Prairie Girl II

I was asked by a friend to make another Prairie Girl, this one for her trip west. The fabrics and zippers were her choice. I picked the hardware, and did the sewing.

Prairie Girl #2, this one in chambray in a denim colour. The zippers are metallic silver.

The front pocket, showing the book print. It is called Literary by Heather Givens. I didn't realize, until I had the fabric under the Ott light, that there are words in the background, in a very pale turquoise. Very subtle.

Top pocket number one, with a better view of the zipper. I used a couple of two way separating zippers and cut them in half, since the store didn't have purse zippers in appropriate lengths or colours. I like the zipper pulls on them.

I added a second inner zipper pocket to the back compartment for keys. I have been using my Prairie Girl for over a month now, and I don't like that I keep losing my keys in the bottom. I need to retrofit something to my back.

All and all, I think this one came out very well. I like this pattern and think it is a great bag for daily use.

A Public Service Announcement

I came home the other day and I could hear a strange buzzing noise. We often play the game of "What's That Noise?", and this time it turned out to be coming from my sewing room UPS. Turned out that the battery was dead and it showed this by making a truly annoying noise.

It is fixed now, and I am back in business. However, I wondered how many of you have a UPS (uninterruptible power supply) attached to your sewing machine. They look like this:

This is the one under my desk. It was easier to take a picture of this one, then the one in the sewing room. We have these all over the house. Each computer, the TV and PVR, and, of course, my sewing machines. They cost $50 to $100. They have serious surge protection and a battery to balance the power levels in the case of brownouts. My sewing machine cost a small fortune (worth every penny) and the computer can be completely fried by power fluctuations. I am not willing to risk that. These UPS units come with an insurance policy that will replace the equipment plugged into it, in the case where the UPS fails, and equipment is damaged. It just seems like a good idea.

I have started work on a new bag, but I am not far enough along to show pictures, so instead, I bring you my current foster.

This is Ti-Gars (pronounced tee-gah) and he is part flame point Himalayan. He is a handsome boy, and has a very sweet personality.

He is also very well mannered. You will notice that when he sleeps on the table, he makes sure he is on a placemat.

Some Progress is Being Made

I was thinking I hadn't done much this week. However, I got more done than I thought.

I admire people who can get a quilt top done in a day or so, but that will never be me. I like to sew a bit, knit a bit, read a bit. In between, there are meals to create, foster cats to take to appointments, dogs to walk. Obviously, I am more of a generalist.

Last week, I had this pile of bits of fabric.

This week, I have the wall hanging flimsy done. The blocks are pieced in a kind of free style fashion, using the blue fabric to make each block 12".  The centre block is the Trans-Canada Block Party block, from Textile Traditions in Almonte, ON.

Since the request was for a New Brunswick quilt, I think I have succeeded. The dear one who asked for this has given whole-hearted approval to my efforts. I plan to piece a couple more of those bits into a backing, maybe add some other bits from my stash. Next up, trying to decide how to quilt it.

I was knitting last night, while cuddling the current foster cat, and we were watching Amazing Race Canada. I love that show, seeing parts of Canada I would not otherwise see, wondering who would be crazy enough to compete. I was thrilled last night, when the final challenge was to solve a math problem. The majority of the contestants immediately did the "I'm not good at math" thing. I have a hard time understanding why people think this isn't a life skill they need. A team of two young women stepped up to their white board, grabbed the calculator, and promptly solved the problem going from 5th place to first. They won that leg of the race and a trip to some exotic locale. I cheered! GEEK GIRLS RULE!

Canada 150 Fabric

I made my little guy another pair of shorts, using Wilmington's Way Home to Canada pigs. I went to a trunk show of their fabrics in the spring, and the ladies attending the show dubbed this print "Canadian Bacon".

The fabric doesn't really scream "Canada" to me, but I think it makes cute shorts.

I picked up one of the Northcott Sesquicentennial Provincial panels, and I want to make a wall hanging out of it.

I cut up the panel to make it into smaller pieces, that I can sash. I don't think I will use all the pieces.

I've been drawing sketches and laying the pieces out, and I think I nearly have it. Although, as I look at the picture, I think I need to shift them one more time.