Long weekend

Thank you all for your comments on my last two posts.

Regarding the photo book, if you are tempted to make one, don't hesitate. I'm sure you can find one company near your place, and they are really fun to do. I have my pictures showing on my PC as a screen saver, so I can enjoy them without printing them. But I also like the book, it has a "heirloom" feel...

Regarding the scarves, Emilie was glad to receive her, but even glader that the weather here did not allow her to try it yet :-) But, I'm sure she'll enjoy it once she is back in Paris tonight... For those interested, they are easy to make. You knit a long scarf (about 6 feet), fold it in two, and make a seam from the fold, for about 1 foot. It is that easy.

You may remember I won a charm pack  from Confessions of a Fabric Addict? It arrived safely at the end of the week. Aren't those fabrics gorgeous? Now I need to find a project, not necessarily for this XMas, though...


It was a long weekend in France, so I had the pleasure to have Emilie with me, and as usual, we went for a shopping day to Marseille. Then she went to see some friends of her. And I went on with my Xmas sewing:


This is a gardening set.
I still have a few stitches to make, but the sky is getting dark, and it was my last chance to get a decent picture!

Let me finish with a give away notice, at  Live a Colorful Life.

Kokeshi

I spent several months without buying a patchwork magazine. I don't know exactly why, I bought the May-June Quiltmania issue. In fact I know why, I saw a quilt with Kokeshi (Japanese dolls), and I just wanted to make it.
The pattern is by Susan Claire. You can see a picture of it here.
Before starting it, and since I dont want to use fused applique, I wanted to practise my needle applique skills.
I also had in mind a bag pattern by Ellen Medlock. You can see a picture here.

I ended with this:

The bag pattern is brillant. Explained in details, easy to do. I do recommend it!
I had fun dong the applique too, and the practise was needed!

I wish you all a nice weekend!

Traveler bag and phone pouch

This week, I made this little set for myself. The traveler bag is the same as this one. This link gives the credit and review of the pattern.
I needed a protection for my new phone, and I tried to match both.
The phone pouch is made of commercial felt, with stem stitch and button hole stitch.

A little change carrier would be nice... We'll see if I find the time.
In the meantime, have all a nice week and take care

Seed bag

This is a gift I made for my mother in law. She has a small garden which she likes a lot.

The cover is made from recycled vegetables nets, as explained in Workshop on the Web.

Bag - tutorial by Laura and Linda Kemshall

I'm in XMas mood. the weekend was perfect for that: 3 days at home, the weather from not that bad to completely insane.

I had seen this tutorial in Quilting Arts Gifts Winter 2008, and had wanted to make it, just had to find the time.

So it started with a square sandwich (lining, batting, support fabric, pieces and bits of fabrics, covered with chiffon.

I wanted to quilt it "kantha-like", with a fine yellow conton perlé. Ouch, it is pretty, but my fingers were a bit sore at the end :-)

Once the quilting was finished, I grabbed my machine to do a bit of embroidery:

Then folded the square into a triangle, kind of

for the trim, I used a bias, adorned with buit-in stitches.

Australia bag

The galah Xstitch kit is a gift from an Australian friend. When it was done, I wanted to make something special with it. So here it is:
Plan bag, in organza, lace, embroidery and pearls.

En vente Aux Créations du Fil du Jardin

Provencal Knitting Bag

I had those lovely provencal fabrics in my stash, and a pattern by Bunny Hill Designs.

Here is the result:

The Encore Purse Insert

I've been quite busy this week. Apart from working long hours at the office, I made this:

Have you guessed it is a bag organizer?

(And have you seen that I need to improve my zipper sewing?oops! I had not seen the bug...Never mind for this one, I'll do better for the next one.)

Looks good doesn't it? And it is supposed to make switching bags a dream. No doubt I'll test that this week.

The model is The Encore Purse Insert by Studio Kat Designs.
The pattern is very detailed and well explained. Requires a bit of attention though. (I had some troubles with it, but I was not in my best shape this week, too hot and too tired. The more I work at my office, the more I long to do something creative when I hit home, resulting in a very tired Vero at the end of the week.). Honestly, the instructions are great and I highly recommend it. It is in my list of "to do again".

The Coquette Bag

This is a kit by Ellen Medlock.

It is a limited edition kit, that comes with these lovely fabrics. It exists also as a pattern with the frame.

The pattern comes as a leaflet, with instructions easy to follow, and the metal frame. It is quick to do, I've spent about half a day sewing this lovely purse.

The trims come from "La Droguerie".

Ellen is a very nice lady, very helpful.

Go and visit her, she has a lot of fun bags to offer!

Back!

Hi to all! Sorry I've not been there lately: the thunder hit the house of my neighbor. By luck, nobody was hurt. But this left me without Internet, computer, TV, and maybe a few other things. I had to wait until yesterday late to be online again. And the man at the computer shop could restore all my data, that is a relief. All my pictures are back, not to mention my online-magazines files and the data for my flight to Munich in December... I have now a spare external hard-drive, for back-ups.

Not being online has provided me with a lot of spare time. Used to make this bag, among other things:

This comes from "Invasion of the Plush Monsters" by Veronika Alice Gunter. I've altered the pattern a little bit, as the initial one is for kid, and this bag is for my grown-up daughter. The monster face is the flap, not the body. The body provides some inside pockets. The monster mouth is the opening to another one, with some inside pockets too. The bag is about 40 cm wide. Made of recycled fabrics, kind of polar fleece.

Postcards and bag

Sue Bleiweiss had proposed to swap some of her postcard with other bloggers. I was thrilled by the idea. You can see the one she sent me here and this is the one I've sent her.
This one is for a friend.
And this is a bag I'm embroidering. This is a challenge in a French textile art group. We are given two stitches each week, for 9 weeks.
I hope you have as nice a weekend as I.