Scrappy Plate Blocks

Remember a couple of days ago I said I would be finishing citting out the pieces for the "Scrappy Plate" project? Well I got the rest of the pieces cut out and was able to get started sewing them together. Then I spent a good hour plus mixing up the pieces to make sure each final "plate" had a random look and all the different colors were distributed evenly. I then cut out the background fabric. I really like the tone on tone stripe as I think it looks like ticking, which kinda goes with the era of the 30's reproduction fabric prints I'm using.

I managed to get three plates done today, but I get to spend the whole weekend in the sewing room, as my husband is off doing one of his shows! Yipee!!

My Easter Eggs

Our chickens started laying about six weeks ago, and between the 12 of them we get anywhere from 5-9 eggs a day. Thank goodness my husband and boys likes eggs.

Our brood is a group of "exotic" hens that I had sent to us in the mail from a breeder about two years ago. This is why they lay such an array of colored eggs. We get green, blue, pink, and all shades of brown.

Can you believe I have had people ask me, "are they safe to eat"? Yep, they are safe and taste like a fresh white egg.

Scrappy Plate Start Up

I guess it's better late than not to do it at all. I am following Ann Sutton over at Bunny Hill Designs and her Scrappy Plate project. HerE is my fabric choice, 30's reproduction with prints that are mostly floral, some already cut out and the Dresden Plate ruler.

It was suggested that you chose 20 to 30 fabrics to give it the scrappy look. What I couldn't believe is that I had that many in my stash. I had over 30 fabrics to chose from and narrowed it down to these. I won't be able to get back to this until Wednesday, as I am working at a real job tomorrow. I will also have to check my background fabric stash then to see what might work, or if I need want to get something else.

Linen Bread Bag

I made this linen bag I found from the site, http://Fabrics-store.com/. (my apologies for not being able to prrovide a link in my post, I haven't quite figured out how to place a link using an iPad)

This site provided the pattern and I purchased the linen from them as well. They specialize in all kinds of yummy linens! On their blog, they have a post and tutitorial about this bag, commenting that it would keep homemade bread fresher longer and better than plastic or paper. Since I have started making bread again, I was excited to see this and made one straight up. I will be giving it a try next week when I bake our weekly loaf. I'll keep you posted on whether it works or not.

College - Oregon Ducks - Key Fobs

I have seen these as projects floating out there in blog land and had ordered the supplies a couple of months ago. So I tried my hand at making them yesterday. Since I already had some scraps out from making the purse, I went ahead and made two! I used a longer length stitch to sew the fabric on the webbing similar to stitching done on leather. I really like the way they turned out! I also am hoping to sell them at my husband's next show.

Another 3 in 1 Purse

I have been busy these last two days! I tend to bury myself in my sewing room, imersed in projects. It is my place of comfort, a place of peace, a place free of stress. I've had a couple of serious things occur to two very close people in my life. Both are named David, one is my father and the other is my oldest son. My dad has been diagnosed with melanoma lung cancer and is scheduled for surgery to remove it next Thursday. I just learned my son is being sent on his fourth deployment within the next few weeks, and he will be back doing combat instead of work inside the camp perimiter. I imagine I will be in my sewing room a lot over the next few months.

Anyway, I made another one of these bags to have ready to sell at my husband's next show in April. His show is in the college town, Eugene, Oregon, home of the Oregon Ducks. This will be the first time I will be selling something at a show. All of my past sales have been custom orders. I tried to take pictures of all the different fabrics I used to give you an idea of how many changes / ways this purse can be done.

Same Block in Different Colorways

Isn't it interesting how much color effects the block? Color is very important to my Mom, she has always said color makes her happy. If she were to chose between these two blocks, it would be the one with the bright blue. Her favorite color is blue. I like both colorways, but I think because of her influence (and my Grandma's) all my life, I would probably choose the blue one over the other one.