Basting and Beginning

Despite my whining, I've made progress. In fact, in the length of one nap (thanks Mom!), I managed to baste the quilt and begin quilting it. Hardly worth all the time I spent blowing it off!

It basted quickly -- and I had a good distraction.

If you can't see, it's the new Beauty and the Beast movie -- which I finally managed to watch. I'll keep my opinions there to myself, but it was a good distraction while I was pinning and quilting.

I love the fabric I'm using as the back - Wonderland, Cotton + Steel - and it really shows what I'm doing with the quilting. Wrestling this quilt through the machine has been a frustration, despite it being such a small quilt, but I'm more than halfway done, so I think I can survive the frustration to get the outcome I want.

Decisions, Decisions

Can you guess what the question is?

I finished basting the kiddo's intended sleeping bag / quilt -- though I have no idea how I'm going to finish it (giant zipper? binding and massive snaps? ties?), and started quilting it. Because it's been so long since I've actually quilted, and because this is kind of a 'use up the orphan blocks' project, I decided to play around a little instead of focusing on getting it done.

It's bee a challenge to feed the quilt through the machine over and over again, but I'm doing more of a 'doodle' style quilt so far than what I'm used to. It's fun, but tiring.

Since my machine needs a trip to the shop for a check up again soon, I'm tempted to try dropping the feed dogs again and see if that helps me doodle a little better. If my feed dogs came back up properly, it'd be easier to consider...

BUT

despite all the fun I'm having doodling and the fact that I'd really like to get this one done, there's something else calling my name:

This lovely little pile of fabric is the beginning of a quilt I need to make in the next 20 weeks. That sounds like a long time, but not if my feed dogs aren't working or if my machine is off at a shop for even a couple weeks. So maybe I need to be working on this project first -- or plan on piecing this project on my back up machine?

The Hazelwood charm pack, low volume bundle, and Wonderland (Rifle Paper Co / Cotton + Steel) yardage are all for the same planned quilt. If everything goes as I hope, it'll be something a little bit like this:

I've actually never made a 'flying geese' type quilt or block before, but I don't anticipate it being too challenging. I think the biggest challenge for me is going to be keeping all the seams lined up as I piece the top together!

My rough math suggests that I'll use most of the Hazelwood charms for the geese, and that this bundle is only the beginning of the low volume I'll need for the background. My plan is to make the geese, then cut the low volume into the size I need, and get my design wall into play before I do anything else!

My goal is for the Wonderland yardage to be the backing for this quilt. I'm thinking a black and white stripe binding -- but it might need to be less bold to go with the top. Maybe a light blue or gray stripe instead of the black?

So, the question is, do I keep quilting, or start pushing towards work in progress #20
-- surely that's not right, let me check -- Nope, I've actually finished some. If I start this it will be Work in Progress # 14. That's still utterly overwhelming... but better than I thought!

Tall Tales

Despite the 16 other quilty projects I should be working on, and the kitchen re-do I should be working on, and of course, a dozen other things I could be doing, I am starting a new project.

Big surprise, right?

I have my reasons. Namely, basting is a long, time consuming process that can't always be easily interrupted. Paper piecing bocks can be put away at any time with very little issue.

But also, have you seem the Tall Tales blocks floating around Pinterest and Instagram? They are adorable. (To go directly to the page with the pattern, click here and look for a link towards the end of Kate Basti's bio.)

So, I broke out the secret stash of Wee Wander fabrics I bought about 2 years ago --bought with nursery decoration thoughts, but turned out not to be right for my project. I've been sitting on these fabrics, waiting for something prefect.

Well, I don't know if these are perfect, but I'm liking it so far.

Although the pattern is a paper pieced project, I am faking it. With only one pattern printed off (not for lack of trying), I'm using it as a guide, but not sewing right through the paper as I should be for best accuracy. So, there is some unintended wonk to my blocks. It doesn't bother me, but I want it to be clear that any wonk is all on me and my non-standard technique -- not due to the pattern or the proper paper piecing technique.

Each block comes together fairly quickly, maybe 15-20 minutes including time to fussy cut the cover. Depending on the day, that can sometimes be accomplished while the toddler is deeply involved in some independent play.

And right now, that is my kind of sewing!

Ranting, Fabric, and More To Do

The rain might be turning everything else into lakes and mud, but there are still a few bright spots popping up this spring.

I am supposed to be interviewing pediatricians this month, so we can choose one we like. Except my insurance won't let me make an appointment with one until I have a child on the insurance plan, which can't happen until after said child is born. I've been told most pediatricians want to see the kid within a week of birth -- and sometimes even before they leave the hospital -- so it seems like being on the doctor's radar before birth is complete might be important. I don't understand why this is so complicated, and I can't find anyone else complaining about it so I feel like I must be missing some important step that makes this all work.

My energy level is way up compared to earlier in the pregnancy -- I've hit 15,000 steps in a day more than once this week! -- but I am actually accomplishing less. I'm struggling to make myself buckle down and accomplish what I can do, and having no trouble at all walking around the house stressing over all the things that I can't -- or that I know won't get done in time anyway. 

I know I have a million projects I need to finish -- some of them in the next week -- but I really want to start something that's absolutely selfish sewing. I have the project picked out, and the fabric picked out, but I don't feel like I can give myself permission to start on it when I have so much other needing done. I also wonder if letting myself do a block or two of utterly selfish sewing would cheer me up a little and give me a boost of energy to get back to what I need to be doing. 

But ooh, look at the pretties!

Could it please stop raining? I don't know that there's ever been a time my area needed the rain less and the sun more! Also, I'm supposed to have a baby shower in the yard next weekend. At this point, the grass is so over saturated that even the lightest of guests would sink in if they sat on a lawn chair. We're going to need at least 3 days of sun before we risk it, and I don't think we're going to get that. I've got to hunt for a back-up venue this weekend on Saturday, thank-you-work.

That said, I am still glad to be working (even if I could in theory use the time at home to finish up some projects). I had thought next week would bring my first day off, but I learned today that there's enough in the project that I can do that I can go ahead for at least a partial day. I don't know how much longer I'll be able to keep it up, but I'm hopeful for 3-4 more weeks before I'm no longer useful enough to justify turning up on a daily basis.

And, on the very exciting side, massive progress has been made this week on the house and things are beginning to seem as if we might manage most of the important tasks in the remaining 2-ish months we have left before life gets a little too hectic for much else!

• Living room: 
• Now: 1 small bookcase to find a home for
• Long Term: new window treatments 
• Kitchen: 
• Now: 1 old cat ladder/condo/tree to remove 
• Long Term: new window treatments, 2-4 chairs needed
• Our Bedroom: 
• Now: 2 laundry hampers + additional items to take out for donation; soap the changing table drawers
• Soon: Swap out my nightstand for the co-sleeper; change art over changing table
• Long Term: Finish our quilts; new mattress; new pillows
• Our Bathroom: 
• Now: clean counter top; old nightstand needs put our for donate
• Guest Bathroom: 
• Now: how to get rid of broken printer? (yes, it is living in the shower, along with a few more things I'm not sure what else to do with)
• Soon: Replace broken towel bar with something safer
• Sewing Room Nursery/Playroom: 
• Now: Find homes for the remaining 'stuff' in the room; serious sweep and mop; 
• Soon: Bring in mattress; begin updating art/wall hangings; rug and other final decor items
• Long Term: do something about the door not staying open when desired

I know that still looks like a lot written out like that, but if you'd seen the list I had on Wednesday night you might be as excited as I am at the progress. The entire sewing room is now located in the living room, and it's not quite as cramped as I'd feared. The new cat condo/tree/whatever is in and he's already begun using it. And honestly, walking into the future nursery and seeing mostly space instead of homeless furniture I couldn't make work in there is the most amazing feeling I've got access to right now! 

Auditioning

I know I have enough on my plate at the moment, but my fingers are itching to start a new project. 

It needs a lot of white background added in, but here's the pile of fabric I've had sitting aside for a few months. I've been window shopping different patterns and ideas for what I'd like to begin working on next, and I'm finally thinking that it might be the right time to use this stack.

It's been a very long time since I've started a quilt by pulling fabrics completely on my own, instead of relying on a charm pack or other pre-cut set. I've stumbled into a few things from combining blocks, matched up two of three fabrics, but it's been ages since I really sat down with a pile of fabrics and debated without anything already started. I'm enjoying the process a great deal more this time around than the last time I started off this way. Pulling pieces from my stash to build a quilt has been much more fun than trying to buy all new fabrics -- probably because I'm such an introvert!

So far I like this stack very much, but I'm worried about the light to dark ratio. There's a lot of color, but so much of it seems to be on the lighter end of the spectrum with only the darkest pink/red, that little scrap of green in the center, and maybe the two other pinks counting as really 'dark' comparatively. Would it look more balanced if I had one more, darker/bolder blue print to balance the three deeper/bolder pinks -- or am I over thinking things?

Time to stop overthinking and start cutting.

Fabric Crush and Store Crush

On Tuesday as I was scrolling through my facebook feed, I happened to pay attention to a little post from Southern Fabric offering a charm pack of Kate & Birdie Paper Co.'s Autumn Woods for only $2. Having some very recent experience quilting on both Bluebird Park, Winter's Lane -- other lines from this designer -- I was thrilled to learn there was another option I hadn't seen anywhere yet. And for $2? How could I not?

Except that of course, once I was shopping, I had to add a little more yardage, and then a little more... so I wound up buying a little more than just a charm pack. But I justify that by saying it was all on sale...

The most visible yardage is some of the Lily Ashbury Folklore line - which I think will be turned into new pillowcases to coordinate with my new bedroom quilt -- whenever that gets done. I had hoped to pick up the same print in another color as well, but when I was shopping they were all sold out already, so I jumped on this one immediately.

Hiding under the Folklore yardage is a small panel that coordinates with the Autumn Woods charms. I think I will regret not ordering a large piece of this - but maybe I can get creative in my use and make it work anyway. I can also order more -- unless it too has been snatched up by other shoppers!

Ugh - my lampshade really discolored these photos and this was the best I could do. I promise it coordinates. 

I'm really happy with the Autumn Woods line - so I took several photos to celebrate the cuteness.

 Autumnal words - autumn woodland, acorns, leaves, fireflies.

 Unlike my camera, please focus on the adorable little bitty acorns!

While I'm not always a huge fan of yellow, I love the grey, orange, and kind of slate-ish blue. The yellow works with the others, yellow is just never going to be my favorite color. I do wish there was a fifth color in the set, maybe a olive-ish green, but all in all I'm very happy with my impulse purchase.

I'm also absolutely thrilled with the turn around time on my order. Four days from order to delivery is really impressive, especially since you know I didn't pay for faster delivery or anything. I'm absolutely thrilled with my first experience shopping at Southern Fabric and will certainly be back. I'll also be paying way more attention to their daily deals - there are some really great bargains that way. Then again, is it really a bargain if you didn't need it? My mother would say 'no' but I'm thinking sometimes when it comes to stash building... the answer just might be 'yes.'

Beginning Again

It's been more than a year since I thought I'd start on quilts for our bedroom. I picked out fabric, bought coordinating solid, spent hours working the math and making practice blocks, and then once I had a plan and a general layout... I quit working on it. I did have a lot of other things that needed to get done, but ultimately, it was easy to push this one to the back burner. Then, in a surprise move, we changed around our house and wound up with a different bedroom - one that gets very different light and doesn't work at all the way our old one did. And suddenly, I just couldn't bring myself to complete the plan I had spent so much on already.

I poured over my Pinterest boards, and searched for new inspiration, until I found three options to run past my husband -- who honestly liked them all. So, I chose the one I had pinned most (six times for the same pattern, though different quilts): Random Reflections from the Moda Bake Shop. The directions there are for a quilt that finishes at 60x60, but I'm going to make mine about the size of an XL twin, more like 50x80. I think that should be possible with only a minor change or two.

The starting point on this was to go back to shopping - and believe me, finding jelly rolls that fit both of our personalities and fit within the colors of the room was a struggle. Ultimately, after too many hours browsing etsy shops and the Fat Quarter Shop, I wound up choosing to go with two different jelly rolls to go with our two different personalities, and our two different paintings.

Our bedroom looks something like this (this is a picture from day 2 of the new room), with my great-grandmother's forest stream painting on my side of the room and his grandfather's stormy ocean painting on his side. Since we both use twin comforters unless it is cold enough to necessitate the XL King comforter (in which case I usually use it doubled over and he's usually fine), I figured I could make the same pattern of quilt in colors that more or less went with each of our paintings - though I'd add a little orange and green to his so there was more coordination.

Ultimately, I wound up ordering one jelly roll of Lily Ashbury: Folklore (which must be very new as I'm struggling to find many places to link to so I can show how beautiful it is! This link goes to a view of only the peacock tones) and one of Carolyn Friedlaner: Botanic. I'm going to stick with the same grey solid I purchased to use initially, and hope that the brighter, less primary (than my previous choices) colors of these two rolls will work for what I'm after.

I do think I'll need to add a little more deep blue or deep green to 'his' roll (the one on the right). I may also cut one or two from the mustard/orange tones, but I think it'll work out overall - and if it isn't quite as perfect a match to his painting as Folklore is to mine, he probably won't mind either. Oh, and the grey solid is 'for' his painting, so that's a point in 'his' side's favor -- one that I'm just going to make work for my side.

I could hardly wait to start, so I cut into the solid right away - and although it's taken much longer than I thought it would, I'm making progress!

Approximately 180 2.5 by 10.5 strips -- enough for the 60x60 tutorial quilt, but not enough for my desired twin quilt. Fortunately, I have lots of fabric left, so I think it'll be fairly easy to make the additional strips I need.

It doesn't look like much for more than 4 hours of work - but I've been making certain to iron each piece instead of just finger pressing like I normally would. I really want to minimize issues and end up with two quilts that will last for a very long time. Hopefully I'm far enough ahead on baby projects for everyone that I can take a few weeks off and concentrate mostly on these two quilts. I'd love to have them finished before summer is completely over, though that's a lot to attempt on my current schedule.

Fabric Crush

I ought to make the fat quarter bin at the nearby JoAnn's off limit. I have no real need for fat quarters right now. The problem is, the best fabric in the store is usually found only there. I'm not sure why the fat quarter area has cuts of fabric that's never been anywhere else in my local store - especially when, so many times, I would much prefer to have bought a half-yard or more of whatever it is I've fallen in love with.

Especially since this way I'm forced to get it in five packs - and chances are I'm only interested in one of the five.

I'll give you one guess as to which one I wanted a yard of.

I'm a big fan of orange, and grey, and I've been on a recent kick for hedgehogs and foxes -- while my husband always likes owls. So it has several positives running --beyond the fact that it's just lovely. Especially for an animal print. While it will probably get set aside for use in a welcome baby package (or, sat on for a few years until I know whether I'll need it for a nursery or not... never know), this one in particular doesn't scream nursery print quite as loudly as some of the others in the pack...

I have no need for a nursery set for my own house, but I am very tempted to hang on to this just in case I do. At least the one print I really love... Well, I'll probably set it aside for a while until I need it for someone. I am working on getting a little head start since so many friends are either expecting or trying to be - so while I think I'm ahead enough right now, this is a good set to have in reserve for when someone surprises me!



On a personal note, I just accidently spent nine hours rearranging my house. It's not done yet, and not great-but it is going to be better. If I ever finish!

Fabric Crush

Last month I made the somewhat risky choice to go ahead and order some charm packs I had been lusting over for quite a while. I might have been able to put it off for a bit longer - since I'm supposed to be saving right now - but I noticed that one of the prints I was really 'needing' was getting increasingly more challenging to find anywhere. While that pushed me to order sooner than I'd imagined, searching for somewhere that had S'more Love charm packs in stock actually led me to an Etsy shop with slightly better prices (even when counting shipping) than my usual haunts (which either didn't have it or were already out of it).

The package arrived and I have spent too many hours today just drooling over the crisp new arrivals. Sometimes I just have to savor before I start working on them!

I'm a big fan of both orange and aqua, so it's no surprise that I love this line. I'm just so happy I managed to track some down before it all got away from me! I didn't stare at this one for too long - so I'll be back tomorrow with better pictures of the fabric and what I did with it!

The other fabric I got was Bluebird Park:

Which is adorable, but I'm not 100% pleased with it as a charm size. A couple of the prints (hard to see in my picture, but the ones with bikes and park benches) aren't as ideal for charm size cuts as others (the repeating hedgehogs for example are ideal). I got lots of pieces of bikes (like the blue in the bottom right of the photo) but only one full bike - and I don't think I have a single full bench or sign post. I'm worried that as I sew the charms together I'll end up with just enough lost that someone who isn't familiar with the fabric line might not know what that was supposed to be. There are a lot of cute prints, and the colors are great, but I didn't think ahead about how those less repetitive, larger scale kind of prints would work in such a small cut. Hopefully once I start working with them I'll see that it's not a big deal and be able to move forward.




On a more personal note: while I didn't actually accomplish anything yesterday, I made three phone calls and sent four hard emails. No results yet beyond an appointment in two weeks. Still, it's some progress... kinda...

Quilting on 'Burst

I'm stopping mid-plan to take a few photos of my work so far on the mini/multi starburst quilt. Right at this breaking point, it is very lightly quilted. My goal had been to do quite a bit more, but I'm growing concerned that too much quilting will keep it from draping nicely.

It's challenging to see the quilting, but so far I've gone with lines of my machine's preset scallop-ish pattern running in one direction across the quilt. It's not very dense - but my little test scrap got stiff quickly, and I am worried that quilting it as heavily as I'd initially planned will reduce some of the cuddle-ability of the quilt.

I pushed on until I could safely remove the basting pins. Now I'm taking a bit of a breather to regroup and rethink. I'd initially planned to do a lot of quilting to make the stars show case a little better, but now I'm wondering about simply going across in another direction with the same preset stitch. It would be a little more 'boxy' than I wanted (even with the scallop-y lines rather than straight), so I'm not set on that idea, but I think it needs a little more than I've done so far.

Oh - I did remember to grab a picture of the very scrappy back this time!

I think I warned you it was a little intense? Most of the pieces are scraps from either this project or others I've worked on in the last couple months - the central panel was specifically chosen from my stash, and the black/floral in the bottom left was a larger scrap I've never used that just happened to fit my opening. It is intense, but I think it's fun too. I wish I had a little more of the central panel fabric, but I used half of what I had for this - so I imagine the remainder will someday be part of another very scrappy quilt back. I'd hate to chop it into any smaller of pieces!

This went quickly, but I just feel like it's not done yet. I'm going to call it a night and think on this for a couple days. I want to compliment the blocks, and do a little more so it feels slightly more finished - but I'm so hesitant to over quilt and end up with something more suitable as a wall hanging than a baby quilt!

Plotting on Quilts

Remember my crush on the weave fabrics?

I've come up with a general plan for what I'd like to do with it. I'm at least going to begin with some half-square triangles making diamonds of the feature colors and diamonds of a neutral.

Though I may piece out with some featured color borders if the size needs a little work. 

After a great deal of thought, I split my Weave charm packs into two different color stories. 

 A bright/intense/saturated group that I'll pair with black.
And a more muted/softer group that I'll pair with the brown I'm so in love with:

Although I'm very tempted to steal the plum color from the saturated group to see if it pairs nicely in the more muted group. Just feels like the muted one could use a purple shade. Hmmm...

Huh. Everything looks totally different - guess that's the difference an hour makes in terms of lighting - but I think I like it better with the purple added. And the more saturated set doesn't seem poorer for the loss. I'm hoping that I can do a bigger test layout tomorrow - just laying all the squares out on the background piece so I can see them in large pieces instead of little bitty ones - but so far it's looking good. 

The two stacks aren't quite the same size, so I expect the saturated/black one will be slightly larger. And as usual, I have no idea what I'm going to do with them except that I can't keep my fingers away from the fabrics so I have to do something with them! I have a vague suspicion that at least the more muted one will end up as a gift, if I can get it to be a good size. We'll see what the future brings! 

Playing Around

I really should be working on cutting the sashing for our two quilts - for the third month running... but truth be told, I've kind of fallen out of love with those quilts. Sad, because I've already cut all the Reunion prints I will use on them. Sadder still because I like the idea of us having matching quilts again (since using one has never worked for us) and I cannot justify tossing the project and starting over with different plans/fabrics. At least not until we've got a new bedroom - which is still looking to be years down the road.

So, I really should be working on those quilts. But instead, I keep digging through my scraps looking for something easy and fun to play with instead. It's a problem - but it isn't costing me money, since I'm using only scraps and a few spare change minutes throughout the week, so I'm hard pressed to complain too loudly.

Tonight, inspired by some scrappy X and + pins, I took some of my scraps and a pin that was almost a tutorial, and tried my hand at it.

Sometimes trying to figure out the best way to make quilt blocks from photos turns out to be fun, or at least a good workout for my brain. Other times, I really wish I had searched hard enough to find a real tutorial. I'll let you guess which kind of time this one was, though I will say that my lack of precision on this one was more than a little frustrating. I think I should have wound up with something nearing 12" square. Once mine is trimmed to square, it's going to have no choice but to be 11.5 or smaller.

I'm a little torn about my fabric choices on this one. Some moments I like the overall look, other times I'm not certain the plus really works with the x. But, I'm hard pressed not to love it - and not only because I finally cut into that dark blue floral I've been holding onto for nearly three years. I know nothing of it - other than that it was a fat quarter bundle purchase from JoAnn's - I have absolutely loved it and hesitated over and over again about using it in a project. I have a little more than half of the fabric left and now that I've seen it in something, I'm all the more eager to find another something I can make with what little I have left.

I have already quilted it to a scrappy piece of batting, but I think I might still be clever enough to turn it into a sofa pillow as I'd hoped. That might require adding a border of some kind since 11x11 seems a little small for a sofa pillow. I'll have to see what I've got on hand. If nothing jumps out at me, this could always become another mini quilt to brighten up the house during these cold and dark months.

Fabric Crush Again

I always say I can visit my local quilt shop in 'a few minutes' but any one who has ever gone with me, or sat in the car while I run in, knows that it's more likely to take forty-five minutes to an hour. Time goes more quickly when you're having fun - so it's easy for me to lose track of time while I'm inside. Less easy for the people waiting on me...

So I was surprised when my husband suggested I stop by while we were out anyway. I hadn't been since August, but I promised I'd try my best to be quick.

Forty-five minutes later, after drooling over nearly everything in the place, I came back out with only two charm packs - but I can tell you, I'm already plotting how to get back and pick up some coordinating yardage.

I am absolutely in love with this collection. The colors are amazing, and I just want to pet them. There isn't any unusual texture, but don't they look like there should be?

It's impossible to choose a favorite color. The dark brown is perfect, not too red or too grey, and I just love the pairing of these louder orange and green colors.

I have a couple ideas of what I'd love to do with them, but everything I want to do - beyond just keep petting the blocks - requires a trip back for yardage. I knew this would be the case when I picked up the charms, but I also knew I needed some time to look at all the colors before I decided which one/s I wanted yardage of. Otherwise, I was very afraid I'd blow my whole paycheck on yardage...

See, my charm pack buying problem is really about saving... and giving me more time to look things over before committing to larger pieces... and... perfectly justifiable. Yep. No problem here. Not at all.

Which clearly means that I need to pick up a couple more while I'm there this week.

A Glimpse...

Work is still running me at record hours -- which of course is great, except that I'm not managing to keep up with that and anything else. It seems like everything else, from hanging out with friends to looking at houses to keeping up with housework, has been falling aside. I've got a friend in town for the holidays - and I've only managed to sneak off to see her twice for only a couple hours.

Every time I have a chance to reflect on my day - or week, or month - I want to make changes toward having a more balanced life. You know, time for work, time for housework, time for social things, time for hobbies. It sounds great. But unrealistic right now.

Since I can flip on my sewing machine any hour I'm free - unlike my poor friends who do not want to hear an invitation to meet for tea at 11 pm on any given night - I've been doing a little sewing. Nothing big, nothing from plans, just playing around and seeing what happens.

This are my two attempts at a case for my work tablet. Attempt number two is just a little bigger than I'd hoped - but attempt number one wound up less than half-an-inch too small (a sad error when putting it together), so I went a little bigger on attempt two. Still, I am looking forward to using it in the next week. Since I'm free to carry whatever kind of purse I want over the holidays (instead of the cross body I need for work days), I'm looking at my few options, all of which have open tops. Without the security of a closed top purse, I felt like I needed a little more protection on my most important work tool.

I really prefer the contrast zipper on attempt number one - which also looks a little better in terms of zipper installation - but it is just a little too small. Oh well, I'm sure I'll find some way of using it.

Can you tell I've got storage and travels on my mind? I'm not a good traveler, but having lots of cute little bags in my luggage might help. (Yes, that picture is incredibly blurry. If I were a good blogger, I would probably retake it. But right now I'm not feeling up to the effort.)

I don't know what it is about traveling, but the moment I hear I'm going on a trip, I start wanting a new purse. I would guess that probably means I have a tendency to settle for 'good enough' on purses, and later it turns out it wasn't 'good enough' after all... But, looking through my stash - even smaller now that I've sent more than half my supply off to charity - I still didn't find anything I really wanted to take.

Long story short, I am not one of those people who is comfortable mixing dark neutrals - like navy with black or brown with black. I see it happen for other people and think it's okay, but I haven't been able to embrace it yet. So, trying to pick a black or brown purse to go with both navy and black outfits... well... it was a losing battle. Since black and brown are about all I have left, I just wasn't feeling it.

Several days worth of plotting and a few hours of sewing and I have something like this:

Not quite finished yet

A quilted and lined purse with one big exterior pocket. I've added an over the shoulder strap that can clip on or off, and I'm hoping to eventually make a longer cross body option - but not this week. This is my first time working with any kind of hardware, and still working without a pattern. I'm sure there were better ways to do almost everything I did, but so far I'm liking it. I'm really looking forward to taking it on a test drive tomorrow.

Since I didn't add any interior pockets to my lining, I wanted to use the scraps I had leftover to make a coordinating little zipper bag that I could put my mobile in as protection.

Front (Whoops! I see I missed clipping a piece of thread)

Back

Again, I was just making it up as I went along - but I think it turned out well. I did have a coordinating turquoise zipper (that was supposed to go on the purse) but I so loved the contrast zipper on the tablet bag I made that when I saw I had one more of that color left (and in a size better suited to cell phone carriers than anything else), I went with it. I am not disappointed.

Looking at them together, I'm fairly pleased with how they turned out - especially for having absolutely no real pattern or tutorial to follow. I think that they are going to perform fairly well for me - but I am glad to have some time before my trip to test drive them before I take off.

If pops of fun fabric are going to help me through this trip, I think I am about as set as I'm going to get.

I've just got to hand over the key to the house sitter - make it through tomorrow - and it's vacation here we come!