I am back from Paris

I am back from nine days in the most beautiful city in the world. My cousin Cheri and I had a great time, walking, eating, drinking, talking, laughing, and speaking French whnever we could. I was pleased to see her carrying her quilted bag (see March bag of the month). Here is a photo i took from a bridge over the Seine, looking at the back of Notre Dame. I tried to visit Le Rouvray, the Paris quilt shop, but it was closed. I did visit Bouchara, a big fabric store with a small quilting section. I bought half a meter of a yellow floral print.


After not quilting for two weeks I was eager to get back to fabric and sewing. With my son's wedding approaching next week, I decided to make a small fabric bag to use at the wedding. The wedding colors are purple and orange, so here is the bag I sewed for myslef today!

I had some pieces of this shimmery fabric in several different colors, including purple and orange. So I cut out squares and upt them on point, sewed the outside, quilted it to batting, sewed the lining in a matching green fabric, and made handles. I now like the method of covering sturdy cotton webbin with fabric for handles.
I added a metal heart button and a fabric loop. I will put my kipstick, camera, and a good supply of tissues in this bag to keep on hand during the wedding. It is pretty small, about 8 by 10 inches. However, the straps are long enough to just fit over my shoulder.

When I come back from the wedding in North Carolina, it will be June, and time to start on my next bag of the month.

The May bag if finished and ready to fill!

Here is the finished Virginia Woolf bag. I added a fabric covered button and cloth loop to close it. The different purple and lavender floral fabrics reminded me of Virginia. The photo is one that was used on the cover of her biography by Quentin Bell. I used this photo in a quilt I made my friend Chris for her 50th birthday, that incorporarted photo tranfsers onto cloth of her 13 favorite books.

The photo on the right shows the green and purple floral fabric used in the lining. The photo below shows the back of the bag. Overall I am pleased with the bag, despite its flaws. Now the fun par, of how to fill it! Maybe I'll do that after I return from Paris. The fundraiser whree this bag is auctioned will take place in early August and i am going to Porltand to visit Rebecca and also attend the benefit dinner!

The Virginaia Woolf bag is almost done!

I am working hard to finish my May bag of the month because I leave in a few days for Paris. Hooray! So today I quilted the sides of the bag, ripped out some of the quilting, sewed the sides together, sewed the lining, sewed the straps, sewed a little closure strip, and made my first cloth covered button. Now it is all assembled and the only thing left is to sew on the button. As usual, the bag has many flaws. I had to sew two lines of stitches on each edge of the strap because the first line of stitches was too wide. Because I have a vision disability (no central vison) I kow there are other things that I did wrong or willshow up as flaws. But I hope to compensate for this by filling the bag with wonderful Virginia Woolf goodies.
Rebecca is going to donate a few books. My choices are Mrs. Dalloway and the biography of Virginia by her nephew, Quentin Bell. Maybe also a copy of the wonderful book "The Hours" by Michael Cunningham that is based on Virginia, her life, and Mrs. Dalloway. I am going to add some English breakfast tea and English biscuits (cookies). My meighbor Kris made a writing journla to add and I will get a nice pen. Any other suggesitons? I'll upload of photo of the finished bag tomorrow, when the button is sewed on. I am calling it quites for tonight.

May is a busy month

I have not made much progress on my bag yet. It is a busy time of year. I am finishing up the semseter (one more week of classes) and then taking off for nine days in my favorite city, Paris. I will be on the lookout for fabrics and textiles there (when I am not walking, eating, drinking, taking photos, etc). Soon after I return from Paris we are heading to NC for our sno's wedding. I have already given him the purple and orange batik chuppah (canopy) for the wedding ceremony. It is six feet square and can be used as a bed quilt or wall hanging after the weddding.

The last time I worked on the Virginia Woolf bag, I set the photo in a lavender border, then set it on a floral fabric (on point) then set that in a dark floral print. I started to quilt the front and back panels to batting and then stopped. I hope to finish qulting the front and back tomorrow, and then sew on a bottom strip, and make the lining.

The bag will be auctioned off at fundraiser for In Other Words, the non-profit feminist bookstore in Portland where my daughter works. I just found out toda that I will be visiting her for the fundraiser, which is August 1. I will spend a few days in Portland on my way to a meeting in Denver. August will be a busy travel month as well, as we are going on a hiking trip in western Ireland. So I will try to make the August bag during July.

OK, time to pack up and get ready to leave the office and head out for an early birthday celebration. My 58th birthay is on Sunday.