Monday

Zipper Pouches and Other Stuff

I've been experimenting with making new zipper pouches. I started by embroidering a few designs on some linen fabric. Then I matched them up with some fabrics to make the pouches. It was really fun to put these together. 




I'm thinking these would make nice gifts or something fun to sell at my next craft fair. 

The flowers are blooming like crazy around here. Aren't these pretty?



I love the detail in this photo. I was pleasantly surprised I could get this close without this little guy getting spooked and jumping off the leaf. 

August is my favorite month. Nature's beauty is apparent and I love the hot weather. 

Last week we bartended at Irish Fest in downtown Milwaukee. And we saw Maroon 5 at the American Family Amphitheater on the lakefront.


It's hard to tell, but trust me, that is Adam Levine in the middle of the stage.

I went with a friend to a June Tailor warehouse sale this week too. Judy Gauthier, who is featured at the event was there. She is a quilt book author (3 books actually) and a quilt shop owner. I've known her for a long time and I looked forward to seeing her again. I made sure we got a photo together while I was there. 


A Busy Summer Week

I love the television show The Office. It is my constant companion while I sew. Since I can find it on a cable station almost any time of the day it's easy to have it on even if it's just background noise. So I wanted to make a project bag using The Office themed fabrics. I got it started this week.


At this month's basement quilters group I finished up the baby blankets and burp cloths I started at the beginning of summer. I am so happy to have all these done before my next craft fair. I completed 18 blankets and 38 burp cloths. I think I won't have to make more for a little while - haha!

Our beloved Milwaukee Bucks are world champions and we've been dying to go downtown and take a photo next to the Fiserv Forum. We chose to do so this week because there's an art fair in the Deer District. What better time could there be? 
 


I sold a quilt on Etsy so I decided I would spend some of my earnings at the art fair. Sort of a pay it forward kind of thing. At least that's how I justified my purchase. I bought this cute little business card holder from a welder who repurposed old metals into new things. The "hairs" on this little guy were made from political yard signs. I'm so glad those are something else now. Tee-hee.

On another note, I picked these vegetables from my garden this week.

It's hard to tell but the entire bottom of the bucket is full of carrots. My garden is doing pretty well this month. It's hard work, but I love it.

Saturday

Danny's Quilt

My friend and neighbor, Sharon's son Danny passed away unexpectedly earlier this year. It was so very tragic and it affected us all deeply. We both built our houses at the same time over 30 years ago so our children grew up together over the many years. It was like a part of our own family had died. 

I was given Danny's t-shirts to make a quilt. When I finally got some quality time to make the quilt I started by laying out all the blocks. 


Once I figured out how to lay them out in a nice order, it didn't take long to sew them all together. I used some dark Moda Grunge as the sashing between the blocks then quilted the finished top with a modern quilt pattern. 



I like the finished quilt. I used the same Moda Grunge for both the backing and the binding giving the quilt a consistent look and feel. 



The hardest part of making this quilt was delivering it to Sharon. I knew it would be emotional and we would both cry. 

It was a little bit of comfort that I could provide and I hope Sharon gets some comfort from wrapping herself in it.