Something for Me

This another Town Purse with a Wonder Wallet to match. The purse pattern includes the eye glass case. All three patterns are fun and very simple. I've made them before and I'm sure I'll do it again.

The fabrics came from a Fat Quarter bundle. I lined it in muslin - I find it easier to find things inside my purse than with a patterned print.

I did modify the WW a bit. I omited the inner coin pocket and made an outer zippered coin pocket. I added a box pleat since I always seem to have about $5 in pennies.

Doing not Blogging

Now I suppose I need to blog about what I've done. I'll spread it out over a couple posts for suspense. You're welcome!

One of the "upsides" of being unemployed is that I actually get to attend the meetings for the quilt guild I belong to. I have to say that living in a house full of men (big and small) then sitting in a room with 200 women is more than a little culture shock! They are a great bunch of ladies though. So kind and a wealth of information. I also got roped into (OK - I volunteered) handling the raffle tickets for a quilt the guild is putting together. the drawing is to be at the show (4/2010) and the two are our biggest fundraisers. Mom is chairing the committee putting the quilt together - so there is cerainly more to come on that one!

We donate a lot of the money from the raffle and the show to local charities and we use a bit to buy supplies to make "comfort quilts". A few years back, one of our members got a call from Paul Newman. He asked if ther guild would be interested in making some quilts for his Hole in the Wall Camp here in CT. When the kids need to go to the infirmary, they are wrapped in hand made quilts and if they should need to go to the hospital, then their quilt will go too. Would you say no to Paul Newman? Neither did she or the guild.

To that end, we had a workshop/sew-in last month. we brought our machines to a church basement and grabbed our kits and went to work. I got my entire top pieced that day and it was completely done, bound and ready to go in three days!

I've lost my sewing Mojo (or is it Sew-jo?).

Probably happened the night I broke every last needle trying to serge a bunch of inserts together before camp. yeah... pretty sure that was it. Sewing microfiber is a BITCH!

As I mentioned in my ode to Noro yesterday, I can NOT cope with UFOs and stash hanging out. My entire fabric stash right now is leftovers, a few hand-me-downs and a bag of feed sack scraps that I picked up at the alpaca farm last week.



How can a quilter (which I am) pass up such a treasure?

Anyway.. with the prospect of Halloween costumes looming, my UFO list was reaching unbearable proportions.:

• kitchen/entry curtains
• mending
• 2 diapers ( between these and the pants, he is sure to PL fast, right? RIGHT?)
• "Blueprint" quilt
• "Amber" charm quilt
• Fall Exchange post cards

Colin decided to cooperate and take a nice looong nap and I got a lot done:

• Decided I hated the pattern I had for the curtains and left the fabric in the bag.
• mending was nearly eliminated once I explained to Todd that there was no point in mending shorts/pants that no longer fit him.
• diapers are done, but slightly bloody. I managed to sew THROUGH my finger tip while threading the needle. Don't worry - It's only a flesh wound!
• "Blueprint" quilt top is done. I need to decide on, then purchase batting. the quilting will be a LOT of work. much of it is integral to the design.
• "Amber" is still in pieces in the bag. I still need around 600 more fabrics (not exaggerating!) after being impaled, I had no desire to fuss with curved piecing.
• Cut out the peltex and started my Post Cards. I'll blog them after they've been mailed - no spoilers!

Bag it. Tag it.

If you recall this post, I talked about my Chelsea tote. Well, I finally got pictures.

I saw that outer fabric and fell in love. not AT ALL what I was looking for, but it spoke to me. I picked it up at the Quilt Show from Woodstock Quilt Supply. They had the most amazing fabrics! TG they aren't any closer!

I have a snap press, so I added snap closures and the key fob you see snaps to the interior of the bag.

Quilt Show recap

ok- so it was almost 2 months ago now, but I just pried the pics out of Mom's camera .

Look carefully at these two pictures (click to bigify)

Mom took the picture on the left on Saturday. Sunday, we were both working, so seh took one with me and my second place quilt. ummmm wait a sec.. Did that ribbon get up and walk away? looks like somebody oopsed and put it on my quilt and then moved it to the "real" winner. So close, huh?

It also occurs to me that I didn't upload the picture of my carrier at the show, but here it is in my pear tree

Here is the Library Challenge quilt top. My block is the one right next to the ribbon. Mom's is down one row and over 2 blocks.

Once I get Mom to take and upload a picture of her post card, I can then post the pictures from the first post card exchange - as I am working on the second exchange!

Wild Weekend

Let's see, we had hockey, Sunday School, playdate at my parents, laundry, dishes and a trip to the Yankee Quilter.

I picked up some really nice fabrics at YQ and a pattern for a purse. I also picked up a GREAT suggestion. I was telling them about my new CD line and they suggested a 50/50 bamboo/organic cotton fleece as an alternative to the hemp.

Now, the real advantage to going to a local quilt shop (LQS) is not the WONDERFUL fabrics, delightful patterns or even the fact htat you are supporting a local shop. The real advantage is the expertise of the staff. They know thier product. They know the projects. They take the time to talk you through your purchase.

I didn't know that this bamboo/cotton existed. I never would have thought of it for the diapers - it is marketed as batting. It is SO soft, SO absorbant and naturally anti-bacerial. who know? the ladies at YQ did.

Did I not mention the diaper thing? Guess not. For a variety of reasons that I'd rather not get into, I've decided to refocus and re-launch My Little Creations. I am going away from the pockets, revamping and re-launching the FunFolds. FunFolds (FF) are similar to prefolds and are worn the same way. They can be pinned or snappied. Why are they better? They are trimmer, more absorbant, softer and cuter. With this bamboo, they are also anti-bacterial. how cool is that? I am still refining the design, but I am almost there. I plan to re-launch in April with some beautiful fabrics and some great deals! here is a sneak peek of Colin in one of his prototypes:

I also picked up the pattern for the Town Purse from Lazy Girl Designs . I really enjoyed this pattern. simple and well thought out. Some great techniques here! I plan on makeing the Wonder Wallet and a briefcase version of the Summer Tote.

Christmas Knitting - 8 days to go

• 6 2.5 hats
• 6 2 washcloths
• 3 2.5 pair mittens

I haven't even started my sewing:

• 1 quilted potholder
• 2 pair pajama pants
• 1 purse (satin - I'm avoiding it!)

and my hands are too cramped for a real blog entry.