Another I.D. Wallet

Remember that Cross Country team I mentioned in one of my last posts? Well, even though the season's over, we still have little parties from time to time. :)  This time we had a Secret Santa gift exchange, so I whipped up a little wallet in approximately 2 hours. No biggie. :)

Of course, the only zipper I had left was red, and I had absolutely no red fabric (and I hate the color red). So, I used other-colored fabric that had bits of red in it, so it's sort of matchy, but not super matchy-matchy. ;) Look at that random quilting...so fun to do... :)

And guess what? This time I added a wrist strap! I guess I'm getting inventive. (:

Well, that was a short post, but short and sweet, right? :)

xo, charlotte

Cosmetic Bags

With all the excitement of the holidays and traveling downstate in a rush, I forgot to take pictures of the cosmetic cases that I made for my aunt and grandma...so they kindly took pictures and facebooked/emailed them to me. :)

I can't remember where I got the tutorial, but if I find where, I'll update this post.

These were really easy and fun to make, and I learned how to do those special corners!(sadly, i don't know what their real name is....)

Of course, my zippers were too short, and the lining was too big, etc. etc. but it was a fun project! :)

xo, charlotte

A Lovely Combination

Seafood Chowder + Almond Milk = What I did on Christmas Eve Day... :)

Ever heard of almond milk? Well, I'll just say that it's interesting, and then you can make your own conclusions if you think it's a bad interesting or a good interesting.  It was a fun process, though. First you get to blanch the almonds, then wait 8 hours while they sit in water, blend, then squeeze through a cheesecloth. Then you get to try it, and remember that you forgot to add sugar so you have to blend it, and squeeze it again... :)

Also today, there was a little rivalry between two families in a seafood chowder competition, ours and another one (which i won't name because i don't want to ruin their reputation because they lost). I made mine and we had a taste-test which resulted in a tie, so with the tie-breaker.... i won! :)

They were very different chowders though. Their's was had tons of different ingredients and more fishy. Mine had fewer ingredients and was creamier. I personally liked mine better, but I'm kind of biased...

xo, charlotte

Handmade Vera Bradley Wallet Knock-offs

So, I found this amazing, awesome, super-duper fun tutorial to make Vera Bradley-like wallets. (You can find the tutorial here: ThimbleAnna's Blog)

I tweaked the tutorial a little to make them have rounded corners (instead of square) so they'll look more like Vera Bradley's.

I made the first one for my sister for her birthday.

The 2nd one I made for me. :)

And here's the cake I made for her (and her friend's) birthday. I only had one decorating bag left, so i was limited to two colors. they wanted pink and blue, but it looked like baby colors to me, so i changed it to pink and purple. Now it was only girly colors....

xo, charlotte

do. Good stitches {a Charity Bee}

Back in June or July, I was looking at virtual sewing bees and wishing I could be in one. I went to tons of different websites looking for a way to sign up when I finally found it.

do. Good Stitches. 

I signed up on their little document and waited, and waited, and waited, (i admit, i actually signed up again, thinking my first one didn't go through....)  :/   Finally, about 2 months later, they had enough people to start a new group! We were called "Trust" and we were benefiting "My Very Own Blanket".

Ok. Long story, short, We started in September, and have started 3 quilts, one of which is already finished! :) Each person does 2 blocks per month, and there's 10 people. 5 of the people have more commitment than I do, so they get to assemble the quilt top, design a back, and sew together the finished quilt.

Here's my September Blocks:   (Card Trick Design)

And the finished quilt:

October Blocks:     (Greek Cross Design)

And my November Blocks:     (I called it 5 stripes...very creative, i know)









I think I love the November blocks the most. The dark gray and blues look so modern....and legit.... :)

Anyways, if you think that you'd like to do this, you can sign up at the do. Good Stitches homepage on flickr.

xo, charlotte

1st quilted quilt ever--done!

yep, I finished my first quilted  quilt, ever. I've made two other quilts, but I just tied little knots of yarn through all the layers to secure the batting.

this time, though, i actually attempted quilting--machine quilting. Hand-quilting will be for a different day... :)

i had tried spray basting, since i wanted to get this done in one day, and didn't want to invest 1-2 extra hours pinning it... it worked really well!

this quilt was meant to go in our living room (the blue back went with the walls). i had started the quilt before we got new furniture though, so the black and white doesn't really go with the new brown furniture. i made the binding brown though, so maybe it'll look better.

this pattern was from Elizabeth Hartman's book, The Practical Guide to Patchwork, it was called snapshots. probably because the little black and white squares look like a collage of pictures... :)

i'm so excited that it's done though! only one more quilt to finish before january 1st...
the next quilt i have to finish though, isn't as pretty. it looks like a rainbow threw up...
 i had no color scheme, so i'm brainstorming how to make it look better... :)

(maybe i could separate the blocks a little by adding white strips between them.)

(or i could alternate a "puking-rainbow" block, and a white block...) 

any suggestions?

xo, Charlotte

Giraffe Headbands

This is a total coincidence. I didn't mean to post about those adorable little petite lap giraffes before posting about my giraffe headbands.

Since my cross country team is so great, I had the idea to make all of them headbands--well, all the girls at least. I didn't want to give them to the boys because:
a. they would lose them
b. they would make fun of them
c. they wouldn't wear them
                 or
d. all of the above  <-- definitely this one... :)

Anyways, I went JoAnn's, picked out some nice anti-pill fleece in giraffe and orange prints, and tried to race my way through making 18 headbands before the regionals meet.

Why giraffe? Well, as you know if you read the previous post, i love giraffes. and i think that cheetah prints are overused. (cheetah was my other option).

Why orange? Well, it was also hunting season, so the bright orange helps with that....and it's also one of our team colors... :)

Well, I finished them...yes, it was the night before, but i still finished...and everyone loved them...i hope... :) (oh, and i also embroidered everyone's name on them... had to try out all the nifty features on my new sewing machine!)

xo, Charlotte

Petite Lap Giraffes

I love giraffes. So when I saw these petite lap giraffes, at www.petitelapgiraffe.com I was instantly intrigued.

Of course, I am usually so gullible that I'll believe anything, so this time I took caution and  wasn't fooled. The site looks "legit" (like the name of my blog...), with even a live camera that shows the giraffe's house with the giraffe going in and out during the day, and sleeping at night!

I love this picture of the giraffe in the bathtub...

Does this little giraffe look familar? 

Turns out, this giraffe was in the background of a commercial, so a website was made, with info about these "petite lap giraffes". The giraffe-cam was all digitally altered to make it look real, and the pictures all had special effects added. 

Bummer. I wish they were real...

I got on the waiting list though. Only 1,355,543 people ahead of me.... I'll probably be dead before I get a giraffe....if they were real.... :)

xo, Charlotte

Birds and Bow ties Book Cover

So my friend, jokingly, saw the book cover that I made for myself, and said, "Ooo, make me one of those for my birthday!"

I love surprises (for other people), so for her birthday, I gave her a book cover that I have dubbed, "Birds and Bow ties".

As you can see above, the "bow ties" are on the left, the "birds" on the right. Yup, I am so original with my naming... :)

Here's the back....

The inside....

The back cover inside flap.....

And some "magic in the middle" cookies from The Girl Who Ate Everything.
They are chocolate cookies with yummy peanut butter in the middle!! :)
I made them awhile ago, but the picture was looking so good, I just had to post it...

xo, Charlotte

Spread the Word!-The Girl Effect

See my nice shiny new button over there? ----->

Yup, I just found out about this new cause, the Girl Effect. If you go to the site, it has a great video that explains how the Girl Effect is helping to lower poverty levels by helping girls be educated in school, get jobs, and learn about health risks.

Interesting fact:
When women and girls earn income, they reinvest 90 percent of it into their families, as compared to only 30 to 40 percent for a man.
(Chris Fortson, “Women’s Rights Vital for Developing World,” Yale News Daily 2003.)


So go on, check it out! You know you want to! And help spread the word so the world can become a better place! :)

Pay it Forward

So, there's this idea out there that if something good happens to you, you "pay it forward" by making something good happen for somebody else. I was one of the 3 "winners" on Grammie Q's blog. So now, I'm going to pay it forward to three of you blog readers. Here are the rules/requirements:

• You must have a blog (if you win, you must post about this giveaway on your blog)
• You must pay it forward if you are one of the people who will receive my gift
• I have 365 days to send something to you (so don't expect it anytime this month--I'm really busy in October...)
• You must have some way for me to contact you. (E-mail, blog profile, etc)
• One comment per person, please

These will be little gifts that I think are cute or meaningful or maybe (if I look at your blog), something that you could really use! I'm really excited about this, so come on commenters! Start commenting! (The first 3 to comment will be the "winners".)

xo, Charlotte

A "Personal Purse" *Update*

Since I had 2 weeks to have that little purse sitting around, I figured, Why not add some little details to it? I've been trying to download embroidery files to my computer, put them on a jump drive, then transfer to my Janome. After (a lot of) trial-and-error, I finally figured out how to do it. So, I embroidered my friend's name, then appliqued it onto the bag. 

It's on the back, so as my Aunt Jenny would say, "All the child molesters out there won't be able to say, "Come here Tia..." (when they see the name on the bag...)" :)  Yes, my aunt thinks like a cop....because she is one.... :/ Happy crafting!

xo, Charlotte

A "Personal Purse"

So a few weeks ago, I actually one a giveaway!! It was for the book Sew What! Bags by Lexie Barnes. I've been contemplating making a bag for my friends' birthday for a while now, but I just started (and finished) it today! I'm pretty excited since I'm 2 weeks early!! (Now I have to stare at it for 2 weeks though...) :)

I used the design called Personal Purse, and I didn't really follow any of the instructions... I just kind of did it my way (my way = trial and error). I apologize if you don't like the University of Michigan.... : /

And here's the "break-down" on my purse:

Isn't this cat fabric so cute?? I hope my friend likes it, and I hope that she doesn't read my blog in the next 2 weeks! :)

Thanks for reading, and happy blogging!!!

xo, Charlotte