Bag Lady

Yesterday, I felt like doing a small achievable project, and so I made this tote bag...

...using the bottom two of these fabrics, which my lovely mum bought me as a gift and managed to squeeze into her suitcase...

 

and this pattern...

The fabric was a furnishing  fabric and together with the interfacing, it was a little tough going when seams crossed but we got there.  I made Tote A, as I liked the way the straps came down to the base of the bag.  It has an outer pocket on the front and an inside pocket. With a cardboard base under the lining, it is freestanding and very roomy.  Now that I have used the pattern once, it should be much quicker next time but it`s nice to do a small project, which is quick and produces something practical.

Today I`m linking up with Stitched in Color`s Celebrate Color event and Fabric Tuesday - hop over there and see what clever creative people have been up to.

Reports of Sewing in Marrakech

I know.  It`s incredible.  I sewed today...and sewed some more and have made some progress in my Across the Sea QAL quilt top.

My blocks so far...looking very rough and ready...threads need to be cut and they also need to be squared up.  I am not looking forward to that part. I don`t have a square ruler yet so I`ll be getting the masking tape out again.  It`s already on the sewing machine so that I can do a scant quarter inch seam.  Yes, I know.  I need a new machine and when I`m next in England I`m going to buy one! Any recommendations for a mid-range machine gratefully received.

Had I been doing the baby quilt I would almost have caught up...but I`m not.  I`m doing the lap quilt so that`s another eight blocks then. As I`m a bit of a slow coach, that`s about another 3 hours.  Then I have to square up the blocks, arrange them in a lovely way, sew them together and then make the scrappy border, the white outer border, sew them to the quilt top and I`ll have caught up.  Phew. It`s been like a day at the office but a good day.  Of course, thinking aloud, I could just do the baby quilt...no...piecing is probably my favourite step in the whole process. I like piecing.

Linking up with Fabric Tuesday.

Warding Away Evil Spirits in Parisville

So we arrived back home yesterday after our lovely week away...and I was reunited with my fabric choices for the Across the Sea QAL.  Time to make some inroads into my `ambitious` To Do List. It is ambitious but I`m seeing it as more a list of future projects, which will probably take several months to complete.

I had intended to use this pretty fabric for the QAL - Kumari Garden.  It`s bright and fresh and its Indian design and colours would fit in well here in Morocco. However, from across the other side of the room where my humble fabric stash resides, my Parisville FQ bundle was winking at me.  So I walked over and took a closer look. Parisville is warm and has autumnal reds and golds as well as greens and purples and blues and perhaps it was hearing about the changing seasons or I was flattered by the wink but they were appealing to me...and Parisville it is.

Parisville by Tula Pink

The eye design in several pieces of the fabric and at the bottom right reminds me, when turned round, of the eye you see here in Morocco believed by some to ward away evil spirits. The eye is usually contained with a hand with the fingers pointing downward. I hope I don't have anything to worry about on that score!  So now to get cutting...

Linking up with Fabric Tuesday.