Bunny Pincushions

So far, I've been holding steady. Resisting the urge to make those grannys. But dang it...they're dropping like flies. Bad Fortune Cookie, Creative Little Daisy, Flibbertygibbet (the Babette is close enough), and {gasp} Yarnstorm are all "doin' it." And last night at KnitNight, Junie asked me "How hard are those granny squares to make?" She's wondering. She's thinking about it. Bunny pincushions are taking my mind off of those grannies. For today, anyway.

Years ago I made bunny pincushions for the women in my family. Shortly thereafter, my little bunny disappeared. I ended up with MeMum's but I've always felt guilty about it. So, I finally got around to making a replacement for her. And if you're making one, you might as well make several! That way, if your bunny decides to take a hike, you'll have a spare.

XOXO,
Anna

Cousin Bags

As I mentioned in a previous post, I've been working on some little bags for an upcoming trip with the women in my family.
These didn't really turn out like I saw them in my head. When I made the first one, it had a bottom like you see on these (with the box shape) but the zipper ran straight across the top. They just looked so awkward though, so I changed the top to reflect the boxy shape of the bottom. Then they looked really dorky, so I added the little ribbon loop. They still look a little odd to me, but I'm very pleased with the little bee on the back of each one and I think the ribbon loop added a little something.





I have no idea what the cousins will use them for. I'm going to use mine to hold camera stuff (batteries, extra cards, etc.) On the theory that you shouldn't gift an empty bag, I'm going to put some snacks, lip balm, and bandaids in them -- a little beach survival kit, so-to-speak.I feel like this green floral fabric should be my thrifted white wool blanket. After all, my fabric was free -- can't get much more thrifty than that. It would certainly be more versatile if it were plain white, but I can still envision several projects for this fabric -- not that I'm crazy about it, but because I want to use it up. I didn't use much of it on the outsides of the bags, but I managed to use a fair bit of it on the linings. The women in my family are probably going to get sick of seeing it!

XOXO,
Anna

A Quiet Weekend

We had the perfect kind of quiet weekend with no outside commitments. I was perfectly content to enjoy the snow from inside and work on projects. It's always fun to see that critters are snooping around outside. If this had been summer, we'd never have known that we had a visitor. I enjoyed it while I could because all this beautiful snow will probably be gone by this weekend, as we're expecting temperatures in the 50's (10 - 12 celsius, I think?)






I played in my sewing room a lot this weekend. Four or five years ago a man at work gave me a bunch of partially used bolts of the fabric you see to the right. He and his wife had recently divorced and he was getting rid of the evidence -- she had decorated much of their house in these fabrics. They don't really go with my decor, but a girl can't turn down free fabric! A year or two ago I made three big tote bags for my mom, aunt and myself for a trip to Scotland. I'll soon be taking another trip with the ladies plus cousins, so I'm working on some little bags for everyone. They're not really turning out how I envisioned them, but it's been really fun to play.


I've also admired the name tapes that so many crafters out there are using, so I decided to play a little with my embroidery machine and these tapes are the result. Given the huge variety of thread colors and ribbons, the possibilities for these little tapes are endless.



Other than that, it's been slow, but very relaxing around here. I spent a little time reading blogs too. I love these bags -- I love little details in sewing -- piping, pleats, gathers, buttons, etc. and these bags show some of them off beautifully. I also finished up reading the archives at Yarnstorm -- this site is so interesting and chock full of eye candy! Hope you have time to do some snooping reading too!
XOXO,
Anna