Author: agilejack

Monday was a day of getting shit done. Here’s a list:

1. My friend went and got her updated Covid Vaccine
2. We took a couple big bags of stuff to Good Will (Some of it from my sewing room!)
3. We pulled out a ridiculous amount of polar fleece in my garage that I’ve been meaning to give away and delivered it to a place where a happy recipient will retrieve it.
4. We drove an hour to Hopewell, OR, for agility class and got to see some friends.

Here’s my friends at agility class. I’ve shared photos of Rico in this barn before.

They all say “hello!”

Here’s Heather, my friend who built this barn, explaining something complicated. She’s the one teaching the class.

Here’s the enormous pile of polar fleece that I’m giving away. It feels sooooo good to have all of this out of my garage. I purchased this fleece, mostly 5-yard pieces… nearly 20 of them… before I moved to Portland.

I used to make dog leashes and dog toys — for many years. Once I moved to Portland I lost my fascination for all this hand work and got interested in making other things. It’s about time I got rid of this stuff. It will go to a woman who makes dog toys for the local Humane Society shelter. That feels like a pretty good use for this!

We did spend a little bit of time on Monday working on my sewing room. But today, we finished it up! After days of sorting fabric and selecting fabric to get rid of, today was a day of finishing these tasks up and then putting it all back together.

When the day started today (Tuesday), here’s what my sewing room looked like.

Most of those bins hold my batik fabrics that are stored under my cutting table. There are also some bins of scraps there that have been organized and reduced. The scrap bins came from the space between my cutting table and chest of drawers.

While all this stuff was piled in the middle of the room, I pulled the vacuum out and cleaned the empty spaces before putting it all back. I also dusted and cleaned all the surfaces.

Here’s a glimpse of what my sewing room looked like a few weeks ago.

Here’s what it looks like today.

The closet has been straightened and I’ve added some fabric bins to the top shelf.

I broke out my label maker so I can clearly see what is in the bins.

Here’s my sewing table. It’s ready for my sewing machine once I break down my kitchen sewing studio.

And here’s my cutting table with all the fabric below organized and streamlined.

Here’s the file cabinets to the left of my cutting table. The top has been organized and cleaned and the space on the floor has been cleaned. This is the space where my ironing board usually sits.

And here’s the cubby hole between the cutting table and chest of drawers where bins of scraps are stored. It’s all been reduced in mass, cleaned, and some feed bag stuff was taken into the freed up space in the garage.

Here’s the chest of drawers. Of course, all those drawers were organized and filled a couple days ago. And now the top is looking pretty pristine.

We also took a trip to my long arm quilter this afternoon. My friend dropped off four quilts to be quilted and I dropped off two. My red KFC scrappy trip quilt and my Moss Garden quilt for my bedroom. It was fun to pick out thread colors and quilting designs. I can’t wait to see them. We will take two more to her next week. We have to finish up the backings.

After dinner tonight I had an appointment to get my own Covid booster shot. This is the version that’s supposed to do better at covering Omicron. It’s hard to believe I’ve now had FIVE shots to keep myself safe. But I feel good knowing I’ll be better protected.

Once we got home we fired up my kitchen sewing studio and started working on four more blocks for my red KFC Fractured quilt.

We were both a little tired but pushed and finished up four more blocks.

This makes 24 blocks completed. Sixteen more to go, so we’re on the downhill slide.

Tomorrow we plan to work on my friend’s quilt backings and getting ready for an adventure.

I’m ready for bed!

Every year or so I make a HUGE batch of chili verde and freeze a bunch so I can eat on it all winter long. A couple months ago I realized that I had used the last container from my most recent batch. So I’ve been wanting to make another batch and get my freezer stocked again.

That was my main goal for today. So after breakfast we pulled up the live stream of a sheep herding competition in Colorado where a friend and Rico and Bender’s breeder was competing (she took fourth place on some really difficult sheep!). Then I started chopping, browning, measuring, combining and simmering a great big stock pot full of delicious chili verde. I’ve used this green chili recipe for years after my friend who is currently visiting shared some of hers with me and passed the recipe on to me. I usually at least quadruple the recipe.

I got nine containers in my fridge with a good bunch left for my friend and me to eat a few dinners this week.

I’m happy to say that my friend has continued to be Covid free and has moved out of her hotel and into my guest room. Phew!!!

While I was busy making the chili verde today, she dug into my sewing room and started sorting my ridiculous pile of fabric scraps.

She really made a good dent and got some lovely organization done. But I have to say that the scrap pile that I have left is a little over whelming.

While the chili continued simmering, we went into my sewing room and started in on organizing my fabric. I shared some photos in a blog post a few weeks ago showing how chaotic my sewing room is.

I had three drawers full of black and white fabrics in the chest of drawers in my sewing room. We took all those out, put them in bins, and put the bins up in the top of the closet in my sewing room.

I had to organized and move a few things from that closet first. There is still some room on that shelf and in the side of the closet.

With those drawers empty I sorted and organized the fabric already in those drawers and made space for the Kaffe Fassett fabrics that hadn’t found a storage place yet and had been languishing in various piles around the room.

In the top drawers I dedicated one drawer to my relatively small selection of yellow KFC fabrics. One drawer was dedicated to millefiore, Roman glass and paperweight fabrics, along with my stack of various colors of jumble. The other drawer is holding some larger pieces of white with black fabrics that I’ve had for some time.

Look at all the flotsam and jetsam that’s still sitting on the top of that chest!!!

The larger middle drawers were rearranged so one holds nothing but red/pink/orange Kaffe Fassett Collective fabrics with my small collection of Kaffe spots, and the other one holds darks/blacks, greens and various lighter neutral Kaffe fabrics.

I laugh as I state what color these fabrics are sorted into because there are many that I look and ask myself, “what color IS this?” Is it blue, red, green or black? Eventually I just shove it in where there’s space!

One of the bottom drawers of this dresser holds all my KFC blues and purples. The other drawer holds larger cuts of KFC fabrics (most of the other pieces of fabric in the rest of this chest are 1/2 yards). This drawer also holds all my KFC black and white fabrics along with some non Kaffe fabrics… linens, denims, some ikats, all the aged muslin I purchased recently and various other stuff that I have forgotten I have.

So, the good news is that ALL of my KFC fabric, with the exception of larger cuts intended for quilt backs, are now contained in THIS chest of drawers. It’s a really good feeling.

The bad news is that my sewing room is still a mess! I have a huge stack of scrap bins and piles that I need to organize. Case in point…

With all that work we were tired and hungry so we took a break and had a nice plate of chili verde served on some tortillas with melted cheese. It was so good and brought us back to life.

So after dinner we dug in and made eight more blocks for my Fractured quilt. We made four last night, so we’ve completed 20 blocks in all. That’s half of what I want to make for this quilt.

Here’s the first four we made tonight. We set up my sewing machine, cutting mat and ironing station in the dining room last night so we’d have more room to work.

(I’ve had several people ask again for a link to this pattern, so here’s the link where you can buy this pattern.)

Here’s all twenty blocks on the design wall.

It measures about 47×67 right now. It’s going to take some meaningful squaring up once the blocks are all done. So I’ll lose a little size, but with 40 blocks, this will be a generous size quilt. It’s entirely possible that I will decide to make this quilt smaller than planned. If I do I’ll probably use the left over blocks on the back.

It’s a lot of red!!!

If it’s Sunday, it’s Frankenbag sharing time!

This first bag tonight was made by Quilty.Girl on Instagram. I just love her bright batiks and the big pieces that let the fabrics and colors shine. And I love that broad blue strip with match stick quilting at the top. It’s so nice and structured and contrasts nicely with the more relaxed wavy quilting on the rest of the bag. Lovely!

Next up is this bag made by Sandee Henricks. She’s really on a productive streak! I love her little sunburst pieces with the sort of muted colors over the rest of the bag. And I’m envious of that vintage Kaffe design she’s used for her lining and zipper placket. I wish I had some of that in my stash!

This next bag was made by Jeanette Kandray. I love the bright colors and mix of fabrics. The rivets on the handles are a fun addition too.

Up next is this bag made by Kim Thibodeaux. It’s a lovely bag with some fun piecing. I love the great big print on the front of the bag. Kim said she’s a sewer but not a quilter so she started from scratch… no orphan blocks to use. She said she enjoyed the process and can’t wait to make another one.

Next, we have these bags made by Rhoda Helton. I love the raspberry and greens in the first bag and the bold diagonals in the second bag are wonderful. Love how she’s left those succulents great big too! She made a few variations to her bags in materials. I love it when readers customize their bags!

The last bag tonight was made by Barbara Rivenburgh. I just love that spiral sort of sunburst! And I love that Barbara has added a zipper placket. What a fun bag!

Thanks to everyone who sent photos of their bags.

Tomorrow we’re going to work on making a couple quilt backings for my friend’s quilts. She brought them with her to take to my long arm quilter because my long armer hand sews bindings! That makes us both very happy!

After breakfast this morning we hustled my boys into the car for a trip to the vet for their leptospirosis vaccines. I’m happy to report that Rico has lost three pounds since his annual check up two weeks ago. This is good news because he was five pounds heavier than he should be.

After the vet we ran to Costco to pick up some things we needed, especially some salmon for our dinner. It was crazy there! Is there ever a time when Costco isn’t a madhouse?

When we got home we put everything away and grabbed some lunch. Then we hightailed it off to a local quilt shop to see if we could find a good option for purple fabric for the red KFC Fractured quilt I was itching to get started on. And we found a great alternative! Almost exactly the same color and a little softer fabric! The new fabric is on the right.

When we got home we pulled the ironing board, cutting mat and all the other bits and bobs we needed out onto the patio. I also set up a table and brought out my sewing machine. And away we went.

The first thing we did was press the purple fabric and cut the strips we needed for my blocks. Then I chose four different fabrics to make the first four blocks, stacked them up and started making my cuts.

I was a little worried that my red fabrics are all so similar that they would all look the same. But I was wrong. I just love the way they all look together. And they are different enough that they aren’t muddy or boring.

I started sewing strips onto pieces…

… then my friend would press, then I’d sew those two pieces together.

The first four blocks took some time to figure out. The pattern is a little vague and since this is a little free form in how and where you cut your big blocks, each block is a little different. But by the time we had finished the first four blocks, I felt like I had it all pretty well figured out.

It was pretty windy today and it was hard to keep all the cut pieces of fabric in place on the cutting table. I had to keep it all weighted down with rulers, pin cushions, and anything that was nearby.

It was so much help to have my friend pressing for me. We really figured out a system and I quickly learned what I could be doing next while my friend was pressing to keep things moving along.

We stopped for dinner after the first four blocks and I put a big piece of salmon on my BBQ grill. We bought a big piece so we can eat on it for several meals. We had it with a nice cabbage and kale salad. It was a simple and easy dinner, but it was really tasty.

I prepare my salmon filet on a sheet of foil, skin side down, and season it with salt and pepper, Penzey’s Northwoods Spice, and some lemon juice. Then pop it on the BBQ grill for about 20 minutes with the lid closed and it’s perfect every time.

After dinner we started on the next set of four blocks. I had really figured out a system and these blocks went really fast. And the great thing is that when you’re done, you have HUGE blocks. This quilt should go really fast with my friend here to do all the pressing!

Here’s the first 8 blocks. It will be fun to get these on the design wall and move things around.

The pattern calls for a strip of horizontal sashing between the rows. But there’s no sashing between the blocks in each row.

Here’s another lay out.

This will get more interesting as more different angles, shapes and fabrics appear as I make more blocks.

And I’m thinking this quilt will end up bigger than I thought. The pattern maker must have done some aggressive squaring up on her blocks.

We were really pushing at the end to get the final blocks done before it got dark. Good thing my sewing machine has a light on it!

My dogs are exhausted again tonight. It’s amazing how hard it is on them when they don’t get any napping done all day! Someone is snoring as I type!

Tomorrow we have Rico’s weekly sheep herding lesson, then we’ll head home and start sewing.

I’m happy to report that my friend had another negative Covid test this morning. That’s the good news.

The bad news is that we’re getting a little stir crazy just hanging around in my back yard. We did go for a walk this morning after breakfast. Then I had a call I needed to sit in on. After that we hightailed it to a local fabric store to shop for some binding for one of the many (five, I think) quilts and quilt backs she brought with her to drop off with my long arm quilter. She just needed to figure out a binding for this Australian Aboriginal fabric quilt. She had brought that pale yellow fabric on the left, but I thought it was really blah. The fabric on the right is the backing.

So we played with some brighter yellow, red and orange Aboriginal fabrics and none of them worked. The woman at the quilt store pulled out Brandon Mably’s Crease in black and white and it’s perfect!

And I can’t believe I’m saying this, but that piece of Crease is the ONLY piece of fabric that the two of us purchased today! That’s NEVER happened before!

Oh, and I used this bucket bag I made a few weeks ago to carry my friend’s quilt pieces to the store and it was absolutely perfect!!!

After we got home I was telling my friend about a packet of red KFC fabrics that I’ve had in my sewing room for at least a couple of years… just sitting there as I waffle back and forth about what quilt to make with them. I had kept a couple different patterns in mind… everything using a lovely solid purple as an accent fabric. But I could just never pull the trigger and get started. One was called Bold Proposition (I even purchased this book) and the other is called Cranberry Chutney.

But a month or so ago I saw this pattern and fell in love with it and thought it would be perfect for my red KFC fabrics with the purple solid.

The pattern is Fractured by Exclusively Annie’s. You can find the pattern for sale here.

My friend thought it was a great idea so we pulled my ironing board and iron out onto the patio and I brought out my cutting board, rotary cutter and rulers. But before we got started we had to pare down the red KFC fabrics I had selected. I had nearly 20 different half yards set aside for a red quilt, and we pared it down to 10 fabrics. I calculated that I would need 40 blocks for the size quilt I want, and that meant that ten half yards was nearly perfect. There was just a little waste in each piece. Good thing I have some ideas on what to do with scraps.

Then we dug in. My friend pressed and applied Best Press to each piece of fabric, and I did the cutting.

The pieces of fabric for the blocks are huge! Then you sub cut each piece and sew in the solid color strips.

Here’s all ten fabrics cut into their big blocks and stacked up. There are four big blocks out of each fabric.

Good lord, that’s a lot of gorgeous color!

And here they are with the solid purple that will be used for the strips… well, maybe.

I purchased that purple fabric some time ago as part of my plan for these red fabrics. Unfortunately, the two yards that I thought would be enough, won’t be enough for this project. So I’m going to have to go to plan B. So, tomorrow my friend and I will visit a local quilt store that has a good selection of shot cottons. I’m hoping they have the perfect color of purple for this!

And here’s some photos just because these fabrics are so freaking gorgeous!

I’m a bit disappointed that I don’t have enough of that purple fabric. I’m really ready to dig in and get sewing. And with my friend here to do all the pressing, we could whip through these blocks really fast. Maybe we’ll be lucky and find the perfect shot cotton tomorrow.

My dogs are loving having my friend and I out in the back yard with them all day. Bender was entertaining us after dinner tonight by flipping his torn up frisbee in the air.

They’re both exhausted tonight. It’s nice to see them so completely worn out at the end of the day.

I’ve been looking forward to my friend arriving this week to start our 16 days of vacation together. The night before she was supposed to fly in she called me to let me know that her husband had tested positive for Covid.

I just couldn’t believe it, after having my last vacation completely derailed by my own case of Covid.

So, what to do? She called the airlines. We talked several times. I messaged someone I know who professionally and educationally knows shit about Covid and she suggested that my friend get a hotel room for five nights, and that we hang out in my back yard keeping our distance, wearing masks when we’re indoors together for limited times. So that’s what we’re doing.

We were so bored yesterday, I brought out to my back yard piles of fabric from my sewing room that needed to be folded, organized, and put away. My friend sat and went through a sizable pile of fabric and got it all organized and put into bins. Today we drove to a friend’s place to pick black berries — both of us wearing masks and with all four windows open as we flew down the freeway! Raspberry picking was a bust but at least it got us out of the house for a couple hours.

She’s taking a Covid test every morning and is nervous as hell until she sees that the T line doesn’t appear. We’re keeping our fingers crossed that we can resume our normal activities and she can move into my guest room on Sunday. Send positive (or negative!) thoughts for us!

After I took my friend back to her hotel tonight I decided to hit my sewing room and get a little bit done. My friend had brought me some KFC fabric that she’d found on sale and I thought this piece would go really well with a nice blue piece of denim I have.

The denim is much bluer than it looks in that photo. It really looks much closer to the blue in the lining fabric.

I decided to cut out the pieces for a shoulder bucket bag. I got the outer bag and lining pieces all cut, fused and sewn. I decided to stop there for the night.

And what’s that brown strip across that photo you may ask. Well, I decided to try some of the biothane I purchased a few weeks ago for the handle of this bag.

But in looking at the bag pieces I realized that the denim with the woven interfacing was pretty thick. It would be VERY thick at the point where the side seams of the bag and lining all meet. And in looking more closely at the biothane I could see that, although it’s about the same thickness as the handles I make for my Frankenbags, it’s much more dense.

I was worried that it wouldn’t all work out very well with all that thickness. I decided to do a test handle installation. I grabbed the small squares I cut out for the gussets, and I mimicked the handle installation to see how it would go.

I was right. That denim is really thick. I was pretty happy with how my machine sewed through it all. But I could see that I’d never be able to do the topstitching at the top of the bag that would go over the handle. There was just too much thickness.

So I did the topstitching about an inch from the top of the test piece, which put the line of stitching below the interior end of the handle.

The stitching isn’t very straight. I will do a better job on the actual piece.

Here’s a photo from the lining side so you can see it better.

It feels strong and sturdy. I’m very interested to see how it turns out and how the handle feels. I’m thinking it might be a little narrow for a shoulder handle. We’ll have to wait and see. (As I’m typing this, I just realized that I should use my quarter inch foot to get that stitching just a little closer to the top of the bag… it will allow me to put my line of stitching much closer to the interior end of the handle. Oh, maybe even use my zipper foot to get even closer!)

My dogs have been quite happy to have my friend and I hanging out in the shady part of my back yard all day. Rico keeps bringing toy after toy to my friend who is more than happy to indulge him.

Bender has found new and interesting things to do with a nasty old frisbee.

I left the boys at home while I ran to the grocery store the morning of the day my friend arrived and came home to this.

That kid really knows how to keep the heat at bay. He’s a cool dude.

My boys are exhausted tonight. They didn’t sleep at all today. They usually nap quite a bit during the day. It’s nice to have them ready to sleep in the evening!

I’m officially on vacation. Two-and-a-half glorious weeks off coming up!

Work has been crazy this last week because of getting ready to head out of the office, and when that’s happening, more people need my time. So I’ve been working long hours and haven’t had much time to do much else. I’m really looking forward to vacation. A friend of mine who I haven’t seen since before the pandemic hit is flying in to stay for the entire time. We have catching up to do!

I finally got some time today to hit my sewing room and finish up this little shoulder bag.

It’s nearly identical to the one I made last week. The outer orange fabric is just a little lighter. But it still looks good with that lining.

This bag plus two others will be going to a friend in California.

I walked over to a friend’s place on Friday to pick up some of their tomatoes. They have an impressive crop!

compare that to my little gems.

Mine are really good but it’s hard to make a BLT out of dime-size tomatoes.

Look how incredible this plant is! The main stalk is at least an inch in diameter.

I’ve really been enjoying my Rose of Sharon. It had several blooms on it in last spring, and it’s blooming again.. but this time it’s really going to town!

It’s covered in these blooms already and there are a bunch starting to open.

And this thing is covered in buds that aren’t anywhere near opening yet.

There are clusters of buds like that all over this plant. It’s pretty amazing.

The boys have been pretty bored with my work schedule the last week. Bender fell asleep in this position with a toy in his mouth!

This was Rico right after I asked him if he wanted to go outside and play Frisbee.

I’m thinking the answer was yes!

Since it’s Sunday, it’s Frankenbag time. This first one was made by Elaine Samborski. I love the color and that huge cabbage bloom! The black and white is so good!

Thisnext one was made by Marion Wolf. She’s made other Frankenbags. This one is for her personal use. I just love the dark fabrics with the pop of color in the lining. The decorative stitching on the handle is a nice detail.

Next up is a whole bunch of bags made by Sandee Henricks. She’s really been busy! Great fabrics, very nicely made, and a riot of color! Nice work Sandee!

My friend and I are going to do some sewing related things while she’s here. First, she’s going to help me figure out where to put all the piles of fabric in my sewing room. Then we’ll make a trip to my long arm quilter to get some of her quilts started. She shipped three of them to me this week. I’ll take in one or two of my own quilts while we’re there.

One more day of getting my house ready for company and then adventure will begin.

I didn’t get a ton of stuff done this weekend but I’m still totally wiped out tonight. Probably because I went and played pickleball this morning from 9 am to almost 12:30! And my body is feeling it tonight!

Yesterday I took Rico to his weekly sheep herding lesson and we worked on shedding again. We had a really good lesson. After our lesson I met my friend at the field with the creek to let the dogs run. Rico love’s my friend’s dog Jolene. He thinks she’s very cute and she tolerates his attention.

When I left in the morning I had seen a sign for an estate sale near my house. I just LOVE estate sales so made a point of stopping by this one on the way home and I’m really glad I did! I found a bunch of wool fabric and I think most of it is actually Pendleton wool. I got 13 yards for $39!!! This is such a steal! I’ve coveted Pendleton wool for some time but could never make myself pay the high per yard price. Here’s what I got.

It’s a big stack nearly 13 inches high! I’m not sure what I’m going to make out of this wool but I have wanted to make some wool bags. I’ll have to look at examples and see what I want to do.

When we got home I hurried and took the dogs for a more substantial walk, partly for MY exercise. We had to stop for a photo op.

And later on the same walk Bender thought better of messing with this cat.

After pickleball this morning I came home and gave Bender and Rico baths. They were both pretty disgusting and needed baths really badly. They both smell so good tonight.

After dinner I took the boys for our evening walk and then hit my sewing room and finished up this bright green bucket bag.

That lining is fun with this brighter green.

More frankenbags tonight. Let’s get moving!

These first two were made by Cheryl Sjoblad as part of a quilt guild challenge. I love all those bright colors with the black and white. And the rivets she added are really a fun touch.

Next up is this bag from MzzzMa on instragram. She said this bag turned out bright. Well, she’s got that right! I love those diagonal lines and the pops of yellow are tremendous!

This next bag was made by Karen Trude. I just love the black and white checkerboard fabric at the top — and lots of graphic black and white everywhere! And who doesn’t feel happier looking at polka dots? and I have to admit that I kind of have a thing for flying geese.

This next bag was made by Cindy Clark. She mad the bag smaller than my tutorial instructs. I love the dark Australian Aboriginal fabrics she used and a smaller version is a great idea! This is the 12th Frankenbag she’s made!

Next are these bags from Sandee Henricks. She’s really been busy. There’s Christmas everywhere! I love that great big poinsettia block and I love that she’s using up those orphan blocks.

Next up are this bag made by Andrea Cline. I love that big old NY Beauty lock and the bright colors on the other side of the bag are so good! And look.. black and white AND polka dogs for this lining!

Andrea also sent photos of the students from a summer camp she taught and their bags. They started with some crumb piecing and used a pattern called Mod Dog from Modern Quilt studio. Take a look at this bag made by a student. I just love it and had been thinking about incorporating this block at some point.

Here’s the class showing off their Frankenbags!

That class looks like a blast!

Another week of work and I’ll be on vacation. I really need some time off. A friend of mine is coming to visit for two weeks! I haven’t seen her since before the pandemic hit. I’m really looking forward to seeing her and to having some time off.

It was hot today. Well into the 90s. Another hot day tomorrow and then cooling down nicely on the weekend. At 11:13 it was still 77 degrees!

I decided we should get out and walk and weather the heat a little early so we could get something done tonight. It wasn’t too bad but it was warm. It would have been nice if there was a breeze. Oh! And two people told me they had just seen a coyote, just down the street from where I saw one a couple weeks ago. We didn’t see it but we didn’t miss it by much.

Once I got home I headed right for my sewing room. I really wanted to lay down on the sofa and watch some TV but I forced myself to dig in and be productive.

I have three bags cut and basically ready to construct and I decided to dig in on this one because I haven’t made a purple one yet.

Not sure what I would call that color. Maybe a faded eggplant or plum. It’s a subtle purple.

I decided to go with this pretty Australian Aboriginal fabric for the lining. It’s sort of peach and pink with little bits of that purple here and there.

It’s an unexpected and fun pop of color with that purple. And I chose the gold snap because of the touches of warm golds in the lining.

There’s one trick I use on my bags that I learned from a mask pattern back when the pandemic first hit. When I sew the seam coming up to the opening in the lining, I sew a line of stitching from the end of the line to the edge of the seam allowance. This picture is from a Christmas ornament post, but it shows you what I’m talking about.

The little blue lines of stitching are the brilliant tip. They make that opening almost close itself. If you’ve never tried this, you should! It’s the best thing I learned from all the masks I made.

I also can have a tendency to sew right past where I intended to leave an opening in my lining so I came up with this little visual trick to keep me on track. I put an X of two pins in the section that will be the opening as a reminder to not sew there.

I really hate picking stitching from all that interfacing! Better to do it correctly the first time.

I got a fun delivery today. A nice sized package of fabric arrived on my door step early this afternoon.

That’s all aged muslin that I found online. Those are all one yard cuts except for the red one, which is 1.5 yards. I have no idea what I’m going to do with all of this. But I’ll probably come up with something fun!

I had a day full of meetings today and my dogs were pretty bored. Except that this kid did keep himself nicely occupied off and on chasing a squirrel in the back yard.

He did a really good job of alerting all our neighbors of the danger.

After work tonight I finally took a few minutes and assembled this wind spinner. I’ve had it in the garage for a few months.

I have four spinners in my back yard and I just love them. This one is right off the patio so I’ll really get to enjoy it.

My yard guys came today. They are so amazing! They are quick, they do a great job and they see things and take care of things that my other yard workers have never done. These guys are definitely keepers!

I’ve been busy recently. It seems like I don’t have much time in the evenings to spend in my sewing room. Maybe it’s because I’ve been tired and don’t have the stamina to stay in there until 11 at night. Sounds like it’s time for vacation… which IS coming up in a couple weeks! Yay!

So, here’s what I accomplished tonight. I cut out the bag fronts, linings and straps for three shoulder bucket bags.

That’s not much, but it’s something.

I’ve used up almost all of that green and orange batik my co-worker brought me from Africa. I’m going to save what I have left to make a bag for her. That would make a nice holiday gift and I think it’s something she’d use.

I started my day today with a 90 minute meeting that featured a long presentation. So I grabbed my hexes and did a little sewing as the meeting went on. I didn’t get much done but keeping my hands busy helped my head focus.

The stitching on these looked really good! I guess that time away from hexes was good!

Our temps have dropped a little so we’re able to get our evening walk in before it gets dark. There were some really pretty skies again tonight.

I mean come on! Look how miserable Rico is! Poor guy is so dramatic when I ask him to pose for a photo.

But this photo, he was so groggy! He had just woken up and his tongue was stuck like that!

That big old nose is pretty magnificent!

And speaking of sleeping hard…

I was looking at Bender the other day and was amazed at how white his face is getting. He’s really starting to look old. He’s just nine!

Another long meeting to start my day tomorrow. I have my hand sewing on my desk and ready to go.

It’s Sunday night and I haven’t been in my sewing room all weekend. I really did intend to make at least two more shoulder bucket bags, but I guess it wasn’t to be.

Friday night I went and did some grocery shopping and then prepped all the ingredients for the same chickpea salad that I made a few weeks ago. I chopped all the fresh herbs and veggies except for cucumbers and cherry tomatoes and made the dressing.

Saturday morning I met my friends an an indoor Pickleball facility for a two-hour clinic. It was a lot of fun and the teacher was great! He’s sort of a pickleball legend here in the Portland area. And he was really good teacher. I got so much out of the clinic.

Here’s a video of the indoor facility where we had the clinic.

After the clinic I hightailed it home to let the dogs out and assemble my salad so I could be at a friend’s place for a pot luck BBQ in two hours.

Once I got home all I had to do was dump all the different containers into a big bowl, chop the cukes and cut up the tomatoes, then add the dressing and stir, and my huge salad was ready to go. I did manage to get the dogs out for some play before I left them alone again.

The BBQ was to celebrate the anniversary of a friend of mine and there were so many of my friends there! It was great to get to see so many people… some I haven’t seen for many months. My friend who gave me her mom’s Featherweight was there too.

Once I got home I got the dogs lighted collars on and my reflective harness and we headed out for a 3 mile walk. We started when there was still a little bit of daylight, but it was pitch dark when we got home.

Since I had so much fun at the pickleball clinic yesterday, I decided to get up early and play pickleball at open play again this morning. A friend of mine met me there at 9 am. I finished my last game at 11:30.

… and I’ve been exhausted all day!

Even so, I did manage to get a few things done. I cleaned up all the pots on my patio… pulling weeds, trimming plants, and trying to get rid of the nasty lemon mint that comes up everywhere. My friend gave me the lemon mint in a pot several years ago and I should have thrown the entire thing in the garbage the minute she left. I’ve never seen a plant that spreads like that one does. It’s growing in nearly every one of my pots, and I’ve even found it growing in the far back end of my yard. The only good thing is that it smells really good.

After that I watered and fertilized all my potted plants. And after talking to a friend at the BBQ last night that is a master gardener, I decided to dig up my jasmine plant and replant it because it wasn’t thriving. I watered it earlier in the day in preparation of this job. So I popped the plant out of the ground and then dug a LARGER and DEEPER hole and loosened up all the dirt in the larger hole, then replanted the plant. I built a little berm around the plant so the water wouldn’t just run off the top of the soil. The berm will act as a little dam that will hold the water at the base of the plant so it can soak into the ground.

Yes, the soil in my back yard is like concrete. That fact and Bender and Rico are the reasons I don’t do more gardening and stick to my pots and stock tanks.

I took the boys for their only walk of the day after dinner since it was quite warm today. The skies were so amazing!

Now, a little about sewing, or at least fabric. After posting photos of my shoulder bucket bags on social media a friend messaged me and said she wanted several for gifts. She wanted the gray one I made last week and asked if I could make her two more. So here’s what I landed on, because she LOVES this lining fabric.

So many people LOVED that orange bag I made last week with that same lining fabric. It’s so funny how so many people respond to the same item.

I did find a good selection of this aged muslin online last week and ordered way too much of it. I just love it.

I’ve received a ton of Frankenbag photos from blog readers the last week. So let’s go!

Oh, and because someone always asks, you can find my Frankenbag tutorial here.

This first bag is from Janice Quinn. She said making these bags is really addictive and she loves a project that she can start and finish in a day. I love the large pieces of fabric she’s used, and the purples and teals are really great together! And look how pretty her back drop is!

This next bag was made by Liz Arbaugh. First off, I love the colors she’s used on the outer bag. It reads purple, but there’s a lot more going on there! I just love her little fussy cut flowers. She said she made these panels in a quilt-as-you-go method, and I love the quilting that goes different directions. I just might have to make one like this before too long. She also said she tried to get one of her labradoodles to model the bag, but they didn’t want to get up off the AC vents!

Linda Kisley finally made this next bag after ogling all the bags I share here for months. This one is for a friend’s birthday. Linda learned some important things while making this bag:

1.  You don’t need to use an entire motif if it’s very large.  A partial motif is nice too

2.  The bottom 2-1/2 to 3 inches won’t show – it’s on the bottom

3.  If you’re bordering a motif or quilt block and they are on the edge of the bag side or top, make these a bit wider so you don’t lose too much of them when trimming and squaring up

4.  Pay attention to where the handles go – on the outside of the bag (I couldn’t let this one go)

5.  Don’t forget the zipper placket when assembling the lining. (I was really sad about this)

6.  These bags are not haphazardly pieced.  There is a lot of thought and attention to detail that goes into the selection of fabrics and design.  It is an art, and one in which I am not proficient, but hope to improve.

I love her bag! I don’t think I have any of that agate fabric in that color way. I like the fussy cut piece, but I LOVE the more organically cut piece! And the lining makes me envious. I would love to have some of that cogs fabric in my stash. Insert sad face here.

Next up is this bag made by Marion Wolf. This is her third and she’s loving the darker colors with the woven stripes. And I agree with her. The stripes work really well on tis bag. I’m not sure I could bring myself to cut mine up since they are out of production and nearly impossible to find.

This next bag was made by Sherrit86 on Instagram. She said she’s been wanting to make one for a while. She made this from fabrics left over from a quilt. Well, I love this one! Those saturated greens with the pops of purple and turquoise… those diagonal pieces. Yummy! And guess how I feel bout that bold black and white sharks tooth. Well, you know I love it!

Next we have some bags made by Nancy Pendergast. I love those deep reds, oranges and pinks in the first one. And those little pops of green here and there are what really makes this fun! She was so excited to make another one that she sent me photos again today. The second one is definitely a little more conservative than the first, but I like the kind of neutral low volume feel of it. She said it’s really fun to get back into sewing and I just love hearing that!

And at the end, I leave you with this guy, who follows me literally everywhere I go.