here is another little peek at some of the goodies in the box. I adore Heather Bailey's Freshcut line of fabric. I have to say these are some small scraps but since most of you are quilters, I know you can find a place for them. If you are just checking in, click here for the rules of the give-away. Thanks again for all the wonderful comments. Thanks as well to Michele of Quilting Gallery for posting about my give-away. I know there wouldn't be so many commenters if it wasn't for that link.

Also, a few of you commented that you don't want to be added to the contest because you already have too much fabric. If any of you are looking for a way to help someone else, send some fabric or quilting books to Iowa quilters who lost everything in the flood. Here is the link to Gadrun's post about donating.

Marble Magic

If you are a regular reader of my blog, you'll already know that I'm a huge fan of Moda's Marbles fabric. It comes in so many wonderful colors and lots of shades of each color. I've always been able to match anything I've attempted with this fabric. Needless to say, the winner of the big box of fabric will be blessed with some Marbles fabric scraps. Remember the rules:

Comment to any post this week with the following:
1.Tell me what you think you'll do with the fabric...be as specific as you can.
2.Why do you read my blog? If you read only because someone told you about my give-away....that's ok!
3.Name one book you enjoyed reading as a child.
4. What made you smile today?

Big Box Give Away

Well, here it is. The give away. I've been wracking my brain trying to figure out the best way to give away my fabric stash. I wanted to give away lots of little packages but the shipping was going to kill me. Fabric weighs too much. So here's what I've decided. I went through my entire stash and put all the fabric in this moving box. No, I'm not giving away everything but I am giving away a whole lot. I know I am going to have to put my sewing aside for awhile and if I haven't used this fabric someone should.

So this week I'll be posting some pictures of what is inside the box. If you are interested in winning this entire box full of fabric comment on this or any post after this one. I want you to work for it though. 1.Tell me what you think you'll do with the fabric...be as specific as you can. 2.Tell me why you read my blog. If you read only because someone told you about my give-away....that's ok! 3.I also want to know what book you enjoyed reading as a child. 4. What made you smile today. Ok, that's it. I have no idea how I'll pick the winner. It could be random, it could be specific. I may let my kids pick. You never know.

Lastly, please encourage others to stop by and enter. I love to hear from people and to meet new bloggers.

Charity and Thanksgiving

I'm feeling a little guilty about this charity. Really, I'm cleaning house. I checked off another item from my list by picking up my sewing from Cafe on Main. The following items will be donated to our Parish Carnival. Ok, NOT the table runner they are sitting on but everything else. So if you see something you like, truck on down to the St. Mary's Carnival in September. Don't live in the area? Stay tuned for some mailable giveaways in the upcoming posts. I really mean it....I'm cleaning house. Well, mostly I'm cleaning my stash.Now for the thanksgiving part. I went to the most wonderful family learning conference yesterday. I'm not going to call it a homeschooling conference because that will make you think my children are not going to school. They are. I have the school supplies to prove it. However, my children will ALWAYS be home educated. Just because they are in school doesn't mean we no longer learn at home! I hope my boys will learn all the most important lessons here, with Mom and Dad. They learn to get along with each other in a not-too-big-house. To become independent by helping maintain the house through cooking, laundry and cleaning. They visit with their Nana in the Rehab center. And most importantly, they learn to live by following the teachings of Christ. So I'll always consider my boys "homeschooled" no matter where they are attending school.

I am so thankful for the wonderful speakers yesterday. They really made me think about what I am doing with my family and where I need to be more purposeful. My boys will both be training to be altar servers in September and so I wanted to give them some extra knowledge prior to the training. Some of the books and materials I bought are below. I love books and love to learn and have a hard time staying away from those vendor tables! The adult books were all 1/2 price so I got them all for $16. A bargain. We are going to attempt to write our own Bible School this year and I want to be prepared.

Finally, I was thankful for the time spent with some lovely women who I am so grateful to call my friends. It was much needed time for me. So thank you Michele for putting this on and for all who helped you make this day happen.

And the Winner Is....

Matilda! The choosing was not random at all. Here's what she had to say...

Oh that is a beautiful quilt! My cousin, who is also my mother's god-child, just had her fourth child on Monday. She gave birth to a little girl named Jayden Leah who is very tiny at only 5 pounds 3 ounces. Today is my cousin's birthday and she will be spending it in the ICU with her little girl who has some sort of infection that is baffling the doctors right now. I would love to send her this beautiful quilt of yours to brighten her day. I am not trying to get a sympathy vote here, but as soon as I read your post, the spirit moved me. Happy 200th post!

How could I pick anyone else?? Thank you for all the lovely comments. I was glad to get to see some new blogs through this as well. Thank you all for the lovely comments. And, by the way, this is an hourglass block, not a bow tie. I'm so glad as I like hour glasses better than bow ties. As you can see on my sidebar, I joined Quilting Bloggers. Check it out when you have time. My problem is looking at all the fabulous creations of others and not working on my own!

Speaking of projects, here is a picture of the box cushion I made for my cedar chest. As you can see I had my first visitor. In the course of making this cushion I discovered that I lost my zipper foot. Due to having to make the cording with my regular foot, it isn't as snug as it should be. I've wanted to get a foot to attempt machine quilting so I guess while I'm ordering feet, I'll just get two. It is always helpful to have two feet, isn't it? (ok, that was REALLY a bad joke).

Projects for the future: Pillows to surround the cushion and a picnic quilt. I think I'm going to use Amanda Jean's first quilt along (nothing like joining months after everyone else is finished). Yesterday I whipped up a bag for my camera. I'll try to post a picture soon. It would have been perfect if I had made the flap a few inches bigger. The Velcro I attached didn't meet and so I ripped it out during the swim meet yesterday. I need to figure out a way to close the bag when my camera is inside. Still thinking....

Speaking of swim meets, Nolan did such a great job! He beat all his times from last year at the first meet! Yeah, Nolan!! He is my little fish. I have a hard time videoing and watching at the same time so I missed the beginning of Nolan's swim here. You can see him at the end. He came in 2nd in this heat. It is so nice when your child finds something he loves and works at it. We are fortunate to have such wonderful, caring coaches. They make all the difference.

fun meme

My creation
Originally uploaded by simplysewn

1. What is your first name? Beth
2. What is your favorite food? strawberries in season
3. What high school did you go to?
Hempfield
4. What is your favorite color? red
5. Who is your celebrity crush? Sean Connery
6. Favorite drink? Pinot Noir (because it's fun to say)
7. Dream vacation? New England
8. Favorite dessert? chocolate cake
9. What you want to be when you grow up? I'm not growing up
10. What do you love most in life? my family
11. One Word to describe you? dependable
12. Your Flickr name. simplysewn

Go here for photo credits.

I saw this a few times and thought it would be fun to see what I came up with. You type in your answers into flickr's search and pick your favorite picture. BEWARE if you do this, there are some really nasty pictures out there. The mosaic of all the "answers" is made with Big Huge Labs Mosaic Maker.

Just a reminder about my quilt give away. I'll pick someone on Friday so leave a comment on yesterday's post to be included in the give-away. Ooops. I thought today was Thursday. I'm extending the quilt giveaway till Saturday!

Packed and ready to Go!

Although I know you all deserved to win, I have to say I have been pleased as punch with the emails from Mrs. E of My VintageThoughts. She picked the baby blanket (which was one of my favorites). Everyone should check out her blog. She is a recent blogger but has some very informative and interesting things to share. I intend to keep reading.

I'm beginning to fill up my etsy shop again for anyone who didn't win but may want to buy. Thanks again for all the great comments and I hope some of you will continue to return to simplysewn.

Congratulations!

The boys were my random number generators and both picked a number which we then averaged to come up with the winner. And the winner is......Mrs. E. of My Vintage Thoughts. Congratulations. I'll let you all know what she picked. The rest will be added to my etsy site this week. Thanks for playing.

The Last of the Choices

Well folks, this is it. Here are two more items for the give-away. Two sets of coasters. The patchwork set was made a long time ago. I was having some tension problems with my machine and will be ripping and resewing today to fix that issue. The other set is a Roy Rogers Coffee mug set. Over stitched in red. We will be picking the winner tonight around 8 p.m. I will then contact the winner and determine the prize pick. Hopefully I can post the winner and his/her prize by Monday. Remember, anything not picked will be added to my etsy shop next week. Good luck. Thanks for playing.

One more for the pot

Here's another option for the give-away: a Japanese inspired pin cushion. This one is ample.

More Give-away

Well here are a few more items for the give-away. Remember, the winner gets to pick one item from all of my recent handmade items. These pictures are a cowboy wall hanging quilt (machine quilted) with a close up of the one panel and a set of four fun cowboy coasters backed in blue swirls.So to recap, here are the choices so far: Crocus lady, cow coasters, cowboy coasters, cowboy wall hanging, yellow baby blanket and little flower bag. Thanks to everyone who has entered so far.

To enter just leave me a comment here or on any post since that date. I will have two random number generators choose the winner on Sunday evening around 8p.m. That will give me some more time to whip up a few more choices.

Anyone who is interested in the choices not picked, fear not! I will be listed them in my etsy shop next week. Although not a give-away, my prices are reasonable.

Give Away Options

Here are a few of the options for the give-away. Remember, to enter just leave a comment on any of my pages from October 30th till Sunday and you could be the lucky winner of one of these items. I have a cowboy wall hanging almost finished to add to the pot and plan on making some more cowboy coasters similar to these. Tell your friends. Click here for more great giveaways.

Lions and Ladies

We had the most fabulous day at the zoo. I'm too wiped out for a long post but wanted to give you something to look forward to:Nathan was communing with the Lions. The Philadelphia zoo recently updated their big cat exhibit and it is FABULOUS. The Amur tigers had cubs (3) and they were playing together and with their mother the entire time we were there. I have some fabulous pictures and even a video. Stay tuned tomorrow for more great pictures and commentary.

Secondly, here is the first possible item for the give away. This is a little Crocus Lady all in wool felt. She is very small but delightful. Not quite in season but that is why I like her.Remember, just leave a comment on any of the posts from today until Sunday and you will be entered into the contest. For more give-aways click here.

Handmade Give Away

I saw this little ditty on Heather's blog and thought I'd play along. Since I'm trying to get in the sewing room every day I should have some product to give away. I will let you know what the options are in a day or two. In fact, now I'm thinking I'll post everything I'm making and let the winner decide what she (or he) has won. How's that for an idea??? We are off to the zoo. I'll start posting items tonight or tomorrow. To be included in this little give-away just leave me a comment. Random pick and all that on Sunday, November 4th.