A Friday Full of Scotties (finish them up Friday;)

WOW what a crazy craaayyaazzyy two or three weeks it's been around here!

I finally finished another floraly (is that a word?) beautifully romantic rag quilt I'd been hankering to get to on the heels of finishing the hunter's quilt for the fundraiser - and in enough time to rest before my pattern arrived so I could start on little scotties (also for the fundraiser - and even after in my Etsy shop;) 

I finished my first one just in this last hour...

 This one measures about 7" x 8" I hand stitched him closed at the top/back to see how that would work but I think I'll stitch the others closed at the tummy.

Not sure what price I'm going to mark them at for the fair. 
What do you think?











The latest romantic rag quilt (available in my Etsy store):

 

Busy happenings and a raffle quilt

 Ive been quite busy with household hazards and the death of my washer followed by my dryer and thinking of things to make for a craft fair table plus finishing a quilt for a raffle...

To allow the kids in the high school marching band to travel and compete, expenses must be taken care of and in a tight economy, our band's boosters and the band kids themselves as well as parents and faculty have been contributing their time and talents where and whenever possible.

I've had to pass on actual purchasing of fundraiser items here and there but I can sew and have fabric so this next fundraiser is right up my alley...

The 18th of this month, we will be at a craft fair/flea market in Landis which is being hosted by the boosters.  I'll have a table and along with corn-filled boo boo cold packs, lavender filled items and other fabric wares, I will be showcasing and selling raffle tickets for the newest Hunter's themed quilt I've made before and sold with great success.

I didn't want to chance the ticket sales tally to only those passing by that day - so I have enlisted the help of my husband since many of the guys he works with hunt and might appreciate something like this - handmade, rustic and only $5.00 per chance.

This quilt is 67" x 59+1/2"
It is about 10" smaller on either side than the one I sold for $300.
However, this one is not merely backed with a solid flannel like the first one, this one has a light antler print on flannel by Wade Butler for Wilmington Prints. 

I get nothing Proceeds or fee-wise in return for it but the satisfaction of knowing I tried to contribute in whatever way I could and these kids are really committed to their band and teacher. 
I call them the little band that could.

Below are pictures of the original larger quilt.
I might use these pictures if I can't get good weather to take new ones of the latest quilt
but the lighting was great that day I took these and there really is no difference except the size,
placement of pattern and a slightly more expensive light antler print flannel on the backside.
All the same fabrics were used - no other prints.

 Complete Description follows the pictures below

 



• Perfect for gift giving to the outdoorsman in your life or nice addition to the vacation cottage or hunting cabin ;)
• The fabrics on the topside are as shown: quality quilting cottons of complimenting colors and prints in outdoor/hunting season/nature themes including a brown/white tonal featuring bucks/deer.
• A rich caramel-coffee colored batik with the appearence of Fall leaves.
• A tree-bark print, golden and caramel tall grass mixed with white and also a nice fall green and brown camo print with branches.
• Backside is a light antler print flannel.
• Sandwiched between each square's top and backside layers will be a single layer of natural bamboo batting...
• It will come to you folded & tied with a raggy strip of matching camo printed cotton.
• I hand-cut each piece of fabric and batting that went into this quilt and hand-snipped each and every cut -
• Tight stitching at the seams and around the edges was done with strong poly thread for durability "

You need it WHEN ?!! (finished it Friday!)

My daughter tells me at 4pm yesterday that she needs to look like John Adams

... By today.

(jaw dropped and eyes bulged) 

I have never made a coat, vest or neck ruffle.
Sleeves scare me worse than spiders (well almost, they're a close second!)
 and I can't really follow a paper pattern to save my behind even if I had one, so I had no clue at that point where the best corner of the house was that I could run to and hide...

So THIS is my (start it Thursday after dinner) Finish it Friday -

SOOO glad I am a fabric and lace hoarder!
I watch project runway alot and I thought maybe I could use my display mannequin that I'd bought for reselling my old Summer dresses on eBay last year - maybe.
Pinned my fabric inside out on the form, marked where I wanted to cut it with a 1/4" seam allowance
and did the Hail Mary a couple dozen times.

I must admit, I was doing an end zone dance when I finished the first sleeve -
YEAH!  I GOT THIS!!

At the point where I think things are going to go smoothly, I forget myself and am quickly humbled
by my complete lack of knowledge or experience in the clothier arena.
For example, the collar took two tries and 3 times worth of seam ripping.  And I STILL never got it the way I wanted it.

And today, (thankfully she had until 1:30pm for me to get it to the school)
I spent 3 and a half hours on a vest that I stitched and ripped out 3 or 4 times and finally scrapped due to time running out.  I think I've actually dulled my seam ripper if that's even possible.

That funny looking light brown thingy peeking out from the coat?
That is what I threw together in the remaining time along with the neck ruffle.
Not doing an end zone dance by any stretch but still, pretty happy with what I was able to do in the time given with the experience tank on "E"  ;)

Today I found Luulla

And you are thinking "who is she and why was she missing?"

No, Luulla is another selling venue for handmade sellers and I like the way it is set up and the sections he has that you can utilize.

Just not too sure of how popular or widely known a site it is but they do have a lot of Facebook followers and of course Pinterest and twitter, tumblr etc...
I visited the forums and saw some folks who also sell on Etsy or have moved from Etsy over to Luulla instead.

I opened my shop page there today - though I only listed a few items to see how long it would take for the crawler to locate them and also to get a feel for the place.

I hope it really takes off and wonder how many of you crafty savvy folks already knew where to find Luulla? =)

http://www.luulla.com/store/NCstitchinNook

Finish-it-Friday (night) Post-it-Saturday

Throughout the week I finished another dress and wanted a slouch bag for my trip to Trader Joe's.
I'm always forgetting to bring my bags and I never really get too much of anything to merit one of the big paper bags with handles that they provide (I just really love the place and it's always different so for me it is sort of like a mini amusement park)

Being the penny pincher that I am...
I could not bring myself to pay $10.00 for a pattern - which leaves me standing here in a shroud of hypocrisy - seeing as how I love my own creation so much, I'm thinking of making and selling my own pattern. 

Don't get me wrong, I have bought plenty of patterns both online and in stores and I know folks work hard on them and in my defense, I didn't like the ten dollar pattern because it has a seam down the center of the bag portion and I wanted nice clean seamless panels.

It took all of Thursday and all of Friday, into Friday night at about 10pm which is when I finished the 3rd "prototype".

The first one (shown here in peach, has one single endless strap and it came out nice and looks good but for the work, the third and final try netted me a reversible bag with tie handles.


It also ties shut but I could have used a button & loop, magnetic snap, simple snap - whatever whichever.