Author: agilejack

We started our day off with a four mile walk knowing that it would rain later in the day. It was a nice walk.

When I got home I decided to run some errands. The back seat of my car has been full of boxes for a couple weeks now. So I drove by Goodwill on the chance that they were open, and they were! So I unloaded all that stuff… finally!

Then I stopped by and filled my tank with gas. A half tank cost me $57!!! Regular here is almost $5 per gallon! Gas is always expensive here, but this is a record.

Then I stopped by the pet food store and purchased two big bags of dog food.

Once I got home I cut the perennial grasses out of the pots on my patio. They will start growing soon and I don’t want to have to cut off fresh growth.

Then we took a short two mile walk and had some dinner when we got home.

Finally, it was time to hit my sewing room. I didn’t know what I was going to work on but I decided to use the Aboriginal fabrics that were piled up in my sewing room and make another couple of panels for a bag.

I took that photo after I had actually straightened up a little. It’s sort of a mess in there!

I chose some darker and richer fabrics and came up with this combo.

I really like the darkness of this one. The other side is essentially the same, with a few minor differences.

Here’s both panels together so you can spot the differences.

Several years ago I heard that they were going to discontinue Kaffe Fassett’s woven stripes fabrics. So I went online and bought a half yard of everything I could find from a number of different online stores. I ended up with 56 half yards. That’s enough for a number of quilts.

And in buying all of these from different sites, I only duplicated two of them!

These fabrics are so amazing. The stripes are woven into the fabric, rather than being printed on. The colors and texture are wonderful! Look at these amazing colors!

I’ve been thinking about patterns to make from these fabrics for some time now. I even have a Pinterest board with some top options. There are some really simple designs on that board that I just love. I think the simple designs really show the stripes at their best.

This one is from a book called Parallel Lines by Quiltmania. It’s so spectacular!

It’s basically a Kaleidoscope quilt. Donna Jordan from Jordan Fabrics has a couple of video tutorials for making this. Here’s one.

I have some more Frankenbags to share tonight. This first one is from Diane Anson. This is the second Frankenbag that Diane has made. She used a foundation paper pieced heart combined with scraps. It turned out great!

This next bag was made by Christy Protheroe. Of course I love all the graphic black and white fabrics, and there’s fun dog prints all over the place. She included a zipper placket and a zipper pocket. I love seeing so many people going for it with the zippers!

Up next is this bag from Yvonne Seaman. I love the gentle curved piecing she did. It’s all very improv, which I appreciate. She included a zipper placket too! She said she made a couple of mistakes, but was able to set them right with her handy unpick tool!

Next up are a number of bags from Lyndia Thomas. This first one is made from really colorful and happy florals. And She included a couple of different slip pockets on the inside.

Lyndia’s next bag features mermaids and other sea creatures. I love the colors and the pinup style fabric designs. And the wavy quilting is so perfect with it!

Lyndia’s next bag was made from the same fabrics. I love how she arranged the panels differently. And the bold yellow borders are nice!

One more bag from Lyndia tonight keeps with the ocean theme and includes lots of fun colors and piecing.

Thanks to everyone who sent in photos!

What a great day! I spend a good deal of it outside and I really lucked out on the weather. The day started with Rico’s regular sheep herding lesson. It started out in a brief downpour, but most of it looked like this.

There were some sheep out there in the field with Rico, but I just had to take a photo because it was so gorgeous. I think they are just off camera on the left.

After that lesson I hit the road for Molalla for another herding lesson with a different trainer. And after off and on rain storms for the hour long drive, we got really lucky and had great weather for this lesson too!

Had to stop and take another picture of Rico with sheep at this second location. I actually got the sheep in this photo.

Between my two sessions with this trainer, I took Bender and Rico for a little field run since Bender hadn’t had a chance to stretch his legs yet.

And, of course, there was posing involved.

Rico did a great job on the sheep today! He really put in a lot of good work.

After his second lesson, all three of us took a hike on some forest land next to my friend’s property. We all needed this! Nothing like getting out in the forest with just me and my boys and not other people to intrude on our solitude.

It was perfect weather to be out there! Gorgeous blue skies with clouds, and the sun peaking through the Doug fir trees.

Look how gorgeous it was!

And a little bit of me thrown in to show you how happy I was!

Here’s three minutes of video of us on our hike.

And then a really quick video of these boys cooling off in a small creek.

We didn’t get home until after 6:00. It was such a lovely drive home with no traffic. After dinner I sat on my butt for awhile, then decided to hit my sewing room and see if I could finish up the Jack Russell zipper pouches I started last night. And I got them done!

They turned out pretty cute and I was able to use up some smaller pieces of fabric that were in my stash.

Here’s some close ups of the pouches.

And just look how cute this fabric is!

Here’s the measurements for these pouches. Just substitute the BC fabric with Jack Russell fabric, than make the pouch according to my tutorial.

This next graphic goes with this type of zipper pouch. It also gives the size of the gussets for each size pouch.

And now my Advil PM is kicking in and I might just fall asleep on the couch.

I received a message from an old friend about a week ago. She’s a friend I’ve never met in person but have known her for many years through Jack Russell Terriers on the internet. She asked me if I could make here some Jack Russell items to use as prizes in a dog show. Of course, I said I was in.

The dog show isn’t until August, but I wanted to get these done so I don’t have to scramble at the last minute.

She’s having me make six zipper pouches using some Jack Russell fabric I’ve had for years, combined with some fun novelty fabrics.

I got started on them tonight after our walk and got all the panels sewn, pressed and top stitched, and applied the fusible fleece to each one. I Also got zippers selected for each pouch.

I used to make a lot of pouches. I haven’t made any in a while because they became somewhat tedious to make and I had a good number on hand. So I moved on. But it’s fun to make some every now and again.

The next thin I’ll need to do is make the zipper tabs and then sew in the zippers. I may have these done tomorrow.

My friend also wanted 6 Jack Russell key fobs.

There will be a couple left over. Might have to keep one for me.

And, interestingly, I have a lot of zippers! I wonder why I bought so many beige ones? Must have been during my linen phase.

Here’s a detail view of some of the pouch panels.

That Jack Russell fabric is so cute! I’ve had it for years. Can’t even remember where I got it. Have about 3/4 of a yard left. I’m guessing I’ll be hoarding it from here on out.

I did get out and get my hair cut today and it feels great!

I’m guessing it will different tomotrow after I wash it.

Here’s a photo of Rico from this afternoon… killing the game of fetch.

Tomorrow I have two sheep herding lessons! It should be a good day.

Well, at least it’s still barely St. Paddy’s day here. Just made it in under the wire. We celebrated today with a very surprised daffodil!

I went to a friend’s house for a dinner of corned beef and cabbage tonight. It was a big old warm bowl of comfort and I loved every bite. And the company was so wonderful! It felt like it’s been so long since I was with people at a table.

After dinner I made quick trip to the post office to send this bag off to Texas. It made me a little sad to see it go.

When we got home I decided to head out for a two mile walk. It was so gorgeous out. The moon was really amazing. I wish I could get a better photo with my phone.

Once home from our walk I thought I’d just finish up the bag I’ve been working on. There wasn’t much left to do and I had it all done in about an hour.

Holy cow! Look at those colors. I just love that strip of green! And the deep reds and purples are so good together.

I decided to play off those bits of purple at the top of the bag for the lining. For me, the lining is really important. A peak of something spectacular or unexpected at the top of the bag is a great feature. This is not the place to make shortcuts!

Here’s some detail photos.

Wanda from the Exuberant Color blog commented on yesterday’s post that the blooming tree might be a red bud tree. I wasn’t sure what it was, so I took a closer look at it this afternoon when we passed it on our walk and it’s a flowering plum.

They are one of the first trees to hit full bloom in the spring. I have one in my back yard and haven’t gone out to look at the blooms in a few days. You really have to be sure to enjoy them while they are in bloom because they don’t last long. One good rain storm can knock all the petals off the tree. You can smell the blooms as you walk around the neighborhood.

Friday tomorrow! I’m actually going to take the afternoon off and get my hair cut! I’m almost embarrassed at what a mess it is! I’m going to a new hairdresser that a friend uses and I hope he’s not horrified by the mess I bring him!

So, it’s been quite a night! I took the dogs for a walk, and then I sewed on a bag!!! I know! You can’t believe it!!!

I did see a really pretty moon while we were out walking.

And I’m loving that I’m starting my evening walks in daylight! That gives me the chance to take a different route that gets me off the streets and onto the trail. I don’t walk the trail when it’s dark because it’s just too damned dark, and there are critters like nutria, bunnies, and coyotes. I’m not very worried about the bunnies, but the nutria and coyotes are another story.

Oh, and we had a special treat for our afternoon walk today when a co-worker joined us for a three mile stretch. It was really great to see him and the dogs were really happy to see him. He just loves Bender and Rico. It was a good walk.

It was a gorgeous afternoon and I took the opportunity to get a photo of the boys in front of my forsythia bush. They all look pretty spectacular.

My siblings and I posed in front of our forsythia bush every spring when I was a kid. It just seems right that I make these poor boys do the same.

I had a pretty productive couple of hours in my sewing room tonight. I made the handles and constructed the body of the bag I started last night. And I’m loving these colors!

And the other side.

Then I dug into the lining and got it all cut, fused the interfacing, and got the pockets made and attached to the lining. Look at that yummy green pocket on that purple!!!

Ooh! That’s so pretty! And the pop of green in this pocket lining is so brilliant!

I got the zipper placket made too. I just love the way the design on these fabrics have so much movement.

Here’s all the lining and placket pieces…

Here’s how the lining looks with the outer bag. I think that violet was a good choice. And that green pocket… I mean, come on!!! So good!

I’ve been invited to a friend’s place for dinner tomorrow night… corned beef and cabbage for St. Patrick’s Day. It will be nice to be around people, like in person and not through a computer!

I will probably finish up this bag tomorrow after dinner if I don’t drink too much wine.

And I just remembered that I’m supposed to bring dessert! Damn. I’m glad I remembered! That would have been embarrassing!

I took three walks today. My work day stacked up that I wasn’t going to get a walk until after 3 pm, but an earlier meeting ended short so I got a 20 min walk in before a two-hour meeting. Then after my two-hour meeting ended at 3:00 we hit the pavement for two miles. It was gorgeous! And look. There’s spring all over the place!

Then we started our evening walk after 7:00 and did the first mile in daylight! It was so wonderful! I love having the light back in the evening.

I didn’t think I was going to do any sewing tonight but I felt the need to put my hands on some fabric and work with some beautiful colors. When I got into my sewing room I saw a small stack of fabric that ordered a week or so ago, and it arrived yesterday.

I love my reaction when the camera hits that green fabric on the far right! It’s so gorgeous! I love it when a design or color gives me a physical reaction like that!

So, after I fondled and appreciated all that gorgeous fabric I started working on a new bag. I wanted to play with a little more color in the Aboriginal fabrics. I started with some of my left over strip sets and made them into blocks. then I started playing with fabrics to go with them. Here’s what I came up with.

And here’s the other side of the bag… almost exactly the same, but the 2 inch squares are different.

I love that red and purple fabric on the top and left side of those panels. I’ve been going through my stash and selecting 1/3 yard pieces and am cutting them up before I cut my larger pieces. I’m generating quite a nice pile of Aboriginal scraps. I used to purchase fabric in 1/3 yard increments. It’s not really enough for larger projects so those pieces are perfect for these bags. I buy more half yards now, unless it’s a fabric I know I’ll use more of or something I really love, and then I buy more.

Here’s a lovely close up to show the fabrics and some quilting.

And both panels in one photo so you can verify that there are actually two different panels.

I actually have an appointment to get a hair cut on Friday afternoon! It’s been a full year since I’ve had a hair cut. My hair hasn’t been this long since I was in college!

I was actually a little shocked when I took this photo today. I had no idea my hair was that far down my back!

Bender has been on his increased medication for his seizures for just two weeks now. The first week he seemed to be basically unaffected by it. But the last week he’s been really wobbly. There are times when he appears to be completely drunk. He’s been slipping more on my laminate floors, and he actually wobbled and fell down on his hip this morning.

It’s not unusual to have this happen with increased meds. Most dogs will adjust over time. But I’m actually happy to see him affected by the increased meds because that tells me that his body is processing them correctly and he’s not just peeing it all out. So I’m hopeful that it will control his seizures and we’ll be back on another long seizure free streak. This weekend was two weeks since his last. It’s not five years, but it’s a start. Fingers crossed!

Poor kid. But I’d rather have some drunkenness than seizures.

PS. That’s not blood in the tub. It’s a red towel to keep him from slipping!

I was a little disappointed that there was no sunshine at all today to help me celebrate the arrival of Daylight Saving Time. But it was really nice to be wrapping up our evening walk at 7 pm in daylight. It’s so nice to have the luxury!

It rained off and on all day today but we did manage to get our two walks in. This is pretty typical spring weather in Portland. Cloudy for days and days with anything from mist to drizzle, downpour to showers, and everything in between.

I had a sheep herding webinar at noon today. It was supposed to be an hour or 1.5 hours long, but it went on for 2.5 hours! I took my computer into my sewing room and worked on a new Frankenbag while I listened.

And then after dinner and after our evening walk I was able to get it all finished up. I’ve been wanting to combine some of my Australian Aboriginal fabrics with Brandon Mably’s octopus and I love how it turned out.

All the colors in the octopus fabric are in the Aboriginal fabrics. I feel like this bag reads blue and I love that. But there are so many more colors than just blue!

Here’s the other side of the bag.

And that side is even more blue! Gah! Those fabrics are so gorgeous!

Here’s some detail photos, because I love the details!

And I want to share these close up photos of the quilting because they show the colors in these fabrics so well!

Good grief! Look at those colors! And more…

I have three completed Frankenbags made from Aboriginal fabrics sitting on my cutting table tonight. I just love how they look together.

These fabrics are like KFC fabrics in that they all play together so well! I don’t think I’ve ever put together a bad combination.

And look… my cute little tags!!!

Another work week on the way. I’m hoping for something good to happen this week. I could use it!

I slept in again. I think I got up around 10:30 and it felt pretty amazing! I knew my body needed a good sleep in. And knowing the rain was coming back later in the day, we took a 5.5 mile walk while the sun was shining and it was so nice I did it in my shirt sleeves. The dogs were even panting when we got home.

I checked my flowering plum tree this morning because it’s always the first tree to bloom. And there it is!

these blooms don’t last very long and with all the rain we having coming up in the next ten days, I’ll need to get out a few times and enjoy them.

After our walk today I didn’t do much. I sat down and iced my foot for an hour or so and watched some TV. Then I washed some new towels I’ve been meaning to wash. I also filled up a few boxes of stuff to donate to Goodwill.

At some point today I decided that I was going to get take out for dinner. There’s a restaurant near me that has great rock fish tacos. And I LOVE rock fish tacos.

They have all my favorite things in a taco… grilled fish nicely seasoned, pickled onions, some spicy sauce, crunchy coleslaw and some freshly made tortillas. It was a good decision to have this for dinner! I ate it with a delicious Mexican beer. Yum!

After dinner I ran out to Trader Joe’s for a few groceries and then hit my sewing room when I got home. I finished the lining for this bag and got it all put together and got the tag sewn on.

Here’s the other side of the bag, which is essentially the same as the other side.

And the obligatory photo of my tag.

When I was sewing the zipper placket to the lining side that has the zipper pocket, I learned an important lesson…

It’s a good idea to make sure your zipper pocket isn’t folded up and caught in that seam. The good part is that it gave me the opportunity to work on my seam ripper skills.

Here’s some detail photos of various bag parts…

This bag and one other one will go in the mail tomorrow.

I’ve gotten a few Frankenbags sent to me this week from my blog readers. Let’s get started. This first one is from Lesley Nammar. She said she had a lot of fun making this bag and you can see she added some embroidery. And I love that she used some Aboriginal fabric combined with Phillip Jacob’s Van Gogh on this bag. That has my wheels turning!

The next bag was made by Belinda C. As you can see, she made it from Crown Royal bags. What a great use for those iconic bags! She used beer fabric for the lining and the placket is reminiscent of the wood used for whisky barrels. And look… there’s a dog nose in that bag! Every bag needs a dog nose in it!

Next up are several bags made by Cherry Naylor. She has made A LOT of these bags and each one is just great! She made a coordinating zipper pouch to go with this bag… I love the way she used that big print with the black and whites. It’s a nice strong design!

Here’s another bag Cherry made and included another zipper pouch. Another fun bag with those big old prints and strong lines. Love it! She included a zipper placket and zipper pocket on this one. ‘

Here’s one more bag from Cherry tonight with some really fun and summery fabrics. Cherry is a bag making machine!!!

Tomorrow will be another rainy day. I don’t have any plans except for a sheep herding webinar at noon. I will probably have it on my laptop as I work on a new project in my sewing room. I like to take those opportunities to multi task.

I might go out in the afternoon to do some mattress shopping. I might not.

I’m so excited that Daylight Saving Time starts tonight! The day the time changes in the spring is my favorite day of the year! I just LOVE having that extra hour of daylight in the evenings. I can’t tell you how much this change does for my spirits!

A few months ago I bought a new shower curtain and towels for my guest bathroom. I’m thinking I might give that bathroom a good cleaning tomorrow and get all the new stuff set up. If I do, I’ll take before and after photos.

Happy Daylight Saving Time! I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!

It’s been another week and I will be really happy to see the end of it. The weekend just can’t get here fast enough.

Plus… DAYLIGHT SAVING TIME STARTS THIS WEEKEND!!! The day the time changes in the spring is, literally, my favorite day of the year! I just love having light in the evenings.

I feel better just knowing it’s coming!

I was tired last night and didn’t spend one minute in my sewing room. So I got in there tonight after our walk and cut and fused the lining for my current bag project, finished the slip and zipper pockets, and made the zipper placket.

I was just too wiped out to get the placket sewn onto the linings. So I’ll save that for tomorrow night. I should get this bag finished tomorrow night and get it ready to ship this weekend.

I did something crazy on the zipper pocket. I rotated the zipper so the pull is on the opposite side. It just seems to work better for a right handed person.

Would someone even notice the different orientation for the zipper? Is there an industry standard for the proper way to install a zipper? Or is it like toilet paper on the roll and there are equal number of fans for over and under?

I’m a big fan of over.

I’m getting pretty fast at making these zipper pockets. But this was not one of my best. It’s not terrible. Just not perfect.

Here’s a photo of the zipper pocket after the zipper is sewn into the opening and before the pocket edges are all sewn together. It helps me understand how the mechanics of this all work.

And here it is after the pocket is folded up and the edges are all sewn closed.

I make these pockets a nice generous size… much bigger than in the tutorial I use. I might have to make my own tutorial that shows my measurements and how I place the pocket on the lining. I could use my new gooseneck!

As I was fumbling around in my top drawer for my zipper foot this evening I happened to notice some of the tools I use over and over.

Starting at the left, my brother gave me this wooden combo stiletto and seam ripper. Next is a pair of long tweezers. I’m amazed how often I use these… picking off threads, I use it a lot in paper piecing, all kinds of uses for this. Then there’s the Purple Thangle that a friend gave me. This is a great little tool. I’m not sure what it was made for, but I use it for all kinds of things. The next one is a fake bone tool. I think it’s made for folding paper, but I could be wrong. I use this for poking out corners, like on my zipper plackets and slip pockets. The tip of it isn’t sharp so I do less damage to my points. Next is that pair of scissors with the yellow handle. I keep those handy for trimming the fabrics off corners. They are serrated, so grip the fabric nicely. The last tool in this photo is a little pair of snipper scissors. I keep this at my right hand all the time to cut threads as I sew. I like to clip threads as I go along so everything stays neat and nice. I can’t stand having stray threads all over the back of a piece.

And my new plaything… earlier this week I purchased a goose neck stand to hold my phone so I can use it to video tape. I’m thinking I might make some quick little videos of how I do things that I can include here. I’ll have to come up with something to be the first thing I test it out on.

Here’s the picture from the box.

Here’s the real thing hovering over my cutting table.

The neck has a lot of heft to it, so it should stay in place once I get it set. It looks a little like some kind of prehistoric bird.

We’ve had a week or so of nice weather and we’ve been enjoying our walks.

The rain is supposed to come back on Saturday and will stay with us for at least ten days. pretty typical for this time of year.

I may have purchased a bag of 200 googly eyes a couple of months ago.

There are a good number of these around my neighborhood.

Here’s to the weekend . . . almost.

I’m tired tonight and have an early meeting…. so I decided I’ll do a quick recap of my recent Frankenbags.

I think I’ve made around 40 of these bags. I really should count them to see exactly how many I’ve made.

All of the most recent ones have been full blown with zipper pockets and zipper plackets. Here’s a look.

Here’s a few of the simpler bags.

Good grief! that took me all the way back to August! I knew it had been a few months that I wasn’t making any bags, but that’s crazy! It was all the way at the end of December when I posted the first bag after that months long stretch.

What happened in the mean time?

Fabric greeting cards, feed bag totes, a few quilt finishes. And that’s about it!

Like I said, I’m close to having mad 40 bags. It might be more than that. I’ll have to go back and see for sure. I still have a few more bag ideas that I want to try out before I have another dry spell!