A gift from Jeanne

Via R, her sister who decided to bestow me these books to continue her sister's handy work.

I shall cherish them and venture into projects to honor her.  I shall gift them to Jeanne's little niece in her memory.

Signature Bags

It's serendipitous how things come to be.

I like the notion of authorship in any endeavor.

It seems I have discovered my signature bag.

Here's one for the shop.

Embroidery

Grasshopper beat me to the next project on the list.

She wanted to embroider.

Good thing I had started to prepare for this new endeavor.  We did a quick tutorial on stitches and settled on the back stich.  Her smiley face hanky/tiny blanket (can't figure out what it really is) is now in constant use.

In the beginning

When I first started sewing I made these. That was about 10 years ago.

At the sister in law's house I came upon my handy work.

What fun it is to see others enjoy my creations...
:-)

Just in case

Here are more tutorials courtesy of Sew, Mama, Sew!.

That's just in case you feel like getting more stuff done.

Happy Holidays

It's not too late

I have been admiring some pretty cool projects and wanted to share...

Crochet Snowflake by Lucy

Cutie-pie by Betz White

Christmas Pees by Betz White

These will go on my TO MAKE list.

xxooxx

Progress

I have not felt much like sewing lately, but I made a commitment to myself to finish the two bags.

I have all the pieces cut and quilted, now the assembly begins.

This means one Christmas gift will arrive late but it will contain a little something made with love. Nicole will understand.

About to fly

These are ready. My birdies are being shipped out on the cargo airplane to meet their new families on the east coast.

I had a hard time with the beaks. You can tell one of these fellas has a pretty big one.

Birdies

The always creative Lucy is getting everyone into making her birdies.

I got into the groove, making nine of them.

Still not finished because these beauties are time consuming.
Guess what you could be getting for Christmas?

Sometimes it goes slowly

The strips are attached.

Two patterns for two bags. Must run to the store for some batting.

Softness

Whenever I start a project I show it to TJ who always encourages me in my creative projects.

But he wants one for himself...

I searched through my stash and found this luscious and soft yarn.

Et voila, the manly scarf.

Planning

I ordered new material for a few quilted bags... The rolls arrived. I washed, dried them, and had Grasshopper help with the ironing.

One step that I look forward to is planning the color combinations.

Now I need my client to choose one... Ready?

Candied Fabrics

Candy has a new website and celebrates with a give away. November 25 is the last day to enter.

I just love her houses.

For a wedding

For a co-worker in celebration of her wedding.

Been busy

Reading, crocheting, thinking about Christmas gifts.

Visiting JoAnn's...

and teaching the girls how to make their own ...

fleece blankets.

That and a gazillion other things I do.

Creativity keeps the spirit alive.

Machine quilting

Here she is, the finished quilt.

I love it! I loved putting the strips together.

Quilting it with a regular machine was interesting.

And the back is a relaxing, peaceful blue. Who will this be for? Check out the shop.

Wrist warmers

Always inspired by Lucy at Attic24 is set about making these wrist warmers.

Grasshopper was urging me to finish. She's into this sort of thing.

Here's an October Arizona girl dressed for school. Notice the short sleeve T-Shirt.

Inspiring people

I know a little someone who is joyful, and entertaining.

She likes blue a lot.

And when she tells you in her cute small self voice "I really like this blue", you just want to hurry up and make her something in blue.
So here it is, her blue blankie.

I am reminded

This book by Amanda Soule has me thinking about things to make using available items at home.

When the girls were wee ones I did more of that. I gathered every bit of fabric I had and made things.

This is one of those things. The fabric had a previous life.
The girls and I stopped by the park the other day and I was reminded of the value of my blanket.

Quilting a bag

At my 35th Avenue class I learned about a different kind of batting. It is sturdy and very easy to quilt.

i decided to make myself a bag, a sturdy bag, and this batting was perfect for that because it gives the piece a solid feel.

I used strips from my Fabric.com order for the outside.

And this bright green for the inside. The lining was quilted to the batting.

Two pockets to facilitate organization too and I used my new "Blue Carousel" tag.

I am learnig to be more patient with my sewing projects. I do fine with crochet, but I tend to want to sip through the sewing ones. This bag was done in stages, and now I will use it daily.

Strips and things

I purchased fabric rolls from Fabric.com with strip quilts in mind.

I layed out the strips in waives of color... greens going into blues, yellows into oranges.

You can't see the effect here, but I will post the finished quilts later.

I played around with using a different batting material and I am super happy about that choice. You see, I recently attended a quilting class at 35th Avenue store and I watched and listened and walked out of the place with some new goodies to try out. I also tried quilting with my Singer by using stitch number 16. Can you see the waviness above?

And on this Sunday afternoon, I had some coffee and cake. It reminds me of the afternoon tea experience lived my Europeans wherever in the world they find themselves. My Momma had it prepared for us on special occasions.

Sound

What role does sound play in your crafting? And I don't mean the sound of music.

What are the sounds made by the tools used in objects you create? What sound does a hook make as it slides across and through your yarn?

And the needle pushing through fabric as it secures the crochet piece to the pillow?
Natural sounds are fascinating to me... sounds that are clues and define the world around...

In the shop

I have been busy crocheting when I am not at the job or doing homework with the youngens.

This is a custom order for Renee. A scarf to wear in a state where winter is cold.

This one is for her youngen.

A pillow that brightens a room.

A lap/baby afghan that is warn and pretty to look at.

The shop is up and running. Just need more visitors and buyers who enjoy home made lovelies.

Soft all around

For a soon to be born son of a co-worker.

It traveled all the way to the East Coast.

Que bueno.

Soft and cozy

What is it I like sewing more than anything? Bags and pillows.

This white soft one was made from a remnant that I purchased , not knowing exactly how big it was and what I would make with it. I opened it up when I got home and decided its fate.. a pillow. It is a treat for someone who likes hugging soft things when sleeping ... me.

This one was a gift for Mary on her birthday.