{zakka style sew along} week 7 : a French weather primer a.k.a. rainy day mug rug

I've been dying to make this project for weeks ... 1) because I know by my calculations of when each week would happen that the school year would be almost done; and 2) because as soon as I saw the project in the book, I knew exactly how I would make it.  I saw the super cute little rainy day mug rug and knew that it needed something ... a face.  A cute face, with French knot eyes. 

So, I made a whole set of them.  There's a reason for the faces, and the phrases : as a French/Spanish teacher, whenever I teach the weather, I have this strange need to draw cute little faces on the clouds, the sun, etc, along with the phrases that they represent.  My "wind" face has a little circle mouth with swirls of wind coming out, but he didn't make it onto these mug rugs.  Instead, I have the question in French, "Quel temps fait-il?", or What's the weather like? 

His friends are "il fait beau", or it's beautiful;

another happy little guy is "il neige", or it's snowing;

and "il pleut" (it's raining) always has that little smirky face.  Why?  I bet you can guess which weather I like the least!

I backed the fabric with a random Eiffel Tower print I picked up, which I think reflects the gray wording on the front side.

One fits in perfectly with the sunny afternoon we've had here in Colorado today. 

Quel temps fait-il chez vous?  

{zakka style sew along} week 6 : itty bitty quilted magnets

I have to admit that there are two things I'm really enjoying about the zakka style sew along :  1) that I've been challenged to do something I wouldn't normally spend my few crafty hours doing each week; and 2) that seeing all of the creative wealth of the other people who are working on the same projects has really pushed me into looking at my projects in a more creative way, as well.  This week's project, the itty bitty magnet project, was no exception!  With that, here are my little guys :

I generally don't care to make itty bitty things, though they are super cute.  This week's project definitely falls into that category : really cute, but not something I would generally make.  With that in mind, I finished three of the magnets, rather than all six ... and perhaps when I have more time this summer I'll revisit this project and make the rest of them. 

I used some Amy Butler Midwest Modern scraps that I have from another (unfinished) project.  After painfully finishing the open seam on the first magnet by slip stitching it closed, I opted to go for the cheater method on my other two magnets : I simply sewed it close to the edge with my machine.  The magnets are now happily residing on my fridge, next to some fabric covered magnets I made a while back.  They're happy together! 

{zakka style sew along} week 1 : Eiffel Tower Tote

I'm back with another finished object from the zakka style sew along ... my zig zag tote!  I know that I'm just a tad late on posting about this, as it's the project from week 1 and we're now on week 5 ... but, I'm in good company, as well as using the excuse that my book arrived during week 2.

As usual, I used poor woman's linen (denim salvaged from my local thrift store).  I found two contrasting cotton prints that would coordinate with the lining fabric I used, and I managed to stick a pocket onto the back of the tote.  (I really love to use original denim pockets on projects!)

For the lining, I broke out an old 1/2 yard of Japanese linen printed with an Eiffel tower scene from my stash that I'd been hoarding for no reason whatsoever ... it's definitely a good thing to be using up my stash in this sew along.  Now, instead of sitting on my fabric shelves, I have a fashionable Eiffel Tower Tote ... just the thing for a French teacher, n'est-ce pas?

If only I could figure out a way to take the tote with me to Paris one day soon ... we'll see if I can work on that!