Purse and runner finishes

Today I deliver to the first craft show of the season.  This one opens this Friday and runs nine days straight.  I work a three hour shift the first day and another the last day.  After collecting my leftovers I will re inventory and drop off at another show 3 days later!  

So I have been scurrying about gathering up table runners, purses and sweaters that are done and finishing up a few things that have been in the progress for a while.  Last weekend these purses got their final touches.  These are ones I designed with 3 pockets outside and 8 inside.  My local ladies sure like the dark colors-well it is fall after all.   Sorry but no I haven't written a pattern for them.  But I do have some purses for sale in my Etsy shop (with all the details about them). 

 The weekend wasn't all about work though, DH and I had Sunday afternoon with the grandsons.  The oldest and I are hard at work making spider webs and spiders.  That extruder made fast work of the web strings!

Monday I finished up a couple more of my Falling For You runners

 Meeting up with a gal today that wanted one of these, she wasn't sure which one.   After dropping off at the craft show I will hurry home and finish a few more things to take with me Friday when I work.

Right now I have a nice pile of things to take to this show, but after this show I have to divide whats left as I have 2 shows that overlap!  I have had this schedule for several years and I just do what I can:)

Linking with Susan , Brooke and Lorna

Spooky time

Recently I was asked when my first sale is-not far away at all.  It starts Oct 5th and goes for one week.  I am excited for it but also nervous thinking about all I want/need to get done yet.

Little by little I am trying to get some panels ready for the fall craft sales.  The panel is the center plus the orange border with the circles.  All the borders from there out is what I added from my stash of fabrics.  

Last weekend, as we were taking a little drive, we ran across a pumpkin wagon so we stopped and bought these three.  My hubby thought I was crazy wanting that big with gourd looking one.  I think it adds character to my display.  No, the scarecrow is not going to keep holding the wall hanging.  I just thought it was cute for the photo shoot;)

 You can see some of the quilting here.  I like using e's and l's in one inch checkerboard borders.  First I quilted everything and then decided the orange border with the circles needed something.  TaDa-just quilt around the circles while ditching, it worked perfectly!


















The panel center received swirls.

Now you get to see more of the cute scarecrow my friend made for me.  I love decorating for fall.





















Sunday I cut out parts for five purses and sewed part of them together and they were ready for quilting this morning... I was almost done when a storm rolled through and I needed to shut down my longarm fast!





















These three Gobble it Up! runners are ready for quilting-perhaps tomorrow.





Linking with Freemotion by the River, WIP Linky Party and Midweek Makers

Customer Purse

Last week I was contacted by a previous customer to see if I could make her a purse with a longer handle.  She wanted another purple one.  No problem, I got to work pulling fabrics for her and this is the completed purse which I shipped out today.

This is made from one I designed for myself many years ago.  There are three outside pockets and eight inside-no excuse for not being organized!

After pulling out the purse fabric, I found several more pieces I wanted to make up plus I had purchased some new ones last week.  I quickly cut out four more and quilted them up and finished assembling them this morning.  The two in the front are fabrics I picked up during the MN quilt show.  The black and red one, well I picked up the striped pocket fabric and the fabric behind it in Paducah this spring and the other flowered piece was in my stash and they matched perfectly!

What's next you ask...I have started the quilting on my June IB modern quilt.  And working on some more table runners.   The weather here this week has been drippy and cloudy-enough already!!  However it does make me want to stay in and sew like crazy:)  

Linking with Sarah and Sherry

The work is done and it is playtime!

I finished up the weeks work a few hours early yesterday so I got to play!!!  

First the work...

More purses done and listed in my Etsy shop

Using my design this is #3 and #4 of the 6 I cut out a couple weeks ago.

I won't bore you with the details again. But if you missed the details on this you can find more info on this HERE

I also finished up my Island Batik April challenge quilt which I will show you on Monday!!  Just had to let you know that so you wouldn't think all I did all week were these 2 purses!  I also worked on some fall runners for the craft shows-never too soon to start on those.

So now the play begins. Yesterday I finally decided to try out the Creative Grids Pineapple ruler I picked up at the Quilt Expo in Madison WI last fall.  I recently saw a You Tube video from Jenny at Missouri star using this ruler.  Her excitement is very contagious!  I got mine out yesterday along with my pile of 30's scraps and made this block and got started on 2 more. 

All the while making it I felt like Jenny-I understood her excitement over making this block!! They are just so cute.  Mine finished at a 10" block.  My goal is to make 9 blocks and border it for a neonatal quilt or perhaps 12 for a little bigger one.  We'll see.  I hope to do a couple more today.

Linking with UFO Busting and Oh Scrap

Bags, bags

I am happy to report that I made lots of progress on my purses that I started last weekend.  All the parts have been quilted and 2 are totally done.  Lilacs say spring to me, and so does the calendar even though Mother nature isn't cooperating fully yet.

The front with its center pocket and 2 pockets on the sides.  

 The back. The side ties can be untied for expansion if needed!

 The inside with 8 more pockets to keep you totally organized!!  And a magnetic snap to keep your belongings safe.

Don't you just love this blue and purple on black-so striking!  It even has a bit of metallic gold in there.  It is so labor intensive to write a pattern so I have never done that, these are all made with just the notes I have written on paper. 

 The handles are each approximately 21" long.

 And it's cute aqua side pockets. 

I made DH snap a picture of me with the purse over my shoulder so you can see if can be worn that way or just holding the straps by your hand if you wish.    The purse is approximately 12.5" x 10" and 4" deep.   I use a foam core board in the bottom covered with a coordinating fabric.

These can be found in my Etsy shop.

Linking with MCM, Monday Making, Linky Tuesday and Midweek Makers.

New projects

I  started new projects this weekend:0  Never mind all the WIP's and UFO's sitting around.  I was in the mood to pull out the purse fabric bins.  Yes I keep those separate from the quilting fabrics even though technically they are the same fabrics.   It is just that I bought these specifically to make purses.   I cut 3 of one kind and 6 of another.  These are laid out for me to start sewing these parts together, and then they receive quilting before the assembly process begins.  These are from a pattern I designed but have never written as it is labor intensive to write it as a pattern.

 And here are the linings, inside pockets, and the foam core board covers.  The handles and ties didn't get in the picture.  So with 9 cut you would think you would see a dent in that bin wouldn't you.  NOPE not even a dimple size dent, how does this happen!!  I guess I fluffed them too much in the process, LOL.

And then I started this for the April Island Batik ambassador challenge.

So what new projects did you start over the weekend?  Or were you good and finished a WIP or UFO?

Linking with Beth at Cooking up Quilts.

Custom Order

Last week a lady contacted me about a purse in my Etsy shop.  She was hoping for a different color and a longer strap.  We had several convo's and I dug in my stash for colors that might work and she liked this purple plaid, black with gold metallic dots and a solid black for the outside of the purse. The lining is the purple plaid with gold pockets. It turned out beautiful.

Yesterday I finished it up, sent her a pic and she loves it!  

 

In between the convo's I picked out fabrics to make 5 more purses to stock my craft show boxes.

They too are all done, I have had a productive week. 

 

The inside with 8 pockets.

 The back.

The front which has a center pocket and 2 side pockets.  Plenty of room for organization.  Each has a magnetic closure and a covered foam core in the bottom for stability.  If you take out the board you can wash it.   This is a pattern I made up and is only in my head for now!  I might write the pattern one day, who knows. 

Linking with Myra, Amanda and Sarah

Purse finishes to share with you

These five purses actually got finished last weekend and I have been waiting for outside weather to clear up to get better pictures!

They are made from my own pattern (which hasn't been written yet).  I have made and sold many at craft shows over the last six years.  But two of these are now listed in my Etsy shop with hopes of adding a couple more soon. 

The outside as two side pockets and one front and center pocket.  The handles are each 21" long from end to end.  The two ties on the side of the purse are easily untied for expansion of the purse.  

A view of the backside.  These are made with cotton fabrics and both the outside and inside of the purse are quilted.

Inside you will find 8 more pockets-see how organized you can be with this purse!   The magnetic closure will help keep your contents secure. To make the purse more sturdy, I have added a covered foam core board in the bottom.  To wash the purse, remove the foam core board, and wash with cool water and air dry. 

A close up of another.  If you would like to see the others close up, please stop by my Etsy shop

Linking with a few linky parties on my left side bar.

Falling for purses

I had a past customer of my purses come to see what I had on hand a couple weeks ago as she needed a new one. The ones I had made were not going to work for her, so we looked through my fabric and she picked out the perfect ones for her:-)  Since I like to make them in batches, and since I needed more for an upcoming craft, show I decided a couple days later to go through my bin of purse fabrics and get started.  These are what I came up with.  My customer ordered the one on the bottom right.

They all have 8 pockets inside, 3 pockets outside and a magnetic closure. This is from a pattern I made, I have had many requests for the pattern, but at this time I do not have it for sale. However the purses are for sale;-)

My customer also brought along a friend of hers(mine too) and she really like this snowman wall hanging I was working on and it is now hers!  Customers sister emailed me about purses after that and she also purchased one that I had on hand.  I love it when I get to personally talk/email with my customers!  Thanks so much ladies!

I used felt for the letters, hat and bird to machine straight stitch applique on after the quilting was done.

Linking with Let's Bee Social

Quilted purses, WIP and OMG

This spring I started this batch of purses, got them part way done and set them aside. I know you guys never do such a thing, right!!  There is the cutting, assembling the outer purse section and then I do some quilting and trim them up. That is where they then sat for 3 months, taking up space on my sewing counters.  After we returned from vacation I decided I had to get these finished. I am glad to report they are now done and waiting for the craft shows.

The pattern is called Shirley from Totes by Sandy. She has loads of purse patterns. I was fortunate, several years ago, to test some out for her. These have just one long over the shoulder strap, 6 inside pockets, and a magnetic snap closure.  Her pattern uses only 2 fabrics for the outside, I decided to use 2 1/2" strips to make the bottom section, you know more color that way!

I started a new project yesterday using a new ruler I picked up at guild the other night. It is the Kite BlocLoc ruler.  I made a bunch of kite 4" blocks with 30's scraps, fun!  

Here is my design floor as of last night. Today's project is to get them sewn into a top. 

And here is my OMG- a wonderful, super gorgeous box of Island Batik fabrics showed up on my door step yesterday, Ooooh la la!!  Thank you Island Batik :-)   

 August is our summer blog hop and all of us Ambassadors are busy preparing wonderful projects to showcase the beautiful Batik's that were released at Market in May. Be sure to stop back here on Aug 17th for my day on the hop.

Linking with 

NTT

Whoop Whoop

Fabric Frenzy Friday