Christmas Wrapping

I made some cute Christmas gift bags and wallets. Here's just a couple of them. The little wallets are made from felt. The gift bags are made from jeans. I just machine appliqued pieces from Christmas fabric onto them. My goal is to create the gift wrap as I complete each gift, so I won't be doing the last-minute, gift-wrap marathon this year.

In Between

In between the Christmas sewing, I made a mini Ploomer bag from a pair of jeans. It really turned out cute. Pockets outside, and of course inside too.

Studio Fun

As I continue the never-ending task of organizing my studio, I added something fun. Check out the framed flowers. Bright colors. Fun. Fun. Fun.

I also found a great way to organize and display my handbags. Instead of 20-someodd bags draped over Minnie Mannequin, which makes getting to the one I want a huge problem as it always seems to be the bottom one, I found these great cascades that hang atop my studio door. Easy to get to each bag, and it's quite a nice display.

Christmas is Coming

Christmas is coming. Can't believe it's already November 20. I have so much to do. But I'm happy to report that I got started today. Have made 2 gifts for MBG. Oh, how I wish I could show them off. They're so cool. But she might see them here. So, alas, I must wait until after gift exchange to share them with you. I'll be checking off my list, but must hide all until after Christmas. It's so hard not to share. (Pic is MHSNL Christmas Eve 2008)

I LOVE JUNKIN'

On my way to Edge, Texas, for Rompin' Stompin' Street Fest, I made a side trip. Since I was already headed that way and since I hadn't been there in several weeks, I decided to stop in at the Hope Village Thrift Store in Friendswood, Texas, to see if there were anymore fabrics on the long tubes. (Remember, last time I went, I bought 4 fabrics of varying yardage for $1 each.) So, I had to -- just had to -- check it out again. And I am sooooooo glad I did.

Yes, they had a few fabric pieces on the tube, but better than that -- sooooooo much better than that -- they had a big, huge tub filled with fabrics, valances, pillow cases and the like. No price was posted, but I figured, "Hey, if they're a buck a piece, it's a bargain," as the smallest piece of fabric that I picked out was a yard, and most were home dec fabrics. They were ......... drum roll .......... 25 cents each. Did you hear that? They were ........ drum roll ........ 25 CENTS EACH.

At hearing this, at the register, I did a little happy dance. I soooooo love bargains. Yippee! Wahoo! Jump up and down, happy happy dance. You know, I don't even care that people were staring and wonderng, "What in the world?" I am easily amused. And I revel at the small, fun, wonderful things in life, like a flower blooming on my hibiscus or the wonderful sunshine or the smile of a stranger or a friend, and yes, of a fantabulous, super-dooper buy!

Edge, Texas

I just got back from Edge, Texas. Left Friday morning to visit my friend Julie, who was scheduled to perform at the Rompin' Stompin' Street Fest, which was organized (it's 3rd year) to raise money for the Edge Community Center. The Fest took place at the Edge General Store, a landmark of Edge. You can learn more about the Store at http://www.edgegeneralstore.com/. There were a lot of C&W performers (the legendary Claude Gray, Robyn Mundy, Jade Kelly, Brazos Heartland, Jerry Duke, Stetson Trio, Sweet Harmony, Jo Ann Johnson, Rimshot and Julie), bar-b-que, sand painting, face painting, and more; and it was fabulously well-attended. And, of course, the most important and my favorite part of the Fest was that my friend Julie Weir, singer-songwriter, performed.

IQF-4

I wanted to give a shout-out to the girls from Go! Sticky. These two are super saleswomen. Fun. Informative. And not at all pushy. But they had a great spiel, which was easy as their product works great. I used it on my cutting mat to pick up lame shavings. What a mess it would have been without my Go Sticky roller. It did a great job. Of course, since they ran a IQF special, I also have the purse size and full size with extension pole. I've not used them yet, but know they'll work just as great as the hand-held size. Very cool! It's a sticky roller thingy that you can rinse off and reuse. No sticky paper to peel off and run out of. So it's a "green" product, too. It's from Easy Living Products, Anaheim CA (per the box) or Pine Mountain GA (per the receipt). Couldn't find a web site for it though. I guess they just make the quilt festivals and home show circuit. Anyway, I love their product. Hi, Girls!

ToteATee -- Fun & Easy

Latest experiment -- remember I design as I go -- turned out great. I wanted to make a bag that would have teen appeal, so I turned to tee shirts. This project was particularly hard for me, a perfectionist, because it entailed raw edges and nonprecise sewing. But it was so easy and fast and FUN! I've named it ToteATee. Cute, huh! I feel a tutorial coming on. Here's my first two bags. The first bag was made from a tee that had screen printing on the front and back, thus the two pics (drum and eye). The second bag (Love Thy Neighbor) has pockets inside. I took both bags to church to get a teen opinion, and I'm happy to say she thought they were sooooooo cute. Appears I'm on the right track.

Another Festival with Crafts

Last weekend I happened upon another festival. Well, actually it was at the same location in League City as the last one I told you about. It's right across the street from St Christopher Thrift Shop, where I volunteer. Anyway . . . there was another festival, so I stopped in. This time I had my camera with me. It was put on by Bay Area Community Church. There was face painting, a cake walk and other games, and there was even a band performing. I got a shot of them between numbers. There were several booths with assorted crafts, jewelry, and some skin care and other direct sales people.

I met Brenda Petters (yes, two 't's) of Brenda's Bling, who makes jewelry and other items using conchos. They really caught my eye -- quite clever and very attractive. Here's a pic of her holding a beautiful cross made from horseshoes and conchos. She also makes crystal necklaces, crystal conchos, and leather crosses. You can soon see her work at http://www.baylitecandles.com/. Her tag line is "We make you and your horse sparkle."

I also met Nannette Deming of "Delightful Charms & Trinkets". She had some lovely jewelry and I enjoyed visiting with her. Her kids are working on a website for her, which I'm hoping she'll pass on to me once it's up and running so I can pass it on to you. Here's Nannette with one of her favorite necklace-earring sets.

IQF-4

It's time for more quilts. The first is entitled "Tap Dance Finale", by Martha Brown, Pickering, Ontario, Canada. Techniques: machine applique, machine quilted, thread painted, hand painted. "A province-wide exhibition whose theme was Water celebrated the conservation and value of this basic natural element. I wanted something different, so I decided to portray a water tap emitting its final drop. The spigot is one hand-painted piece of fabric, sprinkled with salt while still wet to achieve the rough texture. Metallic threads add a bit of sparkle to the surface."

Next is "Zen Eucalyptus" by Jane LaFazio, San Diego, California, USA. Techniques: wool felted, hand stitched and needle felted, dyed. "Eucalyptus pods and leaves fractured, with whole zen circles. Cut into bits, chunks, squares and reassembled with 412 edges. A zen meditation and tribute to the taupe, celedon and plum eucalyptus."

More Beautiful Jewelry

Just got an Email from my friend Valerie, with pics of her latest creation -- bracelet and earrings set. It's stunning. Absolutely beautiful. You can get more info on this set or, as I said before, she can design jewelry for you -- you know, in the colors you desire. Email Valerie at vcorbeille@gmail.com.

Beautiful Jewelry

I want to show you some beautiful jewelry that my friend, Valerie, is making. Valerie has been making jewelry for some years now. It's been fun to watch her work progress from the basics to intricate, fabulous designs. I'm including a pic that she just e'd to me of what she's working on now. These are in Christmas colors. She also does special orders. If you're interested (and you should be), you can "E" her at vcorbeille@gmail.com.

IQF-3

The quilt depicting the fish is entitled "Full Circle" by Kathryn Botsford, Campbell River, British Columbia Canada. Techniques: painted, thread painted, hand applique, and machine embellished, machine quilted. (I also took a close-up to show you some of the detail work involved. Stunning.) Design Source: original design. "Living on Vancouver Island, surrounded by water alive with Pacific salmon, is a continued reminder of transformation. West Coast salmon begin their lives as tiny yellow-orange eggs buried in the gravel of river beds. In their redd they continue to grow and to change into alveins with large large yellow-orange abdomens. As they further develop, they travel down the river and eventually become the adult salmon. They travel over incredible distances in the Pacific Ocean, and in time they return to their place of birth where they spawn and die."

The second quilt shown today is entitled "Dahlia Reflections #2" by Barbara Barrick McKie of Lyme, Connecticut, USA. Techniques: machine appliqued and quilted. "My garden this year as last was full of dahlias. This is the fifth in a series combining reflections of flowers in glass with the same flowers realistically portrayed. This dahlia was a fantastic bloomer with over 10 inch flowers."

(I also included a close-up of this quilt so you can appreciate the detailed work.)

The last quilt for today is by far the cleverest. The circles/ovals are photos of cracks in bricks, stones, etc. and they make up the alphabet. So cool!

The quilt is entitled "On Cracks: An Alphabet Quilt" by Gail Hunt, Vancouv

er, British Columbia, Canada. Techniques: original photography, image transfer, machine pieced, hand quilted. Design source: original design. "Made in response to myfab Quilt Challenge."

IQF-2

I have been busy with company. Our son was in from Florida. What a nice visit we had. Also, we ate very well: seafood at Babins's on the Kemah Board Walk on Sunday night and great sandwiches in Galveston on Monday at the Sunflower Bakery. We also walked a bit on the seawall and drove around the island (Monday). Plus we got lots of visiting/catching up done.

I've also been busy REorganizing my studio. Thanks to The Fabric Organizer by DeNiece Designs (see photo at left) for getting me started. This is a great product. I bought 20 of the large and 10 of the small Fabric Organizers, and I must have more, more, more. I can see the fabrics clearly and they are easily accesible. I love that! And to make this product even better, it's made and sold locally by a young lady in Spring, Texas. I'll be calling her soon to order more. I'm rearranging everything so I can put a majority of my fabrics on these little jewels. Check them out at http://www.thefabricorganizer.com/. Here's what I have to show you so far (see photo at right) of my REorganizing.


I also want to share just a couple of quilts that I snapped at IQF. There were so many gorgeous quilts, and I took so many pictures. I'll just have to share a few at a time.





This quilt is entitled "Abandoned" by Lynne Morin of Kanata, Ontario, Canada. Techniques: painted, machine applique, machine quilted. Design Source: a photo. "A photo of an orphan in Africa inspired me to think of so many 'abandoned'."








The next quilt is entitled "Moving Forward", also by Lynne Morin of Kanata, Ontario, Canada. Techniques: painted, machine applique, machine quilted. Design Source: Based on a photograph. "This was inspired by my niece who is looking back in the photo, and also looking back on her life so far. She is moving forward by making changes in her life."

IQF-1

I started my IQF trek in the vendor area. This happened by chance. It's the door I entered, right there at the vendor area. So, it must have been where I was supposed to start. Right? And who doesn't love to shop! My prey -- gadgets. I love gadgets. Gadgets, that is, that make sewing tasks and techniques faster and easier.

My first stop was at #2018, The Wave Edge, where I watched Lily Marie Amaru demonstrate the Wave and Circle products she designed. She wrote a 65-page book, "Let's Make Waves", showing step-by-step how to use The Wave Edge Ruler. She first demonstrated The Simple Circles tool, and how to sew the circle. You can see both of Lily's unique gadgets, and her patterns at http://www.thewaveedgeruler.com/. But to purchase, look for her tools and patterns at your local quilt store. Lily is my kind of lady, as she suggested we buy her items at our quilt stores, to both support local businesses and to save us the expense of the shipping fees. Thanks Lily.

The last photo is a shot of a photo Lily had at her booth of her in all her splendor, boa and all, working hard. I think it's her favorite shot, as she wanted to make sure I shared it. It's pretty funny. Be sure and check out her website (link above). This is really a talented and fun lady.

International Quilt Festival (IQF) 2009

I spent Friday at the Houston International Quilt Festival (its 35th year) at the George R Brown Convention Center. I had not been in a number of years; so, it was time to go again. I believe it will now be an annual trip for me. All I can say is WOW!

Nah. I can say much more. I have lots to tell and show you.

I arrived around 11:00 a.m. and left when it closed at 7:00 p.m. So, I literally walked for 8 hours. I sat down maybe three times. I imagine I walked about 8 miles at least, up and down vendor aisles, and up and down and across while looking at all the quilts, and up and down vendor aisles again. The quilts were amazing. I took over 200 photos.

I'll be sharing a little at a time about my IQF experience. There is sooooooooo much to share! The photo shown in this post is a photo of the cover of the Houston IQF 2009 commemorative program. The quilt shown is "Star of Stars" c. 1845, from the International Quilt Festival Collection.

BEST LAID PLANS

I left the house today to attend a local church festival, thinking there would be arts and crafts booths, and thus local artisans to visit with. Even remembered my camera this time. Alas. It was a food and games festival, fun and well-attended. There were a few arts and crafts in one little booth, but no artists to visit with. So, I took off for The Hope Village Resale Shop in Friendswood to see what I could find. They have lots of clothes, plus household goods and furniture. Many, many interesting things. My fabulous find: Home Dec fabric, remnants on the long tube rolls. When I say "fabulous find," I am not exaggerating. The price was $1.00 per roll. Each had varying amounts of fabric, but frankly, anything over a yard is a great buy for $1.00. Needless to say I was thrilled. Bought 4 rolls. Wahoo!

I'm Found

Had a very interesting email today from the folks at http://makingjewelrysupplies.com. They indicated they'd found my blog and featured it on their web page. I checked it out, and I'm the featured blog (today, at least). I thought that was very nice, so I'm telling you about them to return the favor. Ahhhhh. Our world just gets smaller and smaller. Nice.

Oak Tree Festival

After working (volunteer) at the Thrift Shop on Saturday, I went across the street to the 15th Annual Oak Tree Festival on Main Street in League City. There were several vendors, and I visited with a few of the artisans. Darn it, though, I didn't have my camera with me. But I did get business cards, and permission to share their e-addresses.

I met Allie Demers. She makes baby slings, girls hair bows, aprons (in adult and children's sizes) and some other fun things. Allie has a web shop at http://www.alliedemersdesigns.com/. She had already sold out of her aprons, so I didn't get to see them first hand, but from the pics on her web shop, they are very nice, indeed.

I also met Kiza Moore, who makes cute, cute things for boys, girls, babies. You can visit her shop at http://www.froglovesmonkey.etsy.com/. Her shop is empty right now, as she took all her goodies to the Oak Tree Festival, but she will re-offer them soon. Suspense!

Now I'm going to give a shout out to What Squeaky Shoes! I have to admit that at first I did not intend to share with you about this vendor's wares as they were not handmade by her or her family members. But they are quite ingenious. They squeak when the little one walks, but only if she/he walks correctly -- heel to toe. Plus you definitely know where your little one is while she/he is wearing the squeaky shoes. I suspect they could be a "get-even" gift for grammy to give to the little one, which might not be so appreciated by the little one's mom. But the squeakers can be disabled, so sanity might prevail after all. You can find them at http://www.whatsqueakyshoes.com/.

VEST TOTE 3

I found the cutest vest at our church Thrift Store. St. Christopher Thrift Shop on Galveston Street in League City, Texas. When I saw it, I immediately thought about our Ally Hardick, who organized and runs our church community garden. I talked about her in a previous post. She's an awesome young woman. Anyway . . . when I saw the vest I thought of her, as the vest is a "harvest" vest, which had already been embellished with buttons and threads and the like. So, I made a vest tote from it. And this was before I spent some time visiting with Ally at the craft fair last week, and before she shared that she was looking for a bag for her garden stuff. I'm hoping she enjoys it. I figure that even if it's not the right size or if it's just not her style of tote (we all have our own style, you see), that she can use it as a prop in promos she does for the garden. Just a cutsy, fun little vest tote.

CHURCH CRAFT FAIR #2

Following up on the church Craft Fair, I wanted to show you one of my purchases -- well, there's actually two items that I purchased from Faithful Designs by Susan Hearn at beliefnrec@yahoo.com. Wonderful coasters with faith-based stamps. I love them. Here's the pics.

CHURCH CRAFT FAIR #1

Wow. July 12th was my last post. Things are getting back to normal -- whatever that is. I'm working at the Thrift Shop that the Women at my church own/run, and that has kept me pretty busy. My husband is recovering nicely from a terrible illness and surgery, and my mom is feeling better. Whew. Deep breath. I finally returned to sewing, new posts of YAYAMADE coming soon with new creations.

I met some new artists this weekend at our Church BarBQ. We had a craft fair for the first time. It was small, but some wonderful artists were there. I want to put in a plug for a couple of them -- well, more than a couple.

There's Sand Dragon Creations by Carol Jenkins of Galveston, TX. She has wonderful aprons and doggie scarves. And what a variety of fabrics she sported this weekend! You can see Carol's designs at http://www.sanddragonh2o.etsy.com/. Even if you don't cook or have a pet, these would make great gifts this Christmas.

I'd also like to put in a plug for our own Ally Hardick. Ally is a little ball of fire. She works tirelessly on our church's community garden, which produces organic vegetables that are donated to Interfaith Caring Ministries' food bank in the Clear Lake/League City/Bay Area, Texas. She is also responsible for putting together "The Hope Cook Book for St. Vincent's House", a wonderful cook book that sells for a mere $20, and all proceeds go to St. Vincent's House in Galveston. What I didn't know about Ally, and learned this weekend, is that she is a gifted artist. She has an etsy shop where you can see her wares. My favorites are the face charms she makes. So creative! She's at http://www.gigifoofoo.etsy.com/.

I've got more to tell you -- more artists to share with you. But I'll have to do that later. MHGS is here and we're going to go do something fun.

Storage Shoe-In

What do you do when you have an empty outside corner that's wasted space in your closet and need more storage? You wrap it in shoe pockets.

Make a Fast & East Tote from a Vest

Select a standard vest. Mine was lined. So, my bag will be lined.

Take the vest apart at the shoulder seams and side seams.

Remove buttons. Place a piece of cloth behind the buttonhole, and zig zag over buttonholes to close them. Trim away the excess from the piece of cloth that was placed behind the button hole.

Pin the vest fronts together, right sides together.
Sew together at the shoulder and side. Turn right side out and top stitch over the shoulder seam and side seam that you just sewed. You’ve just created a French seam of sorts.

With wrong sides together, top stitch the front and bottom of the vest together.

Sew buttons back on. Voila! You have a vest tote.