Finally stitching

It's been six weeks since I've sewn a stitch!  Three of those weeks I was traveling.  Such a life!  I went to France for the first time and had a fabulous time.

Now, it's back to reality.  Before I left I wanted to make a new dog walking bag.  The old one was getting raggedy, it's five years old.  This went together in about an hour, and I think it'll last for another five or six years!

There's plenty of room inside for plastic bags, my phone, and keys.

The cross-body strap leaves my hands free to managed the dogs.  I'm still not good at selfies!

Here's the original and the post:

May your bobbins always be full,

Answering the questions.

I haven't been doing any sewing for the last week and a half, instead I've been busy with life.  Over at Sew Mama Sew they're asking sewist some questions, it's a contest.  I'm not in the contest, but I thought I'd answer the questions on my blog.  These are the questions, so far.

How Did You Learn to Sew?

I taught myself to sew when I was 8 years old, in 1952.  Our family of four lived in a small house, two bedrooms, one bath, living room and kitchen, 782 square feet, in Long Beach, CA.  The sewing machine was in my parents bedroom, it was a converted Singer treadle machine that my Dad bought for my Mom, during WWII.  One day, I went into their bedroom and dug thru my Mom's stash of fabric and decided to make myself a pair of PJ's.  I had no pattern, I just cut, guessed, stitched and made my pajamas.  It's an understatement to say I was proud, also, my Mom was not proud, she was livid.

Why Do You Sew?

When I was a teen, I sewed my clothing so that I could have a nice wardrobe.  In those days, the 50's and 60's, you could save money by making your own clothes.  Later, after my girls were teens, sewing clothing really wasn't economical, but I made all their special occasion and prom dresses so that they could be stylish and unique.  They didn't want to look like all the other girls.  I also did a lot of home decor sewing in our first house, also in Long Beach, that we lived in for 30 years.

Now, I do very little personal sewing, I can buy what I want for less that it would cost to sew, instead I make quilts.  It's very satisfying and I get a tremendous creative outlet.  I give most of my quilts away, but I make a lot, so some go in my etsy shop.  I've actually sold a few.

Tell Us About Your Sewing Space…

Even though my retirement home is more than twice as large as the home I grew up in, I don't have a dedicated sewing space.  I could, but I'd lose my guest bedroom and I like having a guest room, just in case.  When we moved to this house in 1998 we dedicated one room as "the office".  It contained our secretary desk, and a small drafting table for Bob's artwork, some bookshelves, and a computer desk.  It worked out really well for over 11 years.  Then I decided to quilt.  Previously, any sewing I'd done I set up my portable sewing machine on the dining room table.  That worked for awhile when I started quilting, but not for long.  The bookshelves became fabric shelves,  The drafting table was replaced by an Ikea table for my sewing machine.  (Bob was no longer painting.)  I still use the dining room table for my cutting mat and design space.  I'd give anything for a design wall, but I don't think that's happening anytime soon.

While sitting at the computer desk, I swiveled around and shot the above photo.  Very messy, no tidying up.  The photo on the wall shows Babe Ruth and Ted Williams duck hunting in Los Alamitos.

What’s the best thing you’ve ever sewn?

I think the best thing I 've ever sewn is my wedding gown.  I still lived in that small house in Long Beach, but I had my own sewing machine, and I used the kitchen table to sew on.  I had to "fold up my sewing tent", for every meal.  Nothing could be left out while the kitchen was in use for normal kitchen activities.  It was a challenge.  Here's my gown.  I still have it, but I'm no longer a size 6.  I saved it for my girls, but they each wanted to buy their wedding gowns.  Perhaps they were tired of homemade.

The photo doesn't show the tiny covered buttons along the sleeves and down the back, it seemed there were a zillion of them, there is also a lace train.  I made my veil, too.

This is Dad, me, Bob, Mom and my sister.

My great Dad always supported me in everything I wanted to do.

May your bobbins always be full,

open wide zippered pouch

I've been a slacker about sewing.  Other things have been taking my time, you know how it is.  I've been wanting to try Ana's (aka Noodlehead) open wide zippered pouch: DIY tutorial.  First I need to get some zippers.  I haven't sewn with zippers in over 25 years, so there were none laying around.  I priced at JoAnn's and decide to order at zip-it, an etsy store.  Better selection and prices, even with shipping.

Here's my pouch:

I lined it with fuchsia, for some "pop".  It didn't turn out perfect, but I very happy with it.

May your bobbins always be full,

I couldn't agree more

source

I shamelessly copied and pasted these two quotes, because I couldn't have said it better.

We sew our hopes and wishes into the very fiber of their world. Wishes for the magic of childhood to last, for the bloom of adulthood to be strong and beautiful. In a world we can’t control we form fabric, bake, garden, paint because theses are things we CAN do. Working in needle and thread we craft our deepest desires. {from here}

This is indeed why I sew!
But also because the process of finding the 'right' fabric and to be (hopefully) even more positively surprised when all blocks are sewn together and sum up to even more.
I also create just for my sake.  {from here}

source

90% of my sewing is done with no recipient, or no project, in mind.  I love getting an idea, finding just the right fabrics, most of which are in my stash, and cutting and sewing to make it happen.  I've always loved to be creative, and fabric is my current medium.  At the rate I'm going, it may be my last medium.  It may take me 20 years to use all my fabric!

May your bobbins always be full,

Dog walking bag

Yesterday, between regular life and visits to the hospital, I took time to make this across the chest bag.  One of Bob's joys has been walking the dogs, I've had to take over that responsibility.  Since I think my dog walking may go on for a long time I made this bag to carry the doggy pick-up bags.

I got tired of stuffing them in my pockets, then forgetting to take them out.  I'll take a pair of pants out of the closet, and in the pockets are plastic bags.  I think this will fix that problem.  When not slung across my chest, it hangs in the garage with the rest of the doggy paraphernalia.

Today is the 8th day Bob is in the hospital.  I hope he's home soon.

May your bobbins always be full,

Gifties

I'm going to devote the next couple of days to "not-quilting".  I have a couple of quilts planned, in my head, and am putting them off until I made some gifts.

Today I made these fabric baskets.  I modified a tutorial I found at Ayumi's Pink Penguin.  Kate Spain had sent me a petite four of Central Park, some time ago, and I wanted to use it.

I pulled some coordinating fabric from my stash,  and sewed away.  I'm really happy with the results.  "Front" in top photo, "Back" in lower photo.

May your bobbins always be full,

Tooth Fairy Pillow

I teach Tai Chi on Tuesday and Thursday in the late afternoon, and Bob and I play either cards or dominoes Tuesday and Thursday evening.  It's become our habit to grab a quick bite to eat, after class.  I like this habit, I don't have to rush home a put dinner together, and clean up, before hosting at our home, or rushing off to friends homes, to start playing games at 6:30.

One of the nearby places we go is a local gourmet fast-food restaurant, Tom's Mega Burger.  For years, we've gone there a couple times a month, and we know and chat with the friendly staff.  One of the staff members is a single mother and she told us Tuesday night that her daughter, age 5 1/2 has lost her first tooth; plus she has another one loose.
  

I went through my scraps this morning and made a Mermaid Tooth Fairy Pillow to bring the next time we go to Tom's.  The pocket is a little large, but I wanted to show-case the mermaids on it, perhaps the Tooth Fairy  will fill it up.

If you need a chuckle today, watch my favorite Tooth Fairy video.

May your bobbins always be full,

Three quilts

A stack of yummy quilts that I finished this weekend.  I'm very happy with them, I'm keeping one for myself and the others will be gifts.

Keep on stitchin',

I've been busy

I love these scarves, I made from Little Folks voile.

It's such scrumptious fabric.

Earlier this year, I made some for Valentines gifts; these are going

to be Christmas gifts and for my shop.  They'll be added later this week.

I used scraps left over from the scarves to make this small,

21 x 21" baby quilt, no batting, but backed with fun rabbit flannel.

Keep on stitchin',

New gadget

I really think my new 1/4" pressure foot may be the best thing since sliced bread.  I don't have much trouble achieving a 1/4" seam, but anything that makes life easier is great with me.  My sewing machine is a portable that I purchased 12 years ago when we downsized.  It didn't come with much in the way of extras, and when I bought it, I had no idea that 12 years later, it'd be getting lots of use.  I saw that my friend Judy, a quilter and wonderful seamstress, had just got a 1/4" pressure foot and was very happy with it.  She inspired me go get one for myself, and I too am very happy with it.  (Sorry I didn't "dust" the new foot before it's photo session.)