Needles and a Pen » Knitting, Sewing, and Nursing School

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  • Welcome to my blog!

    Hi! I'm Traci. I'm a Registered Nurse who loves quilting, knitting, cross stitch, and the great outdoors. In my pre-scrubs life, I owned Real Photography, and you can still see my old wedding and portrait photography site here .

    I've created a map that shows links to our camping/hiking/general family fun review posts that you can find here. It's pretty much the coolest thing on this site. Thanks, Google!

    I great big puffy heart *love* comments, so please let me know you visited! I try to always reply!

easy ipad case

I made a quick case for the ipad on Friday.  I end up sticking it in my purse a bunch and I wanted it to be a little protected as it rattles around with all the rest of the crapola I drag around.

It’s a super simple design–I used fusible fleece for the interfacing and simply made one large reversible rectangle and then folded it and stitched down the sides.  I added the ugliest buttonhole in existence (after making 4 perfect practice button holes, of course…but my practice buttonholes didn’t involve fusible fleece).  I had the aqua button on hand–otherwise my preference for this one would have been a taupe button.  Since I was making it on the fly, I erred on the safe side with the width, but wish it was 1/2 inch narrower.  Next time!

(Nic thinks this is one of the more ridiculous things I’ve made.  When I told him my plans for Friday evening included making an ipad holder, he kept asking if I was going to knit it.  😛 )

Fran - Silly NIc–it’s wonderful!

Angela - That is so not silly! i think its a great idea!! I need to make one for my sony e-reader! Did you follow a pattern or ?

montse - Looks great! And I think the button matches perfectly the fabrics.

Me: Willie, can you grab me a diaper? Ellie pooped.
Will: AGAIN?!
My thoughts exactly.

sunglasses pouch

Our guild is doing a swap today–everyone participating is bringing a sunglasses pouch.  As usual, I had about 800 ideas and then when I actually made the item I dumped all of my ideas and made this instead.  🙂

I love it and want to make another one for me (and I’m planning on sticking a chicken on one for my reading glasses wearing Nana–I love that she’s not on the internet and I can share my Christmas/birthday present plans for her!).  I followed a pattern, and all seemed to go well (I was testing it on my eyeglasses) but when I popped some big old giant sunglasses in there they just barely fit length-wise.  So I hope I get paired with someone with modestly sized rims!

Fran - Adorable! I know a place where you could see those…

Audrey - This is so cute! Where did you find this line of fabric and what is it called? love it!

Susan Phillips - I was the recipient of this sunglasses case, and I love it! I have “modestly sized rims” so the case is a perfect fit. I love the linen and the fact that the applique matches the inside fabric. Thank you, Traci!

portabello pixie gathered market bag

When I proudly showed Nic my birdie sling, his only comment was “that’s really big,” so I changed my mother’s day gift plan for my momma from the birdie sling to the smaller Portabello Pixie gathered market bag pattern that I unearthed last month.

After making it, though, in the future I’d construct it more like the construction of the birdie sling–pleats instead of gathers, and assembling the strap prior to sewing the bag together versus at the end.  It’s a cute bag, but even with its giant size, I think I prefer the birdie sling.  🙂

I included a magnetic strap, which made me feel like a bit of a super star.  Nothing makes you feel quite as fancy as adding a closure!

Fran - It’s gorgeous and I love it so very much. I am so lucky to have such a talented and generous daughter! Thanks, my sweet little girl. I will love it (and the scarf) forever. And happy Mother’s day to you, baby.

Audrey - This is really cute! I need to find this pattern.

Do you want to snuggle on the sofa and watch a mommy show with me?

Will, in an incredibly well orchestrated move at 8pm.  It worked, of course!

casserole pot holder

Putting to rest our longstanding tradition of pulling hot items out of the oven with old cloth diaper prefolds is this lovely casserole pot holder!  It’s not my most favorite fabric combination ever, but I had surprisingly little fabric left over after the tablecloth and towel extravaganza.

(No pattern or tutorial for this one–it’s easy to fake.)  🙂

I haven’t had a chance to use it yet, though–our dinners have been BBQ heavy this week–lots of fun spring meals like this pretty salad from Friday:

(2 chicken breasts grilled with a little chipotle hot sauce on top, then baby spinach, strawberries, oranges, and red onions.  Topped with some olive oil and balsamic vinegar it was a super yummy easy fast spring dinner!)

Neicee - Ohh love this looks so yummy! I must try this.