Spinner's Lap Cloth

At SAFF (Southeast Animal Fiber Fair) this year, I noticed lots of spinners, me included, with fiber stuck to their laps. This is clearly not a new problem, but it was more obvious to me this time, maybe because there were so many spinners in one place. I also saw a couple of people with fabric cloths, a bit like napkins, across their laps while spinning. Brilliant!

When I got home, I looked around online and found a few "spinner's lap cloth" type things. Several had a dark side and a light side, kind of like the Force. The purpose is to make it easier to see the fiber you are spinning--light fiber on dark cloth, dark fiber on light cloth. I decided to make my own version, with a pocket for each side. I like how it turned out.

The hurrier I go, the behinder I get

My mother had those words in a framed picture in her bedroom. I think a friend gave it to her. My mom was one of the busiest people I've ever known. Until she became ill, I rarely saw her sit down and when she did, she was still working on something. She did her hand sewing and mending, as well as lots of cross-stitch projects while she watched a little television at night.

I've felt a bit like that saying lately. I seem to be really busy, but I still get behind in my projects. Lately, I've had lots of business and tax related things to take care of, and very little sewing has been done. Add to that, lots of my fall and Christmas listings just expired and you get a Bede Sisters Etsy shop with about half the inventory it had just a month ago.

In the past week, I did manage to make two new large bags. They are wonderful as diaper bags, as well as a great all day purse.

Tonight, I finished four baskets and I'm hoping for some sunshine tomorrow so can get them photographed and listed soon. I suppose the lesson is to keep working and eventually, you'll be...um...less "behinder"?

Shhh! Don't tell!

I'm working on a rag quilt for my son for Christmas. I spent an afternoon or two cutting up his old blue jeans into squares as well as cutting new flannel.

A rag quilt is made by having the seams exposed on one side of the quilt. The exposed raw edges are clipped close to the stiching. Then, the whole thing is washed and dried (probably at a laundromat) to start the fraying process. The finished quilt will have one side with traditional seams, the other will have frayed edges that look a bit like chenille.

Remind me to post a picture of the finished quilt. I hope he likes it!

What have you been doing, Kay?

I'm so glad you asked.

I've been visiting Florida theme parks in the rain. Checking out the chickens at the state fair with my son: Grieving the loss of our 20-year-old chair, lovingly known as "the blue chair":

And sewing. Lots and lots of sewing:

Making Gifts

The younger daughter of the Cousin-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named* had a birthday earlier this week. She's a special girl who manages to be both fearless and feminine, at the same time.

It's always a good day when we get to visit with her and her older sister. They have their mom's sweet spirit and their dad's wicked sense of humor.

So, clearly in need of a gift, I headed to my sewing room and found just enough of this adorable owl fabric to make a purse. I love how it turned out!

Originally, the party was going to be at my aunt's cabin, just down the road from us. However, it is hurricane season in the southeast, and the threat of high wind and heavy rain moved the party back to town. We didn't make it to the big city for the party, but I know the birthday girl had a great time, even without us.

*See the July 4th 2010 blog post.

Sew for Yourself Challenge

A group of online friends started a Sew for Yourself challenge recently. We are all people who sew, for family, friends or business, but rarely find time to sew for us! So, someone said, "Hey, we should give ourselves permission to make something just for ourselves."

People made different things, clothes, totes, lounge wear--often a project that had been sitting around for a while waiting to be finished.

Here's my project:
It's a large tote bag, with a zip top and two side pockets. One side pocket has a zipper, one is open.

Have you done any projects for yourself lately?

Mama's Got a Brand New Bag

I made this bag for myself yesterday. I've had the fabric for ages, even had this bag cut out, but I just hadn't made time to sew it up. It's a big, slouchy sort of tote with a very long handle that can be left long or tied to a shorter length. The fabric is bright orange, green and hot pink. It has palm trees and hibiscus flowers and just needed to be finished before warm weather.

Any new projects around your place?

Nook Cover

I love my new Nook e-reader! It's very convenient for taking reading material anywhere I go and I can take loads of "books" without having to bring a huge tote bag (although Bede Sisters has some great totes!).

The pattern for my nook cover came from a great etsy seller, Birdiful Stitches. She has several patterns for nook/kindle/ipad covers and the patterns are delivered right to your email inbox.

Any new projects at your place?

Getting Organized-A Little

I found a nice pattern when I was browsing at a fabric store recently. It's for a fabric organizer that fits around a mug. I confess. I didn't follow the pattern exactly. (Okay, I hardly looked at it, once I cut the fabric.) So, it doesn't fit a standard coffee mug, but it DOES fit a tall glass mug that I happened to have.

I like it this way. What do you think?

SC State Fair Entries

I've got most of my state fair entries ready to go. All the sewing is done, and all the crocheting is done except one scarf. I have a some pear goodies to can; hopefully those will be done by next week.

Crocheted shawl:

Handbag and diaper bag:








Little girl's jumper:





Baby afghan:



Apron:

Drawstring Bag for ....

I spent the day learning to make a drawstring bag, mainly because I've been wanting a laundry bag for when I travel. So I started with a couple of tutorials online and some small scraps of fabric. This is what I came up with:

I like the way it looks, the fabric is nice, the shape is good, love the ribbon drawstring. I need your help to decide how to use it.

I was thinking:

Crochet project bag

Toiletries for travel

Snack bag

Any other ideas?

Love This (If I say so myself)

I have been on the lookout for a large fabric basket, but hadn't seen one I liked (for less than a bazillion dollars). Turns out, it was a good thing that I didn't find one, because it got my creative juices flowing.

Here's the result of my whirlwind of creativity:

What do you think?
This yellow and blue one is listed in my etsy shop.

Me, At Work

This is my sewing room. Oh, I know, it's glamorous and flashy and all that, but it's work. It's actually much better looking than it was a month ago. I decided that I would get a jump on that "must get organized" resolution and so I went after my work space the week after Christmas.
Before the "big cleanup" I had hand-me-down plastic shelves and a few bins. It just wasn't working. I went through my stash, of both fabric and scrapbooking supplies, and decided what I needed. The cube storage units you see are from Lowe's, as well as the green and cream bins that fit inside. I thought about getting some more of the bins, but I like being able to see my fabric stacks. It's easier to make design decisions when I can see it all on display like that.

It looked worse than this. Really.

By the way, I'm listing that bag in my etsy shop later today. If I can get good photos. But that's another blog day.

I'm so excited! I made a jumper for my three-year-old daughter. The last time I made clothing of any kind was a nursing shirt, done the day or so before she was born. The pattern was super easy; the problem, for her at least, is that she may have an entire wardrobe of jumpers by the end of the year!