Purse mania continues!

You may have noticed I am excited about frame purses and am working my way through the patterns and purse frames available at u-handbag!  I am so impressed with Lisa Lam - her turn around is great usually the following day or the next and I am loving the things she has on offer!

Well I am teaching myself as much as I can in preparation for making my partner's purse in our little In the Frame Purse Swap!

I am loving the challenge so much and the results apart from a bit of a hiccough with the baguette bag - but all sorted now!


I love Lisa Lam's patterns as they are really quite easy to follow though I would have liked letters/numbers/symbols to match the markers on different pattern pieces then I would not have managed to go wrong - guess Lisa didn't reckon with someone as daft as me!  Haha!


Anyway two more patterns and frames successfully tried out and I am pleased with the results!


I made the Mother and Daughter purse from a kit I bought on U-Handbag - the fabric was Lisa's choice - Happy Mochi Yum Yum by Monica Solorio-Snow (or the Happy Zombie) and polka dots!  Can't go wrong with those!

And now the Fortune Cookie Clutch PDF Pattern (instantly downloadable - so no hanging around if you have all the ingredients) - I took the pattern and frame from U-Handbag and went my own way with it!  Heavily influenced by this book

If you haven't come across steampunk, think Victorian futurism and Jules Verne with a bit of Terry Gilliam whimsy and you won't be far wrong!


Anyway I thought I'd try a bit of machine Free Motion stitching so I picked some motifs from the book and doodled with Aurifil 50 weight in the needle!  This gave a finer doodle and the chance to create more detail which I needed in translating these motifs to thread and fabric: a key, an escutcheon, a cogwheel and a bit of lace with some lettering thrown in for good measure!


I teamed some blue linen with a recent purchase of Lakehouse Dry Goods from Mandy at simplysolids!  Yum this fabric fits the steam punk theme so well - Victoriana lettering!  And inside a flash of gorgeous Liberty fabric which I found at FQ Retreat - feathers - another match for the steampunk look!  Never would have thought of seeing Liberty and Steampunk in the same sentence before - never mind the same purse!




Well here she is:

Or here is a clearer shot!

I think I like experimenting! 


I still have more frames so more will follow...without a doubt!


I know I am advertising heavily today but I am not being sponsored by any of these people - though if you are watching ??  it would be no big deal to shout about your products!  Oh well you can but try!  Teehee!

Finish-along Seconds out - Round three! Ding Ding!

Get my boxing reference?

Anyway I think this means we are half way!


I am pleased to have finished all these quilts so far in the six months of Rhonda's Finish-Along!  Well the second ones in each row are not quite finished yet but they are now completed tops so more of them in this round!

Would you believe that quilt 1 top row is made with the same pattern as quilt 3 2nd row!?  They look so different don't they?  Both were made using Carolyn Forster's Kaleidoscope Hexagon pattern (see one of her versions here!!


This plan of Rhonda's seems to be really working for me so far.

In this quarter I am planning on finally finishing the Friendship Garden Quilt (2nd pic, 2nd row) started in 2005!  Eek!  I have a proper deadline too as it is our silver wedding day on 5th September 2012!  I have bought some backing fabric and have had the wool wadding/batting for quite a while so there is really no excuse!




I also have a commission quilt for a wedding in August, my many bee blocks and my purse swap to complete in this quarter so I am nervous of adding too many other things to my FAL list.


However I am wanting to finish Fright Nite (2nd pic, 1st row above) in time for Hallowe'en - I have a plan for the back - but need to get started on that to finish in time!  


And I would really like to complete the Granny/churndash quilt which I have started handquilting already in an overall clamshell pattern!

If I succeed in finishing these three that would leave just two projects to finish in the final quarter and any that have slipped from Q3!

The bottom two tops are two sides of the same quilt.


Don't think that the UFO thing is over for me then - those were just the projects that were furthest along.  I have to confess to another 8/9 at the block stage ...here is one...

but I may not get started on them till next year or FAL 2013?  What about it Rhonda!? 


Linking up to Rhonda's Pre-Third Quarter Linky Party - see you there!

Baguette anyone?

Yesterday I opened this kit - the Baguette Clutch Kit - which I had bought from U-handbag

I loved those shiny big knobs - who doesn't!  Mine are silver as you will see!


It was not as straight forward as I had thought - sorry didn't think of taking a photo but I managed to sew the sides in the wrong place with the consequence that I ended up with a long sausage and not much room inside my purse!   


Something was definitely wrong!

So I ripped it out of the frame - the glue hadn't quite set!  Ripped the seams open and stitched it up correctly and hey presto! 

I have now marked my pattern with letters to show which marks match with which so I am expecting an easier time when I make this again!

And fortunately it doesn't seem that much worse for wear!  What's more I rather like it!   

The pattern uses interfacing to give a smooth finish to the exterior fabric and compressed foam to help keep the rather lovely shape and give a bit more body to the purse.

It has been interesting so see how to put a different shape together - it will help me with the final pattern for my partner's purse I hope!

Still got another pattern to try out!  July could be the month of purses!  

Outing to Vintage Market...

Had a little trip out last week to visit a small vintage market  - it is to be held monthly I believe in Wisborough Green village hall....

Not only some pretty things but all beautifully set out...

Who can resist playing with a tiny teaset ?  Not my friend Eloise anway - she had fun lining these up!  Now I wish I had taken a photo of that!

The car park was full when we arrived - normally a disadvantage wouldn't you say?  But not when you get to walk past pretty houses with gorgeous gardens in the sunshine!

The garden seems to be enjoying all the rain!  And it believes that summer is here too!

Well Mary what do you think?

Catching up - my June in Fabric!

I think I was quite productive this month, with a rush of activity towards the Fat Quarterly Retreat and then a rush to finish my Finish-along projects for the quarter ending in June!

The centre photo is of my latest finish that just squeaked into June - the Fruity Polo Quilt!   Then clockwise round the edge starting top left corner:

• Detail of Fruity Polo Quilt
• Cherry purse
• Leaf purse
• My improv word blocks as Queen in Sew & Bee Happy for July
• Leaf purse - the other side
• Sew & Bee Happy block for Henny

• Blocks for Bee Blessed x2 designed by Sarah!
• Fruity Polo again x 2
• Leaf purse again!

• Stargazer block and siggy for May in Scrappy? Sew Bee it!
• Sample Swap pouch for Fat Quarterly Retreat - front & back
• First frame purse - made at FQR with Katy Jones
• Porthole bock made at FQR with Lu Summers

• Robin embroidered with Aneela Hooey at FQR
• Cherry Purse - the other side
• Scrappy? Sew Bee it block and siggy for Annika
• And last of all My Friendship Garden quilt top completed! 

FQR was the ultimate experience this month and prompted me to start up the In the Frame Purse Swap with the ultra organised Helen aka archiethewonderdog - huge big thanks to Helen who is not joining in except as a brilliant swap mama.

It is ongoing.  I am so delighted with everyone who has joined in - what a great bunch of people you are!  And what beautiful purses are being made - to see them look here!  We are finishing at the end of July!

I have been greatly assisted in focusing on my UFOs this year by the lovely Rhonda and finished my Friendship Garden Quilt top ( hoping to finish the quilt next quarter ) and my Fruity Polo quilt - I love it!  Despite a few slip ups on the back!  Hoping a wash and dry will help sort a few of those out!

Bring on July!  Not expecting as much to be achieved this month - but who knows?

I am linking up to the lovely Lynne for fresh-sewing-day-july - I think most of us do now and if you don't - why don't you!?  Have a look and you too can join in the fun!

Fruity Polo Quilt Finished

I love this quilt.


It has many of my favourite things.


It has bright colours.


It has hand pieced hexies.


It has FMQ - lots of it!

The hexagons have a variety of FMQ patterns in them, which I extended and enlarged in the border!

The whole thing....

A beauty shot....

The back of the quilt

And that rolled up shot with a pink dotty binding...

I started this quilt after a workshop with Carolyn Forster using her Kaleidoscope Hexagon pattern.  It is made from scraps, with a border in Moda Cerise, backing in Klona, and quilted using Aurifil thread.  It is 74" x 78".


I'd like to end there but the truth is there are a few problems with the back of this quilt...

Boo hoo!


This is my final project in the FAL list!  All done and on time!  Third quarter here we come!

I made this today!

I started this purse the day I showed my friend Eloise how to make a purse, which reminds me I must post a few of those photos!

I made a porthole panel in the shape of a leaf with my peephole fabric strip pieced, chevron style, to represent the veins of a leaf - I think it worked well...it was inspired by the fabulous Leila and her beautiful reverse applique leaf coasters

On the other side I stitched some little leaves onto the natural linen in different greens and some gold floss!  I like this side too!

But I wanted my little coin purse to put on some weight and for that it needed a gusset!  I drew one up and I pieced some green into that too!

 And the lining just had to be green too with a little dot!

I love my little coin purse, which is 6" long by 4" at the widest part!  I used fusible wadding to give a bit of structure.  It was a bit more fiddly than the other bigger purses I have made as there is less room to fit the frame into the purse.   But all that happened was I got a bit more glue on my fingers and on the frame which cleaned up easily enough so I see more of these little ones in my future!

I have a few more frames to try out .....yippee!  I do love this frame purse making ....but I guess you worked that out for yourselves!