Catnip laced nap mats

Our cat Louie loved catnip, and we'd always spread it around, but then it made a mess I'd have to clean up later.  The mats keep all the catnip contained, and the kitties roll around (and sometimes into) the mat.  A little later and they are happily snoozing, still on the mat.  I wish I was making these when Louie was still alive... but there are plenty of lucky cats across the West that are very happy with me and their owners. 

~ Enjoy ~

p.s. - I sell the mats on Etsy, you can get to my store through the link on the left!

Log Cabin Tote Bag

More and more I find myself trying to come up with homemade gift ideas for birthdays and special occasions.  Now that I'm getting more confidence in my sewing skills and willing to try new things, it's a little easier.  I have a friend that knits and I really enjoy all the things she has made for me, so I know homemade stuff makes a great gift.

One of the teachers I've supported the last 2 years just had a milestone birthday so I decided to make her a tote bag.  What girl doesn't like a good selection of bags??  I used beautiful batik fabrics - they make everything look richer and deeper with their wonderful colors and patterns.  I followed a pattern from AllPeopleQuilt.com.

I love having sewing gal pals to bounce ideas off of.  Deanna helped me pick the fabric colors, and Dionne and Judi gave me the button closure idea.  The pattern doesn't call for a closure so it had to be done after the fact.  I made a skinny strip of fabric and since it couldn't be installed between the lining and bag without taking it apart, I tied the ends and put beads on so it would look like a decorative addition.  I used 2 different colored beads because of the two tone log cabin.  Since I haven't met a girl yet that doesn't like a little bling, I added the jewels along the bottom edge of the blue as well.  I think it really finished the bag off and made a big difference in the final outcome.


I have a confession to make: every time I walked by the bag I couldn't help but admire it.  It was probably the sparkles... they make everything better!

I was going to put homemade cookies in the bag, but ran out of time to bake them.  I put my favorite historical fiction novel in, "Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet".  A friend from England said whenever they gift a bag or purse they always put a coin in for good luck.  I found one from her birth year and added that too.

Happy Birthday Nicole!

~ Enjoy ~

Mug Rugs

I've been hearing a lot lately about mug rugs.  They are larger than a coaster to accomodate your beverage and a snack.  The other benefit is you get more design space.  :)  As a Christmas gift this year for a few friends and teachers I work with, I customized these to their likes.  They all vary in size depending on the design I went with.  I had a blast with a wonky cut batik, half dresden in batik, seahorses in batik, and Washington Huskies. 

The seahorses, WA Huskies, and half dresden were done with applique.  On the wonky cut I quilted in 2 flowers, one facing up and the other down so it's technically right side up no matter which way it's turned.  For the seahorses, I did a doodle all over quilting.  On the half dresden and WA Husky rugs I quilted by just tracing the object.


Batik Half Dresden Applique

Washington Huskies Applique

Batik Seahorses w/doodle quilting

Batik Wonky w/flower quilting

Hooded Scarves

I have two adorable nieces that I don't get to see very often.  Because I have to ship their presents, we usually go with gift cards at Christmas.  I didn't want to do that this year.  My friend Dionne found a great pattern for reversible hooded scarves and I knew that's what I wanted to make them. 

Since I usually quilt, making wearable objects isn't my strength. In order to make sure I could do them well, I did a test one first. For the test one I used sweatshirt fleece and a plaid cotton knit. For the girls, they live in a cold climate, so I used sweatshirt fleece and flannel. The flannel was available in more colors and prints than the plaid. I think I found materials that suit their likes. The knit was actually easier to work with than the flannel because it didn't stretch as much.

The pattern called for a ruffle along the edge of the hood, and I did that on my test one, but found that I didn't really like it.  This is one of the reasons I make a test product before doing the real thing, especially when it's for someone else.  For the girls' scarves I did an accent strip and topstitch and was much happier with the way it looked.