Happy Friday and Happy New Year! I thought it would be fun to start a new series of posts that will go up each Friday. I want to sort of combine two different things that I used to post regularly, years ago. First, I used to do a Friday Favorites post where I would choose nine photos from Flickr to showcase each week. Second, I used to end my posts with a little "what I'm loving right now section" which included things I was eating, listening to, watching, etc.

These posts will be a mix of sewing/crafting stuff as well as just regular life stuff. Rather than spend tons of time trying to figure out the perfect plan for this new version, I figured it would be better to just start. I'm sure it will evolve over time or it might not stick! It may also end up changing what I include in my monthly report posts, we'll see! Hopefully you'll find them enjoyable.


- My favorite (and only finished) make of the week is a lined drawstring bag. Shocking, I know! I needed an Artist size to wrap a gift in, and I didn't have any in my stash I wanted to part with. Pulled out some of my Geometric Bliss fabrics for it.

- Loving the simplicity of the Gum Blossom Quilt by Hopewood Home (found via Pinterest). The mix of prints is really appealing to me.

- These paper pieced blocks by Amy Friend are so striking (found via Instagram). I love the color she chose!

- How cool is this giant peg board in the Megan Nielsen Patterns studio? I would love to make something like this one day! Their whole space is lovely.



- The week of Christmas I got an incredible surprise in my inbox. I won a giveaway from Leckerlee! A puzzle featuring their 10th anniversary artwork and a giftcard to their shop. I was (am) legitimately giddy. I have been a huge fan of their lebkuchen and tins for many years. Combine that with my puzzle craze of 2021, and I couldn't have won a more perfect giveaway!! Thank you so much, Leckerlee.

- I made this Cauliflower Salad with Roasted Chickpeas & Quinoa by Platings and Pairings for lunches this week. This is maybe the fourth or fifth time we've made it? It's so good.


- Baked my first batch of rye bread! It turned out really nice. Soft and falvourful. I used the Caraway Rye Bread recipe from King Arthur Baking.

- Currently burning a new-to-me candle scent from KSM Candles, East African Amber. Love their soy candles. Americano is my very favorite from their range.

- I'm giving our upstairs bathroom a little facelift with some colorful textiles. I ordered the Molly Folk Floral Bath Mat, which I saved a link to years ago. Can't wait to pull it all together.

- Ordered some flower seeds from Floret Flowers this week. Excited to grow strawflowers, zinnias, and rudbeckia in 2022.

Have a Great Weekend!

December Monthly Report

It's time for the December monthly report. See past reports here.


December was full of a lot of sewing! I mostly made drawstring bags for wrapping gifts. This is my second present block bag. I love how it turned out! Here is the tutorial if you'd like to make one too: Present Quilt Block Drawstring Bag Free Tutorial


This year I really wanted to use up this Cozy Christmas Panel by Lori Holt. My Mom gave it to me a few years ago and it's just been waiting in my stash to be used for something.


I ended up squeezing SEVEN bags from it! I used a solid for all the linings, but the exteriors were all cut from the panel. I made two Everything size bags and five Snack size bags from my Lined Drawstring Bag Pattern. Feels so good to have used it up. There aren't even scraps left!



I made a some Christmas gifts, but managed to take almost no photos of them somehow! I did snap a photo of this special project. My Mom and I have been really into puzzles this year, so I decided to get a custom puzzle printed for her. At first I wasn't sure what to have printed, but ended up doing a giant vintage star quilt mocked up some of my Dreamin' Vintage prints. I used Collage.com. I choose the 675-piece 20" square puzzle, which came with their standard box. I wasn't crazy about the box, so I ended up picking up a kraft paper box from Michael's and designing my own box cover. I think it turned out pretty cute, and she loved it!


I started a new knitting project! Another pair of colorwork mittens. I'm using Emma's Ice Flower Mittens pattern. More details on my Ravelry here.

To keep myself accountable for my stash goals, I track my yardage for fabric and yarn each month. Read more about how I track here. Here is how I did in December:

December Fabric
Used up: 21.75 yard
Brought in: 2 yards
Net: -19.75 yards
Year to date: -88.25 yards

December Yarn
Used up: 0 yards
Brought in: 0 yards
Net: 0 yards
Year to date: -2319 yards

Pretty happy with my fabric output this month! I made a bunch of drawstring bags which was a good chunk of the yardage. I also made myself a coat! I'll be sure to post about it soon, but that used up 5.5 yards. No yarn out this month, but none in, so that's good!


Did a little antiquing while we were back home in Ohio. Managed to find some really nice vintage Christmas goodies!



I finally tried making milk bread! I've wanted to try this bread for a long time and it did not dissapoint. It turned out so delicious, and had the most amazing soft texture. I'll be making this many more times! The recipe is from the book Mooncakes and Milkbread by Kristina Cho*. I bookmarked so many things to make in this book.

Have a Great Month!

*Note: Any links marked with an asterisk in this post are affiliate links. This means if you click through and buy something, I make a small commission, at no extra cost to you.

November Monthly Report

We're more than halfway through December, so I think we better finally get to the November monthly report. See past reports here.


I actually sewed a lot this month! Almost all of it was drawstring bags for the sew along. I won't chat too much about each bag I made since I talked about them in other posts. I do love this one I made for the annoucement post. I just love navy background prints. They really make the other colors pop!


This is the tiny bag I made to announce the sew along schedule. I'd been saving this liberty of london quilting cotton print for years. I love it in this small scale project.


Easily my favorite bag I made for the sew along! It turned out exactly how I wanted it to, and I love the color combination. Even more satisfying is that the present print was in my "not sure if I'll keep this" bin. So it felt really good to turn it into something adorable. Find the tutorial for this bag here.


I made a bunch of Christmas bags for gift wrapping. I actually just chatted all about them in this post.



My only non-bag sewing of November was two sets of placemats. I needed a few other colors to coordinate with my stash of tablecloths. It was nice to use up some of my home dec fabric stash to make these. And now I'll be able to enjoy these precious fabrics as everyday objects rather than having them collect dust on my fabric shelves!


To keep myself accountable for my stash goals, I track my yardage for fabric and yarn each month. Read more about how I track here. Here is how I did in November:

November Fabric
Used up: 9.25 yard
Brought in: 0 yards
Net: -9.25 yards
Year to date: -68.5 yards

November Yarn
Used up: 0 yards
Brought in: 0 yards
Net: 0 yards
Year to date: -2319 yards

I made a lot of small projects this month so not a ton of yardage useage. But I didn't buy any fabric. No activity on the yarn front this month.


I did quite a bit of crafting this month! Including making around 40 paper snowflakes for our front windows. I haven't made any in years, but it was really relaxing and fun. I didn't use any templates or guides, just made them up as I went. Just used regular printer paper and my best pair of scissors.


We had a quiet Thanksgiving, just Michael and I. Made all our favorite dishes and had our traditional Lord of the Rings movie marathon. I'm actually reading the books for the first time, finally! Almost done with the first book and loving it.

Have a Great Month!

Sew Along: Gift Bags I've Made This Season

Happy Wednesday! We're done with the tutorial posts for the Lined Drawstring Bag Sew Along, but I'm back this week it share some of the bags I've been making! The Sew Along Page is all up to date with both this year's and last year's sew along posts, so that you can easily catch up!

I hope you'll sew along with us! Sew from the tutorial or the patterns:
Lined Drawstring Bag Tutorial
Lined Drawstring Bag Pattern
Lined Drawstring Bag Expansion Pattern


As I mentioned in this post about my plans, I wanted to focus on larger bag sizes this year to fill out my stash of gift bags. I plan on using these bags just amongst family, so they'll get reused each year.

On that note, I started by making two Laundry size bags, whcih is the largest size in the pattern. I used this sweet turquoise print from Flurry by Ruby Star Society* and paired it with a print from Tinsel by Cotton and Steel*. It's finished off with some navy nylon paracord.


The second Laundry size bag features this adorable ornament print from Holiday by Alison Glass*. I paired it with a print from one of Alison's Sunprint collections for the accent. It's finished up with gray nylon paracord.


This might be my favorite bag of the bunch! These prints from Christmas Classics by Rifle Paper Co* are so cute! The metallic accents take it over the top. This is the Artist size, which I honestly forgot how much I like! I don't have too many bags made in this size, I think I need to make it more often. This bag is finished with white nylon paracord.


Last but not least, I made a Project size bag. For this one I used the peek-a-boo lining variation from the expansion pattern. I love this vintage tree print from Peppermint by Dana Willard*. I paired it with this great blue plaid print from Daisy Chain by Annabel Wrigley* and a hot pink lining fabric from Add-it Up by Cotton and Steel*. It's finished up with mustard yellow nylon paracord.


I've already made a bunch of other bags, I'll share those soon. I can't wait to see the bags you make! Please share them with me on instagram @jenib320 + #lineddrawstringbag or via email (jenib320 @ gmail.com).

Happy Sewing!

*Note: Any links marked with an asterisk in this post are affiliate links. This means if you click through and buy something, I make a small commission, at no extra cost to you.