To start things off, how do you like the new look? Its not perfect, but I think it beats the aqua background that I had before. Emilee helped me out with the banner and colors. She is the best!

I’m quickly fnishing up Layla’s birthday gifts. This weekend I tackled a handmade game of Memory and made a drawstring bag to hold all the pieces.

I have to tell you about this project. A very long time ago, I stumbled across Emily’s blog, The Student Teacher, after I saw some incredible project pictures from her on Flickr. I then began browsing around and reading many of her past posts. When I came across this post, I was completely enthralled. And then I saw the drawstring bag she made to hold the pieces and knew I would be making something similar. Layla was too young at the time to attempt a game of Memory, but recently I’ve found it is something she really enjoys.

So it became a birthday project. When I looked up Emily’s matching game, I was led to this tutorial from the Purl Bee where Emily’s game was featured. I very loosely followed that tutorial changing the size, stitching, and even the number of blocks to fit what I had in my scrap basket. I could have made more blocks, and probably will as time goes on, but 42 is what I could handle at the time. I actually thought I made 60, but I don’t know where the other blocks went.

I did not particularly enjoy working with felt and fabric together, but I did it because I had to finish it before Layla’s birthday. I was irritated when I began because of the way the felt shifted and stretched ever so slightly, leaving somewhat wonky blocks. But somewhere in my process of making them I realized that they don’t have to be perfect. Layla is not going to notice a shifted stitch here or there, and for goodness’ sake, its a childrens game that is supposed to be fun. Its a project that is supposed to be fun, and I was sucking the fun out of it, by wanted all 60 pieces to be perfectly uniform. It was not going to happen, and once I realized that, I had fun making each square and completed them rather quickly. 

Emily’s tutorials is a great one, and I highly recommend it if you are trying to figure out a way you can gift handmade to a child in your life. Find her post here and the tutorial at the Purl Bee here.

Moving onto the drawstring bag. This pattern is from Leisl Gibson’s “Little Things to Sew”. It is actually for holding handmade juggling balls, but since Layla is not yet juggling, I made it to hold her Memory game. Just like the penguin backpack I made for her birthday (which I will be featuring in my Wednesday Wrap Up this week), this pattern was uber easy to follow and came together in no time. I used some of my Kokka print I that I bought on Friday from Sundara Fabrics at the quilt show. I knew I needed to make something for Layla using this print and the drawstring bag was a perfect way to showcase it. The coral colored pink is a Free Spirit Solid (Flamingo, I think) from Hawthorne Threads. The only thing I changed about this pattern is that I chose to use the pink solid on the inside lining rather than the Kokka print. The directions called for only a half yard of fabric for the lining and outside, and there was absolutely no way in the world I could have fit both pattern pieces on a half yard cut, plus I thought the print would be wasted on the interior where it can’t be seen, so I chose the pink. I think it was a good choice.

I did mention Emily’s drawstring bag. She used the same pattern for her Memory bag, and she has made a ton of these since then. Since she has made so many of them, I knew it had to be an easy pattern, and because I already had Leisl’s book it was very convenient to whip my own bag. I have a feeling I, too, will be making more of these bags in the future.

That’s all I’ve got for today. I have one last birthday gift on my list. If I receive my fabric today, I’ll be making Layla an apron. I’m so excited! What sort of projects are on your list this week?

Meredith

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