Gnome & Bird Wall Quilt

I made this quilted wall hanging with a gnome and bird last year. The gnome and bird and flowers I used felt and the background and border is cotton fabric. I put this in a local shop and it sold! Yay!

I used felt and hand blanket stitched around the pieces of felt.

The bird is felt too and the flowers. I used a chain stitch for the stems and bird legs.

Pin It Now!

Table Topper for Lamp Light

This table lamp was purchased by my father when I was a teenager. After he passed away, my mother had it in her home for many, many years. Mom passed in 2016 and my sister had the daunting task of dealing with all of mom's possessions, since she lived the closest to her and in the same state. Sis asked if there was anything I wanted and I wanted this table lamp. 

The lamp had the original lamp shade in an off white color and it really needed to be replaced. So we found one online and I chose a blue-gray color for the shade which I thought looked better and went with the blues in our living room. My husband loves this table lamp and has set up a chair for himself next to it so he can drink coffee or tea in the early mornings. He mentioned he would like me to make him a table topper sometime to fit on top of the glass table. I thought about it for a while. 

Then I decided to make a cog-looking Dresden Plate topper and make it with a slit like a tree skirt, so it would fit with the lamp pole running through the table part. I made the topper and didn't sew the last connecting section and just added binding all around the topper. No need to have that round center appliqué covering the center hole made either, since I needed a hole space in the center to fit around the lamp pole. I quilted the topper too. Husband loves it and now he doesn't have to worry so much about placing his cup too hard down on the glass table top. I couldn't get a decent photo of the entire table with the lamp shade.

Pin It Now!

Hot Air Balloon Quilt in Embroidery Hoop

I made this Hot Air Balloon appliqué and set it into an embroidery hoop to frame it. I really like how this looks. Since I had some cloud fabric, I didn't need to add appliqué clouds. The pennant in white is felt and I attached it with running stitches and French knots. I have this in a gift shop, so I am hoping it will sell there. I have more embroidery hoops and can make more variations on this hot air balloon if it does sell. It might sell better in October when the annual International Hot Air Balloon Fiesta is here in Albuquerque, so I'll see what happens now.

Pin It Now!

Pick-a-Pocket Wallet in Brown

I made this custom Pick-a-Pocket Wallet to match the cross body bag that I made for a customer a while back. Luckily I had enough of the fabric leftover from making her bag to use for the exterior fabric for this wallet. I had to use 2 different fabrics for the lining fabric, which I really like together.

The reason the Pick-a-Pocket Wallet has this name is that in the construction you can pick which pocket to add: 8 more card pockets or another zipper pocket. I personally don't have that many cards, so when I made my first Pick-a-Pocket Wallet, testing the pattern for Christine (ChrisW Designs), I chose to add the zipper pocket, giving me two zipper pockets. I use one zipper pocket for coins and the other I put small items inside. My customer chose the second zipper pocket as well. 

Approximate size of wallet when closed: 3 ½" wide x 7 ½" high x 1/2" deep.

This mottled brown fabric looks great as a wallet and matches my customer's cross body bag too.

Inside there are oodles of poodles....I mean pockets! Sorry I just love saying oodles of poodles, lol!!! There are 5 card pockets, including the ID pocket with the clear window. Need more card pockets? The you can choose the additional card pockets to add instead of the extra zipper pocket. You can see the 2 zipper pockets in the photo above.

Not too thick of a wallet (unless you really pack a lot of stuff inside).

Two long slip pockets below the zipper pocket for cash or whatever.

This pocket can be used for your phone or receipts or cash, etc.

Another pocket under the card pockets to stash extra cash or checks, etc.

The wallet opened to show exterior.

This version of the Pick-a-Pocket Wallet has 5 card pockets (including the ID pocket), 2 zipper pockets, and 4 long slip pockets for a total of 11 pockets! Swap the extra zipper pocket for the extra card pockets and you get 8 more card pockets, for 18 total pockets. Now that should keep you organized!!!

Christine not only designed this Pick-a-Pocket Wallet, but she also designed Brandt's Boulevard Wallet, which has fewer pockets and is a bit wider wallet with an optional wrist strap. Then there is the motherload of a wallet, The Penny Inn Wallet which you really need to write down what you put in it and where you put it or you could get lost! Seriously, if you carry tons of cards, your phone, cash, coins and other smaller items, you don't need a bag at all, just The Penny Inn Wallet. Penny Inn has a total of 27 pockets!!! See why I say you could get lost? Plus, it has a wrist strap to carry it or make a cross body strap and carry like a bag. The sides of the wallet, when opened, have pleated or bellowed sides (not sure what you call those?), which allows the wallet to expand with all that stuff people put inside. I guess Christine has designed a wallet (and bag) for every taste out there. I prefer the Pick-a-Pocket or the Brandt's Boulevard wallet for myself.

Pin It Now!

2 Dancing Diamonds Gem Bags

I had a custom order to make 2 Gem Bags, one with green accents and one with blue accents, but the patchwork was to include other bright colors. So I chose to use batik fabric for the bags exteriors. The green one is made with all batik fabric and the blue I used a commercial fabric for the lining, straps and sides as this blue looked the best with the bag.

I made some modifications to the bags. The noticeable change I made is that I added strap connectors with metal hardware and normal straps and also added strap ends and rivets for extra strength for the straps and connectors. The pattern inserted grommets and then made a long narrow strap that threaded through the grommets and was tied with a knot to keep the straps in place. Well that not only looked less than desirable to me, but one good yank of the strap and I could see the straps popping out of the grommets and damaging the bag. I think what I did looks so much better and will function better too.

Another change I made you cannot see, but I added a heavyweight stabilizer on the bottom of the bag, inserted between the lining and exterior and then I quilted the entire bag, which keeps the bottom stabilizer in place. I also added additional interfacing on the lining piece too. I used fusible fleece rather than foam too. It has the same look and stands up like foam does, but without the squishy feel of foam. Some people love foam, others don't. I like some of the properties of foam, but I prefer fusible fleece with added interfacing to achieve a similar structure and costs less too. There are other more costly materials to use for structure such as Decovil light and heavy, but it's the most costly to use.

I also curved the bottom of the side pieces instead of sewing darts there. I thought it would be easier to do and it was. 

I am really pleased with how these bags turned out. I will be delivering them to the woman who ordered them later today.

Front of the Gem Bag with green accent.

Side view with rounded bottom for sides. As you can see in the upper left, I ran out of this green batik print so added a piece of the green lining fabric there to make up for it. I like that look, especially for straps.

It's a big roomy bag inside. The bag exterior and lining are quilted all together and then the sides and binding is sewn to cover up all the raw edges.

The back side of the bag.

The blue accent bag.

Side view.

Back side of the bag.

Inside the roomy bag.

Side by side the green & blue versions.

Pin It Now!

Denim Quilt for Project Linus

The denim rectangles were already cut and donated, so I added the red gingham, plaid, or stripe fabric and backed this quilt in red flannel to be soft. Wow this quilt is heavy! I measured it when I turned it in, but forgot to write down the size. I think it was somewhere around 44" x 50 or 60"? For a teenager.

It was a wrestle to quilt because of the weight, so NO more denim quilts! Making small denim purses, yes, but not quilts. It hurt my shoulders! I won't make really large bags anymore if I have to wrestle with them. I am trying to listen to my body and say no if it causes me any physical stress. Otherwise, I will out of commission for sewing! And I can't have that!!!

I photographed this one with a dusting of snow on the ground (and it got on the quilt too).

Donated this quilt to Project Linus and I hope maybe a teenage boy received it.

Pin It Now!

Sew Powerful Purse #16 (for 2023)

We had a heavy dusting of snow, so here is my 16th purse for this year that I have completed. Made with fabric I recently got (scroll to end to see the fabric). 

Choose to Shine is also the name of this fabric line from Benartex Fabric, designed by Cherry Guidry.

Back side. I like this fabric too, which was donated to me. I had a small piece of this fabric that was enough to make this purse. Also have a different colorway of this print, so one more purse can be made using that.

Closer look at the flap shows that I added some crystals all around the circle, a couple of appliqué embroidered flowers & a handmade label with 2 crystals too.

Lining fabric donated to me by Brenda M.

I got just a tiny bit more than a yard of this sweet fabric (below) to use for making the purse flaps of more Sew Powerful Purses. (I didn't want to have any cut down the center so it was a bit more than a yard). Some have short positive quotes on them and the others are pretty flowers. I love them all. A few are repeated quotes and flowers. I got 30 total rectangles, which will become 30 purses. So only 29 more of these to turn into purses. I love the colors in these too!

They call this a panel (24" x WOF), but it is printed like this all across the bolt, so you can buy any amount. There is a lot of pretty coordinating fabrics to go with this fabric that I saw on the Benartex website (I only saw this fabric at the store I got it from).

Pin It Now!