Friday, January 3, 2014

Although it has been a couple of years since I posted on this blog, I still have a lot of sewing that I could be blogging about. I had really good intentions when I started but then you know how it goes.
So my first post of 2014 (and the first since 2012) I will post pictures of a jacket that I was commissioned to make for a Christmas gift for the wife of one of my customers.






I used ultra-suede for the accents fabric around the lapels and then the bag has the same accents. I heard that she was really surprised and it was a "perfect fit"
I can't wait to start another jacket because I had so much fun making this one.
On another note I found this beautiful blouse from this shop on Etsy.
www.etsy.com/shop/norska43. She has some beautiful designs.





 Here are a couple of her designs.
www.etsy.com/listing/168648530/handmade-art-to-wear-light-jacket?ref=shop_home_active

Saturday, July 21, 2012

A Day At the Quilt Museum


Today my friend, Mildred, and I had a chance to visit The National Quilt Museum in Paducah, KY. It was such a nice day, and seeing all the beautiful quilts really got my creative energy flowing.  I wish we could have  taken photos of the beautiful quilts we saw.  There is a beautiful exhibit miniature quilts that blew my mind. If you ever get a chance to go I recommend that you go it is a real treat for quilters.












Saturday, June 23, 2012

My Iron Died

Well if you are a quilter, seamstress,or have anything to do with sewing, you know what an inconvenience it is for any of your tools to break down.  It is so frustrating especially in the middle of a project or when it is late and you don't have the energy to run to Walmart and get a new iron. 
I decided that instead of running out for a new iron I would catch up on some of my writing, and maybe re-organize or clean my sewing room.  I spend a lot of time in this sewing room and really it is in kind of an organized mess.  I remember a couple of years ago before we left for a 2 month vacation I re-organized and did a thorough clean up of my sewing room. That was a mistake because when I got back I could not remember where I put things, so then it is in a mess again because I ended up tearing it up again looking for stuff.  
I have found a new way of organizing things and that is buying those Command hooks and hanging everything on the walls. So everything that don't have a way to hang on the walls I put in bags and hang them.
I found another way to organize to and that is take a curtain rod and hang it on the wall or in the window and make little bags and hang them on the curtain rod then fill the bags with your sewing notions.  It's fun. Here is a picture of what I mean.
  
As you can see, I made some bags that I put on the curtain rod to put items in.

I also use medicine bottles to put small things like buttons, beads, needles. Works great.

I have a couple of these that I put rulers or knitting needles, 

These really come in handy.

Some of the stuff I collect. Pin cushions is one the things.

This is the Command hook I was talking about. They really come in handy. 

Anyway, getting back to the iron situation, I think that it died because I needed to take some time and do something else.  So instead of crying over a broken iron, I am paying attention to some of the things I need to pay attention to., Like my Etsy Shop


Thursday, December 29, 2011

Happy New Year 2012

I just want to say Happy New Year and want to thank all of you that have followed my blog.  I know that I have not always been good about updating my blog but many of you have continued to follow.  I have my own computer now which makes it easier to update my blog because now when I get a serge of ideas to post on my blog I don't have to wait til someone else(DH for one) to get off.  Then I forget what I wanted to post.
Speaking of that, I don't know why I don't write this stuff down.  What makes me think that I am going to remember what I wanted to write 3 days ago, let alone a month ago, for that matter 1 hour ago.  I have a note book right there on the table in my sewing room and I still didn't write down what I wanted to say.
This year I promise I am going to make sure I keep my posts going.  Not to say that I will post every day but I will be posting more often.
I love sharing what I make and fabrics that I find with other sewers. I love to sew and I love anything that has to do with sewing.  I want to try every gadget or tutorial that I see.
In my sewing room there is a poster by Sark that I bought a a garage sale about 14 years ago.  It is called "How To Be An Artist".  I love that poster because when I say to people that I am an artist, they always ask me what I paint, or what do I draw, or what university I went to.  Well if being an artist means that I have to have gone to an art school then I can say I went to the University of Sark and here's my diploma.  If you ever read what she says about being an artist you will see that to be an artist you just have to be you and love what you do best.  I can sew, I love to sew and sewing is my art form.  Fabric is my medium.
Latest chenille jacket 

Go to my Etsy Shop for more details.
Anyway that is all for now, until next time.  Please leave a comment it is nice to know that someone has read your blog.

Friday, August 19, 2011

Boxes

I would like to share this little story about someone that has been very special and instrumental in my creative process, that is my cousin Sereta.
It has taken a while for me to piece this together because you see my cousin passed away a few years ago. I still think about her and the ways she influenced my life.
For one thing Sereta was very tall (about 6 feet) and when I walked next to her I never felt short, I felt proud and as tall as she.  I would have to walk, all most run to keep up with her.  She would say, "hold up your head and suck in your belly, walk from heel to toe and you will be able to walk all up and down these hills" we was living in Oakland, California at the time and did a lot of walking in San Francisco.  Anyway back to the story I wanted to tell.
When Sereta and I was growing up, she lived with her grandparents, and in the Summer when I would go visit my grandmother, who by the way was Sereta's grandmother's twin and lived in walking distance of each other, I would spend hours at Sereta's and we would make dolls out of sticks and dress them in leaves.  Sereta was so creative and she could make a rock look like the best thing in the world to play with.
Sereta always had the most interesting items in her room, whether it was a rock she found or a stick doll she made and dressed in a magnolia leaf.  One thing she did is collect boxes, all kinds of boxes and some she decorated and embellished with ribbons and shells or small rocks. I loved to go into her room and open the boxes and look inside and see what little surprises she had hidden inside them.  Sometimes it would be a rock, a piece of candy, a bead, or a feather she found laying in the yard. Once I was visiting Sereta and there was one box that she had decorated and it was sitting on the dresser and of course I went straight for the box to see what was inside. She said "nooooo that box is special and you cannot look inside, that is my special box". Well that peeked my imagination and my curiosity, I just could not imagine what was in that box that "I" was not to open. Every time I visited Sereta I wanted to look in that box. And it became more intriguing as the Summer went by. Well Sereta never let me look in that box. She knew that I was intrigued by the box and  she kept me guessing about it's contents.
Years later after years of being separated from my favorite cousin and many boxes later ( you see I started a collection of my own) I was able to ask her about that box and what she had in it that I could not see.  She said "magic stuff" and "you didn't know that I was magic did you?"  I never got to know what was in that box but I still think about it and sometimes I think " a box full of rocks probably" or "feathers" I'll never know for sure but it keeps my creativity flowing. When you come to my sewing room you will find that I too have a lot of interesting boxes in my collection hoping to peek someone else's creative nature and curiosity.
Just before my cousin went home I was able to go to California and visit her, and while there she handed me a beautiful round box that I still have.  I still don't know what was in that box.  But I will let you guess what is in this one.
This is the box that Sereta gave me. It is very special to me.

I have started creating boxes also. Here are two boxes that will be available for sale in my Etsy Shop. I think that boxes intrigue me because they have tops on them and you always wonder what is inside them.  Some are just plain shoe boxes. Some boxes have jewels on them.  But one thing for sure, when you see a box sitting on a table or a dresser, you want to open them up and see what is inside, but sometimes it is better to just look at them and wonder. Set one of these boxes on your coffee table, end table, or your dresser and watch the curiosity of your guests.


Made with muddcloth and leather these boxes are embellished with beads and shells and are very sturdy, you can also use them as gift boxes for that special gift. Or just keep someone's curiosity going.