My new bag!

Okay, so I am totally in l-o-v-e with this bag! I had been wanting to make it ever since I got the new issue of Stitch magazine, but I finally had a chance to work on it over the weekend. It is awesome. It's called the "Spring Tote Bag" and the pattern is by Rashida Coleman-Hale from i heart linen. I bought a bunch of linen just for this (and I have a couple of yards left over, so you'll be seeing it pop up in more projects) but everything else came from my stash.

Except the grommets. The grommets (called "eyelets" on the package but "grommets" on the pattern) were purchased especially for this. I was really nervous about putting them in. The whole idea of poking holes into something I'd just spent time making kinda freaked me out. I actually considered making button holes on my machine instead for the same effect. But I ultimately tried the grommets. And let me tell you something: setting grommets is totally badass! I felt like a crafty superstar, pounding away with my hammer at 11am on Sunday morning.

And the results! This bag is roomy and deep and sturdy (fusible fleece!) but the straps are interfaced and hold it up well. The top really cinches pretty tight, which was a nice surprise (though I don't know why that surprised me...) Other than dealing with the shiftiness of the linen, which made it tricky to cut the pattern pieces, this was easy to assemble. I followed the instructions pretty exactly. I did stitch a dividing line down the inner pocket to make one side of it just for my cell phone. I also added an interfaced loop inside the bag for me to hook my keys on.

Have I said that I love this bag? I love this bag. 

A gift FOR me

Occasionally I realize that I make a lot of things for other people but very rarely do people make things for me (unless you count my swap quilts, which are for me but also made to fulfill an assignment). Last week I received a package from my wonderful friend Molly of Misadventures in Crafts (which is hilarious, by the way) containing this lovely iPod cozy she made. For me! Not only is it adorable and very well made, but it also saved what was possibly the saddest mail day EVER: I got the bill for Bellow's euthanasia. :(  It was still a very sad day, but this little bit of cotton and button certainly made things a lot better. Thanks, Molls, for saving the day! 

Even more fabric

Oh yes, even more... These two vintage Dresden plates came from my local quilt shop, where they were $1 each. They are so lovely I just couldn't pass them up! I'm not sure what I'll be doing with them. Maybe appliquéing them to a mini-quilt? Or putting them in embroidery hoops and hanging them on the wall? Whatever I decide, it sure is nice having them around, on top of the many many piles of things on my sewing desk. 

In April, just post-birthday, I had a little speaking gig at the school where I got my Master's. It wasn't much, but I did get paid for it (!!) and I used the money to place a big order at Connecting Threads. The books were on sale, and I went a little crazy snapping up fat quarters and half yards of fabrics from their Mama's Cottons 2 line. As you can tell, I'm still obsessed with the 1930's repro fabrics and have been amassing them at a rate that completely eclipses my sad, slow progress on my Dear Jane quilt (which I haven't even touched in nearly a year!). 

Here are some highlights from that big pile. I am totally in love with those sweet mint and lavender prints! Now to come up with a project that will actually use them (besides my Dear Jane, of course...) 

More fabric

I am nothing if not predictable, right? Way back in March I posted about a sale at Quilting Arts Online quilt shop. I went a little crazy and ordered 15 yards of stuff, because 50% off is 50% off, right?!? Unfortunately, the shop was going out of business. Probably good for me (and the Visa bill) that the package I got was much slimmer than the one I ordered and only contained what's pictured above. 

This is some Alexander Henry Aviary fabric, and it is even more soft and gorgeous in person than it looks in the photos. I'm thinking it would be great as a skirt, but I am so in love with it that so far I've just been looking at it and caressing it occasionally. Oh come on, like I'm the only one who does that?!? (Please, tell me I'm not....)

Here are the fat quarters from Denyse Schmidt's Katie Jump Rope line. Do you notice something missing? I had ordered six (and let me tell you, it's very important that I have six for the plans I have for these fabrics) but only five arrived! What's a girl to do? 

Order more fabric, of course! These two bits above came from down shadow lane's Etsy shop, which I highly recommend! I got 1.5 yards each of Anna Maria Horner's Small Gathering in sea and the blue/brown plaid to complete my Katie Jump Rope set. 

Ah yes, here they are, all together. Much better, I think. As I mentioned, I have big plans for these fabrics, but they are top secret for the time being. 

Lest you think I've only been amassing fabric and not actually crafting, I hope to have some crafty updates to share next week. It's been rough, losing our kitty and trying to adjust to the smaller size of our family. The grief sneaks up on me at unexpected moments. I've been doing okay for the most part, but I cannot think about those dear little paws or I lose it. Being at home is easier some days than other, especially on the weekends, but I've been doing what I can to keep busy. Unfortunately, everything I've finished lately is a gift and cannot be fully revealed until it's been received. I have a trip home to visit with parents and grandparents (and attend my high school reunion, which was an unfortunate afterthought) and I *need* lots of new dresses to wear. I plan to finish my swap quilt this weekend, then get going on stuff for me. I am so ready for that. 

Mother's Day mini-quilts

I'm back to blogging...again. I really do think I'll be updating more than once a week! Pictured above are the two mini-quilts I made for Mother's Day. The one on the left went to my mom and the one on the right went to my gramma. Unfortunately, they weren't received until yesterday, one day late, but they still seem to be appreciated! 

The pattern is based on the "Out the Window" quilt from Material Obsession. The birds and leaves are all hand-appliquéd using the starch-on-the-edges-around-the-template method. All fabrics came from my stash! 

I loved making these birds, and I think my favorite part was their funny legs. I just kept giggling as I was embroidering them on. The quilting is a scribbly stipple in the white areas only, and a curlicue in the flower border. I really liked making these, even though the hand-appliqué took quite a while. 

April STUD mini sent

My April "anything goes" mini-quilt for S.T.U.D. was received a while ago, so now I can post it. The pattern is called "Vintage Voyage" and came from an issue of American Patchwork and Quilting. I'm not really sure what it is about this pattern that drew me in, but after I saw it I knew I had to make it. 

This is a LOT of half-square triangles (as I mentioned way back in this post)! I had some seam-allowance issues, apparently, because even after trimming the little squares, I still had to trim the rows to get them to fit the bigger squares, and the poor little corner squares got cut off. 

Still, there were some really good things about making this quilt. I love how the colors work together, despite some of the wonky piecing. I like that everything in it, including the back, is from my stash! I also like that I did my swap quilt and my twin for me at the same time. 

I'm sorry for staying away from the blog for so long--I didn't mean to. Last weekend our kitty, Bellow, got very sick very quickly, and on Tuesday he had to be put to sleep. Our little family has been traumatized and devastated by the experience, and I feel like I've been walking around in a daze, trying to pick up whatever pieces are left. We are slowly getting back to "normal" life, but the absence is palpable and the grief is so painful. I've been working, but it's going to be baby steps back to crafty productivity. That said, I have been working on some Mother's Day projects that I hope to be able to reveal next week, and then it's on to the May S.T.U.D. swap, which is "twisted traditional." I have some ideas, but need to sit down and see if they actually can be made to work. 

More Japanese minis

I finally finished my "twin" to my March Japanese mini-quilt. I think I got a little burned out on the project after I spent so long hand-quilting the first one when I hadn't even finished piecing the second top. Also, my mom's birthday is in April and I thought it would be a good idea to make her a mini-quilt and get her started on a collection of Karissa-made minis (much like the collection I've forced on my gramma), so I had decided to make three of these. Ugh. 

In the end, I decided to just grit my teeth and knock the last two out. I opted for machine-quilting instead of hand-quilting and that was pretty huge. The stipple in the light areas is pretty scribbly, but I'm not a good stippler and my tension was okay, so I don't really mind. 

I'm glad to finally have these done. I also finished my April "anything goes" minis over the weekend and popped the swap one in the mail on Tuesday. Below is a sneak peek that I posted to the group. It should be received soon, so I'll be able to show the whole thing. 

Now I'm working on some Mother's Day minis for some special ladies and getting ready for the May STUD mini challenge. The theme is "twisted traditional." I have a lot of ideas floating around and I want to sit with this for a little bit before I decide what to do. I will spend my weekend appliquéing like mad, and also getting ready for a prom party we're going to tomorrow. Corsage and everything! I'm pretty excited about that.