My Newest Bag Project

I have a stack of quilt tops that are begging to be quilted, but I am starting off on a new bag project. "The Long Weekend Bag Pattern by Touch My Heart Designs" has been calling my name for quite some time now. The pattern designer gives classes on making the bag at Lakeshore Sewing in Grand Rapids, Michigan. So, the patterns are usually sold out.

When picking up my machine from it's yearly maintenance visit, there were a couple of these patterns hanging on the rack. Do I need to take the class? Have I made enough of these 55 pieces, 25 pattern steps, pull-your-hair-out bags to do this without a class?

I'm going to give it my best shot! :-)

Simplicity Bias Tape Maker Machine

Did you get this neat new gadget for Christmas? It makes perfect bias tape without burning your fingers! :-) A 1" finished tip comes with the machine. The machine folds and presses fabric strips into single fold bias tape. The machine also comes with a winding spindle to hold fabric, and a guide bar to guide fabric into the tip. It works really great on cotton fabric. I have not yet tested it on other types of fabric.

Simplicity promised more tip sizes to follow soon and they are finally here! I have available the tips for 2 1/2" cut strips, 2 1/4" cut strips and 1/2" single fold bias tape.

Let me know if you are iterested in the newer tips for your machine!

Tumbler Blocks quilt top finished

Another quilt top finished! In all honesty, I had all of the top finished except for the piano key border when I got side-tracked with the Shakespeare quilt. :-) So, today I added the final border and this top is ready to be quilted! Rosie - gives the top a "thumbs up"

Shakespeare in the Park - Queen Size Quilt Top finished!

I have been working on this queen size quilt top since September! The top is finished and I can put it on the frame to quilt it. Problem is, I have no idea how I want to quilt. It hasn't "spoken" to me to let me know how it needs to be quilted. If you have any ideas - please let me know!

Shakespeare In The Park = progress report

Still working on my Shakespeare In The Park quilt top. I wanted to have the entire top finished before I had my knee surgery done. It's a little hard for me to get the my downstairs sewing area for a bit after surgery. But, I didn't get it done. So it will have to wait for me to get back at it.

While I'm spending time in me recliner chair, I have lots of projects to work on. My sewing basket is full of scraps for my Grandmother's Flower Garden quilt. This hand piecing project will mostly be a "years long" project!

I also have a basket full of yarn for knitting mittens. I have no idea why I feel the need to knit mittens for my grandchildren. Mittens are not cost prohibitive for most and are readily available. Perhaps it is because my Grandma knit mittens for me?

Shakespeare in the Park

My newest project is a quilt called "Shakespeare in the Park". The pattern comes from a book written by Judy Martin called the "Creative Pattern Book".

I have admired this quilt for a really long time and purchased the book several years ago. A short time ago, a group of quilters decided to do this quilt together. The time was right for me to jump right in.

Our first assignment was to select the fabrics to use. I have decided to make a queen-size Shakespeare and the colors I selected were purple and deep teal for my dark colors with white, pale teal, pale lilac and light gray as my light colors. Many of the fabrics that I will be using came from my "stash" of fabrics.

The next assignment were to do the flying geese that would make up the small dark stars on light background.
Today was a very productive day! I finished the 20 small dark star blocks as well as the center stars for the 8 larger dark stars blocks.

American Girl Dolls

Now that my eldest granddaughter is the proud owner of a "real" American Girl doll, it's time for this grandma to get back to sewing doll clothes! I found two really great books that include patterns so that I can get started. I also decided that I needed an American Girl doll of my own so that I can make sure that the clothes that I make will fit.
I found a "gently played with" Samantha doll on ebay for a reasonable price. She has arrived and is really a nice doll. She doesn't stand alone so could use a re-stringing, but I have too many irons in the fire to attempt that now. I still have a few doll stands from my earlier days doing doll repair, so they will work for now.

I also found a doll on ebay that was advertised as a "Real American 18" Girl". Please note - this is NOT an American Girl doll. It isn't even a good quality knock off. I realize that I was wrong to think that this was an American Girl doll, but the posting was written specifically to mislead people. She is a pretty little blonde and I should be able to use her for sizing some clothes. I suspect she will be used in the toybox at Grandma and Grandpa's house. :-(