What Do You Do on a Snowy Day?

You sew, of course, on a snowy day! I used my indoor day to complete a tote bag and make new throw pillows for my sofa. If you will recall, I spent quite a bit of time at the end of this past year making multiple items for a fall craft show. That left me with an unfinished project from early in the fall when my husband and I traveled to Sequoia National Park. While visiting the park, I bought some souvenir inserts for a tote bag, but I didn't get a chance to start the tote bag until just recently. I chose green fabric for the main part of the bag. 

I have made a few tote bags through the years, but the souvenir inserts came with directions for a bag. 

I used the directions to make the front of the bag, accenting the green with a couple of brown strips. Patterns are not created equal, however, so I ended up using my tried and true directions for the remainder of the tote bag. And here is the result! (To see another tote bag that I recently made, visit my friend Debbie's blog here. By visiting her blog post, you can also read a great book review.)

The majority of my sewing time today was used to make new throw pillows. I pulled out some of that fabric-in-limbo that has been waiting in a drawer for a while. I will use this fabric not only for throw pillows but also for a new valance for my family room. 

It has been a long time since I've used home decor fabric. Since I mostly quilt now, I almost always use 100% cotton. I will say, this drapery weight fabric was nice to use for a change as it doesn't wrinkle as easily as quilting cotton. Most pillows I've made recently have had a pieced front where I have combined several fabrics such as in this pillow below.

The pillows I made today went quickly since I only used one fabric for the fronts and the backs of the pillows.

Stitching the back of the pillow

Finished pillow back

It's nice to freshen the decor in my home a bit on such a snowy day. 

My next project will be making that matching valance, and maybe even a coordinating quilt for the back of the sofa will be in the works sometime this year so that I can use more of my fabric-in-limbo.

Sandpiper Bali Crackers by Hoffman Fabrics

Linked with: Wonderful Wednesday, Linky Tuesday Freemotion by the River, Needle and Thread Thursday, Thursday Favorite Things