Author name: Melissa Dunworth

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Kindle Cover Tutorial – Purple Panda Quilts

5 Comments / Hopeful Threads, Remember September / By

When I first thought of organizing this project I emailed 4 people for help with ideas and organizing everything. One of those people is my wonderful friend Lyanna from Purple Panda Quilts. She is an incredibly talented quilter and designer. I am lucky to have been in 3 bees with her so far, so I have some of her amazing work! She has a fantastic tutorial for you today over on her blog for a Kindle Cover.

Head on over to Lyanna’s blog for the tutorial and be sure to leave her some comment love – she did such an amazing job!

This post is part of the Remember Service Men and Women September 2012 Project with Hopeful Threads.

Badge 3

 

A Moment of Silence

14 Comments / Bee Awesome, Bee Blocks / By

Did you notice that I wasn’t here yesterday? I decided that in honor of 9/11 I would take a moment of silence on my blog. There are so many emotions tied up in the day. I remember exactly how I found out about the Twin Towers. I lived in CA, so it was 5:52 am when the first plane hit. I worked with my mom at the time and she was already at our office. She called me in a panic and told me not to come to work, she didn’t want me to have to drive across the San Francisco Bay that day. I went over to my God Father’s house, he is a retired marine, and spent the day with him. I was too jittery to be alone, and I was petrified with my dad working in San Francisco and my mom having to get on a bridge to come home.  Every year since meeting my husband 9/11 has taken a different meaning for me. The sacrifice hits that much closer to home.  So that’s why I wasn’t here yesterday, I wanted to take the time to really think about what happened all those years ago.

The past 2 days I have been sewing like crazy and I wanted to show you some of my projects:

September blocks for Bee Awesome. Sheetal asked for Creams, Whites, and pops of warm happy colors. She mentioned that she loved mustard yellow, burnt orange and red. I noticed in the blocks she already had that a few had included some aqua and gray, so I threw those colors in thinking they would blend in nicely.

These are the September blocks for the Trust Circle of Do.Good Stitches. We were requested to make the Woven Block from Jenna’s Sew. Happy. Quilt. QAL back at the beginning of this year in warm bright colors. I hope I hit the mark!

I also joined a different type of bee and it starts October 1st. You may recognize some of the blocks below from pictures I posted on Facebook.

Each of us in the Bee are making a starter row and then we will ship our row off to the next person who will use our row as inspiration.  We were able to set basic guidelines and request colors. My guidelines are that each block include at least 1 flying goose (can you tell that I LOVE flying geese?) and that the colors are rainbow colors – ROYGBIV.  This quilt will be for the day bed in our play room so I want it to be bright and happy! I am so excited to ship it off and see what the next person comes up with and adds to it!

I hope everyone is having a great hump day!

Throw a Wench in the Works – E-Reader Tutorial

4 Comments / Hopeful Threads, Remember September / By

Hi Everyone! I hope you all had a wonderful weekend. Mine was bittersweet, I love seeing my parents but I really hated having to say good-bye to them. Our visits are never long enough!

Today my blogging friend Ella from Throw a Wench in the Works has a fantastic tutorial on her blog for an iPad sleeve.  I first met Ella as part of Sew Bee Blissful and she has quickly become a wonderful friend.  She is INCREDIBLY talented. Just check out her finished iPad sleeve – isn’t it gorgeous!

ipad sleeveGo check out her tutorial and leave her some comment love! Oh yeah, make one too!

This post is part of the Hopeful Threads Remember September project!

Badge 3As of last night we were at 33 donations, 1/3 of our goal!

E-Reader Case Tutorial

4 Comments / Hopeful Threads, Remember September, tutorial / By

Happy Sunday Everyone! Today I have a tutorial for an E-Reader Case that I designed. I have included 2 closures for my E-Reader case – zipper and hook and loop. You could easily eliminate the zipper but I chose to include it because over time…hook and loop seems to not work as well. At least it sure doesn’t seem to last long on Anne’s shoes!

The tutorial is available via PDF download. This post is part of the Hopeful Threads Remember Service Men and Women September 2012 project. I hope you will find it easy to follow and fun to make! As always, please let me know if you have any questions!!!

Sew BitterSweet Designs – E-Reader Case Tutorial

Pattern Review and Giveaway

41 Comments / Hopeful Threads, Pattern Review, Remember September / By

Hi Everyone! Happy Saturday!  Today I have a great pattern review and giveaway for you! The pattern is E-Book Reader Tablet Case by Rebecca Ruth Designs.

Image Courtesy of Rebecca Ruth Designs

I first bought this pattern for myself at my local quilt shop (where Rebecca works part time and teaches!) when Kristy and I were first planning the Remember September project. I already knew how to do pillowcases but I really wanted to make an e-reader cover. I fell in love with the fabric on the cover and it looks like something I could easily do. Here is the one I made, it is the medium size and fits my Blackberry PlayBook perfectly.

What I love about Rebecca’s patterns is that she offers so many options and the directions are clearly written.  For this pattern alone she offers 3 different sizes, 4 different closure styles, 2 different types of padding (peltex and batting), as well as directions for string piecing if you want to make the case out of scraps.

As you can see in the picture above, or at least I hope you can see, I went with the batting and quilting option. I wanted something extra padded and the batting and extra layer of muslin really provided that, my Blackberry isn’t going ANYWHERE!

I also decided to go with the velcro closure option. The other options included buttons or a strap to slide the top under. I stayed away from buttons because I was concerned about them possibly coming off down range and if you lose the closure then it wouldn’t function very well. However, in lovely everyday use, I think the button option would be gorgeous!

Observations:

  • The pattern is well written, any sewing experience level could easily sew this project
  • There are extra materials required: either peltex or batting (scraps can be used) as well as closures (buttons, cord, or velcro)
  • This is a hard copy pattern and all pattern pieces are included on one large sheet of paper. I did not want to cut my pattern apart so I grabbed my trusty freezer paper and traced the pattern pieces on there. That way I can continue to use my pattern for years to come and keep it stored in it’s original bag.
  • As an added bonus, Rebecca also includes directions for altering her pattern for size, so if the 3 sizes don’t fit your e-reader, you can make it fit!

In Summary:
I would definitely recommend this pattern for all skill levels. I was able to use scrap fabric from my stash and scrap batting as well. The only special techniques involved is the closures and Rebecca has included very detailed instructions making them easy to accomplish.

Now, thanks to the generosity of Rebecca Ruth Designs, you have a chance to win your own copy of this e-reader case pattern!
Simply follow the Rafflecopter prompts below to enter.
Giveaway open to all. Winner will be randomly selected, emailed and posted here 9/13/12. Winner has 48 hours to respond or alternate winner is selected.  *Please note – This is a paper pattern and will require shipping.
Good Luck to all!
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