Come See!

I had in mind yesterday to try out both of my new patterns and that's what I did. I also managed to squeeze in some hand quilting time.

This is the finished pair of slippers, they were quite easy to make. I didn't have Jiffy Grip here so I used corduroy for the bottoms. The first pair took an hour and a half and the binding around the edge gets hand sewn to one side, so that was the longest step.

I put them on Ruthie only to discover they barely fit her, so decided to make a second pair that was a size bigger. The second pair took only an hour, so I was really pleased with that. Of course, she decided she doesn't want to wear them so I'm not going to make any more right away. I had in mind to make her a little basket full of slippers, she's such a shoe hound.

When she shows more interest in them or when I'm looking for a diversion one day, I'll make some more.

Last year my daughter made pajama pants for all her friends for Christmas, this year she might use this pattern and made matching slippers for them, she still has some of all the fabrics left. That is if she has time with full time school and a part time job!

Also on my agenda was trying out the Humbug bag. This was quite easy as well. I made it harder on myself by using tapestry fabric with corduroy inside (it matches the bag I made for Mall of America) so it was a little difficult when working on the zipper, but all in all it was extremely easy.

Once the fabric is quilted, there are four seams and it's finished! I will most definitely be making more of these, in fact, I plan to buy a few zippers for the medium sized bag and maybe a couple for the large one when I go shopping tomorrow. The one I made is the small size as that's the only zippers that I had. I have a few more and now that I'm talking about the cute little bag I may just make another today! To the left is a picture of me holding it, so you can see how small it really is...perfect for notions or clipped onto a belt with keys, license, a bit of cash and a cell phone.

One of the best things about this is I can make them without purchasing anything but the zipper as scraps of fabric and batting are big enough to make all the sizes. I have a 20" zipper here, so I may wing it and make an extra large version, too, which I think will work well as a project bag.

I also got a nice surprise in the mail yesterday. Back in June for my birthday, a friend signed me up for the American Quilter's Society (same friend who took me shopping on Friday.) When she signed me up I got a packet in the mail with an explanation of the membership, a pin, a membership card, a JoAnn's discount card and a listing of their prices on books. It also said their magazine is included in membership and the next issue comes out in August.

The magazine arrived yesterday, with a full color version of their book listings. As I perused the magazine I found two quilts right off that I want to make. One is a tree skirt with oodles of cutting directions. I started putting them in an order that made sense to me by rewriting them on a piece of paper...which also enables me to cross each one off as I complete the step. So now in addition to the other projects I have going on, I have two quilts that I REALLY want to make.

I'm thinking that I will try to get the tree skirt done for this Christmas, and the other I may save as a retreat project if I'm able to go in March next year.

I was so happy with how much I got done yesterday, in addition to laundry, cooking, dishes, etc. I should be able to spend a good amount of time today as the house is in decent shape...now to decide what to do!

I'd like to make another Humbug bag, spend some time hand quilting, finish writing those directions and maybe pull fabric for the tree skirt. Mostly I'd like to hand quilt, I'm making enough progress now that I see lots of quilting as I come down the stairs which always gets me fired up to concentrate on and finish a quilt. The other things will be fillers for when my fingers need a break.

I guess I should get a move on! The kids are doing their schoolwork, Ruthie is with Rebekah, who is enjoying her last week of 'vacation' before her busy school/work days start, and I have only a couple of small tasks before I can sit down and get to it.

Happy quilting!