Better late than never? Pre-school teacher gifts done!

The end of the school year came crashing down on me this year like a freight train. Steve was just getting back on his feet, baseball was in high gear and I just really dropped the ball in terms of thank-you to Ellie and Sam's three Friday pre-school teachers. I knew that we would be seeing all three of them this summer, at least for the first week of summer pre-school- so I put it off a bit.

These first two weeks of summer vacation have flown by and all of the sudden yesterday I realized that today would be the day to give the teachers a little something at the end of week one of camp. So with my feet to the fire so to speak . . . I finally got busy.

Love this gathered clutch pattern from Noodleheads, you can purchase it here and it is full of great information! I cut the fabric, found some zippers and set on the clutch making path. I think aside from the cutting, it didn't take much more time to do three than it took me to make one. So with an assembly line in place, I churned out these.

Cosmo Cricket Early Bird

another Cosmo Cricket Early Bird clutch

Nicey Jane with my all time favorite stripe!

One of the teacher's daughters in hanging out all four weeks with her mom and doing it for free . . . so she had to have a cute little something with her own Target gift card. Anyone who will look after my two little people deserves a rest and a big THANK-YOU!

I love clutches, they are quick to make and lots of fun. We always try and give teachers a gift card to a place we know they love and all three of these ladies we have run into at Target . . . so when they actually peek into their clutch, they will find a little red bullseye goodness ready and waiting . . .

Few notes to myself or anyone making the gathered clutch. You really need to cut the zipper at least a half inch - I like an inch- shorter than the pouch, so when you turn it, the sides look neat. I used zippers I had and didn't trim them down since they were very close to the size I needed. I thought it would be okay and it is . . . but I would have liked the look a lot more, if I had stayed true to how I made them in the past. I also think I like the strap now, but am going to try adding a D ring and making it a little fancier!

Thanks again Penny for starting the Gathered Clutch Swap and Anna of Noodlehead for being so generous with your talents. All your tutorials are wonderful!

Donkey's in Wellies, Birds in Chairs and a crinkled quilt top

It just makes me giddy with excitement to look at these journals. Giddy. Who would not love to write their inner-most thoughts or mundane to-do list in a journal with a donkey wearing super cute wellies? Just brilliant! The birds on the chairs, well they are pretty cute as well!

I picked these up from Laurie Wisburn's ETSY shop, Scarlet Fig, and must say they will be hard to let go of. I had intended to use them as gifts and now I am sure at least one is a gift to my favorite person, me! So stinking CUTE.

It is H - O - T . . . HOT today here in Upstate New York. At noon the temp gauge on the car read 101 and I failed to mention it is humid too. I am really missing the Pacific Northwest on days like today! We have been in the pool for days and when not actually in the pool, thinking of when we can jump back in. Sewing has been a stolen moment here or there.

Here is what I have been working on. This is the quilted side that we will sit on and the other side is a cotton laminated Nicey Jane print. I am not sure how practical this picnic throw/quilt will be, but it sure is going to look cute! My idea is for one side to be wipeable and can go on the grass and then we will sit on the cozy soft quilted side.

I have the cotton laminate cut and squared. Just finished sewing the strips to make up the quilted side together and then quilted diagonal lines going both ways. Then I washed it to get that puckered quilted goodness going . . . next up is layering the two sides and sewing on the binding and then finishing it off by hand.

It will be interesting to see how it holds up. Although you can wash laminated cotton in a washing machine, many advise against it. I am hoping I can always just wipe down the laminated side and not spill anything on the quilted side . . . if I end up having to wash it, then I will cross that bridge . . . Washing is said to cause wrinkles in the laminated cotton and they can be relaxed by warming the product in the sun or using a low heat iron on the cotton side.

I hope to have it finished in time for a Teddy Bear picnic at camp later this week and will get some photos!

The kids and I have been loving the pool the last few days, I even grabbed the camera for a bit!

Hope if you are facing the heat, you find some cool shade, a nice breeze or some water to cool off in!

Happy Independence Day!

Happy Holiday Weekend!, originally uploaded by threedancingmagpies.

I have declared my independence this weekend and we are staying home for the first fourth of July in years! We are relaxing and having simple meals at home and have been ignoring all chores until the weekend is over! We watched Max's baseball game in the morning, relaxed at the pool all afternoon, had a BBQ with neighbors for dinner and then went to the local fireworks. On tap for today more pool, a visit from grandma and grandpa, grilled chicken and corn, a trip to our favorite ice cream cone and the big firework show tonight.

I am off to sew a bit before the grandparents show-up . . . I should really be cleaning up a bit for their visit, but staying true to my quest for independence from the oppression of housework this weekend!

Happy Birthday America!

We had a need and my sewing machine and I filled it!

This first week off from school was lots of fun! I did realize that I was not completely prepared with all the summer essentials however. As I cleaned the trunk out this weekend, I came face to face with a few days worth of wet bathing suits!

After looking around for our wetbag, I realized it was very gross and ugly, so into the donation box it went. I had some scraps of lovely Heather Bailey laminated cotton that I am making a picnic blanket with and thought how about I right this no wet bag wrong immediately.

So I cut four pieces of laminate 14 x 14, 2 x 2 piece of cotton fabric for tabs, grabbed a zipper and set out on the wet bag making path.

30 minutes later and we have a wonderfully cute bag to store our wet bathing suits in . . .

I love the outside almost as much as the fun stripe on the inside

This is a great simple project and oh so useful. I have made them in the past and have found that putting zipper tabs and making the zipper an inch or so smaller than the bag dimensions will leave space on either side of the tab and the side seam for air to get in and moisture to get out.

I need to make one for the boys, but first need to find a fun cotton laminate boyish print. If not maybe they won't mind a few pink stripes . . .

Another summer issue came up this week as well, the bees. Even though we just sprayed and had the bug guy check for nests, a bee stung Ellie mid-week. I wasn't prepared with our emergency sting, boo-boo, etc kit and had to scramble a bit to get my act together under pressure with her screaming and crying. I think I have everything assembled and am ready to take on the bugs, sun and scrapes that will come our way. What is in your kit of tricks for the summer bumps and bruises that come your way? I have found having after bite, ice packs, bandages in all flavors, bug spray, sun screen, bendryl, and neosporin at the ready helps us combat most situations.