Clothesline Purse and more Team Edward

My goodness am I enjoying this little detour I have been on! I promise this will be the last post (well, for a little while anyway!) regarding clothesline projects! As I wrote about in a previous post, I discovered these wonderful projects and patterns by pattern designer, Aunties Two. The Bali Bag pattern really motivated me and as I have said before, one thing led to another, and then I found the book, "It's a Wrap" by Susan Breier. Above you see what I made for myself using the technique from "It's a Wrap" and honestly, I really love this bag. Its sturdy and I can very easily find exactly what I need in it without any effort. It sits so nice in a shopping cart, and looks darn good while it is sitting there! The bottom line is it was a very fun bag to make and I used up a ton of scraps doing so. Really, seriously, it is made from three quarter inch strips of fabric just wrapped around a cotton clothesline and then zig-zagged together. Now I am thinking gift bowls for Christmas filled with bagged yummies… baby shower baskets full of baby necessities…. Quilt guild give-away baskets… secret pal gift baskets… you get the idea.

Oh, and in case you didn't believe me when I said I was an official member of Team Edward, below is proof. That is me and my very dear girlfriend, Jennifer, on opening night of the wonderful movie, Eclipse. We had a ball! If you haven't read the Twilight series, let me make a suggestion.... do so! It is such fun! I couldn't put the books down. Seriously.

Hope everyone had a marvelous 4th of July. I know I did. It was my husband's 50th birthday. Yes, he is my little firecracker. Every year he thinks the entire nation is celebrating his birth with fireworks, parties and cookouts. It takes a lot of pressure off me, so I let him continue with that thought... it works out so well for both of us!

Catching Up, Summer Fun, Current Classes and ....Twilight!

Hi everyone! It's so good to be back here! I have many things to show you so I won't delay. Above is my newest bag - I made it large so I can schlep it everywhere I go. It's made of nothing but clothesline and scraps! Sturdy as can be and not bad to look at, either. I love it. I made it using the Bali Bag pattern from Aunties Two. That pattern really motivated me and as I have said before, one thing led to another, and then I found the book, "It's a Wrap" by Susan Breier. This woman is amazingly creative and talented and her book prompted me to try my hand at bowls. My first attempt is below. The photo really doesn't do them justice, but you get the idea. These were made from a very ugly fabric panel and the purple, greens and golds really do look better in person than they do in this photo.

Below is the next creation I made using the cotton clothes line. It is amazing, to say the least. Again, I used a pattern from Aunties Two, the Bali Briefcase. For this one I used Bali Pops instead of scraps. One word. Wow. Those people at Hoffman Fabrics really know what they are doing. Look at how marvelous that bag looks.

Needless to say, I will be teaching "Clothesline Creation" classes at Country Quilts and Bears in July and November. The class samples I am working on are amazing and I am having such fun making them. I will show them off as soon as they are done! If you are interested in a taking a class, the first one is Tuesday, July 6th at 10 a.m. at Country Quilts and Bears in Clearwater, FL. Give the shop a call and sign up. We will have a ball, I promise!

That's the cover of the Bali Bag pattern.

On to my next discovery.... Ever hear of the Twilight Saga? Well, about two months ago my dear friend, Jennifer, handed me the "crack pipe," so to speak, in the form of the first Twilight book. Now, mind you, I am nearly 50 years old, have grown children and a college degree. How ridiculous. These books that were written for 'tweens, right? I should read them? My goodness, I don't think so..... but in the interest of being polite, one evening I opened the cover..... and I never put the book down. I am not kidding. I have now read and completed all four books, have seen both Twilight and New Moon on DVD, and I find myself daydreaming about those vampires and werewolves from Forks, WA. The worst part of the books? They ended!

I like to carry a drawstring backpack so naturally my new love for Edward inspired me to embroider the drawstring backpack that you see above. I made one for myself and am now selling them in my etsy store. Below is the shirt I embroidered to wear to see the movie Eclipse on June 30th, the night it opens. Oh, and my dear friend, Jennifer, who opened the door to this wonderful, magical world for me, she will be wearing the Team Jacob shirt I made for her to acknowledge her allegiances. Stop laughing. Seriously. If you are feeling a little humdrum, let me just say this: I will always remember the summer of 2010 as the summer I felt young and giggly again. It takes a lot to throw a nearly 50 year old woman back into the excitement of adolescence, but that wonderful Stephenie Meyer is doing just that for women all over the world. Well done! I'm a Twi-Mom Twi-Hard and proud of it!

Oh, and one more thing. I will keep this one very short. On January 6th of this year I decided that after 33 years of smoking I simply did not want it to be part of my life any longer. So I quit. It wasn't easy - but I did it and if anyone out there is feeling the time has come for them, and you want help, shoot me an email and I will tell you what I learned. There is no one out there that can't quit smoking - you just need to WANT to quit and then you will have the power TO quit. Also, there are a few tricks I discovered along the way to success, and I will happily share them. Big, healthy sigh of fresh air. There.