A Grandmother's Flower Garden...

Yesterday I sat with a woman at church who pulled out a little bag with lots of colorful fabric scraps, and I was automatically intrigued.  After watching her work for a few minutes I asked her what she was making, and she told me a brief history of the Grandmother's Flower Garden quilt (sometimes called the English Flower Garden quilt).  She was kind enough to show me how it's done, and I knew that this was a project for me.

It might take me a decade.  And I might just give up and make pillows with them instead, but they are so beautiful and timeless...I can't wait to pick out fabrics for it!

photo via 

A Gift for the Hubs...

So the Hubs has been bugging me for a drawstring bag for his iPod and cords for when he travels.  I was finally inspired to make one this afternoon.  Awhile back he gave me some of his old dress pants, so I took his brown corduroys and made a pretty kick ass bag.  He loves it!  Here's how I did it:

I cut two pieces of 6 in x 9 in fabric and ironed them.

I wanted to add something to the outside of the bag, and the Hubs favorite color is orange.  I had the perfect coordinating color to go with the pants!

After playing around with the stitching settings on my machine, I liked this one the best.

Then I folded the fabric over about an inch and did a straight stitch to make the coverings for the drawstring.

I cut a strip of fabric from the pants, pressed it in half and stitched it together.  I threaded it through  the loops, then sewed the three sides.  

After I finished sewing, I turned the bag inside out, tested the drawstrings, and handed it over to the Hubs.

Sorry for the crappy picture of the finished project. I'll take a better one later tonight.