Quick & Easy Cell Phone Case

So, I got a new cell phone .......and it didn't fit into my old cell phone case ( which was pretty thread bare anyway).  So I decided to make a new cell phone case .  After much pondering ( way too much!)  on whether to make it out of cotton or wool felt, the wool felt won out ( mostly because my laziness stepped in and decided the wool felt would give my cell phone the cushioning it needed without having to do the extra step of quilting the fabric,  which the cotton would need ). 

My first step was to make a pattern out of paper  to get the design I wanted and to make sure my phone was going to fit inside. 

 Next, I use the pattern to cut out my wool felt pieces.  (just 2 pieces;  the back piece is longer than the front so it can fold down over the front ). I used pinking sheers to cut out my main pattern pieces.  I had fun making a simple wool felt applique design of leaves and a stem ( which I stitched on with black thread  before sewing the front and back together).  I folded down the top of the back piece then sewed the front and back pieces together (wrong sides together) using 1/4 " top stitching .

I used a small piece of elastic cording for my button loop.  I found the best way to hold it in place to stitch it down was by using a piece of tape and sewing right through it.   Then I stitched on a fabric covered button .

Last step is to give the folded down flap a good pressing for a nice crease ........ and you're done !!!  Quick and easy !!!   (My original idea was to sew some sort of straps on so the case could hang from my purse strap,  but I decided to leave them off for now ...... maybe I'll add them at some point, but for now, I just toss the whole thing inside my purse).

Now I should do something about the way I store my tea bags and sweetener in my purse !!!  I googled "Tea Bag Wallets"  and actually found  a whole bunch of  cute ideas !!!!    Hmmmmmm ........I'm thinking  Christmas gift idea !!!!!  (now I just have to get organized and start making them ......... BEFORE Christmas Eve !!!)

 

Be back soon !

Toodles,

Mary Anne ( aka Mare)

Hello October !!!

YAY !!!! October is here !!!  I think autumn is my favorite season .  I just love the colors and the crisp cool weather.  AND, as you can see,  I love taking pictures of the colors and scenery.  

Now, because I'm not easily distracted enough already, I recently acquired a fancy shmancy phone from my husband ( who didn't like it and let it sit on a shelf for the past year)  ...... AND I figured out how to take pictures with this fancy phone and ( drum roll please) .... I figured out how to post them on facebook  ALL BY MYSELF !!!  My college boys didn't even have to help !!!!

So,  anyway ..... as I said ..... I'm already easily distracted ...... and now, with this fancy phone , I  must have stopped a zillion times yesterday and today during my work day ( making physical therapy home care visits)  ..... and took pictures .....

lots of pictures of the GORGEOUS autumn scenery that I pass everyday making my rounds ........ and then I posted them on facebook !  ( and I'm sure my college boys are rolling their eyes and groaning ....... and thinking "enough already Mom!!!").

OK ..... so enough with the scenery pictures ( for now.....) .  Instead, here's a picture of a yet to be finished table runner /wall hanging (not sure yet which category it falls into)  that I started last year ...... and hope to finish this year......... :)

 

Well, I've piddled around enough today ...... got to get back to work!

 

Be back soon!

Toodles,

Mary Anne ( aka Mare)

Big Stitch Hand Quilting Quilt As You Go

So today I had a chance to pretend I was Aunt Bee sitting on my porch just relaxing and hand quilting and enjoying this beautiful September Sunday afternoon ( with NO HUMIDITY !!!).   This is my "Lazy Days of Summer " quilt I blogged  about in my last post back in July ( and yes, the summer FLEW by .... but technically it's still summer until Sept. 22nd right ?)  

I'm hand quilting each block separately (i.e. Quilt As You Go) ..... using Big Stitch quilting ( only because my hand stitching automatically qualifies for that technique  ...... no bazillion stitches to the inch no matter how hard I try!  So thank goodness monster stitches are now "in" !!!)

I found some very good and helpful info on "Big Stitch" (aka "Pick Stitching") quilting using perle cotton  #8 embroidery thread from 2 articles.   This article Getting to The Point- About Hand Quilting Needles  was very helpful with what needles work best.  Then I found a tutorial for the general technique of "Pick Stitching " on Mollie Flanders Makerie.   And the "Quilt As You Go"  technique of hand quilting each block first before joining the blocks I learned WAY back in the first class I took in 1986  ..... it was a class based on the original Queen of Quilt As You Go,  Georgia Bonesteel's books and method.

So,  one block partially hand quilted .....and a bunch more to go ......but this quilt is for me and I'm not going to stress about it or how long it may take to finish  ...... it's my "de - stress quilt" and I'm determined to enjoy the process !!!

 

Be back soon!

Toodles,

Mary Anne (aka Mare)

Lazy Days of Summer ...............

 I LOVE the idea of the "lazy days of summer".  It just makes me think of Aunt Bee sitting on the front porch with a glass of lemonade and doing some hand quilting , while Opie and Andy go  down to the swimming hole for a quick dip to cool off.    I think that 's what I was thinking when I started these quilt blocks  ( awhile ago !!!!).   I thoroughly enjoyed hand stitching  the 6 Grandmother's Flower Garden blocks (many summers ago).

 I decided I needed to make the quilt bigger, so I made some Honey Bee blocks ( machine stitched ) to alternate with the Grandmother's Flower Garden blocks .   The "bees" ?? ( those leaf things) I made double sided  with another smaller green plaid "leaf" in the center of each of the bigger leaves. Then I appliqued (machine stitched through all layers) the center green plaid smaller leaves , and left the larger leaf edges un attached.  (Don't ask why ..... I don't remember !!  I guess I was trying to be fancy and three dimensional !).   I only have one of those blocks finished with the "leaves" or "bees" appliqued down ....... have to finish sewing on the "leaves" or "bees" on the rest of the Honey Bee blocks ( by machine).   Then, I think I'm going to do this as a Quilt As You Go quilt .......and get this ...... I think I feel like doing hand quilting (I'm channeling my inner Aunt Bee I guess) ........ this will probably take me 50 years to hand quilt ...... BUT at least it'll be in bite size pieces !!  (and I can pick it up and do a few stitches here and there in the middle of my paperwork marathons for the day job).

Sam and Shadow , the definition of lazy .... have found the sunny spot next to and on my quilt blocks.............(you'd think I would have pressed all the blocks first before taking their picture ..... )

Anyway...... here's my original drawing /design of this quilt .......from 2006 !!!!  ......hmmmmmm, looks like I was planning on more applique on the borders and corners .......  I'll have to see how old I am when I finally get all the blocks quilted and if I have any energy left to do all that extra stuff in the borders ....  :)

P.S  I'm linking up with

WIP Wednesday

Be back soon !

Toodles,

Mary Anne (aka Mare)

Last one .... DONE !!!

FINALLY, FINALLY FINALLY finished this graduation quilt ..... from 2009.  It was the last one in a pile of quilt tops I had waiting around to be quilted and bound.  I finished 3 last summer plus a baby quilt ( a record breaker for me !! ) .... then hit a slump (that darn day job gets in my way ALL THE TIME !!)

   And this is what it looks like when it's not rolled up (and not yet quilted ).

 My Motto !!!! ( compliments of Quiltville .... found on Facebook) ....... makes me feel like I'm not the only slacker in the crowd !!   :)

Be back soon !

Toodles,

Mary Anne (aka Mare)

Saving My Sanity One Stitch at a Time ........

See that pile of work ?  This and many similar piles of work have been the bane of my existence for the majority of the past 34 years.  Sometimes the piles are bigger .... and sometimes the piles are smaller ....... and occasionally (but rarely) the piles will be caught up for a few days ...... but then they return and continue to pile up.   Sometimes I ignore them and do something fun ..... like sew ...... but then I get even farther behind as the pile just keeps growing.  It's like waking up everyday during finals week in college with 6 finals to study for and 5 papers to write ....  just like the movie "Groundhog Day" ...... the same thing day after day , week after week (including weekends) with no end in site .......UGH !!!!!  Such is life as a home care physical therapist.   The thing is ,  I LIKE doing home care and have met many, many wonderful people and have been in some really great old homes ....... but whoever decided all this endless documentation (that I swear nobody reads)  is necessary can GO FLY A KITE !!! (and that expression was cleaned up for a PG rating ).  Anyhow,  since actually sewing at my sewing machine seems to be asking too much most of the time,  I have to keep my sanity ..... I can't tell you how I crave the feel of nice quilting fabric between my fingers and need to see pretty colors and prints ..... it instantly takes me on a mini vacation right here in front of this &*%$@# work laptop !!!

So,a few days ago,  to help alleviate just a smidge of stress and total burn out ,  I dragged out a project that I started hand piecing about 8 years ago .   See how nicely it dresses up the paper work piles and laptop !!  I can take a few stitches here and there while my work program decides to unfreeze ( which it does fairly often, adding to my desire to throw my laptop under a truck ..... except it's my laptop.)

ANYWAY.   here are the blocks I've finished so far ..... I have no idea if they'll actually fit together ...... but right now I don't care ..... the stitching of pretty fabric is giving this physical therapist the therapy she needs to prevent burn out !!!!

 

Well, thanks for listening to my rant !!!  Fun time is over ...... back to the paperwork pile ......:(

 

 

Be back soon !

Toodles,

Mary Anne ( aka Mare)

Sewing Room Sunday & the 5 -> 10 year plan

 5 years and counting for this graduation quilt !!!   I've been able to do some machine quilting here and there over the past week and now can actually see the light at the end of the tunnel !  (and I'm only doing straight line quilt in the ditch quilting .... nothing fancy)

  ...... and 10 years (or more) and counting for this pile of fabric ...... which I wrapped up all pretty with a birthday bow and an I.O.U. note for my sister's 40th birthday ....... which was 13 years ago TODAY !!!  So, Happy Birthday Sis !!! This is how far I've gotten on that quilt I promised you  ...... so give me another 10 years or more and it should be done !!  (just don't change the color of your living room !)   

 

Good thing I have understanding relatives and friends !!

 

Be back soon!

Toodles,

Mary Anne (aka Mare)

Batting that works like a charm !!!

I really really really like Mountain Mist Gold-Fuse  Baste Free FUSIBLE Cotton - Polyester Batting !!!!  ( and , No,  they do not pay me to say that ...... but if they want to, that would be nice !!) .  Anyhow,  so far , I have used this batting for the past four bed size quilts I have made .... and I love how they came out !!!   NO PUCKERS on the back !!!!!  I don't know if it's me, or my sewing machine (or possibly both of us cause neither one is a spring chicken anymore), but no matter how meticulously I lay out my quilt layers, and tape down the backing, and smooth out the layers, and pin every few inches using non - fusible batting,  I end up with smooshed up or puckered quilt backs as I'm machine quilting ( with a walking foot) ........ grrrrrrrr !!!!!    So, a few years ago,  I switched to Mountain Mist Gold- Fuse and I think I'll "stick" (no pun intended) with it !!! 

 

 

 This is what works best for me .....on our ping pong table in the basement,  I lay out and smooth the backing out;  then tape down the edges with blue painter's tape.  Then I spread out the fusible batting , trying to get out all the little wrinkles as best I can.  Then, the quilt top

 Next I loosely pin baste it to keep it together since I have to pick it up and take it upstairs to iron/fuse it .......( I have been tempted to just iron/fuse it on the ping pong table, but I'm pretty sure that wouldn't be a good idea)

 I start in the center , removing safety pins as I press out to the edges ....... shoving all wrinkles towards the edges.   When everything on the top is nice and smoothed out.......

I flip the quilt over and press the back......

....starting in the center and smooshing all the wrinkles out to the edges and off into the atmosphere......  When the back is smooth and wrinkle - free...

 I flip the quilt over and give the top one final press to smooth out any new wrinkles that may have popped up from pressing the back.  At this point, or at any point during the pressing,  you can pull the layers apart easily to do any readjusting you might need to do.

When it's all nice and wrinkle - free,  I loosely pin baste it again ( since I'm never sure just when I'll actually get around to doing the machine quilting).

...... and there it is ....... nice and crisp !!!!   Another fuse- basted quilt ready for machine quilting.

 

Now I haven't really had to buy this batting lately  since I bought about 6 rolls online a few years ago and still have one more roll left.  I'm guessing a lot of places might not carry it and you probably have to just "Google"  Mountain Mist Gold Fuse batting and see what comes up and who might carry it.  I really hope they still make this because I swear by the nice finished quilts I get when I use it.  If  any of you know where you can buy it could you leave a comment for me with the info ?  Thanks !!

 

Be back soon !

Toodles,

Mary Anne ( aka Mare)

 

What should this be ??? W.I.P Wednesday

Well here's (yet another ) work - in - progress.  Seems there's an endless supply of those around here !  I designed and stitched this a couple of YEARS ago as and Easter project ; then put it away ....... and dug it up today to try and think what to do with it .  It's not really big ... measures about 8 " x 8 " .   Guess I could make a (fill in the blank ???)    

Anyhow,  these are the ric rac polka dot painted wooden eggs I made even before the "what do I do with this " Easter stitchery  that inspired the Easter stitchery in the first place.   At least the ric rac polka dot painted eggs belong somewhere (i.e. in that Easter dish).

Speaking of Easter "dishes" ..... how about Lucy and Ethel !! (you can never go wrong with an ice bucket and a feed sack as Easter bonnets )

 

Since it's Wednesday .... and since this is a "work in progress" .... I'm linking up with the gang over at  W.I.P Wednesday

 

Be back soon!

 Toodles,

Mary Anne (aka Mare)

 

LOVE these new books !!!

  I recently got a couple of books (because , like fabric, you can just never have enough!).   I LOVE both of these books !! I've already folded down the corners of just about every page to mark the quilts I want to make !  This first one is "Strip Savvy" by Kate Henderson .  All of the quilts are made with jelly rolls (or 2 and 1/2" strips if you feel like cutting them yourself.)  REALLY REALLY cute ideas /designs !!!!

This second book , "25 Ways to Sew Jelly Rolls, Layer Cakes & Charm Packs" is by Brioni Greenberg and it is GORGEOUS !!!!   The first quilt (out of ALL of them in this book) that I want to make is the one on the cover .  I ~ just~ LOVE ~ it !!!!!!!!!

 

 BUT ...... I am going to try and restrain myself from starting yet another (10) project (s) right now (maybe) since I have that ( 5 years in the making ) graduation quilt to finish  (before it rots !)   ......but then again, self control is NOT one of my strong points !!!!(ask any chocolate chip cookie that crosses my path!)

 

Be back soon!

Toodles,

Mary Anne (aka Mare)

       

Happy First Day of Spring !!!

Sooooooooo........the calendar says today is the first day of Spring ........  well, here in the lower end of the Poconos in Pa it doesn't quite feel  "Springy"  outside  yet!   That doesn't mean I can't force it to look like Spring inside with some pretend and real Spring flowers and plants.  These tulips and forsythia are fakers ................

......but these pussy willows are the real deal thanks to The Philadelphia Flower Show a couple of weeks ago.  (I just LOVE pussy willows !!! To me they just say "Spring" right out loud !)

.......and speaking of shouting "Spring" how about the new Martha Stewart magazine !!!  Isn't that bunny in the basket of flowers the ultimate in "Springy-ness" !

..... AND  the April /May issue of Mary Jane's Farm  PLUS a charm pack of her new fabric "Bee My Honey"  has me tip toeing through the no where in sight tulips !!!  I JUST LOVE MARY JANE'S FARM  magazine and her new fabric !!!!!!!!

 

So, Happy Happy Spring !!!  May your daffodils soon pop up and the robins fly over and poop on your car !!  (that's how I know it's really spring ...... the darn robins seem to take perfect aim at my windshield).

 

Be back soon!

Toodles,

Mary Anne (aka Mare)

(Another) Work In Progress

Well this poor quilt top has been sitting around for a few YEARS waiting and waiting to be quilted.   I started this as a high school graduation quilt for my nephew.  It was # 5 on the bottom of a pile of 5 quilt tops .  I finished the other 4 over the past 8 months, and now it's time to finish up #5 !!!

   So, I'm linking up with W.I.P.Wednesday at Freshly Pieced since this poor quilt top definitely falls into the category of a work in progress !!!! (and then some !)

Anyhow, this is a simple quilt that I put together without any sort of pattern or instructions;  I just wanted to let the fabric do most of the work. And since my nephew loves to fish,  I  found a few fun fishing fabrics and added to those.  Now to machine quilt it ...... maybe straight lines or maybe long wavy lines to look like a river or waves on a lake.  But, first I have to piece the back ;  there's a plain off white center panel that all of his friends and family signed at his graduation party .  It's not quite big enough for the backing, so I have to sew on some borders ......which I'm determined to squeeze into tonight's schedule since I'm trying to do Pat Sloan's  "Sew for 10 Minutes a Day Challenge" !!

  Ok .... I'm off to do some rearranging of "the schedule" so I can sew for 10 minutes :)a

 

Be back soon!

Toodles,

Mary Anne (aka Mare)

 

 

Sew for 10 Minutes a Day Challenge

Ok ...... so sometimes (even though it's something I love to do) I could use a good swift kick in the pants to actually SIT DOWN at my sewing machine and GET SOMETHING DONE !!!  You know how it is ..... you say to yourself   "tomorrow I am going to go for a walk for a half hour, then immediately work on a sewing project for a half hour BEFORE  sitting down at the computer and getting sucked into a marathon session on Pinterest, Facebook, Blogland etc etc etc;    and before tackling the never ending projects for work,  the laundry pile, the dirty dishes, blah blah blah blah blah !!!!"  Because, lets face it ...... those are all things that are never really done and stay done !!!    And then there's the procrastination factor of course !  So, anyway,  Pat Sloan   has just issued a challenge for slackers like me ..... the "Sew for 10 Minutes a Day Challenge"  for the rest of this month ..... so that's only about 2 weeks . 

...... so, I'm putting "sewing x 10 minutes/day"  on my schedule .......

......starting NOW !!!!  

 

How about you ???   (will let you know how this goes....)

 

Be back soon!

Toodles,

Mary Anne (aka Mare)