Thursday, February 05, 2009

The girls will be home tomorrow. I picked up items to make them a birthday cake yesterday, so I’ll probably tackle that tonight along with wrapping their gifts I made.

The first gift if a three ring binder cover.
Not an original idea, Kim had created one a couple of years ago and emailed me a set of instructions.
It was a Thimbleberries Club project. We have a little Thimbleberries, Fig tree Quilts, Kansas Trouble quilters, along with a few others to make up the strings. I have always like the Heartstring quilts but never truly appreciated them until this project. Sewing the strings one at a time is INCREDIBLY labor intensive—not to mention ironing each down after the seam. I really liked how they turned out. But for the time---it just seems like the project would be bigger…..

I had pulled a couple of different patterns for other projects, but read about Mary finding this Terry Atkinson design.
So after a trip to the dollar store for pens and paper, I whipped these to up. Totally fun, quick, and easy.
The Pattern said use interfacing as a liner. I knew the kind of lugging around and use – Hopefully—these babies would get so I lined it with Peltex, the stiff interfacing used in fabric postcards. I really like’em. I may have to make one for myself.

I had wanted to create something with ruffles, but there will be another holiday coming up. Tomorrow the weekend will be at my doorstep. I can’t wait. Sleeping late – 6:30 am for me--- Snowshoeing with Ransom and of course quilting….

30 comments:

Deb said...

Wow they look fabulous. What a great idea.

Adrienne said...

What fantastic gifts! You've inspired me to think ahead to some gift-giving in the future. I need to get busy! ~Adrienne~

Caron at Michigan Quilts said...

Oh those are so cute! They look like they'd be a perfect gift for someone. Hmmmmm...

Karen - Quilts...etc. said...

those look really neat - I will have to keep them in mind.
Karen
http://karensquilting.com/blog/

Libby said...

Great gifts . . . . what girl doesn't like to have a notebook or journal always at hand. Add to that that they are cute and have 'WINNER' written all over them *s* Great job!

Carolyn said...

Sounds like a wonderful weekend to me...enjoy!

Carol said...

What wonderful, wonderful gifts for the girls. Enjoy every minute!

Mary Johnson said...

It's not so bad with the HeartStrings quilts when you work with sets of blocks...you sew a bunch and then iron them all at one time. Once you get a couple strings down, you can even sew strings on both sides of the center before ironing. They really do go fast.

Your bindings all look great!

Mary Johnson said...

Oops meant to say the binders...although the bindings on them look good too!

Sweet P said...

Awesome projects. Great idea on using Peltex to make the journals stiffer. I hope they do get used a lot.

Karen said...

Your gifts for your daughter and her friend are so cute. I think you chose well and I'm sure they will appreciate them, espically because they are homemade and because of your thoughtfulness;) I know you'll have a great weekend--enjoy;)

Pat said...

Mel, I love both of your projects. That binder cover is a great idea. I am sure that both of the girls will enjoy them. Have a great weekend and wish the girls a very Happy Birthday.

Fiona said...

Beautiful presents - love the binder covers especially.

MARCIE said...

What a great gift! They look wonderful! Everything takes longer than you expect, doesn't it?

Unknown said...

Terrific and fun gifts Mel that I'm sure will be loved and used to death.

Little Lady Patchwork said...

I love the notebooks covers that you made, especially the one using the Fig Tree fabric. Do you have the pattern?

Have a good weekend!

Anonymous said...

Those are awesome and the fabric choices perfect! I also scrolled down to the Love stitchery bags and fell in love with those!

Lorraine said...

great gifts.......I like the idea of using the peltex to give a bit more body to the project....and I am sure the cake will be wonderful too! Snowshoeing ...sounds wonderful....too hot here to even get out of the house...Have a great weekend with the birthday girls....!

Carole said...

You did an amazing job. I especially like the 3 ring binders. I envy gals like yourself. I can't sew a button on, isn't that pathetic? thank you for visiting my blog today. I am a little bit better, but so thankful I am ok.
Carole

Journeying said...

These are GREAT! I knew they would be. I love them both, but there's something about the strings that really appeals to me - I guess because it truly is scrap quilting and is the kind of thing done so often by the women during hard times. Not to mention it looks so great. You have a good eye for putting colors and patterns together.
Hope the birthday celebrations are fun for the girls!

Karen said...

What wonderful gift and a great idea - hmmmmm, maybe for Christmas this year. Happy weekend

Hugs - karen

Shelley said...

These are adorable - love the fabric you used too!!! Great gifts!

Quilts And Pieces said...

Hope you had a wonderful weekend! Your gifts turned out absolutely wonderful! I LOVE that binder cover! Oh I wish I had that pattern.

Nicole said...

I started a string quilt recently and the strips were sewn onto a muslin base. I liked it because it kept the strips from veering off in one direction or the other. I need to finish that project!

Tracey in CT said...

The girls are going to love those gifts! I've been meaning to make the notepad/pen holder since I saw it a couple of weeks ago. I like the idea of using the peltex in it, I think I'll try it that way.

Susan said...

Both of those are great projects! Anyone would want to receive them.

Peg - Happy In Quilting said...

Just lovely what a great idea I am sure the girls will love them.

Betsy said...

excellent gifts and great gift giving ideas.
thank you for sharing,

Liz Harrell said...

What adorable ideas! Love these.

Evelyn aka Starfishy said...

You have such pretty fabrics! Great gift ideas!!! Cheers! Evelyn