Tuesday, May 18, 2021

Born to be Wild Blog Hop: Sew Powerful Purses

Thanks Carol for another wild & fun blog hop! 

Born to be Wild is this blog hop and I knew right away what I wanted to make. I sew purses for the wonderful organization, Sew Powerful and I send them purses that I make to donate to the girls in Zambia, which helps to keep them in school. You can read all about the Sew Powerful Purse Project here. I hope you will consider making some purses too and you can also join their Facebook group for inspiration and sharing too.

I am also on the design team at Crafter's Edge , so I wanted to be able to incorporate using some die cuts into what I made as well. I chose the 1 1/2" strip die cut and using the Crafter's Edge Crossover II die cutting machine to make quick work of cutting up some strips using up some of my light colored batik scraps. I sewed the strips together in a scrappy way to create a background for one of my purses. Then I appliqued an elephant onto that purse flap. The girls in Zambia tend to love the colors purple and orange over most colors, so I chose those colors for the elephant applique. 

Then, I just had to make this adorable owl for one of my purse flaps. So much fun to use up scraps for this wild cutie.

I wanted to use another couple of die cuts to use on another purse flap, so I created a Moon over the Mountain flap using the largest Equilateral Triangle die cut and a circle die cut that I appliqued to the flap. I echo quilted around this flap. Do you think this fits the wild theme? Maybe it's Mount Kilimanjaro, the highest mountain in Africa; although my mountain has a pointed peak.  Mount Kilimanjaro is the highest single free-standing mountain in the world. Standing at 19,308 feet above sea level, so that makes Mount Kilimanjaro pretty wild in my book. At any rate, I hope you enjoy seeing the purses that I made and I know 3 girls in Zambia will love receiving and using these purses too.



I started with a 5 sided shape in the center and then I used Crafter's Edge 1 1/2" die cut strip cutter to quickly cut out the strips and sew them around the center shape to create the background for the flap. I added the elephant and used a crystal for the eye. There is a butterfly that apparently got placed a bit too high (lesson learned) which you can see better in a photo down below a ways.

Side of the purse I like to add a rivet for making the strap a bit more secure.

The back of the purse showing the fabric better.


I just got my custom labels and can now add these on the underside of the flaps that I make.

Underside of the flap with my new label.

Flap open up to see the butterfly.

I couldn't resist making this owl for one of the purse flaps.


I did the same thing here with the butterfly a bit too high.



Label on the underside of the flap of this purse.

Moon Over Mountain purse flap. I used Crafter Edge largest equilateral triangle for the moon and a circle die cut for the moon. Like I mentioned earlier, this could be Mount Kilimanjaro (although my mountain is a bit too pointy on top). Being the largest free standing mountain in the world makes this pretty wild to me!

Echo quilting.

The front of the purse under the flap I used a blue Bargello-look fabric.

The back of the purse is a Bargello-look print.


That's my wild contribution to this wild blog hop. 

Please stop by the other blogs and see what wild things they each created.

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Sunday, May 16, 2021

Born to be Wild Blog Hop Starts Monday

It's going to be a wild  week, so be sure and stop by to visit these blogs to see what wild and crazy projects they each have created.



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Saturday, May 15, 2021

Urban Adventure Cross Body Bag

Introducing The Urban Adventure Cross Body Bag - a new pattern by ImazzPatterns.
The cross body bag is designed for casual day out or short urban adventures, hence the name. It’s perfect for carrying small personal items especially when you need quick access to your belongings. The front pocket is designed for tiny items so you don’t have to rummage the entire bag. The (optional) card slots in the lining keep cards or coupons. Two sizes are included in the pdf: Medium and Small.
The minimalist design is beginner-friendly and a quick sew too. All pieces are rectangular in shape thus minimizing your cutting time.
The Introductory Price for the pdf is USD 2.99 - for 48 hours, 15 & 16 May 2021 (US time). Normal price is USD 6.99. Grab it now!

I tested the medium size and it measures 10" x 9" high  x 2" deep. (The small version measures 9" wide x 8" high x 2" deep).

I used a Dr. Who fabric that shows the Tardis swirling in space. Those Dr. Who fans will know what I am talking about.


The front features a zippered pocket and a patchwork look.

Inside is a slip pocket that I divided to have a pen pocket too. Optionally you can add credit card pockets too.

The bag closes with a recessed zipper closure.

You can see the Tardis swirling in space here on the back of the bag. Has a Vincent Van Gogh look to it, like his Starry Night painting.

I added a rivet and rings, along with an adjustable slider. 

Contact me if you are interested in purchasing this finished bag. This bag has SOLD.

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Friday, May 14, 2021

Sew Powerful Purse #35-36

Here are 2 more purses for the Sew Powerful Purse Project.

Purse #35~
This was a quilt block that I set on point and added some more strips around.
 Added buttons for some embellishments on the flap too.

I didn't quite have a large enough piece of this purple corduroy, so I pieced 2 pieces together and then sewed a ribbon over the seam. The ribbon made a nice decorative element and no one is the wiser that I had to piece the fabric pieces together...well except me and those of you who are reading this, lol!

I ordered some labels a couple of months ago and they finally arrived. I wanted a little something special under the flap for the girls to see, sort of a sweet surprise. I had to sew this one on by hand, since I had already completed the purse. From now on they will be sewn by machine.



Purse #36~
 
I had enough of this pre-quilted fabric to create on purse. The fabric has a different coordinating print on each side and is quilted together. So I added binding on top of the pocket, front of the purse and around the flap to cover the raw edges of the fabric. Inside, I zigzag stitched all the raw edges. 

When you lift the flap on this one, you can see the other coordinating print.

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Wednesday, May 12, 2021

Sew Powerful Purses~ #30-34

I finished 4 more Sew Powerful Purses. I used up  some miscellaneous quilt blocks that I have had for years for making the flaps. I made my daughter a twin sized quilt a long time ago when she was in her teens in purple and green. That was her favorite color combination at the time. I made the Bear's Paw quilt blocks using a variety of  purple fabrics and green fabrics and some white fabric. At the time I went a bit overboard not knowing how many quilts blocks I would need to complete the quilt, so I made quite a few extra blocks. The blocks measure 6 3/4" square finished. Years ago I made about 3 pincushions too using the block and I still had quite a few blocks leftover. These are just the purses I have finished using these blocks, but I have at least 2 more than I am working on.

I set the blocks on point and added strips on all 4 corners to make the flap. I added buttons on some of the flaps. All these purses were made with a fine wale corduroy in purple and purple webbing for the straps.


4 purses with Bear's Paw quilt blocks set on point.


This was pieced heart quilt block that I added strips all around to make the flap the right size.

The back side of all of these purses look like this with fine wale purple corduroy.

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Monday, May 3, 2021

Llama Pincushion

My daughter had put this llama planter in her give away donation box. When I saw it, I immediately thought this would make a great pincushion! So I snatched it out of the box. It came with a tiny plastic pot, but I didn't need that.

I love wool pincushions the best as they really grip your pins and needles and feel so nice using. Years ago when I went to the annual Taos wool Festival in Taos, NM, there was a vendor selling the prettiest bright colors of dyed roving. Well I don't spin wool (did decades ago for a short time), but I like to use roving to make felted items, so I bought a a couple of bags. One was a purple-blue color, one a bright blue. The purple blue I used for the pincushion truck I posted recently. I used the bright blue for this llama. 

I dry felted it using a felting needle. When I got the basic size and shape started, I then placed the wool ball into the planter and kept felting it, so it would be snug up against the sides. But before I placed it in the planter, I added a handful of marbles to the planter to weigh it down first. Now it is the perfect pincushion and I love it!

Here are all the angles of the llama pincushion~

Without pins added. The bright blue wool pincushion.

I added a few pins.

View from the rear.

Front view.

Side view.

Top view.

So there you have the cute llama pincushion (formerly known as the llama planter, lol). Thanks daughter, I love my llama pincushion.
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