Finish it up Saturday? (just doesn't have the same ring to it as friday) anywho - the secret project edition!

Well, this gift has made it to it's final destination and i can safely show some pics of it!

I was recently invited to join a Birthday Bash Swap and there was no way i could resist with the lineup of friends that are involved! First birthday girl was Julie from 627handworks. I knew right from the jump that i wanted to make her the Ellie Travel Case from Heidi over at Fabric Mutt. I've been wanting to give it a try since first seeing it. And let me tell ya, it's awesome! Super easy tutorial, though for some reason i thought it was going to be bigger (but it could definitely be easily made bigger or smaller!) That being said, it is in fact the perfect size for a travel case.

Julie had mentioned one of her favorite fabric designers was Carolyn Friedlander, so of course i had to use some Botanics. I paired it with some Flea Market Fancy and a bit of Field Study to make some flying geese.
I am really loving flying geese at the moment and i think i may need to make a quilt of them to get them out of my system!
I wanted the bottom to have a bit more structure so i used some denim that i had on hand. I used the wrong side of the denim, i find it has more interest than the right side.

I used it for the handles as well, and while it was harder to sew through so many layers, i think it was worth it. I'm wishing i hadn't of used it for the zipper ends though.

Now that was difficult to sew in! And for some reason i thought the zipper tabs would end in the denim on the bottom. Note to self for the next one, use the same fabric as the main body of the bag. I used the Flea Market Fancy print on the inside as well, and will definitely need some more practice putting in linings. This one didn't go so well. It's a little bunchy at the ends of the zippers (hope you don't mind Julie!!)

I also made a cute little open wide zip pouch to go with it.

By now you all know how much i love these little zip pouches! I've lost track of how many i've made now, though i think i'm getting close to about thirty! This one is by far the smallest i've ever made.

Here it is with a lip balm and nail polish for size! Cute eh?!

So all in all i think i did okay with my first swap, and Julie seems to like everything.

 
So that's a win in my book!

And fyi, there will definitely be more of the Ellie Travel cases in my future! As soon as i finished it Sammy loved it and thought it was perfect for carrying toys to Nana's house! So i picked up a couple of prints that were a little more kid friendly and started in on one for each of my guys... more on those later ;)

Okey dokey, moving right along. Max is all about stacking and building things right now so we're loving blocks here. He can't quite work legos like his brother yet so i wanted something that he could stack on his own. Enter Caravan Shop's Olliblocks!

I love these little blocks and i hope my boys get a lot of use out of them! They we're super easy to make, though time consuming. Only because i wanted to make them look a little more vintage. So i sanded them down after applying the pictures. I've used two coats of Mod Podge and will probably throw on some more in the future.

I absolutely adore the pictures on the alphabet blocks!


So, with the addition of all these to our block collection of course we needed a bag to keep them all in.

Is anyone surprised that i made another open wide zip pouch? I briefly considered making a drawstring bag for them but Max loves zippers right now so that was the deciding factor for the zip pouch.


This is the biggest one i've made to date and it still has plenty of room for future Olliblocks!

Told you it was big!

Okay, now for something that doesn't require a zipper.

For those of you that have been hanging with me for a while, you'll no doubt remember my epic hexie quilt i've been making with AMH voiles. Well... i'm throwing in the towel. This quilt will not be happening. I've thought long and hard on this and it isn't the first time i've wanted to give up on it. I first thought it was only because i just didn't have the time to get to any hand sewing but in reality i don't really like it. I mean it's pretty, but it's not me. At least not anymore. And what's the sense in putting so much time and effort into something for me that isn't actually me?

Especially when you're working with such glorious fabrics!
So i've been sifting through my Pinterest boards looking for the perfect quilt to make and i think i've settled on a x&+ quilt. I'm loving this mixed scale one by Karen of Capitola Quilter but i'm thinking of using just the Pastry Line prints (right stack) for all the +'s, and the top print on the left for all the backgrounds. I think it has enough colour and pattern to keep it looking scrappy.

What do you think? Will it work?

I briefly thought about splitting the stacks into warm and cool and making two different quilts...

But the warm stack is clearly bigger, and i just love them all together anyway. So that was a short lived plan.
I also am pulling these two prints out of the mix.

They just don't fit with the rest. So i'll set them aside, maybe for a figure 8 scarf? For a gift? I don't know.

And  i also have this print as well that didn't make it into the stack but i think it should be used in the quilt as well.

Love this print! Now, i'm not sure when i'll be getting to this quilt, i still want to ponder the idea of it and i still have way too much on my plate to even think of another quilt!
But i'm nearing the end of my Gypsy Wife quilt top and want to have a project to work towards. (Heaven forbid i think about pulling out my Penny Sampler, Indian Summer, Christmas Stars, Sam`s quilt... shall i continue? I think not, you all get the idea. Just crazy Nicole and her horrible case of serial startitis!)

Here's a quick shot of my Gypsy Wife progress for those that don't follow me on Instagram!

Though it's grown considerably since i took this shot! I've finished putting together a third of the quilt top now and am cutting the strips for the next section! Stay tuned for the quilt top finalé! Next week maybe? I'll try! I also have been thinking about putting up a post of tips and tricks for all those that are gypsy-wifeing. Just some of my trial and error stuff and how i would have done things differently on this quilt.

High fives for Saturday Finishes!
xo snips

Oh!! I totally forgot, i also started in on this little project. Ahem.

Yep, that's right. I'm making a weekender, and with Melody Miller phones!! Awesome.

Okay, that's it... for reals this time!
Perhaps i should be high 5ing Saturday Starts?
How about high fives for everything!