Sally Said Sew

I wanted to make fleece blanket for a friend and found this great tutorial at Pieces by Polly . It requires no sewing and I really liked the braided edge finish rather than tons of knots. There is only one small knot in this method. Most of the time making this double layer blanket is spent cutting it out. I used two yards of 58/60" wide fleece. You cut 2" tabs around the entire edge of the blanket plus 2" cutouts in each corner.  Then using a crochet hook or a paperclip as shown in the tutorial, you "braid" the tabs together. My finished size is approximately 68" x 56". It took me about two hours to complete it. I forgot to take pictures of the first blanket I made that went to a friend. It was made from Arizona Cardinals fleece backed with a solid black backing. I had to disinfect my cutting table afterwards since I am a Seahawks fan, LOL! But I managed to get pictures of the second blanket I made using Seahawks fleece and a coordinating bright

Here is what I have been up to since my last post. I was chosen as a pattern tester for Clobird Designs . What a fun experience although I will admit my bag did not turn out as well as I hoped for. There was a revision to the pattern that I missed that made a huge difference in the finished product. Live and learn. It is a great pattern however. I made the Serena version with the thinner strap. Serena Front Serena Back Pocket Serena Interior I quilted a top for my mom. This Florida Gators quilt was a gift to my Uncle Bill. I have also been having a blast with raw edge batik applique work. For the September Doll Quilt swap, our theme was Halloween. This little one is 12" x 12" in size. "CK on a Pumpkin" Quilt Back Here is the quilt I received from Lisa in the exchange. Another black cat! Lisa' Quilt and Goodies My sister and I also make tea towel aprons. Quick and easy! And finally, a new addition to my sewi

Between job hunting, a long overdue vacation to Colorado Springs and then the recent wildfires in Washington which resulted in us being evacuated, I have been doing some sewing. Here are some of my recent projects. For my Aunt Sally Runaround Bag in Skylines Fabric Doll Quilt Swap Front Doll Quilt Swap Label For my friend, Lori

Have I said how much I love the Rescue Me line of fabrics from Windham? Well, I do! I have a few yards of their cat and dog panels and have been thinking on how to use some of it. The free pattern for a tote online was too large in my opinion. I also did not care for the construction of it. Time to sit and think. Here are the results of my design session. Sling totes! Cat Version Dog Version Each tote is 9" wide by 13" tall by 3.5" deep. The polypro webbing handles are 1" wide by 52" long so you can sling it over your shoulder and go! Each tote is lightly quilted using a thin 80/20 batting. The cat version features a red handle and the red and black paw print fabric for the lining, and the dog version has a black handle and a black and white bones lining material.   These sling totes will sell for $24 each plus shipping.

Here are some recent custom orders. Fiona Wallet - Floral Exterior - All Quilting Cottons Fiona Wallet - Floral Interior Fiona Wallet - Scotty Exterior - Quilting Cottons & Vinyl Flap Fiona Wallet - Scotty Interior Seattle Football - 12th Man Pennants - All Quilting Cottons

I actually have a few items for sale. Click on the "Shop" tab for more info. Right now I am only accepting PayPal payments (unless I happen to know you personally). If you have any questions, please email me.

Now that I no longer have to travel for work, I opted back in on the Doll Quilt Swap for June. This month's theme was "Patriotic". I own a quilt pattern by This & That called Sideways & Byways . One day I will make this quilt, but for now, I thought the block pattern would make a cute mini quilt. "Sideways & Byways" Quilt Pattern Here is my block in a red, white and blue theme. I stitched in the ditch to quilt it. For the red, I used a fabric printed like a bandana. It's an all-American print for me since it reminds me of cowboys. Finished size is 18.5" x 18.5". "Blues & Bandana" Quilt Backing This was a very easy block to make. The pattern is well-written and easy to follow. I highly recommend this pattern.

Three custom ordered totes for tote bags shipped this week. These are made from my pattern and feature four exterior pockets, two interior pockets and a canvas/duck cloth bottom for durability.  Horse Totes Dogs

My travel schedule the past several months has kept me from my sewing machine. I have done a few things, but not much. That is about to change in a serious way! My current job was supposed to be for twelve weeks. That was 31 months ago! We finally found a suitable candidate for my job and I have been in training mode the last few weeks. After the second week in June, I am going to have lots of time to sew and sew and sew some more. One of my goals with the change in job status is launch Sally Said Sew into a home-based business. I still have several things that need to occur to make it a reality, but I am working on checking those to-do's off one by one. One thing you should notice immediately is that it no longer shows blogspot.com in the website address. Yes, I have registered sallysaidsew.com! I have to start somewhere. I will be debuting a storefront, either through Etsy, Facebook or some other format, to sell the things I make in the coming weeks and months. I have a fab

I got back into the doll quilt swap for the month of January. Once I got through the Christmas rush, I knew I should have time to make a mini quilt. My partner this month was Amy P. from Wisconsin. I knew her favorite colors were red and teal and that she did like modern quilts. I'm not sure the one I made is truly considered modern, but I like what I came up with. "Spool Sisters" When I quilted it, I did a meandering all-over stitch to represent a piece of loose thread. Then I did a tighter stitch pattern on the large spool to represent the thread wound on it.   Stitch Detail I finished it off with faux piping on the binding. I adore the quilt I received from Amy! She stepped out of her comfort zone by making a modern quilt with appliqued hearts. I Heart This! Amy was really clever with her quilting stitch. She used a zig zag pattern that she said reminded her of a heart beating.  Stitch Detail This is a perfect little quilt just in time

My fabric fast lasted all of FOUR days. FOUR!! I was doing so good up until I left on a business trip and found myself sitting in the airport looking at Facebook when beautiful fabrics started showing up in my feed. "Don't do it," I told myself. And then there was Lulu. I have a few pieces of yardage and a charm pack of Moda's Lulu by Chez Moi stashed away for a quilt project. I love the brightness of this collection. It was one of those cases when you walked into the quilt store you had an immediate liking of the fabrics. I found a couple of yards on sale of two Lulu prints on sale. How can you resist these? I can use these in the quilt I will be making. It's not a UFO, yet. I would like to start on this quilt sometime this year. I still am making an effort to watch my buying but it is hard!

Happy New Year to all! I am going to try something different this year. Last year, I spent time and money building my fabric stash. I knew that eventually my job would come to and end so I bought fabric while I still had the funds to do it. I am still employed but expect that to change in the coming months. My job was only supposed to be temporary but that was over two years ago! This year, in anticipation of the pending change in income, I am putting myself on a fabric fast. Yep, no buying of fabric. I must use what is in my stash. A fellow quilter and I have challenged ourselves to do this. She who breaks first owes the other a yard of fabric. It started out in jest, but honestly, I need to do this. My stash is healthy and I do need to start using what I have on projects. We have one agreed upon deviation and that is to buy fabric that will be used for animal shelter donations (see my previous post on a tote bag I made). Speaking of projects, I am also challenging myself to