John and I recently traveled along the Platte River in central Nebraska and luckily I had my camera with me to snap photos of some Sandhill Cranes. We took a side trip along a gravel road to see if we could get closer to them and hoped to find a large group or two. The day before there were thousands and thousands of them along the Interstate 80 Highway but overnight a large percentage of them left on the next leg of their migration trip. The spring and fall migration of the Sandhill Cranes is really amazing here in Nebraska and once in a while Whooping Cranes are spotted with them. Tonight on the news they reported that 6 Whooping Cranes were spotted all in one group….think there are only around 250 in existence so that would be quite exciting to see. Without further chatting from me here are some photos.
Lynn
Thursday, April 7, 2011
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
Bag/Purse Zippers
I have been using quite a few zippers in the bags I have made recently. Zippers can be very expensive but the ones I have on hand didn’t cost me a lot and I have a great supply right now. When ever I am at a flea market, antique shop, Goodwill store, etc. I look for zippers. I usually buy all I can find and most are priced around $.25 each or sometimes as low as $.10 each. Great price don’t you think?
When making a bag I just look through my drawer and find something that will work. Some may not be as good a match as a new zipper but I think they work just fine and that keeps the cost of my bags a little lower. Some of the zippers were taken out of clothing but are perfectly fine to use too. I do like the ones that have plastic teeth as they can be cut down to the length I want more easily than the metal ones. I don't worry about the length as they all can be cut shorter.
I am telling you this info on where to find them as I am presume you don’t shop at the same places I do …. sure wouldn’t want them to be all gone when I start looking again.
Lynn
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
Batik Bag…Black Stars and Purple Leaves
The second bag I made this week was using these fabrics that I purchased last April in Paducah with the intent of making a purse/bag out of it sometime. Getting it stitched up within a year is doing good for me. This bag started again with Geta Grama’s Belle bag pattern from her web page Romanian Quilt Studio, even though it doesn’t look like it now. I wanted a smaller bag again and since I had trouble with the pink bag being too narrow at the top and too long I took care of that right away by reducing the pattern 75% then straightened the sides instead of leaving them tapered like the original pattern. I played with the type and size of the different pockets again too. It is good to have a good basic pattern even though I made the changes that I did.
I fused interfacing to the lining pieces and quilted them just to keep the interfacing attached with use over time. Sometimes fusible interfacing comes loose if bent enough times and this will keep that from happening hopefully. The inside has pockets of course….I made a pleated pocket with Velcro on the strap to hold my wallet inside the pocket. Above it is a zippered pocket to hold my check book and on the other side is another pocket with a Velcro strap plus a skinny pocket for a pen. I quilted the front fabrics to fusible fleece to give them some body. The outside back has a zippered pocket and the front has a curved front pocket that is divided into two sections and decorated with buttons.
On this bag I used cording inside the purple fabric stitched to the sides of the strap and to the top of the bag. I did use a larger cord for the top of the bag and a smaller cord inside the fabric to trim the edges of the strap. I really like the way this looks and think it will add some strength to the strap and maybe keep the top of the bag from sagging after using it for a while. If I wouldn’t have already had the front pocket finished I would have added cording to the top of it too but wasn’t going to rip it apart just for that. Originally I made this pocket wider and was going to insert elastic to sort of gather it up but after putting it in I didn’t like it so removed the elastic.
The first two photos are of the outside of the bag and then I turned the bag inside out so you could see the pockets in the lining. As you can see I also have a magnetic snap at the top of the bag. I love those snaps as they really hold the bag together.
I am not so sure those buttons on the front of the bag are such a good idea. They look great on the bag but only carried it once and ripped off the large black button when it caught on something in my car when I was getting out. I did sew it back on but if continue to have problems with them they might have to be removed.
This bag too has a long shoulder strap….my favorite way to carry a bag. I just have to remember not to fill the bag too full so it can be as light as possible. I have pared down and pared down the items I carry so have a fairly light weight purse/bag to carry. I picked up one of my daughter’s purses last weekend and I swear she had at least a couple of bricks or maybe a cement block in there. My back and shoulders would complain if I carried a heavy bag.
Not sure what I will work on next….guess we will all have to wait and see.
Lynn
Monday, April 4, 2011
Pink Poke-A-Dot Bag
I have been working on making a couple of new bag/purses the last week or so since I 
finished making Sweet Remembrance. I started out with the Belle pattern by my friend Geta Grama from Romanian Quilt Studio. I made the Amelie bag last March and you can see it here on this post. They are both great patterns. I chose a pink poke-a-dot and green morie upholstery fabrics, plus the green and pink trim. I machine quilted the poke-a-dot fabric in a feather design and the green fabric in a diamond cross hatch.
This time I wanted a smaller purse so reduced the Belle bag by 75% for starters. I did take more out of the width of the pattern too….in hind sight this was not a good idea. I don’t mean the shrinking the pattern but the extra 2” I took out of the width. OK, here is the bag as it was originally made.
First I quilted the strip then trimmed it down to 2” and I quilted strips for the lining too. I then cut the front and back purse/bag sections down 3” shorter than I originally had cut it. I also straightened the sides of of the purse (it was tapered before) then added the strips to the straightened sides. This made the whole purse a little wider. You can see the zippered pocket in the lining on one side and the pocket on the other side. I stitched Velcro onto the strap and the pocket as I just hate it when my precious stuff falls out of my purse!
I really like the way the bag turned out as the proportions are better now. If I wouldn’t have taken that extra 1in. pleat out of the original 75% pattern I probably would not have had to do the remodel job on it in the first place. Another thing I did was stitch the top trim down to 3/4”. I really like this shoulder bag a lot now.
Happy Quilting,
Lynn
finished making Sweet Remembrance. I started out with the Belle pattern by my friend Geta Grama from Romanian Quilt Studio. I made the Amelie bag last March and you can see it here on this post. They are both great patterns. I chose a pink poke-a-dot and green morie upholstery fabrics, plus the green and pink trim. I machine quilted the poke-a-dot fabric in a feather design and the green fabric in a diamond cross hatch.
This time I wanted a smaller purse so reduced the Belle bag by 75% for starters. I did take more out of the width of the pattern too….in hind sight this was not a good idea. I don’t mean the shrinking the pattern but the extra 2” I took out of the width. OK, here is the bag as it was originally made.
The outside front has two pockets – love the curved look. This came straight from the pattern but I did change the backside by adding another pocket to hold my cell phone. I used the trim on either side of that pocket. There is a zippered pocket at the top that came straight from the pattern.
Now take a look at the finished purse/bag. See how narrow it looks at the top? Way, way too narrow so guess what I did? I took the entire thing apart and remade it to more my liking.
First I quilted the strip then trimmed it down to 2” and I quilted strips for the lining too. I then cut the front and back purse/bag sections down 3” shorter than I originally had cut it. I also straightened the sides of of the purse (it was tapered before) then added the strips to the straightened sides. This made the whole purse a little wider. You can see the zippered pocket in the lining on one side and the pocket on the other side. I stitched Velcro onto the strap and the pocket as I just hate it when my precious stuff falls out of my purse!
I really like the way the bag turned out as the proportions are better now. If I wouldn’t have taken that extra 1in. pleat out of the original 75% pattern I probably would not have had to do the remodel job on it in the first place. Another thing I did was stitch the top trim down to 3/4”. I really like this shoulder bag a lot now.
Happy Quilting,
Lynn
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