Urban Home Goods

Tonight I'm playing catch-up if you can't tell!

In addition to Spicing Up the Kitchen I'm also participating in the Urban Home Goods flickr swap and wanted to share some photos of my finished projects I'll be sending my partner.

My partner really likes Anna Maria Horner, Joel Dewberry, and Denyse Schmidt. I tried combining patterns from all three designers to make a fun and funky gift my partner could use for sewing or every day life.

I selected these fabrics and tested the waters on flickr but my partner was very silent. It's hard to go wrong with these designers and I really liked the look of these colors together so I went with my gut and continued using them for her projects.

The first item I made was a market bag using this tutorial from Rosy Little Things.

 

 

 

 

 

It was totally worth the money I paid for the pattern and I will definitely be making more for myself! The one modification I did make was adding another little pocket on each side for business cards or other little things. What's great about this pattern is you can really make it your own!

Next, I decided to make the pincushion from Anna Maria Horner's book Seams to Me which was an ambitious undertaking to say the least. If I make this pincushion again I will use a more rigid interfacing for the center tube and leave two openings for stuffing the fiberfill in. It was pretty difficult going all the way around to the back of the container. I am still not completely happy with it but after ripping it open and adding some more batting it wasn't so bad. Here's a peek:

 

The only modification I made was to hand sew some hexagons on around the outside of the pincushion. I just like the way they look but she can also use them to organize different pins.

The last little something I made for my partner is a matching needle keeper for her tote bag. I wanted her to have something small to keep a few needles, pins, hem clips, and a seam guide for when she's traveling with her works in progress. The center portion is lined with template plastic to keep the needles poking through the other side and padded with some wool scraps I had leftover from making the Portable Tea Party set for Gracyn.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The needle book folds in thirds and Velcros together. I added a little hexagon to the front in keeping with the theme and also because I love them. Hopefully my partner will enjoy all three of her gifts and appreciate all of the little details!

Happy Quilting!