Poolside Tote - May Bag of the Month

Here is my May Bag of the Month club - the Poolside tote.  This club is hosted by Sara of Sew Sweetness and runs through June.  It's not too late to sign up and get 6 patterns for only $40 by 6 of the top bag pattern designers out there. There will even be prizes available as long as you finish and upload all your bags to the Flickr group by the end of June. May's bag pattern is brought to us by Anna of Noodlehead    She has great patterns, (some are even free on her blog).  I had the hardest time picking out fabrics for this bag.  I was at Joann's for over 2 hours, taking pics and texting them to my husband to get his feedback on them.  Most times we agree on colors and stuff, but this time he didn't care for much of what I was coming up with for a combination.  Finally, I settled on this combination and the pic never even came across to him but when I got home and showed it to him, he really liked it!  I used red canvas for the exterior and loved the little print for the handles so I grabbed coordinating colors I like together for the bag interior (the blue reminds me of the water) and black and white crosshatch for the trim to tie in with the small print flowers.  

This pattern was so easy to follow and came together rather quickly.  I think picking out the fabrics is what took me the longest!!  I decided to include some interior pockets of the small print.  This bag is HUGE, will be perfect to tote along everything you need for a visit to the pool or the beach because your rolled up towel will fit in there for sure, along with your sunscreen, book, keys, sunglasses and more!!  

Sharing in the following link parties: Think Pink Sundays, Sew Darn Crafty

New portable countertop ironing board - DIY

This is a project I have been wanting to do for a while now and finally had a board to use and made the time!!  Previously, I had a small countertop ironing board but I didn't like that it wasn't flat on the counter.  Since my brother-in-law is building a house right now, and I saw he had boards laying around, I asked him if his contractor had any trash ones he wasn't going to keep.  Well, he didn't at the time but a week or so later, the contractor saved me about 3 pieces to choose from.  How nice was that?  This one actually is a shelf, just the right size but I do have a much larger piece of plywood I am saving just in case I want something bigger in the future.  One thing I've noticed after using this a few days is that my ironing has been crisper and I am happy about that.  My inspiration to make this came from The Crafty Gemini who used a recycled puzzle board. 

Here are my supplies: board, cotton batting, Indie Artgallery fabric, non slip shelf liner (or rug grip) for the bottom and hot glue gun.  The first thing you want to do is cut your batting a few inches bigger than the board.  Then cut your fabric a little bigger than the batting.  Lastly, cut your non slip grip the same size as the board and set that aside. 

Next, you glue the batting down while pulling it taut and miter the corners to reduce bulk. 

The next thing you want to do is add your fabric and glue down and miter the corners, similar to how you would wrap a present in the corners.  

Then fold that triangular part and glue down. 

Here it is on the back with the non slip grip stuff glued on.  

and here it is completed  - action shot!  totally didn't even realize it was going to match my Oliso so well.  Serendipitous!  I just grabbed some fabric from my stash that was pretty enough to look at all the time!  I hope you enjoyed this quick tutorial with all the pics and it may inspire you to make an ironing board for yourself.  If you do, I'd love for you to share yours with me!  

thanks for stopping by!  Linking up with Sewjo Saturday; Richard and Tanya Quilts; Show & Tell Saturday; Think Pink Sundays; Sew Darn Crafty; Made by you Mondays

Yellow Brick Road quilt top

Here is the current quilt I am working on, I finished the top in a little over a week (not bad in my opinion) and I am mostly satisfied with it. What I am not satisfied with is the big C of blue on the upper left quadrant that we were not able to detect when laying out the blocks on the floor.  I am convinced I need to make a design wall more than ever!  Especially since I love quilting so much, why not invest in something that would make my quilting a little easier?    

She is another reason I need a design wall - this beauty just could not refrain from hanging out on my blocks which she messed up several times!  I finally had to put her in the spare bedroom just so I could finish.  She is a hot mess most of the time!    

The fabric I used was a bundle of fat quarters of Michael Miller Fairy Frost I got from The Fat Quarter Shop more than 2 years ago when they have their daily deals for Christmas.  If you have never checked that out, you need to, I believe it starts on Dec 1 and goes until Christmas Day.  I took it to a LQS The Cotton Cupboard a few months later and the owner helped me find Soul Garden by Carolyn Gavin for P&B Textiles, which was a perfect match for the Fairy Frost!  I originally had plans to make a queen size quilt but then we bought a king size bed and traded our queen for a full size so now it will be full size.  Definitely the biggest I have made.  Still trying to decide how to quilt it or I may just tie it.  I have fabrics picked out for the back I will share soon.  I have SO MANY WIPs (most ever since I have been sewing), but it's so exciting!!!  

thanks for visiting!!