PMQG Michael Miller Neon Challenge: Mission Complete!

Well, I was going to do a few blocks out of the neon selection from my last post, but after some pondering I went in a completely different and nerdy direction.

If you know me then it's no secret I have kind of offbeat interests (as if you couldn't figure that out from my blog theme), and this is no different. Leave me to my own devices and every project wills imply reek with nerdiness. I'm primatology geek and my favorite of all the monkeys, lemurs, apes, etc is the gorilla. They're badass, period.  

Any questions? I rest my case.

So, since I was in need of a new makeup bag for my purse anyway, on account that my old one is looking just pathetic, I decided it was time to give it a whirl. Here's the result...my killer gorilla makeup bag. I'm pretty proud because I actually managed to improvise the whole thing, and even popped in a zipper, which I haven't done in years. 

The front

The reverse

The interior

It's all quilted with glow in the dark thread.  Just because. 

After this, I can't wait to see what our next challenge will be! 

Lovely Frankenstein's 31 Days of Halloween: Bone Chillers Soap

 

The ladies over at Crafting Rebellion have brought us a really nice tutorial on how to make these cute little skull soaps. Personally, I have never attempted making soap, you know, ever....but this makes it look pretty easy.

CLICK HERE for the tutorial.

Lovely Frankenstein's 24 Days of Christmas: Custom Digital Camera Case

Photo Courtesy of Sophia's World

This is pretty cool! Make a custom camera case for your friends and the best part is, is that it fits most newer digital cameras. The pattern could easily be adjusted for the older digital cameras that aren't as compact. It also takes very little in the way of fabric, so you can use what you have on hand and it's done in a flash. CLICK HERE for the tutorial and thank you to Sofia for sharing!

Lovely Frankenstein's 24 Days of Christmas: Eyeglasses Case

Photo Courtesy of Mommy's Nap Time

Here's an oldie but a goodie - the eyeglasses case. Let's be fair here, most of us have contacts, glasses or at the very least, readers - and just about everyone has a pair of sunglasses. This is a cute and simple gift for just abut everyone out there and would make a nice Secret Santa gift or stocking stuffer. I know when I had non prescription shades, I just threw them in my bag and sometimes the lenses would be fine and sometimes they scratched - these are a cute way to solve that issue! Don't worry, Mom, I don't do that anymore with my prescription shades! CLICK HERE to get to the tutorial, and thank you to "Emedoodle" for sharing!

Lovely Frankenstein's 24 Days of Christmas: Pear Sachet

Photo Courtesy of Dacia Ray

This is a variation of the lavender scented sachet that is relatively commonplace. Considering you don't HAVE to fill it with lavender (choose whichever herb or potpourri that suits you or the person you're making it for), these little guys make sweet gifts, especially for the people we all have to buy gifts for but don't know well enough to know exactly what to do for them. As I've been looking across the internet for gift ideas, generally I've just seen square or heart shapes, and generally they're flat. This one is neat because the pear shape is very different than a lot of the others, and it's more three dimensional. CLICK HERE for the tutorial, and thank you to Dacia for sharing!

Lovely Frankenstein's 24 Days of Christmas: Scrappy Mug Rug with Pocket

Photo Courtesy of SEW We Quilt!

I think it would be pretty cool if someone made one of these, popped a packet of coffee, tea or hot chocolate in the pocket, found a cute little spoon to put in there, rolled it all up and stuck it in a neat mug. Bam - awesome gift, especially for office parties or Secret Santa exchanges where you don't know the person particularly well. Or maybe you do know them well and you know they drink a lot of coffee/tea/hot chocolate! Either way :-) CLICK HERE for the tutorial and thank you to Jennifer for sharing!

Lovely Frankenstein's 24 Days of Christmas: Coffee Cup Cozy

Photo Courtesy of Hazelnuts

Here's another really quick gift idea with all of the Secret Santa parties cropping up. This is really simple to make and can be made to fit any size cup, even ones with handles. I think the best part about this one is not only the ease of the project, but the fact that it is nice homemade touch to a purchased gift, and with the elastics used to keep it all closed up, it can stretch to fit different mug sizes. Cool! CLICK HERE to get to the tutorial. Thank you to the archaeologist at Hazelnuts for sharing!

Lovely Frankenstein's 24 Days of Christmas: Quilt-As-You-Go Tablerunner

Photo Courtesy of V & Co.

Tablerunners always make great gifts, but sometimes when time is as limited as it is now, getting one pieced AND quilted AND bound can be a little, well, rushed and we're all saying, "...forGET that...how's about a gift card?" (which, by the way, gift cards to The Cotton Patch make awesome gifts! Hey, I'm not one to forego a chance at a shamless plug). Well, this is a darling quilt as you go table runner, so you're hitting 2 birds with one stone here, and all you need are strips - no blocks, no squares, no appliques - just strips. You could easily make this a season specific project or something to be used any time, and it goes together in an hour or two...probably the hardest pqart is just picking the colors! CLICK HERE for the tutorial, and thank you to Amy of Diary of a Quilter for sharing!

Lovely Frankenstein's 24 Days of Christmas: Sewing Machine Cover

Photo Courtesy of Sew Mama Sew

The idea of making someone a fitted, custom sewing machine cover is great and all, but how conspicious is it to go to a friend's house and take measurements on their machine? I can see it now: your friend walks out of the room for a minute, and while they're gone, you bust out the measuring tape and start taking the dimensions of the machine. They walk back in and you have that awkward moment when you're at their machine, tape measurer still in hand and all you can do is answer the "what the heck are you doing" question with, "...nothing...just....quality assurance..." Yeah, busted! So avoid that awkward moment take the winter gloves approach: one size fits most! This simple machine cover will fit most domestic machines, and adjustments can be made for longer machines (if you know what the machine is). I know you're getting so sick of me saying this, but uh, guess what? ...you can use scraps and stash for this one too. CLICK HERE for the pattern and tutorial. Thanks to Jessie at Tiny House for sharing this at Sew Mama Sew!

Lovely Frankenstein's 24 Days of Christmas: Checkbook/Checkbook Register Cover

Photo Courtesy of Attempting Creative

All right, all right, not too many of us carry around checkbooks, especially those of my generation. But even without checks, hopefully most of use keep our check registers with us while we shop and Debit our lives away. This is just so much cuter than the basic register holders that the bank gives you. This is just another little way to stick it to "The Man" and carry your checks/check register in something cute that doesn't have the Bank's name all over it. It's another great scrap and stash buster and it's a quick and easy gift for someone (even yourself! :D). CLICK HERE for the tutorial and pattern. Thank you to Kimberly for sharing! 

Lovely Frankenstein's 24 Days of Christmas: Tie-On Slippers

Photo Courtesy of Tissue Papers

These are so flippin' cute! I have a pair of shoes that look like these and I love them, so what's not to love about these in slipper form? These are such a fabulous break away from the usual slipper style. They're easy to make, and so very versatile with fabric choice. I love I'd love a pair of these babies with some fluffy Minkee inside! This one is a little tricky in how to get to what (there are a few websites involved), but I think I've got it as simple as possible: CLICK HERE for the how-to, and CLICK HERE for the templates. Thank you to Lisa Ancarrow-Maltby for sharing your pattern with us!

Lovely Frankenstein's 24 Days of Christmas: Double Pot Holder

Photo Courtesy of A Little Gray

Some things in life are so good and so SIMPLE that they make you smack yourself on the forehead and say "Dang it! Why didn't I think of that?!" This is one of those things. It's a double potholder. It makes so much more sense than fumbling with two, and it's perfect for those awful "microwave safe" bowls that manage to get hotter than the surface of the sun. Plus, you can reuse one of those towels that's gotten ratty and you're about to throw away anyhow. CLICK HERE for the tutorial, and thanks to Jessica for sharing!

Lovely Frankenstein's 24 Days of Christmas: Sewing Machine Organizer and Catchall

Photo Courtesy of Mellebug

While this makes a great gift...I can honestly say I'd make one for myself just because of how sleek it is. I find most sewing machine organizers a little bulky and in my way, but this one is pretty slick. I love that it has a space for the pattern you're working on in there, to keep it ready for when youneed it, but out of the way. It's just another gift that's perfect for the quilter who has it all! Besides, most folks don't think to make this kind of thing for themselves, so why not do it for them? CLICK HERE for the pattern and tutorial (very well done, by the way!). Thanks to "Mellebug" for sharing!

Lovely Frankenstein's 24 Days of Christmas: Pincushion Threadcatcher

Photo Courtesy of K Quilts Studio

Here is a neat gift idea for the quilter who has it all. Fine, so everyone has their own way of doing things at home, but how great would this be to take to classes? Your pins are right there and you don't have to worrry about making a mess around your sewing machine while you're in the classroom (hey, some people do worry about those things), because there's a little bin attached for your threads, pieces of fusible, snipped dog ears, or whatever you're needing to throw away. The process of making one of these little guys is actually pretty easy and once again, it doesn't require a lot of fabric you can probably use what you've all ready got! Bonus there, huh? CLICK HERE to the the pattern and tutorial - there is amore printer-friendly version available on her page. Thanks to Karen for sharing!

Lovely Frankenstein's 24 Days of Christmas: iPad Case

Photo Courtesy of Fresh Lemons Quilts

Isabelle, this one is for you...well, and all the other lucky duck iPad owners out there. Make your very own iPad case out of your favorite fabric. You can stabilize it just about as much or as little as you'd like. What I like about this pattern, is that it closes completely - so many iPad and Kindle patterns are open on one end to slide the thing in there, and I know I'm a klutz and a nervous Nellie so I'd want this sucker to close right up. Hooray for zippers! This pattern could easily be modified to suit non-Apple pads as well as the various brands of E-Readers. CLICK HERE to get to the tutorial and thank you to Faith for sharing!

Lovely Frankenstein's 24 Days of Christmas: Scrappy Tote

Photo Courtesy of, well, Don't Call Me Betsy

If you know me you know I'm a big fan of bags and totes. I have no idea why, but I've beent hat way since I was a little kid. Anyway, this tote is a good size and very customizable for whoever you're making it for. It can be as classic as what is pictured, or as wild as you want to make it. Plus, it's another great opportunity to use leftover precuts and scraps for the decorative part of the bag. I could see my aunt loving one of these! CLICK HERE for the tutorial. Thank you to Elizabeth for sharing this!

Lovely Frankenstein's 24 Days of Christmas: Fabric Gift Boxes

Photo Courtesy of Geta's Quilting Studio

This is from one of my favorite blogs, Geta's Quilting Studio. It's done by a gal in Romania and I just love her projects! She has a great way to use up your leftover pieces of stabilizer (even the heavy duty stuff) and scraps to make these sweet fabric boxes. They're perfect for gift-giving, or just to spruce up your sewing area or home while being practical at the same time. CLICK HERE to get to the tutorial. Thank you to Geta for sharing this!

A quick project does the soul some good.

I have been SUPER stressed lately...I know, what else is new...but moreso than usual. I haven't had time to think much less sew, so needless to say all work and no sewing has made this girl rather dull. So apparently Mom took notice and hucked some fabric at me and a pattern and cried "mush!"

...actually she said something more like, "here, make this apron!" So I did. It took me 2 days, and that's only because I ran out of Bottom Line. Rat butts! Otherwise it probably only would have taken a couple hours, no biggie. The pattern is very easy and makes up real nass.

The Bistro Betty Pattern, by Busy Bee Quilt Designs. Included is the pattern for Barbecue Bob (not kidding!)

My roomate Lauren showing off the apron. But wait...

Oh yes...this baby is reversable with pockets on both sides!

Man I wish it fit me as nicely as the girl on the pattern! Still cute though :-)