GIFTS FOR TEACHERS (MUGRUGS)

It's no secret how much I appreciate the teachers in my boys' lives (you can can read about more gift ideas here).  Since this is the season of giving I wanted to make them a little something to show that appreciation.  I decided on mugrugs, I think they are so stinking cute (and useful too!).  I had fun choosing fabrics for each teacher. I tried to use some of their favorite colors.

Fabrics used are Chrysalis, Kona Stone & Kona Artichoke

Fabrics used are Make Life by Sweetwater and Kona Artichoke

Fabrics used are Denyse Schmidts line for JoAnns & Sunkissed by Sweetwater

Fabrics used are Hullabaloo and Kona Cardinal

Fabrics are from random lines in my stash.  Binding is Kona Cardinal

Fabrics used are Half Moon & Kona Cardinal 
I used Amy from Diary of a Quilter's quick Table Runner Tutorial to put this one together.  I loved how simple and fast it was.  I will definately be using this method again soon!  I also used Amanda Jean's "one way to machine~bind a quilt" tutorial for all of the bindings.  Thanks Amy & Amanda Jean!

 I rolled these little mug rugs up and added them to an adorable basket I got from thirty~one, along with a favorite drink, a favorite snack & a 'keep it warm/cold' cup (it was super cute all put together, wish I had taken a pic...oops!).

 

Did you spoil your child's teacher this Christmas?  If so, please share in a comment.  I am always looking for new ways to show our appreciation for all of the time they give our boys. 

 

Smiles~Beth

 

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

Merry Christmas to those of you that celebrate!  And to those that don't, Happy Sunday!! 

In preparation for this holiday season I have been very busy at my sewing machine.  I am excited to share some of the gifts I made for loved ones (posts to come this week!).  For now I would like say thank you for coming by and wish all of you a very memorable and funfilled Christmas!

Smiles~Beth

WINNER! SEW MAMA SEW GIVEAWAY DAY

Thanks to everyone for entering my giveaway and especially to all of my new followers!  I hope you enjoy it here at Sewing for Sanity.  Feel to browse around, ask question or make suggestions on what you may want to read more of.

I enjoyed reading about your favorite Holiday traditions.  Some were classics like decorating cookies and some were new to me like having a Christmas angel visit the house on Christmas Eve and leave coins under the tablecloth for the kids to grab after dinner (isn't that cute?!). 

Ok, let's get to the fun part... the winner of the Sew Mama Sew! giveaway is...

#231 is Heather who said "I love doing an Advent Calendar for the month of December with my girls!".  Congratulations to Heather!  Please look for an e-mail from me in your inbox.  Hope everyone has a fabulous Saturday!

Smiles~Beth

SEW MAMA SEW GIVEAWAY DAY! {CLOSED}

Welcome to all of you visiting from Sew, Mama, Sew! It's so nice of you to come by :) Hope you are enjoying all of the great blogs out there participating in Giveaway Day.  Feel free to browse around.

Ok, enough chit chat, I know you are excited to see what I have for you. Here is what is up for grabs...

Two Mistletoe Manor charmpacks (each charmpack includes 40 5"x 5" precut squares) by 3 Sisters for Moda.  This is a beautiful line and would a perfect addition to any stash. 

If you want a chance to win these little pretties all you have to do is leave me a comment telling me what your favorite Holiday tradition is.  It doesn't have to be from Christmas, any Holiday tradition will do (comments that don't include a favorite tradition will not be eligible to win). I will ship internationally so everyone is welcome. You have until December 16th, 4:00 central standard time to enter the giveway and don't forget to check out the master list to be entered in hundreds more giveaways! 

Winner will be announced by December 18th. Be sure to include your e-mail address if you do not have your e-mail on your profile. Otherwise I will not be able to contact you if you win and that would be sad.

You may earn an additional entry by becoming a follower of this blog. Be sure to leave me a separate comment letting me know you did so. Already a follower, leave me a comment reminding me (if you commented that you are a follower and aren't one then I will have to pick another winner).
GOOD LUCK!

Smiles
~Beth

SUNKISSED QUILT {IN PROGRESS}

With Christmas only 16 days away (are you kidding me?!) I am beginning to worry a little bit about getting all of my "made" gifts complete.  First on my long list is to finish my Blogger's Block~a~Palooza QAL quilt.  I started it in January of this year with the intention of giving it to my Grandma for her birthday (which was in August!).  It is now going to be her Christmas gift.  I pieced the back together earlier this week and finished up the very simple quilting yesterday.   I will hopefully get the binding sewn on the front today so I can begin handstitching the back during any down time this weekend. 

Front

Back

I will post more pics once it's finished.

Hope you have a fabulous Friday!
Smiles~Beth

DRUNKARD'S PATH QUILT~A~LONG {FINISHED TOP}

Whew!  What a busy week!  It was so nice to be able to spend our Thanksgiving with all of our family but after 3 celebrations I was exhausted ;)  A little relaxation and some quality time with my sewing machine was just what I needed yesterday.  I was able to get my DP quilt top done (and on time!)...whoo hoo!!!

I want to give Kristie from OCD and Kate from Needle and Spatula a BIG thanks for hosting the DP Quilt~a~long.  They challenged me to step out of my sewing comfort zone with all of those curved seams and I am so happy I did.  This is the first quilt I have made for myself and I absolutely love how it turned out!  So much that I am going to send it out to be quilted.  It deserves better than my not~so~straight quilting ;)  I also have thoughts of another DP quilt with this layout in black and white.

You can see more great DP quilt finishes here. 

You can also find more inspiration for all kinds of sewing projects at the blogs below.  Just click on the picture or link.

Linking up to:

  Finish it up Friday @ Crazy Mom Quilts

Hope your day is splendid!

Smiles~Beth

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

It's a very busy time around here but I wanted to pop in and say hello and wish all of you a very Happy Thanksgiving.  If you aren't from the states then I wish you a very happy day.

Today I am most thankful for my family.  I feel so blessed to be able to spend this Holiday with so many people I love.  Of course, these little monsters make me feel blessed everyday!

I hope that no matter where you are today that it was spent with those you love most and filled with wonderful memories.

Smiles~Beth



MINI QUILT {OR MUG RUG} FOR 'Qq' DAY

My littlest monster is in Kindergarten.  This week his class was learning about the letter 'Qq'.  Adam was eager to tell his class that 'quilt' begins with the letter 'Q' and that his Mommy makes them.  I was then asked by his teacher if I had any quilts to share with the class.  You would think that the obvious answer would be yes but surprisingly I don't have 1 (not 1!) finished quilt that lives in our house.  Shameful, I know.  I have made plenty (you can see some of them here) but I have given them all away.  My poor children!! 

Anyway, I knew I couldn't make a quilt in just a few days (of course, I probably could have finished one of the 7 quilts that I have in progress. oh well) so I decided to make a mini quilt (or mug rug but mug rug doesn't go with 'Q' day).

Finished size 10"x 7.5"

Print fabric is OZ by Sanae for Moda and the solid is Kona Cotton in Bone

  I based it off this tutorial by Amanda Jean from Crazy Mom Quilts but cut my strips 1.5" (I also used this fabulous tutorial to make Adam's quilt, which STILL isn't finished! I am such a slacker). Perfect size for little hands to pass around.  And for fun, I sent one of my quilt tops in so the kiddos could see what all of those seams look like on the back.  It will be interesting to hear what all the kids thought of them.

If you have an extra minute I recommend you check out all of the inspiration over at the blogs below.

Linking up to:

Finish it up Friday @ Crazy Mom Quilts

Hope you have a happy Friday!

Smiles~Beth

WINTER DINO HAT {FOR MY LITTLE GUY}

It's starting to feel a little more like Fall around here.  With the colder weather coming I thought it was time to make my little guy a new warm hat. 

The bottom scale isn't really all crumpled...guess I should have fixed that, oops!

I followed this great tutorial by Christine at From an Igloo, thanks Christine!  It has been in my favorites and then moved to one of my Pinterest boards for awhile now.  I love that it easily covers his ears and the back of his neck so I don't have to worry about him being warm enough at recess.  It went together so quickly that I may just make him another one but maybe a monster version...we love monsters around here! 

 (The only thing I did differently to the hat was to add a tacking stitch in the top of the hat to help keep both layers together while taking it off his head.)

In case your wondering, my little guy LOVES it!

He is such a goofball!

Happy Tuesday!

Smiles~Beth

 

Linking up to:

 

Finish it up Friday @ Crazy Mom Quilts

 

NO SEW T~SHIRT TO NECKLACE ReFASHION {TUTORIAL}

I have this outfit pinned on Pinterest.  I love that it is simple enough for me to actually try to pull off.  I already have jeans in my closet, a pluthera of white tanks (for layering) and I even have a simlar color lightweight sweater.  All I really needed was some leopard shoes and a red scarf.  The shoes were not a problem (every girl could use another pair of shoes!).  Although the flats pictured are cute, I like some height on my shoes (I am only 5'4"). I found these cute pumps at DSW (I had a gift card so I only paid $15 for them...bonus!). 

LOVE!!!

Now, the scarf (or snood) was harder for me.  The one pictured is $25.  I guess that's reasonable but I couldn't justify spending the $ on it.  Besides that, my big thick hair doesn't usually mix well with scarves.  They are OK when worn with a coat but not so much for an all day accessory (they make my hair poof out even more than usual...not a good thing!).

Then it hit me!  About a month ago I saw a fellow football Mom cutting up a t~shirt before a game.  Yep, right there on the bleachers...you got love that, ha!  I just had to inquire...  she was making a fabric necklace out of a t~shirt...what?!

Pretty darn cute for a men's tee, huh?!

Wanna make your own?

Here is what you need:

1. T~shirt (old or new, prewashed)  I bought a new mens XL shirt from Target for $7.  It was the perfect color for me (dark red) and it didn't have seems down the sides of the shirt, that is not necessary but I like the cleaner look.  You could easily get a tee for less at a thrift store or raid your husband's/boyfriend's closet ;)

2. Rotary cutter or scissors

3. Quilting ruler & cutting mat (only if using a rotary cutter)

 Ok, now cut the hem off the bottom of your tee (you don't need it for this project).  Then smooth your tee out and cut 1/2"~1" strips (I cut 1" strips for mine) until you reach the arms of the shirt.

You should have a pile like this (I got 13 strips out of my shirt).

Separate the strips so they look like this

One nice big circle of fabric :)

Pick them up 4~5 at a time and stretch them out (this will cause them to roll up).  It's always nice to have a helper ;)

I wanted my strips to stay together so I snatched them all up and wrapped a smaller strip around them, like this...

Tie tails in a knot to keep in place

Snip the tails and tuck under

You could stop here and wear it long.

Or you could do what I did and double it to make a shorter, fuller necklace.  To do that, cross your strips...

Then pull it over your head to get this look.

I don't wear my hair up much so I had to test it out with my hair down too.

Not too bad!

I have to say that I am loving this new accessory.  For only $7 and about 20 minutes of my time to make, it RoCkS!

Let me know if you have any questions.

Linking up to:

  

Smiles~Beth

DRUNKARD'S PATH QAL {PROGRESS}

I did it!  I finished sewing ALL 325 blocks together for the Drunkard's Path quilt~a~long! And, on time!  Happy dance!!

I have to admit that not all of my blocks look this pretty.  Although they are all sewn together I still have piles of blocks that look like this...

Ironed and ready to be squared up

and this...

Sewn, ready to be ironed & squared up

The hard part is over for me.  Sewing all of the curved seems definately took me WAY out of my sewing comfort zone. After conquering so many blocks I might even dare to call myself a pro at it (well, maybe not yet but definately closer!).  I am looking forward to getting all of these small blocks sewn into larger blocks and then into a quilt top. Now that there are only straight seems left to sew it should go by rather quickly, whew!

It's not too late to join in over at OCD {Obsessive Crafting Disorder} or Needle and Spatula.  Come on, it will be fun!

Smiles~Beth

FABRIC LOVE {ECHO BY LOTTA JANSDOTTER)

Have you seen the new fabric by Lotta Jansdotter?

I fell in love with it when I saw this post over at Film in the Fridge and then again when Anna of Noodlehead made a few of her Go Anywhere Bags with it (oh how I love that bag!).  Ever since I have been patiently waiting for ECHO to arrive in online stores.  I was so happy to hear that it was available early at Hawthorne Threads and I immediately ordered some for myself.

Left to right: Stepping Stones in Yellow, Spring Buds in Grey, Small Spring Buds in Grey, Spring Buds in Espresso, Small Spring Buds in Espresso, Scattered Pods in Agave, Small Spring Buds in Mustard, Spring Buds in Mustard

Spring Buds in Mustard is my favorite!!

I think Standing Stones in Yellow will make a fabulous throw pillow.

The colors are beautiful and the fabric is soft, I can't wait to make something using them.  I might even use the Spring Buds in Mustard to make myself a skirt.  I think it would look great with some boots!

I do want to note that the Spring Buds in Grey seems to be a little darker (with a hint of purple) than the other grey prints (I wonder if anyone has this issue?).  Still beautiful though! 

Are there any new fabrics you are excited about?

Smiles~Beth