A new purse

Still can't stop making bags! This one is from Quilts and More magazine, and the directions were great and easy to follow. It's got lots of outside pockets, which are very handy for cell phone, sunglasses, note pad, etc.

Busy Weekend!

I had a very fun, productive weekend. First up, I made some cup cozies for an online swap. I made the one on the right (48 1" squares!!) first. It was going to be for the swap, but my daughter talked me into letting her have it. The second one I made, on the left, is now for the swap. The middle one is for my older daughter. She really admired the blueberry fabric when she was home last weekend.

Next up, I started piecing the baby boy quilt for the Odyssey School silent auction. I think it's going to turn out cute. I plan to applique a puppy on that empty white square.

Friday evening we went to Stitch Lab on South 1st. What a great little fabric store! I've never been there before, but I'm sure to go back. I went there to find some fabric for my Pickle Dish quilt, but the fabric I planned to get from the Amy Butler Soul Blossoms line turned out to have too large a print to work well. It did include this border print, which my daughter talked me into buying for a skirt. The skirt came out too big for her, but fits me perfectly. Oh, well!

Finally, because DD skirt didn't fit, I did manage to finish up the messenger bag that I started during the quilt retreat. This was such a hard pattern! (Simplicity #2911),  but I think it came out great. I had a bit of trouble with the zipper pocket, but we just converted it to a magnetic snap. We didn't like the webbing that the pattern called for on the handle, so I made a padded, quilted handle from the contrasting fabric. You can't see it well, but we stole the D-rings off of an old belt of mine. They are much prettier than anything I could find in a local fabric store. I worked on the bag tor 10 hours Sunday! That doesn't even count the time I spent cutting out the pattern and quilting it. I would guess that there's about 15 hours in this bag, but she loves it and I love her, so there you go.

Half-squares rainbow is done!

I finished quilting and binding the bright colored quilt I made from hand-me-down hand dyed fabrics. My friend dyed the solids, and also gave me the tie-dye pieces. My oldest daughter was home for the weekend and I was able to give it to her. I hope she enjoys it!

Austin Mondern Quilt Guild retreat

I'm back from a weekend retreat at the Wimberly Quilt Ranch that I took with the Austin Modern Quilt Guild and I had such a blast!! It was hard to go back to my dark corner of the bedroom with my tiny ironing board and ancient iron. We used the most fabulous irons by Oliso. They had a comfortable height cutting station, many design walls all around, and tall, large ironing boards. The house and beds were comfortable, and the countryside was beautiful.

I was very productive.

Day 1: Quilted the Rainbow Half-Squares, which will be a gift to my older daughter, and quilted the pieces for a messenger bag for my younger daughter.

 Day 2: I focused on piecing Sugar and Spice for the Odyssey School fundraiser,

and I started on my Pickle Dish block. This is the first paper piecing and curved piecing I've attempted. I really like the paper piecing a lot. The curved piecing not-so-much. I bought the fabrics at Valli and Kim's Quilt Shop in Dripping Springs. The ladies there were amazingly nice and patient with all of our cutting requests.

Finally, Day 3: I finished piecing the Chickens to give to my Mama:

I don't want to work, just bang on the quilt all day!

Can't stop making bags

My daughter has always had a bag fetish. When she was 2 years old, she wouldn't go anywhere without her pink, flowered purse. The contents of said purse ranges from Hot Wheels to a leftover biscuit. Hey a girl gets hungry! So, when she saw that I was sewing again, she asked for bags.