Christina's Bag

I was asked recently by an old friend to make her a new "purse." I use this term lightly because her idea of a purse is actually a huge tote bag :p She mailed me some pre-quilted fabric from JoAnn's and I instantly got to work on this monster of a bag (17" long, 12" tall, 9" wide). I love using the pre-quilted fabric because it saves me about 1-2 hours of work, depending on the project. I am soooo happy with the way this came out and it's already back in the mail 24 hours after I received the fabric. Hope she LOVES it!

Poppy Purse

This is my new venture: The Poppy Purse and Change Purse. I was commissioned by a friend (the same college friend for whom I made the Girly Purse) to make a purse for her mom's American Legion Ladies' Auxiliary outgoing president (phew!). Their symbol is the poppy so they found this gorgeous poppy print fabric on Spoonflower and mailed it to me. I quilted it, added their patch, and created a lovely purse with an outside cell phone pocket. They also requested a sample of a change purse. They were mailed from NJ Wednesday and arrived in NH Friday for this weekend's ceremony. They already have requests for at least 2 more sets and hope to take orders for more this weekend. Eeeeekkkkkk!!!! Yay me!!!! I hope to be very busy in the coming weeks....

New Jersey Sewing

Well I didn't realize it's been almost 6 months since my last post. A lot has changed in my life. The first major life-changing event was our move from Maine to south New Jersey in October. Although it wasn't a culture shock for me, it was definitely a tough transition. My entire family is in Maine with my history. 34 years in the best state in the nation makes it hard to get used to living elsewhere. But we are doing it. And we're fine :)
The second change is that I'm no longer working. With all my extra time you'd think I'd be sewing a ton, but I'm not. I have an entire sewing room all to myself and it rarely gets used. That will be changing very soon.
My third change is my weight. I have never had to struggle with my weight until recent years. At 30 everything seemed to go downhill. I finally decided to do something about it. Since New Year's I have lost 15 lbs and 4 inches in my waist by changing my diet and joining a gym. What a great feeling!
So that's that. And now for the one thing that I have sewn recently...

It's a girly purse for a college friend who likes all things girly :)

Where Did It Go?

Where the heck did summer go????
I guess I blinked and it was over. Although I didn't get a lot of sewing done this summer, I did get a few orders. So last week I rushed to get my sew-jo back and got a bunch of stuff done:
Market Totes
Bridesmaids' Wristlets
Custom Diaper Bag



Busy, busy, busy....

What? I'm actually getting orders? (And WIP Wednesday)

(Linking up to WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced again!)

Wow! I have been busy in the past few days. The quilted pieces of purse that I posted last week are now part of a complete purse. And there's a matching wristlet to go with! Yay! This is the donation for next week's silent auction benefit.


I actually love making purses. The wristlet is based on Ayumi's tutorial at Pink Penguin.
Now here's the fun part.... I have ORDERS!!!! After posting pics on FB of this set, several friends asked for sets of their own. So here we go! I made one wristlet already
and the rest will be made within the next two weeks with the following fabrics:




Fun, huh? And now I shall leave you with some process pics of the purse set. (Oh, and the Chrysalis Quilt is still on hold. Maybe I'll get to that by the time summer actually hits here in Maine.)

Rain, Rain, Go Away.....

It's official. We have had a full week with absolutely NO SUN here in Maine. It's driving me nuts. This is the time of year when I enjoy sitting out on the swing reading books and sewing magazines, listening to the birds, and enjoying (and sneezing at) all the new signs of life amongst the trees and gardens. Each year I add to my little piece of paradise (my approx. 3x8 foot garden) and I love seeing all my annuals come back bigger and better than the year before (especially my crimson colored lilies ;). Right now, as I look out the front door, this is what I see:


Notice all the mud puddles (and my cute kids walking down the driveway. The weather does not stop them from playing outside).
However, things are blooming! And with a little sun, hopefully tomorrow, I will have a rainbow of color in my front yard once again. Keeping my fingers crossed...

Back in the Saddle

5 weeks post-surgery, I finally dusted off the sewing machine yesterday (and apologized to it profusely for leaving it to get that way for so long). I have about 2 weeks to finish the donation of a purse and wallet for an auction to benefit a special little girl whose family needs a little help.

So I started with the simple task of choosing fabric (yeah, right) and went with a lovely Alexander Henry print for the main focal point. Then I quilted it with cotton batting and interfacing. And that's as far as I got yesterday. I know, not much, but it's a start.


Of course, that didn't end my day of playing with fabric. I went to my LQS for zippers and happened upon 2 fat quarters that called my name.


The pretty blue floral is from Central Park, and I can't remember which line the other one is from. I'm such a sucker for anything Moda and Central Park has been calling my name.
2 more projects are in the works as well (in my head, anyway): a diaper bag for an old friend from school who now lives in VA, and a purse & wallet for another old friend who lives nearby and makes a wonderful line of natural body products

So that's all for today. The Chrysalis Quilt is still on hold as well. I will get it done once everything else is finished.
Linking up to Freshly Pieced today for WIP Wednesday!