Finished!

I managed to finish a few things this week. Jim's quilt with 1 hr & 5 min to spare, presented Wed night with some friends who helped & kept the secret going.

These pictures are awful but I was on my way out the door with it. The back is signed by a dozen or so of his friends & I included some song lyrics about friendship to let him know we're here for him. He doesn't sing but he always comes out for karaoke night. He's already called asking if I'll sew some loops on the back so he can hang it, he's afraid to actually use it, lol...

I bought this pattern from the very talented Geta and sewed one up right away. This was one of the most challenging patterns I've made & includes a handy zip pocket in the back. I made a matching keychain too (hanging from the strap). I took the time to quilt around all of the flowers & I really think it makes the bag.

This morning I fought with my sewing machine, took it apart again & got it working well enough to make this little leather bag. I had a couple really soft suede calf hides in my stash that worked nicely paired with a Japanese quilting cotton. I scaled the pattern to 75% of the original. I love the exterior pockets, perfect for a cell phone.

I have 2 more bags in progress but I've been up working since 7am and I think I better get dressed & clean up a little before the day's gone! Thanks for looking :)

Can I do it? Yes I can

I have an opportunity to expand my biz on a local level that I'm really excited about. I don't want to go into detail lest I jinx it but it's something I love and since I've tried & tried & tried in vain to get a job I feel like here's my shot, I'll give it my best. I have to put together a proposal with pics of things I've made over the last 11 (wow, that long?) years and start cranking out some samples. Thank goodness I didn't purge all of my fabric in the several moves last year, I have enough on hand that I won't be out much cash for supplies. I think my skills have progressed enough that I can get through the jury process (and a friend on the board is a great thing to have). So I'm leaping in, here goes :)

Too busy to post

I figured I better play catch-up on my recent sewing. None of the tops are finished, I'm really ADD lately. Here's a surprise gift quilt for a friend, he's a disabled vet going through some rough times right now, I thought it might brighten his day. For the back I have some signature blocks from some of this other friends that I'm hand embroidering. Hope to finish this soon. The pattern came from a baby quilt in a magazine, I made 4x the number of squares it called for, it's a nice "curl up in the recliner" size.

















Next is a another surprise gift quilt, I shuffled the normal bargello layout to accomodate 2 different white on white prints & a box of 2 1/2" coordinates.

















If any of my kids are reading, ssshhhh, this is a secret. An assortment of the finished blocks for my youngest daughter. I just need to get some sashing & borders together & it'll be done. I hand dyed all of the white on white prints (what a job that was, about 10 yds of FQ's).

















This is one of 3 shirts I made from a pattern I drafted from a ($1!) thrifted store-bought shirt. I adore it but sadly boyfriend won't let me wear it unless I make it a tad less form-fitting & figure out what to wear under it (the fabric's a little sheer). I think it's awesome but...LOL :D

























There's more but blogger's messing with me. I'll try again later :)