Hyacinth Bag

I made this Hyacinth Bag from the Bag-of-the-Month Club, for a friend of mine. She doesn't have internet access, so I feel safe posting this now before I give it to her. She loves African material and other African things, so I decided to use some fabrics that I had with African prints, although the fabric I used is not really made in Africa. I did a Zentangle of an African woman on the flap and painted the background of the beige fabric and then did a collage of appliques that I already had but never used before. I quilted it all to headliner foam. I decided after making this bag that I do not like using the headliner foam as much as I like using Soft and Stable, which is denser and has a nicer feel to it.

I changed a few things on this bag too. I didn't add the cash and credit card slots under the flap, instead I made a larger zippered pocket and a large slip pocket. I made the adjustable strap about 10" longer so that it was more adjustable to more lengths. I added a zipper tab to each end of the zipper so that there is something to grab on to when zipping and unzipping the bag, and centered the zipper too. Of course I made the flap somewhat artsy fartsy, LOL!!! Even though the flap did not turn out quite as I had imagined it, I hope my friend will like it.

I doodled the African woman with a fabric pen, painted the background with textures underneath the fabric, added fabric appliques all around, quilted it all and added a few buttons.

The back of the bag has a zippered pocket.

Inside the zippered bag is a divided slip pocket.

Side of the bag.

With the flap lifted up you can see another zippered pocket and one large slip pocket.

The zippered and slip pocket under the flap.

I sewed a few buttons on the flap too, including this handmade button. There is a heart button and a flower button too on the flap.

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The Beautiful Fabric Vase I Recently Won

If you follow my blog then you might recall that I wrote recently about being the "lucky" winner of a beautiful fabric vase. Linda and Laura are a mother and daughter team who wrote a book together and blog together, even though they live in different states. The book is called, Contain It! English Paper-Pieced Accessories.

I received my vase and I love it! Mine has a hexagonal base, whereas the vase on the cover of their book isn't hexagonal, but still gorgeous. But before I show you some photos I took of the vase, I wanted to tell you I was just invited to join Laura and Linda in April for a blog hop to celebrate the one year anniversary of the release of their book. Plus if you hop along to all the blogs you will have a chance at winning a copy of their book too. I don't have all the details yet, but will share them when they become available. So stay tuned for the blog hop and giveaway in April.

Okay now on to the beautiful vase~

Too bad I didn't have any flowers to put into the vase. Of course I would only put real flowers in a glass vase and then inside this fabric vase. But I didn't even have any fake flowers. but it's still gorgeous on it own, right?

Looking down inside of the vase.

Inside the vase.

Upside down so you can really see the hexagon shape.

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The Companion Carpet Bag

I finally finished my Companion Carpet Bag, which is the January bag from the Bag-of-the-Month Club.  (You can still join if you click the link to find out about it) Normally I did sew most of the bag right away, but had to wait until the bag frames I ordered arrived. Meanwhile, my favorite sewing machine that can sew through thick layers, was in the repair shop for 3 weeks, so I didn't even start the February bag. Then I tweaked my back and couldn't sit long and was not in the mood to sew because of the back ache. Then to top it all off a dear sweet friend of mine passed away last week! I finally finished this bag the last day of February.

Okay onto the bag. I chose to use some 70's fabric that I had which I love. I had just enough fabric to make this bag. I accented the bag in black. I absolutely love this bag! Thanks to Samantha Hussey for not only designing a great looking bag, but so functional as well. I love how this bag opens up wide. The pattern has 2 sizes to choose from. The 8.5" and the 12". I chose the smaller bag and it's a perfect size. Like the other bag makers of this bag have said the hardest part was getting the frame back together once you slipped it into the fabric channels. I purchased a slightly different frame than most used, which has pins that screw in and it took me over 30 minutes trying to wrestle the second set into place, but I finally got it, whew! You can see other versions of this bag at Samantha's blog, showing the tester's versions here. Plus if you want to view even more bags from all the Bag-of-the-Month bags so far, you can go the the Flickr Pool here. Keep checking Flickr as more bags get added frequently and we still have 3 more bags from 3 more designers that we haven't even seen yet until they are released.

Okay now on to my photos~

The front of the bag. I added jumbo yellow rickrack instead of piping to the front pocket. The pocket in front closes with a magnetic snap. The pocket does cover up that large flower section of the fabric here on the front of the bag, but you can see the back of the bag with the flower in the photo below.

This is the bag of the bag. No pockets here, although you could add a zippered or another slip pocket if you want to. I love the look of this 70's fabric, which you can see better here on the back of the bag. 

The side view of the bag.

I made my own handles out of black cotton fabric, rather than the leather or faux leather handles that were suggested in the pattern. I sewed on jumbo black flower buttons at the base of the handles and added a smaller yellow flower button on top to add a bit more color and bling.

I found some cute charms that said handmade in the shape of a hand. So I added that on my bag too.

Inside the bag is where all my crap, useful things fit nicely. I made one pocket like the pocket on the front of the bag and divided it with a pen pocket. The other side I made a zippered pocket with a slip pocket in front of it. So in my bag there are a total of 6 pockets. But you can add more or less as you desire.

Another side view.

View of the front again with a bit the other side view too.

This bag sold on 4/22/18.

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5 Fabric Coiled Bowls

I made 5 coiled bowls. 2 are made using Christmas fabrics.

I used a variety of Christmas fabric scraps for making this bowl. I played around with the shape of this bowl, giving it a more rounded sculpture.

Inside the bowl.

I turned the bowl over so you can see the bottom of the bowl on this one.

Another bowl in Christmas fabrics. This bowl is angled up more on the sides.

Looking into the bowl.

I used a variety of scraps for this bowl.

Looking down inside the bowl.

Another bowl with lots of fabrics.

Looking inside the bowl.

I used all brown tones scraps for this bowl.

Looking inside the brown bowl.

All 5 bowls stacked.

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Fabric Name Tag Pockets

My knitting/stitch club met on Valentine's Day and I decided to make them all name tags that had a pocket to hold little tools like stitch markers, a measuring tape, a pen, or whatever they want to put into the pocket to keep close at hand while knitting or crocheting. I made 13 name tags. Not everyone showed up, so I will be giving the remaining name tags when I see them again and making a couple more for the women I forgot. One woman was new to our group and I wasn't sure if she was coming back, but she did so I will make her one for next month's meeting.

I wrote their names in different fonts and used a few different decorative stitches on my sewing machine to stitch the hearts in place. I used only scraps so the colors and name tags are all varied too. Some of the buttons I stacked and some I used heart buttons to hold the strap in place.

Here are 6 names tags.

Here are 7 more name tags.

My only goof on Teri's name is that I spelled her name with 2 "r's", when she spells her name with only one "r". Oh well. I might need to make a do-over.

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