Flora

Flora is the first bag of the fall collection of patterns from the Bag of the Month Club.  The pattern is by Janelle MacKay of Emmaline Bags and is exclusive to club members until December.

Since my favourite colour is purple, of course, my camera will not render purple properly. This is my best effort.

On my monitor this is the closest to the actual colour of the fabric.

It is a simple bag. There are only six pattern pieces.

Of course, I added a zipper pocket. (This fabric is actually bright purple.)

And a credit card pocket (or two). More purple!

The bag has a recessed zipper.

The bag has these wonderful pleats.

Although the pictures don't do it justice, the hardware is rainbow iridescence.

I think this is the first time I managed to finish the Bag of the Month Pattern in the month it was released.

In case you were wondering, I think one of my dear ones is planning to claim this one.

A Tote Bag

I seem to keep getting lost, but I have been working on things.

I started a new shawl that I plan to finish this week.  I finished one sock and promptly cast on the second so the first wouldn't be lonely.

And I made a tote bag.

It was a commission for a friend, who wanted a gift for a lady who runs an alpaca farm.

The applique is the logo for the farm. I traced the pieces onto paperback fusible web. I carefully labelled them as to the colour of the piece. I now have an extra set of animals. It seems that I don't bother to read what I write on the pieces so I have a black llama and a white alpaca sitting on my sewing table, with the opposite label on them.

I used my standard tote bag pattern. It has a zippered top.

Two big interior pockets.

I also did a faux binding on the top to add a finished look to the bag.

I actually remembered to add my label.

After I quit looking at the flaws, I think it came out very well. My client was quite thrilled because it came out much better than she had pictured.

I feel a couple of "squirrel" type projects calling to me, and I think I may indulge myself.

Roses For Leanna

This has been a week of finishes. I started this quilt in a class about 10 years ago. Put it away while I figured out what I needed to do to love it. Pulled it out this past spring, fixed the top to my liking, and then Leanna fell in love with it. Since Leanna needed a quilt, it is going to her, now that it is finished.

Of course, I have a very hard time finding a place to take a picture of a large quilt, that isn't covered in pet hair, but I tried.

It is a little lumpy but it stayed clean. It is 78" x 78", according to the lady who did the quilting.

It has lots of red roses. The border is tone on tone roses.

Krista did an awesome job on the quilting.

The back is red flannel so I asked her to use beige in the bobbin, too, to give the back some interest.

The corners are flat and square.

It is even labelled! Most of my quilts aren't. I expect she will enjoy it when the weather gets cooler.

And, because summer isn't quite over yet,  another pair of shorts for my little guy.

Lace Ilex

According to my Ravelry Project Page, I started this scarf on November 30, 2015. I guess it was waiting for me to be in the mood to finish it. Since I am finishing some vintage UFO's right now, it has now had its turn to be completed.

Here it is, this morning, enjoying the sun. I love the way the shadow shows the lace. It is 14.5" wide and nearly 60" long so it will be very nice in the winter. to wrap up in.

The ends taper to give it some interest. I love the seed stitch, not your usual edging for lace.

A closeup of the lace. Each repeat has a slightly different lace pattern. The pattern is Lace Ilex by Susann Hajjar.

The yarn is Diamond Luxury Collection Footloose.  This yarn is discontinued. Fortunately, when I realized that I was going to be short, my friend Cheryl came to the rescue with a skein from her stash, in the same lot.

These pictures are a much more accurate representation of the colour of the yarn. It is a rich, deep purple.

I had a professional model visiting today, who volunteered to show what it looks like on. Most of his work has been for his Mommie's Facebook Page.

Nearly Finished

I spent a couple of weeks working on projects that I hope I will be able to tell you about soon, but I can't blog about those things just yet.

So today, I thought I would show you a couple of well aged UFO's that will soon be FO's.

First up is the quilt that I found during my tidying and redesigned so I could happily finish it.

I have been working on finishing the binding, doing about 30 minutes at a time. I am more than half done, so it should be finished by the end of this week.

The lace scarf from 2015 now only needs a dip in the hot tub, and some blocking to be ready for cold weather. Hopefully, the cold weather will not be here too soon. My camera doesn't like purple as much as I do. I'll try for a better picture after it is blocked.

Yesterday, I cleared all my flat surfaces in my sewing room, so some new things can be started, without anything in the way. The scraps are filed, the tools have returned to their rightful homes.

Beautiful, isn't it. Slowly, I am creating order.

Renovations

Hollyhock volunteers

We had plans for fixing a garden that had gotten out of control. However, the snow extended into April, the tulips didn't flower until late May, we had a monsoon season in June (some of which we missed by travelling to BC) and then it got hot.

When we had a couple of days of relief from the humidity, we put aside all other activities and dug in.

It was a jungle.

I'm not sure what half of that is. There is grass, trees, weeds, and some rather nice perennials.

So, it was all dug up, and the salvageable plant life was carefully removed and set in buckets of water. We filled two big yard waste bags to the top.

By the end of the day, it looked like this.

We left the hollyhocks on the back edge, along with some sedum.

We have been gardening in containers at the back for years.

We have herbs, tomatoes, some flowers, all nestled into pots. Since the patio is the sunniest spot in the yard, it made sense.

We have a squash growing in the composter, again, a volunteer. I wonder what it actually is.

We even have greens in pots, cuddled up to the flowers.

So, we decided to do the same thing in the front.

I don't think they are in their final spots yet, and they need to fill in, but it is so much easier to look after. I think there may be some herbs in there as well, however, no kale, yet!

Not a lot of crafting got done, but I did make another pair of shorts.

My stash decreases, as his shorts drawer fills up.

The Marvelous Mystique

Mystique has been with us for 4 months now, waiting for someone to give her a "forever" family. Meanwhile, she likes to keep busy. I was enjoying her activity that other day.

We put peanuts on "her" window ledge and she sits and watches those coming to her "Takeout Window"

How may I help you?

That will be $2.49.

Thank you, call again!

It's been a busy morning!

Last week, she tried her hand at knitting. It wasn't very successful.

She does have good taste in yarn, though. It is a cashmere blend.

Summer is finally here, and I made my little guy a pair of shorts.

The retail clothes sold for boys is so boring. Quilting cottons are much more fun. The pattern is Sunny Day Shorts by Oliver + S