Sewing Room Friday, 12/29/23

Vinyl pouch sewing continued before Christmas. Most of these were purchased by friends for gifts.

I bought some fun vinyl that was based on a flowery dress worn by Taylor Swift during the Grammys. I also bought zipper pulls shaped like the stage from her Eras tour, and Eras labels. This was probably the pouch I enjoyed making the most. Of course, it went to my favorite Swiftie, Charlotte.

How do you safeguard your fabric scissors? 

Instagram says this is my Top Nine based on "likes". I like that our wedding photo made it into the mix.

Every year we use the same gift bags. Over and over. They were really starting to show their age. Last year I decided I wanted to replace them with lined drawstring bags made with Jeni Baker's pattern, which I have made probably a minimum of 30 times. It's a great pattern--highly recommended. 

I should have done a better job of time management, and started them earlier than five days before Christmas!! It's a great way to use favorite fabrics. I ended up making 14 Christmas bags and a fun Happy Birthday bag. Last Thursday, when I started cutting and sewing, I was really regretting my procrastination. But when the last drawstring was in and I just popped the presents in each bag, I was super happy I made them. Of course, you know what this means--next year, Christmas gifts will be purchased based on what fits in these bags! Haha.

I've gotten the bindings on six quilts. I finished five of them by machine--not my favorite look for quilt bindings. I think hand finished is definitely the way to go. But time doesn't always allow for that. And I really wanted to get Peppermint Village hung on the wall before Christmas.

And in the evenings while watching TV, I was able to finish all 132 granny squares! Now the daunting task of crocheting them together.

I plan to start doing more physical activity soon, but until then...

Sewing Room Friday, 12/15/23

 All last week, before we left for Disneyland, I was busy making zipper pouches. 

I made these four for Christa to gift to her staff at Central Valley Justice Coalition.

Then I got busy making vinyl pouches. So many. I didn't even remember to photograph all of them!

A friend requested this pencil pouch.

This one is orange on one side and pink on the other, and the sides of the zipper tape are two different colors as well. That was fun. I'll probably do that again...

Turning these right side out is tough on my hands. There is no way I could do it without the use of my blowdryer to soften the vinyl.

I got a progress shot of my Lumos quilt. How gorgeous is this??!

I was able to gift the Friendly Faces quilt yesterday. I think she likes it.

Before I forget, my 2024 calendar, The Mural District, is available. Here is a link. I'm super happy with this one--it might be my favorite so far. I tried really hard to match the quilts with the murals. 

Okay. I'm off to cut more vinyl...

Sewing Room Friday, 12/1/23

 The last few weeks have seen a lot of activity in my sewing room. 

For years I've been collecting peppermint fabric, with the goal of sewing a Christmas quilt. I finally got started a few weeks ago. And once I started, I had to keep going. Here are the blocks from Peppermint Village. On Instagram, I wrote a little story about each one. I just got the quilt back from the quilter, and once the binding is on--peppermint stripe of course--the quilt will have its own separate post and I'll add the stories.

Another quilt I've always wanted to make is the "Norah" quilt, designed by my friend, Mary from Sunnyday Supply. It's basically a giant log cabin. The Christmas fabric was already out, so I decided to make a holiday version. 

I stopped when it reached 65" square. And I ran out of fabric for the pink and aqua sides...

Christmas sewing is a messy job.

I made this cute basket for our Christmas cards.

Then I started on a lot of vinyl zipper pouches.

So many cute combinations. I am particularly obsessed with the new zippers with the black teeth.

Mark might have heard me say this more than a few times...

I picked these five quilts up from Darby two days ago. I have miles of binding to make but they are near the finish line!

It's been productive around here. I'll be back with more next week.