i have to say...

shop feature: purseona

I found this wonderful little shop on Etsy called Purseona.  Each bag is one of a kind and they are made with beautiful fabrics.  I have a crush on this little number made out of Denyse Schmidt's County Fair:

Wouldn't that be an adorable fall bag?

If you want something nice and bright, check out this one featuring Amy Butler's Love fabric:

Purseona bags are bright, beautiful and fun!

You can see the whole collection here.

shop notes: kona cottons

 

Kona Cottons are in my shop and they look like a beautiful rainbow on my shelves.  They are great for quilt tops and backings, and all kinds of crafty projects.  You can check out my selection here.

Enjoy your weekend!

finally, a place for my quilts!

I have gotten back into making quilts again, but when they are done I don't know where to put them.  The stack has been getting bigger and bigger and, with another one in the works, I wanted to make sure I had somewhere to put them.

A month ago Emily and I went to an outdoor market and a few of the vendors had old ladders they were selling as quilt racks for $50+.  Well, the crafter in me said, "I can make that!", and I set about to find an old ladder.  Cheap.

Last week at the thrift store I found my prize: an old junky ladder for $5.  I wasted no time buying it an getting it home and begging my hubs to take it apart for me.  Now it's all sanded, whitewashed, and it looks just fine as the new home for my quilts.

The only problem is that it is just about full. 

Where will I put the next one?

some links i'm lovin'

***Pink Penguin's shares a great bento lunchbox tutorial just in time for going back to school!

***Fat Quarterly posted a how-to on planning a quilt retreat.  Sounds like so much fun!

***Tula Pink is debuting her newest fabric collection on her blog.  Parisville is simply stunning!

***I have been browsing this site for recipes.  My healthy eating goals are stalling out of boredom in the kitchen.  Any new ideas or recipe links to share?

Have a great day!

Drawstring Knapsack Tutorial

Emily has graciously put together a tutorial for her take-it-everywhere drawstring knapsack. She is almost never without it.

This is a perfect bag for you to tote all manner of things, and the kids will love it to. Enjoy!

Step 1: Cut two 17 1/2" by 15" inch pieces of your main fabric (my main fabric is Woodland Chain in Pool).

Then, cut one 8 1/2" inch tall by 7" inch wide square from your pocket fabric (mine is Tree Stripes in Grey).

For the last piece, cut two strips of fabric that are 2 1/4" inches wide and 44" inches long (Pebble Lines in Citron).

***All fabrics are from the Circa 50 collection.

After making these cuts, you should basically have the following:

 

Step 2: Put the two long strap pieces right sides together, and sew a 5/8" seam along the short edge.

 

Press open this seam:

 

Now, press down 1/4" inch along both long edges of the strap you just sowed. As such:

 

Then press this long strap in half length-wise:

 

And sew along the length:

 

Your strap is now finished...onto the pocket.

Step 3:  Press 1/2" down on all sides of the 8"x7 1/2" pocket piece:

 

Press down another half inch along the top 7 1/2" inch edge of the pocket:

 

Stitch down the double edged seam:

Your pocket is now ready to be sewn onto the main body of your bag.

Step 4: Pin the pocket onto the bag. Place the bottom of the pocket 2" inches above the bottom of the bag piece, and 4" inches from either side. Like so:

 

Then stitch along the two edges and bottom, leaving the top edge with the seam open:

 

Now onto sewing up the main body of your bag.

Step 5: Pin the two main pieces of the bag right sides together. Sew together along the bottom edge using a 5/8" seam.

 

Now for the slightly complicated part. Using a pencil or fabric marker, mark one inch above the seam you just stitched:

Then, measure two inches down from the top edge of the bag, and mark. Measure one inch below this line, and mark again:

 

Do this on both edges of the bag.

Begin at the first line you marked on the bottom of the bag, and sew to the 3" inch line on the top.

 

Then, begin at the first line marked and sew to the top of the bag. This is what you should have at this point:

Make sure you have the same stitching on both sides of the bag.

Step 6: Turn the bag right side out and press open your seams.

On each side of the bag you should have two small holes in the seam. You need to do a top-stitch around the top hole. This will hold the seams down when you put in your strap and will also keep the fabric from raveling.

Simply sew about 1/4" inch around each edge of the hole. This is what you want the top hole to look like:

Do this on both sides of the bag.

Do NOT topstitch the slit on the bottom of the bag.

Now, press down one inch on the top of the bag. You want the fold to meet the top of the slit you just topstitched. Like this:

 

Press down once more:

 

Turn the bag inside out once again.

You want to stitch a down the seam you just pressed as close to the bottom edge as possible.

 

This is how you want the top edge of the body of the bag to look:

Step 7: Cut the strap piece you made in Step 2 into two equal pieces 33.5" inches long.

Place a large safety pin in the end of one of the straps and thread through the top edge of the bag. Repeat for the other side. This is what you want to end up with:

 

Step 8: Lay the bag flat with the straps laying out on either side.

Place the straps on one side of the bag side by side, and place the two straps in the opening in the bottom of the bag.

Do this with both sets of straps on each side of the bag, pin and turn the bag inside out. You will have to re-adjust your pinning after reversing the bag, but this is what you want to end up with:

 

Now stitch the opening in the bag with the straps closed.

Turn right side out, press, and you're done!

saying good-bye

 
Well, we waved good-bye to my oldest daughter and her hubs this weekend as they drove 1,100 miles to their new home.  They took with them 2 two new adorable little puppies to keep them company.

I am so happy that they are together now, but it was tough to say "good-bye".  There should be some kind of law that prohibits kids from moving more than a few cities away from their parents, don't you think?

Life is so full of change--mom moving close, kid moving far--that it is hard to navigate sometimes.  This step makes me so thankful for the close relationship that I have with my girl.  I know I can bug her as much as I want and she will bug me back equally. 

Just the way I like it!

i'm back!

This has been my view for the last couple of days. 

My hubs and I traveled to California to pick up my mom and bring her and all of her belongings here to Colorado.  I am so happy to have her here!  At the same time I am so glad to be out of the van.  Two full days of driving is so long, but you add monsoon rain storms the whole way and it is way, way too long.  Actually we really lucked out and followed the storms the whole way.  We could see them surrounding us, but they always stopped by the time we drove by.  God was really nice to us, I must say.

As soon as I can I will show you some pictures of the fun we had over the weekend at Newport Beach. 

Gosh, I just love it there.

See you soon!

shop feature: sweet jessie

I have fallen in love with Sweet Jessie's shop!  So much color and pretty pattern. 

Jessie takes vintage linens and makes the most adorable things.  Pillows, banners and even DIY kits.

So very pretty, don't you think?

Pop on over and check out the goods. 

You are going to be impressed!