Another Sun and Surf Tote...

My sister-in-law had a birthday, so I sewed her up a Sun and Surf Tote for all the beach days we've been having.

She told she she liked teal and hot pink - and teal won by far in my fabric stash. I added in some black and gray, and a favorite Pat Bravo print that I've been holding onto for the strap.

enjoying our Summer...

Our Summer has been filled with beach days, time in the pool, waterslides, and camping. We just got back from a 10 day trip and it was fantastic having my husband off of work and lots of family time. We discovered a great little campground with a big sand pit, nearby lake, covered eating areas, TV, and bikes for the kids to borrow - which broke our 12 hour drive into two days. Then we spent a few relaxing nights at my grandmother's hotel-style basement, and then joined all my in-laws at a campground for 5 nights. We usually try out one new campground each Summer, and we camp in a little tent trailer with the littles while the big girls tent right next to us.

Now that the Summer is coming to an end, I'm looking forward to getting back into the routine of school, and the kids are super-excited to be seeing all their friends again. It will also give me a chance to get some uninterrupted time in the office to get ahead on some of my bookkeeping work, and get some sewing done for the kids. Today we packed all the school supplies into their backpacks, so we are officially ready. And yes, I have four kids going this year for the first time! But thankfully, my little man only gets part-time kindergarten so I'll still have a little helper running around some days.

Disclosure: I’m part of theKinder® Mom program and I receive special perks as part of my affiliation with this group.  The opinions on this blog are my own.

MODKID Quilted Sun and Surf Totes

MODKID is a brand created by Patty Young. Her fabrics are bright and her patterns are fun. She has been hosting a sewalong on her blog for her Sun and Surf Tote, and since I love making bags, and could use a new beach tote - I jumped right in.  I ended up making two totes, and just cut out a third one today. This was a quick pattern, and I'm loving the results.

For my first tote, I used up two orphan herringbone quilt blocks. I sashed and quilted them, and made them into the main panels.  The little floral fabric for the sides, trim, and lining is from Wholeport.com. The ribbon on the strap is from MODKID.

The second tote used up some flowers from a panel I had in my craft room. I sashed it with one of Patty's fabrics, quilted it, and found some other coordinating prints in my stash. This tote is being donated to a local charity auction.

The grommets were super-easy to install (they just snap together), and the buttons are fun. Both can be purchased from the MODKID Etsy shop.

Tara Tank top . . .

This is my second time sewing Kay Whitt's Tara Tank pattern; this time I did a tunic length. I love how light and Summery this one turned out, and have been getting lots of wear out of it.

You can see my knee-length version here. And the pattern can be found here.