Zippity Doo Dah ....

Well, tonight I learned that I am not quite the Diva that I think! 

Grab a coffee or bevy of your choice and listen to my story and I think you will agree with me -- perhaps I should slow down a bit before diving into a new project.

So -- after dinner this evening -- I headed down to the Diva Dome -- flush with the knowledge that I had several hours of guilt free sewing ahead of me -- after a hard's day at work -- I needed the relaxation that the Diva Dome provides.  And frankly with all of the stuff going on in the house in the past few weeks -- I felt I deserved it.

DH & D3 were going to be watching hockey tonight, Chrissy was in her room with her cats watching TV and I was happily going to play in my fabric.

I was unsure as to what I wanted to sew -- let's forget that we have a major craft fair coming up in October and we would like to make some tote bags for our trip for D1's wedding in Puerto Vallarta at the end of October -- so I thought something simple.

I pull out my big wicker basket of patterns -- and I mean BIG -- I could probably go to Bag Pattern Anonymous because of this basket.  But I digress -- so after much dithering and procrastination -- it took me at least a half an hour to pick a pattern.

What was on my agenda this fair evening?  A Little Scraps from This & That pattern called the Clutter Bug -- I had purchased this pattern when SewShannon & I went on our Quilting Shop Hop on September 10th.

I look after the instructions -- looks okay for an evening's work ...so I get started.

Choosing the fabric was fairly easy -- into the trusty bin of 2.5 jelly roll strips we have cut from our scraps and I decide to liberate some light & dark Asian prints.  I iron them and cut the 24 rectangles I need and then I commence to sewing.

Things are going pretty well -- it's like a well orchestrated play -- everythings falling into place -- I have gotten the strips sewn and attached to my batting.  I know I am going to make some modifications because the pattern calls for what I call unfinished seams -- you just serge them -- did I mention that I dislike unfinished seams??  Well, I do -- so I know I am going to have to deviate a bit from the pattern.

So I do a little quilting -- in the ditch -- on the outside of my fabric and iron nicely.  Then I have Chrissy help me choose the fabric for the lining -- a nice beige -- it's okay because this is my prototype -- I've learned not to waste good fabric but I can be a klutz when it comes to new patterns.

So while I have Chrissy -- I decide to ask her if she can tell me where the zippers are -- I know I am going to need one so I will get her help -- after all -- we are Partners!!  LOL

So this is where I run into a bit of a snafu -- we have a BAG of zippers -- a rainbow colored large ziplock so it should be easy.  NOPE -- I need a 12 inch zipper -- do we have 12 inch -- nope -- we have everything under the sun ....

Zippity Zilch -- so now what?  I am effectively stopped in my tracks -- this bag needs a zipper but I don't have the right size.  And if I run to FL now at 8 o'clock at night -- well -- it's a distraction that I don't need.  I have been known to go to a fabric store for one reason and come out with $50 dollars of NOT what I needed.

So -- I do what any self respecting Diva does .... I sashay over to the computer to effectively ignore that once again I have gone rushing into something totally unprepared.  Will I finish the Clutter Bag?  I hope so but I am not going to hold my breath.

I guess I should do one really important thing before getting all gung ho in my Diva Dome -- read the supply list and make sure I have everything!!

Oh well -- tomorrow is another day!

Mug Rug and Goodies Swap 2011

Well, today off I went to the post office to mail off the fruits of my sewing!

I joined a really neat quilting swap -- it was hosted by Cindy over at http://fluffysheepquilting.blogspot.com/.

The idea was to make a mug rug and a goodie for two partners -- it was a secret swap and my partners were a lady in the US and one in Great Britain.

Now this was a real stretch out of my comfort zone -- I don't mind sewing for my family -- but this was totally different!  But I did it and enjoyed it.  I know -- those of you who now me knows that Chrissy & I have our own small business sewing therapy bags, aprons and bags ....but this was different.

Instead of sewing with things I liked -- I had to take into consideration my two partners likes and styles ....and that was a bit mind boggling!  It was kinda funny -- the one partner I thought would be really easy to do ...but WOW it was hard.

I've never used Flickr before and I am learning -- some parts -- really easy and other parts -- well that is a work in progress.

It doesn't help that life on the homefront was super crazy but the thing is -- I did it and am even contemplating doing another one!