Patchouli Moon Studio

Quilted Tote Bags

2012-02-20T13:55:00.001-07:00

I made this quilted tote bag a few years ago. The square-in-a-square blocks were from a block exchange from a small group I had belonged to where we each made a few blocks, so I ended up with about 26 blocks. (I made the cat block in the above photo). I decided to make a tote bag using some of the blocks, rather than making a quilt. This is one side of the bag.

This is the other side of the same bag. I made the cat block on this side too and that's why I ended up using the cat fabric to complete this bag. I often use this bag when I walk to the library and carry my books and DVD's. Felicia, who works at the library saw my bag and said she liked it. Then she mentioned she would even buy it. So I told her I still had some quilt blocks and could make her a bag. I asked her what color sides she wanted and she said purple...

...So here is the bag I made for Felicia. I made even better handles on her bag than I did on my own. I learn more with each thing I make and then make improvements the next time.

This is the other side of the bag. I made the block in the lower right corner with the jam and fruit print. I added tiny purple buttons around the 4 black corners that form a diamond, and a square purple button that I stacked a square yellow button on top and a tiny turquoise button on top of that.

Here is a close-up of the buttons.

I made a large inside pocket that I added a strip of the purple polka dot fabric on the top of the lining fabric as an accent, and also added my label. Felicia seemed to like her bag a lot and I found a good home for those quilt blocks so it worked out well for us both.

Sewing Room Re-Do

2012-02-13T09:23:00.000-07:00

With the carpeting up and the cement floor exposed this made a perfect place for Ron to build my sewing table. Now that it's built it will be taken out of the room and the floor painting will begin.

Top view of the table. It still needs another coat of sealer on top.

The painted RED floor is done! Now it's drying until I can bring the furniture in.

The new sewing room. New table, painted floors and the room is neat and clean {hope it stays that way for a little while :0)}. Looks great, doesn't it?

Can Tote, Zipper Pull, Knitted Bear

2012-02-07T08:51:00.003-07:00

I quilted a piece of Love Bug fabric and wrapped it around a cardboard can (powdered soymilk once lived in this can) and added 2 handles. I gave this to my grandson to carry his little Match Box cars in. He always has to bring along 2 or 3 or 4 cars whenever he comes for a visit and now he can carry them in this can.

I made a little bag and put together this zipper pull with the Eiffel Tower and gave it to my daughter as she likes the Eiffel Tower and has been to Paris and saw it in person.

I knit this little bear a few years ago and never got around to making his face. Ron said he liked it without a face, so I finally put it out and it sits on our desk. I have on my to do list to knit a large teddy bear. I hope to start it sometime this year, but meanwhile I have other things to finish first.

New Sewing Room...

2012-02-07T08:35:00.001-07:00

...coming soon.

I have 2 small rooms devoted to my sewing/knitting/crafts. One is where I have my sewing machines set up to sew and the other is where I have my cutting table and ironing board & iron. If the rooms were located side-by-side, which they are not, I would have knocked down a wall and made one large room. Unfortunately, one room is located right across from the other room, so rather than cram everything into one room, which would leave me no where to sit or stand or walk or be able to do anything, it is divided into 2 rooms. The upside to this is I have to get up from sewing to cut or iron and at least get moving more, as it is better to move around and not sit in one place too long, right?

Both rooms were carpeted, and the carpet in the sewing room was looking a bit shabby, so my sweet husband offered to put in a new floor for me. The house is on a cement slab and we have both always wanted to stain a cement floor as we have seen some beautiful floors done this way. Ron researched about doing this, but the real test was to rip up the carpeting and see what actually lurked beneath. The cement was in good shape, however in order to apply a semi-transparent stain (our 1st choice) to the cement floor, it has to be completely free of any paint. The stain reacts with the cement and penetrates to allow the pretty colors to show through. There of course was overspray of paint from the walls when the house was built and the bright pink paint under each outlet for the electrician to know where the outlets are located. Ron had to apply paint remover and scrap and scrap off the old paint. Then there was the cement patching that needed to be done because the carpet tack strip left small holes all around the room.

So as Ron got into doing this work and reading more about it online, he discovered that unless the cement floor is pretty much pristine (like in newly poured and never had a carpet on it before) the semi-transparent stain would show every blotch and imperfection. He read all kinds of stories about it and then decided we should paint the floor with a cement opaque paint, that would cover it all, but we wouldn't get the beauty of the transparent floor. Boo-hoo, I really like that transparent look.

Ron went to Home Depot yesterday and when he came back he was all hot-to-trot about putting down a wood-look plank flooring. It would look neat and would be easy to do. So I liked that idea. He bought 6 boxes of it. He took a couple of planks out of one box and he set them down on the cement and walked on it to test out how it would feel. It sounded like he was walking on crunchy sand or potato chips! He said we needed to put down an under layer to absorb the sound. We put a small piece of plastic down so he could show me what it would be like. No more crunchy sound. But when he later looked at Lowe's and Home Depot for the under layer, he found it would cost more than the flooring cost (which was a good price). Plus he would need 2 rolls of it as one wasn't quite big enough. So we would get stuck with the rest of it, or if I do the cutting room floor, we would need to buy just one roll and use the rest of the second roll. Depending on the quality of the under layer it would cost from $25.00 per roll up to $60.00 per roll and we would need to purchase 2 rolls so that adds up. The more expensive one was the best in terms of noise reduction and it added a little cushioning too. So our inexpensive flooring job would end up being doubled because we didn't realise we needed an under layer and that it cost so much. Since we hadn't started anything yet, back to the store the flooring went for a refund.

Now back to the painted floor idea again. We would have to get the opaque paint and not the semi-transparent, but we figured this way would be the cheapest and probably the easiest to do. Plus if we didn't like it, we could always lay the wood-look planking over the painted concrete or tile it in the future. It would also satisfy Ron's desire to have this kind of floor and if it works out really well, we will have plenty of paint leftover to paint the cutting/ironing room too, making this really a cost effective job.

So what color did I choose to go in my sewing room you might ask? Well the walls in the sewing room are painted a pale yellow and the baseboard trim, doors, and closet doors are painted a medium turquoise, so I decided to go wild and chose what they call Tile Red! That will be one wild looking room, but what the heck, we have all different colored painted walls and doors in the house and all the colorful quilts hanging everywhere, so why not? I've always had an eclectic style, because I like so many things I could never have an entire house done in one style or one color. I can't even have one room done in only one style. My house is funky and very, very colorful!

The wood-look flooring idea that didn't work out.

Cement floor. As you can see if we had tried the semi-transparent stain all the patching and paint on the floor would show through. This is as good as the floor could get after all the paint removal and scraping. You should have seen it before it was this clean. Forgot to take photos of the real "before" floor. More photos will follow once the floor is painted and the tables are built (Ron's building me a huge table for my sewing machines).

Knit and Felted Tribal Bag

2012-01-18T12:09:00.000-07:00

This is how this bag looked after knitting and before it was felted. I already had yarn in brown, natural and blue, so I used it.

Here it is after I felted it in the washing machine. Brown and blue are my daughter's favorite color combination, so either she will end up with this bag, or if I really love it, I may make another one and make a few changes. I would knit the strap separately and attach it after felting. Since you carry the yarns up the side as you knit the stripes, it felted tighter on that side and was a bit warped-looking after it felted. I lined the bag and added a pocket to the lining. I also sewed some ribbon trim to the underside of the strap. I wouldn't make the buttonhole in the bag if I were knit this again and line the bag. It was tricky to line the bag with a buttonhole. I had to slit the lining to expose the buttonhole.

Close-up view. It's all soft and fuzzy looking now.

This was a free pattern from Lion Brand Yarn~ http://www.lionbrand.com/patterns/L10349.html?noImages=

Quilted Wall Pocket

2012-01-18T11:30:00.000-07:00

I made this appliqued quilted wall pocket. It won't hold anything heavy, so I am not sure what I will put in it, perhaps some dried flowers?

Wool Applique Pillow

2012-01-09T09:50:00.000-07:00

I made this pillow from an old wool sweater that I first felted. The applique flowers are a wool/rayon blend felt that I hand dyed. I added a lot of seed stitching around the appliques.

Close-up of the larger flower.

Experimenting With Yarn

2012-01-09T09:44:00.000-07:00

I was experimenting with dyeing wool yarn with walnut husks. I first dyed the yarn on the right on the stove, letting it simmer for a couple of hours. The yarn on the left I soaked in water with walnut husks for over 3 weeks. I wanted to see how each method would dye and how dark the walnuts would dye. As you can see there is quite a difference in the hue. The color of the yarn in the dye bath was such a rich dark chocolate brown, but after draining the water and washing & letting the yarn dry, it really lightened up quite a bit for both yarns.

Sewing Tool Organizer

2012-01-07T07:13:00.000-07:00

I made this sewing/quilting tool organizer that I hung on my door. The fabrics match the sewing machine covers I made that are posted from an earlier posting. Instead of using vinyl or plastic for the pockets, I used a mesh material. The mesh works well and allows me to see into the pockets too. The holes of this mesh are a bit too large though for small pointy objects like pens and pencils and tend to poke through the openings of the mesh. The mesh is easier to work with, like sewing, and I could pin the mesh in place too; something that you can't do with plastic or vinyl. I like being able to have some of my tools off the tables to give me more space.

Jammies For My Grandson

2012-01-05T08:47:00.000-07:00

I made giraffe print flannel pajamas for my grandson. Here he is modeling them.

I made him flannel train print pajama bottoms too. Here he is opening the present. He was a boy-on-the-move with so many presents to open on Christmas, so I couldn't get a good photo of him when he put the pj bottoms on later. This was the best photo of him.

Armchair Sewing Caddy & Yarn

2011-12-26T08:55:00.001-07:00

I made this armchair sewing caddy for my sister. I wrapped it in a pink & green paisley print totebag I made. I posted the photo of the totebag earlier this year in this posting: http://patchouli-moon-studio.blogspot.com/2011/07/beach-bags.html

She sent me this beautiful skein of Alpaca variegated yarn. Oh so soft! I am going to knit a scarf with this yarn.

Knit Socks & Yarn

2011-12-26T08:45:00.000-07:00

I knit these purple socks for my friend Susan for Christmas. No matter how I photographed it the royal purple color of these just didn't come out in a photograph. They look more blue, but they are really a beautiful shade of purple. These are an acrylic/nylon sock yarn.

I also knit these socks for Susan too. They are a variegated self-striping yarn in blue and green. It's a wool/bamboo/nylon blend sock yarn.

Oh and look what Susan mailed to me! Now I can knit some socks for myself with this great-looking sock yarn in those yummy Kaffe Fassett colors. Wow so many colors in one yarn, I can't wait to see how they knit up. The green ribbony-type yarn I had never seen before. If you pull the green yarn out width wize it looks like those fishnet stockings I remember wearing years and years ago. Lots of possibliites for using this yarn. I wonder how it will knit up? Can't wait to try it. Thanks Susan!

Dress Form Pincushion

2011-12-26T08:30:00.000-07:00

Last month was my birthday and my friend Bobbie made this pincushion for me. Isn't it great? It's mounted onto a champagne glass that's upside down. I suppose I could pour champagne in it and drink from it, only I couldn't set the glass down :0)

Sewing Machine Covers

2011-12-23T09:43:00.003-07:00

I love the Ladies Series from blogger Carol at Mama CJT (http://mamacjt.blogspot.com/) that I made 6 of the ladies and then made them into 2 sewing machine covers and a serger cover. I used one lady on each side of the covers. That way I can just grab one and place it over my machine and not have to be concerned with which side is the front side. I asked Carol for her permission to post these on my blog and she mostly graciously agreed. So please check out her blog to see the other ladies in the series. There are over a dozen ladies, so I had a hard time choosing just 6.

One side of my larger sewing machine cover.

This is the other side of the cover above.

This is a cover for my serger and I also made a serger litter bag to match. The tool organizer I made before ever deciding to make the covers, so the binding on that is a yellow and orange stripe. This lady looks a lot like my own mother! Even my daughter said it looked like Grandma.

This is the other side of the serger cover.

This is the cover for my computerized sewing machine.

This is the other side of the cover above.

Close-up of the lady on the above cover.

Wall Quilt For a Friend

2011-12-23T09:21:00.001-07:00

A friend of mine lost her very best friend to cancer this month. Angela is having a hard time coping with her death. I made her this small wall quilt to help cheer her up.

I added embellishments such as French knots, beads, buttons and silk-like flowers.

A Trio of Zippered Bags

2011-12-23T09:15:00.000-07:00

I made 3 zippered make-up style bags from fabric that I had quilted. I had quilted a long strip to originally use for the side of one of the sewing machine covers that I made, but I had calculated the measurement a few inches too short. Never fear I can put that quilted fabric to good use and hence enough fabric to create 3 bags.

Knit Vest Using Prickly Pear Dyed Yarn

2011-12-23T09:05:00.002-07:00

I knit this vest using the bulky weight yarn that I had dyed with prickly pear cactus a few months ago. http://patchouli-moon-studio.blogspot.com/2011/10/second-yarn-dyeing.html This was the second dyeing with the cactus juice, resulting in a lighter pink shade that the first dyeing. The first dyeing resulted in a dark color, see here: http://patchouli-moon-studio.blogspot.com/2011/09/yarn-dyed-with-prickly-pear-cactus.html

Knit Tee Shirt

2011-12-23T09:00:00.001-07:00

I knit this tee shirt out of a light boucle yarn. It's very light and drapey. The pattern called Lazy Days Tee Shirt, came from the book, Saturday Style: Casual Knits for Weekend Wear, by Doreen L. Marquart.

White Elephant Gift

2011-12-23T08:49:00.001-07:00

My daughter needed a white elephant gift for work. She asked if I could knit one of those knitted beards with a hat that she's seen online and this is the result. She is giving this to a young male co-worker who has red hair. I hope she gets a photo of him wearing this so I can see how it really looks.

Tie Dyed Tee Shirts

2011-12-23T08:44:00.001-07:00

At the end of summer I had dyed buckets of tee shirts, fabric and felt. Here are just 2 of the tee shirts that I dyed.

It took lots and lots of tiny rubber bands to make this one.

This is the back view of this shirt. The front is nearly the same, but this photo turned out better.

Flannel Pajama Bottoms

2011-12-13T13:38:00.001-07:00

I made these for my daughter.

New Camera

2011-12-12T07:13:00.000-07:00

I got this new camera last week. My old camera broke the hinge where the batteries are inserted and so I couldn't use the camera anymore. I researched Consumer's Reports and this Cannon was the top rated camera in the point-and-shoot variety. I like that it uses 2 AA batteries. For me that's a plus, but some people prefer the lithium batteries. It takes great photos and easy to use and so much quieter than my old camera, which sounded like a sick moose whenever I turned it on :0) So from now on my photos will be taken with this camera. I wonder if anyone will notice a difference? (The mug rugs below was taken with my old camera). I do have some photos I can't post yet, since they are gifts I made for friends and family. So you'll have to wait to see those. I am really liking this new camera a lot!

Mug Rugs

2011-12-12T07:00:00.000-07:00

I made 18 mug rugs using batik scraps for the front and whatever scraps I had on hand for the backing and binding. I gave these to the ladies in my UFO group. They didn't all fit in this photo.

Here is a close-up of one of the mug rugs.

My 1st Basket

2011-11-09T08:36:00.000-07:00

I joined a basket group this month and I made this basket. It was the first basket I ever made, besides my coiled fabric baskets. The process was easy although sometimes a bit awkward to weave with the stiff basket materials. I certainly have a better appreciation and understanding for how baskets are made now.

Side view of basket.

I want to try making a coiled pine needle basket next as the pine needles are plentiful and free now this time of year. I've gathered up several bags of needles and washed them and sorted through and bundled them. So I will be giving it a try this winter and see if I can make a decent pine needle basket.

I don't really want to make anymore baskets like the little square one I made above. It was a good learning experience, but those kind of baskets, while beautiful and functional, don't really thrill me enough to want to make any more of them.

Sakura Quilt

2011-11-09T08:21:00.000-07:00

I liked the quilt I made for my daughter's friend Dee (see the post below), so I decided to make another one for me. The Kanji fabric I used for the background of both quilts is the same fabric, but the other fabrics are different and I used slightly larger and thicker buttons for the flowers. I named this one Sakura, which is cherry blossom in Japanese. The branch works perfectly as a hanging rod too.

Birthday Gifts for My Daughter & Her Friend

2011-10-13T16:04:00.001-06:00

My daughter, Amber, said her friend (Dee) wanted me to make her a quilt for her birthday. She told me Dee didn't want anything else for her birthday except a quilt made by me. So being the wonderful mother I am, I made her a quilt. I first asked Amber what Dee liked. She said anything Japanese (Dee is half Japanese, as her mother is from Japan), especially Cherry Blossoms. She also likes owls. I decided to make a cherry blossom quilt. I machine blanket stitched around the flowers. After I quilted the quilt, I added the button and beads on the flowers. I hung it by a branch onto the wall of my cutting/ironing room. It looks so nice hanging there that I just might need to make another one for me! I'll get to enjoy it for a little while until I give it to Amber to give to Dee.

Close-up of the beads and buttons on the cherry blossom.

Amber has always loved pigs since she was a little girl. So I made her this Pink Piggy quilt. Her birthday is a couple days before Dee's.

Close-up look of the pig.

Even More Baby Gifts

2011-10-12T14:25:00.003-06:00

I knit this baby sweater for my daughter's friend who is having a boy in November.

And a hat to match. I also made a zipper gift bag in a baby print fabric (just like the bag with the knit duck hat below).

More Baby Gifts

2011-10-06T08:00:00.002-06:00

The gift bag I made and the chili pepper baby rattle I knit. My friend is going to be a grandmother this month for the first time. Her son and daughter-in-law are expecting a girl. Why a chili pepper? Since Pam designs chili quilt patterns, the bag is for her and the rattle can stay at "Grandma's" house if she wants it to.

I also knit her granddaughter-to-be a sweater. So pastel the colors hardly show up in this photo.

"Chili Pepper" hat I knit too.

The chili pepper rattle, a closer view.

Second Yarn Dyeing

2011-10-06T07:51:00.000-06:00

This is the color I got when I dyed more yarn using the same batch of prickly pear cactus juice. It came out lighter, which was expected. I really love this shade of pink. This time there was hardly any color left to the water after the dyeing process. To see the first batch of yarn dyed with prickly pear cactus, scroll down a few older postings.

Baby Shower Gift

2011-10-04T10:20:00.000-06:00

I knit this duck hat and booties and also made the zippered gift bag to put them in. This is for a baby boy due in November.

Gifts for Mom

2011-09-30T07:40:00.000-06:00

My Mom came for a visit and she also turned 85 years old this September, so I made a few things for her. I made the zippered bag from a Red Hat fabric print. I gave her a bar of handmade unscented soap...yes I made the soap too. Then I crocheted 3 small washcloths. I figured these were useful gifts and hopefully she might really use them.

Chili Placemat

2011-09-18T10:28:00.000-06:00

My friend Pam taught how to make this placemat at the quilt guild I belong to. If you make several of these in different colors, you can link them together to form a Chili Chain Table Runner. Pam is the designer of this pattern as well as several other chili/Southwest designs. I made one of these in red (see older posting) too. I didn't follow the directions completely because I used scraps instead of cutting 5 fabrics she suggests in the pattern. I always have to be different!

Yarn Dyed With Prickly Pear Cactus

2011-09-18T10:19:00.002-06:00

I dyed some yarn with prickly pear cactus. Here is is hanging to dry in my bathtub. In order to get this color you need to let the yarn ferment for 2 weeks.

Here are 2 balls of yarn I wound. This yarn was a bare sock yarn from KnitPicks. It is a superwash wool with 25% nylon. Those little flecks of color are in the wool that I purchased. The small bit of yarn in the foreground I also threw in the pot to see if it would take the dye differently. The smaller yarn is 100% Peruvian wool, also from KnitPicks. It appeared to dye a bit brighter and darker than the nylon blend wool. Like I did with the fabric and tee-shirt dyeing, I saved the prickly pear cactus fermented juice and tossed in 3 skeins of bulky weight wool yarn to ferment for a couple of weeks and I think I might end up with a light pink shade...stayed tuned and we'll see what happens.

Knitted Apples

2011-09-18T09:59:00.000-06:00

I knit these apples after I knit the pear. It's from the same place I found the pear tutorial (scroll down to the knitted pear posting below). I like the apples better than the pear.

Metal Tape Measure Snap Bag

2011-09-18T09:46:00.001-06:00

This is the first and only bag I have made using a couple of pieces from a metal tape measure. My husband's metal tape measure broke and he was going to throw it away, so I said I wanted it and cut the tape measure into several pairs of different sizes. I finally got around to making one. It turned out nicely. I added the Prairie Points to the front and back of the bag thinking that I could use them as pulls to open the bag, but it didn't work at all. So I sewed a double-stacked button all the way through the bag as a decorative element instead. I am going to use this a a lunch bag. I doubt I will make any more of these, as I really don't care for the metal snap closure that much. It doesn't stay open. I prefer making zipper bags instead.

Fabric & Shirt Dyeing Day

2011-09-18T09:33:00.000-06:00

I tie-dyed about 2 dozen shirts (tee-shirts and blouses), plus cotton fabric at the end of August. I let the items soak in the buckets for all day. The next day, I rinsed them out and washed them. I kept the excess dye in the buckets and dyed some more fabric as well as some rayon/wool blend felt, some cotton crocheted doilies, some cotton lace and rayon fabric. The darker dyes still dyed dark, but some of the other dyes dyed a lighter shade. So I ended up with quite a bit more dyed items by using the dye again the second day. I could have probably dyed more a third day with some of the dyes, but I was so tired I decided not to bother. I was pleased with most of dyed items. A few didn't come out as well as expected, but most did and some even better than I expected. I will try and take photos of a few shirts to post later.

House Quilt

2011-08-31T09:38:00.000-06:00

I made this quilt from Laura Wasilowski's newest book, Fanciful Stitches Colorful Quilts. I did all the embroidery by hand. Laura says that she uses fusible web and doesn't have to stitch around each applique. Well I found that all the appliques were coming up around the edges as I worked on doing the embroidery and that I did have to stitch them all down. I added some smoke coming out of the chimney. I used all handyed fabrics and some batiks. I then made a "portrait finish" (the green quilt behind the house quilt). I learned the portrait finish from a book by Jean Wells. I need to sew on my hanging sleeve and then take another photo of this hanging on the wall, rather than on my carpeted floor. I enjoyed making this quilt and love how it turned out.

Knitted Pear

2011-08-31T09:16:00.001-06:00

I knit this pear from a free online tutorial. It's from a blog called, Natural Suburbia. You can find the tutorial here: http://naturalsuburbia.blogspot.com/2011/08/pear-knitting-pattern-tutorial.html I plan on knitting her apple next. Great way to use up those yarns scraps. The pear could be used as a pincushion (yeah like I really need another one of those!), or I might knit up a whole bowl of assorted knitted fruits, and knit the bowl as well. Then maybe I could take up juggling?

Chili Placemat

2011-08-31T09:06:00.002-06:00

This is a Chili Placemat I made. I won the pattern at our quilt guild. The pattern is from my friend Pam Wolf Designs (Pam designs patterns with a Southwestern theme). I was the pattern tester for her other Chili Rounder pattern. (http://patchouli-moon-studio.blogspot.com/2010/10/chili-rounder.html) This pattern is her Chili Chain Table Runner where you can make several chiles and link them together to create the size you need for your table runner or make one for a placemat. I used up a lot of red scraps to make this one. I'm going to make a green one next again using scraps I have in greens.

Shirts I Made

2011-08-31T08:54:00.001-06:00

I made this shirt in a pink flannel with tiny white dots. I made the sleeveless version of this several years ago and it not only was easy to make, but fits me nicely too.

I had this pattern for well over 15 years and never made this shirt. The pattern came with several applique designs that you can add to the shirt, and I may decide to add some appliques later, but I will find some appliques that I like better than the choices that were given in this pattern. This shirt is also made with flannel fabrics. I am finally using those Southwest flannel prints that my friend Susan gave to me a few years ago. I just couldn't find the right quilt to use them in, so this way I used them all in this shirt. It was easy to sew together being all squares and rectangles, although the underarm part was a bit tricky to sew without creating a pucker.

Another Lil' Twister Quilt

2011-08-21T13:55:00.000-06:00

To make the Lil' Twister quilt you first start off making squares and a border like this.

Then with the template, you cut out and re-sew into tessellating pinwheel blocks. It's really a cool idea and a great quilt is the result. I made my own template and made it 1-inch larger than the Lil' Twister template. I used mostly Civil War reproduction scraps. My husband is a Civil War buff, and I made it and gave it to him a few days after our anniversary, because that's when I finished it. He really loves it.

Cherry and Lime Top

2011-08-21T13:45:00.000-06:00

I made this top this weekend. It was easy to make. I made a sleeveless version a couple of years ago. The fabric is a seersucker, so hopefully will be cool in the heat of this summer we are having.

Magnolia Branches & Lil' Twister

2011-08-18T16:12:00.001-06:00

Magnolia Branches. I fused the background fabrics to batting and quilted it all over. Then I fused the magnolia appliques on top and stitched them in place. Rather than bind the quilt, I decided to sew with a facing instead.

This is one of those Lil' Twister quilts. My friend Bobbie showed our small group how to use the Lil' Twister template. I made my own template from plastic and then made this small quilt to test out the technique. You can Google Lil' Twister and find several tutorials online. I am finishing another one that I will post soon.

Quilt Binding/Border Redo

2011-08-03T08:25:00.002-06:00

I redid the binding and border a bit on this wall quilt. It hung crooked and I had to take off the binding and square it up better. I had the prairie points facing in towards the quilt the first time and the binding all around the quilt. This time I decided to sew the bindng as a facing to the back and the prairie points are now off the quilt. I like the new look for this quilt.
Here is the photo of how this quilt originally looked: http://patchouli-moon-studio.blogspot.com/2008/08/flower-wall-hanging.html

Beach Bags

2011-07-07T07:31:00.006-06:00

Beach Bag I made, even though there aren't any beaches here in New Mexico, it's a great roomy bag.

This was the first beach bag I made. I used a home decor fabric which made a nice bag. The pattern is a free pattern from Jen Eskridge, a woman who used to be a member of a small quilt group I belong to before she moved away from New Mexico. Great pattern Jen, thanks! Visit Jen's blog called Reanna Lily Designs http://reannalilydesigns.com/

Side view of pocket.

I made this beach bag to give to a woman I know who runs a no-kill cat shelter. The fabric Is called Scaredy Cats. It's a Halloween fabric of cats with witches hats on.

Tote bag made with home decor fabric.

I made 2 more beach bags (above) and added these photos on
7/14/11. I gave this bag to my friend Tara.

My Featured Webshots Album

2011-07-03T09:01:00.002-06:00

I got an email from Webshots today that one of my albums was featured on Webshots Homepage today. Yippee! The album they featured are all the photos that I took from the Fiber Arts Fiesta this year in Albuquerque, New Mexico. This show happens only every other year ( in odd years). So they gave me a green button that I could post on the sidebar of my blog. Click on it and you will be magically taken to the photo album. I'm excited!

Knit Snake

2011-06-26T09:04:00.002-06:00

I knit this snake for my grandson. I had knit him a giraffe and an elephant too, but when he saw the picture of the snake, he wanted a snake too. So it's finally done. See giraffe here: http://patchouli-moon-studio.blogspot.com/2011/04/knitted-giraffe.html and elephant here: http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=1219620501596758837&postID=2839205060976353107

Knit Bag

2011-06-26T09:00:00.000-06:00

I knit this little bag and then lightly felted it.

Selvage Bag With Zipper

2011-06-26T08:58:00.000-06:00

I made another large selvage bag. I added some yellow rick rack at the top. This is side "A".

Side "B".

Close-up view of zipper pull, which is a key ring with some beads and a charm that I attached to the key ring.

Zippered Purse/Bag

2011-06-14T13:08:00.000-06:00

I made this bag because I wanted a zippered purse. It's essentially an oversized makeup-style bag that I added a strap to. I quilted the fabric first myself and then made the bag. I added a swivel hook to clip my car keys to also.

2011-06-14T13:04:00.000-06:00

Christmas tree skirt I made with Dresden Plate wedges. My daughter asked me to make a small tree skirt and I made this for her.

Up close view.

Poppies in a Vase Quilt

2011-06-13T10:29:00.003-06:00

Close-up of butterfly button

I finally finished this quilt. I had made the top over a year ago and just hadn't taken the time to quilt it. So finally I decided to quilt it. I cut the edges in a wavy shape and used bias binding to bind the quilt. It's done and came out nice and is hanging up now.

Crocheted Washcloths

2011-06-04T11:11:00.000-06:00

I am trying to teach myself to crochet. While I have crocheted the basic stitches before, I never made anything with crochet before. This is a cotton washcloth using 4 different crochet stitches that I made. I find knitting to be easier, but then I have been knitting for years.

I had enough leftover cotton yarn to make a smaller washcloth all in single crochet.

Hand Knit Socks

2011-06-04T11:04:00.001-06:00

I knit these socks with Knit Picks Essential sock yarn. It self patterns as you knit.

The tiniest sock ever! This one was rather tricky to knit around the toe, just because it was so small. It was knit with 000 size needles. I was going to make 2 socks and make them into earrings, but for now I only made this one.

Simple Bag/Purse

2011-06-04T11:00:00.000-06:00

Simple bag I made. It's reversible if I want to turn it inside out, but I like the denim for the exterior.

Cotton Knit Market Bag

2011-06-04T10:52:00.000-06:00

I knit this bag with cotton yarn. I had some misc. yarn and I was starting to run short of the blue yarn, so I switched to the pink in the middle of the bag. I saved some blue to finish the striped area above the pink, but then ran out of the blue completely and this time I used the pale yellow for the rest of handles. That should have been blue too. Oh well, it still will be very useful and I used up some of my yarn too.

I put some plastic bags inside to take this photo so it would show what it looks like when full.

Wallet I Made

2011-05-21T12:28:00.001-06:00

I made this wallet using some fabric that I colored with Shiva brand Paintstiks, and crayons. I rubbed the paintsticks and crayons on various textures to get this look. The other fabric is a batik fabric. (Thanks Tara.) I added a tab with a snap closure.

Wallet shown opened. It has 4 credit card pockets, a cash pocket and 2 other pockets. I had an old similar wallet that I used as a model for making this wallet. I added the tab closure and zippered pocket, which the old wallet didn't have.

Other side of wallet. I added a zippered coin pocket.

Small Purse

2011-05-19T13:27:00.000-06:00

I made this small purse from a sample square of home dec/upholstery fabric. I had just enough to make this purse. I found a button in my button jar that went perfect with it. Now I need to make a small wallet to fit inside, because my wallet pretty much takes up all the space in this little bag.

Selvage/Scrap Tote Bag & Armchair Caddy

2011-05-14T10:29:00.003-06:00

This is one side of the tote bag I made. I made it using scraps and selvages. Then I wrote on the bag: " I Love Scraps, I Love Quilting, I Love Selvages" on both sides of the bag.

This is the other side of the bag.

I made this armchair sewing caddy for my friend Susan for her birthday, which was last week.

Using Up More Selvages

2011-04-28T08:11:00.001-06:00

I made 3 zippered bags in 3 sizes, using selvages. I lined the bags with the same purple plaid print that you see on the top of the bags.

Using all black and white selvages, I made a little notepad cover. I sewed the selvages using a variegated thread and different stitches.

This is the inside. Holds a small pad of paper and 3 pencil/pen pockets.

Knit Baby Hat & Baby Sweater

2011-04-04T15:47:00.002-06:00

Hat I knit for my friend who's granddaughter will be born next month in May.

Baby sweater I knit for the same baby due next month.

Knitted Giraffe

2011-04-04T15:34:00.001-06:00

Giraffe I knit for my grandson from the same book I made the elephant (see posting below).

Back view.

Mug shot.

My grandson and his new giraffe.

I made a "sewing" kit for my grandson with some plastic needlepoint canvas and a plastic yarn needle and some yarn. Now he can "sew" just like Grandma!

Zane sewing with his pals Giraffe and Elephant watching.

Knit Socks & Elephant

2011-03-30T08:46:00.003-06:00

Socks I knit for my husband. Made with Knit Picks Essential sock yarn.

I knit this elephant from a book called Knitted Wild Animals. There are 15 cute animals to knit. I made this elephant and then asked my grandson what animal he wanted. Without seeing the book, he said "giraffe", So I am currrently making the giraffe. He also wants the snake after seeing the book. This photo shows his trunk tucked up and the photo below the trunk is down. I gave this elephant to my daughter, and she is giving this elephant to her friend Dee's daughter that is having a birthday party this weekend.
*Update on the elephant: My daughter told me that my grandson loves the elephant and couldn't give him up to his friends. He couldn't wait for the giraffe and snake to be made and he told my daughter that he needs the elephant. Amber said he slept with the elephant last night. Well I'm glad he likes the elephant so much. We'll see what happens once he gets the giraffe.

Trunk down.

Back view.

Profile with trunk tucked up.

Socks I knit

2011-03-19T10:34:00.003-06:00

I knit these socks with self striping yarn. The yarn is a sock/fingering weight yarn by Serenity (Deborah Norville), which is a really nice blend of wool, bamboo and nylon. The bamboo makes the yarn soft and has a drapey quality.

Sewing Supply Caddy

2011-03-19T10:28:00.000-06:00

I designed and made this sewing caddy myself. I wanted something to carry supplies with me when I went to my applique and other quilting/knitting groups. I added an exterior pocket with an applique.

This is how it looks all opened up. I made 8 zippered pockets that I designed like those pencil pockets for notebooks. I used a mesh fabric instead of using plastic, so you can still see inside. I added beaded zipper pulls that I made too. The fabric pockets weren't as sturdy as those plastic pencil poickets though, so I sewed some snaps onto the pockets and snap them to hold them in place while it's being carried upright. I also wanted to use fabric so that it would last, rather than using plastic gallon or quart size Ziplock bags, that would eventually get holes in them and need to be replaced.

Closer view of the pockets.

Knit Jacket

2011-03-19T10:19:00.000-06:00

Hard to get a good photo of this jacket trying to take it by myself. Back of knit jacket.

Front of jacket.

Another view of back.

This jacket was all knit in ribbing. Starts off being knit like a long scarf that you sew up on both sides to create the sleeves. Then it's picked up and knitted all around in a double ribbing, then a single ribbing. Looks very odd until you put it on and then this amazing jacket with the collar appears like magic! I found this pattern online for free, but I can't remember where. If you want the pattern, you can email me as I saved it to my computer and can email it to you. patchouli.moon.studio@gmail.com

House Quilt I donated to Japan

2011-03-09T09:38:00.001-07:00

I made these little house blocks all from scrap fabrics I had (from a Debbie Mumm book), and hand blanket stitched around the applique hearts. I used a polyester fusible batting for the first time and I didn't like the batting at all. It only stayed fused in the center, but all around the edges the quilt top and backing pulled away from the batting. I didn't care for the loftiness of the poly batting either. I am donating this quilt to charity. It's being sent to Japan. Then it's back to using good cotton batting for me!

Diagonal Madness Quilt Finished!

2011-03-03T07:54:00.000-07:00

It's done. I finished sewing the binding on yesterday.

Close-up.

Quilted Runner

2011-03-01T12:50:00.000-07:00

Runner I made for my son's bookcase. All Asian fabrics.

The back of the runner.

Close-up.

Knit Then Felted Flower-Shaped Bowl

2011-03-01T12:46:00.002-07:00

This is the results of the knit and felted flower-shaped bowl after felting in the washer twice. Scroll down about 5 postings to see this before it got felted. Not as good as I thought it would turn out, but maybe it was the yarn I used?

Quilted Potholders

2011-02-15T08:30:00.001-07:00

I made a couple of potholders for an online contest. I didn't win or even come in the top ten. I used batiks for this one.

This is the pocket side of the batik potholder.

This is the pocket side of the second potholder.

I used scraps leftover from my Diagonal Madness quilt (see posting below).

Diagonal Madness Quilt Progress

2011-02-12T16:42:00.000-07:00

I had to add the inner pink/purple border, since my calculations were off and the 9-patch border didn't fit exactly. Sometimes those "design opportunities" end up better than the original plan. I need to quilt and then bind this quilt.

Iron Caddy

2011-02-11T12:11:00.000-07:00

I made this iron caddy during a class at my quilt guild. It looks like a cute little bag that holds my iron when folded up.

When it's all opened up, it converts to an ironing surface.

When it's time to go home. You place your iron on the caddy and fold it up. See the first photo above.

Mug Rugs

2011-02-09T16:10:00.000-07:00

I made a set of mug rugs to give as a gift to a woman who likes the color green. I used mostly batik scraps with a couple of handyed scraps. After making the table runners (see previous postings below), several mug rugs and a potholder in batiks and handyed fabrics, why is it that I still have scraps? I guess scraps just multiply like rabbits! I have a ton of commerical print fabric scraps too, but I thought if I used up the batiks first, I would use those next. Problem is that when I cut a backing fabric and binding to use for these projects, the leftovers from the backing and binding now become my new scraps and thus I am feeling a bit like a doodlebug with all these scraps. At least I am making useful items and I do like the end results too, so that's a good thing.

My Newest Quilt: Diagonal Madness

2011-02-05T09:59:00.004-07:00

I started this quilt called, Diagonal Madness, which is a Kaffe Fassett design. Kaffe was actually inspired by seeing a Mary Mashuta quilt. It's 4-patches set on point with setting triangles and a 9-patch border. The quilt in the book is quite a bit larger than this one I am making. The following photos show my progress so far. But after sewing it all but the border, I found out that I made a goof! I didn't figure this size correctly and now my border won't fit. So with some help from my math-competent husband, I may be able to do add an inner border and more 9-patches to make it work...I hope. It sure will beat ripping out and since these rows are sewn on the diagonal, the ripping would be more of a nightmare! I think this is why I enjoy making applique quilts so much more!.

Blocks, setting triangles and 9-patch border laid out on my "design floor".

Half the diagonal rows sewn.

All sewn. Next step is adding the 9-patch border. Well, since the border doesn't fit properly because of my mistake, I will need an inner border first.

Pre-Felted Wool Bowl

2011-01-31T08:51:00.001-07:00

This is the bottom view of a wool knitted bowl. It's supposed to be felted and then become a flower-shaped bowl. So as soon as I felt it we'll see if it turns out to look better than this lump of knitted mess.

The view into the pre-felted flower bowl. Hmmm....will it turn out to actually look like a bowl? Check back later and see if this transforms itself or not.

Another Table Runner

2011-01-31T08:25:00.001-07:00

I made another runner. This one is square for the end table. (See more runners in this series in postings below)

On the end table.

Clothesline Wrapped Fabric Basket

2011-01-24T18:25:00.002-07:00

Looking down into the basket.

The bottom view of the basket.

Scissors Case

2011-01-24T18:07:00.000-07:00

I made this scissors case, which was in an Art-to-Heart book by Nancy Halvorsen. I made this for a giveaway prize for my quilt guild.

Noriko Bag

2011-01-24T18:04:00.001-07:00

I made this Noriko bag, which is a free pattern from Lazy Girl Designs: http://www.lazygirldesigns.com/blog/?p=1920 I made a couple of changes from the pattern. I added a fabric tab closure, rather than a ribbon, and I didn't add the tassels at the bottom of the bag. This is part of a giveaway prize that I made for my quilt guild.

Quilted Bookcase & Coffee Table Runners

2011-01-24T17:54:00.003-07:00

I made this bookcase runner out of scraps of batik fabrics.

Batik quilted bookcase runner.

Back of bookcase runner.

Similar to the bookcase runner, this was is larger for the coffee table.

Coffee table runner.

I wrote a tutorial for making a scrappy table runner. Go here for the tutorial: http://patchouli-moon-studio-tutorials.blogspot.com/2011/01/making-quilted-scrappy-runner.html

It's 1-11-11 Today! Organizing My Fabric Stash.

2011-01-11T08:55:00.001-07:00

I've been busy organizing and rearranging my sewing spaces, so no time to work on sewing anything new or to finish those UFO's! Hopefully once I am done and everything is nice and neat, I will have a more organized space to be able to work even better. If you need some help with organizing your fabric stash, then check out the posting I wrote for the blog I do for my quilt guild. I found lots of other blogs showing how they organzie their fabrics. http://theragweed.blogspot.com/2011/01/how-do-you-organize-your-fabric-stash.html I'll take some photos later to add to this posting. I was too busy to think about photos before. I will only share my new and improved neat fabric stash and rooms with you and not the messy shape it was in before, besides the majority of the mess is already gone.

Pincushion

2011-01-04T13:15:00.001-07:00

Top view with pins.

I used dark green Perle cotton and wound it around the spool, rather than gluing on the green felt from the kit. I glued a felt circle on the bottom of the spool, but it's actually better without the felt as it doesn't sit as well with the felt. Remember this for the next pincushion I make.

Scrappy Zippered Bag

2010-12-26T16:34:00.000-07:00

I made this bag as the gift bag for the folder I made for Susan. All batik scraps.

The other side of the bag.

Bottom view.

Fabric Folders

2010-12-26T15:57:00.002-07:00

I made this folder for my friend Susan. She has a house on the Oregon coast.

Back of folder.

Inside pockets.

I made this folder for my sister. She likes green & pink and has a boxer dog. This was an Amy Bradley applique.

Inside of folder.

Back of folder.

Back & front.

Inside.

Back & Front of folder.

Front of folder.

Selvage folder.

Back of selvage folder.

Back & front of folder.

Inside of folder.

I made this folder for my sister who got a job as a teacher's aide.

Back of folder.

Inside of folder.

Handknit Sweater

2010-12-21T17:24:00.001-07:00

Close-up of cables.

Fabric Notebook Cover

2010-12-21T17:20:00.000-07:00

I made this notebook cover for my grandson. The applique is a pattern from Amy Bradley's Dazzling Dogs quilt.

Back of the notebook.

Pocket for pencils.

Inside book.

Little Books Made From Old Calendars

2010-12-21T17:10:00.000-07:00

I made these little books from old quilt calendars. It's a great way to use old calendars, re-purpose them and they make great gifts. Make them for stocking stuffers for next year, or as a thank you gift, make some for yourself to slip into your purse, or as gifts for friends for any occasion. Visit my tutorial blog for the step-by-step directions. http://patchouli-moon-studio-tutorials.blogspot.com/2010/12/save-those-old-calendars-make-gifts-for.html

Sunflower Quilt

2010-12-19T09:43:00.002-07:00

I entered an online quilt contest where you had to make a quilt inspired by a photograph that you took. This is the quilt I made. I didn't win the contest. You can see all the entries here: http://www.flickr.com/groups/projectmodernchallenge1/

Inspiration photo

Quilted Fabric Folder

2010-12-19T08:23:00.001-07:00

I used Shiva Painstiks to stencil the front of this folder. I quilted around the stencil using metallic threads and quilted the background in black.

I also used Shiva Painstiks and texture plates to create the back of the folder.

This is the inside of the folder.

Celtic Vest & Maid Marion Vest

2010-12-19T08:15:00.000-07:00

Celtic Vest. I knit this vest for my birthday in November.

I knit this Maid Marion Vest, which is the same vest as the Celtic Vest above, only with a collar. I dyed the yarn with food coloring. The colors didn't turn out as bright as I wanted and the colors ran together too much. Kind of different, huh?

Selvage Thread Catcher Bag

2010-12-19T07:59:00.001-07:00

I wrote a tutorial for how to sew the selvages for this bag on my tutorial blog: http://patchouli-moon-studio-tutorials.blogspot.com/2010/12/selvage-thread-catcher-bag.html

Selvage Thread Catcher Bag

2010-12-16T10:09:00.001-07:00

Selvage Thread Catcher Bag

I made this bag using selvages and I decided to use some of the embroidery stitches to sew them in place. Unfortunately, I didn't think about the fact that when I brought the sides up that the back side of the bag (below) would make the selvages appear upside down! Now I know, so the next time I will stitch half in one direction and half in the other direction. Still I liked how it turned out and it's a useful portable thread catcher bag or I can use it for holding fabric scraps, like how about more selvages? Yeah right, I would need a much larger bag to hold all of my selvages!

I plan on doing a tutorial (on my new blog: http://www.patchouli-moon-studio-tutorials.blogspot.com/) showing how I sewed the selvages (yes, the correct way).

Thread Catcher & Pincushion

2010-12-14T08:31:00.005-07:00

Wool pincushion I made from a wool sweater that I felted: I followed (most) of the directions for the Thread Catcher tutorial I found on Sew Mama Sew blog. http://www.sewmamasew.com/store/media/blog/SMSPincushionOrganizer.pdf I made a wool pincushion instead of the patchwork pincushion she showed. I also needed something to weigh it down so it would stay put since I didn't fill my pincushion with something heavy, such as sand, rice, crushed walnut shells, etc. So I used a piece of tile (half a tile from when my husband tiled the entry) and covered the tile with polyester batting and then made a a fabric casing for the tile to fit into. I sewed the tool pocket to the bottom of the fabric covered tile.

The thread catcher is removable, as you can see, it just attaches with a button and a loop. Makes it easy to empty or to move elsewhere like when I am hand sewing.

I love the tool pocket on this thread catcher because I use it next to my sewing machine that fits into a table and so I couldn't use one of those tool pocket thingees that sit under the sewing machine, since my machine is flush with the table. On my other sewing machine I have a tool pocket thingee though...is there a proper name for those things?

Fabric Folders

2010-12-12T09:02:00.005-07:00

I've been having fun making fabric folders and using up scraps (yes!). I used Shiva Paintstiks and texture plates on the black flower. This is the front of the folder: I appliqued a flower to the back as well:

Opened out to see both back and front:

Inside:

I made this folder for my daughter who loves everything Irish. I used Shiva Paintstiks and a Celtic Knot stencil. I made this folder with batting and I quilted it and added a binding. It still works as a folder, but it softer than the folder above which was made with a heavy interfacing that made it more rigid.

The back and the front:

The back:

The inside:

Featured on the Selvage Blog

2010-11-26T09:01:00.004-07:00

Selvage zippered bag: http://selvageblog.blogspot.com/2010/11/selvage-bag-from-new-mexico.html
Heart block: http://selvageblog.blogspot.com/2010/11/still-more-hearts-for-myra.html
Eyeglass case and wallet: http://selvageblog.blogspot.com/2010/06/daryl-perrys-selvage-creations.html
I have had these 3 items featured on the Selvage Blog

Large Zippered Selvage Bag

2010-11-22T13:36:00.002-07:00

I made a large zippered bag using up some of the selvages I have been collecting, and I barely made a dent in my selvage collection! One photo shows one side of the bag and the other photo shows the other side of the bag. It's actually as large as a tote bag and great to carry my knitting project in. When I showed this bag to my husband he recommended that I should have added a handle or strap to carry it. Okay maybe if I make another bag this large I would add a large loop handle on one side, but I carry it like a clutch bag, not a tote bag.

Sewing Machine Cover & Folder

2010-11-19T13:40:00.008-07:00

My friend Tara's birthday is today and we got together so I could show her how to make this fabric folder (scroll down to see my folder like this). I made her a kit using my fabric scraps and then I showed her how to sew it all together. It turned out great! Tara even used some new embroidery stitches she didn't know she had on her machine. This is the front of the folder:This is the back of the folder:The inside of the folder:

Tara & I went out to celebrate our November birthdays on Wednesday (her birthday is today and my birthday was the 13th). This is the birthday present I made for Tara, it's a bunny sewing machine cover:

Close-up of the spool and bead necklace:Close-up of the little bag I made, view from one side of the bag:

The other side of the bag:Back of the bunny:

Heart Block For Myra

2010-11-16T11:42:00.002-07:00

Karen from the Selvage Blog (http://www.selvageblog.blogspot.com) has a posting about making a Heart Applique Quilt Block for a woman in New Zealand who has cancer. This is the block that I made. I started off making the background scrappy strips and was going to just applique a large and small heart stacked on top of each other, but I changed directions and now you can't really see much of the background and won't see it if it gets sewn into a quilt. Oh well, I like how the applique turned out and hopefully Myra will too.

Fabric Folder I Made

2010-11-13T17:46:00.004-07:00

I made this quilted fabric folder with appliques using all scrap fabrics. This is the front of the folder: This is the back of the folder:

The inside pockets:

Close-up of flowers on the next photos: