For the better part of the past decade, I've been using the same black leather purse. It's beginning to look pretty rough around the edges and a new handbag has been needed for a while! So I've been looking and looking at new ones and though found a couple I liked, I didn't like their pricetags! Then one day, while web browsing, I saw a wonderfull slouchy bag that I loved and thought I could make. I made a quick sketch of it. Today, using fabrics in my stash, I made a proto-type to check out the pattern I came up with. I'm pretty happy with the way it turned out!
Originally, I was going to use a mushroom colored twill on the outside and the rosey linen on the inside, but as I was putting it together, I decided I liked the rosey linen out much better! That's why the tag is on the outside and not the inside!
On the inside, there is a pocket to hold my cell phone and a magnetic clasp.
I'm happy enough with this bag that I'll make another one in deeper tones for this fall and winter season with a few minor modifications such as making the handles slightly shorter and maybe a couple of extra pockets (maybe one with a zipper?) inside for keys and the other little odd bits that tend to get lost in the bottom!
2009-10-20
A New Handbag
2009-10-18
Winners!
Wow! There were an unbelievable 130 entries for the give-away! And the number of followers grew from 100 to 123 over the course of this drawing! I am so stunned, that I've added two bonus prizes to the mix! The first bonus is the larger crazy quilted art piece above. It's about 3 x 4". The second bonus is the smaller ATC sized crazy quilted art piece above!
A tremendous THANK YOU to everyone who reads my blog and to all who participated in the give-away! You are all treasures!
To do the drawing, I printed out all the comments, then numbered then in order, dropping duplicate comments. Then, because a random number generator seems so impersonal and drawing slips of paper out of a bowl by myself didn't seem like much fun, I texted my kids and had each of them quickly choose a random number from 1 to 130 and text it back to me. Since I have 4 kids of my own and 1 "foster" son, I got back 5 results. The first place winner was choosen by my first child, the 2nd by the 2nd and so on. So, without further ado... here are the winners!
Jonathan picked the number 3 so the 1st place goes to JenMeister! She gets the Purple and Green Pincushion!
How exciting! I would say #1 Purple, it looks like a small flowery
knoll & #2 Rose - it reminds me a lot of IBR! Lovely JenMeister
Jessie picked the number 50 so the 2nd place goes to Julie Mackinder! She gets the Rosey pincushion!
Congratulations on 100 followers Lisa, 101 now as I've signed up
too. I've been following on Bloglines up to now.I would love any of the
pincushions, they are all delightful. If I have to choose pink, purple, blue.
The blue is beautiful but I would be frightened to use it and get it dirty!
Julie Mackinder
Stephen picked the number 55 so the 3rd place goes to Ruby Ruehle who gets the blue pincushion!
I have enjoyed my visit to your blog.Lovely photos on the hiking
trail! Amy sent me over to enter the giveaway. Purple seems to be a favorite but
I wonder why it's not 'the green'? LOL There is as much green fabric in it as
purple! I'm just being quirky. All are lovely so purple, rose or blue if I'm a
winner! Thanks for sharing!Ruby C Ruehle
Zach picked the number 75 so the large bonus CQ art piece goes to Pam Coombes!
love your pincushions. aiaf I was lucky enough to win one, I would
give it to my neighbour who is ill and having a bit of a battle. she would love
purple, then pink and then blue. Thank you for the chance to participate. Pam in
Oz pam coombes
Gary picked the number 22 so the ATC CQ goes to Linda Schiffer!
Do people who subsribe by rss feed show as 'followers'? I read
every entry you make -- love to see what you are up to. I particularly like the
purple pincushion -- the colors, the stitches, wonderful! Linda
lindaschiffer
Congratulations ladies! E-mails going out to each of you for your snail mail addresses!
2009-10-13
100 Followers! Time for a Give-away!
As a thank you to all my readers and to celebrate 100 followers on my blog, three of my crazy quilted pincushions are up for a giveaway! To enter, please leave a comment with your name and an e-mail address (I need a way to contact you!) and your first and second choice (Purple, Blue or Rose)! The first winner will receive their top choice, the second winner, their top available choice and the third winner, the remaining pincushion. Comments will close and the winners will be chosen on Sunday 18Oct009 at 8:00 p.m. Arizona time (AZ doesn't do Daylight Savings Time, so for now we're on Pacific time!)
The PURPLE pincushion uses old CD's as the base, and cotton fabrics with embroidery and a little bit of silk ribbon embroidery for embellishment. This is fully functional as a pinushion!
The BLUE pincushion uses old (clean!) juice can lids as the base. The fabrics are silk with embroidery and beads. It is functional as pincushion.
The ROSE pincushion also uses juice can lids as the base. The seams are heavily embroidered and beaded with a silk ribbon embroidery rose and vintage sequins. Because of the amount of embellishment, this one is not functional as a pincushion but might showcase a special broach or act as an Object of Art to enjoy!
All three pincushions are stuffed with clean wool!
A big THANK YOU! to all my blog readers for your ongoing support of my blog and for your heartfelt and encouraging comments!
2009-10-11
Acorns
The leaves on the oak trees outside my windows are beginning to turn. Right now they are a rather odd green/yellow/gold color but here and there a leaf glows in the amber golden color that they will all turn within a week or so. I love these trees as they are full of life. Pygmy and White Breasted Nuthatches make there home there as well as the Finches, Pine Siskins and Lesser Goldfinches that frequent my feeders. They provide safe haven to the Stellars Jay and Mountain Chickadees as well as the Collared Doves that showed up this summer. Each autumn, I look to see if I can find acorns on the trees, but they are tiny and few and far between and best left to the critters that feed on them. So this year, after seeing the delightful knit acorns by Suze, I decided to knit a bowlful to celebrate autumn! They knit up quickly and use up those oddments of yarn I have tucked away. Bamboo makes even the tiny size 2 needles easy for me to manage!
So far, I've just made a few acorns, using leftover handspun and some bits of fuzzy mohair yarn leftovers. The mohair caps remind me of the fuzzy caps on the Burr Oak acorns that grow in abundance in southwestern Iowa where I went to nursing school. But the mohair is just about gone, so I need to get the spinning wheel out and spin some other brown yarn for the caps!
One of the things I love about autumn is putting the quilts and comforters on the bed. I love the heavy weight of lots of covers. This morning after I got up from a delightful night's sleep, I looked back at the comfy rumpled bed and it's nest of coverings and had to take a picture! The kitties like all the extra covers too and upon waking, I usually find them curled up, the covers tucked up around them on either side of me!
2009-10-09
An Autumn Hike
This afternoon, I took advantage of the beautiful weather and went for a hike off of the Snowbowl Road. In spots the aspen trees were already golden ~ always a stunning sight against the clear blue skies this time of year.
The trail meandered through the woods, delightful at every turn. Many aspen are still changing, their translucent leaves filtering light onto the forest floor below.
As the trail left the woods, a stunning vista of distant cinder cones came into view. I love landscapes like this where it stretches out to the horizon in myriad layers of color and depth!
I hiked across the meadow and came upon this old fence post with a tangle of barbed wire around it, the wire aged to a beautiful patina.
As I made the return journey, I took a bit of a side trip down a portion of the Arizona Trail. Here, the trail is still being constructed and is just a small path through the woods. Here I watched a deer spring through the woods, squirrels run along fallen trees and birds flitting through the branches above. So peaceful, especially among this grove of white aspen trunks.
On this small trail it was easier to focus on the small sights in the woods, like the changing bracken underneath the trees.
And the way the light caught on the branches of a spruce tree.
After finishing the hike, I drove up to another trailhead, almost at the Snowbowl Ski area and was rewarded with a magnificent sunset. A beautiful end to a lovely afternoon!
2009-10-08
A New Round Robin
While at our local used bookstore recently, I found this sweet little dollhouse for a pittance! I've always wanted to do a doll house and thought that this was just the right size to start! I'm imagining all the little needlework projects to do for this and have so many ideas! Though tiny, it's still a bit big for Rosamund, so I think I need to make a new doll more appropriately sized! Lots of fun projects to work on during my days off!
2009-10-04
Happy Thoughts!
There are so many little things that give me joy right now! The pitcher filled with white carnations, reflected in the old mirror. They last for such a long time!
Watching Mollie Kitty choose her perfect "Princess and the pea" spot atop the tub of wool yarns that I was organizing! She seemed quite content, though not thrilled that I bothered her by taking a picture! She never fails to make me smile!
The beautiful changing leaves outside. I love this time of year when the change is in full swing and leaves crunch underfoot and fly gaily through the air on the breeze!
Though I didn't get a picture of them, the bowl of apples on my counter, waiting to be used in baking makes me happy too! Time to dig out the old apple dumpling recipe!
I'd love to know a few of the things that bring you joy on these autumn days!
