Not exactly what I was going for...

Last night, when I should have been doing anything pertaining to getting ready for Quinn's party, I instead whipped up this new bag style I've been thinking about.

It's not exactly what I was going for. It's a little wider, and not quite tall enough. I was picturing a little more curve at the opening. And, I wanted to fold in the sides at the top near the handles to give it a little extra curve, but my machine totally rebelled against going through the 12 layers of fabric there, so I had to give up on that.

At least, for once, I didn't try my latest idea with my favorite-fabric-of-the-moment. It only took me five or six times to learn to perfect a new style before bringing out the fabric you really want to use.

I'd love to try again today, but I really, really need to get going on Quinn's party preparations. I bought her a little bike, and it needs to be assembled. I think I should plan on spending about 12 to 14 hours on that one today, given my track record with assembly projects. Directions and I just don't get along.

:: 2 pockets, and a magnetic closure ::


:: Should have been working on turning this into a fox shirt for Quinn ::

Long Pah-ty Weekend II

I had another busy weekend that kept me from my sewing machine. We went out with friends Friday night to celebrate my birthday, attended a yard party on Saturday (for nine hours). And then, because it just seemed wrong to not follow that up with something on Sunday, the kids and I joined friends at a Bavarian fest.

So I didn't get nearly as much done as I should have, and then woke up today with the flu. Quinn's birthday is tomorrow, and her party is Saturday. So, let's hope that it it's a short run and that I haven't already infected my children.

:: Traditional dress and dance at the Bavarian festival ::

:: Quinn won't pose ::

:: Either will Xander ::

45 minutes later

Earlier this week I noticed two tiny scratches on my new Blackberry screen. I've been dumping it loose in my totes, and it's been rubbing up against something (keys?).

Today I had 45 spare minutes, and thought I should whip something up that I could use to carry the blackberry around in safely inside my totes.

45 minutes later -- voila. Handy phone tote.

I have to say, I was really happy with how this turned out. Sometimes, you just get in the zone and it's all so easy. Too bad you can't have those days more often.

:: Lined with fabric I picked up in NYC ::


:: Look how snuggly the Blackberry looks. Aw.... ::

I've been getting a lot done this week due to the horrible weather. We've had storms every day. It's cloudy, depressing, and hot. But I can't help but walk around with a smile on my face. Because I have a new roof. And nothing is leaking. The sound of rain on a brand-new slate roof is a beautiful, beautiful thing.

Our basement, on the other hand, is totally wet. But what can I expect. Our house is 90 years old, and the basement foundation is really just large stones stacked on top of each other. Which, when you think about it, is something you really shouldn't think about. Okay, um.... turning brain off now....

August Birthdays

August is a busy month for birthdays. Mine is on the 25th, Quinn turns 3 on the 28th, and my dad's birthday is on the 29th. I'm able to pretty easily ignore my own birthday now that Quinn's is three days later. And now that I'm in a long stretch of not really getting any benefit of adding years, it's nice to have an excuse to overlook it.

But, I have to admit that Quinn's kind of snuck up on me this year. I realized a few days ago that I hadn't sent out invitations yet, or even come close to thinking up a theme. This is pretty sad considering that last year she got homemade softies and t-shirts from me for her wild house monkey party. This year, um.... yeah, no idea.

So, Monday night I whipped up these invitations with the help of some stock illlustration. I was pretty happy with the result (considering the minimal effort involved). That is, until I showed them to Quinn to ask what she thought. 'Um. No mom," was her reply. "Not good."

I suspect she might be right, but, as I don't have time for re-do's, I'm afraid she's stuck with it. Luckily, she's only turning three. She'll forget all about the invitations by the time her party rolls around.

Random Photo

I found this one when I was organizing photos over the weekend. I snapped this while Kevin and I were at a pub on vacation earlier this summer.

New bag style

I'm really happy with how this one turned out. I took my time and made sure that all of the seams were straight and ripped out the inside zipper twice before I was happy with it.

:: Check out the hardware on the handles ::


:: And my label on the side. And the inside pocket. And magnetic clasp ::


:: How do I get the handles to stay up in my photos? Meet Xander. ::


:: Three finished elephant mini-clutches ::

First Day of School

Well, first day of preschool anyhow. Still, Quinn was terribly excited. She had been carrying around her backpack all day Sunday and was ready and standing at the door five minutes before me this morning.

I feel bad about all the kids starting 'real' school next week as we are having terrible weather this week -- the last week of vacation. We've had thunderstorms every day and lots of rain. We got outside after work and school for a few minutes when there was a short break in the rain.

:: Xander climbs our only 'tree' - an overgrown burning bush ::


:: Quinn helps mom make a zucchini quiche ::


:: I had to throw some bacon in the mix in order to get the boys in the family to eat it ::

long pah-ty weekend

I had plans to do a lot of sewing this weekend. but it didn't quite work out. Instead, I went out with friends Friday night and then took the kids to a party on Saturday night and Sunday afternoon. I finished a handbag tonight, but it was raining outside and too dark inside to shoot without the flash, so I'll have to post that tomorrow.

:: The party turned into a toddler-rave after the sun went down ::

:: The next morning was rough on Xander ::

Busy Week

It's been a busy (and fun) week so far. We had a great time at the tree farm and the stars put on a pretty good show -- even though we had to wake up at 3:30 am to get the best viewing time. The kids managed to spend all night in their own tent leaving Kevin and I to the big tent by ourselves. Nice.

On the way home I picked up a bunch of fresh locally grown veggies and have been cooking something new up every night. It's made me think I should really try cooking more often.

:: Whole wheat pasta with fresh veggies and feta ::

:: Asparagus tart with fresh eggs ::

:: New apron from Anthropologie ::


Some other stuff going on this week:

:: Checking out Marrietta Brewing Company with Mike and Erica ::

:: Sketching up a logo for their new brewing company ::

:: Watching Alisa perform ::


And, of course, some sewing. I have two small elephant clutch bags completed and am working on a new bag design. Hopefully I'll be posting the finished product in a couple of days.

Going Camping

Kevin and I are taking the kids to his parent's tree farm tonight in the hopes of seeing some good meteor action. It's the annual Pirseids meteor shower and we can usually see it pretty good down on their farm – away from all of the city lights. Mike and Erica are coming with us. We’re looking forward to a night of playing shadow puppets in the tent with the kids, making s’mores and watching the light show.

:: Quinn is excited to leave town ::

:: What a ham ::

Stocking Up

It's now only fourteen weeks until Patty Fair and it's time for me to really get cranking. I'm tryting to knock out three bags a week between now and December 1st. Wish me luck! I just got an order in from Repo Depot Fabrics and will be cutting out pieces for my medium tote pattern when we get back from camping tomorrow afternoon.

:: Yellow, orange, and green ::

:: More great greens in this barkcloth-like fabric ::

:: I love this mod print ::

Happy Accident

I love this bag. Even though it isn't at all the bag that I set out to make. I had planned to make a messenger bag and try out this new corner technique that Lynne had told me about when she looked at one of my recent bags. But, part way into it I realized that I hadn't considered how the messenger flap would work with those corners. So, I cut the top part off and decided to go with my normal button closure. Then I thought I should turn the bird fabric into a front pocket instead of just a decorative accent. I made the pocket and then realized again that now the corners wouldn't work. This time I abandoned the corners all together. I'm really happy with how it came out and am now thinking that this will be one of the patterns that I use for the bags I make for Patty Fair.

::The inside of the bag has one large Velcro pocket::


::I love the square hardware on the handles::

Pardon our Dust

It all started when I asked my brother, Mike, to cut down our headboard so it wasn't so tall. When we pulled the headboard away from the wall we learned that the window had been leaking for who knows how long, and that the plaster was ruined underneath.

Usually, i don't run into these problems until I start taking down the nasty thirty-year old wall paper in our house. Which is exactly the reason I was content to live with the horrible blue and pink flowers in our bedroom. I knew the moment I started to take it down I'd find some huge problem (like we did in the other two bedrooms) and would end up gutting the room and putting up drywall.

So, here we are gutting the room and putting up drywall. We could have done just the one damaged wall, but my brother and I have the same philosophy about these kind of things. So instead of a small patchwork job, we're getting new drywall, new electric (it just makes sense to update that old knob and tube while the walls are done), a new drywall ceiling (it would be weird to have a plaster ceiling with drywall walls), new handmade wood crown molding, window trim and baseboard (because we're not going to but the ninetly-year old original trim back up when it's all beat up and has been painted about 20 times already), and reworking some ducts so the fireplace stands out better. Okay, that last one is purely cometic.

Also, when I say 'we' I really mean Mike. Lord knows Kevin and I don't know how to do this kind of stuff ourselves.

Green Sunday

We got back from Mexico yesterday -- 18 hours after we were scheduled to arrive (why is air travel so messed up this summer?!). We had an amazing vacation. In fact, I've realized that up until now we've been taking trips and that this is our first true vacation. Meaning, we did a lot of laying around on an all inclusive resort and very little sight-seeing. It was a wonderful change of pace.

I have about one hundred things to do before heading back to work tomorrow, so there's no time for real blogging tonight. But I did want to post a few photos.

See you all later in the week after I dig out a bit.