Summer Treats

An online quilt group I am in traded gifts for the summer solstice. These are the goodies I received from my birthday-twin Susie.

Such fun stuff, and all perfect for me!

That flip flop fat quarter was just screaming "new purse" so I found a coordinating lime green in my stash (I have almost as many lime green prints as I have lime green shoes!).



At my LQS, The Patchwork Penguin, I rummaged through the sale room and found those darling star buttons. The packaged set was called "Island Sunrise" which made it perfect for a summer flip flop purse. I had the bamboo handles waiting for just the right purse. I combined elements from some of the patterns I have made recently and came up with this.




While rummaging through the sale room I also grabbed some bolt ends of Jane Sassaman's Floral Fantasy fabric. Wait til you see my studio when I finish! I'll get photos of the curtains up here tomorrow, and the rest as I finish things.

Attack of the Giant Dust Bunny!

I really need to vacuum more often!



Meet Clyde, my house bunny. He's litter box trained and we recently came to an agreement that his run wasn't big enough for a playful young bunny, so he now has the run of my studio apartment. The photo shows him having discovered he can get on top of the mess under the quilting frame. (I am rearranging everything, slowly, so there is a lot of chaos.)

I had to do some interesting things with cords, like the iron, and pick up the sewing machine foot pedal when not in use, and crawl on hands and knees to be sure no pins were lying around. My floor is cement, so at least they won't get buried in carpet.

Clyde has toys that he plays with. He loves anything he can toss in the air, or move with his nose. I gave him an empty plastic spool yesterday and could tell where he was hiding by following the sound of it repeatedly being dropped.

Happy Bunny!

Brassiere Redux

As I mentioned, I needed to make another shopping bag for my daughter. I made a selection of 6 or 7, so she could give 4 to her friend and keep the rest for herself. When she saw the bra fabric, she asked if I had more. She wanted to give one to her friend and keep the other.


Hey, what mom can deny her offspring when they like something she made them?

And what mom can resist a bit of a prank when it comes to choosing the lining fabric?




Obviously, not this mom!

Leaves on Leaves

It's so nice to scratch another one off the list!

I sewed down the last inches of the binding on the maple leaf quilt. I do have to make a label for it still, I always forget that step. But after a quick wash to get all of the thread bits left from all the frog-stitching I had to do while quilting this, I can fold it up and put it in the gift box.



I chose a meandering vine with heart shaped leaves. For some reason I can do heart shapes well, so I have a feeling a lot of quilts in the future will end up with this design.



Tonight I need to make one more bra bag (see the shopping bag photos) for my daughter, then work on some swaps. And take a photo of something, anything, so I have something to write about!

Almost Done

Thanks to a UFO challenge, I have made some progress on one of the quilts I have in various stages of unfinished.

It surprises me to see how gorgeous some of these projects are, and I wonder how I kept setting this one aside. Another group I am in is collecting comfort quilts for a cancer center, and I will be giving this one up when I get it finished. As much as the colors please me, I hope they comfort someone in need.

This goes on the quilt frame this week, so by next weekend I hope to mark it "done"!

Sunny Bag

I finished the June bag last night. Isn't it cheerful? I decided I needed to use it as a purse. It only has a cell phone pocket, though, which isn't enough organization for me. I made a glasses case for my sunglasses, and next weekend I will make an organizer like this one. Isn't that handy? Then I can easily switch from bag to bag to match my shoes, or my mood, or whatever!

Sunday's List

I am a list maker, are you? The best part of doing anything is being able to cross it off the list.

A friend detailed her quilting list went step by step, including sashing, binding and label. (Hey, I might remember to label quilts that way!) I am trying that now and find I get a lot more done, at least on paper!



The first project today is a new shopping bag made from the scraps from a spring charm swap last year. The red square is from the swap, and will add a nice "pop" to the softer colors.

The rest of my sewing time will be divided between the quilt on the frame and the jeans quilt. I have a UFO that has to be finished by the end of the month for a challenge, so I will get at least one step done there.

I also list the cleaning and gardening and such that needs doing, because otherwise I would forget them until I see dishes in the sink at 9 pm, or a poor potted plant withering in the early morning light as I run to the car on Monday morning.

My life has gotten rich enough now, though, that I don't have to pad my lists with things like shaving my legs and washing my hair. Not that I remember to do those all the time, but my lists are now long enough that I don't want to get overwhelmed.

Off to start my sewing!

Saturday Results

My sewing on Saturday started according to plan. I got the remaining shopping bags done for my daughter and her friend.


The lefthand three in the back were already done. My daughter has a fun sense of style, so the loud ones and the bra fabric are for her.


I then checked my list. I was supposed to quilt the project on the frame, and work a few steps more of a UFO that's in a challenge. But when I got to the cutting tabe, this bag sat glaring at me.


It contained the jeans circles and flannel squares that I had cut out over the last few years to make a quilt for my daughter.

Organizational tip of the day:
If you finish a project or use up some fabric, you don't have to find a place to put it.




It's going together rather quickly, I think. I didn't draw my squares big enough and had sewed the first seams before I realized why that was a problem. Some of the flaps might not be the same size, but this is a throw-in-the-car-just-in-case quilt made from my daughter's old jeans, so it's not worth stressing over.

On to Sunday!