It's Amazing

Well, my daughter is home from school and it has been fun spending time with her.   I haven't had much time to sew and I don't mind it at all...for the time being anyway.

We will be celebrating my nephew's college graduation.  As I mentioned, I made a large (86" x 70") quilt for him.  I tried to make it as masculine as I could, but I cannot and will not stay away from the brights.  He is a really good kid and I hope he likes it.

The stars you see in the center of the sashing is fairly easy to do and I like the way they turn out, I think it adds to the quilt.

What Have I Been Up To?

I have been busy quilting using my New Joy Quilting Frame.  It has been a learning experience and I am enjoying it so far.  There are quite a few graduations so I am trying to get ready for them.  I will post the pictures of the quilts once I have given them to the recipients. 

I have also been working on a new bag which I will post a picture of when I am finished.  Hopefully, it will be very soon.

On another note, I think I started working on a quilt that I have wanted to do for a while now.  It is similar to a Dear Jane quilt.  I borrowed the book from the library to see if it was worth investing in.  While I was browsing through it, I decided to try a few blocks.  I am using 30's reproduction fabric (have been purchasing them for a little over 4 years).  Here is what I have done so far...

Here are what my piles look like, stash on left and leftovers on right.  Believe it or not, I use the leftovers.

It looks pretty neat, huh?  It is usually a mess and I can never see anything unless it is on top.  It only looks clean because I had to clear the table to take the picture of the blocks.  In a few hours...or minutes, it will be complete chaos again.  I can't complain though, it seems to work for me.

Notebook Cover, Humbug?, and a Coin Purse

I had some of this fabric left over after sewing a few handbags and was wondering what to do with the scraps.  I always have a notebook in my handbag, but it usually gets messy.  The pages get torn out or the pad bends.  So, I decided to make a cover for it.  Here is what I came up with.

I put a snap closure and on the inside, I added a holder for a pen/pencil.  This way, I never had to search my bag...I will always know where to find one.

And since I still had some leftover, I made a semi-Humbag bag (I think that's what it's called).  I call it a semi-Humbag bag  because I did not have the instructions for the bag.  I was watching friends make them at the last firehouse get together and decided I would try to make one based upon what I saw.   Here is a picture of it.  I think I may have made it upside down, not too sure and I don't think it matters.

And I still had a bit leftover, so I decided to make a really small one.  However, I did try to correct my mistake and hopefully this is the right way.  Although it is very small (3 1/2"x 2"), it would do nice for a coin purse. 

That's all for now.  It is nice and sunny here, hopefully I can get out for a bit.

What's Going On?

So I was all caught up with my UFO's a few months back.  Well, now I look at my list and find that I am currently working on 17 projects (handbags and quilts).  Am I nuts?  I see projects I like and instead of putting them on a list, I start collecting, cutting, sewing, etc.  I know I should just work on one project at a time.  Unfortunately, that does not work for me. 

This past week end we met at the firehouse.  I decided to work on one of the many projects, Seeing Red from QNM June 2000.  I have to make 252 Drunkard's Path blocks.  So far, I have completed 154...yay, only 98 more to go.  Here is a picture of 4 completed blocks sewn together.

Cute Little Shoulder Bag

I have been busy sewing a few bags, here is my latest:

I named it the Flora.  I love the colors...It is not very large, but it can hold all your essentials.  I finished it with a purple bias binding and used a button closure.  Of course, the button is covered with the same material as that of the bias binding.  I had purchased the gold rings and have been eagerly waiting to use them on my handbags.  I think it worked well on this bag.  Now on to the next handbag...

Happy Mother's Day to all!  Hope you are all spoiled wrotten.