Time for a New Purse!

 Now that I’m finished making purses, I have time to make myself a new purse.  My favorite purse pattern for me is Hey, Mercedes - a Sara Lawson pattern from her book  Windy City Bags.  I’ve made this ourse several times, usually for myself.  The style suits me - liter slip pocket perfect for keys and phone, 2 zippered pockets, a roomy interior, and a magnetic snap.  

I’m pretty happy.  Now I just need to go somewhere! 😁

First Work, Then Play

 I know what you’re thinking: all of what I do in the studio is play.  Okay, true!  So even though I loved making these 12 purses for August, it was play,  not work.  September I am committing to 24 purses instead of 12.  And these 24 will all be for the September Sew Powerful Purse-a-Thon.  Since I technically can’t start on these 24 until September, that means some real play time in the studio

I thought I would start a new big bag but then came to my senses.  One of my favorite bag designers Sara Lawson of Sew Sweetness has a pretty sweet web site that includes some free patterns. The Persimmon Dumpling Pouch is one of these freebies and comes in three sizes.  So I began to experiment.  It’s a clever pattern that goes together nicely.  I’m eager for my walking partner to test drive these pouches made from Cecilia’s drapes!  And I also made myself a new Run-Around bag, perfect for phones and keys.

                      My grunge project is coming along.  Here’s a process photo.

The rest of my play will include a studio clean up and organization and getting ready for the purse-a-thon.  Sewists like me are brilliant at making purses.  And Sew Powerful is expanding its efforts to include Livingston as well as Lusaka, Zambia’s capital city.   The first year I made purses there were 2000.  Now?  This year's goal is over 30,000 purses.  But here’s the issue: it costs $10 to  equipment each purse with underwear, soap, and reusable pads. So, this Purse-a-thon is a fundraiser!  

I have a hard time with fundraisers.  My friends and family are very generous and support so many great causes that I don’t like to ask for support for what I do.  But it’s necessary because the need is so great. This is my first year participating, and already, thanks to my husband and my sister, I have achieved my goal of $500.  I’m a lucky girl surrounded by lovely people. 

A Supply of Soft and Stable

Soft and Stable is a foam underlining of a purse or bag that needs structure.  It's what makes a bag able to stand on its own.  I have bought bolts of this stuff when I was deep into bag making.  I kind of tapered off.  But now?  I've been bag making non stop.  For whom you may ask.  And I may answer I don't know.  All I know is that I have to keep making. The two bags above are Noodlehead's Super Tote.  It's a great pattern and may be made with a recessed top zipper.  One side of the bag has a huge pocket. The picture below shows a pleat in the side of the bag.  This is a great pattern.  And having a supply of Soft and Stable is a lot like having an open bag of M and M's:  they cannot be ignored or forgotten!

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My other favorite tote bag pattern is also by Noodlehead - the Fika Tote.  The Fika is a bit bigger than the Super Tote.  One side of the bag has those wonderful pockets. The other side has a recessed zip pocket, the kind you can put a file folder in.  And of course there are interior zip pockets.  Both of these bags go together so nicely and require lots of interacting and Soft and Stable.

But every so often I venture into something new like this backpack below.  It's the Chickadee from Sara Lawson Sew Sweetness.  This pattern uses metal frames so that the bag opens wide and can also zip shut.  It has two side pockets and interior zip pockets.  

There is a pretty nifty front pocket which zips open to reveal yet more pockets and a zippered net pocket.  

While Ive been playing with all things Soft and Stable in the studio, evenings I've been hand quilting this piece which has some glorious hand-dyed Cherrywood fabric. This is a very gentle quilt and has a wonderful feel.

This past weekend I joined about 40 of my guild mates at a local three-day retreat.  Its hard to describe what a nice group we had and how much fun it was to work together.  Seeing what and how others create is always just the best.  And we have several new young members!  I used my time to learn how to make pillowcases, work on enlarging a quilt for my sister, developing relationships, and starting this quilt above.  So far I have 20 blocks and will make another 20ish more.  Each block is 12 x 12.  This pattern is Jelly Roll Sizzle, a free download from the Fate Quarter Shop.  

My studio overflows with projects - the nearly finished, the in-progress ones, and the ones I want to start.  Good times! And I love my Chicago Modern Quilt Guild!

A New Bag...Just Because

When I have so many lovely bags,

why would I need another? 

one that has an interior flap pocket AND a zippered pocket

with a nice sturdy false bottom? And the answer?  Just because...

As I was making the Petrillo Bag above, guildster Sarah S gave me this piece of fabric that I've been coveting ever since we did Holly H's quilt.  Had I seen this fabric first, this might have been the above bag.  Hmm, maybe I should make another...

I have new projects to start.  But first a cleaning and organizing...

Much better