Brown Bag goodness

Before I share what I received from the Brown Bag swap I was in, I want to share a picture you will see if you come to Fullerton via the Amtrak. The train station is right across from where I work. It's in the hub of Downtown Fullerton. Isn't this tree pretty? Seems like it would bloom during the springtime but here it is Fall and it's pretty in pink. It was so pretty, I had to unload my bags in my arms and snap a picture.

And now onto my goodie I received from Joyce, my Brown Bag Buddy (BBB). The guidelines for this swap were you mailed a fq of background fabric, fq of focus fabric, some buttons, rick rack and ribbon. Your partner could use some or all of what you sent and they kept what wasn't used. I mailed Joyce the sewing fabric for the main part of this little trashbag and the blue that she used for the pincushion. Isn't this the coolest little trash tote?

I love all the other fabrics she used. That tan dot looks perfect with the fabric I sent her. And I LOVE all the fun buttons she used on it! Only a few of these were my buttons. She said she has quite a collection. The bag has a great little pocket on the inside and a velcro closure.

Joyce included lots of sewing notions inside like an air erase marker, more rick rack, a thimble, seam ripper (unfortunately, I always use one of those!), thread and a pair of stork scissors!

Joyce said she has made quite of a few of these bags for friends. People use them in their cars for trash because the pincushion holds it in place, for stitching while watching tv, and of course in the sewing room. This little grip is on the back to keep it from slipping and the pincushion is weighed down with sand so it really stays in place.

I can't share pictures of what I did for her just yet but I did mail it yesterday. I'll post a picture or two once I know she's received it.

After finishing the project for Joyce, I started working on my Berry Pickin' BOM #3 and added some of the setting triangles to my cherry quilt that has been sitting on the design wall for the last couple of months. I didn't get a picture of it yet because I only got half of the triangles on. I hope to have a finished top to share soon. :o)

Finishing touches

I made this little block quite a while ago. In March as a matter of fact. I had to go search my blog and found the post. I wasn't even sure if it was THIS YEAR that I finished it but I'm glad to say it was, even though it was seven months, 6 days ago! (Do I need to admit again that I have finishing issues.)


Basically, I've been moving this poor little block from table to bin to counter top in my sewing room. When I was cleaning up my sewing room the other day, I remembered that I had bought a couple of 8" square picture frames from Tall Mouse (our CA equivelant to Hobby Lobby stores). I went and searched for where I stashed the frame and look at how perfectly my little stitchery fits inside! I told my sister last night, "Now all I have to do is to find an empty table to display it." Eeegads, it's hard to have so many flaws!!

Wednesday I received block #3 of the BOM I'm doing. I messed up cutting my pink border (flaw, flaw) on block #1 so they were sending me another strip with this month's kit. I still had to piece my border but I didn't care. I figure when it's quilted, no one will notice and if they do, I'll kick them out of my house. LOL So I finished block #1 and sewed it to block #2. This is going to be such a pretty quilt!! I don't what came over me with this one. I don't drink tea, I don't have pink anywhere in my house and I'm don't usually like sparkly. I folded under pressure from Robin, Peggy and Michelle!!!!

This is a peek of my project I'm finishing up for Joyce, my Brown Bag Buddy. I got the binding on last night but I think it might need a little bit of embellishment. I used my Juki to quilt it and it's been a while since I've quilted anything. I marked some parts first so I might do it a little more even.

Since it's a smaller project, I just signed the back. I need to get a new marker. This one was a little bit dry.

My girls are having a yard sale at our house tomorrow. I hope to get some sewing done and put out some Fall decorations. Hope you have a nice weekend.

Cute lil' birdie!

My friend Angela participated in the Pincushion Swap we did on the Yahoo groups site, Backporch Friends. I have gotten some really cute pincushions and I'll share a picture of them once I have them all out to swap. In the box she sent was a gift for me of this cute-as-a-button birdie helper.

Look at what a little gem she is! Her little basket is filled with teeny tiny little scissors, a red thimble, a needle threader and a pack of needles. ALL THAT in that little basket that probably measures one inch!!! Angela makes some lovely Raggedy Ann dolls and lots of prim deco stuff that she sells on Etsy so if you're ever needing something that looks like it was in the dirt and then got run over (LOL), she's the gal to call! ;o)
She has been going through medical treatments so if you said a little prayer for her, that would sure help send some blessings her way!

We got tickets to another Angel game last night. My husband works with a guy who is a season ticket holder with GREAT seats. This was our second game in five days....for free! On Saturday, a neighbor we haven't seen in years knocked on our door with tickets he was trying to give away. They were in the nose-bleed section and it was HOT up there but it was still fun to be at the ball park. It cooled off for about five minutes yesterday!!! LOL We had nice temps of about 80 degrees so it was a great night with great seats. And the Angels won 5-0!! Whoohoo.....c'mon championships and playoffs!!!

I finished the little stitchery I started for my Brown Bag Buddy, Joyce, after we got home from the game. (I can't show you in case she's peeking!) hehe Then I got in my stash and pulled out some fabrics for borders.

In Joyce's brown bag, was the fabric on the right, the kind of gray-blue snowflakes. I pulled out some Christmas fabrics and found a cute Thimbleberries print that I thought would work perfect. I wrote Joyce and asked her if I "needed" to use her fabric. LOL She said "No, surprise me!" So what do you think? The three on the right, or the three on the left???

Purdy M&M's and a secret project...

I was at Target the other day and saw these great M&M's! Look at the great colors for Halloween. (By the way, I eat these. Thus, the reason for trying to be creative while I walk on the treadmill!!!!) LOL I'm going to a sew-in this Saturday. If I have time, I'll try to come up with a little goodie to give the girls who go. If I run out of time, I'll just take some to share.

And we're having a Brown Bag swap on our Yahoo site. My BBB (brown bag buddy) is Joyce in NC so I'm working on a little project for her. She sent me burgundy embroidery floss and a cute snowflake fabric. I got about half way through the first "stage" of her gift.

I'm using one of Angela's drawings for the main design. It's going pretty fast so far and I like the way it's coming out. Joyce said she always gives homemade gifts but she seldom gets them because people figure she can make them for herself. But as we ALL know, it's so much fun to "receive" as well. No one knows more, how much time it takes to make a homemade gift than a crafter!