The Perfect Handbag

Dear Quilters,

I really do need your help!!!

I have never make a handbag.

For more than the last five years now I have been collecting handbag patterns. I have saved them from magazines, purchased them from quilt and fabric shops, looked at them on blog tutorials, and admired those of my friends and fellow Quilters.

Alas I have not made one for myself (nor do I have any Quilted garments to wear but that is another Blog)
I have purchased much fabric appropriate for a handbag, even imported from foreign countries. I have purchased several different sets of lovely handles and no less than 2 sets of magnetic closers.

But nary a bag insight. I fear my problem, yes phobia, may lay in finding the perfect hand bag pattern. I don't want to spend several hours making a bag only to find that is not perfect.


I know, I know how can one be sure unless one caries and experiences a bag personally, before making that determination. It is so much easier to buy one from a shop use it for a week or two and then declare it , good and useful, pockets in the right places, right number of pockets. Right amount of large space, length of handle appropriate, right size and location of cell phone pocket. Is the bag to large to small and on and on and on. There are so many factors to consider.

Therefore my dear Quilting friends, I must confess I am locked in procrastination and indesion about which would be the best handbag to make.

I couple of year ago I went to a Quilt show. A a lady had exhibited two purses she had made, unfornately she did not indicate what pattern she used if any. There were many features I liked about the bag but mainly that fact there was a removable fabric compartment that could be washed. The compartment came complete with some pockets, and some large open space. I have attached a picture.

Please, Please, Dear Quilting Friends, help me get over my phobia so that I can make a bag. Please leave messages about your successful experiences in bag making, patterns and what you like about you bag.
I would sincerely appreciate your input.

And yet another WISP............

About 7 years ago I was in a group at our guild called Tinners. We each past around a large cookie tin containing one fabric and a theme. (Mine was red fabric and a floral theme)

Each person made a block of there size and choosing representing your theme. I got the blocks back and resized them make them all the same and put it away again. Hopefully, Thanks to the challenge this will get finished this year.

I was thinking that this might make a nice quilt to donate to our new Simcoe County Hospice. 

I Need some Help, Please....................

A few years ago I won a set of blocks at a quilting retreat. On the way home I stopped and bought some fabric I thought might go with it. Not all of the Blocks are the same size and some are lighter and some are darker.

Anyway, no matter how many times I look at these blocks and I can not figure out what to do them. Any Suggestions would be really helpful. Thanks.... I'll await some suggests and barring that some devine inspiration.

2009 A Project a Month Challenge

Over at May Britts there is a challenge going on.  I have signed up and my first completed quilt will my Hubby's, nautical theme Quilt.  I gave it him as a to unfinished Christmas present. I have since added the borders and machine quilted it.

Photo Quilt from the Past

As I have nothing new to share with you right now. I would like to show you one of the quilts that I made for my parents 50th anniversary. My Inspiration was a book by Ami Sims on Photo Transfer Quilts.

Once you get started you will be come hooked on sorting through old pictures. So if you want to organize your photo collection, now is a great time to make this quilt. It can have as many or as few pictures as you want on it. First I sorted through all of the photos that I was going to use and transferred them onto fabric. I decided my colour scheme would be Golds to go with the 50th and Black to make it pop. I collected all sorts of buttons and did some cross stitch to represent the things that my parents loved to do. I put their wedding picture in the middle of the quilt with Satin Ribbon Roses above and below there picture. I then put pictures of Mom and Dad's families above there picture and all of the family and friends below the picture. The black border was covered with a vine, leaves and gold yo-yo flowers. (the edge was not scalloped but  I used scalloped scissors on the photo I took before putting it in my Quilt Journal Album - Prior to Digital Camera) Next time I am home to visit, I will get better pictures.

    

PS Hubby's Toe is on the mend.

His Left Foot

Hubby has been suffering with a painful ingrown toenail for months, actually it has been almost a year. It took me at least 2 months to convince him to see our doctor, 6 months for him to get into see a specialist and another 2 months for them to schedule the procedure.
Well today was the day and I will be playing nursemaid for for the next few, I suspect.

  Good thing I have lots of hand work to work while I sit with my patient.

.......and yet More Snow

It has been snowing here non stop for 2 days. Fortunately we have a snowblower for the driveway. This is the view out of my kitchen door, very early this morning. Looks like there is another couple of inches for me to shovel.

I am preparing binding for Darling Hubby's quilt so that I can have hand work ready for the inauguration tomorrow. I want to see history in the making.  

Ahhhhhhh for Summer!

New Kindred Group Project

Yesterday I got together with my kindred group " Friends In Stitches". We try to meet at least once a month  and we work on a charity project. We always have at least one charity quilt on the go as well as our own projects. We have a lot of fabric donated to us, we usually come up with a plan. on how to use it.

Some time ago we had a box of things donated for our use. It included what I will call some preprinted Penny Squares. These squares are a pattern owned by Eatons  (A large Canadian retailer, very popular before they went out of business in about 2000)

 Here is a picture of one of the squares.

Our plan is to embroider 12 squares to make another Quilt for Charity. These are preprinted fine linen panels .

My Dear Friend Kelly and What a View

My friend Kelly and I spent a Saturday together this past weekend. I so look forward to the time we get to spend together.

We usually start at the kitchen table each with an extra large freshly brewed cup of Tim's (brought by Kelly) and chat while we peruse the latest issues of our Quilt magazine. Once we've finished our coffee and catch-up we get down to sewing. At least that is our plan. In reality we sew a little, talk a little, share websites we have found, talk about our future quilts and how we want to finish our UFO's.

Then Kelly keeps me company while I prepare lunch for us. After lunch, we sew a little more and finally put in a DVD, this time it was Judith Baker Montano's latest on Crazy Quilting. We have a cup of tea while we watch and then in no time the day is over.

Kelly and I share a lot of the same "Quilty" interests, we both love hand work, the "A" word, we both love embroidery, beading etc. We make great travelling companions because I like to drive and she is a great navigator. Kelly is a great listener and I am very lucky to have her as a friend.

As  I don't have a picture of our day together, I'll leave you with a picture taken from the window of my Mom's Kitchen. Wow!

New Experience

I had the opportunity to spend sometime using a longarm machine owned by a lovely lady; Colleen at our local Quilt shop. It was a real eye opener. It sure gave me a new respect for their work and the length of time it takes for them to perfect the craft and the quality of there work .

The smaller quilt is one that I made almost three years ago and had not gotten around to finishing it.
It will be donated to RVH hospital. Our guild has a program where we make quilts for the premature babies at the hospital. They use the Quilts to cover the isolettes and then the mothers get to take the quilt home with them when baby goes home. I am just finshing the binding.

This second one is a lap quilt that I made my husband for Christmas. It still needs binding too.

It was made from a kit I bought in Newfoundland, from Cathy Pittman at The Piecemaker, in South Conception Bay, a fabulous little shop right by water. The kit was only the small inner panel inside the red piping. The pattern was called Stir Crazy and used about 20 different fabrics relating to the sea.

I wanted to make a nice lap size quilt for hubby, so I asked my Kindred Group for some suggestions to add to it. They suggested the red piping. Boy did it make Quilt have the pop I was looking for. I also had these panels which included a lighthouse and beach sceen, so Brenda (a member of our group) suggested  using the lighthouse portion of the panels as cornerstones. The rest of the panels and extra fabric I bought, plus my stash was used to make the bricks in the second border.

I am really please at how it turned out. I used the bamboo and cotton blend batting. It has a lovely hand and I think could be used for hand quilting. I would be anxious for your comments. 

Happy New Year

Good Morning everyone, I am a little late getting all of my Resolution type plans in order, but here goes.

1. Get into a more Healthy Eating Regime, (not the "D" word), get more active, etc. More on this later.

2. Make a Memory Box - I have decided that I have lot of little things, notes of love and encouragement, cards and pictures that mean a lot to me and I would like to keep them in a place that I can revisit them and keep them without worrying about losing them. I have a lovely tin box that I am going gather up my things and keep them in.

3. Make a list of each room in my home, and further break down the list of what I want to do in each room E.G. clean out closet, clean out dresser drawers, Declutter shelf in the closet etc. My plan is to prioritize each one and as I have time work on each task for a short time. I think that I will be more satisfied if I can do one small task and see it through to completion instead of just saying clean this room, which can be a daunting task at time.

Right now I have several Doctor's appointments this week and a couple of small hand sewing projects I need to finish for my Kindred Group. So I best get cracking!

 Here are some pictures I took over Christmas. Hubby in the midst of the aftermath. My fur baby before we started opening, and Lovely bouquet my husband brought me home on Christmas Eve.

Santa's Only 2 Days Away

It is so wonderful to have my Mom here for Christmas. I picked her up last week just before a big snow storm, the first of 4 we are to have before Christmas. I have so many UFO's that I thought I would have done for Christmas that are not. Both Mom and my Hubby are going to receive partially finished gifts with Promises for the new year.

Here's Mom and Shadow,  Mom is playing games on the computer. It is so wonderful to have her here.

 

Deck the Halls meme

Seen on Anecdotally Yours.


Egg Nog or Hot Chocolate? Hot chocolate.

Does Santa wrap presents or set them under the tree? Sets them under the tree

Colored lights on tree or white? White lights look beautiful but I think I prefer coloured.

When do you put your decorations up? Usually December 1st

What is your favorite holiday dish (excluding dessert)? Roast Turkey with all the Trimmings

Favorite Holiday memory as a child: One year near Christmas my family and another one went to my Grandads lot and we skated on the pond, Drank hot chocolate from a thermos and then Dad cut down our Christmas tree. It was a lovely Day.

When and how did you learn the truth about Santa? I remember it was the Christmas I was 10, I likely found out from the other kids at school

Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve? That was a childhood ritual,  They were usually PJ's  but we don't do it now. 

How do you decorate your Christmas tree? First put on the lights, including the angel,  then the garlands, then the ornaments and finally the icicles. 

Snow! Love it or Dread it? As we Live in Snow Country We have no choice but I would be happy if it left any time after New Years.

Can you ice skate? Not any more and I never was very good.

Do you remember your favorite gift? There have been so many nice ones it is hard to choose just one. but I think if I had to it would be a Doll House I got when I was 4 or 5. 

What's the most important thing about the Holidays for you? Being with family and know that we have done what we can to make another Christmas a little better.

What is your favorite Holiday Dessert?  My Mom makes a mean shortbread cookie, followed by her trifle

What is your favorite tradition? Every Christmas morning for the last 30 years  we have had a Ham and Cheese Egg Strata  (known as the Christmas Morning Housewife Saver).  It is made the night before and you put it in the oven as you  begine to open the presents and it is baked and ready about an hour later. That with fresh fruit and lovely coffee has become a tradition.

Which do you prefer, Giving or Receiving? I love to giving,  I love to see what everone thinks of the gifts I have made and purchased for them.

What is your favorite Christmas Song? The Christmas Song

Candy Canes! Yuck or Yum? I love them.

Ever recycled a Christmas present? I hate to say it but yes.

Thanks So Much and Christmas Past

Thanks so much for all of your best wishes, comments, and internet links.


The Quilt in my header was one that my kindred group "Friends in Stitches" made and donated to "The Quilt". Our group is so proud of it. It was chosen as one of the quilts that they used in there print advertising, (in the Creative Needlework Catelogue) and eventually sold at there auction for $850.oo We adapted a pattern from Quilters Newsletter and actually made it as a Quilt as you Go pattern. We all donated our Batiks and worked together on it.


As for Shadow's Quilts, I made four Crazy Quilt Squares, around photo's of her from my collection of Black and White fabric (many of them Dog themed) I then used my sewing machine to cover all of the seams with fancy stitches; then sashed and bordered it with the black white and red. Sometimes I think it is a little over the top. It is on the top of my list to quilt it for the New Year so that it can hang with the quilt I have of our last furry friend.


I have several small projects in the works. None that I can photograph and post as they are Christmas presents.


Christmas Past

I found this picture the other day on the Internet of a medical trolley and supplies. It is identical to one I received for Christmas when I was about 5yrs. I clearly remember my grandfather allowing me to remove his appendix with my new instruments.


Here is a photo of the trolley and my brother and I Christmas 1960, yes that makes me 53.

Back Again

Hi, I have been away for a very long. I have been ill but feel that now I have turned a corner and would like to use my Blog as a sort of therapy.

Among other things that I won't bore you with, I have both Carpel Tunnel in both hands, (most of the times very difficult to keyboard) and a condition called Idiopathic Peripheral Neuropathy in my feet. It is a nerve damage which causes numbness, pain, pins and needles a feeling of being very cold in my feet. It is a condition which worsens through the night which means that I sleep very little at night and I am a Zombie during the day. I am on some medication to help with the pain, however it does not seem to help allot.

I been working on a new quilt featuring our dog Shadow, I really need to get it completed, here are some pictures of the quilt. I have another couple of small projects on the go for Christmas.

I hope to have them finished in time and maybe photos for you after the new year.

My intention is to Blog once a week, and I sure love feedback to please leave me a comment .

Friends in Stitch

Tonight my kindred group are getting together for a Christmas (a little late) pot luck and social. Our group has 7 members but one of our group moved to England and we try to get together once or twice a year when she comes home.

We call our group, 'friends in stitches" as I think I have mentioned we work on Charity quilts when we get together it is usually an excuse to stitch and bitch and get out of the house. Today I am making a black bean salad as my contribution to the meal.

Happy New Year

Had a great day with friends yesterday. My Kindred Group "friends in stitches". We meed at least once per month and sew or talk and share what we are working on and also usually have a group project on the go that we are working on together.

Yesterday we met for our Christmas pot luck lunch. Everyone brought something and as usual we had way to much food and it was all delicous. WE exchanged Christmas present. I made scissor keepers and fobs for everyone.

I received some lovely gifts from my friends. It such a blessing to had such wonderful friends.

Merry Christmas

Another Great Christmas lots of news things as you can tell by the Chaos. Far more than we really need. Mom loved her Red and White Christmas Twisted Log Cabin and I loved the Double Wedding ring my husband bought me. Merry Christmas to all of you, and your families.

PLEASE NOTE: I finally finished A UFO.See you in the New Year

Gift Given

We gave my coworker Eleanor her retirement party. Lots of food, a guestbook, a beautiful photo album for her to take with her, a great ipod, gift card for music and the quilt. She was thrilled with all of them. Eleanor and I are the two in the office who watch coronation street religiously so I will miss our morning updates but I sure wish it was me who was retiring.

Retirement Gift

One of my co-workers is retiring, her last day is Christmas Eve. One of the gals at work talked me into making a signature quilt for her and I had thought it would be a small wall hanging size. However I failed to calculate the size, thinking I would wing it. Now it is the size of a small lap quilt.

I still have to sandwich and quilt it but believe me it will be very simple (in the ditch). I do not have time for anything else. As you can see it is all blue (my stash) and muslin with the exception of one Maple leaf square. Eleanor is moving to England on Christmas day and I thought the red maple leaves would remind her of Canada.

Snow Storm

We were hit with a huge wtorm yesterday and according to the weather man "it ain't over yet"

New bathroom

Here are pictures of our completed new bathroom. It feels like I am in a hotel not my home. I'm sure I will get used to it.

My sewing room

I thought that I would post a couple of pictures of my sewing room. It is a bit of a misnomer because I have been sewing (lately) in our dining room. Being upstairs I feel like I am away from the action and also in the winter it is cold upstairs so I am alway bringing down sewing suplies and ( always way to much stuff) Anyway I was upstairs yesterday did a little tidying of the sewing room. Thought now would be good time to post. Ah please don't say if this was tidy I hate to see what it look like before.

Below is a photo of my inspiration wall. It is picture of my Mom and Dad when they were first married and then after 50 years. Also a couple of my Mom's baby pictures.

Bathroom Reno

We are having our bathroom renovated I do not like only having one other bathroom, which means I have to get up in the night and come downstairs to use the bathroom Here are a few of the befores.

Yikes what a mess!!

............................and now for the rebuild!

I will post a picture of the completed job next week.

Orangeville Quilt show

Here are a few of the Lovely quilts that I saw at the Orangeville bi-annual quilt show put on by the Dufferin Piecemakers. It was really lovely and they had a great selection of vendors there so much so that I left some of my money as the show.

Busy Painting

It has been a while since I have posted anything. I always think that I have nothing that interesting to talk about. Over thanksgiving My Mom and I painted and fixed up my family room. I have pictures of the before and afters although I forgot to take a picture of the room before I had dismantled it.

The white and plum with floral border has been replaced by a lovely coffee with cream cream colour and the couch and chair slip covered with dark rusty red. I am going to clean up the end table and spray them black, if we have a good weather day when I am off work.