New On The Blog

Hello Everyone, just wanted to let you know I have been posting on my other blog some of my projects which do not involve sewing.  I really did not want you to think I quit this blog, I have just been very busy sewing, crafting, painting and decorating without stopping to write about it all as I went. You will start seeing my sewing projects again since there are quite a few of those along with all the rest I have been working on.

First up is my newest obsession, making purses!!!  I just love it, actually I like taking the classes about purse making with my friend and teacher, Sheila.  She has been such a great inspiration, she taught me so many techniques that my confidence is really growing with each bag I make.  This very pretty pink leopard/zebra bag was really fun to make, not a bag I would attempt without a class since it has 16 pockets inside, a magnetic snap and a special hard bag bottom to keep it standing.  The pattern is the Tuscany Tote by Pink Sand Beach Designs, designed by Nancy Green, I just love all their purse patterns.

My new favorite little cutie bag to make is the Runaround Bag by Lazy Girl Designs, designed by Joan Hawley.  This bag actually takes longer to cut out then to stitch up, we made two in two hours, I would have made more but my sewing machine froze up and refused to sew anymore.  I have four more cut out ready to sew up as soon as I get my machine back from the sewing machine hospital, lets hope it just needed cleaning in the places I can not get to and it is not a terminal illness, giggles!!!  Anyway... I can not wait to make more of these darling little bags very soon.

Last but not least is the Laptop Satchel by Vanilla House, designed by Barbara Brunson. I made this satchel without taking a class, kind of a tough one to make, not sure I would do it again, the directions were confusing and I ended up re-writing the pattern to reflect my sewing knowledge.  Some of you may find it just fine to make as is depending on how you were taught to sew.

Thanks for letting me share some of my current sewing projects, there are several more to come in the near future.  Be sure to check out my other blog; Create, Upcycle, Decorate, Organize to see what I have been up to. New on that blog is a post about my office relocation/expansion, part 1.  Head on over now and take a look before I post part 2.
See you soon.

Laurette

Apron A Day #5

This darling shoe apron is one of my designs sewn with three coordinating fabrics from a great collection. When I purchased the fabric I had no idea what I was going to use it for, I just fell in love with it so I bought it and the fabrics became part of my ever growing stash. I wanted to use all three of the prints so I picked the panel for the front and the smallest print for the lining with the tiny shoe print for the ties and ruffles on the top and bottom.  I did not include a pocket because I chose to embellish the apron with complementing buttons and rick rack to bring out the pattern and colors giving it some added dimension. The apron is lined to add weight and extra body, not to mention good protection for my clothing while I am cooking, always a good thing for a messy cook.

This little diva shoe apron was meant for cooking and compliments, thanks for letting me share it with you today.  There will be more aprons featured in a few days, the next one has some real retro flare and is one of my favorites.

See you soon.

Laurette

You might also like:

Apron A Day 1, 2, 3 & 4 (Archives 2012 for 1, 2&3)

Marissa's Bag in Orange

As part of my personal goal for 2012 I committed to brushing up on some of my skills by taking a few classes.  I managed to take several on-line courses, purchased several teaching DVD seminars, go to Groovy Girls sewing club and the monthly mystery block demonstration put on by my local quilt shop. The one thing I still had not done was to actually take a hands on sewing class, time was running out so I finally took one this August while on my break from blogging.  Back in the 70’s and 80’s I made a lot of purses and bags, I haven’t made any since then, using all the new products, so I decided to brush up my skills by taking a purse making class at a quilt shop, The Nimble Thimble in Gilroy, over in the next town, ours closed down this spring.  Our teacher was Sheila Galindo, she was the teacher at our old quilt shop, I was happy to find her and take this class from her; she is the queen of purse making and just the gal to help me brush up my skills.

The first thing I did was to go to my fabric wall and look for a couple of coordinating fabrics to make my bag out of.  It did not take long to find the two darling, bright orange and pink fabrics I wanted to use for my new purse. Once my fabric was picked out I did all the pre-class prep work of cutting out my fabrics, fleece and interfacings and went to class ready to sew.

We all had a great time chatting and sewing while Sheila guided us through all the steps, it was so much fun.  Each bag was totally cute and unique it its own way due to the different choices in fabric.  I can not wait to make another one very soon.

Thanks for letting me share my adventures in purse making, I am taking another class very soon, the next purse is larger and a bit more challenging, just my kind of class.  Let’s hope this purse comes out as nice as the last one. I still have some easy projects to share with you so keep watching for those.

See you soon.

Laurette

You might also like:

Project Progress - (May 2012)

Colorful Fabric Zip Bags - (Feb 2012)

Snoopy Building Block Quilt

A few days ago I began pulling out fabrics to make the Snoopy quilts for our new grandson who is due to arrive in a few months.  After much auditioning I settled on two stacks of fabric to make a building block quilt, with the flannel and chenille and some cute cotton snoopy fabrics in yellows and blues for a pinwheel quilt. Up first will be the building block quilt using the flannels and chenille fabrics.

Before I began the block quilt I bound a Snoopy cheater quilt which I acquired in 2003, I had it stored away with all the other cute Snoopy fabrics.  My son adored his Snoopy while growing up and requested I collect Snoopy fabric and put it aside for his children someday, which I did every time I saw anything with that pattern, now I get to use it.

Spent one afternoon cutting out all the necessary squares, the fabric is just darling and looks warm and comfy all together.

Started pinning the first of the squares, I don’t usually need to use pins but the chenille stretches and moves around, not to mention it sheds like crazy, it was a whole lot more work then I anticipated.

Once I stitched up the first square I realized I was short on white thread so I decided to use the chain stitching method, basically you feed one square after another through the machine without cutting the threads in between, this went really fast and I did not run out of thread.  All I had to do was clip the threads between the squares and press the seams towards the heavier fabric which was the blue chenille.  At this point I am letting my quilt sit for a bit, I will return to it very soon.

In addition to the block quilt I have a number of other projects I am working on, there are a dozen darling retro cloth dolls in various stages of completion, more gifts for the new baby, some patio cushion covers and my biggest project, designs for my new line of sewing patterns which I plan to release at the beginning of 2013.  Pattern design is a very long tedious process, it requires lots of thought, writing and testing in order to get everything just right.  Once all the pattern pieces and instructions are completed along with finished product samples, I will call on my circle of sewing friends to test the patterns for me before releasing them for sale.  That’s always a fun process since we all get together in my home and have a full day of sewing; everyone gets a different pattern or sets of patterns to test, along with tasty treats to eat while we work.

Thanks for letting me share the journey I have been on over the past couple of months; it is a very creative and busy time in my studio with all the changes and growth coming almost all at once. Whew!!!  I plan to keep writing my blog as I move through all of it, maybe not every other day but as often as I can. Keep checking in to see what I am working on next.

See you soon.

Laurette

I Won! I Won!

Oh my gosh I Won!!!  I can’t believe it; I won the Vintage Notions Give-away hosted by Betz White, on her blog.  The fantastic give-away prize was the book “Vintage Notions” by author Amy Barickman; I also won Amy’s new fabric line in fat quarters, produced by Red Rooster Fabrics.  Amy’s fabric is called the Dressmaking Collection, right up my alley since I began my sewing career as a dressmaker, I am one lucky gal.  Amy is also the driving force behind the company, Indygo Junction.  If you quilt or sew you have probably seen all those fantastic patterns or have even sewn with them, I have several myself.  If you go to Betz’s blog page you can view a really great video about Amy, she is so inspiring.  I can’t wait to read the book from cover to cover and create a project or two from the new fabrics.  I plan to share it all with you in my future posts as soon as my prizes arrive.  I am so excited!

If you are not familiar with Betz White, her blog, website or products; she is a fantastic author, designer, and green crafter.  I love her book, Warm Fuzzies, which I really enjoy making projects from, several in fact.  I also have some of her wonderful patterns that I have used over and over when making gifts for my family and friends.  If you get a chance go to her website at betzwhite.com  you can also link to her website from my Follow These Sites list, on the right side of my blog page.  I read her blog faithfully, boy I am glad I do, I am such a fan.  Thank you so much, Betz, for putting on the Vintage Notions Give-away.

Thanks for letting me share my great news and all the creative, colorful ventures from my studio with you.  See you soon, Laurette

If you enjoyed reading this post you might also like:

Craft Lady 

Holiday Beginnings

(All about other talented, creative women)

Super Studio

Things are very busy in my studio these days with multiple projects going on at the same time.  Some days it is really difficult to keep up with everything going on, including my blog posts.  I have so many things I want to share with you, especially some of the things being made in the studio for the holidays and all the special gifts for my granddaughters, family and friends. The projects are piling up fast and so is all the fabric and notions, a gal could get lost for days in there.  My quiet work space is starting to rival Santa’s workshop and has become a super studio.

I know I promised more bling projects and I have several in the works, but I had to put them aside to work on multiple birthday gifts for my oldest granddaughter’s 5^Th birthday, which happens in just a couple of weeks. I have been working on a pretty blue fairy wall hanging which I blinged out (don’t know if is a real word but it is in my studio) and a very cute purple coat to help keep her warm all winter.  Not to mention cutting out dozens of Christmas stockings, which I am making to donate to charity.  You will see that project in a future post.  For now, I thought I would share a photo or two of the fairy wall hanging and the coat in progress, just so you know what I have been up to and why my new posting was so late.

My granddaughter loves blue and has a thing for flower fairies.  She is just like her Grammie; bling is her thing, so we add it to all her wall hangings.

I added lots of rhinestones and some butterflies to give dimension and sparkle. She is going to love this hanging over her bed.

This was the pre-cutting stage of her coat; I used deep purple fleece and a really cute pattern from McCall’s.

Honey is inspecting my pattern layout; she always inspects all my projects even if they don’t need it, wouldn’t want to get into trouble with the pattern police.  Good job Honey, keep up the good work.

These are the pockets with the flowers and buttons I chose to brighten up the dark purple.  We are going to have a tough time getting her to take it off at bedtime. I have almost completed her coat, I should be done in a day or so as planned, just in time for the cold, wet weather.

I really wanted to give you a sneak peak at the Christmas stockings I am making but realized at the last moment I haven’t downloaded those photos yet, darn it.  I guess you will just have to wait to see the full posting of the stockings and the elegant bling projects I am working on.  Thanks for letting me share my current studio projects with you.  See you soon.

If you like bling, you might want to look at past posts; see the list on the right hand side of the blog under the month of October.

Black and White Bling

Pumpkin Bling

Where to buy:

Blue Fairy Wall Hanging

www.homespunharbor.com

Crystals and butterflies

Michael's

Homespun Harbor a Fabric Heaven

Finally, a peak into my very favorite quilt shop, Homespun Harbor, a beautiful, colorful feast for the eyes with hundreds and hundreds of bolts of stunning fabrics.  There is so much to see and absorb it takes hours to really take it all in, unless you are a regular customer like I am.  I am very blessed to have this fantastic quilt shop right here in my own hometown, I can go shopping for new fabrics or just get inspiration for my projects anytime I want.  Instead of going on and on about it, I think I will let the pictures entice and inspire you instead of writing a long post praising all its wonders, you can see for yourself why I love it so much.

As you enter the shop you are greeted with a smile and a warm hello.  The shop is owned by husband and wife team, Dennis & Ghleanna.  Shown in the photo are Dennis and his little helper, his granddaughter.

On the right side of the doorway as you enter the store, you will see a bright, cheery selection of fabrics appropriate for making all the cute little quilts and projects you can think of for children.  This is only a very small view of the great selection, it would not all fit in the photo, you will have to go in to see it for yourself.

Just past that area are the reds, pinks and black and whites section.  Hanging above the red fabrics are some very cute projects you can make by taking a class or purchasing a pattern.

Speaking of patterns and books, there is a great selection of those to choose from.

The notions wall is really fantastic and has a pretty good variety of items any quilter or seamstress might need.  The town is a good 25 miles from any of the big box fabric stores, to far too just run down to the store for a forgotten item.  The notions wall is a huge lifesaver when you are trying to finish a project and run out of thread or need a new rotary cutting blade, happens to me all the time, thank goodness for those notions.

A peak down the long isles.

Lots of yummy fabrics all sorted into sections by color and fabric styles.

Elegant quilts and holiday fabrics for all those parties and decorating.

Last but not least, for all you quilters, the fat quarter wall.  So far it is one of the largest selections of fat quarters in a variety of colors and fabrics, I have had the pleasure to see, and with really great prices too!  It takes me forever to go through them each time I go into the store; it is always changing, what fun.

If you live in or around Hollister, CA you just have to take the time to go in and look around, be sure you allow enough time to get through the whole store, there is so much more to see.  If you don’t live in California you can go to their great website to check out their on-line store.  They also put out a wonderful newsletter and their class schedules with pictures of class projects, www.homespunharbor.com .

You will see many, many projects on my blog featuring their wonderful fabrics in future posts.  Thanks for taking a little tour of my favorite quilt shop; I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did.  Look for that bit of bling I keep promising you.  See you soon.

How to find them:

Homespun Harbor A Quilt Shop

341 Tres Pinos Rd. Ste. 101

Hollister, CA  95023

831-630-9438

www.homespunharbor.com

Closed Sunday and Monday