Friday, June 29, 2007

Bags, stitcheries, and other random works

Well, my god daughter's jacket is now well and truly done and on its way to the Portland area. I hope it gets there in time for her birthday next week! I added a few goodies into the package as belated b-day gifts for her mother -- so I'm sure I'll hear when it gets there! You can also see here a few of the fabrics I bought last weekend. I mentioned that I had broken my no-buy June vow, here are three of the lovelies. Normally, this wouldn't bother me at all -- I'm not sure buying a gift for a fellow quilter counts as breaking my no-buy pledge. I mean, they're not for ME. But, well, I may have bought some fabrics for myself as well. Just a few. I'll get some photos and fess up properly. In my defense -- it was a sale. A really great sale. And I had an additional percentage off coupon. Oh, and an additional percentage off the next day too. Ok, I'm incorrigible!

On the plus side, now that the jacket is done and gone, I have a few other projects I managed to work on. The first is a bag I made in my first ever quilt class. I've been quilting for six years now (about -- give or take) and I have been meaning to take a class for ages. The new LQS I mentioned awhile ago had a class to make these little bags. I figured it would be a fun and painless way to dive into the whole class thing. I was right. I had a great time at the class and I ended up with a cute purse. And, despite the temptation to buy new fabric for the class, these beauties came straight out of my stash.

Did I learn anything new in the class? Yes and no -- I did put in a magnetic snap for the first time, and a new technique for dealing with the interfacing in the straps. Otherwise, not much new -- but it did tell me that my vague idea to take an absolute beginner course is probably not a good choice. Now if only a quilt shop would offer a -- yes, you've been quilting for awhile but how about a class that can fill in the gaps in your self-taught quilting education -- class. On the plus side, while talking with the owner during the class, I got an invite to demo the clover yo-yo makers (which I LOVE btw) at their "grand opening" celebration. So, I got to spend last Saturday doing my demo thing. That was a ton of fun, and by the end of my demo the shop had sold out of all of their stock of the darned things. I don't know if it had much to do with me -- but I had a great time talking with other quilters and showing off a product I love. Oh, and did I mention the 30% of discount I got on anything I purchased that day? Yeah -- that would be a reason I fell off the no-buy wagon. Other than total lack of self-control of course.

I've also been plugging away at my Christmas quilt. I have a few of the blocks 1/2 done and the fabric colors look sooo good together! I can't wait to have more done and move on to the next step. I've also been working on the embroidery for this one. I finished the boy elf (yes, he still needs to be ironed, but hey, I washed out the iron on transfer pencil) to go with his sister and am now working on the other little ones I'm going to sprinkle into the quilt. I've also changed my mind about some basic design things with this one, so I am going to need to go and buy another charm square pack or two to get the size top I want. Originally I was going to do a 3 x4 block design with borders, but now I think I'm going to do a 4 x 5 block layout. Still not sure about the borders, but I have the feeling I'm going to leave them off.
Other than that -- not much to report here at casa de cornfields. I've been busy working on the paid research gig and trying to get some quilting time in as well. The little one is reluctantly taking her nap and the sound of the computer is making her stir, so I think I'm off to go put together more Christmas blocks. Have a great day!

16 comments:

Anonymous said...

i love your blog! i also love that old feed sack quilt. i do quilt restoration and you would be surprized that more often then not so many older quilts were finished with the backing folded over to bind and just tied to "get the job done" so to speak.
kate in mich.UP
http://homemakerkate2.blogspot.com

Leigh said...

Your bag is adorable you must be really pleased with it.
You know I how much love your Christmas quilt :-)

Clare said...

I love that bag. Sounds to me as if you are building up your stash, whereas I'm trying my hardest to reduce mine.

~Bren~ said...

The bag is wonderful. I need to check out that yo yo maker! I think you can be given a pass for breaking your rule for June...come on 30% off on that one day. We would all be upset with you if you passed that up!!! The teal and brown fabrics are very rich.

KC Quilter said...

Wow, I LOVE the fabric in the top photo! I am really drawn to those colors right now. And the purse is adorable. I'm with you about classes that would be for the "advanced beginner"---a way to undo some of the things I learned from books!!!! Sometimes there's just no substitute for watching someone else do a technique. Stitcheries are so adorable. I had downloaded those patterns a while back and have been thinking about putting them in a little Christmas doll quilt.

Tanya said...

I'm interested in seeing what you make with Yo-yos! I've always thought those would be fun to make but have never tried it. And with a yo-yo maker? Keep us posted!

Tracey @ozcountryquiltingmum said...

You did well with the bag but I am especially proud of you doing demos, well done! (And I am sure the discount was nice!) lol Tracey

comicbooklady said...

No worries about your 'fabric diet'...you used up some for the beautiful bag and therefore you must replenish! I call it balance. I love your Christmas embroidery, can't wait to see the end result!

Helen said...

That bag is stunning! Want to join me on a no fabric in JULY ban?? I'm in! :)

Jenni said...

The little jacket is gorgeous - so bright. Love your bag too, and I think this No Buy thing is for the birds, personally! More fabric I say...

Kim said...

Great stuff! I was just wondering whether you'd sent that jacket to your god daughter and how she liked it--now my questions are answered! About the quilt class idea, look for a few intermediate classes you're interested in--they won't go over all the basics too much, but you can pick up some tips. And/Or a machine quilting class if that's something you're interested in and want to know more about.

Anonymous said...

I absolutely LOVE the blocks !!! where did you get those awesome fabrics ?!!!
and congratulations on the bag !
I'll stitch this elf, too - but still too early for me to think about Christmas... ! ;P

Anonymous said...

What a cute little elf fellow!

Anonymous said...

Looove everything on this post. The bag is adorable. And I can't wait to see your Christmas quilt finished. It will be very pretty I'm sure!

The Wooden Spool said...

This bag is so gorgeous! Nice color combos! Love the quilting on it!

Karyn said...

I love your bag!!!! Love it!

I have a flower-shaped Clover yo-yo maker and let me say this, I don't love it!!! My first few attempts were a disaster, I wish you were around to demo it for ME!! :)