My sweet friend Joannie turned 29 (again) last week. I finally got my act in gear and finished some hand-made birthday gifts for her. Joannie has made me so many lovely things over the years, including my gorgeous Double Wedding Ring quilt, lots of place mats and pillowcases, and a wedding tote bag.
Naturally I made her a
Chubby Charmer tote bag! For more blog posts on the Chubby Charmer tote bag,
click here. I should really get a commission on this pattern, because I recommend it so often!
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| Joannie is partial to blues and greens, and I've been saving this batik charm pack for her bag for over a year. I just had to find time to work on her bag when she wasn't sewing with me in my Studio. After quilting, one of my other favorite hobbies is second guessing myself. I must have bought at least four different blue batiks to use for the trim and handles before I could find just the right one. |
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| I am the Pillowcase Queen of the Brown Baggers quilt group and Joannie is the Place mat Queen. I made her a set of golf-themed pillowcases because when Joannie isn't quilting, she's golfing! |
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| I really like the colorful fabric with the golf tees that I used for the end of Joannie's pillowcase. I even found some golf tee-shaped pencils to include with Joannie's gift. |
In addition to her two human children, Joannie is also a dog mom to Ali, a feisty little Boston terrier. So when I found this fleece blanket kit at Joann Fabrics last year, it went into Joannie's birthday gift pile. I finally finished it last month. Fortunately I did not cut a
hole in it...
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| Joannie and Ali can snuggle together on the couch and watch TV under her new blanket. |
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| I could only find one of these kits, or I would have bought a second one to keep because it was so cute. |
Naturally, we took Joannie out last Saturday for a birthday road trip. This is becoming one of our annual traditions. We visited three of the shops from our
itinerary of last year. As a bonus, we also went to the
Original Sewing & Quilt Expo in Worcester.
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| I LOVE this shop. They have a wonderful selection of batiks and tons of patterns. It is less than a mile down the road from Auburn Discount Fabrics, so why would you skip it? Apple Tree Fabrics is a must on my list. |
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| Charlton Sewing Center has the largest selection of thread I've ever seen in one place. A must for machine quilters. |
We treated Joannie to a birthday lunch at the 99 Restaurant. I had the most delicious cheese burger. Because it was Joannie's birthday, the restaurant gave her a free dessert and even sang Happy Birthday to her!
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| Sue and I share a bench while Marion and Joannie share the other side of the booth. We are all color coordinated, quite by accident. |
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| Joannie requested four spoons with her dessert so we all got to enjoy some chocolate chiffon cake. Yum!! |
The
Original Sewing & Quilt Expo was lots of fun and deserving of its own blog post, which I promise to write soon! There were several outstanding quilt exhibits there and I tool a lot of photos. I managed to refrain from buying the unbelievably gorgeous vintage buttons but did purchase two clothing patterns for some really cute tops.
Linking up on Friday to
Confessions of a Fabric Addict and
Crazy Mom Quilts. Thanks for visiting!
Pugs and kisses,
Nancy
Okay...you and your friends KNOW how to celebrate birthdays!! All your home-made gifts just made me smile!
ReplyDeleteWhat wonderful gifts and it looks like you had quite a day of it too!
ReplyDeleteI was just thinking about the pugalicious pug mom and wondering what she had been up to. You and the girls look like you had a marvelous time.
ReplyDeleteJoanie was spoilt. Say hinto the pugs from me. Only 4 months until Pets on Quilts!
ReplyDelete