The third week of the New Year

... in which Ringo Lake seems to have frozen over.  Aw heck.

Wondering how many ways I can say "I finished more blocks" and showing the same blocks - without becoming a bore!  I'll keep sewing together the pieces and parts I need to make the units, then join those wherever they need to go to make the magic happen.

You'll probably not hear any more about the On Ringo Lake mystery til you see the finished top laid out, possibly mid- to late-summer.

Or maybe you will ...

I've also done a few more of my little churn dash blocks, love em!  These do keep me interested because I never really know exactly how a block will look til it's sewn together, and that's part of the fun/mystery in making these little blocks.

I really like using black on white fabrics for the background, and even though I have a pretty good variety of those fabrics, I still find myself looking at them whenever I go fabric shopping (which isn't often, thank goodness).

Making a "potato chip bag" from some very pretty Alexander Henry fabric I found in my stash.  The pieces are all cut out with fusible added on the back, the strap is made, I just need to sew the bag together.

Because my bee doesn't meet in December, we always have our Christmas gift exchange at the January meeting.  This year we're each making one gift, wrapped, to be chosen by a fellow member by drawing a number from a bag.  It's
always fun seeing all the gifts and wondering what you'll get - just like Christmas!

That's it for now, today is our first Guild meeting of the year; it's supposed to be a nice day for it.  It'll be nice to see everyone again, after a whole month!  Sew forth and sew on til later ...

Those annoying no-sew days

Three things to be happy about:
(1) a sweet treat
(2) Monday mornings
(3) the end of a storm

Boy oh boy did it storm last night!  But I think it's all gone now; we have a lot of leaves in the street but no limbs or branches -  at least not on my street.

I think I found a new definition for "no-sew" days -- they're not only days when you don't sew, but days when you DO sew but nothing goes right.  It's like your mojo deserted you, so if I have one it sure as heck wasn't working yesterday!

I made another "potato chip" bag yesterday, but this time I wanted to make it larger so I added two inches to all the measurements.

I also increased the size of the boxed corners by 1/2", that was okay but I should have realized that it added a whole inch to the overall size of the boxed corners.

Well, I learned a few things that I'll do differently next time.  For example, it's okay to increase the corners but I should leave the pockets the same size. 

You can't see it, but the front pocket goes down a bit too far, affecting the shape of the bottom.  And the width sorta wraps around the sides a bit.  The pockets don't really need to be larger than the pattern calls for.

Actually everything else looks okay though. 

The flap looks larger than the purse but it's the same size as the front and back, so it's those pesky pockets that jigged the deal.

So now I have two purses! 

Wish I had reversed the fabrics, and used that darker Alexander Henry fabric for the flap though...

Oh well, there's always another bag waiting to be made!

Have a great Monday, sew forth and sew on til later ...

More fabrics, little project

Three things to be happy about:
(1) crossing your ankles
(2) soft lighting
(3) sleeping in

Here are some black fabrics I bought on the Lancaster shopping trip last week.

Some interesting prints are in there, including violins, mustache trimming tools and music notes.  You probably can't see it, but the piece with the gold rings says "with this ring" - cute!

I decided to take a small detour and make a small purse that's supposed to be super easy, using these fabrics. 

The Potato Chip Bag is said to be so easy and addictive you can't make just one, but ...

... I got all the way to attaching the outside pocket, and somehow my mind just wouldn't grab ahold of what I was supposed to do!

When I get past this point I'll have a cute bag.

Or maybe if my friend Felicia will hold my hand, I might even have two or three!



Sew forth and sew on ..