I finished up my Go Anywhere bag (pattern by the lovely Anna Graham of Noodlehead!) on Thursday! I am so happy with the way this bag turned out. It's nice and roomy which is always a plus for me as I like to carry around too much stuff. This bag features my absolute favorite colors. I started with this floral Ruby Star Shining print by Melody Miller which is a nice cotton/linen blend. Perfect for bags. From there I pulled the So Sophie by Riley Blake dot for the interior, and then two Pure Elements by Pat Bravo solids for the exterior and pocket linings (Cabernet and I think Festival Fuschia).
If you've never tried Anna's patterns or tutorials, you're missing out! This was a breeze to put together, every step is thoroughly explained and has clear photographs. It came together pretty quickly and I think the result is wonderful. I love all the little details! My favorite part of my bag is of course the typewriter pocket! :)
Thought you might all like to see the little paper-piecing project I was working on! Voila! A little mini quilt for my dear friend Christina's birthday! I used the Washington star pattern from 50 Fabulous Paper-pieced Stars by Carol Doak! I was sorta scared when I started it, especially since it had 64 pieces, but it really came together pretty easily! I refreshed my memory on paper piecing in the front of the book and before I knew it I was in a groove!
I started with the center Outfoxed print by Lizzy House and then pulled fabrics around it. The gold is Echo by Lotta Jansdotter, the green is Habitat by Michele D'Amore, the taupe is La Petite Ecole by French General, the background is Quilter's Linen by Robert Kaufman (not sure which color, I bought it in person!) and the binding is Meadowsweet by Sandi Henderson. I had a lot of fun making this mini, I definitely see more paper-piecing in my future!
Today I pulled out my Mendocino quilt! I am making logcabins framing all of the mermaid and giant octopi prints. I reorganized, added in new fabrics and made two blocks today! Block 14 and Block 15! So I'm almost half-way done, I'll need a total of 32 blocks. I'll be using the Octopi blocks on the back! I love, love, love working on this quilt! I'm hoping to finish it up this year! You can see the blocks I've finished so far here.
Yesterday I was able to spend the day chatting, shopping, and hanging out with the Iowa girls; Deedee, Megan, and Vanessa! We had a great day! Our plans almost got thwarted by the snow, I'm so glad we were still able to get together. I can't wait for our next adventure! While we were out I picked up the middle embroidery scissors for my growing collection. Here they all are so far!
From left to right: Epaulette Embroidery scissors by Gingher, Putford Scissors and Little Gems both by Kelmscott Designs.
Sometimes when George is really sleepy, he looks so grumpy! Grump rabbit!
In other news I'm happy to welcome Contemporary Cloth as a sponsor! I'm looking forward to ordering some of the japanese fabrics they carry soon! :)
Today I love the..
Smell of: Fresh air
Sound of: Harry Potter 1 audiobook
Taste of: Teriyaki Chicken
Sight of: Favorite fabrics
Feel of: Slippers
Good Things about Today:
- Cleaned up the sewing room
- Worked on my favorite quilt!
- Takeout Japanese for lunch
- George was very sweet this morning!
31 comments:
your mini quilt came out great. I love Carol Doak and am in her yahoo group.
love the colors of the bag. Making note so I can use those for a friend who loves purple.
I love your mini quilt!! I just began work on my very first one and I can't wait to finish!
I'm a bag fiend so I'm loving your bag! I'm going to end up having to buy that 241 pattern for myself! Love it!
I found your blog via Flickr and I must say I love your bag, I LOVE your mendocino quilt, and I love your bunny George too! (He looks like my dwarf bun Elliot.)
Well, being that bags are my "thing", Im totally in love with the one you made. The fabrics are lovely!
And I love seeing George:) He makes me smile...even if he does look grumpy.
Happy weekend!
Your color selection skills are just unparalleled.
George totally made me laugh! I love his collection of munched up baskets.
George is the cutest! Although your bag is a very close second. I am really into bags lately and yours turned out SO pretty!
Your bag is gorgeous - I've had that pattern for awhile now and I seriously need to make it!
Love your mini for Christina - I've been looking at that book by Carol Doak (I've seen some great blocks from it recently), I may just need to buy it for myself!
I just love all your creations. They are so pretty! What type of camera do you have?
Your mini quilt is lovely, even him in doors commented how pretty it is!
Hi Jeni!
The bag is gorgeous :) And the mini quilt too!
Love the fabrics you've chosen.
Wow, so many pretties!!! Your paper pieced star quilt is amazing! You really do have a talent for pairing fabrics together.
The bag is beautiful, as is the paper pieced star and then there's George, he's the cutest of all!
Oh! I love your mermaid blocks!!! I just found some fat 1/8ths of the mendocino line, I hope you don't mind if I steal some of your ideas for the coordinating prints, I love the orange/pink/brown combo.
I've been trying to find time to make myself one of these. I really love this bag! And thank you SO much for my mini quilt. I already have sent a gushing email with how much I love it, but I'll say it again: I LOVE IT! It is fantastic and I couldn't tell you how surprised I was to have it arrive. It honestly made my day and I can't wait to hang it. I just LOVE getting mini quilts in the mail. :) You = Best!
Love the new bag! You fabric choices are always so inspiring!
I'm loving your growing mendocino quilt blocks! I have a bunch of these fabrics put aside for a quilt but need to add coordinating fabrics to them. Thanks for the inspiration!
the bag is beautiful jeni! so you. And hopefully you guys can plan a weekend get together sometime so I can join in!
Anna's GO ANYWHERE bag is my favorite bag pattern! I've made several already! Love your fabric choice, too! The paper pieced block is amazing! I have yet to try paper piecing, maybe one day! Love reading your posts too, as always, very inspiring!
That mini quilt is absolutely stunning. I've never seen that block design before. I'm inspired!
Everything in this post looks yummy! I don't know which I love more, the mini or the cute bag :)
Hurray for the return of the Mermaid blocks! That's such a lovely project. Keep on trucking!
You new bag is beautiful, I love the fabrics you pulled together, and the typewriter pocket is awesome! I love paper piecing- Carol Doak is amazing, isn't she? Minis make excellent gifts.
Speaking of minis, I'm off to pick out my fabric for my Sparkle quilt!
I really love the mini you made for Christina. It's gorgeous! And your new Go Anywhere bag is loads of fun!
I'm happy to see more Mendocino blocks. Woohoo!
You're so cute! I collect scissors, too! We should share one day :-)
I love the mini quilt I was thinking about trying paper peicing for the first time and you have spured me on :) I love all your colour posts to I always direct my customers to your site for colour advice.
Helen
Octopodes.
It's Greek, not Latin.
Where did you find the middle pair of scissors? So cute! I find myself noticing (and coveting) embroidery scissors more and more lately..
I also want to know about the middle pair of scissors please.
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