Thing of Beauty!

Let's step out of the sewing room, shall we?  Let's go outside and take a look at some flowers that are blooming in my yard despite the hot, dry summer days we are having here in southeast Texas . It is so bright and sunny outside at noon that the colors in these photos are washed out.

Look at this one.  Passiflora . I have always called it Passion Flower. This is a wild flower, a vine, that you don't often see around my area. I am lucky to have it. It is a most exquisite flower. Look at those petals! Look at the crown! I have read that it symbolizes the Crown of Thorns which Christ wore on the Cross. This flower says it all.  Amen. The most beautiful quilt could not be compared to the glory of this flower.

Passionflower

  Kaffe Fasset fabrics come close, though.

This little delicate flower I call the Purple Hyacinth.  It is also a vine.  After it flowers, it forms these lovely purple seed pods.  The seeds themselves are beautiful. 

Ahhh, I just love my little garden alcove.  One of my happy places.  And now, let's get back to sewing.  I am making pouches and this is my sewing room in pouchmania...

Enjoy your day everyone!  Thanks for stopping by!

My Triple Zip Pouches!

I have several projects going besides making the Love Entwined applique.  Over the weekend I made a few more triple zip pouches! Have you seen them?  They are soooo cute!  I have made about 30 of them. They make a great little gift when you add some goodies behind those bright little zippers.

My mom recently celebrated her 90th birthday and I gave zip pouches as party favors to all the "girls" who attended her party.  On Mother's Day, the mothers of my grandboys and granddogs were given a pouch filled with yummy lotions, beauty products and a gift card for a cuppa coffee. They are perfect for a quick thank you gift. Some very dedicated teachers received them as a gift at the end of spring classes.   Some will soon be gifted in the state of New York and some will celebrate some special birthdays.
  

Here is where I learned how to make these cute little bags.  Debbie, from A Quilter's Table,  created this very detailed tutorial for the Triple Zip Pouch.  It is very easy to follow and I really respond to a project that lines up every piece in an order, Step 1, Step 2, and so on. 


My outward appearance may seem scattered, but my inward brain likes Step 1, Step 2, etc.   Everything moves along smoothly until the end where Debbie just has to stop taking photographs because everything is crowded and a little fumbly with three zippers and three pockets. 

    What? Do not despair! Just a little pause for a mental review! 

A very kind person, Marci Girl, at MarciGirl Designs, has created An Alternate Ending Tutorial to Debbie's Triple Zip Pouch tutorial. She picked up the original photo tutorial and, with this little addition,  carried me all the way through turning wrong sides out and it all made perfect sense and I haven't stopped making Triple Zip Pouches! 

                                                                                       

They are so much fun to make!  I use different combinations and colors from my stash of novelty prints and fun zippers.  I even added my handmade ribbon label.  I did have to pick up a few bags of zippers from ZipIt .It got pretty expensive buying single zippers at the local craft store.  And, as we all know, I cannot pass up a 1/2 half yard cut of a cute novelty print. 

Hope you will give it a try!  Or, hope you get one as a gift from one of your stitching friends!

Thanks for stopping by!

A New Beginning

I will work from this color palette

Well here goes!

I am excited to share my progress of a new quilt I am starting called Love Entwined.  You can find the fascinating story about this quilt and Esther's drafting of the pattern to create an 18 month block of the month series by going here  

First Attempt

Finding the most satisfying color palette is a difficult process. My first attempt was the maroon and black, but I was also drawn to the black and beige color palette from two bundles I picked up at the Houston International Quilt Festival from this vendor here . The two bundles have been sitting on my shelf for several years and I really doubt they are still available as groupings from this vendor.  One line is called Nouveau c. 1910 by Nancy Gere for Windham Fabrics  and the second Masterworks by Kathy Hall for Andover Fabrics Inc.

Esther began her journey to locate this quilt whose only reference is a black and white photo that was published in a book called Patchwork Quilts by Averil Colby back in 1956. For a link to more information about Averil Colby and her books go here 

Thanks for stopping by!