Bags, bags, bags and a new project

Well, I finally finished the late birthday present. I'll post a real pic after I get to deliver it, but here is a preview...

Hint: Its a bag. I have really been on a bag kick lately. They are so useful - who wouldn't want a bag?!!? That's my line of thinking, at least.

The other project I've had going is bags as well, only not the kind you're thinking of...

Yep - bean bags! I am working on a set of them to use in my classroom. I have the ones you see done and several more sewn and are waiting to be filled:

I am using poly-pellets instead of real beans. I'm not taking any mice chances - oh yeah, schools have mice. And - hooray for using scraps! The ones you see so far are scraps from a quilt I made about 8 years ago.

A quilt??

Yes, I made a quilt! It look me nearly 8 years to make it too! ....Okay, okay, more like 2 and half, but still. We had some sewing machine issues - like the THREE different ones we (my college roommate and I - yes, it was that long ago) tried to use all were old and died on us. We ended up piecing the last of it together by hand, and we also quilted it by hand. It is queen-sized, so that part took a while, but it was fun because we did it together on a huge hoop as we watched Friends and Frazier (I told you it was a while ago). We were both sewing novices at the time, though my roommate had done a beautiful star quilt before (totally by hand, wow!) that I helped her quilt. We had no experience with machines which, I think, was our downfall. We didn't have a pattern, we just used blocks of fabric that I liked from the remnant bins and sewed them into strips, which we then sewed together into the quilt top. We didn't measure anything, so (needless to say) the strips didn't all line up, so it came out a little wonky, but it is still probably my favorite thing I've ever made and am most proud of. I still keep it on my bed! Here it is... (sorry for the sucky picture... the bedroom was just too messy... :P)

SO - all of that is leading up to my next project - a new quilt!! I have made one other quilt since this one, a baby quilt for my niece when she was born, so... 5 years ago. I think it was from the pattern book "Irish Chain in a Day" and it was so easy! I asked my sister-in-law to send me a picture of it, so I can be sure. I remember it being so easy and it turned out so nicely, that for my next quilt (for my baby!) I will use the same pattern.
Here is the fabric I bought for my quilt.

I get nearly all of my fabulous fabric from Asheville Cotton Co. The girls there are so helpful and fun and I can't go in without finding something (usually LOTS of things) I want to buy! If you're in the area, you should definitely check it out!