Not Too Shabby...

...for a Shabby Tote, that is.

I finished the model for my next class. Now, to write the pattern for it.

Sewn with sweet, floral fabric, vintage lace and button, a dreamy image

and a floral accent on the pocket, all merging to become one girly bag.

 It can be sewn with or without batting. Then, add a pocket inside

for your keys or cell phone and voila! Grab your tote and head off

to the nearest flea market, shop or event to show off your creation.

You know your friends will want one, too! They make great gifts.

I'm really excited to share my pattern and techniques with the 

students who sign up for this class.  It's going to be so much fun!

Just imagine them bringing all their own laces, buttons and trim

to class and then letting their imaginations run wild. Wheee!

Once the pattern is written, I'll also be able to share it with you

via Craftsy. I'll let you know when it's up on my shop site, so you

can play with your vintage stash, too! I'll also have little kits that

will include the outside fabric, and image of your choice with

coordinating vintage lace, just in case you'd like a little headstart.

I'll put those up in my Etsy shop. I guess I'd better write that pattern!

Today, I'll be teaching "Flutterby" at Crazy Quilters. 

There really is nothing quite so rewarding as the look on a student's

face when you can tell they've learned a technique you're teaching.

I'm going to be looking for that today.

I hope you have a creative day today, too.
Later, girlfriends!

Winners...

 I finished the quilt top for "Flutterby"...and I think it's a winner!

 This is to show you the whole quilt top.

 This is to show you my cute knees. lol

 After I finished the quilt top, I assembled a new Strawberry Rose Pincushion.

I had done the stitching a while ago, and now it's finished for a swap I'm in.

 I joined Erin and her other participants at Why Not Sew? Quilts blog for a 

Strawberry Pincushion Swap. This swap was right up my alley. A real winner!

 I'm sending it off to my swap partner today. I sure hope she likes it!

Oh! It just occurred to me that you're all here to find out 

who the winners of my 1600th Post Giveaway are! 

Silly me!

Well, let me announce the winners now!

The winner of the fabric assortment is:

#25 GILL

 The three FOUR (I added one more!) winners of 

"Home Comforts" are:

#14 JOYCELM

#61 GLORIA M

#60 CLARA

and

#41 MRAY

 and finally,

The three FOUR (I added one more!) winners of 

"Simple Things, Small Joys" are:

#50 CHARLOTTE

#1 LEANNE of Quiltmekiwi

(See? #1 does win!)

#4 MINIMISS*

#64 SHIRLEY*

If there isn't a blog link or (*) after your name, please contact me with your full name

and address so that I can send your prize to you. You can send a message to me via the

email link on my right sidebar.  I'll mail your prize as soon as I have your information.

(If I don't hear from you by next Friday, October 11, 2013, I'll draw a new name.)

Congratulations to everyone who won a prize

and

Thank you to all who entered and visit Brynwood.

I appreciate each and every one of you.

xo

 Whenever I have to go to Sarasota, I figure I lose a half-day in the studio. Such 

was the case yesterday. I had appointments to keep and didn't get back home until 

nearly 2 pm. I made a bee-line for my playroom and almost finished my quilt top.

I only have one more corner assembly to construct, and then I can sew all four

corners to the quilt. I'll be finished by noon, and then I'll sit back and admire

 it before I go grab my camera to take pictures. Hoping for good, natural light.

 Right about the time I was ready to take these, it started to rain. Good for

the yard. Bad for capturing images that reflect the most accurate colors.

I'll be sure to get much better ones of the finished piece to share with you.

Today is the last day to enter my 1600th Post Giveaway. 

You have until midnight to add your names to the pot, and I'll announce

the winners in tomorrow's post. Here's the link to go to the post.

That's More Like It...

 A lot of good rest overnight and starting with a clear head yesterday morning...

that's all it took to work through the problems I had with my current project.

I read - and then re-read - the instructions, and then I set about correctly

assembling the first three borders (and appliqued' corners) on my quilt project.

 Funny how daylight made everything so much easier! It went together

like a dream...considering that I went to sleep more than a little flustered.

 Today I'll be adding more blocks and borders. I'm quite sure that by

the end of the day, I'll have this entire, cheerful quilt top finished. 

If you haven't visited in the past week, you might want to head

over to this post to enter my 1600th Post Giveaway. You only have

until Friday. I'll announce the winners on Saturday. Good Luck!

I Almost Cursed...

 Almost. But I didn't. I bit my tongue and got out the ripper. Whew! 

I went to Paneras last night to see my girlfriends, but I didn't stay as late

as usual because I wanted to get back home and make some headway on

my "Flutterby" quilt top. I should have visited longer, because everything

I did had to be taken out and redone. I don't know about you, but I really

dislike ripping out sewing machine stitches...and I did a lot of that last night.

I made all my first border strips...backwards. They were supposed to have

three light triangles on each, and finish with untrimmed dark pieces on each

end. I didn't realize they were all backwards until I'd stitched two of them

onto the center appliqued' block. I couldn't figure out why it wasn't looking

the way it looked in my pattern. It would have helped to pay more attention

to the pattern, but I guess I have a little "corgi" in me, because I thought I

had it figured out the first time without having to check my work as I went.

 So, I finally got this far by 12:30 last night and decided I'd better quit while

I was ahead. I'll start fresh today and sew the borders and corners with a

clear head. You can bet I'll be paying closer attention to what I'm doing.

I'm also glad that I have plenty of the fabrics to finish my design. First, I'll

have to cut more fabric before I can complete the second borders. sigh

The good thing about this is that I'm getting out the "bugs" for my students.

I'll be able to tell them where they might get tripped up - and save them the 

grief and aggravation. I want to make sure they're not cursing in class, too!

Making Flutterby Progress...

 It was a beautiful weekend, indeed. In addition to family time, I was also

able to set up the corner blocks for my upcoming "Flutterby" class quilt.

 I took these photos while I still had nice light in the studio, but by the

 end of Sunday evening I had finished stitching two of the corners. I'll

finish the other two today and then I'll start assembling the blocks.

Don't forget to enter my 1600th Post Giveaway, too! Click here.

It's ok if you're not a quilter, if you enter and win, let me know and

I'll choose something else just for you, too! (Knit, read, scrapbook...)

Wishing all of you a wonderful, light-filled and creative week.

Flutterby...

 I have been busy this week working on a new quilt. It wasn't all rearranging

furniture and moving the studio around, you know. I'm going to be teaching

new classes in October, so I thought it might be a good idea to sew up the

projects ahead of time. Yeah. Nothing like waiting 'til the last minute.

One class I'll be teaching is a sweet quilt called "Flutterby" by Whimsicals.

It involves hand applique', simple piecing, and finishes under 50" square.

 I'm nearly finished with the center motif and will work the butterfly corners

 next. After they're finished, I'll work my way through the instructions to

 complete the piecing assembly. I like to go step-by-step, so that I know

 where my students might get hung up. I can work out any bugs so they

won't have to. (So far, the instructions are great and easily understood.)

I'll be working on it all weekend, so I'll give you an update on Monday.

Don't forget to enter my 1600th Post Giveaway. Just click HERE.

Thanks to all who have already entered.

I'm enjoying all the comments you're leaving for me.

 You are all so sweet, and I appreciate every single one of you.

 I'm glad that winners will be chosen by the Random Number Generator.

It takes the pressure off me. (I so wish I could give everyone a gift!)

Good Luck to all of you!!

A Gift For An Old Friend...

Gosh! It's June already!!! Time sure does fly. Sofie and I created a new set of napkins yesterday. The fabrics are from Red Rooster Fabrics. They're a line called "Heartstrings" by Terri Degenkolb of Whimsicals.

This is a set of four 12" napkins for a friend I'll be meeting with for a day of lunch and shopping. I sure hope she likes them!

Kathy and I met over ten years ago. When I closed my needlework shop, Stitches, she and her business partner purchased many of my fixtures and my cash register for a shop they were opening on the other end of Main Street.

We've kept in touch through the years and Tag and I were fortunate to spend time with her last summer. I'm so glad that we'll be able to be together again for a few hours today. I'm sure we'll have fun finding new items to add to our creative supplies.

I promise to share what I find with you, but for now I'd better finish getting ready. I can't be sitting around in my jammies when she arrives, you know!