Blooming Bahamas Bag...

I made this purse using a pattern from Abbey Lane Quilts new book "Blooming Possibilities". I used some of the hand printed fabric we bought while in Nassau on the quilting cruise last January. The fabric is pleated and I used fusible fleece to back it. Then the pleats are held in place by the stitched-on pink band. The loose pleats at the top are ruffled out to dress it up a bit. I adjusted the pattern size slightly to fit the fat quarter of brown print. The bag is lightweight yet roomy, and the hand strap makes it comfortable to carry securely.

And the cute flower accent! So much fun to make, and the book shows how to make several sizes and styles of flowers. There are 12 project patterns in all. I've already made two of the flowers, and plan to make lots more. And I want to make at least one pair of The Ladies Flip Flops, too. Lots of appealing projects in this book!

While My Machine Was Away...

There was a limit on play! What to do?? Last week it was time to part with my main sewing machine for it's annual cleaning and service. I still have the back-up Bernina 1080, which is a real workhorse, in case I felt the need to sew something. Which of course I did.



But I also used some of the usual sewing time to impose some order on the chaos of the sewing room. It really felt good to lighten the load, and I was able to gather a good-size bag of fabrics to share on the freebie table at our quilt guild meeting. Looks better in there. Breathing room. By the way, this is the new-and-improved "after" picture, just in case you couldn't tell.



I also sorted, culled, and organized scraps. That's when I found enough of the two orange prints to use in the little zip bag shown above. The pattern was a freebie on Skip to My Lou. The fluffy little flower accent is from the Abbey Lane book titled "Blooming Possiblities." There are some fun patterns in there, too. I'm working on another project from that book now. But this purse is called The Pleated Pouch. There are color photos and step-by-step directions for sewing it, and it takes so little time. Cute! You might need to make one... or more.