A bonus bag

I decided I need a slightly smaller bag for daytime jaunts so I whipped up this little beauty:

I have made this "Tube Top Purse" before a few times, and I remember why - it goes together very quickly, has lots of little organizing pockets, and is just the right size.

caught up!

And here's the last of the Planet Patchwork blocks - I'm all caught up and can finish when I get back!

For the rest of the night I'll finish my monster bag, which only needs top binding, handles sewn on, and zipper ... and then maybe a few rounds on the second sleeve of Barry's sweater.

Oh My Stars (the continuing saga)

Month 9 of the Planet Patchwork block-of-the-month quilt:

Only Month 7 left to catch up!

Purse 2

Mom's second purse is finished! I will definitely make this pattern again. Nice bag.

Making progress

The quilt show this weekend was lovely. I sat in on a lecture about thread and learned more in one hour than the sum total of everything else I knew. As with last show, I spent most of my show budget on new threads, only now I'm feeling confident enough to actually use them. A few weeks ago I won a door prize at Sew Inspired, so I got to pick up an excellent workbook about quilting motifs; it's got dry erase pages so you can repeatedly practice doodling the basic designs - nifty. My next big expansion here at "the studio" (read: back of the TV room) is to find/construct/rig a better sewing table so I can have a large flat surface flush with the bed of my machine. I'm getting better at free-motion work, so I think it's time to make the space fit the job.

I have been making significant progress on my to-do list. Yesterday before we went to the show, I helped C make a small dreamcatcher/mandala quilt. He picked a pattern from a coloring book that I bought at the Borders clearance extravaganza. I traced it onto some white fabric, then - inspired by my plans to shade the embroidered witch quilt with crayons - he colored his design in and I helped him iron it. He picked some "Indian-colors" thread and we did a little stitching along the original lines to quilt it up; I added a binding, and he added a few embellishments (his own vision, but not visible in the photo here) and voila!

This morning I finished one of the bags that I promised my mother. A few years ago I made her a patchwork jacket with various Steelers/football fabrics, so I used the scraps from that to make this first purse. I cobbled together a few patterns that I have here and added a few extra details like an afterthought zipper at the top. I hope it's what she had in mind!

My list is looking more manageable now: finish sweater, finish tracing & color witch embroidery, finish Monster Bag (started with Allison), make one more purse, use up one more screen (which I think I'm going to use for pencil cases instead of totes). I'm putting the Beatles on the backburner; it can wait until October.

Two Steps Forward

I finished the background blocks for the Calendula embroidery, so I can get some tracing done tomorrow. These blocks look darker in the photo than they look on the wall; I think they will be a good embroidery setting.

That's a little progress, but unfortunately I remembered another big thing on my before-we-leave list:

• Cut the fabric for the Newington chapter group quilt so it can be distributed at the September meeting.

so little time

The list of things I had planned to accomplish before leaving at the end of August is starting to feel just a tad unattainable. I did finish one quilt this morning (except for a label), so that's a good start. I still need to:

• Make a label for my witches quilt before dropping it off for the GHQG Quilt Show on Wednesday
• Print all of the labels that will hang next to the quilts in the show
• Print signs reminding people about the thread workshop at the show.
• Pick up the programs and make sure they get to the show on time.
• Actually go to the show all day on Saturday (and maybe Sunday)

But from a stitchery perspective, I was also planning to:

• Finish knitting Barry's alpaca sweater
• Quilt & finish the Beatles quilt (basting & a movie, kids?)
• Make screen bags using all the mesh I have purchased so far (2 large, 1 small)
• Sew two Steelers-themed bags for my mother using a pattern that has lots of pockets. I was planning to make the Essential Purse, but I can't figure out a good combo of fabrics that will have the appropriate scale in the quintessential black-and-gold colors, so I might look for a different pattern...
• I'm also starting this adorable-but-enormous embroidered quilt so I have some handwork with me on our trip. I have most of the background blocks sewn, but I still need to assemble the embroidery sections, trace the designs, and add the crayon shading. I *think* at least one section is do-able.

Also, I have promised the boys a long-awaited party on Thursday, so I will be spending all day Wednesday making cupcakes & fruit salad and planning a variety of Minute-to-Win-It games. I have made myself a little tired just reading this list. These quilts aren't making themselves...