My Tuesdays...

I've talked a bit about my Tuesday group and all the fun we have, but I thought it would be a nice idea to document it. We (there are six of us regularly, occasionally there is a seventh) meet at Jane's house, in Thousand Oaks, which has an absolutely wonderful view of the entire Conejo valley from her front yard and garage, where we sit to sew/quilt.

Her backyard is gorgeous, too, and a result of many, many hours of hard work. We could sit out here and eat lunch, but we can rarely tear ourselves away from our projects long enough to do it, although last Tuesday when the temps got up in the mid 90s we did sit for awhile in the shade and had a nice, breeze to cool us.

And, we have a couple of mascots, although I could only get one of them to pose for me. Here's Mason... isn't he the cutest thing?

We always have some good treats on hand...

While we're busy working on Zip & Go bags... Stacey's and Jane's.

2-Zip Hipsters... Stacey's, Jane's & Pat A's (we have two Pat's in our group, although we sometimes refer to one of them as Grannie).

More fabric baskets... Jane's (getting just a little carried away) and Stacey's (this is her second one).

And then there is this... Stacey's Moose Rag quilt. The cutest rag quilt I've ever seen.

As I said, we quilt/sew in Jane's garage. She's converted it into her studio and it's set up quite well to accommodate all of us. We can sit and sew to our heart's content all the while being able to look out over the Conejo Valley or retreat into her backyard to relax. It's heavenly. I didn't get photos of the entire garage, but I did get Pat A's area in which she is auditioning fabrics for her newest quilt.

And Pat P is making Noodlehead's Super Tote. Great fabric choices, don't you think?

I hope you can tell from all I've written just how much fun we have and how creative we are. I get such great inspiration from these wonderful ladies... every single week! I'm looking forward to tomorrow. :)

Take care,

My new obsession

This seems to be my latest obsession! I love these bags and I love making them. It's so much fun to match fabrics, zippers and hardware.

I finished up the Two-zip Hipster I made for a friend yesterday morning and then, since I already had this bag all cut out, I went ahead and made it up too. I'm almost at the point where I can do it without consulting the pattern now. :)

I used Amy Butler's Soul Blossom Peacock Feathers fabric for the outside of the bag and Rhapsodia by Art Gallery Fabrics for the lining.

It's in the shop.

Take care,

Multi-Tasker Tote...

I'm in the process of making a Two-zip Hipster, exactly like the one I made for myself, for a friend who requested it. But, while I've been waiting for the ordered fabric/supplies necessary to arrive, (I'm still waiting on interfacing) I needed something easy to work on in class last Thursday and this bag seemed the perfect thing since ironing the fabrics, applying fusible batting, and cutting out the pattern pieces wouldn't require too much concentration. Our classroom is a hectic environment with 22 of us sewing on different projects. There's lots of visiting, sharing and laughter - lots and lots of laughter! It's a fun-filled day to be sure and I go home pretty pooped.

I've had the pattern, the Multi-Tasker Tote by Anna Maria Horner, for quite awhile and had my fabrics all picked out so it was easy to grab on Thursday morning and go.

I'm always surprised at how much time it actually takes to make compared to how much time I think it will take to make!!  Anyway, I was able to get it completed over the weekend and I'm very happy with it.

 

 

I took these shots on Tuesday while at my mini-group. The girls had fun "staging" my bag  to see which location looked the best. I couldn't decide so you get to see them all.

Today we don't have class since it's Spring break, so we're taking a "field trip" to a couple of local quilt shops. How fun!

Take care,

Fun, fun, fun!

It seems that having fun has become my mantra and that's ok with me. Believe me - I'm making up for lost time! Making these bags has been fun. For some reason, this is a pattern that I find easy and when it's finished it looks great! I took three of these in to share with my quilting group on Thursday and two of them sold. Another is spoken for and the last one will go into my shop. And, I've got more cut out and ready to sew!

This is the bag that is listed in the shop. It's made from Amy Butler's Soul Blossom line with a Robert Kaufman lining. Cute, don't you think?

We took a very short "Sunday drive" this afternoon and were surprised to come upon this field of wild mustard. The drought conditions we're experiencing had not prepared us for this gorgeous sight!

Linking up with The Inspired Wren Inspire Us Thursday.

Take care,

My tote / market / book / beach bag is finished!

I got my bag photographed finally and although I'm not thrilled with the way it looks in the photos, at least they're done. I tried all kinds of different locations and settings and this was the best I could do (for now). I'll have to work on getting a good place set up for product photos. In the meantime, I thought you might like to see it. I love the fabrics in this.

The exterior fabric is a home dec cotton with a linen-like texture, so it's a tiny bit heavier in weight than a quilting fabric and gives the bag a more substantial feel, especially since it isn't quilted. The lining is a quilting cotton.

It's in the shop!

Hope you all had a great weekend! They go waaaaaaay too fast for me. I sold my Accuquilt Studio Cutter and accessories recently so DH and I drove to Hermosa Beach to deliver it on Saturday. Wow... was it crowded down there near the Fourteenth St. pier. Too many people for me. I remember when it was easy to find parking and easy to get anywhere to shop or go to the beach. Obviously, those days are long gone, but I sure do miss them!

Take care,

Love this combination!

I've been "hanging around" lately doing a little of this and a little of that...certainly nothing that is blogworthy.

DH replaced a worn belt on one of my Featherweights for me as I plan to use it in the next couple of weeks. He even got out the Q-tips and cleaned and oiled it. He loves doing that sort of thing and of course, I love having him do it. My machine is running perfectly now and it's spotless. We also have a couple of the black Featherweights (earlier models), but the white one is my favorite! Actually, I want to sell the black machines but will have to talk long and hard to convince DH....he considers them his. And, no - he doesn't sew - but he does collect!

I do love this combination of fabrics that were recently ordered, and have to admit that I don't think I would have thought of it. They are simply lovely together and I would love to see what my customer is going to do with them. It's always wonderful when I receive a photo of the finished product....hint, hint! :)

I've been getting some really great orders lately and it's helped reduce my inventory. I'm almost back into one room now which has been my goal for quite some time. Fabric was taking over my home and, frankly, taking some of the fun out of having a shop. I know that sounds weird, but it's true! Now that it will be confined to one room it won't feel like I'm working 24/7 and that will be a good thing.

I am going to be ordering some new, and a couple of old, fabrics fairly soon. If you know you need something from Kaffe's line and want me to order it for you just let me know asap. Unless my cost has gone up and I'm not aware of it, prices will still be $9.25/yard.

Since it's Friday afternoon, let me leave you with this photo of some paddleboats at the Ventura harbor. DH had the day off unexpectedly, so we stopped here for lunch today and then went on to the sewing machine repair shop for the Featherweight belt and a new walking foot for my Juki TL98-e. I think I may have finally found one that actually works the way it's supposed to. I love the Juki but their walking foot stinks! :)

Hope your weekend is wonderful!!

Take care,

Feelin' a little down...

I"ve been feeling a bit down lately. I'm not asking/looking for sympathy because I know we all, from time to time, feel down. I'm just saying. But, it's contributed to a feeling of being "brain dead" in terms of coming up with content to fill these pages.

Anyway, I did get the pillows completed that I talked about awhile ago. I'm only showing them to you here as proof that I actually do get a few things done now and then. :)

I'm very happy with them and glad I got them done before summer is at an end....since I did make them as "summer" pillows. I made one of the green "zebra' stripe and two of the "spots".

The garden is still looking pretty good even though we're now starting to have temps in the upper 90s. My "Champion" tomato plant is taller than I am and loaded with tomatoes. I've never had a tomato plant grow that tall before. I can't wait for the tomatoes to ripen as I'm pretty sure they are going to taste wonderful. This is a pic of one of the potted dahlias that sits on the back patio. It's a short and squat little plant - a survivor from last season - but it's got some really beautiful blooms on it.

I'm still wanting to do some fabric dyeing this summer. Wanting to try "ice dyeing" since I haven't done that before and I love everyones results that I've seen. I've gotta clean off a couple of tables in the garage before that can happen and it's just too hot right now to even think about.

I'm heading out the door now to pick up a friend. We're going to go "window shop" at Barnes & Noble and Michaels, then go to Panera Bread for dinner before I go to my quilt group meeting later on this evening. It will be nice and cool in the shops!

Take care,

Another UFO off my list!

Yippee! Another UFO crossed off my list! Something must be radically wrong with me because I usually don't work this fast! :)

I bought the pattern and buttons for this bag in 2009 at Long Beach Quilt Festival. I think I actually thought I would get it made quickly because I posted about it here and I sounded optimistic, didn't I? I noticed that I also gave myself an "out" by acknowledging how slow I am at finishing things.

Well, only three years later.....it's finally done! I've very happy with this bag....in fact, I love it! I already used it last Thursday at my small quilt group and it holds a lot of stuff.

It's got a nice gusset, that gets wider near the bottom of the bag and is squared off at the top. I also added an extra inside panel of three pockets since I always need more pockets than are usually provided. I also accidentally got a two-way separating zipper which I ended up loving because I can now open my bag in either direction from the center top. And, there are buttons on both sides of the bag!

Anyway, I had fun making the bag although I would love to re-write the directions as they were quite confusing. I had to read and re-read them many times before they made sense to me. Having said that, everything fit together easily and perfectly so I can highly recommend the pattern.

I've taken this NY Beauty out of my UFO pile to start working on and I've already made a couple of additional blocks for it.

Take care,