I actually made a THING, but I did it with..... BITTIES! lol

 From this ugly thing.... (already disassembled, sorry) ...given to me by my mother-

To this!

Made with bitties from the sewing theme- this is the other side of it-

 The bottom- the straps keep it from opening up too wide and putting too much stress on the corners of the tote at the top.  The little straps are sewn to the bottom of the bag, just tacked in the middle to keep them from drooping and dragging on the floor when it's folded closed.

Inside- a long gathered pocket divided into 3 sections and a strap for carrying.  Lining is Amy Butler fabric, just soft and lovely to work with.

The 2 sides- pinks on one side, yellows on the other....

All folded up and ready to tote! 

 I'm really pleased with how this came out.  I finally got to use some of my accumulated bitty blocks and for such a useful item, too.  I was going to use the old cover for a pattern but it was so complicated once I got it all apart that I decided it would be easier to start from scratch.  Plus- I was only able to get one piece of the dowel loose, which made it even harder to recover.  It was just easier to start anew.

Our new theme is Modern/Solid blocks- these are what I made.  The black bit is raw edge appliqued, I couldn't piece anything that small with curves. The blocks are 3.5" square.

And the other group is Clothing/Accessories- I made little ponchos with hangers.  I had a poncho in the 70's that was my favorite thing to wear, next to my jeans.  :)  I still have it, too!

 And my little helper, Gravey! 

So what are YOU working on these days?

Kitten-proof sewing organizer...

I had a perfectly good sewing-on-the-sofa kind of organizer with a pincushion attached and a removable pouch for scraps and threads and stuff. But it was a kitten MAGNET! Nosey Parker wanted to pull all the pins and needles out, dig in the pouch, burrow underneath it all- she was scaring me! I just knew we'd end up at the vet's having emergency surgery, so I decided I better come up with something that wouldn't risk her life but would still allow me to do my handsewing on the sofa at night while we watch TV.

This is what I came up with.

I didn't even have much of a plan, which is odd for me, I usually over-think these things and spend way too much time on something small or silly. I grabbed 2 fat quarters of Kaffe Fasset material out of the hutch thinking I could afford to waste them if this didn't work out. The one I used for the interior is not my favorite fabric and I think I only I bought it to have a bit more red fabric available to me when I made my coin quilt and then it wasn't the right kind of red. Anyway, I used these thinking they'd be OK, but as it turns out, I really like the punchiness of it all together.

I slapped a piece of fusible cotton batting in between 2- 10" x 15" pieces of fabric and machine quilted it using the circles on the outside piece as my guide. Then I laid it on the arm of the sofa and started thinking- "what do I want and where should I put it?" After a few mis-starts and boo-boos- (like don't put all the bulky stuff on one side, stupid!) this is what I ended up with and I'm pretty tickled with it. I managed to get all this done with those 2 fat quarters of fabric. I was piecing scraps together for that binding, though!

This is how it looks when it's just opened up or ready to be closed up.

And this is how it is "in action". The scissors just hang there, easy-in and easy-out.

See that elastic up there? That's what holds the thread in place, it loops over 2 shank buttons and keeps SOMEONE from batting them around the living room. A little divided thing in the center holds my favorite leather thimble and 2 other things, like pens or forceps. The pins and needles are encased in a little flapper thing that folds up and snaps shut, keeping all pointy things out of reach of the little beast. The tiny scissors are held safe by a fabric sheath and locked into place with a bit of fabric and another snap. When I'm using them, I can just slide it into the other strip which holds it in place vertically.

The big pouch has wire in the casing so it's easy to throw things in there, snips of thread, candy wrappers, just any old trash. And it's velcroed on so it's easy to clean out and empty. There's another pocket next to that, it's fixed in place and good for reading glasses or notes, etc.

When I'm done for the evening, I just put the scissors in the little sheath, snap them into place, and smash it all shut. lol Clip the little buckle on the twill tape ribbon and Bob's your uncle! This will be good for taking on a trip, too, I think. I like to take what I call "idiot work" along in the car so I'm not just sitting there when I'm not driving.

I'm toying with the idea of making some of these for my Etsy shop, do you think they'd sell or are they too kitten-proof-y? And if you want to make one, just ask if you need more dimensions or instructions, OK? Thanks for looking.

I'm thinking about doing a tute for this, maybe I'll try to do that when I whip up a couple for the shop. Just don't hold your breath, OK? lol

Amylouwho is doing a sew-n-tell post this week. If you'd like to see what others have been making and get inspired to do something yourself, click on that link!

Remember when I said I needed more fabric storage?

Well, I got some! Like my new hutch? I do, it holds a lot of fabric and it smells good, too, just like a nice antique, not musty or icky, it's pleasant.

My fabric covered metal shelving unit was over-stressed with the weight of fabric and paints and stuff and it was getting pretty scary when Nosey Parker would jump into it and it would sway back and forth a little. I just knew that one day it would collapse, break a bunch of things and endanger my baby, so I needed to do something about that soon.

This is what I have been using- a metal, 5 shelf unit that was so ugly, I had to hide it behind fabric.

I looked at a few places online for new shelves- ugly, expensive, boring shelves. I have a few antique pieces upstairs already and I really hated to junk it up with more junk. I have an old pie safe at the top of the stairs, a library table with the good sewing machine on it near that, a writing desk with hidden drawers, shhhh- don't tell anyone, an old Japanese table on the wall that Jim brought back from Japan in the 60's, my Singer sewing table, a drop leaf table, etc. Oh, and not an antique, but a cool 'roo wine rack!

So more wire shelves weren't really going to fit in too well. I went online and started looking at the local Craigslist and found a nice hutch in Fayettevile, about an hour away. Emailed to see if they still had it, yes! Got dimensions, measured the stairwell that makes 2 right-angle turns and yes, it would fit. Or so we thought, forgot about that lower ceiling over the first 4 steps, oops. Had to take the net (saves kittens from falling to their deaths!) down for a while so we could finesse this thing up 2 flights of stairs, phew, on about the hottest day of the year so far! lol I was sweating like a little pig. And I don't ever sweat, but I did yesterday. I didn't think we were going to be able to get it up there, I think we were within about 2 inches of being thwarted. Poor Jim was doing most of the work, too. I am a bit sore today, my shoulders are feeling the work out, so I guess I did my part.

I love this new piece! I moved the metal shelf into the hall there to the left, behind the pink, frothy curtain that some little kitten thinks is fun to try to pull down, when she's not hiding behind pretending to be invisible. :) I have all my good, much used fabric in the new hutch and the stuff I don't use as often in the hall now. Interfacings, battings, paints, etc, that kind of thing- banished to the hall! I'm going to take down the little shelf to the right of this, where the bird cage is, acting as a seat for Miss Nectarine. I don't want it to be too cluttery.

I haven't even put one thing in the drawer, yet! Not sure what I'll use that for, but it sure is nice to have my fabric where I can see it and this will force me to keep it tidy.

I'm having fun today, sorting thru fabrics and tidying things up. I need some boxes for scraps and I am half tempted to make some, but I can probably buy black and white photo boxes cheaper than I can sew some. And they'll have lids, that's a big plus for me, so they'll stack. Oh, well- whatever I do, I'm having fun! I finished my quilt top, too, you can see it folded on the table, I made my quilt sandwich today, just need to get some pretty thread so I can finish it up!