Using my gifts!

I'm actually the luckiest girl I know when it comes to husbands.  I know other girls may think their husband is great, but I've never been heard of one that beats out the boy.   One of the many wonderful things he does is surprise me with gifts.  One day he found my Amazon.com wish list with me knowing.   He would find things he knew I wanted and buy them during work time at a nearby bookstore, and give it to me when he came home from work.  No special occasion, no particular reason... simply because he loved me.  What a catch, right?  One of the things I got was a book called One Yard Wonders.  It's a pretty awesome book, with dozens of easy projects.  I recently decided it was time to start putting the gift to use.  Here is the result:

A reusable grocery tote (or whatever else I want to stick in it!)!  The book's instructions were very simple, and making the tote would've been a cinch, but my sewing machine & I sometimes don't like each other very much.  I have a lot of problems with bobbins & thread tension.  Nevertheless, after and hour of taking apart, putting together, and taking apart again, the sewing machine began to work again.  And I've got to say... I love this little tote!

No place like home...

My sister-in-law recently moved waaay across the country to Oregon for her work.  All that distance and a tiny Chevy Cobalt meant that there wasn't much room to bring everything she wanted.  That means no couch, no chairs, and basically, no cozy!  To make her new home seem a little warmer, I made this sweet little pillow.   Hope she enjoys (if I ever actually get to sending it!) 

I made the letters by cutting them from vinyl on my Cricut, sticking the negative space onto my fabric & spray painting.  After that was dry, I printed a coloring page of the state, pinned it onto some felt, and cut around the lines.  I then cut a heart shape & stitched it to roughly where her home city would be.  Next, I ironed some wonder-under to the felt and attached it to the fabric.  Then I stitched around the edges of the state.  Finally, I sewed the front & back of the pillow together, stuffed it, and stitched it shut.  That's all!