Projects

I LOVE A Challenge!

I have been making these wallets for a couple of months now, using a pattern called Koin Keeper from This & That by Sherri K. Falls. I bought it on Etsy, and have good sales from the completed items.

P9160003 — A black print zipper pocket wallet also for Donna M

Then, the other day, one of my best customers, Froggi Donna, asked me if I could make her one with the zipper pocket on the outside. Well, I took that as a challenge to see what I could do. And here is what I came up with:

PA230006 — With the zippered pocket on the outside

PA230004 — and six card slots on the inside!

This design also gives three extra card slots, and an open “pocket” on the outside. This one closed with velcro, but I have magnetic snap closures too.

So, what do you think? Is it a “love it” or a “back to the drawing board” solution? What challenge do YOU have for me? For instance, my sister wants a zippered bag to hold her wireless mouse when she travels. I’m just waiting for the measurements for that. I am going to give this purple one away to one of my readers. Just comment, telling me what your challenge for me would be. I’ll pick a winner by random number generator. Remember to leave me an email address where I can get in touch with you if you are the winner. Give away ends November 6, 2010.

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A Pretty Little Baby Quilt

Karen · 6 Comments

I’ve this precut “jellyroll” of fabric since last winter, just sitting there staring me in the face. For those who don’t know, a “jellyroll” is a bundle of one and a half inch strips of fabric that are already cut. Yesterday, I got it out and played around with the placement of the strips to make a striped baby quilt.

PA150018 — halfway finsished sewing them together

Even though there is not FabGrandchild on the way, I had this in my head to do and so it must be done. I hope to be finished with it by Sunday and in my Etsy shop to sell. I am loving that I didn’t have to cut anything before I was able to just sit down and sew!

PA150019 — Fabric is "Soiree" from Moda.

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OOOO, Two Lovely Quilts Back From the Quilter

Karen · 7 Comments

P9230092 — The front of Becca's lone star quilt

I started this one last summer when I was up here at the North Rim–this bugger was hard to cut and hard to sew, but I think my efforts paid off really well–this thing is gorgeous!

P9230093 — Close up to show quilting and star detail

I do not have room to quilt large quilts in my travel trailer, so I got a referral from the local quilt shop for a very nice lady to do the quilting on a long arm machine.

P9230094 — another close up to show quilting detail

She was quite reasonable, and got them done in a very timely manner–not to mention that she made my quilts look soooooo goooood!

P9230095 — one more close up of the front

I usually piece the back of the quilts I make, because I like the added personality it adds to a quilt, not to mention that if you turn it over, you get another whole quilt to display on your bed.

Since I know Becca likes greens and earthy tones, I added them to the back of this quilt.

I also was able to use up some more scraps from my fabric stash by doing this. Since I only have “so much room” for fabric, using up means I get to buy more, heheheh!

P9230099 — I knew Becca would like that green leaf print.

This one, for ME, after almost 12 years of making quilts:

P9230100 — I chose to make the back mostly brown, with an accent of a striped fabric that has all the colors of the quilt in it.

I love the back of this one, too. Jorja, the woman who did the quilting, used turquoise thread in the bobbin so that the quilting would show up against the brown background. Love!

P9230104 — A close up to show quilting detail

I love how the quilted floral motif shows up here.

I only started this one in February, so it is really one of the quickest large quilts I have ever made. I am very pleased with how it turned out, too.

P9230106 — Even closer up to show block detail

Although the pattern called for 16 different fabrics for the blocks, I only had 8, so I used each one twice as much. I named this quilt my “Kaibab Quilt” because the colors in it remind me of the Kaibab National Forest, with the ponderosa pines, the aspens, the wildflowers in them meadows, and the puffy white clouds that always seem to be in the sky out there.

I have to get the binding on Becca’s quilt first, because she is coming to visit in about a week and a half–so I trimmed mine and put it on the bed. We are going to use it unfinished until I get Becca’s done. It was so nice to sleep under it last night!

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Stuff I Made Today

Karen · 4 Comments

I spent most of the day today sewing. Here are some of the things I made:

P9160002 — A white floral business card wallet for Donna M

P9160012 — A cute manicure kit bag. It will include all those manicure tools.

P9160015 — Another little manicure kit bag.

P9160019 — Inside the sewing kit. It is just too cute!

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It’s A Sewing Kit

Karen · 2 Comments

And Susan guessed it, so she wins this one. I’ll be making some more for sale on my Etsy store. And Poppa–I’m glad you commented on here. It’s about time!

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Can You Guess What This Is?

Karen · 6 Comments

I posted a photo of this in Facebook and asked the same question.There have been many guesses so far but none have been correct. The first person to guess correctly what this is, will be the new owner of it. Have fun guessing, and I will let you know if you are right.

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Getting Ready For The Fall Craft Shows

Karen · 7 Comments

I am thinking about going to a couple of craft shows in November and December as a vendor, so I am making things to get ready for it. Since I live in an RV, I have to make small things so I will have room to store them. In my previous life I used to go to craft shows to sell my stuff, but I made things like soap and bath salts that were heavy. I just don’t have anywhere to keep stuff like that anymore in quantities large enough to make it worth my while to go to the shows with.

Way back then, I made teddy bears and hobby horses, appliqued dish towels, and a couple of other things, too. I thought about making some teddy bears, but when I took out my pattern, I was missing a piece of it. Can’t make a teddy with no head now can we?

I love doing the shows–you meet so many people, other crafters, and it’s just fun. And sometimes you sell something!

craft show stuff — A little bit of everything

I also love decorating the tables and setting up an attractive display. Sometimes it can be challenging. Things have changed since the late 90’s when I was doing the craft show circuit. Back then, I could only take cash payments. I am thinking now, I could take my laptop with me and I could take payments through Paypal over the internet, like instant money!

So, today while I was thinking about what to make, I came up with several ideas for things. First, ever since I lost my manicure kit, I have been trying to develop a little zipper one, not too big, but big enough to hold all the manicure tools plus a couple bottles of nail polish. This is the first attempt:

P8190020 — first attempt at a manicure kit

While this one is pretty, it is not functional–the tools fall out the open sides. So, today, I designed a different one, that has a zipper closure, and has little pockets inside to hold everything. It is even big enough to hold a couple bottles of nail polish:

I just need to adjust my pattern to make it a little bit bigger on all sides, like maybe 1/4 inch, so that the tools will fit better.

I am also going to make some more of those little zipper bags:

And some more business card wallets:

P9090032 — love the little zipper pockets

So, I think I have a lot of sewing ahead of me in the weeks to come. What else can I make that would be 1. small, 2. lightweight, and 3. would sell well??????

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