Re-vamped Crazy Quilt Purse

My friend Debbie in Alaska made this purse for me eons ago---I used it so much I literally wore it out. So recently I added some trims to cover the worn fabric areas on the edges and a new strap...voila! purse is back in business. What do you think?

I have always loved crazy quilts---I love the crazy fabrics and all the embroidery. I get plenty of compliments on this purse when I use it...even if my two lovely daughters do think it looks too awfully "hippy dippy"---who cares? When it comes to fashion I just go with what I like...not what is the current trend. This purse has a zipper closure, hence it is very practical for a city. I made the strap out of a strip of a vintage quilt top.

Tree Quilt--Work in Progress (WIP)

So here is my last 2 days of the CREATIVE EVERY DAY challenge.

This small "quilt" is titled HOMAGE TO TREES and is part of a series of small mixed media (fabric and paper) quilts I am making on the theme of the Earth and the Environmental Crisis. This is a creative work in progress or WIP.

I started with a vintage deck of Tree Spotter cards
---stitched some cards together, added batting and a fabric backing--and now I'm working on embellishing with buttons, beads and embroidery. I will use the green leaf fabric as a border---and plan to hand quilt the borders....











"I like trees because they seem more resigned to the way they have to live than other things do." --Willa Cather

Orange is the New Black

Sweaters from thrift stores---washed in hot water in the washing machine, then dried in a hot dyer--PRESTO! wool felt! which I then cut up and sew into handbags. This one is orange and green in honor of FALL season---plus, I love orange. I lined this, and added pockets inside for your keys and cell phone. The handle is braided sweater strips, just the right length for a comfortable shoulder bag.

This shows the lovely lining fabric--the handbag flap is lined with a brown sweater.

This is a back view of the handbag---just slightly different than the green striped front---with an orange horizontal side strip.

Fabric Inchies!

My friend Kari--from Sitka, Alaska--came for a visit and to play in my studio---we made fabric INCHIES! only ours are "inchie +" because we made ours 1.5" x 1.5" ---instead of 1 inch by 1 inch---so we call them "inchie plus" or "plus size inchies" or just "PSI"....
These were a fun quick project---here are some of mine--or the ones I have finished so far...I'm planning to sew pinbacks on these---and presto! instant holiday gifts ;-)




For those who are wondering--an "inchie" is a 1" x1" (or 1.5" x 1.5") fiber square which you can embellish any way you want. This is great way to use up all those tiny bits of interesting fabrics and papers you just could not throw away. Then pull out your fun beads, buttons, and other trims and embellish away.



For great directions on how to make these--via the Quilting Arts Magazine website-- go here and scroll down--the directions area pdf file available for free.



Besides pins--I can think of so many other ways to use these---on a bag or purse as an accent, or even on a sweater. How about ear rings? or a colorful mobile to hang above a baby crib? they are fun to trade with other artists, also...anyone want to trade? just e-mail me.....

TODAYS QUOTE:

"The single clenched fist lifted and ready,
Or the open hand held out and waiting.
Choose:
For we meet by one or the other."
----Carl Sandburg

Stitch Sampler Revisited

My brother lives in our family home in Alaska--my grandfather built the house, and after my grandparents died and my Mom was a widow she lived there. Recently my brother sent me this stitch sampler he found--something I made in the late 1970's (! ) and gave to my Mother. It was the time I think of as my "lace period" because I had this great book LACE by Virginia Bath (now long out of print), and I spent one whole long cold, dark Alaskan winter exploring the techniques of needle lace.

The most interesting aspect of this sampler to me--was to see the palette I choose back then--I am still attracted to these colors today and use them frequently in my creations. What a strange blast for the past. And, yes, it is sooo seventies ;-)



Here is the book--if you ever see a used copy for sale--buy it! I taught myself needle lace using this book and created some large pieces of needle lace---all long gone out of my life, but I still use the techniques I learned.

TODAYS QUOTE:
"At the birth of a child, if a mother could ask a fairy godmother to endow it with the most useful gift, that gift should be curiosity." -- Eleanor Roosevelt