serious crafting

Bags

I have not been doing too much crafting with fabric lately because my body has felt a wee bit tired from a pretty huge project I am taking on.
Luckily, I had a few good reasons to make something now, which helped me get off my duff and sew up a few bags.
This first tote bag is a project I completed a few weeks ago to be used as a prize in a fundraising raffle my sister held on her blog for our Denver Oyster adventure race competition. The pattern is improved from a favorite tote bag of mine, with an added pocket on the inside. The bag is very light weight, and should be great for craft projects or scrunching up in another bag as a just-in-case shopping bag.
For some sweet ladies I know I made these two Buttercup Bags from Made by Rae. This pattern is so great! The bags go together beautifully and are truly a functional and darling size/design.
The elephant bag (above & below) has already made its way to my niece Emma in Chicago.

The not-so-pink bag is waiting to be mailed to a dear friend in New York.

I love having wonderful people to craft for!

Black Bag

I have been working on this black bag for a few months now. I not following a pattern, just sort of making it up as I go along. It was going well until I attached the strap, now I am not happy with it. I think I need to remove the strap and perhaps approach it in a new way, maybe even via hand sewing.

It is hard to take pictures of your pants

A bit of navy blue crafting happening around here.
I decided that a pair of these Amy Butler pajama pants were in order as I really need to practice using the Janome serger my mom gave me for Christmas.
This pattern was perfect for serger practice! I have already been making a list of friends-in-need-of-pajama-pants so that i can continue practicing. These polka dot pants will eventually get a nice contrasting fabric band at the bottom of each leg, I just have to decide which fabric it will be.
This was my second Unoriginal Hat. It was knit for a fundraiser auction my sister and I are putting on for the Make-A-Wish Foundation as we are competing in the upcoming Denver Oyster Race. Should be good fun. I think I might whip up a small quilt or table runner to add to the fundraising efforts as well.

The weather is mild here today, which means that I had better get myself out on my bike for a nice 20-30 mile ride celebrating non-90 degree temperatures!

Oh, June

This June saw my 32nd birthday, celebrated with the gift of a lovingly built vintage Schwinn from my sweet husband.
June ended with sadness and relief. My Grandma passed away on June 24. I was able to be with her and my family during her final days. We celebrated her life together the weekend after her passing. Phil and I have returned to Colorado and are working on sorting out our hopes for this next year of our lives together.

This is one of my favorite photos of my Grandma. It was taken just before my wedding, which was held on her farm. In this photo she is surrounded by her great-grandchildren (although two more sweet little ladies have been added to the pack in the years since the wedding).

Birthday card

A dear friend of mine celebrated her birthday this week. A store bought birthday card just didn't seem right.

A surprise quilt

I can finally post photos of a quilt I have been working on with my Crafty Ladies since November. Five very un-sneaky ladies managed to work together to sew an engagement quilt for Marj.
We met the day after Thanksgiving (when the bride-to-be was out of town) to finish the quilt top.
Several weeks ago we pieced the quilt back. Over the last few weeks a fantastic group effort was made to pin, quilt, and put the binding on the quilt in time for Marj's shower on Saturday morning.
It turns out that we were successful in our sneakiness! Marj was surprised and hadn't even been suspicious that we were up to something!
I think she liked it.

Jasper's kimono

Jasper obliged and modeled the kimono I made him from Weekend Sewing by Heather Ross.
My sister Lynn made this adorable Baby Surprise Sweater out of her hand spun yarn.

Lynn's backpack bag

Two bags

Both:
~Scissor fabric from sale rack at Fancy Tiger (greatest craft shop ever!). 1 yard was the perfect amount for two roomy project bags.
~White frogs on white fabric lining fabric from closing sale of a Broomfield quilt store, the name of which I do not remember, but it was a great store and I wish it was still there.

Mine (above): Straps lined with grey canvas. Inner pockets made with green crazy bunny fabric from Fancy Tiger & awesome men's shirting dots from long ago Gunnison fabric store fat quarter sale.
Linda's (above): Straps lined with denim from favorite old jeans. I just might be in love with used denim as strap lining, it is so soft and creamy, yet sturdy. The little bit of scissors on the bottom of one strap just kills me, I love it so and wish I had thought to design it in the first time.
Lining pockets: Brown & turquoise polka dot fabric leftover from little boy neckties for my wedding. Second pocket made with awesome green, pink, red, white, and yellow modern birds print that I picked up a year or two ago in Boulder.

Jasper's quilt

Owl baby quilt

This baby quilt was made for a friend in Denver. The original plan was to teach a friend to sew while making this quilt, thus the simple single nine patch. I ended up sewing the entire thing (silly life & busy schedules got in the way).

Olympic knitting

These are the two projects that have been on and off the needles lately. The Jaywalker socks were a bit of a pill to get started, but that was due more to my own lack of research, rather than any problem with the pattern.
The Unoriginal Hat came from my Sticks 'n' Stitches raffle win of 1 skein of Rowan Big Wool.

Carl's Cabin