Saturday 19 November 2016

What now ? (photo heavy)

The craft sale is over and now what? What do I do now?


I was taken by this busy bag 😃

so much so that I made ten large and three smaller ones for the craft sale . 😊 I had 15 more bags cut and prepped but didn't had enough time to finish them all. 
some of the prepped bags
I did every possible mistake one can make sewing up this simple bag. Even sewing the front to the front! Yes, I did that. Ironed the cut and prepped interfacing together onto another fabric that needed ironing. Oh yes, I did that mess too. I was so disorganised, I should have quite and go for a walk or something. But I was caught up in a panic to finish more busy bags, more gifts bags, more wine bottle bags and butterflies too, of course.

Gift bag, wine bag and butterflies. Hairpins butterflies on cards
and two are with clips (no cards)
Gift bags, wine bags

Came Saturday, I was happy, alert and full of adrenaline! (not to mention coffee)

I am happy with the sale. I sold a few items and that was very rewarding. All the purple butterflies were the first to fly away, lol. 

Even if they look alike, not two are the same.
Of the ten busy bags, three were sold. You might say that's not a lot but since there wasn't as many buyers as we expected and we need to keep in mind that not everyone has young children, I consider three a very good number. 
A must have: cats and dogs
The bonus; a lady asked for my name and phone number as she works with children with special needs in a school. Wouldn't that be cool to have "an order" for some bags ? Wow! She hasn't called yet and my hopes were fading, but maybe, the school council hasn't had their meeting yet. Could be. So my hopes are still alive. Anywho! not wasting any sleep on this. 

Three smaller bags. 
After the craft sale, after the rush of the adrenaline, I was exhausted and stayed away from the sewing room just to reboot my energy. On Monday, I've puttered around and got nothing much done. Straighten up the sewing room, cleaning up the house, wasting time on Pinterest, ... you know ... just stuff.  But Tuesday was more productive.

I started a new project. 😄 There's nothing like starting something new to refresh the creative energy, right? 

Remember my DS1's carpet made with some old canvas fabric I had ? 









Well, I grab the long leftovers stripes and cut them down to one inch wide. I sewed them all together in one very long stripe, starting with the brown and then the blue fabric. I rolled it up into a ball and grab some twine and started spinning these two together.

It didn't take long for me to realise my mistake. The twine is to big and with the addition of the canvas, the cord barely fitted under the foot of the sewing machine. I tried with the dogs down and it wasn't any better.
Another lesson learned was don't sew all the way up to the clip. It's really hard to spin it when it is that close to the foot.

But I prevailed. It was very hard on the shoulder and neck muscles. I had to pause often so the progress was slow.


The next morning, I looked for the Teflon foot and it was like a miracle worker! Yes! This project is finally fun to make! You can see the difference in the stitches in these pictures.


Petal to the metal, I sewed it all up ...


... well until I got to the end of the twine! Hahaha!

It's not the prettiest of baskets but it is also my first try. :^D So this is now set aside until I go to the hardware store.

A while back, I received the Broken Dish Swap.


Thanks to Barb, at Fun With Barb, hostess of this fun swap, I now possess 80 gorgeous Broken Dish blocks. The fabrics, the craftsmanship, everything is just perfect. I love my blocks! I will participate in a swap again. 😄
I did play with them a little bit, looking for a layout.


If I do what I have in mind, this project will be another long-winded quilt. Do I need another one of those when I already have two on the go ? (which are going nowhere fast!) The blocks went back into the plastic bags to rest for a while. 😞

As I was picking up fabrics tossed all around the sewing room in my frenzy of last week, I found my RSC 2016 project. Got the fabric out and started to look at the possibility of finishing this one. This year? Hmmm... /:^}


Now that the sewing room is clearer if not cleaner, I must work on my OMG (One Monthly Goal) for November.

I want to finish the month of June and I am at day 18. Can I reach the end of the month in only a week and a half?  We'll see. Nothing like a deadline to spur me into action.

So that's what's going on at my place.  Like I said; not much beside brainstorming but someone has to do it.

You can find me at Angela's place today, just enjoying all the rainbows.
Come Monday, I'll be with Beth at Love, Laugh, Quilt. See you there.

Until next time ...

;^)


17 comments:

Karen said...

Your busy bags are adorable. Did you put anything inside of them?

LA Paylor said...

awe, love you! I enjoy learning from others. Learn as you go, share with us your problems, and really you are a lesson in overcoming them!
LeeAnna

LIttle Penguin Quilts said...

I am really impressed by all you've been working on lately! Glad to know you had some items sell at the craft fair, too. Looks like the Broken Dishes quilt will be fun to put together. Go ahead, start a new project! Lol!

Marly said...

Your rainbow pinwheels look great! Good luck putting them together, and reaching your goal for November.

The Joyful Quilter said...

Quite the production you've had going on in your sewing room!!

Ellen said...

You have been busy! I love the Broken Dish blocks and I am sure whatever design you come up with it will be wonderful. So many projects....so little time...(sigh). Hopefully, you will hear back about the bags and get a nice big order!!!

gayle said...

Go ahead and start new projects! Lots and lots of new projects!
Love all your goodies, here. The bags will keep for the next sale, or would make wonderful gifts at any time. And glad you had that teflon foot to make the canvas sewing easier - that basket looks like a fun project!

Fiona said...

I made a bag a similar way and my machine struggled with the thickness too. I never thoiught of a teflon foot. you have been busy with lots of things made...
Hugz

Lisa J. said...

I love how you share your learning with us....and I like that like me you start lots and lots of projects.

Lin said...

Lots to take in there! I love your broken dishes blocks and great work on the basket. xx

PaulaB quilts said...

It's nice to know someone who overcomes obstacles and keeps on stitchin'.

Dasha said...

My goodness you have been a whirlwind of activity! Doesn't Pinterest waste so much time or delicious goodies? I chide myself sometimes, but then I really do make some things I find on there.

Run 'n Stitch said...

You have been busy making all kinds of fun things.

Ruth said...

I did one craft show and have one more to go and they never turn out as good as hoped for. But, I did OK in the first one. One thing I like to do is fix up a vintage doll bed and I sold one at the first sale. I found another one at a consignment shop and I made a mattress for it and will make a sheet, put it together with a quilt and pillow. Hopefully, this one will sell at the next show.

beth s said...

You're a busy bee! Lots of happy projects! I was tempted to participate in the broken dishes swap...but it never happened. Enjoy your blocks!

Vic in NH said...

Fun post and I love those broken dishes!

Sheila said...

I love all your little bags! So many fun colors and prints. I just got into bag making last year. Kept putting it off because I though they would be difficult.