Bag Making + the Giveaway Winner!

Hey y'all! How's it going? While going through pictures on my iPhone today, I discovered that I hadn't shared any pictures of the Super Tote that I made before heading off to Quilt Market. Frankly, I think Instagram is having a detrimental effect on my blogging - I take pictures of the things that I make (or am in the process of making), post them to Instagram, and then completely for to post them to my blog! Bad.

With that said, I'm going to share a few of the pics that I took that day while making it!

I watch a lot of Harry Potter while sewing (I also tend to drink a lot of coffee)! Anna's Super Tote pattern is absolutely one of my most favourite bags to make - the pattern pieces go together so easily and the instructions are just fab!

The Clover Wonder Clips make this stage of making this bag soooo easy! The first time I made a Super Tote I didn't have Wonder Clips and just used pins - it was super frustrating. I also use these while hand sewing binding and they work great!

I used fabrics by Sarah Watts and Jay McCarroll for the outside, along with some wool suiting for the sides and outer handles. The interior (lining, pockets, zipper bands, and reverse of the handles) features three prints by Anna Maria Horner.

I still carry this bag everyday and just love it! I was going through my Quilt Market pictures, and it's quite funny, but my Super Tote doesn't show up in any of the pictures - it's always hidden by someone else!

So, I bet you want to know who the winner is, right? Well, without further ado, the winner is...

Congratulations Adrienne! Please email me with your details and FQS will ship your thread box out!

Purse Palooza: the Birdie Sling

Hey y'all! So even though I am in the UK right now for work (that's right, I'm now apparently a jet-setting librarian), I just wanted to let you know that I am guest-blogging over at Sew Sweetness today as part of Sara's Purse Palooza series.

I am reviewing Amy Butler's Birdie Sling pattern. This was actually my first time making the Birdie Sling (I know, late to the party, right?) and I just love how it turned out! I used My Folklore from Lecien for the body, and golden yellow shot cotton (I can't remember if this was a Moda or Kaffe off the top of my head) for the bands and handle. The interior fabric is the dark brown Henna Garden from Sandi Henderson's Meadowsweet 2.

So, hop on over to Sara's if you want to check out my review and read my thoughts on it! I'll be back from London on Saturday and hopefully I'll have lots of fun pictures to share with you then!

The only gift is a portion of thyself. -Ralph Waldo Emerson

Well now, I'm finally getting around to sharing some of the things I made my mum for Christmas! I made most of the Hanukkah and Christmas presents this year, which was fun, but also a bit stressful and time consuming!

I started this Ship Shape Tote in Alexia's class at Sewing Summit - I love it! Originally I was going to go for a more neutral colour theme, but my mum likes colour so I decided to go a bit bolder. I included prints from Tula's Prince Charming, Joel Dewberry's Modern Meadow, Paula Prass' Woodland Delight, and a few other collections. The handles are Kona Medium Grey and the inside is a grey leaf print from Ikea. The pattern is well-written and came together really easily. It is super roomy and I would recommend adding a pocket or two to the inside so that you won't lose smaller items in the bottom since it is so big.

I also made her this manicure kit following Rashida's Nice and Neat Manicure Kit tutorial featured on the Art Gallery Fabrics blog. The outside is a print from Joel Dewberry's Deer Valley collection (I always seem to use a lot of Joel Dewberry when making things for my mum).

And the inside and binding are all Tula (again! One thing that has always struck me about Free Spirit is how well they match collections together over a season or two... anyway...). I picked up a couple of manicure items and slipped them into their little slots, unfortunately I was having no luck finding one of the shorter nail files but hopefully my mum can find one - there is lots of space left over for her to add whatever she wants. This tutorial was really well written and I pretty much always love any pattern that Rashida comes up with!

These little oven mitts were made using fabrics from the Blush collection by Basic Grey and they are lined with both quilt batting and Insul-Brite. These are a little bit bigger than your standard finger mitts because my mumma has big hands! She was pretty happy that I made them bigger and I hope she uses them a lot.

Now onto the knitting!!

These are the Camp Out Fingerless Mitts (a free pattern on Ravelry) made using di.Ve Autunno - the yarn is so hard to photograph but is really pretty. It's a mix of green and black but the green variagates throughout from light to dark. Again, I made these bigger because of mum's big hands (went up to 6mm DPNs) and I added a garter cuff to keep them from rolling.

Using the same yarn, I made Calorimetry to match (a free pattern from Knitty). It is shaped using short rows and the construction is so cool! Check out the Knitty pattern to see it being worn - it's really neat! I thought my mum would like it because it's less likely to mess up her hair than a hat or standard headband, ha!

And last, but not least, I also knit her a set of leaf-shaped washcloths (again, a free pattern). My mum has been crocheting dishcloths for years but I thought she might appreciate someone else making her a set for a change - and they're shaped like leaves so I couldn't resist! These went into her stocking with a few other bits and bobs.

Phew, just posting all of those brings back frantic memories of trying to get everything finished in time! I'll be back on Thursday with the debut of my new quilt pattern, just have to put a few finishing touches on the write-up and it will be finished, hurray!

A man is not old until regrets take the place of dreams. -John Barrymore

I have all of these grand plans about what I want to make before I leave for Sewing Summit... it's so not going to happen! Sheila and I leave in five days for Utah, it's Thanksgiving this weekend, and my birthday today (just throwin' that out there); I have basically run out of time unless I can squeeze something in on either Sunday or Monday and I still have to do laundry and pack and take care of all of those little, last minute things that travelling entails.

However, I did get one big thing (and I mean literally "big", this thing is huge) done that I wanted to - I made Anna Maria Horner's Art Student Tote pattern! Seriously guys, my pictures are not even going to do it justice (and neither does the cover photo from the pattern); this is one hella-large bag!

Just to put this in perspective, the bag looks big here, right? Well this is it with the sides folded in and strapped closed with the D-ring ties! Just to illustrate: I took this bag to guild with me last weekend and fit into it what normally would have needed three separate bags - everything that is normally in my purse, my laptop (wide screen, not mini), two magazines, a craft book, three separate completed sewing projects, a queen-size flat sheet, two notebooks, a couple of yards of fabric all combined, and a few other bits and bobs - crazy, right? I'm seriously going to have to get a better picture to really show how big this beast is. It definitely turned out larger than I thought, but I must admit that I'm kind of in love!

For the exterior I used Visions in Pangaea from Anna Maria's Loulouthi Needlework collection and Maybe in Blossom from Innocent Crush (also Anna Maria). Did you notice the pockets in the centre panel there? It was my first time ever putting in zippers and I must say that I'm pretty proud of myself!!!

For the interior I used Triangle Toss in Coral from Lizzy House's Outfoxed and Key Tree in Pink from Tula Pink's Plume collection. There are so many pockets in this bad boy - basically Anna Maria tells you to go ahead and divide up the pockets on each side however you'd like to best accommodate you and your stuff. One thing that I will mention about the pattern (in case you end up making it) is that you do not need to cut out or trace the pattern pieces right off the bat - all of the pieces for this bag are squares or rectangles that are easily measured! Just take out your ruler, measure each part, and cut your fabric with your ruler and rotary cutter - so much easier than actually using the pattern pieces as guides.

My September blocks for the Joy Circle of do. Good Stitches; these are Hugs & Kisses blocks based on Little Miss Shabby's tutorial. We used more "boy friendly" colours and fabrics for this one and I can't wait to see it completed!

I've also done a bunch of canning over the last little bit...

Dill Spears with lots of garlic!

Corn Salsa - not gonna lie I'm pretty excited to try this one!

A pretty basic marinara sauce - basically just tomatoes, onions, and garlic! I'll be using this as a base for lots of fun stuff this winter, I just know it!

Alex is making me dinner tonight and we've got a few friends coming over afterwards to celebrate, then tomorrow it's off north to visit my mum and have Thanksgiving with her and my grandparents - my birthday weekend is the best! I'm pretty excited for the Turkey, not gonna lie!

Father Time is not always a hard parent, and, though he tarries for none of his children, often lays his hand lightly upon those who have used him well; making them old men and women inexorably enough, but leaving their hearts and spirits young and in full vigour.  With such people the grey head is but the impression of the old fellow's hand in giving them his blessing, and every wrinkle but a notch in the quiet calendar of a well-spent life. -Charles Dickens

For the Love of Tula...Pink that is!

Happy Easter and Happy Passover to y'all! The past week has been a whirl of organizing, paperwork filing, and just general busyness; I feel like haven't really accomplished much, even though I did do a number of things that were on my to-do list (that I would have rather just put off) and I made a new quilt top (yippee!). Alex and I also went and saw The Hunger Games (which I thought was fab!) so I guess there were a few things!

Now y'all know how much I love Tula Pink, right?! That girl is awesome - so friendly, so warm and genuine, and of course super-crazy talented (I mean seriously)! When I first met Tula I must say that I was a little bit intimidated and in awe, but she made me comfortable fairly quickly with her big personality and sharp sense of humour, and with her willingness to work and play with everyone. Her mum (who owns The Quilt Shoppe in Stewartsville, MO) is also awesome. I have made a fair number of items using Tula's fabrics (some of which still haven't made it, and won't for a bit, to the blog) and many of those items have been my favourites including the Get Stacked quilt. I have two things I want to share with you today, neither is a quilt and one was actually a gift for the lovely lady herself.

You may have seen this particular item on Miss Tula's blog just a few weeks ago. After hanging with Tula at Quilt Market last May I knew immediately that I needed to make her a little giftie to thank her for being not only just an all round super-cool chick but also to let her know how much I appreciated her kindness and friendship. Unfortunately, it did take me longer to complete and then mail out than I originally intended so it only arrived at it's destination back in February.

I based the cross stitch on Tula's Modern Alphabet quilt pattern; each letter is 1x1" and the whole thing took one to two weeks to complete (I think - Alex was away at the time so it is entirely possible that all I did was cross stitch the whole time he was gone). I have been told that this little guy is getting framed and put up on the wall in Tula's studio - now isn't that nice?!

The second item I made that has a connection to Tula is Anna Graham's Go Anywhere Bag! This pattern rocks and this particular bag was actually my second time making it (the first one was a gift and hasn't made it to recipient yet, but will be blogged once it has). The Tula connection comes from the print on the outside pockets and handles which is Dandelion in Indigo from Tula's Prince Charming collection (the other exterior fabric is 100% natural linen). This bag was already in heavy-use (read: everyday) for about a month before this picture was taken so it's not quite as fresh as it could be.

The main interior fabric is Flower Fields in Sunglow from Joel Dewberry's Modern Meadow, and the pockets (there are two since I added one - the one on the other side of the interior is split evenly in two) as well as the outer pocket linings are Kona Medium Grey.

I didn't have any piping on hand, or supplies to make any, but I really liked the look of the purse's in Anna's pattern that featured piping, so instead I decided to bind the edge of the both of the outer pockets (you can't see it in these pictures but there is also a large pocket on the backside of the bag). I believe that my original binding strips were cut to 1.25" wide, then I ironed to create double fold binding, and just top stitched the binding to the bag.

Can I just say again how much I love this Tula print?! I almost had a little heart attack when I went to use it for this bag because this is all I had so now it's all gone - I know that some retailers still carry it but since I have been unemployed for a week now I probably shouldn't be buying any fabric, right?! Love it though!

This world is but canvas to our imaginations. -Henry David Thoreau

Last weekend - St. Patrick's Day to be precise - was my friend Kim's birthday so of course I had to make her a present! Since Kim is super-stylin' and stuff I decided to make her a clutch purse.

The clutch is my own design, but is pretty darn simple! I wanted to make the type of clutch that could be carried as a bigger pouch but could also be folded over to "clutch" in the hand. It measures about 10x14" and I really like how the proportions all worked out.

The faux-bois fabric is home dec weight from Ikea and all of the leather bits and hardware are reclaimed from old purses that I've cut apart. The interior (which of course I forgot to take pictures of) is a chocolate brown cotton and there's a small zipper picket inside too! Frankly, when I finished this up I was really tempted to keep it for myself - obviously I didn't do that and I am happy to report that Kim loves it!

And, just in case you wanted to know, the April issue of Simply Knitting included this awesome little owl row counter that so cutely matches the owl needle gauge I shared in my last post! Eeep, too too too much fun!