Cosmetics bags and a patchwork basket

We miss our Tennessee neighbors, the Marshalls, something fierce.  They were more than just neighbors or friends, and we will never have neighbors like them again.  Faith Carol still sends care packages to Charlotte and Peter, and I decided it was high time we sent her one back with some goodies for her whole family.  I finished these a few weeks ago, but a spring break road trip and general sloth prevented me from posting about them until now.

I was lucky enough to have won a giveaway through the awesome blog Sew Like My Mom (how hilarious is that name?), which included my choice of several patterns from Cozy Nest Design.  I had a really hard time picking between her innovative and adorable designs, but the one that I absolutely fell in love with was the Sweet Escapes Cosmetic Bag.  It's so retro and unexpected!  Like all southern women, Faith Carol loves her a monogram.  I experimented with some iron-on vinyl and came up with this:

How ridiculously cute did this turn out (if I do say so myself)?

I like that it opens up really wide.  You could fit a ridiculous amount of cosmetics in here.  Maybe even a travel hairdryer, too!

The elasticized pocket inside is very cute, but I had a hard time getting it to stay straight while I was sewing it on.  Let's hope FC doesn't notice that.

Here is a shot of the bag next to a very helpful cat.  He looks like he's contemplating whether he would fit inside.  No, Pacey.  Please stay out of the bag.  There is Peltex inside the bag, and it did kind of feel like I had wrestled an alligator by the time I worked my way through a few of the tricky parts.  The result was totally worth it, though.

To coordinate with the cosmetic bag, I sewed up a different one of the patterns from Cozy Nest Designs as well.  This is the Petal Pockets Cosmetic Bag, which I have actually sewn before because it is offered as a free pattern and tutorial on the CND blog.  This would be perfect for corralling the smaller cosmetics inside the big cosmetic bag.  I'm dying to try the larger Petal bags that coordinate with this little zipper pouch.

I lined the pouch with the polka dot material instead of selecting a third coordinating fabric.

And for Alicia, I sewed a version of Pink Penguin's Fabric Basket with slightly different piecework and a bit bigger dimensions.  For this, I used fabric that I also won through the Sew Like My Mom giveaway -- a jelly roll of Robert Kaufman polka dot prints I bought with the gift certificate I won from the Fat Quarter Shop.

I lined it with a scrap of home decor fabric left over from making the fabric storage bins for my mother-in-law.

For David, we sent some tire valve stem caps (or whatever they're called) with Ford Mustang logos on them, because David recently bought himself a Mustang (though a different year than Corey's Mustang).  For Dan, we sent lots of candy.

We love and miss all of you Marshalls, and we can't wait to see you this summer!!!