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. 

Let's Talk About Hemp...

I have introduced a new line of bags in my Etsy shop made from eco friendly and sustainable fabrics such as hemp, linen, organic cotton and bamboo.

I wish to buy hemp.  It is not grown or manufactured in the U.S. .....soooo, I need to send my  dollars out of the country since our government in it's effort to keep us drug free simply flat out banned the growing and harvesting of cannabis.  In researching the fabrics I am using I am learning a lot about growing, harvesting, manufacturing and arcane laws.

Hemp bags with coconut husk buttons lined with bamboo-cotton. 

 

Surely no member of the vegetable kingdom has ever been more misunderstood than hemp. For too many years, emotion-not reason-has guided our policy toward this crop. And nowhere have emotions run hotter than in the debate over the distinction between industrial hemp and marijuana.  Please read this article which is intended to inform that debate by offering scientific evidence so we can distinguish between myth and reality.

Finally....hemp is one of the easiest and sustainable  crops to grow.  Anything that can be made from cotton can be made from hemp.  Cotton is one of the most environmentally destructive agricultural crops. In pesticide use in the US alone, it is staggering – 125 million kilograms annually. Worldwide, cotton production used 50 percent of the world's pesticides/herbicides. 

Pesticides are possibly the greatest toxic threat to contaminating our soil, air, water and natural communities because they are often permanent and they bio-accumulate, ie their toxicity increases as they are consumed up the food chain. Many pesticides are known carcinogens, and can also cause immuno-deficiency disorders. Added to this, pesticides have a petroleum base and their excessive use perpetuates our dependency on oil. (Courtesy: Binhai Times).  You may want to take a look at Hemp 101 .

I am more and more tuned into what we, as a family, are doing to work with our environment as well as getting chemically engineered products out of our lives.  With my antennae up I am taking in more and more information and adding that to what I already know....which I find was surprisingly little.   So I am taking the liberty of chunking up my blog with this information.  Sorry, but this little corner of the world is mine.

In the next few weeks, I will pass along information about household cleaners, organic gardening and re-cycling.

Please, if you have something to add...I would welcome it.  The comment section is open to everyone.  Let's share what we know.

Chirstmas 'n stuff...

Making Christmas stuff for my Etsy shop, the Craft Faire at church and to give as hostess gifts, etc.  Pot holders are flying out of my sewing room.   As for the aprons,  I really have a hard time.  I did find one tutorial that works pretty on Fabrotopia's site...click here to go to site and download instructions.   I can't wear hats and I can't put together an apron.  Just better move on.  


There is a new design for my wristlets.  I have altered Leah Williams' pattern from over at Sew Spoiled and added a cuff on the top.  This make installing the zipper a real snap for me and looks kind of cute.

And this is my favorite fabric....I know someone who would look stunning carrying this, maybe on New Year's Eve.   Lately the fabrics are getting more interesting to experiment with....ultra-suede is fabulous.  The Asian style fabric shot with gold is stunning, and I have some cranberry poly-satin that makes a yummy wristlet. 

I have uploaded these to Flikr, and my friends over there seem to like the design and use of fabric.  Gives me some incentive  to play more.  So, I guess I will offer a couple of these for sale in my shop and see what takes off.  Wish me luck.

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? 

 

Always a quilt...

Even in these near 100 degree summer days, there is always a quilt on our bed, every bed.
I have made every quilt and each one has a personality and a memory.  This quilt was made at our mini-group's retreat.  We made one for the Cancer Center's Quilt Auction and one for ourselves.  

We swap fabric.  I can look at this quilt and think "Elly shared this fabric" and "Irene showed me how to square this up" and "Kay helped me pick fabric".........and everyone helped me agonize over block placement!

Missy, gives this quilt (and any other she can curl up on) her approval.  There is something about cats and quilts that go together and bring out the 'ahhhhh' factor in me.

This quilt is "Maggie's" quilt.  It sits on our window seat where she likes to doze.  It doesn't belong anyplace else. 






Here is is unfolded
....all those great Moda fabrics.

The quilt on the left is one of the ones I will have for sale on etsy when I get my act together.  I have three that will be for sale, and I don't know whether to have a separate shop on etsy for them, or to include them with the purses and writstlets.














I have a soft spot for this quilt.  I saw a Feathered Star Quilt at a show in Folsom and fell in love with it.  I knew the only way I would have one would be to make it myself.  What a challenge, but I think it is my best work.

Someday, I will post more about my quilts.  To see more you can go to my Flickr Photostream.  Quilts in my home and some still in progress. The bags and wristlets I make have all been photographed to upload into my shop at etsy. So they are there too.  If you do go...take some time to look at the comments from others and look at their work especially Ann Stewart's page.  Follow the trail from one quilter to another and time just flys by.
See you when you get back!:)

I Can't Fly

After deciding that I couldn't fly on the zip line with the grandkids, I decided to get some work done for the shop ...and make some more wristlets and list them on etsy.   I did pretty well and got three made and several others cut out. 

 



      I discovered this bag pattern over on Sew Spoiled.  Leah gives you permission to make and sell, so I went for it.    This summer.  I whipped one out and carried it on our two week vacation. Hands free shopping, sightseeing, etc.  Sometimes it holds as much as my keys,  camera, glasses, cash and id, the cell phone is pushing it.

Anyway...we sewed most of the afternoon ,feline co-worker, Missy, supervising.

She approved most everything, so it was a good day.