Fabric Love

I am really excited to be sewing again and new fabric really helps. Last weekend we took a short road trip to Noblesville, a small town north of Indianapolis, and found Always In Stitches. A great shop just full of quilting fabrics. As it was getting near their closing time, I just bought a few pieces:

 

I also picked out some beautiful fabrics from an etsy shop, Sew Deerly Loved.

 

Japanese fabrics with a great feel.

These colors are so different from what I usually work with. I blame it all on blogland! And I say, my style is evolving. That sounds good, doesn't it?

Here is a bag made with some of the new fabric. I got the pattern from an old American Patchwork and Quilting. I did change it up a bit, doing the lining differently.

I love all the details, like the yoyo flower and tied handles.

 

I decided I needed to purge some of my older fabric scraps to make room for the new.  So I made up an old favorite pattern Paddlewheels and Pinwheels by Thimbleberries.  I made one of these years ago and it's in tatters now. 

Very quick and easy, and it showcases hand quilting nicely.

So this is what I'm working on today, while my husband cleans up the basement :)  I don't know if any of our kids are coming for dinner - Tad has been sick, and Eric is doing schoolwork - but I'm making a pork roast. Yum! They should come and help us eat it and the chocolate cake with truffle frosting I made.

I hope everyone has a great week. This will be my first regular week of work. I'll let you know how it goes.

Instead of Doing Housework...

As you can tell from my last post, I have been having a lot of fun making small sewing and quilted projects lately. When I am working on a large quilt I feel like I have to finish it before starting something else. And there are so many cute things I want to make!

Here are a few of the projects I've done lately:

The pattern for this pincushion and needlebook set is from Country Threads. I love anything with herbs, so I had to make it. But I had trouble coming up with enough fabric from my stash. I don't have much lavender and purple, so I had to change up the pattern a bit.

This cute little needlecase is from a tutorial on this blog.

I used a different design for the front (can't remember where I got it, sorry), but I loved what Amy did for the back.

And for the inside:

If you like cute little quilting morsels, you should check out her blog. Lots of inspiration.

Well now I need to get some housework done. Oh, and guess what? I got a job working part time at the library branch near our house. So convenient, and I've always wanted to be a libraian. Being around all those books! I can't wait to start.

Recent Projects and a Book

With the holidays over and my hands completely healed, I've started in with my job searching. Not Fun! But after each session on the computer I reward myself with some crafting time.

This quilt pattern was in my new craft binder. I made it somewhat smaller than shown, so it will be the right size to hang on one of our quilt racks. I really like the soft colors, and doing the applique.

Then I made a bag that was inspired by one I saw on this blog. I like how she used a small cross stitch design on linen in the lower section. I don't have many cross stitch patterns anymore, so I looked for one online. Then I found some linen in my stash. But the weave was so small I thought I would go blind, crazy or both if I kept working at it.

I finally finished the stitching (with many mistakes) and made up this lined bag with a covered button. I still have to get some stretchy bands for the closure.

It's a nice size to store our Nook. I bought the Nook for my husband, and even though we prefer books, it has already come in handy. During the holidays there was a discussion about The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, and I knew I wanted to read it. It's a very interesting story. Anyone else reading it?

Some New Year's Organization

I have an addiction to magazines. There, I said it. I have a serious problem with all the wonderful, colorful, creative magazines. Can any of you relate? Well, I decided I needed to do something about all the craft magazine I had. All those projects; I was overwhelmed and I could never decide which ones to make. Besides, all those magazines were taking up valuable shelf space.

So this is what I did - I went through all the magazines, tearing out only the projects I knew I wanted to make, making sure I had the directions and patterns for each. Then I just put them in page protectors in a three ring binder.

 

I tried to keep seasonal projects together to make it easier to choose what to make.  I will probably keep the pattern pages even after making those projects. If I need a pattern for a flower or a bird I can probably find it somewhere in here.

Now when I want to make something I just flip through my binder. And since I can see how many projects I have waiting to be made, I can use a little discretion about new magazines. At least I will try:)

Our youngest son is packing up to go back to his dorm today.  After dropping him off at Purdue (a 10 minute drive!) I'm going to my favorite garden center to buy some seeds. They have a huge selection and it's very hard to limit myself. But there are certain perennials I start every year, like delphiniums, hollyhocks and foxgloves. And now that we have the greenhouse, I'm going to get more annual seeds to save money in the spring. 

So how is your new year's organizing going?