Peace Dove bags

Here are the three peace dove grocery / tote bags all done and ready to go to the fund raiser at my church. The auction was last evening. They are now in the hands of their new owners, hopefully to provide helpful service and a gentle reminder of peace.

Peace Doves

I am making three shopping bags to donate to an auction at my church. Last year I made three with peace symbols, so continuing the theme this year I am going with doves.





I used a template from Bella Dia's web site here.


I got to wondering how the dove became a symbol of peace and found this quote:

after world war II pablo picasso, was responsible for
the decisive use of the dove of peace : his lithograph
designed for the international peace congress in paris,
1949, features the white ancestor of a new family of
doves. since then, graphic artists have produced an
endless series of doves of peace in different shapes.

Here is his poster...

A wristlet for Mary

I tidied up the studio yesterday and found some quilting pins and a bobbin that I need to return to my friend Mary. I reflected that I couldn't just give them back to her in a plastic or paper bag. So..., of course, I made her a wristlet.

I know that Mary likes Fall colors. So I rummaged through my stash to find a nice combo. I added a little row of pieced fabric to the bottom of the purse. As I pull these little pieces of fabric together I reflect on their history. The fabric in the body of the bag is fabric that I used to accent a vest I made, in a class that Mary and I took together.

The bits in the pieced row are:
1. red oriental - from a jacket I made with all oriental fabrics
2. pink/red/orange from a piece of fabric that Nathan gave me
3. red with gold dots - from my friend Besty, see the sunshine pillow.
4. yellow - from a little fabric bundle from the island of St. John's where they recycle worn bed sheets by dying them in beautiful batiks- a gift from my friend Margaret.
5. a piece of batik that I purchased from the local quilt shop and have used in more than one project. Here is one example.

I again added 3 beads to the zipper pull, this makes opening and closing easier and looks pretty cute. I think the beads on the zipper pull will now be a standard addition.

So here's to a lot of enjoyment from a little creation. The pleasure of giving it to Mary will be the icing on the cake.

Polka dots for Betsy and Meg

My friend Betsy gave me a wonderful piece of polka dot fabric based on Eric Carle's book The Very Hungry Caterpillar. I decided to make a larger wristlet bag, more of a large pencil case shape as a gift for Betsy. Big enough to hold scissors and other sewing accessories. I put a large round wood bead on the zipper pull.

I just love the bright colors of this print and how the polka dots are so plentiful and crowded joyfully together. Can you believe The Hungry Caterpillar was published in 1969? This must qualify as a classic now. It even has a wikipedia entry, where it says that it is one of the best-selling books of all time, with over 25 million copies in print.

I also made a smaller wristlet for Betsy's daughter Meg. Meg is a school teacher, so this seems to be a perfect print for her.









I just love making these wristlets, I am ever appreciative of the tutorial posted here for the instructions.

Little practical things and more quilting

Some of my studio time this weekend was used for a couple of needed practical things. I made a padded bag for my new car navigation assistant. I made the standard writstlet that I have been making and added a center divider, so that cord would not scratch the screen. I also put a layer of quilt batting in the bag to provide cushion.




I also realized that I needed one more cloth grocery bag, so made one out of the leftover bedroom curtain material (that I have been getting a lot of mileage out of!). I used the basic Morse bag dimensions. This one does not a have a flat bottom like most of my other bags, but I think that's OK.



With those two projects done I then turned my attention to finishing the quilt for Andrew & Sarah. As you can see from this picture, the pins are out. I finished the machine quilting yesterday then added the binding and did the hand sewing last evening.





I added the label for the back this morning. Just the basic message, who it is made for, with love, my name and the date. Now I can't wait to give this to them. I think it will happen sometime in February, we may be making a visit then.

Christmas makings

Now that Christmas is over and the gifts have been given I can share some of the hand made gifts I gave this year.

For my son and daughter in law I wanted to make a tree ornament that said something special about 2008. So what better than to remember the campaign and election of Barak Obama? I snagged a photo of the Obama symbol from the campaign web site and proceeded to copy the shape for a round ornament. It was fun to do and turned out pretty nice. Andrew and Sarah really enjoyed receiving it and agreed that it will be a good remembrance of 2008.

For my each of my two sons I wanted to make a boxy shaped bag with a zipper. I followed the tutorial here, well I tried to anyway. The first time I got the width and length of the body transposed and ended up with a rectangle instead of a box.
It was amazing to me that I got almost all the way done before I realized that this object was not short and wide but long and narrow. Oh well. Andrew liked it and does feel he has a use for it. It actually is a good size for tools.











For my musician son I wanted to make a boxy bag that would hold CD's. This time I carefully thought out what the dimensions needed to be and actually measured a CD case. (how clever) I used a piece of fabric that Nathan had given me quite awhile ago, something that spoke to him while visiting JoAnn's with a girlfriend. I did not get a sewing room photo, so here you can see Nathan with it on our sunny Christmas afternoon.












Last but not least, the big ta da. I decided about 2 weeks before Christmas to make a quilt for Andrew and Sarah. My husband is making them a very nice blanket chest/coffee table and it occurred to me that a lap size quilt for the inside would be very useful. I selected a pattern with very large pieces and enlarged the lap size so that it is basically almost twin size. I went with a black and white colorway so that it will not show the dog hair of their black dog too badly. Needless to say I did not finish this before Christmas. It is pieced and pinned together, and that's how it was wrapped and given to them. They really liked it, here they are holding it up for a work in process photo. Since I knew they would not be going home with the quilt, I did whip up a set of 6 cloth coasters out of the black and white fabrics. No photo of those, sorry.









One more item to share. While Andrew and Sarah were visiting Sarah mentioned that she wanted to make a dog bed for their dog out of an old egg shell mattress pad, folded to a 36 x 46ish size. So, we went to Joann and found a really nice piece of purplish fur on sale. Sarah also wanted to line the bed with mylar insulated batting so that it would feel nice and warm to the dog. Sarah and I worked on this yesterday. We had to add a strip of black duck so that the piece was wide enough, since the edge of the fur had a very loosely woven selvedge. Here you can see Sirius quite contented with the results.

Getting ready

Just a quick post to show one more wristlet, on its way now to a certain little girl who likes pink.

Also, some gifts for David under the tree, wrapped in fabric gift bags.


That's all I can share now. A surprise is in the making...

Early Solstice gifts

I made up this bag to share at the gift exchange of my circle sisters. I "stole" the design inspiration from the Pink Lemonade Boutique web site. She has made some really nice bags with colorful fabric combos. What inspired me were the circles connected by lines and the use of rick rack. I made a basic fabric bag to wrap the gift in.
After making the bag I decided to make a wristlet to match it and then to make a wristlet for each of the other women in the circle.

Actually the bottom one, the spider fabric, is for me. Aren't they sweet? I loved making these and imagining who would get each one. Here's how it came down. Barbara got the circle rick rack bag with it's matching wristlet. (note the witch accessory fabric used for the lining and the and wristelt) Margaret and Merrill each got a dragonfly one. Molly got the greenish one with peace doves. Cathy got the one made out of the Japanese fabric that I made a blouse out of. Judi got the one made out of the Chinese girl fabric. Emily will be getting the blue fern one via the mail. Very fun work, and I am proud to say that every zipper was a thrifted or hand me down one. Some of these old zippers have waited a long time to be put to use.


Here's to making something to give away, I hope you find time to share your creativity with those you love.

Alternative to plastic produce bags

Just a quick post to share what I have come up with as an alternative to using plastic when purchasing produce. I purchased a square of green netting from the Joann's 70% off bin and made up several rectangle shaped bags. I sewed all seams with a zig zag stitch. I turned over the top to make a casing and then threaded some kite string through for the top closure. They are super light weight and durable. I went to the Farmer's market last Saturday and came home without any plastic bags!

Yoga mat

I have resumed Yoga classes after a break of a couple of years. So, I now need a yoga mat bag. Now here is a bag that I have not yet made. Yea! I found these instructions on line and followed them, pretty much. My goal was not to purchase anything to make this bag. So I used some upholstery material that I purchased at a discount decorator store in Columbus, Ohio, a shoe string in my stash, and a chincher (? I am not sure what these are called) that I also had in my stash.

Since the fabric is an upholstery weight I figure it will be somewhat rain resistant, if I have to dash from my car to class in the rain.

As they say in Sanskrit, Namaste.

Sewing with Katy & Maggie

My friends Katy and Maggie visited up north (with their folks) and we took some time to do some sewing. I forgot to get pictures while we sewed, but in the photo you can see the bag that Katy made. Katy's bag is red on one side and purple on the other, with one red and one purple handle. These were fabrics that she choose, she did add a polka dot pocket, which I highly approved of. : ) Don't you love the gold fringe? Katy did most of the sewing herself, she is a natural at the sewing machine, which I love to see. Gives me hope for the next generation. Maggie made a curtain/drape kind of thing to put over a house that she has made for her cat. I did not get a picture of it, but was told that it fit very nicely over the cat's abode.

For each of them I made a change purse/wristlet. They both chose to add a little fringe trim to the wristlet bag, very cute indeed. Here is a photo of the 2 writstlets with one more that I made that will go to a friend who really likes snakes. I love making these, they are super simple and a great use for scrap fabric.

Polka Dots for Mikayla

We had another beautiful week up north, the week before Labor Day. At the beginning of our vacation we were visited by Mikayla and her folks. Since Mikayla is too young to sew for herself I had her pick some buttons and polka dot fabric for a bag. I love her pink and green color combo.

She choose a blue polka dot for the inside pocket, she is showing it in this picture.

She was very pleased with the bag, and proceeded to fill it up with her books and toys.

I made her a little change purse / wristlet to match the purse. I used the tutorial here to make the pouch with a zipper top. Adding the little strap makes it a "wristlet".

Up north sewing extravanganza

While up north at our cottage I had 4 teen or pre-teen girls visiting who all wanted to "sew something". My two sisters were also there, so we had plenty of coaches. I used my standard grocery bag pattern, made it a bit narrower and and instructed them in making a lined bag. They were all quick learners and very handy. I also had this tutorial printed out and a selection of zippers. I had my polka dot stash on hand and my sister brought a collection of cottons as well. Between the four girls they made 10 bags. At one point I noticed a lot of pins flying around, so I showed them how to make simple pin cushions. What fun we had! The girls really enjoyed making the tote bags, they made ones for themselves, for other family members and for friends.
I have heard that there was a trip to Joann fabric after getting home, more fabric purchased and more bags made!

Smaller groocery bag

I have noticed that the baggers at the grocery store will fill up my cloth bags to the max. This makes the bags quite heavy to lug in and out of the car and then into the house. I have made a bag pattern that is wider and shorter than the ones I have been making, see my tutorial. You can see the size comparison in these two pictures.
The pattern is 18 1/4 inches wide and 16 1/4 tall. I cut out a 2 1/4 inch square at each side for the bottom. The handles were cut 4 inches wide and 26 inches long. Since the bag is wider I spaced the handles 6 1/2 inches apart. The assembly of the bag is the same as in the tutorial. For the one in this picture I added a 6 inch band at the bottom to give it more strength.

The Blue's for Margaret and Cathy

I made a small bag for Margaret as a birthday gift, I forget to take a photo of it. Here she is today modeling it. The theme is blue / water. Can you see the fish?


I also made a special bag for Cathy, who had a milestone birthday today. This bag is also along the blue/water theme. It is a lot larger than the bag I made for Margaret, note the tape measure for scale. I added some fabric that I have with musical notes as Cathy can sign beautifully. It is embellished with buttons and blue/green yarn in swirls. Some of the pieces Cathy will recognize: one from an apron that I made for her; one from a scrap that she gave me after mending a dress for her mother; one from Margaret's stash; and one from Barbara's daughters dress from long ago. The dark blue polka dot at the base of the bag is material Cathy brought to me from Transylvania. I added a few of my favorites too.

It is really fun to pull these bits together, blending color and memories. Piecing on many levels.






When you are ready to give a gift like this to someone, how do you wrap it up? Paper? No way!
Here I took a rectangle of the scrap from Cathy, pinked the edges and sewed along the edge with a serpentine stitch. Yarn and ribbon scraps make a beautiful bow.