Purple Bag

This make-up bag has the seams and the triangular shaping at the bottom sewn with the lining facing out.  I really like the way that adds extra color.  The idea is from the 2014 Quilting Arts Holiday.

I am reading the book Achieve Anything in Just One Year.  There is a page of reading and an exercise for every day.  I'm a sucker for self help books and goals, so I look forward to the day's reading.  Today's exercise is to try something new.  This one requires some thinking.  Just what is it that I want to try?  Screen printing?  A real yoga class?  Obviously I won't get it done today because the day is almost through.

Oops, I did do a real yoga class once, in grad school.  The instructor really liked yoga and we got extra credit for going.  So, that one won't work.  I do want to take a yoga class, though.  There is a studio here in town that looks worth trying.  They have a gentle yoga class, that sounds about right.  One thing I've learned from my yoga DVD's:  there is a BIG difference in what different people consider beginner yoga.

Zippered Bag

This zippered bag is the Viking January project.  It is fully lined, plus it has three zippered pockets.  I chose zippers of different colors to match the braided strap and linings.

You can find the bag directions on the Viking website.  If you don't have an embroidery machine, try it anyway, leaving the bottom plain or using a matching fabric.  Putting in the zippers is a breeze and doesn't even require a zipper foot, so don't let those zippers stop you.

Bright Baby Quilt

For my January donation baby quilt, I used part of a Quiltologie kit that I picked up at Hancock during November.  It was 50% off and I had an additional coupon, so I decided to try it.  As I was piecing, I wasn't really fond of the bright chevrons, but I changed my mind once the quilting was complete.

The back is a rabbit print that someone gave me.  Very cute, and it has some of the colors of the front.  Thanks to you, if you gave it to me.

At baby quilt day on Monday, I plan to piece some of the leftover half-square blocks together in a pinwheel pattern and use them with blocks from a gray solid.

Last night I couldn't watch the collegiate national championship football game, since I don't have cable and didn't want to go out.  So, I did some furniture rearranging in three rooms, moving beds and the dining room table against walls to open up some floor space.  Yesterday morning I had packed the Christmas things away in my nice little attic and suddenly I just wanted to change things around.  There may be a little more of that going on tonight.

Coiled Trivet

I'm going through a dry spell, creativity and sewing wise, so I decided to try one of my many goals for the year.  I have to add that I had trouble coming up with goals for creativity, so that segment of my goal list is pretty short.  That's ok with me, not all my goals have to be in place the first week of the year.  I think that sometimes you don't have to look for things, sometimes if you relax, they come to you.

I've been attracted to the coiled trivets for a long time and enjoyed watching Ann make one at a quilting retreat, so on the list it went.  I'd always imagined that they would be hard to do, that the cord would be stiff and that I'd have to fight to get it under the pressure foot.  Turns out that isn't the case at all, at least not with the 3/16" cord that I used.  The machine didn't stitch the cord, just the fabric.

I used 1" wide strips, mostly width of fabric, since shorter ones would have a much scrappier look.  I used a zigzag stitch, 2.5 length and 2.0 width.  I started coiling the fabric a couple of inches from the end of the strip, then twisted the end fabric for the center.  I stitched a cross over that center part, then started stitching around the coils.  When I needed to change fabrics, I just wrapped the new piece over the end of the previous one.  At the end, I left a little fabric and tried to tuck it in.

This took longer than I thought it might, but it was mindless and enjoyable.  And it's really my type of thing, using up some fabric scraps to make something functional.  Who knew? 

I used cording from the drapery section of the fabric store and it was pretty soft, which was nice.  I know that some people use clothesline.  I had some clothesline for just that purpose, but I have a feeling that I sent it to Goodwill in a purging time.  It would be less expensive than the cording and would be a little more rigid.  

In My House

I love to see people's homes, see the pretty treasures and bright things that make their homes shine.  So, I thought that this month I'd show you a few of those things in my own home.  Things that make me happy, things that help make my days brighter.

I'll start with this little bird tree in my office, because one of these days I'll be packing it away for another year.  Not yet, though.  

My mother loved little antique birds with feather tails, and while my birds aren't antiques, I enjoy the feathered tails and the clips for fastening them on the branches.

This is my first year for this little white tree, purchased, I'm sure, at a 75% off sale a year or so ago.  Around the base is a piece of turquoise fabric with medium-sized white dots.  And what makes it all the better is that it faces a side window and I know that my urban neighbor is enjoying the lights from his kitchen window.

Steph and Nora and Silas House

Above are Steph and Nora at Golden Corral, with Nora acting just a little silly.  The hat was a Christmas gift from one of Nora's aunts.

Silas House is one of my favorite authors.  If you like good Appalachian fiction, or just good stories, give him a try.  You won't be sorry.  I hope you like these suggestions from his facebook page:

This year:
Find a creek, river, lake, or ocean, and be still beside it for a time. Sit by an open fire and watch the flames. Sit on the porch and lie on the grass. Light candles. Take a deep breath. Write a handwritten letter to someone.
Discover something new everyday. Learn. Tell stories. Listen to old people. Ask them questions.
Do something nice for others when you can and don't hesitate to be kind to yourself.
Read actual, real books and newspapers.
Spend an entire day without looking at your phone. If you feel the urge to post a selfie everyday, take a picture of some other beautiful thing instead. Remember that there is power in moderation.
Learn to cook or bake something new. Enjoy every meal. Savor your food. Drink water.
Be completely quiet. Turn your favorite song up as long as it will go.
If someone makes you feel bad all the time, get away from them. Laugh with others. Laugh while you're alone.
Spend time with animals. They make us better people.
Spray someone with the kitchen sink sprayer. Sing while washing dishes. Dance.
Don't judge. Think this: "There but for the grace of God go I" or "Everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle." Forgive others. Forgive yourself.
--Silas House, from "What I Know: a Prayer Essay"

Happy New Year

Happy New Year, everybody.  Hoping 2015 is the year the Bengals do well in the playoff's.  (That's their Paul Brown stadium beside the river.)