Tonality Designs

Happy Birthday Purse & Keychain

It's been since January that I posted and I really owe you guys more, but I've been really busy with some new business opportunities. Any who, my cousin Marisa turned 16 this month - yeah Marisa! For her gift, I made her a purse and, in honor of the Sweet 16, a matching keychain. I found both of the patterns online and both were FREE. Fabric was found at my favorite fabric store - Michael Levine in downtown LA. Both fabrics are Amy Butler - who just so happens to be from my hometown of Granville, Ohio. I always gravitate to her stuff. Below are the links for the patterns, both are really easy. The purse only takes a couple hours and the keychain is super quick.

Purse Pattern: Buttercup Bag by Made by Ray

Note a couple of adjustments: Make sure you use Interfacing to make the purse more durable. For strap, cut the piece 4 inches wide and then fold in 1 inch on both sides and then fold in half - this will make the strap more durable.

Keychain Pattern: Fabric Keychain by U Create

Fabric Flower Creativity Boost!

One of my good friends is getting married and she recently sent me a link to some DIY Fabric Flowers (pictured above) from Martha Stewart Weddings. She asked me if she thought we could make the flowers for her seating cards for her wedding and I said, "Yes, please!" The Martha article actually shows 32 paper and fabric flower ideas. Of the 32 designs I've already done all of the paper and ribbon designs and only the most simple of the fabric flowers, so I've decided to gather all the fabric flower projects I've been dying to try in this blog post. Hopefully it will act as inspiration to you and will get me motivated to actually try one or two of the designs out.

First, the Martha Stewart Fabric Flowers which I believe may have been inspired by Emersonmade (pictured above). I originally blogged about Emersonmade on my birthday, suggesting to my friends that one of her handmade flowers would be the perfect birthday present! This weekend I hope to try my hand at these handmade peonies and roses. 

 

Second, I just love embroidered pillows, so these 3D felt pillow designs from Amy Butler and Anne Kyrrö Quinn are just beyond perfect in my book. I think I've wanted to make the Amy Butler Snow Mum Pillow for over a year now,  Download Snow_Mum_Pillow .  As for Anne Kyrrö Quinn's pillow, thank you How About Orange for blogging about the free tutorial available here on Etsy.

And because the web has endless inspiration, here are some links to some other fun finds. For instance, I found the blog Kinda Wonderful where she posted about 31 Crafty Flowers in 31 Days.

And let's not forget my love of Heather Bailey's fabrics and I've found her patterns prove to be just as great. Try her Pop Garden Scrap Flower and La Fleur Debris.

Also check out these fun patterns: Calamity Kim: Fold & Twist Fabric Flowers; The Artful Crafter: Flowers from Fabric Remnants; Molly Chicken: Fabric Flower Tutorial

So have fun flower crafting. I'm thinking there is definite party decor potential here for table runners, centerpieces and maybe even invites. I'll post my creations soon...

Creativity Boost: DIY Coaster Projects

Today I thought I'd share with you some creative DIY coaster projects. I've actually done two of the three (my Criss-Cross Coasters pictured). Once I learn how to knit I'm so doing the Calla Coasters by Purl Bee.

• Quilted Coaster Set: From "Last-Minute Patchwork and Quilted Gifts" by Joelle Hoverson, I highly recommend this book, but you can get the coaster instructions for free via Martha Stewart. Very simple, but takes time to quilt. 
• Criss-Cross Coasters: From Allsorts. I created these in under 1/2 hour. Such an easy gift. Recently I made a set of 4 with a matching book cover as a gift (pictured).
• Calla Coasters: From Purl Bee. I LOVE these, but must learn to knit and crochet. I also want to make "Granny Squares" and use them as coasters. I'm planning to take a class this summer!

So go on and be creative!

Thanks to Quilts Around the World

I had the pleasure of meeting a group of women who meet regularly at WACC (Whittier Area Community Church) to make quilts for those in need here and around the world. It's only a small group of women, but last year in only 6 months they made over 140 quilts. I was lucky enough to get to start one of the quilts and will be finishing it and starting a second shortly. So fun and beyond rewarding knowing that it's going to someone worthy of a little love. Thank you WACC ladies for setting the example at putting creativity and crafting to good use!

Plus look below at the neat trick I discovered while at the church! Any serious crafter knows the need for a tall workspace, but sometimes you're stuck with a fold out table. Well, I never thought to use four 12" pieces of PVC pipe to extend the table legs! So clever and the perfect height for a work surface. My back and I are in love with PVC pipe today. And I haven't even mentioned how perfect it will be for creating a make shift bar for a party. All I'll have to do is sew a custom table cloth and voilà. Ahhhh PVC, where have you been all my life?

A Booklover's Dream

Do you hate losing your page when reading? What about losing your page even when you have a bookmark because your bookmark falls out? Well, my mom, aunt, sister and I hate it so we set out to solve the problem one afternoon. The end-result—fun and stylish Bookmark Covers. The reversible Bookmark Covers fit any standard size paperback and simply can't fall off. We also made a similar cover for standard size hardcovers and library books. A perfect gift for any booklover.

My Current Side Project Equals My First Quilt!

So yes, I finally decided to try my hand at making a quilt. I've been helping my mom and aunt pick out fabrics and designs for their masterpieces for years, so it was only natural that I would finally catch the quilting bug.

The inspiration fabric came from the Amy Butler collection. I fell in love with the large floral print with the contemporary treatment of lines and dots. Add to that the yellow and gray colors being such a subtle and sophisticated combination, I just had to make it into a quilt. When designing the quilt, I wanted it to stay true to the main fabric, keeping it mostly gray and white with only touches of yellow. And so, here you go Mom! I've completed my first 16 blocks.

It's not perfect by any means, but isn't that one of the reasons we love quilts – the imperfections. I can't wait to finish it off. The design calls for adding a ruffle-edge instead of the typical quilt binding, so that should be fun. Plus I think I want to add a small border around the edges to frame off the quilt blocks and make the quilt a little larger. Current size is 48 x 48. And I've decided to use the inspirational fabric for the back - I mean it might as well be showcased.

I'm really enjoying the simplicity! I hope this inspires others to try their hand at something new.