A Completed Project

A completed project I can wipe off my WIP list.  That’s great!   I think one always feels great when one project can be removed from the list because there are always SEW many more that we want to add on.  Every time I go to look at a new blog I find something else I’d like to make.  My “bookmarks” list on my computer is HUGE.  I just saw three things at Quilting by the River I want to make!  Yikes.  We all know we aren’t going to live long enough to do all the projects we’d like to, but that’s not going to stop us from adding it our list, is it?

First I want to show you my finished project.  I was in the bank last week and ready to leave with the young lady who waited on us noticed my Selvage Bag.  She asked where she could get one and I quickly told her “from me” so she ordered one.  She said she wore a lot of blue so anything with lots of blue in it would work for her.

Last night I dug out my slivers and selvages to see what I had in blues.  Quite a few it turns out.

That’s Side 1.  I purposely make both sides different so that the owner has a choice of which she displays.

Side 2

The bag has “trim” straps, rather than fabric.  I used this on my own selvage bag and find I like the lightweight feel of the trim and it seems to stay in place on my shoulder better.  You can just see the blue trim on the right edge of the bag in the above photo.  It’s navy blue and shiny.  I unraveled about 2″ at the bottom, combed them out and left it as tassels.

I did make pockets for the inside, 8 to be exact.  I always love to have a couple of narrow pockets for pens and then wider ones to hold the cell phone or camera and whatever else is necessary. Below is the one I made first, for myself.

Here’s the other side of mine.

I made some changes to the bag I made for Juliana.  After stitching the selvages and slivers to a foundation of batting, I stitched the lining and the outer bag together at the top edge, right sides together.  Then I stitched all around the entire thing, leaving just a small opening to turn it right side out.  Then I just stuffed the lining down into the bag.  If this is too confusing and you seriously need to know what I mean, let me know and I’ll make a sample and take photos.   Doing it the way I just described makes a much more professional looking bag, inside.

Now that Juliana’s bag is done, I’m thinking I might use selvages and slivers to make a mug rug for a swap I’m doing in June.  The coordinator said “add a strip” to the mug rug and she means (I emailed to check) to use a stripe or two (or more) in the process of making the mug rug.  I’d enjoy a selvage mug rug so I may do that for my swap partner.  Once the partner is assigned, I will check her profile to see what her likes/dislikes are and try to use colors she’d enjoy.  Maybe I’ll applique something to it to make it summer-y.  You’ll be sure to find out as I’ll show ithere before I mail it out.

Now for a few things I wanted to tell you about.  First, if you like to make needle-keeps or cases, you might like to see this.  There are tutorials for 26 different styles of needle cases.  Some are really adorable.  Linda P…are you reading?  I thought of you immediately!

Next, and you have to hurry on this one.  There are free Block of the Month offers for this Memorial Day weekend only.   You sign up for free this weekend and then you can use the classes whenever you find time, not just this weekend.  Check it out here.

If you are interested in “modern” quilting patterns, here is a website to visit.  They are the creation of Jenny Pedigo and I think they are so cool!

I read another book this week.  I know.  I’m reading a lot.  I always do when I’m not quilting and summers are my “prime time” to read.  They always have been.  We are very lucky to have a wonderful little library about 2  miles from us, maybe not even that far.  They have a wonderful selection of newer books, not something you always find in a small country library.

I finished When We Were Strangers by Pamela Schoenewaldt yesterday.  I adored it!   It is a look into the life of Irma Vitale, an Italian seamstress who has no chance of marrying in her tiny town in Italy because she is…. too plain.   She flees her home and travels in the steerage section of a ship, risking life and limb, for a new start in America.  She goes there to find her brother Carlos who is supposed to be in Cleveland, Illinois.  Her life takes some scary turns and some very interesting turns.  This book is a wonderful look into the life of a young, single woman who has nothing but her sewing skills to fall back on.   This book shows something that we all find among our quilting friends, a common bond strong enough to build a life on. It’s available at http://www.amazon.com as well.

Now I’m reading another great book.  Lots of Candles andPlent of Cake by Anna Quindlen is a woman’s book written by a very insightful woman, her  memoir.  New York Times says she is “America’s Resident Sane Person”.   I love it!!!  She says thing that you and I have thought, time and again, about ourselves, our mothers, our sisters, our marriages and life itself.  This is a book you keep saying, “Yes!” to almost every page!

Okay, so enough dribs and drabs of my life.  I’m off to read more of Anna Quindlen’s amazing insights and scream “Yes!” a few more times.

Happy Days!

Marsha

 

Here’s one thing Anna Quindlen has to say that we will all agree with. This is about memory loss, that aggravating thing that we all encounter as we move along through the years.

“Here’s what it comes down to, really: there is now so much stuff in my head, so many years, so many memories, that it’s taken the place of primacy away from the things in the bedrooms, on the porch. My doctor says that, contrary to conventional wisdom, she doesn’t believe our memories flag because of a drop in estrogen but because of how crowded it is in the drawers of our minds. Between the stuff at work and the stuff at home, the appointments and the news and the gossip and the rest, the past and the present and the plans for the future, the filing cabinets in our heads are not only full, they’re overflowing.”

I guarantee you will love Anna Quindlen’s book.  I am enjoying it so much I want to go read other things she’s written.