#Bloglikecrazy What to take????

#Bloglikecrazy 
What to take????


This is my sewing space...or sewing studio...or haven from reality.  Whatever or which ever it needs to be!  I have everything I need within easy reach (thanks to a handy husband that knows that a happy wife is indeed a happy life!)

Tomorrow I am going to be fulfilling one of my lifelong bucket list items.  I am going on a 3 day sewing retreat!  Sewing all day, any time of the day!  No cooking, no laundry, no family interruptions AND other sewers that actually UNDERSTAND what I am talking about and who's eyes will not glaze over 10 seconds into an explanation of how/why I'm making something a certain way!  I am so excited BUT I am so overwhelmed.  I have to bring my own machine and supplies.  Which machine to take?  The new one or the old workhorse?  What else do I need?  EVERYTHING?  Oh my goodness!

When next you hear from me I will have figured it out and hopefully be set up in my new space.  Until then I believe I will spend the next hour picking things up and putting them back down again trying to decide if they are vital to a sewing retreat! 

#Bloglikecrazy Sew what's it worth?

#Bloglikecrazy
Sew what's it worth?

I spent Friday night and Saturday at the Saline Craft Show, at Saline Middle School in Saline, Michigan.  We sister-in-law and brother-in-law have had a booth there each year for the past 5 years.  My brother-in-law, Ray, does wood scroll saw work and make beautiful wood pieces that he sells.  We, being newly retired and free with our time, went to help them set up and run the booth.  This gave us the opportunity to spend time with people we really like but rarely actually see because they live on the other side of the state, 2 1/2 hours away. 

While working at their booth, Gail & I began to discuss selling our sewing at a booth.  We wandered the show looking at others sewn items gauging if they were having selling success and wondering what we would sell our items for. 

I like to sew and have sold my work before (mostly because it began to take over my house).  I'm not sure I can do productive sewing and am afraid it would take all the joy out of my sewing and creating.  I enjoy the challenge of figuring out new patterns and I love to see how flat fabric can become a multi-dimensional "thing" that has use in my life.  I just don't know how to put a value on what I sew. 

These are two of the new minikin patterns I've made recently.  Lots of fun figuring out how to make them (in fact, I messed up on the polka dot one and the lining became the outside). 

Sew what are they worth?  Is there any real monetary value on the enjoyment I get from figuring out how to make something work?  Should I even dip my toe into that pond?

#Bloglikecrazy Autumnal Beauty

#Bloglikecrazy 
My name is Mary and I have a button problem....

I love Michigan because my children and grandchildren live here.  I hate Michigan because it the winter it miserably cold and bleak.  I fight that bleakness with color!  So even though it snowed this morning, I have filled my home with Autumns beautiful colors.

The table runner is the first thing I have quilted in a loooong time.  It's really basic quilting but I love the way it turned out.  My friend, Auleen, taught me how to use buttonhole stitching to attach the pieces.  I really like this new look. 

If you look closely you will see some of the buttons from my vintage collection.  I have a jar of buttons I inherited from my grandmother, mother, mother-in-law and my own jar that holds odds and ends. They are a small thing that tie me to the women that have gone before me. 

#Bloglikecrazy Speechless....

#Bloglikecrazy 
Speechless....

I was running behind Tuesday night and was late for a Christian Service Commission meeting at my church.  I grabbed my Chromebook, unplugged the cord and took it with me (just in case!) and hot footed it out the door.  I made it to my meeting just in time with said digital device under my arm with the cord trailing behind me.  My 70 something friend looked at me and said, "All the purses you sew for other people and you don't even have a bag to put that computer in??"  Ummm....speechless.  I didn't know what to say.  Point made...point taken.

On my birthday in October, I had gifted myself with Sara Lawsons Minikin pattern bundle.  In that bundle are the directions for a digital sleeve.  While taking a break from unicorn PJ's, I have cut out the Grab and Go Sleeve for MYSELF!  I know! 

I love this fabric.  I made Lexi a backpack out of it and I know it's a bit juvenile but those cute foxes in their glasses always make me smile. 

Next on the list....

#Bloglikecrazy M & M's and Unicorns

#Bloglikecrazy 
M & M's and Unicorns

20 some years ago when my middle daughter was 10 years old, I made her Christmas PJ's out of M & M fabric.  Somehow those much loved PJ's survived her childhood and ended up in a closet, safely preserved. 

20 years later, my 10 year old granddaughter was unexpectedly spending the night and we were searching for some PJ's for her to wear.  Once again, the M & M PJ's were found, worn, and seriously loved.  However, after just a couple of wearing the back tore (and not on a seam). 

For Christmas, I decided to make the same PJ's for her.  I still have the pattern so all I needed was that M & M fabric.  Alas, I looked everywhere but was unable to find it anywhere. 

So next best thing....Unicorn fabric.  She was a unicorn for Halloween this year so I'm hoping the second choice will make her happy. 

All cut out and ready to sew.  More memories to be made....

#Blog Like Crazy Making lemonade...

#Blog Like Crazy
Making lemonade....

When I was making this purse for the first time, you may remember I interfaced the wrong side of the outer purse.  This meant when I wanted to put the lining together with the outer piece, the asymmetrical handles did not match. 

I recut the outer bag and finished my purse.  However, when I was done I had this intact outer bag that it seemed ridiculous to waste.  I decided to take that lemon and make lemonade, or a birthday present for my sweet daughter-in-law (same thing actually!). 

I finished the second Moxie crossbody today.  I made a couple of small changes.  I used rivets on all the connecting points of the handle.  Not sure why I didn't do that the first time but I do like the way it looks.  When making the handle, I made the accent fabric 1/4 of an inch wider than the gray fabric.  When I sewed them together, you could see just a small amount of the accent fabric peeking through on the gray side.  I like the look of it. 
Here she is...

#Blog Like Crazy...when the next thing, is the same thing

#Blog Like Crazy...
When the next thing, is the same thing

After finishing my Moxie crossbody, I was wandering around my stash trying to decide what to do next and I came across a bright batik. 

Batiks always remind me of my daughter-in-law.  She should have been born in the 1960's.  She favors long flowing skirts, and small braids in her long hair and pretty batik colors in her clothes.  So I decided that what she really needed was a Moxie Crossbody with batik accents.  She works as an accountant so I'm hoping the conservative gray tones down the bright colors in the batik.  Halfway there....

It's a birthday present so mum's the word....