Embroidery and a Giveaway....

I spent most of the past few days setting up my embroidery machine and testing the waters on it. I may have pulled out a hair or two but I'm starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel. I think what bothers me the most is the wastage. As a quilter, I still have my mind set on keeping so many scraps. And putting them aside to make other projects. The designs are beautiful though. I'm very limited on thread to use at the moment. I only have a few for it right now. I think I'll purchase a spool or two each time I go to the fabric store :)

So here is my first attempt.....

As I mentioned above, I have a limited amount of thread and unfortunately used up a bit of the purple while trying to get the bobbin to wind properly. So this piece ended up being purple and pink. I wish it would have run out before getting to the center part. I do like the pink in the middle quite a bit.

The second attempt was a bit more organized. It also looked better so I decided to make a change purse out of this design.

Also my first time putting in a zipper. I'm sure it could be done better but it's functional :)

Here's a picture of the back of the change purse.

It's just a cute little purse but it definitely made me feel proud that I could actually make it!

I bought a pattern a while back for a tablet tote for my embroidery machine. I finally pulled out the pattern and decided to make a case for an iPad. It went over quite well and it's a project that can definitely be finished in a day. So here are a few pictures of that project.

The embroidered "J" after removing the embroidery hoop.

Piecing the tote.

The finished project. I really love this! It was my first button hole and attaching the button by my sewing machine. It turned out fairly well for my first project. Always learning :)

The back of the tote.

The inside of the tote. I love how the blue flowers are placed. I didn't plan on that, it just happened as I kept sewing the project. Very happy with this tote:)

So on to the giveaway!

So I decided that I wanted to have a giveaway here on my blog. Would be an exciting way to start off the summer and give back to my readers. Hopefully there's a few who will participate in the giveaway ;) And since I was the June TLP winner, I figured what better way to give back. So onto the prize!

This small bundle of Fat Quarters and........drum roll please.....

This Embroidered Change Purse!

 Same design as mine. This is the front and pictured below is the back of the change purse.

This giveaway will be open to Canadian residents only. The contest closes a week from today on July 8th. The winner will be picked by random generator. The prize will be mailed out shortly after the winner has been contacted. If you are a no reply blogger, please include your email address in your comments so I can email you if you win :)

So what I need from you is comments. The first entry can be anything summer related, vacation plans, sew in weekends, holiday vacations....anything about summer since we finally have it :)

The second entry is for spreading the word! Pass along the giveaway to your friends and comment how you shared this post. Whether posting my link on facebook, emailing the link to a friend, lettermail....whichever way you want to share :)

The third entry is for commenting about what project you're working on at the moment or what you plan to be working on this summer :)

And of course an entry for the readers who follow my blog. Just comment on how you follow :)

Hope you all enjoy the giveaway :)

Happy Canada Day!

Julia