New Sling Bag

 Finished another pattern by Kandou Patterns, Retro-style Sling bag. This one is made from a green pair of Levis, plaid upholstery fabric and a vintage floral curtain. The strap is a found belt. This will be a fun one to take on my upcoming trip.

Zippers are the hard thing for me?!? Not really sure why! I love how it turned out.

Improv Quilting

 At the beginning of June, I took an Improv Quilting class in Winterset, IA.  Taught by three lovely teachers, Susan Lapham, Niraja Lorenz and Deb Cashatt.  I've been working on this piece off and on since class.  It went through a number of changes.

Yesterday I stretched onto a 24" X 24" canvas and hung it up in my sewing Studio.  I love the way it looks and I learned a lot.  Picture below show the progression and changes.

The latest of my fabric venture

 

Every day this week I have made a little more progress on this project.  Rearranging the squares of fabric in a manner, so that they flow.  And every time I add more fabric the flow changes.

All this is done with scraps of fabric that I have saved, for I don't know how many years?!?  I want to turn it into a Bathrobe.  Now I have to decide how or if I want to line it???  Stay tuned

This is our newest member "Archie".  He is quite the character. The other day we found him here. 

I'm continuing to work on making fabric.  It's been very cold outside and this has been keeping me busy.

 

Snowday sewing

 Yesterday day I spent quite a few hours sewing scraps of fabric together.  It's been fun to see the progress and how it changes from day to day.  

 

Made a couple bucket hats with my grandson Marlee!

Time gone by

 Wow, where has the time gone.  Last post was in September and here it is November?!?  I've been busy with this and that.  The latest are my little storage pods. Pattern by Beth Studley.

They're a fun little project and will make great Christmas presents.  I've also been enjoying the fall, doing a little hiking and spending time with the family.  

67 days since I started

50 Quilt Blocks in 67 days!  I'm a little behind.  Since the challenge was 100 Quilt Blocks, 100 days!  I may not make it.  When I sew each block, it is just that.  But when they're all laid out, then I get really excited.  Each block measure 6.5" X 6.5".  Not big!!  I will have to make extra and/or decide how I want to put them together.

Latest projects

 Well, I'm working on several things.  I went thru my stash before leaving Arizona and brought with me a bunch of blue fabric.  I want to make an all blue quilt.  Found a book called Tula Pink's City Sampler 100 Modern quilt Blocks.  Not sure what I was thinking. LOL. So far I've made 25 block.  They measure 6.5".  It's gonna take a lot of blocks.

Had to take a little break from making quilt blocks.  So I started a pattern by Ann Wood , called Dastardley Owl.  Went out and thrifted some fabrics and had at it.

I'm having fun with this pattern.  Made a few adjustments.  Added a belly gusset and more fabric around the face.  Last thing to do are the feet.  I will post another pic, when he's all finished.

Time flies when you're having fun

 Oh' where does the time go???  I've been busy!  And need to get back into the habit of sharing on my blog.  I've been playing with different things.  Made a clothes line basket, took a workshop with Lewis Rossignol, took a Robot workshop with Michael DeMeng, made an upcycled apron, took advantage of a weekend long free work shop with Jenny Grant, went to a wedding in CA, went to Beach, played with my dog and that is just to name a few things. 

Time does not stand still.  Hope you enjoy some of the pics.

Inspired

I recently took a trip to Oaxaca, Mexico and saw something similar to this at a museum.  Thought it would be fun to try my hand at something different. So I got out a piece of loosely woven linen and started sewing on stamps.  It was a great relaxing process and this will look amazing framed.

Taking my job very seriously

Been working on "Jake" the entire week.  LOL  What was I thinking. Revising a pattern that I designed 18 years ago?!?  Well not so much revising, but creating new diagrams.  I can't say that I like it. :(  But I will move forward.  The body parts are sewn and stuffed and today I'm working on the sculpting the face.  My favorite part, as it defines the character.  We shall see how it goes.  I'm trying real hard not get off track here. 

I have taken a couple of pics as I work on z face! 

Accordion Stitchery Book Done

Finished and in the mail!

Summer time

Summer time is always a busy time and since my studio is upstairs, it tends to get quite warm. I really haven't worked on my troll since May.  Yesterday I pulled her out because I do need to finish her.

With that said............I will share some pics of what has been happening this summer. 

I'm always making something.  Crocheting, Art, Sewing.... you name it.  I also did a little canning.  Made some yam. Attended several concerts and am just enjoying life.

Finally some shoes

Funny how life goes on and not every day is a creative venture.  Today I finally started on the shoes.  I'm real happy with how they add to the over all look of my latest Troll.  It helps if you have a good book to listen to.  I just finished listening to Anansi Boys.  Getting lost in creating and the story.  Hopefully it won't be long now that she'll be done.

Oh' almost forgot.  The shoes are made from a t-shirt scrap.  Then painted with Sobo glue, which dries clear and gives the shoe a little stiffness.