The One With the Crossbody Purse...

ohmygoodgracious!  I received the crossbody purse that I ordered - custom-made - from my online (and soon to be in real!) - friend, Donna.  She makes absolutely stunning purses and wallets (and quilts and backpacks and pajamas and napkins and, and...).  Check out her blog here.  I met Donna when I was involved in an online swap...a strawberry pincushion swap back in 2013.  We had several things in common...listed in this blog post.  

Anyway.  She makes wonderful pieces.  I mean, really wonderful!

So.  I do not normally carry a purse.  I carry my little zipper pouch and my phone.  Thinking about going on vacation and the travel involved in driving to/from/around Wisconsin and I thought that, perhaps, having a purse would come in handy.  BUT, I didn't want any big thing...like one that could fit everything AND the kitchen sink inside!  Something that is just big enough for my cards, license, cell phone and keys.

One day, on FaceBook, Donna showed a crossbody purse she made.  Well, that is exactly what I need!  So...after much emailing back and forth, we had everything that I wanted figured out and she made me the best purse ever!  It's not too big, but large enough to easily slip my cell phone inside...it has a long strap and a wrist strap, a puppy on the zipper pull and an embroidered brown dog.  I mean, really?  Also, she made a pocket and card slots for my driver license and other important debit/credit/library cards!  It is amazing!  See for yourself...

Cork fabric exterior...measures 8.5 x 6.5 inches.

embroidered brown dog

cutest puppy!

My fave color - teal - lining with pocket and card slots.

I am soooo happy with this!  I must go somewhere tomorrow so that I can take/use it.  Don't you think?  

Vacation begins in 10.5 days!


"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.". Jeremiah 29:11

What I Did Today...

Just a few thoughts and photos to share with you today.

This first one is of a setting at Hobby Lobby...I was there to pick up some muslin and Kona solid in Bone...always fun to see what is new.  The shelf and table are shabby chic and those chairs!  Well, they don't have a place in my living space, but they are fun, aren't they? 

This afternoon, I made this 12" pillow cover that will reside on my summer bed.  Which, of course, isn't ready to be shown.  Rearrangement of my bedroom and spring cleaning need to be finished before I have it all set to show anyone.  I am working on it, so it shouldn't be long.  If you recognize this fabric, you'll have an idea of what I plan to do with my summer bed.

 

 

Nothing random about the placement of those squares, either.  Intentionally arranged the way they are.  ~grin~

The envelope back is almost as attractive as the front, don't you think?  I gave some thought to using this fabric/layout to make another pillow cover and would have then used a solid color for the backing, but I decided to use up all of my creativity (and scraps) on one cover instead.

 

I was ever so tired of looking at this sofa cover...and, I gotta say,  straightening and re-tucking it every day was a huge pain in the you-know-what!   

before

after

So, I changed things up a bit.  And, now I can use two of the pillows I made awhile back (talked about here and here).  Course, there is the ever-present sleeping brown dog in the photos.  ~grin~  This isn't exactly what I want, but it's a small step in the right direction. 

That's about all I did!  Course, I made sure to watch the Kentucky Derby...always an exciting few minutes!  Congratulations to California Chrome!  

Have a great rest of the weekend!!!



"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.". Jeremiah 29:11

Staying Warm...

snuggling with the brown dog.

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.". Jeremiah 29:11

Still Creating...

Remember this?

Creating...from back here?

Almost 6 months ago...

time does fly.

 

Here are two more...

Sit.

Wait.

I quite like them.
What do you think?

And.  Yes.

The brown boy did pose for those.

Knew you were wonderin'...

{grin}

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."   Jeremiah 29:11

Creating...

I must be better.  Completely over my pneumonia.  I've been looking.  Looking for something more.  I've got 4 quilts all set to baste/quilt/finish.  I've got my Snow Days stitchery block 9 to work on.  Several quilts to make without stepping out of the house to buy fabric.  

Yet.  I am restless.  Looking for something different.  Not to replace what I'm doing now.  Just something to fill this little void...this one right here.  I've been looking and thinking...here...there.  Looking at files I've had for a long while.  Wanting something else to stitch.  My mind seems to be working overtime.  I need to fulfill these errant creative urges...to let these creative juices flow freely.  

So, I made a start at something.  

Tag, You're It! Creations.  Pieces of Tag.  Well, not really Tag...just a brown dog.   Small.Simple.Fast...Perfect!  And, not always the brown dog...I've got other colors of floss.  And, more designs...in a few other breeds, too.  

Why 'Tag, You're It!??  Because that is Tag's AKC registered name.  And, I do love the brown boy.  Because he is 'it'.  Actually, he's all that.  And more.  Really.  {grin}  Sorry...I get a bit carried away sometimes.  

I made this little design into a pillow to hang on my cubicle wall at work.  It measures ~4.5 x 6 inches and is entitled, "Stay"...the first in a series of 4.

 

So, what do you think?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

If you're looking to enter my giveaway, it's 2 posts down.  Only comments left there qualify for the giveaway.  Hurry...the drawing is tomorrow! 

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."
Jeremiah 29:11

Favicon? What's That??

favicon  (ˈfævɪˌkɒn)
— n
	a 16 x 16-pixel icon associated with a particular website, usually displayed before the URL in a web browser
[from favorite + icon ]

Did you see my favicon...

up there in your address bar?  

I thought I would post a larger picture

here so that you could see what it actually is...

a brown dog with a sewing needle and thread!

Isn't he cute???

I had this drawn for me back in 1999,

when I started a little company

selling items with dog breed

headstudies on the fabric.

I didn't make much money, but I had fun!

I've had this image all this time and

thought it would make a cute little favicon.

It's Jigs, the brown boy I had before Tag.

Lori Bush is the artist...

she thought it a little strange

that I wanted a male dog drawn...

but she did it for me.

{grin}

It's Friday!  
My weekend starts at 2:00
when I am done working!!!

Have a great day!

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11

FEED me!!!

"If you follow me, mama, I'll show you where the food is."

(Apparently, the brown dog is hungry.

He brought me his food bowl and wanted me to follow him.
He is actually carrying the food bowl...it looks as if it might be on the floor, but it's not. 

hahahaha...this is why the next statement is what it is.)

So, I've not gotten a lot accomplished on my sew...snow day.

Too busy playing with Tag.

And hangin' out and thinking about stuff.

Actually did get 2 things done, but they need hand sewing.

Will show them when they're done...probably tomorrow.  

Newsflash on the giveaway!
I know...been talking about it for 2 months.
Well, it is almost here.
For sure.

I was cleaning up my blog and found some posts 

that had been started and never posted.

I deleted them.

Which changed the number of blogs I had posted to that day.

This, then, is blog post #497.

I will be having a giveaway on post #500.

Definitely.

I Promise.

As for the snow part of the day...
I am completely snowed in.

Drifts across the driveway too deep for my car.

Will have to wait until I get plowed out.

Wouldn't break my heart if it didn't get done.

At all.

Full Disclosure

Okay, here ya go! (I really hope that you are able to click on these photos to make them larger. It's kind of a hit and miss thing, though I have no idea why.)

Here's the front of the quilt. I love how it looks after being washed...all soft and crinkly. Size is 42x52 (after washing). (the 'bumps' in the top of the quilt - both front and back photos are just cuz I didn't smooth out the top...just threw the quilt on the floor and took the photo. sorry.)

Here's the back. I am very pleased with how the piecing of it worked out...matched seams and all. There is a lot of quilting on this baby!!!

Here's a closeup of the label. All my quilts will have the brown dog silhouette as a label. Makes me smile. I may invest in some kind of pen to write with...on this one, I very primitively stitched '2009' with floss.
This pattern is a Crazy Nine-Patch pattern that I found...here's the tutorial. Very easy and fun! I used my walking foot to quilt square spirals in each of the blocks (whew...all that turning was not so much fun), and to quilt straight lines in the sashings and borders. Then, I used my darning foot to do free-motion quilting on the larger outside border. I practiced a LOT before attempting it on the quilt.

I used Coats and Clark machine quilting thread until I got to the free-motion quilting. My tension was way off and when I adjusted it so that it looked correct, the thread kept breaking. So, I switched to Gutermann machine quilting thread and put my tension back to where it started and it worked great! whew.

I am very proud of my corners...they are mitered perfectly! And, it was easy!
All in all, I am very pleased with how this turned out.

This was my 'practice' quilt. If I had known then what I know now (one of the main things is that I learned that I can do this!), I would have done a few things differently. But, I didn't want to be afraid of making mistakes, so deliberately chose colors/fabric that I would not grieve over. ~sigh~

So, what would I do differently?

1. I would choose different colors for the blocks.
2. I would not use the damask print I used for the sashings and border...too large of a design and I had to work with it more than if it had an overall smaller design. (But, if you can tell, everything is right side up and matching! woohoo!!!)
3. I was bored and didn't want to do more quilting in a block (ya know, stitch, turn, stitch, turn, stitch...) so I quilted one of the borders...got some puckers when I quilted the sashings...coming into the straight lines in the border. oops. I know...work from the center. Wasn't thinking. Apparently.

That's about it!

Getting something done...

YAY!!! I finished Conlan's 'brown dog' pillow. I think it looks good. It's actually a bit darker than it's showing.


Crappy day weather-wise, so I cancelled my orientation. Will chat with everyone via phone in the next few days, so they'll all get a good start on their course.