Monday, March 29, 2010

unfinished objects

I know... What the *!#$! is it?? Looks like an oven mitt, yes? Well, daylight is running out and I haven't posted in forever so here you have my current work in progress, my soon to be finished unfinished object.

The inside has a lovely zip purse, two bill slots, and four credit card slots. Reproduction 1930's fabrics with cute Valentine endearments on the inside, mixed bag of pretty colors in my favorite shades of yellow, blue and pink...

Blurry shot of a closer view. My camera with the macro has died and needs recharged but I can't find the charger.

Use some imagination, fold it over, pretend it is all sewn up (it will be tonight) add a real vintage button, and I swear it will look something resembling this. It's supposed to have a strap but I hate little bags with long straps, so it is an oversize wallet instead, gifted to my cousin in Florida soon as it is all done up just so! I'm also selling a few of these on etsy that are also still in the UFO status. I have tried doing these on a production line, cutting out all the fabrics, interfacing and batting at one time for all the bags, then turning out all the credit card and bill flaps, then sewing down all the zippers at one time. Well, you get the idea. Anyway I ended up with a big pile of I-don't-remember-what-goes-with-which-bag so maybe it's not a good idea for me. I think all these parts are what is intended. Oh, there are side pieces to this bag, too, that keep your stuff from falling out the sides. I have to sew them down yet. And so on. I have a bunch of days off in a row now so I am sewing most of the days away, in between walking doggie, reading blogs, reading books, trying to drum up business for my husband, and running to WaWa for coffee breaks. Tonight my husband, who has been away for four days, comes home again. So I am looking forward to him coming home and making the best of the rest of my time off as a wife with no one to look after.

*sigh*. I see so many wonderful things online I want to try now. Fabric sewn buttons with stitched embellishments, stitching projects, more purses. And believe it or not (don't anyone gasp too loud...) I have a pile of jewelry waiting to be drilled, filed, finished and listed, soon as my husband comes home and fixes the blasted drill that won't work properly.

Books I am reading right now-- Frances Mayes' Every Day In Tuscany, which I am finding to be a surprising chore to get through. Very disappointing. And reading Tolstoy Anna Karenina, one of my all time favorites. And for magazines my very favorite Australian embroidery guild's Stitch magazine and an excellent current copy of SewNews. Not enough time in the day...

Sunday, March 14, 2010

Liberty at Target finds

My husband and I went to three places this evening trying to find a certain super glue he needed. Lucky for me the first two hardware stores didn't carry it and we headed for Target. Walking inside, I was bedazzled to suddenly remember that today is the day for the launch of the Liberty of London for Target line! Lucky me!! Not only did they have pretty sun-dresses but they also had wonderful huge scarves, such as the one I chose above, which is three different fabrics sewn together. Beautiful! I may use it as a scarf and I may cut it up and use it for project fabric.

I never thought of Liberty boxer shorts but here they are. The little cars are one of my favorite fabric from Liberty. My husband will not be wearing these. Instead they'll be put to the chopping block for project usage. I thought I was smart to get the x-large pairs for more fabric!

So cute!!

A new one of a kind purse from Get Real Purses & Pouches, now available on http://jenniferstumpf.etsy.com.

Red variegated carpetbag material with colorful cotton florals and stripes.

Underneath the flap- a hand appliqued piece of dyed muslin with birds. I call this one "postage due".


Wednesday, March 3, 2010

Quilt show pics & my first quilt in living color

The Mid-Atlantic Quilt Fest was held at the Hampton, Virginia convention center last weekend and I went with my friend and colleague from work and her good natured husband. These are some of the quilts that caught my eye in the display section. Although I know there are larger quilt shows, this was my first so to me it was quite something. My apologies to the makers of these wonderful quilts as I only snapped some shots of my favorites and did not write down the creators. The intricate use of applique on this lovely quilt above stopped me for a while.

Having lived on the Eastern Shore of Virginia for years and also in the Richmond area with the James River proximity, Great Blue Herons are a favorite bird and a familiar sight. I love the mariner's compass on this quilt as well as the vibrant colors.

I stared at this quilt for quite a while. A view of the cosmos, although that was not the title of it, tiny starbursts and galaxies were very beautifully machine and hand stitched. This was my favorite quilt of all that were displayed.

Interesting design feature of ribbons at the bottom of this art quilt.

I so love sock monkeys. I have been stockpiling sock monkey fabric when I find it and then, I saw this quilt. Adorable! This is a close up shot, of course, but the whole quilt was equally whimsical. I love it.

The last week I have been taking my first formal quilting class from my friend and colleague extraordinaire, Cheryl Schenck, who has her own fabulous blog http://myfeeddogsaredown.blogspot.com/. Pictured above is my pieced and finished quilt top, which when set down for a moment was immediately appropriated by big kitty Mango. I actually made it with him in mind since it is a baby quilt and my babies have four legs and fur. They may as well get a head start on it. Tomorrow is my last day of class and I must hum ding to finish it. I pieced the back in strips (not shown). Photos of the finished product when it's a finished product.

Mango on his quilt. It suits him, don't you think?

And my blog posts of late wouldn't be complete without a photo of one of my little pouch creations. This one features a cute little elephant machine appliqued on wool. It went to Charlotte, NC a few days ago. bye bye!





What have we been doing these prolonged winter days of late? Why, we have been studying history. Richmond, of course, is a treasure trove of Civil War sites, museums, trails and so on, and this one is a freebie we have never hiked before. Gaines Mill, near Cold Harbor, was the site of a battle that took place in June 1862. 15,000 men died here. This day we were the only ones on the 1.5 mile trail. It was still and eerily quiet. As we walked, we tried to imagine the spectacular battle and we stopped now and then, in spite of Lucy's pulling on the leash (you'd never know she was 14 years old) to read the historical markers and consult our map.

Near the end of the trail, Michael is happy we are in the 21st century, and so am I (most of the time, anyway).

Dusk at Gaines Mill, Virginia.