A scrappy little tea wallet.

Monthly Linky Party

Back when the year was fresh, I made a lot of sewing commitments. Not really New Year's Resolutions but like that. The remnants of some of those commitments are on the sidebar of this blog. But there were more that never made it to the sidebar. At the time, one of my sewing buddies said "you are going to be VERY busy". Yes. Busy.

Things held together pretty well during the winter months but then spring, our son's wedding, another son decided to swim competitively, our daughter and college visits, chores, chores, and more chores outside. And well, there you have it. I have not been very "busy" with sewing but have been plenty busy.

The one thing that has sorta been kept up is the monthly Craft Book SAL with Live.Love.Create. I say sorta because although I've had the projects done, I haven't been able to post a blog about them or to upload them to Kelly's monthly linky party.

Well, this month I have the project done, the pictures ready and am writing this post with plenty of spare time! Happy times!!

The craft book chosen is actually the book I won in January from the SAL in the random drawing Kelly does each month for the prize; Patchwork Please! Actually, this is one craft book that I have been using. I have made several items from the book and have enjoyed them all.

For this month,  these sweet tea wallets from some scraps on my sewing table were calling to me. Just like most (all) of you, I am not quite sure what to do with all those scraps but can't quite throw them away. These wallets are perfect for that problem. What a delightful teacher gift these would make!!

Super cute projects in this craft book!

Dainty little prints for the wallets.

Any color combination will do nicely!

A dear friend of mine has a lovely Tea shop in a nearby town. This month I took a few of these little wallets to sell through her shop. It is the first time I will get paid for sewing. I really can't decide if it's a good thing, PRESSURE as everything must be perfect when you are selling something! My husband says Yes! :)

But in any case, I have this wonderful July finish, humble as it is!! And that my sewing friends, FEELS GOOD!

Craft Book SAL - April project.

Lots of sewing stuff lately. Life has slowed down some, so sewing has resumed! Yay!

For almost a year now I have been promising my son some things: new curtains, some shirts, a duffel bag and a garment bag. Because I needed a good quick project for the April Craft Book SAL hosted by http://craftytwinmommy.blogspot.com/ and due to a good case of the guilts as I was sewing yet something else for myself AND because my son had an upcoming trip, the time was right for his garment bag!

Bag has cute piping all around. Hard to see in photo.

I purchased  this really cool guitar fabric last summer from an online shop. Can't remember where now but I just googled guitar fabric and stuff came up. He is a musician and the idea was to sew him up a gig bag, a garment bag and perhaps a guitar strap for his birthday last June. I am a little late getting started but his garment bag got done. :)

The pattern used was from this book:

Book is....ok.

Sew and Stow gets mixed reviews online. Although I think the Author does a decent job of outlining directions it is not entirely beginner friendly. Yes, there are are some simple patterns but sometimes one has to know something about sewing to figure out the directions. I have made a few things from the book and like her overall design for the garment bag BUT hers is not lined and I think it is a tad too small for menswear. Having said that, I was pretty happy with the outcome and just figured out how to line it myself. It wasn't too hard.

Used a poly satin for the lining.

My son is pretty happy with his bag and has used it a couple of times already.

He's happy; I have an entry for my SAL; One of the projects on my list was completed; Stash fabric was used; AND the dust was blown off a craft book I've had for a while. Now I call that success!

Craft Book March finish!

I missed the Craft Book SAL in February. I actually had a project done! It was a Bear Paw quiltlet, super cute.

I had spent many hours at a Debate tournament hand sewing the pieces and then quilted it on a road trip to look at colleges in VA. While staying at this B&B  in VA. we ate breakfast with a lovely young couple. Treva informed me how much she loved quilts and how she so wanted to learn how to quilt so...I gave her the Bear Paw. Sadly, in my excitement of giving the quiltlet to her, I did not get a picture so thus no project to show for February. Oh well. You'll have to trust me, it was sorta cute!

So in my eagerness not to miss March AND my longing for spring, I was eager to get this month's project done. This bag was actually finished the first week of March.

A simple bag in nice spring color of yellow and light blue.

My lovely assistant!

This was a fairly easy sew. The Go-Go bag finished generous in size and the pattern is from this book by Sara Lawson:

Image from Amazon.

I used a nice canvas weight yellow toile for my main fabric and a light blue wool for the lining. It actually turned out to be a bit too much stuff and some of my seams were difficult due to bulk. I do so love sewing with wool though, I would do it again just probably not with fusible fleece AND Soft and Stable. I stole the hardware off an old Tommy H. bag. I actually learned a bit about bag construction when I took the Tommy bag apart.

My favorite part of the bag, the back. I fussy cut the fabric.

Inside peek.

The directions said sew the accent piece on and then work with the lining but I wanted the sewn pattern shape to show on the inside of the bag so I did them together.

Poor machine, really got a work out on this one.

Hello my name is Judy and I am a FABRIC HOARDER.

Something bothersome is the amount of fabric, notions, sewing "things" including craft and sewing books that have accumulated in my home since the 1980's. I think too many.

A small sampling of books.

For a couple of years now it has not been really clear how much stuff there is. Take the books for example. They have been here and there, by my machine, on the book shelf, packed in boxes, you know, around. There was no realization of how many there actually were until a few months back they were all gathered up and put in one place; a legal size 2 drawer filing cabinet that quickly became filled to the brim and more with said books. They would not all fit. Sigh.

Looking them over the least I could say was I didn't spend a fortune. While the retail price was paid for some, such as this DK book on Dressmaking,

Pretty good resource to have!

most were purchased from used book stores, the local Goodwill or received as gifts. A few were inherited from my Mom's stash or from my Mother-in-law, both of whom now are deceased. Those are precious gems to me.

The book move to the filing cabinet took a looooong time. Every book that was picked up had to be perused, flipped through, ooo and awwwed over and a million projects to be made or techniques to try were written down and their page numbers noted and sometimes even a search for fabric for that project which just started another, much more ambitious project; the one where I organize the stash. But I digress. Back to the books.

The books are bothersome because my life is to a point where I don't want things I will never ever use but keep them, just cuz. I would rather have fewer things and do more with them. I don't think I am alone. There is a common theme among some sewing types. They have a lot of stuff but don't do much with it and they (we) just collect more stuff.

That kinda, sorta, NO.....I have to be honest here,..IS, no, no, no, WAS me. I am a RECOVERING sewing fabric, notion, book, supplies, machine, etc.....HOARDER. Yikes, I hate that. I don't want to be a hoarder but I am and as a hoarder have an addiction to buying sewing stuff. I guess that doesn't seem very shocking to many who are the same. But, saying it here, in this public blog post, it is a bit humbling and I don't like the admission very much.

I am trying to do something about it. Sell some fabric....gads....(it is like the car that looses 40% of it's value when you drive it off the lot), sell sewing machines (does anyone want to buy a beautiful antique Pfaff? Really, it looks like a piece of art and works as well!!), sew more (this part is very easy and enjoyable), go on a fabric buying fast (caved after the first lousy day and changed it to a NEW fabric only buying fast...there still is work to do on this one), and...joined this awesome Monthly Craft Book sew-a-long hosted by Craftytwinmommy.

In this 12 month SAL one picks a craft book and makes a project from the book. Love it!  I am actually using and enjoying some craft and sewing books! Using some of this stuff that is around. As an added bonus I resolved that NO new fabric would be purchased for any project that I make in this SAL. All Stash Baby. Now that's what I'm talking about.

BUT, I didn't stop there. I also resolved to give away all 12 projects to family members or friends. AND...I determined that I would pray for them and their families the entire time the gift is being sewn. It feels soooooo good, so much better than being a hoarder. There is a lot of joy and freedom when one bunches up and uses all their resources, tangible and intangible, for other people.

I have already given away the January project to a dear friend who is moving in to a new house next week. The project was called the Boston Common Table runner but this patched piece became "One of these is not like the Other". It is a secret why but some of you may be able to figure it out. :)

A large clear tote of brown, tan and cream fabrics, odds and ends picked up here or there over time has been around the edges of my craft mind for a while. Not normally a neutral color type and never really sure where these fabrics might be used but the tradition of the table runner pattern, patchwork and the fabric equals: perfect match!

Neutrals and browns; colors I would not normally sew with. 

The pattern came from the book below. As a whole, the projects in this book are pretty dated but this particular design just fit my friend and her family. To borrow a cliche, it seemed meant to be.

This book series was published by Viking.

The directions were pretty much followed, although, not long on details and there was a step that included this tube, which I would not repeat if I made it again.

Never understood the point of this tube as seams were ripped out later??

Other than the tube and pivoting all these points when the batting and backing were applied,

My friend loved the traditional colors. They were a good choice.

it was a quick and fun project. I learned some things and had lots of warm, fuzzy thoughts about my friend along the way. When I gave it to her and told her I prayed for her and her family while making it she actually got a little teary eyed.

Did I mention? Soooo much better than being a hoarder.

Reversible.

Completed table runner!