ADD

Having had some marathon days of quilting finally come to an end, I am taking a breather.  But, like alot of ADD's, I am having trouble focusing on just one thing to do.  If I don't have four or five irons in the fire at the same time, I'm uncomfortable.  So I started a few things and ended some.  Here is one of the things I ended -- a hostess gift for a friend -- an IN THE HOOP checkbook cover and keychain with pocket in the back.  I have to put the snap on, and then it's finished.  I got the pattern from http://www.embroiderygarden.com/.  Easy and cute!

This project I started years ago.  It's a Fons & Porter magazine pattern that consists of pieced columns alternating with appliqued columns.  I just finally finished machine appliqueing all three columns.  The pieced blocks were made years ago, so now I have to assemble them and then put the whole thing together.  More about that as it evolves.

My niece, Jenna, saw the keychains I had made for myself and my sisty and asked if I could make one with her name on it.  Well, no.  There really wasn't room in the applique area to put her whole name, but I came across this combination coin purse/key chain that is made IN THE HOOP and has a clear vinyl window behind which she can put her business card.  She sells Pampered Chef on the side.  And this can clip right on her purse if she doesn't want it to be a key chain.  It can hold lots of her cards in the zippered area instead!

I'll finish that cute little project today, and then I'll have QDD (Quilting Deficit Disorder)  and will have to go fire up my IQ and pet some quilts again.

SWEET LITTLE PROJECT

I spent the entire day yesterday, literally, finding patterns and designs for my embroidery machine that I had misplaced, filed who knows where, lost, or had stored in another format (my HV Designer Diamond uses .vp3 now with my 5D software as opposed to .HUS that was with the 3D program I used to have.)  I had to go back to several internet sites and re-download designs, but I couldn't find my account on others, so I emailed them to have the patterns sent to me.  Having succeeded in obtaining all the patterns, I next had to load them into my new 5D system.  It took HOURS!  Especially since when you download alphabets in different fonts, you have upper and lower case patterns for each individual letter.  Whew!  So I needed a reward, and what better one than to use one of the patterns I had re-discovered in this process.

I haven't seen my sister, Missy, for about a year, but we're going to get together with other friends and family for my niece, Cheryl's baby shower, and I thought I might spend the night with my sisty, as we call each other (sisty ugler, from fractured Cinderella tales).  So I wanted to make her something personal as a little hostess gift. 

You take one 3x3 square of fabric and fold over two opposite edges about 1/4" in, placing a length of Wonder Under between the edges.  Then you fold those edges in towards the center and iron, like so:

Well, maybe not that crookedly, but since this one is for me, it doesn't really matter.  Thread this rectangle through a D ring to make a tab, which we'll attach later.

 

Next, load up your embroidery machine's hoop with medium stabilizer and, using the pattern from Five Star Fonts, sew the placement line, add batting and fabric to cover this for the front of the project.

Next the machine will quilt this combination for you, leaving a space for the next step.

Use a coordinating fabric for the snippet you need as background to a monogram. 

After the monogram is sewn, cover the front of the project with a folded piece of coordinating fabric.  This will become a pocket when we're finished.  Sew around the edge, according to the embroidery steps for this in-the-hoop project.  Lastly, you cover all of this up with the same fabric as you used for the front, but this time the fabric is face down.  Once sewn, remove from the hoop, trim and turn.

Here's the back.  A snap goes on the tab to the left of the picture and the other end of the snap goes about 1" down the center of the pocket.  I haven't bought the snaps yet, so bear with me.  But here's the front:

Aren't these just the cutest key chains ever?  I made one for me first (T) to learn how to do it, and then I made one for Missy.  Tomorrow I'll make the checkbook cover that goes with the keychain.  What fun!