Pretty Little Pouch- Take 1

I finished a little pouch for the swap, but it is a little too small to meet my partner's requests. Missed it by *that* much!


I'm excited about the details, like the zippered pocket on the front. I added all my favorite things- tiny hexies, a Dresden, string piecing, and Meadowsweet.

Take 2!

Blossoms

Just a quick post to show you that I am still here and sewing (a little). This is my test block of Pineapple Blossom for the May Block Lotto. It is a fun and easy block to piece, and I am looking forward to making many more. It is an excellent stash buster!

For the block lotto, we were asked to use white or white-on-white, at least 2 pieces of gold/yellow and at least 2 pieces of gray. Most of the 2" strips came straight from my bin of 2" strips (scrap user's system). With so much inspiration from Bonnie Hunter, I felt a little guilty for not using leaders and enders when piecing this block! I will definitely save the bonus triangles!


I made more! You can see them at Block Lotto!

Pouch in Progress

Yup. It's bag week! Today, I'm working on a piece for the Pretty Little Pouch swap. I can't get enough of these Meadowsweet scraps, but they won't last forever. I'm going to try adding a small zippered pocket on the front left and then the main, bigger pocket will be zippered, too.


The little hexie flower will be on the front and the partial Dresden will end up on the back. I'm still moving other fabrics around and trying to figure out how to set the zippers. I think the fabric is perfect for Spring. I hope my partner likes it!

Am I becoming a bag lady?

My WIPs this week seem to be all bags. I'm slightly addicted to slicing up old t-shirts and immediately crocheting the "tarn" into bags. (Tarn = t-shirt yarn. I think Plarn, for plastic yarn, has a nicer ring to it.) I expect to run out of shirts soon, then I can move on to something else!

I wanted this one to be bright, but I ran out of bright yarn. I need to cut more!


I love the more subtle colors in this one and the vintage button.

It is a little wider than the earlier bags, so it is well suited for holding my only knitting project.

When I started thinking about in-progress crocheted bags, I remembered these two made with an assortment of leftover yarns. They are both patiently waiting for lining and handles. I bought the black handles months ago and I have a magnetic closure somewhere in the craft stash.

I was thinking about covering the twill tape with fabric for the straps on this one. Apparently, I was planning to insert a zipper on this one. (It was tucked in the bag.) I am getting more comfortable with inserting zippers, but I'm not sure how to make it work in this bag.

I think these bags have been sitting unfinished for so long because I don't know if anyone would ever want to use them. I'm not sure I would use them. Should I finish them or release them?

Go visit WIP Wednesday for more goodies!

Two Totes

I've been focused on tote bags this past week.

In an attempt to de-clutter my sewing space, I started chopping up the stash of old t-shirts. The printed designs are set aside for t-shirt quilts. The bottoms of the shirts are sliced up into t-shirt yarn. I can crochet up one of these totes almost as quickly as I can cut up the shirts!

These two totes, and possibly a few more, will be for sale soon, either in my Etsy shop or in a local crafty gift shop. These totes are perfect for carrying a knitting project or taking a trip to the farmers market.

And for a bonus tote...
This is one of those wrap-strips-of-fabric-around-clothesline deals.

This will be a gift for an amazing friend who admired my clothesline bag. I thought my bag took 100 feet of clothesline, but as I started sewing this one together, I realized it must have been closer to 200 feet. I don't have a very good memory and can never find my notes. That's what blogging is for, right? Note to future self: 200 feet of clothesline!

The fabric was given to me years and years ago from a hand painted fabric studio. They used to cut off the ends of the pieces to clean them up and threw them into a big garbage bag. They knew I used small pieces, so they gave a whole bag to lucky me! After making two of these bags and a couple of bowls, the supply is finally dwindling.

Time for more t-shirt slicing!

I'm linking to Karen's Craft Party!

DSQ and DSW

Success! Last Friday, Julia and I went shopping with my niece Debbie, who was in town visiting. Our first stop was JoAnn's to look for the Denise Schmidt (DS Quilts) collection. There were a few bolts on the shelf, but I spied the rest behind the cutting counter! I chose my favorite dots and geometrics on this trip. I gave the girls some cash and we split up at the register to be able to take advantage of the 3 coupons I had printed!

Next stop: DSW for prom shoes. Now that we have the shoes, I can start hemming the dress (all 3 layers of it!). See how big the bag is? There are two more boxes in there! Julia got a pair of sneakers and I found a pair of sandals that I hope will be comfortable for walking.

I hope you all had a peaceful and joyful Easter!

Seventeen

For her birthday, Julia wanted to try making homemade potato gnocchi. Fail. It was all my fault. We'll try again someday soon. In the meantime, I ran back to the store for frozen.
San Marzano tomatoes and fresh basil.
Big plate of antipasto.
Aranciata.
Yum!

We read Cake Wrecks everyday, so Julia looked for the wreckiest cake she could find. Actually, this cake is pretty cute. His teeth are crooked, and he's blue, which is her favorite color!

With the candles, he started looking like a porcupine. The white candle between his eyes was a nod to her brother's favorite creature, the narwhal! As a musician and singer, she has plenty of lung capacity to blow out 17 candles.

Happy Birthday, Julia! It's going to be an awesome year!