Daiwabo....

I have been saving the most beautiful Daiwabo Fabric to make a quilt for Garth.


In the process I kept aside enough to make four wristlets for my Etsy shop.

I used the basic pattern from Lea over at Sew Spoiled just click on the 'shop' tab at the top of her blog.  This pleated wristlet pattern, by the by, is very versatile and fun to make.

Here they are!!!!!  All ready for you over at Square Bag Shop on Etsy . 

All have zippers on top with a hand beaded zipper pull. 

More on the hexies....a little tutorial

I put some photos of making my hexagons up on Flickr and got a question or two on using the plastic template.  


I  have used both the English paper-piecing method and  the plastic or mylar foundation piecIng.  I  bought  a ton of them back in the day and launched an ambitious Grandmother's Flower Garden quilt top using them..the idea being that you could leave them in the hexies, sew them together to make one 18 hexie block,  press (mylar is heat resistant) then pop them all out.  Start again.  I liked it since there were no basting stitches to remove and no paper to take out. However, I ran out of patience and dumped the whole project some years back.


Then, when Heather  from A La Mode Fabric sends an email asking me to join the hexie group. I found about three or four of them left in my junk.  I wanted to make the pillow that Ashley made.  So I used just one of the plastic joberdoos as follows:  

Do a running stitch around the edge of the fabric. Pull the thread to gather and tie off.  Press using warm iron with a spritz of starch...allow to cool and then pop out the plastic.  Repeat.

Making these little guys is addictive...plus you can put fabric scraps, needle, thread scissors and your template in a zip-lock and drop it in your bag.  Portable hand work is a good thing!

Personally, I would never do it this way for a quilt.  But I wanted a whole bunch of  hexies to put on my pillow.  

Copying Ashley's pillow design, I made my own from scraps from a repro fabric quilt I made. I had an 18" pillow form, so cut a piece of Kona White 20" square, another of batting and two pieces about 20 by 12 for the envelope back. Spray basted the top to the batting and quilted using inspiration courtesy of CharminI 

have a Janome, and it comes with a blind-hem foot. I moved the needle posittion all the way to the left and sort of improvised a 1/8" foot. I sewed all the hexies down with 1/8" allowance all around.  

Made bias binding....put that on and added the backing and voila!  This was fun, fun, fun!


p.s.  I love the way the hexies are all organized in the upper right, then they start escaping and tumbling down.....the symbolism is not lost on me ;)


BTW, all the talented ladies whose work I admire and have mentioned here are listed in my blogroll..over in the right column.  

Sampaquita Quilts

I found this lady's quilt on flikr...and simply stared.   

It pops, the colors are so clean and movement of the design is lovely.  She appliqued the elements onto the quilt by machine after she quilted it and used thread the same color as the fabric.  The back of the quilt is a knock-out....

Go take a look, and don't miss the photostream she has on Flickr .   Of course I went  to her blog 
and on to her Etsy shop for more eye candy.

Thank you flikr and etsy friends...

Thank you to Alice and crazyhousequilts from Etsy and Flickr for identifying the fabrics I want so much, but only saved the photo.....what a wonderful group of folks.  Thank you both.

Maggie.....

Maggie.....,
originally uploaded by SquareBag.

Daddy made bacon this morning.  Maggie is haunting the kitchen....in hopes of a treat!  She is a 14 year old Cockapoo....who should really have a blog of her own.  Hmmmmm......

This is Buchtein!

A lovely lady in Austria named Sardana posted this photo on Flikr....

 

I went ran all the way to her blog and got the recipe.....click on the link and scroll down to February 11th....   I had a little trouble understanding how to convert some of the measurements, and  I am not confident in doinking around with pastry or bread recipes.   It appeared very much like an egg bread recipe I use so I went with it.  Just added a bit of vanilla in place of the vanilla sugar and then the lemon zest. 

Here is my recipe:  

3/4 cup milk
1/4 cup water

2 egg yolks

zest of small lemon

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/4 cup butter, softened

2 3/4 cups flour

3 tablespoons  sugar

1 teaspoons salt

2 teaspoons active dry yeast

and then follow Sardana's tehnique for forming the rolls.
Let them rise 45-60 min or until doubled then

bake about 30 minutes at 350 degrees.

 

I thought it would be a splendid idea to use Mandarin Orange Jam/Jelly made locally from the fabulous mandarins grown nearby. 

Roll out the dough....

Cut into twelve squares...and put a teaspoon of marmalade or jam in center then pinch it closed.    

Brush with  butter, cover with dish towel and let rise in warm spot (I let it rise for about an hour)

Sardana's instructions have much shorter rising times than I am used to.  I find that altitude has a marked effect on rising times.......breads rise in one-third the time noted for lower altitudes.  Considering she is in Salzburg this accounts for the shorter time.

 

Bake 'em up and dust with powdered sugar.  When you get a whiff of the fragrance, just try to stay out of the (or keep DH's hands off)....we had to eat one right away.  Heavenly.

Baby Wonderland Quilt

baby wonderland quilt,
originally uploaded by filminthefridge.

Ashley over at FilmInTheFridge posted this photo of her quilt for Etsy's Craft Hope Shop on flikr.

All proceeds of the Craft Hope Etsy shop will benefit Doctors Without Borders in Haiti. All items have been generously donated by the crafting community. If you'd like to donate an item please visit the Craft Hope website (www.crafthope.com).
http://www.etsy.com/shop/crafthope

Flikr Photo of the Day

Love this series of quilts and the photos from Ashley over at FilmInTheFridge .

Well, we are almost there...

I have learned a lot about the secrets of making metal frame purses.  Believe me, there are a few things that I really didn't understand....the epiphany for me was this part (trust me it is KEY):  You will find it in Lisa's  tutorial and I learned it the hard way.  See the red X?  That is where you need to widen your pattern in order to have it open wide enough.  There is a hinge involved here and that is where you can get into trouble.

Here,  my pattern
did not allow for the hinge.  I can't get my hand into the bag when is it open.
Here is the pattern I made to allow for that space.Again, the U-Bag Tutorial that Lisa put out makes the most sense to me.

As I was told by several talented bagmakers, you need to make your own pattern to match the frame size.
For you folks who have posted here my blog or on our thread at CABT (Carried Away Bag Team.(it is on the ning page..if you are not a member, you should be)  tell me that you want to try these bags but haven't for lack of info.  I will post more suggestion on my flker page because it will be photo-heavy and my bog needs to move on (like me).

See you in the morning....

Itty Bity Toys Santa on Flickr - Photo Sharing!

Itty Bity Toys Santa on Flickr - Photo Sharing!

I Heart Flikr

A friend sends me an email saying :  "That is a great picture of the Halloween Wristlet on your Blog.  Nothing new to read though." 

Well...I beg to differ.....There I was over on the my Flikr site and found a way to get things onto my blog from from there.  No dragging photos, no retyping, no cut 'n paste.  That was a very cool event for me!  

Speaking of my Flikr Site (see shameless link above), I have received two sales from people who were on flikr, saw my work, then tracked it down and now it is theirs.  

I heard from Renee....

"I want..I want...how do i get this?! i don't see this on your esty site... i love dia de los muertos stuff and this is super awesome with the purple inside too! love these both!"

Then just now...the Beez Pleez bag sold.  I am awsome sorry to wrap it up and mail it off, but the buyer will love it just like I did.  I came 'this close' to claiming it for my own.  Then the email comes....


 "I totally just zipped to your etsy shop and snagged this!! I am soooo excited!! I make handbags but this is excellent and so worth the price! Job well done. :))"

And whaddya know, one gift for Renee and one sale to a cool lady in Georgia whose blog I am now following.  Until recently I never got the power of flikr.....It is easy to use and fun to belong to their groups.  Linda from Fabric Place found the same bag and sent a complimentary email (that bag was made with her fabric). 

I can upload pictures of my work and see other people's efforts. 

I have also listed some of my bags and wristlets on  ArtFire .  

eeek!...as we speak I just sold another Day of the Dead wristlet to a gal in Rochester, New York.  I wonder what the chances are of ladies in Los Angeles and Rochester ending up dancing in the same bar showing off their wristlets.   There is one more left....do you hear me Alaska?