Bags

Here are some pics of the bags I've made recently.  I'm loving the idea of bags!  I have a few more that I want to accomplish.  There are so many great tutorials out there! 

 

This is a really cute handbag.  Here is the link to the pattern.  I used the bright pink fabric because it was all I had on hand, but I would probably prefer it in a more muted tone.  I think I may add interfacing next time too, to make it a little more sturdy.

I love the pleats!

The lining was soooo easy!  I love how professional and clean it makes it look!



Here is the makeup bag.  Here is the link.  I love how she includes batting in the middle, so that you can add a little visual appeal to the bag by quilting it as well as making it sturdy.  You could easily skip this step or put interfacing in between.

I was very proud of my zipper until I tried to zip it up and realized that I sewed the seams a little too close to the teeth.  Oh well, lesson learned.

And lastly, a cute little clutch.  Here is the link.  This is perfect if you want to take just the essentials to dinner.  It's hard to see the gathers in the picture, but they are very becoming.

Another zipper.  I did this one right, though!  Yay!  I'm still not perfect at zippers, but I think it will only take a few more tries. 

These were all easy tutorials to follow, so I feel confident recommending them to people.

Upon Second Glance . . .

this picture is not as cute as I thought it would be.

I shall call her Zombie Baby . . .

Soft and Sweet Quilt

Another quilt finished- I call it the Lily & Will II (Moda) Baby Patchwork Quilt. 

I really fell in love with the soft looking quality of this fabric.  The colors are great and the designs are subtle and sweet.  I thought it would make a nice gender-neutral quilt.

Patchwork style quilt.

The back of the quilt. 

I just love the colors!

It's in my Etsy shop if you are interested.

Treasure Island

I finished two books recently- Treasure Island and Sense and Sensibility. I can only add one to my list though (Sense and Sensibility was for fun). 

Well, Treasure Island is what I describe a "boy book."  Full of pirates and fighting and treasure.  It was a fun novel, but somewhat hard to follow since there was so much ship talk.  You almost need to know a little about boats to follow.  It started out good but sort of came to a hasty conclusion, in my opinion.  Bonus- at least I know where the name Long John Silver comes from!

Sense and Sensibility was awesome.  A definite "girl book".  It was almost as good as Pride and Prejudice.  Nicely developed characters and story line.  Jane Austen had definitely grown on me.  I also love the movie.

I'm reading Bleak House now.  It was slow to start, but I'm definitely warming up to it now.

Have you noticed I'm just reading from the BBC list now?  It's because I can download a lot of the classics for free to my Kindle.  I've got quite a few on my Kindle now, so I'll be tackling those before I go back to the Time's List (which I'll have to request from the library).  

Dirt

My child likes to eat dirt.  All. the. time.  And I'm not talking about a little piece but a good handful of the stuff.  I really don't even to like to go outside much (well that and the 90 degree weather) because all she does is eat potting soil.  Hones in on the stuff.  Really?  It can't taste good.   

Here is a little proof. 

Going for it.

 Feels so good in my hands.

Uh-oh, mom caught me- better drop this handful.

 I'll try it again, since she's busy with the camera.

 Triumph (this is not the usual handful like previously mentioned).

Ahhh, tastes so good.

Sew, Sew, Sewing

Can you take one guess as to what I have been doing these past couple of days? 


Did you guess sewing?  Really? 


Oh my goodness, you are correct!  I've been browsing around Pinterest looking at all the neat sewing tutorials around.  There are so many good ones, it's hard to narrow them down.  For some reason, I've fallen in love with bags.  I've made three bags in the past two days.  These bags were all sewn together during nap times or after she went to bed (all this to say, they come together really fast).  I was able to use fabrics that I had on hand and with the exception of a magnet closure had all the other stuff on hand as well. 

Here are the links to the bags I've done:  Buttercup Bag, Zipper Pouch Bag, Gathered Clutch Bag.  I'll post pictures of what I've made as soon as I load them on to the computer (sigh).   

I have to tell you that these picture tutorials make the world of difference for me.  I CAN NOT read a typical pattern to save my life.  That's why so much of what I've created in the past has been patternless.  But when you give me pictures and instructions, I CAN DO it!  I guess in this respect, I'm a visual learner.  I encourage anyone who has ever been scared of patterns to give a tutorial a try.  You will probably be amazed at how much more sense it makes. 

That's it for now!

Pinterest

I came across the neatest website the other day- Pinterest.  It's a site that allows you to to save your favorite web ideas to one place where you can then organize and sort them.  The idea is that you "pin" your favorite ideas to different categorized boards (that you create).

I don't know about you, but my favorites folder houses a lot of tutorial links and things that I want to be able to go back to.  It's a bit out of control.  But Pinterest allows me to organize them in a sensible way, see the picture of the item and then click to get back to the original web page.  Awesome.  And you can have as many boards as you like- things for books, recipes, furniture, party ideas, paper crafts, sewing techniques, etc.

You can also follow people whose taste you admire.  The site is also a WONDERFUL search tool for anything you want to find.  Think patterns and tutorials galore!

I've put a little button on the side of my blog (below my Etsy stuff) so you can see my pin boards and get a better idea of what Pinterest is.  It's a little sparse right now but I plan to fill it up in no time!

Tea Party Time

My friend, Yvonne, and I decided that we must do a tea party together before she leaves for Florida.  We both love tea and any excuse to eat cucumber sandwiches is okay by me.  I've been in an English mood lately with all this Jane Austen and the Royal Wedding stuff. 

We even went to a tea store and bought special "tea party" tea.  We had a great time as we always do.

Here are some pictures of the day.

Here are the girls playing.   

Our set up.  We had raspberry scones (I substituted raspberries for blueberries), devonshire cream and some cucumber finger sandwiches.   

 Almost done.  Delicious.

Yvonne and Miss C even dressed up for the occasion.

What a fun play date!

Oh Mr. Darcy . . .

I can absolutely see your appeal.  I finished Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen and can say, with absolute certainty, that it is my favorite Jane Austen book.  I can't even answer why it is so appealing, but I could not put it down and I even know how it ends.  Mr. Darcy is not even that likable of a character for the first 2/3 of the book, but you root for him anyway!  That, my friends, is a good author.  I was impressed- Ms. Austen has won me over.  So much so that I'm reading Sense and Sensibility right now- you know, just for fun.

Black Beauty and Others

I realize it's been awhile since I've posted anything about what I've read.  I'm really trying to keep the t.v. off during the day and there's not much else I can do when we are both downstairs together.  She's in that stage where she moves really fast and still likes to put everything in her mouth, so I don't dare try to sew or clean when she's awake and at play!  Not much left to do except read.  But that's not a bad thing!

I finished Emma by Jane Austen.  This book was the easiest to read of Jane Austen's work for me (so far).  Since I knew the movie so well it probably helped me to keep the characters straight, which, you know, is kind of important when you read.  Overall, I really did enjoy this book.  I liked the characters and I understood what was going on.  I have never read Pride and Prejudice (gasp), so I'm reading that now.  I'm finding that it is also easier to read and understand.  I don't know if it's because I know the story so well or am getting used to Austen's style.

I also read A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens.  Super easy read.  I didn't think the story was very well developed but it was certainly enjoyable.  I guess that's it on that one.

My favorite recently has been Black Beauty by Anna Sewell.  Wow, that is a beautiful book to read!  If there are any animal lovers (especially horse lovers) out there, you MUST read this book.  It's told from the horse's perspective.  A reoccurring theme (for the humans) was to stand up to injustice.  Stand up for those who don't have a voice.  Much easier said than done, I know. Besides that, it emphasized how kindness and gentleness were the best ways to treat horses.  I've never trained horses, but I can imagine that is very true and extends to other animals.  I was so afraid it would have a bad ending, but it doesn't.  Thank goodness.  Anyway, it's a fabulous, easy read.   

That's it so far!