Fall Tablerunner

Like I said, my purse projects keep getting interrupted everytime I go into my sewing center.  This is a 10 Minute Table Runner from Missouri Star Quilt Company.  My sewing center put together kits with fabric, batting, and binding all included.  I added the machine embroidery for embellishment.

Pittsburgh Sports Team Wallhanging

This was another class offered by my sewing center.  The provided the embroidery designs for the borders.  The design was from a log cabin Christmas Wreath pattern, modified somewhat.  The class was two sessions with homework in between.

Another Purse

I have been collecting purse patterns and I am behind in making them.  Every time I go to my sewing center I find another project to work on.  I did find some time to squeeze this purse in though.  The pattern is from Indygo Junction with a modification from the magazine Designs in Machine Embroidery.  The modification had some machine embroidery in the center panel and a curved notch in the top band of the purse.  I had every intention of following the plan until I settled on fabrics.  I decided to use old blue jeans with some linen fabric, sort of a shabby chic look.

When I settled on a thin jeweled trim for the center seam lines it gave me the idea of making that center panel into a zippered pocket - with a jeweled zipper.  I found zippers online with swarovski crystals.  They had black zipper tape so the looked great.  The only problem is I couldn't operate them once I have the pocket assembled.  The crystal zipper teeth kept standing out, making it difficult to open and close the zipper.  Had to rip them out add regular zippers, a big disappointment.

The handle tab connectors were done in the hoop on my embroidery machine with the design coming from a Nancy Zeiman collection for purses.  Overall I am happy with the outcome even though I am disappointed in not being able to have bling zippers.  My plan is to add some bling zipper pulls.

Sewing up a Storm

I sure am making up for lost sewing time this summer.  I continued work on a nap roll for my grand daughter after almost giving up on it, or at least this design.  The heart design with secondary patterns of diamonds and zig-zag was perfect for a caterpillar.  It was tedious work piecing it together and I almost gave up several time.  And the thought of matching all of those points and angles was giving me cold sweats.  Leaving it set over the summer was probably a good thing, I wasn't even pinning by the time I finished the assembly.  Below is a pic, still in progress.

The inspiration for this came from a similar project I created for my daughter when she was little.  She was attached to it and asked me to repair it for her a few years ago.  It was in such bad shape I had no choice but to completely remake it.  She was mortified when she saw it in pieces.  It was an old pattern, McCalls I think and it was made to look like a caterpillar.  I've searched the internet hoping to find someone with a copy of sale but no luck.

Here's a pic of the face on the old one.  As you can see it shows it's age.

This is the remake.  I made a new body or pillow roll but kept the original blanket that wraps around and made fabric ribbon ties to replace the ribbon.  The only thing I didn't do was reattach the blanket to the pillow with velcro like the original.  It's just wrapped and tied.  This is my goal for the one I am currently working on.

Block of the Month Project

This is another class project from Craftsy. Every month instructions for a block are available on the class website.  I have to say this class has been challenging and I learned alot.  Normally I would shy away from some of these blocks because they are more advanced, lots of points and matching.  The instructor gave her methods for simplifying the process.  There were some issues with the printed instructions not giving the correct measurements (since corrected) which was very frustrating.  The class isn't finished yet but I wanted to finish it up so I can move onto other projects.  All of the big blocks were complete and all that was left was the flying geese and half square triangles.

I didn't need the class for that so I jumped ahead and then assembled the quilt.  All that's left is more half square triangles for the border and then assembling the quilt.  I may do some machine embroidery embellishment as I am quilting.  Seeing the whole thing assembled, I think it would make a nice Christmas Quilt.  Maybe substitute poinsettias for the flowers in the basket, add a bow to the "wreath", give me some time and I will come up with other ideas. The class is free on Craftsy, you can download the class materials & instructions and have access to the class video anytime. 

Getting back into the Sewing

It's been a long summer.  My husband & I work with youth track and field locally and the USATF Junior Olympic Program nationally.  Our local meets begin in May and the National Junior Olympic Championship is at the end of July.  We treated ourselves to a restful and enjoyable family vacation deep in the "wilderness" in northern Minnesota.  This cabin was our home for a week, if not just to rest our heads at night and cook some food.  The majority of our time was spent on the lake fishing.   Fishing was slow but steady.  By midweek we finally had enough walleye for a fish-fry.  We caught more, but Lake Kabetogama has a slot size for keeping walleye.  You can keep anything up to 16" or over 30" but you have to throw back anything in-between, and yes we did throw some back.  Ready to get back into sewing.