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.)

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!

The Matching Bag

Some women dream of owning a Coach bag. Many women make that dream a reality. (My friend's 5 year old daughter has been saving for one since she was 2.) Others may prefer Vera Bradley, or Dooney & Burke. Me? I prefer a good old Crimson Lily Bag.

You may remember that cute little zippered pouch I made for myself last week. Well, I've had this cute Moda fabric for a while now and it's been waiting for me to make it into a bag. So I did.

Last week I pulled out my sometimes-trusty walking foot and quilted the outer bag pieces in the style of one of my fave bloggers from Film in the Fridge. I then made one pleat in the center top of each.Today I decided it was time to turn this baby into something cool. I used some vintagey fabric that I think belonged to my great-grandmother for the lining, added inside pockets and a zipper, as well as hot pink leather-like handles and a key/wallet clip. Also, instead of doing the usual squared bottom, I sewed a crescent shape on each bottom corner for a funky look. It also helps it stand a little better and poofs out more.

I am so excited for this bag! I'm not usually a big bag kinda gal, but I was inspired by, you guessed it, a Coach bag...

Zippered Pouch

I am an avid sewing blog reader. I find it inspirational to see what other extremely talented women around the world create on a daily basis. One of the blogs I frequent is Pink Penguin. Ayumi has a great technique for sewing zippers on pouches & bags, so I thought I'd try it out today. I used her Patchwork Wristlet Tutorial to make this awesome little pouch.
The outer bag is quilted with straight lines, alternating single & double lines, in both directions. I am so happy with it, and the technique, that I plan to make some as gifts in the near future. I also have a purse in the works to match it. It's actually going to be a small tote bag by the time I finish with it, but that's ok. I'm sure I'll find plenty of things with which to fill it ;)

Butterfly Bag

My friend's daughter turned 15 yesterday and tonight is her party. After asking around this morning I discovered that she likes green, blue, butterflies and purses.
Taadaa!!!!!!! Here's her new purse! It's based on the purse that I made for myself earlier this year and I've decided to call it the "Mili Purse". Get it? MIssie LInd....
I love this fabric from Hoffman. The pictures don't do it justice as the swirls and butterfly accents are actually silver, but you get the idea.

Another Birthday Purse

This one is for our friend, Gabby, who is turning 2 today. Hope she likes it! It's one of my gathered pouch purses which I'm thinking of renaming the "Girly Purse". What do you think?

Another Purse

Here's a little purse I whipped up on Saturday afternoon for my friend's 16 year old. Her favorite color is purple and she likes Elmo, so I had this funky fuzzy purple leopard print fabric, and some Elmo fabric leftover from a dance bag I made her a few years ago. There is an outer pocket under the flap and the strap is adjustable. I'm quite sure she loved it! Now if I could just remember the dimensions......