Some new stuff

I finished the recycled clothing quilts for my friend yesterday.  In March her husband was tragically killed in a plane crash, and she asked me if I could make some patchwork quilts for she and her daughters out of his clothing.

These measure 48" x 60" and are lined with heavy flannel, so they will be great for cuddling up with and remembering their Husband and Father.  I got some iron-on transfer paper, and ran the image/message that I stitched onto the back through my printer.

I've also been working on some handbags lately.  These are actually clutches, and I purchased my hardware here.  I had a lot of fun with these, and have lots more cut out and ready to make for my upcoming shows.  I plan to put some on my website too, so be sure to watch for that in the next few months.

 

 These flowers were really fun to make!  Here's the tutorial.

 On this one I used a vintage jewelry piece.

 For these last two flowers, I used this tutorial and 

instead of a necklace, I made just a single flower 

and sewed a pin on the back. 

We finally got some summer weather here in the northwest!  This past Sunday it actually got to near 90!  Perfect summer weather, but maybe not for my brother.  He came over with his family and we all watched him do a half Ironman competition.

He swam over a mile, biked 56 miles, and ran 13.1.  My brother is incredible, and I am so proud of him!

 Great weekend with my brother and his family and our whole

family was together too!  We all posed for a picture (including

Kallie Mae, our border collie!)

Happy Summer, and prim blessings,

Laurie

A couple of purses

Well, I completed a couple of purses from my remnant finds last week!  They were really fun, and I'm ready to make some more!

This one is big and roomy, and I think it's my favorite!  The handles are made from curtain tie-backs, and they were $1 each.  A big package of these shell buttons were .50 cents, and I spent about .75 cents on the exterior fabric! The lining was a couple of bucks, and the magnetic snap was $1.25, so this purse was put together really inexpensively!

This bag was missing something when it was done, so I scrounged through my "goodies" and found this mis-matched vintage clip on earring that I'd picked up at a junk shop, pried off the clip-on back and glued on a pin back, and pinned it on.  These bags both sewed up in a short afternoon, and I'd highly recommend the patterns (shown on my post below from last week).

Last night I finished a book that I would HIGHLY recommend!  I ran across a blog that I couldn't get enough of, so I had to order the newly released book.  If you haven't check out NieNie Dialogs, you need to!  Stephanie Nielson is courageous, inspiring, crafty, and amazing!  Here's her new book.  Read a review and purchase it here.

Primitive blessings,
~Laurie

Happy Spring!

Spring on Prindle Mountain!

After a long, wet winter/spring, we've finally had some good weather in our neck of the woods!  Last weekend was actually 80 degrees!  I've been taking advantage of our taste of summer, and doing lots and lots of yard work and landscaping, and now that it's rainy and April again, I'm back in the crafting room!

Yesterday I found some great upholstery remnants for super cheap at my favorite fabric store:  Fabric Depot in Portland, Oregon.  It's advertised as the largest fabric store in the nation (over 1.5 acres!) You could literally spend days in this store, and still not see everything!  My mind started thinking of what I could make with these great pieces, and I think I'm going to try my hand at some bags.  I've found some great blogs with free tutorials (I love tutorials! Not just a pattern, but PICTURES!)  Take a look here and here and here.  I'm excited to get started and see what I come up with!  I'll post pictures when I've got a bag done! 

I was happy to get an e-mail from one of my best, long-time customers, Lori King!  She has her own Etsy shop now, and wanted me to see the lamb she made with some of the sheep's wool I sell on my website.  She used my "MaryAnn and Hope" pattern.  Isn't this little lamb adorable!?

 

Here's a link to her Etsy Shop.

Prim blessings,

~Laurie