Tuesday, March 17, 2015

Tree Bird Blog Hop Day 4

Neighborhood cat on our birdhouse
Welcome to Day 4 of the Tree Bird Blog Hop!



I want to thank Madame Samm at Sew We Quilt for offering this wonderful blog hop!
Lana at It Seams to be Sew has been our amazing cheerleader.

I just fell in love with the Beautiful Birds fabric line at Elizabeth's Studio and designed by Tracy Lizotte
(I also discovered the Carolina Cotton Company searching for these fabrics on-line I ordered through their Etsy shop, but they offer a 20% discount to first time customers at their website.)

Draft Catcher made with tutorial at katydiddys.blogspot.com
My first project was a draft catcher. It was created using this tutorial from katydiddys.blogspot.com. 


I added a handle so it may be hung out of the way 
when our back door is in use.


The next project was a lot of fun to create. I found this free tote tutorial by Dianne Prather at mamaspocketbook.com and thought it would be the perfect way to display these lovely fabrics.
(The brown fabric used for the straps and interior of the bag was purchased at JoAnn Fabric. It seemed too perfect to pass up.)


If you follow my blog, you know my true passion is crazy quilting. 
So, I pieced the pocket.


I framed the birdhouse panel with a stem stitched twiggy vine 
and silk ribbon leaves.

Tiny details were also added, like the little blue bird looking over a nest full of eggs.



A tiny spider dangling from its web.


Swarovski Crystal Elements Butterfly Beads.


And an embroidered butterfly. 


I may have missed it, but in the tutorial for this tote, I was unable to find anything stating where to place the pocket and straps.  This made me more than a little nervous, but I used the photo in the tutorial as a guide and centered the pocket roughly 2-inches from the top, and I placed the straps so that their outer edges lined up with the pocket edges.


I was absolutely delighted with the way this little tote turned out!
Even the back is lovely. 


The tote is perfectly sized for a book bag.


These fabrics were SEW much fun to work with and they left me very ready for spring.


The birds are already very active in our backyard 
and we are hoping more will move into the birdhouses 
a dear family friend made for us several years ago.

As you may have noticed in the first photo on this post, we have a neighborhood cat that may be hoping the birds move in again, too. 
Last June, I could hear the birds going crazy in the backyard. 
Before I could check it out, my husband called me from our driveway and told me to look out the back window. 
Three panicked swallows were frantically trying to figure out how to get to the babies in the birdhouse that our neighborhood cat perched upon. 
Luckily, he was camera shy, so I only had to take his picture and he opted to leave the poor birds in peace.

Thank you so much for stopping by! 
I hope you will hop on over to visit the other bloggers posting today.

DAY 4, March 18, 2015
Living My Dream - You are here


51 comments:

Scrapatches said...

Sew pretty, Renee! Your hand stitching and embroidery makes everything you make sew special. Thank you for sharing and warming my cold and windy night ... :) Pat

Lana said...

WOW. WOW!!!! I love the crazy quilting! That JUST MAKES that bag!!! all those little details really knocked my socks off!!!! THIS IS BEAUTIFUL!!! I love BOTH of your projects, but that BAG... WOWOWOWOWWOWOWOW!!!!

Judy B said...

I sew agree that your bag is woozer! Now if it was mine, hint hint, I would have it framed, under glass, and bolted to the wall, lol! Thank you for sharing.

Queeniepatch said...

What a fantastic job you did on your bag! I love using embroidery to add to a printed panel.
The draught stopper turned out looking so much nicer that than rolled up towel! It is even decorative hanging from the door handle!

Anita said...

Love your tote, so many details! Thanks for sharing.

Baa. xxx said...

Love your bag, especially all the little extras - spider, blue bird - so lovely. The draught stopper looks great too. Very clever.

Debby said...

Lovely details on the bag. I enjoyed seeing them up close.

Christine B said...

Hello Renee! What a beautiful tote you have created! Love all those extra details you have added... really cute! :) xx

Thearica said...

Your bag is adorable with all of the little extra details! Awesome!

I got some of my fabric from the same company but it was from their Etsy store so the 20% first time order was not honored. boo-hoo.

Elizabeth Coughlin said...

Your bag is so pretty with all those special details!

Dorian said...

Great projects. I really love all your little stitching around that bag. So very sweet!

charlotte said...

A great tote bag with so many pretty elements. I love the draft blocker too. i could use a few of those.

Sparky said...

now that is a great idea...draft stopper and your bag to boot with details awesome

Marit Johanne said...

It is a lovely bag! The crazy quilt pocket is awesome.

Vickie said...

Renee....your crazy quilted bag is gorgeous ! The details are just perfect !

Jeanie said...

Wow...your bag is fabulous! That extra detail stitching really makes it stand out... love the itty-bitty spider!

StitchinByTheLake said...

Cute, cute bag - and adding the butterfly was a perfect idea! blessings, marlene

Marjorie's Busy Corner said...

Very nice Renee!!! I love the hand stitching on the bag

Unknown said...

Love the bags..so creative

Kathy said...

Great projects. The hand stitching on the bag is awesome ☺

Kate said...

Your stitching is the perfect embellishment for your bag - love it!!

Mary Huey said...

Love your embroidery details!!

Marian said...

What a great bag, I love the detail put into it, the embroidery, the crystals and it is frustrating to realize a pattern doesn't include all the instruction.

I think you did a great job tho with the handles.

Linda said...

How beautiful! You did a great job on your bag!

Needled Mom said...

Your hand stitching on the pocket really makes that bag pop. It is gorgeous.

Mary said...

Your crazy quilting on the pocket of your tote. It is gorgeous. All your stitching is so pretty Thank you for sharing.

Laurie said...

Oh my goodness, looks like kitty is waiting on a snack. Hurry, take your camera out there.

Carol Swift said...

I love all the details like the spider, butterfly, and crystals in your piece...beautiful! Naughty cat! I'm glad he finally left the birds alone.

ChitterChatterDesigns said...

Your bag turned out so pretty. All of the cute little details add so much to it. Neighborhood kitties.... they give my little feathered friends a hard time around here too!

Calicojoan said...

You sure know how to add just the right amount of zing to things! I love your tote bag. Great idea for the draft stopper too!

♥Duff said...

Your embroidery embellishments are just amazing!

Shannon Meyer said...

I love that tote bag and the little details you added are perfect!!

Jane's Quilting said...

Your bag is adorable, what beautiful embellishments you did. your not just carring books, but the books are showing your bag off!

Mary Ann said...

I am so wowed by the pocket on the bag. It's gorgeous with all the little details and looks like it was fun to create. The tote turned out beautiful and I like the draft catcher too, especially the nifty hanger to keep it out of the way. Thanks for sharing.

Tricia said...

Renee the picture of the cat is priceless! Putting a handle on the draft catcher is smart thinking. It is pretty and functional too. The extra detailing on the bag can only make the pocket pop. Thank you for sharing your wonderful creations with us today.

In Kind Regards,
Tricia

Createology said...

Your tote/book bag turned out wonderful. I really like your CQ embellishments on the pocket. Thank you sew very much for Tree Bird hopping and participating. Creative Bird Bliss...

SuperMomNoCape said...

I love all the extra special details that you added to your tote bag!

Quiltsmiles said...

Renee your crazy quilting touches on that bag are over the top. Beautiful! Thanks for sharing.

Doris Rice, The Quilting Queen said...

Lovely projects but the hand work on the bag and the details are just absolutely beautiful!

Quilt Doodle Designs said...

Beautiful projects, you do beautiful work, love the butterfly accents. Very nicely done!

Janarama said...

I love your tote bag with all of the added stitching and embellishments. Beautiful.

Carla said...

Great ideas! Love the little details you added to the bag. Those stitches put your project over the top.

GranChris said...

I love the hand stitching, wonderful!

Teatime Creations said...

I love the idea of a draft catcher. It would come in very handy as we endure another snow storm in Atlantic Canada. Such a pretty book bag especially the embroidery design around the pocket. Nice work.

Dolores said...

I love the little details on your tote pocket. Great projects and very useful.

Ella and Nesta said...

That cheeky cat! I have had more than one cat get up to tricks to catch birds in the garden. We had to put up wire around the tree trunk of the tree where all the bird food is hung to stop them!
The details on your bag are incredible, I am really impressed. The draft excluder is a very good use of this fabric collection too!

Lovelli Quilts said...

Oh that naughty cat! We were lucky to have chickadees nesting in our back yard one year. They made quite a racket despite their small size! Beautiful project.

Siouxzq64@gmail.com said...

Cute projects. DH is constantly seeing birds that are new to him. How can you live in a house 20+ years and not have any birds? Oh cause they had a bunch of big dogs and they wouldn't come around. We seem to have an Oriole family now.

Patty said...

what lovely projects

LJ said...

Great projects! I love the bag with the fabulously embellished pocket. The vine, flowers, butterfly, etc. were absolutely perfect.

Amy said...

Love all the attention to detail and the pretty little butterflies. The tote turned out lovely.