Handmade sewing caddies/needle folders for friends' winter birthdays

January of 2012 I was busy making gifts for friends.  My birthday is December 24, my s-i-l on January 22, our three friends in February.  We get together to quilt when we can, though I have been on hiatus at times while working on grad school.

I let them decide who got which one, but it ended up being pretty much what I predicted, which friend would pick which one.

Inside pages are made of wool felt, to hold those needles and pins; pockets of coordinating/contrasting hand-dyed fabrics keep smaller scissors, and other essentials.

One of my favorite fabrics, Bolero, I think it's called.

These batik pinwheels came from a UFO tablerunner I got at a quilt store "garage sale" for $2.  I unsewed, then resewed into these:

The Asian print has some shiny gold in it.  I love it.  The red and gold on the bottom of this pic is the one I wanted, and the one that was left for me.  The two blocks came from a local church garage sale.

Now I have to think of a gift for my four friends for this winter!

other things finished this summer

Before I forget, I should add that I worked on some other things this summer.  Of course, I'll put up pictures of those as well.  I made two quilted totes, one for me, one for DD.  Both are made from batiks, and have to be seen to be appreciated.  Thanks to Quilts and More Summer 2010 for the pattern.

I had found a pattern for a needle holder on someone's blog, but then failed to locate the said blog again (after numerous attempts).  I finally decided that I am smart enough to figure one out for myself, so also completed a quilted needle holder (almost like a book or folder) with wool felt "pages" for the needles, and some pockets.  I use it all the time, and love having a place to put a needle (not just some random piece of fabric, not the magnet, not the tomato pincushion where they get pushed in, not the package needle came from), and knowing where the needles are.  Such joy from such a small thing.

These first two pics are Grace's bag, back and front.

These are pics of my bag, back and front.

The dolphin/fish batik was a gift from a friend many years ago.  I finally found a good use for it.  I try not to save things so much now, and rather want to make use of them.