Monday, March 3, 2014

A New Purse -- Finally!

My old purse had gone through its paces – from Chic (or as chic as I’m going to get, which is to say – not very), to Shabby Chic, to just plain old Shabby. It served me well, but its day in the sun was done.

So, here we go:

Oh, I really like that. I used BasicGrey’s Little Black Dress 2 with Pink Chalk Studio’s Mail Sack pattern. (I made up the MIni size).

It’s the exact same pattern I used before. I really did love that purse down to its shabby bones. But now, after a little bit of tool and gadget love, I’m back in business. I used the GO! to cut the two inch squares. I used Pellon’s fusible grid interfacing to sew up the patches.

Here’s the grid:

Here’s the grid with the patches laid down:

The first set of rows sewn:

And the second:

I love working with Pellon’s fusible grid. It makes piecing go so fast!  I showed how I used it in previous blog entries.  If you’re interested, you can find the tutorials here (the square grid) and here (the on-point grid).

I used fusible fleece for body. Since the purse has darts, I cut out the wedges so there would be less bulk:

Meanwhile, here’s a close-up of some of the buttons that I added for a little bit of interest – also because I love buttons and it’s nice to get them out of the button box!

One last shot, the inner pocket:

I’ve made up some more Civil War sampler blocks, too, but I’ll save those for another day.

Meanwhile, I’m off with my new bag to go be chic (ha).

Monday, February 17, 2014

More Civil War

Apparently I am a woman on a mission. During my spare moments, I work a little more on the Civil War sampler. So, here are the next three of the sampler blocks.

This third block is not in the Civil War Sampler book. I’ve almost run out of the ones from the book that I’m going to make, so most of what I do from here on out I’m pulling from BlockBase. This one is number 2179 or “Double X.”

Besides getting to work with these lovely fabrics, I am also feeling very lucky on the weather front these days. Nothing like the weather we’ve been having lately (and parts of the country are currently having!) to make you really appreciate some warmer temperatures. In a little bit, I’ll be heading out for a walk with Mr. Cooper and my own true love (who is off for the holiday). After that, I’ll only be wishing I’d be going back to the sewing room. Instead, it’s that time again: grading, grading, grading. (Bah).

Still, pretty fabrics, pretty blocks. I’m a happy camper.

Saturday, February 15, 2014

More Progress

Creeping along on the Civil War sashing. So many more to make, but, hey – progress.

I have twelve more of the actual sampler blocks to sew up, but I’m going to replace a good number of the ones from the book with blocks I’m finding in BlockBase. Inset seams? Nah. Applique? Uh, NO. It will still be a great quilt. (I hope).

Today? Some fun sew time with my sister. Which is as good a way to make it through this chilly winter as any, I say. (Is it Spring yet?)

Saturday, February 8, 2014

Bit by Bit

Well, it has been cold. When I opened the curtains in my office the other morning, this is what I saw.

Pretty, but . . .  brrrrr!

Still, aren’t cold winter days the perfect time to spend in the sewing room working on a quilt?

I think so.   I was definitely thinking so on those days I had to be on campus last week  when it was below zero as I was walking to and from class!

But I have been dropping in the sewing room now and then. So progress is continuing to be made on the Barbara Brackman Civil War Sampler.

A couple more of the sampler blocks and working on some sashing strips and cornerstones as well.

I don’t suppose I’ll ever get tired of Civil War fabrics. I love a lot of different fabric styles – modern, batiks, French General (well, of course), but there’s always a little extra spark when I’m pulling out the reproductions. They warm my heart.

How about you? Any special fabrics that speak to you?

Monday, February 3, 2014

Progress?

Well, to begin, there’s the sad story of my MacBook Pro. Which all too soon has gone to the great MacBook Haven in the Sky.  The good news is this guy:

A brand new MacBook Pro. Pretty, pretty. 

A lot of time is going to sorting out computer stuff right now, but my own true love, whose work day is spent in cubicle land, has asked me to finish up an old quilt project for him. He’s windowless so this will be his take on a room with a view. 

This one is from a class I took years ago. Amazing class, really.  Here’s a close-up.

I need to add the final borders and then quilt it up.  I made another version of this years ago but gave it away as a present. It’s going to be nice to see this one finished. Hubby already has a couple of my little quilts in his office. And, hey, it makes me happy that he spends his day with some part of me there with him. (We are coming up on Valentine’s. Romantic smoosh allowed and encouraged . . . )

Monday, January 27, 2014

Snow Day

Well, the weather outside is frightful. Again!

Deck Jan 27

 

Which makes it a perfect day to squeeze a little sewing in. In addition to the other projects I'm working on, I decided to once again pull out my Barbara Brackman Civil War Sampler blocks.  

Cw misc

 

I just love pulling out those reproduction fabrics.  They were my first love when I began quilting, and they still make my heart go pitter patter.

Cw 10

 

Cw9

 

Cw7

 

Cw3

 

 

The numbers in the upper corners are my valiant attempt to keep track of the blocks. We'll see how that goes.

Speaking of how things go: my MacBook Pro is in the infirmary. I'm still waiting to hear the prognosis. Meanwhile, since it's the only one of my Macs that has been partitioned for Windows, which has the software I use to create the blog, I'm trying something new. So far? Things are going wonky. I see duress ahead.  Not only that, the blog is looking a little odd. I'm calling that a struggle for another day.

Right now, it's back to grading.  Hoping you are all somewhere warm and cozy, and if there's fabric to play with, all the better!

 

 

 

 

 

Friday, January 17, 2014

What’s Going On . . .

I began the new year by cleaning out my sewing room.  It was an archeological dig!  Or time travel.  Or a horror show . . . (once I started stacking all those projects in process). Or, here’s a happier perspective, a treasure box – look at all the pretty things!

I set aside one of those projects and am once again steadily making progress (in my clean sewing room!) on a quilt project I started years ago. This one is destined for the bed and I’d like to finish it this winter.  That is probably too ambitious and delusional to boot, but it’s good to have a goal, right?

Here’s a bunch of little blocks I made up:

Those will finish up at 4 inches square.  Love the pretty colors.

The pattern is Echoes of the Past. I bought the pattern years ago at Quilt-a-Fair but here’s an online store showing the full quilt. The little blocks I’m showing above are actually meant to be part of an additional border I’m adding to make the quilt fit our bed.

Here’s the design wall showing some of those center blocks in process:

The bear on the lower right is actually not in the pattern. There were a couple blocks in the original I didn’t care for as much and I have a thing for bears, so I definitely needed a bear in my Southwest quilt.

And because I still need my little projects – a little zip purse using the tutorial I’ve got listed over on the side of the blog here.

Pretty French General. What’s not to like?

So, hey, what’s going on in your sewing room?

Wednesday, January 1, 2014

Happy New Year and a Giveaway

Well, it’s the first day of the new year. I’ve decided a little giveaway is in order. So, without any ado, here it is: a set of bookmarks I made using Rebecca McMeen’s completely darling Persnickety Triplets.  Some of you will recognize I did these once before, but hey, it’s not like we’ve tossed out the old (which is good, because I’m not, as my father would have said, still a Spring chicken).

I took the photo after they were laminated, so there’s some glare and the color is a little off (the color is always off on my photos – nothing new there).
Those faces are so cute.  Here’s a couple close-ups:


So sweet. I just love them.
All you need to do to enter the giveaway is leave a comment on this blog entry. I will ask Mr. Random Number Generator to pick a number sometime Sunday evening.
Here’s wishing everyone a great start to the New Year! 

Edit to Add: Mr. Random Number Generator decreed that Rilene won the book marks.