I found a 2011-2012 calendar at the thrift shop that was pretty beat up, but made a new cover from scraps of snow-dyed fabric I got from ptarmic wumpus in STS.   Check it out:

 

I love ptarmic's snow-dyed fabrics and will use every scrap of it judiciously! 

Inspired by this tutorial, I set about a new creation and came up with this blue and orange bag.  It has welted pockets on the front and the inside, a double-stack of pockets along the inside back and a magnetic closure.  In addition, there are velcro side closures to tighten the bag up for security.  I think I like this bag -- there's another part of me that thinks it's actually kind of ugly!  Your honest feedback appreciated!

   
Closed up on the sides                                            pockets
 

This is my latest bag, crafted for my best friend.  She loves muted color and lots of texture.  It sports long wide straps, exterior pockets, an interior zipper pocket and organizer pockets and top zip closure. I think this turned out great -- love to hear your thoughts!

   

 
interior pockets line the purse  -- the front exterior pocket has a magnetic closure

I had some really cute charm squares hanging around my craft room and decided to play with nine patch squares using the charms cut into 2.5 inch pieces.  I used yellow and pink to frame things up and backed it with pink fleece.  It was a fun project.  I sent it to AsphaltQueen, a friend from the STS board and fellow Michigander. 

   

When I got hitched, 31 years ago, my friends and family made a quilt for me.  I wanted to share that experience with my daughter when she got married this past August.  Here is the result:



This project was a true collaboration.  Friends and family contributed squares that evoked a memory or feeling about either my daugher, my new SIL or about them as a couple.  Some of my favorite squares:


My dad chose this picture he took of Meg when she was still in h.s.  I had him sign his name and then we made a picture transfer.


My mom's square represents a quilt she made for Meg when she was little and even uses fabric from clothing Meg had as a baby/toddler!


My sister's square.  TOO cute!!!


One of my squares (I had to come up with 5 to fill in for folks who didn't complete squares).  Meg collects giraffes!


A square I made to represent my DH and I -- we are all (DH, DD, SIL, and me) NMU grads, so I thought this was appropriate. 

And finally -- a square made by Sansa that she sent many moons ago as an extra in a swap package.  I saved this for just the right occasion, since this is a "picture" of Haily, my pooch, who used to be Meg's pooch!  Haily claimed the square as her's, but I embroidered Sansa's name on the square as well.



Thanks for looking!

Inspired by these, I made two birdie brooches for Scotskipper 402 for the geezer swap. 



I used a heavy fusible pellon for the base. I fused fabric scraps to the pellon, then used decorative stitching and various ribbons, floss, etc. to hide the joins.  I used a piece of wool felt for the backing (handmade by gavagai).  These were fun to make.  Thank you, elowezil, for the inspiration!

I made these fabric cubes for lapoli so she can load them up with goodies to give as gifts.  I used a loosely woven cotton (linen look) for the shell and a very stiff fabric of undetermined fabric content for the lining.  Both the liner and the shell are interfaced with decor bond weight interfacing. 

I knitted this lace cardigan for ScotSkipper402 in the geezer swap.  It was a fun knit and I learned the picot bind-off!  Very fun!  You can find the pattern here!  The button was crafted by Ruby Tuesday in STS!  The bottom picture is actually the most accurate color representation as well.  I can't recall the yarn brand, but it was a silk blend. SWTC Amarah Silk - colorway = cantalope!  Fun to work with!


   


Thanks for looking!

In a recent Shop the Swap, I claimed some snow dyed fabric from ptarmic wumpus.  This morning, I made a fabric basket for my fiber!

 

I have one more piece of this special fabric in pinks and I think I will make a second basket for yarn.  I have smaller pieces left as well -- I don't want to waste one scrap of this stuff! 

Thanks for looking!

I made these cubes for Nesse for a personal swap, but thought I would share them here as well!  They are 12X12X12.  I used a losely woven natural cotton (trim and handles) and a polycotton poplin (dark brown) fabric for the shell.  The interfacing is decor bond pellon ironed to the shell before assembling.  The pieces are padded with a very thin layer of batting before they are stitched to the lining.  The linings are cotton lined with a stiff plastic-like fabric I found in the bargain bin somewhere.  It's noisy, but really helps the boxes stand up by themselves.  Once the pieces were assembled, I topstitched the edges of each cube to add even more stability to the sides.  I think they turned out pretty well.  The trees were sketched by sheepBlue, then transferred to my cotton fabric and heat bond.  They are appliqued using a satin stitch (tight zig zag).  Thanks for looking!