~Ruffles And Stuff~: "MAKE" Giveaway!

~Ruffles And Stuff~: "MAKE" Giveaway! You can win a new sewing book at Disneys blog. And she does have a lovely blog and she makes so many pretty things.

My partner got her package.

I was waiting for my partner to receive before I put pictures up on my blog. I wasn't sure if she read it or not. I was really happy with the way everything turn out. I made her a quilted messenger bag. I first sewed up a quilted zipper bag because it was a smaller project and I thought it would be good to test out my idea on. Then I made the bag. It has lots of pockets, a zippered one on the flap and a large pocket on the back and a group of pockets inside too. I thought I was ready to send after making those two, but then I decided to cover a composition book and sew up a square pincushion too. All of the fabrics were already in my stash. I love the bright colors and the batik fabrics. The bag took much longer to make than I expected. But I enjoyed making it and I got to use some of the fancy quilting stitches on my sewing machine too. The little zipper bag took a bit long too. Mainly because I decided to quilt it with that squiggle stitch. If I had just made it plain I would have finished it in under an hour. The composition book cover was quick and easy and so was the pincushion.

Although the jelly roll was a recent purchase. For this swap we had to send some small sewing notions and at least 2 yards of fabric of several different pieces, as well as a pattern or a book of things to sew. I sent a couple of books from my stash. Some notions I included were buttons, snaps, and several zippers. I was able to fit everything into the bag and the whole thing fit perfectly in a medium flat rate box.

Spring Flowers

I have all kinds of daffodils blooming in my yard. I decided to go out and cut a few to decorate my table. Keeping with the daffodil theme I crocheted a new dish scrubbie. I really have several knitting and crocheting projects in the works right now. I wanted to make something quick and easy. This project came from one of my new books Big Book of Dishcloths Potholders & Scrubbies . There are several other adorable flower scrubbies in there and some cute dishcloths too. I love using the cotton knit and crochet dishcloths. They are really quick to make and I can practice a new stitch on a small useful project. I know I will be making many more projects from this book. I like projects that can be finished in a short amount of time.

Some of the other projects in the works are much more time consuming. I am working on a crocheted sweater and some knitted knee socks. The sweater is actually going together pretty quickly. But the knitted knee socks are going to take a while to finish. I also have a blanket I have been working on for about a year. I haven't worked on that in quite a while. Even though I have several projects in the works I do manage to finish some of them from time to time. I guess my favorite part is starting something. I will be letting you know when I finish something else.

More Books

I had a $100 gift card from Amazon.com which was so easy to spend. I love all kinds of craft books my favorite being sewing books. Knitting and crochet books are right up there too. I love the really old ones and the new ones too. I preordered a couple that are yet to be released. First is in the new category from Sandi Henderson . If you would like to try one of the projects from the book you she is sharing The Saturday Market Skirt. The other one is a new book too but the ideas are all vintage from different eras Sew Retro. I ordered 8 books with my $100 and I just paid for shipping. I will share the other books when I receive them which is hopefully today.

The Domesticated Skirt

The Domesticated Skirt I love it when people come up with these clever ideas. This skirt looks simple to sew even for a beginner. I could see myself wearing this around this summer.

I love to Sew Swap

Now I am working on This Swap. I am almost finished with the main part of this swap. Now I just have to put together the little extras. We are required to sew a medium project, send a sewing book or pattern, and three small sewing notions that can be crafted or purchased. Also including at least 2 yards of fabric. The fabric must be several different pieces not just one 2 yard piece. I should be able to shop from my stash. Everything I used to make the the medium project was from my stash. Ofcouse I have enough stash to last many lifetimes. I know I am a fabric junky and I don't want to be cured.

I got my swap package

I received my package from the

Scrapbook Cookbook Swap Round 3 . My partner made me an adorable scrapbook-cookbook. It is all decorated with owls. And has some tasty looking recipes inside. Her three year old daughter decorated one page for me. The page has a recipes for Banana Nut Bread. She sent me a purchased cookbook Healthy Heart Cookbook. I had told her I am trying to eat healthier. I also got some nice dishcloths and a magnetic shopping list and a adorable owl shaped chocolate.

The requirements were to craft a medium kitchen related item so My partner crocheted me this hanging basket and another small blue basket. It seems that any kind of container that comes into my house gets filled up with stuff immediately. But I do love containers. And I have this fantasy that containers will help me to be more organized. Mostly they help me to collect more stuff.

With this swap completed I am ready to work on the next one. I finished the main part for this one today. So I should be ready to send in the next few days.

Swap package received

My partner received her package for the Scrapbook Cookbook Swap Round 3 on Craftster. I wasn't sure if my partner looked at my blog so I didn't post as I completed much. I did post a picture of the Apron I made for her.

The requirements were to craft one medium kitchen related item and craft a scrapbook-cookbook with at least 10 recipes and send a purchased cookbook or kitchen gadget.

Since I am not real good at paper crafting(I just dabble a bit) I decided to sew my scrapbook. I used various silks and lace to match the apron I already made. My partner liked nature themes so I picked out some fabrics that had embroidered leaves and nice warm nature colors of green and tans and gold. I made clear pockets

with transparency film for printers. It is what I had around. I bound the edges with different trims or fabric bindings. Each one is a bit different. I just

printed the recipes on regular printer paper and

glued them to scrapbook paper. I did very little embellishing of the pages because I had already spent a great deal of time crafting the fabric book. She can use the book for pictures or whatever if she doesn't want to use it as a cookbook because the recipes can just slip out and be replaced.

My partner likes cooking with herbs so I sent her a herb and craft cookbook from my stash. I found the Deceptively Delicious Cookbook at The Goodwill Store for $2.00. I had been wanting to look through it but didn't want to pay full price for it. It is about how to sneak vegetables into food. I loved the vintage look of the book and I probably wasn't going to use it as my kids are all grown now and eat their vegetables straight up. My partner loved both books. I am happy that she seemed to love everything I sent her.

She told me she felt like she should hold a wooden spoon and wear red lipstick when wearing a pretty apron. So I sent her a red lipstick and a wooden spoon so she can try that. I also send a tea towel and a few kitchen utensils all wrapped up with a piece of leftover fabric from the apron. I also sent some Chai Tea Mix. I finally found a good recipe for instant Chai Tea and I make it all the time now and love to have some on hand. It does make a very good gift too. The hardest thing about making it is finding the plain unsweetened and no lemon instant tea mix. So when I find that I buy a few jars to have ready to make more. Oh I think I need to go and have myself a cup of tea.