New bag and some new "rags"

Last night I finished my new Summer bag. The pattern is Caity Did by Loft Creations. I made it mine with some alterations to the original.

 

 

First, I need to wear the strap across my body because I have a rotten shoulder, and lifting it to keep the bag in place makes it much worse. Instead of two handle straps I made one long and adjustable shoulder strap.

 

On the inside, I prefer to keep my wallet and keys in a zippered pocket, so I made one. If you don't know how to make it, go and look at my tutorial here.

 

On the other side I added a small pocket for my phone. There is a piece of elastic band coming from the lining to the pocket front, to make sure the phone doesn't glide out if the bag is not upright.

Back side of my new bag. The fabric is a treasure from the 1960's. It used to be a sleeveless top my mother made for me, with matching shorts. It was hardly worn at all, the fabric is like new, and I was wondering why because I know I really liked this fabric even back them. When I was ripping the seams open I remembered: The fabric is not only by a famous designer, Marjatta Metsovaara, but it was designed for curtains or tablecloths, and my top was not only stiff and uncomfortable but also too hot.

 

As I was going wild with the customizing changes on the pattern, I decided to make the bag perfect for my needs with a very little change: Instead of a 1½" box pleat I made a 2" box pleat. I don't need a slim flat bag to carry papers and a magazine, I need a roomy bag that can take my book and my camera, sometimes my knitting project (balls of yarn are never flat!),  maybe a cardigan or a hat, and not look too stuffed. Clever solution, wasn't it?

 

 

If you are planning to make a new bag for the Summer, I have a great hint: Stephanie will be selling her 9 $ Loft Creations PDF patterns for 4 $ each from the 1st of June, permanently. Look here, and you will see how the original Caity Did bag looks.

 

I promised you rags as well:

 

 

Dish cloths used to be old rags before they were replaced by pretty knitted or crocheted cloths. Now these are popular again, and I have knitted and crocheted many, many of them. From top, a bamboo/cotton blend, multi-coloured Cream and Sugar cotton, and a microfiber acrylic yarn, to test if it is any good. After a few times in the washing machine the quality of these cloths is even better than before. We have been watching the Giro d'Italia, and a nice dishcloth knitting is just the perfect project for it.

New quilt top, socks and a pheasant story

 

The strings in the wind have grown into a quilt top. I took your advice and kept the other colours to a minimum. Next step is to find a free floor space to make the layers, and quilt it. Luckily this is not a very large quilt.

 

A new pair of Train socks, this time for the Red Cross. I have knitted at least one pair per month for the Järvenpää babies as well, but I often forget to take a picture before giving them away. Anyway, they all look the same, just different yarns. Here I used two little rest balls of baby sock wool. One pair only takes 38 g  of yarn.

One day I happened to look at the little rock just outside our yard, and I noticed someone had brought a mossy stone on top of the rock.

I looked closer (through the camera lens) and saw that it was a pheasant cock fast asleep!

 

He must have heard me or felt that I was watching, because he opened his eyes...

... and stood up, looking around as if to see if anyone noticed ...

... and then he stretched his neck and let everyone hear his "song", flapping his wings.

"What, no applause?"

 

Some days later I caught him hammering our cellar window, where his rival and enemy is lurking every time he comes to check. He also fights back, every time!

 

We were just 15 inches apart, only separated by a dirty window. I think I need to tape a newspaper on the glass to make the mirror image disappear.

 

 

New Children's Hospital 2017 campaign at Villa Cooper

Look, we are in the local newspaper!

 

 

The first of May was the official beginning of our craft club's bird themed sales campaign to raise money for the New Children's Hospital 2017 project.

 

Here are the first products, and there will be more.

 

Felted owl brooches, decoupage eggs and my bird appliqué mug rugs.

 

Beautiful aquarelles of our winter birds.

 

Felted rooster potholders and owl softies.

 

Knitted hats, a tea cosy, a ceramic bird on the wall, little bag with bird fabric, and felted owls on the shelf. On the bottom shelf the eggs and brooches again, and on the left there are some pretty pillowcases with hand printed birds.

 

I hope the publicity we had in the newspaper will bring new buyers. Mother's Day is on the coming Sunday, and the school year ends at the end of May so little gifts are in great demand. And if the bird gifts are not quite what they are looking for, the house is full of our normal crafty things from rag rugs to linen table runners, from candles to wreaths, from hand knitted wool socks to beaded earrings and necklaces. And of course the big quilt with stitcheries and wool appliqué! That one is for the fundraising, and with the Easter chicks and eggs it goes well under the bird theme too.

Squares

This is the beginning of my Rona cardigan with the Rowan yarns I showed a while ago. I have been testing all colour combinations and the three different square patterns that make the biggest part of the cardigan.

 

 

These are all my favourite colours.

I still need to practice on this square to get it the same size as the others. I love the 3D flower!

This is a new project, to support the New Children's Hospital 2017 charity. Villa Cooper will have a closet full of bird theme items donated by the members of our club. The proceeds will go 100 % to the fundraising, just like the price of my Happy Scrappy Spring quilt.

 

I decided to make a low price product, a mug rug. Little birds appliquéd on linen with a heat and bond type material, and just machine stitched a couple of times around the edges with straight stitch.

 

I kept the shapes simple but noticed how easy it was to change the look by changing the wing angle

 

or playing a little with the legs to give a busy look.

 

Luckily I had an almost full reel of 20 mm bias binding to finish the edges. I made some careful measuring and sewed the bindings in loops before attaching to the square. Easy!

 

Look, there is a hint of green in the young birches!

 

Happy Easter

Tiny Easter chicks

 

Even tinier bunnies

Tete-à-tete daffodils

First Brambling of the year. We usually see one or two in the Winter months, and in the Spring they come with common chaffinches.

 

Allergics, stop looking! Pussy willows:

 

Birches full of pollen this morning.

 

 

Yesterday was warm up to 16C/60F and it was all the nature was waiting for. It feels like Spring is really here!

 

 

 

Silver Darlings

You'd never guess what I have been sewing this week. I needed this self-painted polka dot polyester satin.

 

I used the shiniest silver lame I could find at the local fabric shop with my sister P. My mother's fabric saving pattern placement advice came in handy:

They are herrings, nick-named silver darlings in Scotland and Ireland, and my niece needed them for her stall instead of a bunting. She is Ireland's only herring pickler, and her company's name is Silver Darlings. Look here: @silverdarlings1.

I copied her logo herring, enlarged it, did my sewing tricks, Mr K. made a 16 mm punching tool for the eye fabric (and cut the eyes for me),

 

and now the 14 jolly herrings are on their way to Ireland. My niece Kirsti has her stall in Limerick's Milk Market every Saturday, and she will take part in a special event in May. Imagine a tall young pretty Finnish blonde with her pickled herring jars, and these silver darlings dancing above her head at the stall. They must put a smile on everyone's face, and people will come and taste some of her almost exotic Nordic style pickled herrings and buy a jar to take home.

This year the Winter was almost non-existent, and so the season between snow and green grass seems endlessly long. This coltsfoot is the first wild spring flower, photographed in our yard yesterday.

 

Ages ago our crocuses were showing, and now they are showing half an inch more, but they are not green yet, or showing buds.

 

The tulips I planted last year are about two inches tall. This morning we had -4C/27F, but it will be a sunny day and get a bit warmer.

 

What has been the strangest thing you have sewn?

Strings in the wind

Earlier this year Stephanie of Loft Creations challenged her readers to use up their strings and make string block projects without a deadline or any other rules. Finally I have started my own new quilt, using the free String-X pattern from Quiltville. As it was a sunny day, I arranged my 15 first blocks outdoors on the terrace floor. I snapped this photo and was just going to turn the last block the other way...

 

 

...when the wind came and scattered all my blocks around! I have my strings assorted according to colour in 6 boxes, and tomorrow I'm going to add one or two colours to my sewing table and maybe put the blue box aside for a while.

 

At last I got a picture of my favourite little friend, the robin. They come to eat at the bird feeder now that we have peeled sunflower seeds there. Their tiny beaks are not meant for hard food, and as insects are still hiding from the cold(ish) weather, the seeds will do them good. Our feeder is like a building site canteen for most of our little birds who are busy trying to find a place and building their nest and charming their partner. Fast food is a time-saving option!

The swans are back too, I saw them from the school window last week when I was having my last Tunisian crochet class and they were having an evening flight to the pond by the school. I will share my crochet project when it's finished.