Finished Tomato Purse

The 'Tomato Purse' is done! All-in-all, I recalled many techniques I had learned previously making little zip-up hand totes and just added straps to it.

The initial peek inside reveals a darker lining that sets off the colors incorporated in the front, including that deep coral. I wanted to make the pocket a fun surprise once you look inside! Note the jump-ring pull on the zipper-- first time I've used that, and I love the way it looks. 

                                                                                                               

       

Also got to add a place to latch on keys with a sewn band around one of the straps. 

Pocket inside the bag, the outer part above, and below the inside lining. 

Anyway, excited about the new purse, excited to use it. I have a cold right now, which has given me the perfect excuse to stay in and sew today. Perhaps I'll have to make the excuse even when I'm not sick. Despite some of the mistakes I made with it, it turned out well, and I am excited to try my hand at a new one.

Applique Tomato

I told you I would be working on something soon! :)

I have thoroughly enjoyed delving into applique again, after messing with the goat from the previous posts. I realize now, after purchasing two smaller embroidery hoops, that the size of the hoop used with the goat is too large. I use the 'needle turning' technique, and need to be able to press the edge with my finger as I go. I'll be putting the goat in a smaller hoop soon... but until then, I had fun here with this sweet lil' tomato, and also with embroidering the stem and leaves. I was going to applique those, too, but didn't want it to look like an apple and so went with this instead. 

The wonderful fabric with the veggies all over it was purchased while my best friend, Erica, was in town with her daughter. I'll have that memory with me every time I use this bag now. :)

More pics to come, hopefully of a finished purse! 

Long Time, No Blog

Really??? It's been THIS long since I posted? That's what a new job will do to ya...sucks ALL that free time right up like a dry sponge! Will be posting SOON, my sweet followers! Am starting a quilting square today, and working on finishing a machine-pieced star that has to be made into a pillow so that we can begin to enjoy it and not just look at it hanging on the back of a chair.

I know it's not quilt-related, but I am posting this photo in hopes that I can 'Pin' it to Pinterest. What a fun site! I've been having lots of fun with it, and finding new inspiration.

Fabric Score

Not much has been happening on the quilting front, not even working reliably on the goat applique from below. I did, however, make a stop at the new Red Hen Fabrics store -- well, at their new location, I should say. It's bigger and just as lovely, stocked up with all things Quiltilicious! Check out one of the new retro fat quarters I snagged on an impulse buy there:

I am loving it! I have a mind to pair it up with something for a nice nine-patch, just to show off more of the little people on it having tea. Will work on the applique more tonight. Need to get it done, and add it to my sketch. Been watching The United States of Tara on Netflix, and I'm feeling a little insane from it! :) (In a good way)

Two Fabrics, A Friendship and A Funeral

I wanted to post the beginning progress of my goat applique square, and now I am taking it with me to Florida, where I will be attending my Grandma Milbra Rushing's funeral. I have been running over memories in my mind, and recall so many things about her, but for this post, I will relay that she and I spoke about sewing and quilting and crochet, and how it had a way of letting her wind down for the day or ease her mind when she used to be able to use her hands to do such tasks. I'm thankful that I can still use my eyes and my hands and plan on doing so for as long as possible. This sweet goat has everything to do with a long-standing, long-running joke between my best friend and I, whom I've known since we were both 14 and in the 8th grade. Erica has been a source of comfort and strength to me over these many years, and this is a square that will ultimately be a part of her quilt. It means a lot to me that I'll be taking it with me, to give me solace, during this solemn trip. For she is anything but solemn, and just thinking of her, and of my connection with my grandma while I work on this applique goat, will help ease my sore heart.

Our House...In the Middle of Our Quilt

Oh Yeah BABY!
I finally got up the nerve (and found a comprehensive pattern for) making a house block! I am embarking on a quilt this year that will be some sort of 'masterpiece', and these are the very beginning blocks. There will be many different blocks for the quilt, as it could be called a sampler, but I am making up the blocks, and measuring everything out for myself, not via a pattern. Just a pattern for the new blocks.

So without further a-do, my sweet lil' houses are below! Hope you enjoy them! :)





More different blocks to come, but will be making this block again, perhaps for pillows.

Work, work, work!

Yes, I have started working again. Can you tell from my lack of posts? My free time is no longer my own always, but then again, it usually wasn't anyway, was it? No, not usually. It is a part time job, and I am so grateful to have it, to be able to contribute again to the family income in a more direct fashion.

I am full of excuses: The holidays ran me over a bit, the job search was time-consuming, etcetera. But as of today, I am FULL of NEW PHOTOS!

I did capture a pillow I made for my mom to send off to her on her birthday-- a design I had long-held in my mind, and will be making many more of, as they are very primitive and not overly time consuming, but have an impact that I love! So here it is, mom's Crow Pillow:



Here is a close up of the simple embroidered running stitch. I found a silhouette of a craw calling and then made the template myself.



My label on the back:



So this is what I was up to mostly in December/January, and it was sent off with love to my mom, who seems thrilled to have it. I love making things for people I know well and love-- even moreso than making things for myself, actually.

Next post, what I've been up to this past weekend!

"Little Pink Houses, for you and me...aw, yeah, for you and me..."
~ John Cougar Mellencamp