sewing frenzy

I'm home again today, and thought I would take the opportunity to do some sewing for the mini-craft fair next week. My current project is notecards with a fun fabric center. I got the idea from a card I made several years ago, where I cut out a negative space and filled it (on the backside) with tissue paper. These cards end up looking like they have little quilts in the middle. They're a great way to use up my scrap box (which seems to be growing, not shrinking). This project also helps to justify my addiction to fat quarters.

Here are two sets of strips I've sewn together. I cut the strips unevenly so that the striping isn't even. I think this makes the cards more interesting, and makes each card unique. Using four strips seems to work best for the size window I cut from most cards.

After I have my strips together, I cut little sections for each card. I can usually get 6-9 sections from each strip set, depending on the length of the fabric. Here are a few I've already cut.

Below are a few of the finished cards (outside and inside). I hide the fabric on the inside of the card by covering it with a coordinating piece of lightweight cardstock.

As you can tell from the camera lens in the last shot, I was just too excited to get these on the blog today to care too much about stuff getting in the way.

I am still working on making little zipper pouches. The first one turned out alright, but it's a little bulky in a few areas. With my next attempt, I plan to do a little more clean-up before I sew up the lining. If I can get a little nicer of a finished product, they will also make an appearance at the mini-craft show. I can't believe it's almost one week away!