Monday is Fun Day - Sewing Basket

Sewing baskets are starting to pile up around here, although I did manage to donate one this summer.  But when something's on clearance it catches your attention.

Orange is my favorite color.  Or maybe turquoise is.  And when they're both together, it's too much to resist.  

Lots of purses.  Who doesn't like purses?

Now I have the inspiration I need to complete this "In the Bag" pattern, using the fabric at the bottom.  Right now, I keep it all together inside the sewing basket.

My Deciduous Bonsai

I found an oak seedling in one of our flower beds this spring.  Although I didn't want it growing where I found it, I did want it growing inside our house. 

I planted it in this duck planter and it did very nicely all summer.

I was surprised and more than pleased, when it behaved the same way as the oaks outside - changing color and dropping its leaves.  My next goal is to try to keep it alive during the winter and see if it puts out new leaves next spring.

Two Little Girls with Big Heads

I've been on an embroidery timeout since February, not sure why.  This week I made a goal of finishing a piece I started this spring, and I finished it last night.

The colors were taken from Little Apples by Aneela Hoey.  I have no idea when or where I bought this charm pack, but I'm just glad I did.  

I'm a bit annoyed with myself for not making a note of where I got this embroidery pattern.  It doesn't seem to be in my embroidery books, so I can't give proper credit to the designer.

My plan is to make several additional, but different, embroidery blocks and combine them in a quilt with all the charm squares.  Since I have just a small piece of this white fabric left, and the coarse weave gives it a distinctive look, I'll only be able to squeeze out two or three more embroidery blocks. 

I think that the future embroidery designs for this quilt are going to be coming from Stitched for Fun by Fiona Goble.  But when writing this post, I discovered that Aneela Hoey has written an embroidery book.  I just requested it from the library, and that might influence my plans.  I better wait for it before starting the next block.

Monday is Fun Day - Olaf Notebook

I always wait for movies to be released on DVD, which means I'm behind the times.  I recently got around to watching Frozen. 

The day after watching it, I found this Olaf notebook.  This pleased me because he was my favorite character.   

And it's two notebooks in one - you can see this small one on the front.

Not that I needed more notebooks, but it was too fun to resist.

Not Just Another Pretty Face

Ain't nothing to it, but do it.

                 --- Jake Worthington

From the Vault - Citrus Dog Quilt

I didn't really name this quilt from 2011 "Citrus Dog Quilt".  It doesn't have any name.  But it has citrus colors and dogs in it, so why not.

It's about 4 feet x 4 feet.  It used to be a wall hanging, but now it covers a doggy bed.  It was a lot of fun to make because I just cut a bunch of strips using my 6" wide ruler, then cut the strips into 6" squares.  Nothing easier than that.

Dogs and flowers and peace signs.  Regular cotton, and a little flannel, too (top row, middle block).

I added two kinds of geometrics, both dots and stripes.

For the binding, I cut strips from the same fabrics I used in the blocks.  You always have to piece your binding anyway, so why not make use of the leftover fabric?

The label and the back.  The rectangular label consists of the peach outer border and then the flower block inside.  The flowers on the label are supposed to look sort of like the large floral used for the backing.  

Sometimes I like to piece my backing to use up fabric, but it sure is easier to just have one large piece, like I did here.

Monday is Fun Day - Aqua Leather Tote

You never know what you're going to run into, do you?  I was at a store looking for something I no longer remember, when I accidentally (?) wandered through the purse aisle and found a large leather tote bag on clearance.

I didn't have one this roomy - 14" tall by 19" wide with a 5" gusset.  My plan was to use it for all the things I haul to quilt meetings (notebooks, show-and-tell, purse stuff, etc.) .  Rather than juggling multiple straps/bags, this will make my life simpler.

Like I said, that was the plan.  In the meantime, it's packed chock full of selvages, and it might just stay that way.  Previously, I squirrelled away my selvages in I don't know how many containers / bags on multiple floors of our house.  But now I'm having fun with them all in one place, right in my sewing room.  As soon as I make it through some planned scrap projects, then I'll turn my attention to my selvages.