Saturday Joys

Tonight two of the grandchildren are visiting.  Dusti and Lane are a couple of the older kids, so they really aren't any trouble.  In fact, they are a help for the most part.  Dusti will do anything that means being with the animals, and Lane will do just about anything his Poppa asks.  They will come to mass with us in the morning, then after lunch we'll drive them back home and visit some of the other grandbabies.  Ah, the joys of being grandparents!

Today I unpacked the suitcases and put away clothes and stuff.  It's one of those jobs that I really don't care for, but this time I had a good reason to unpack....I have new fabric and a few other items. 


On our way out of Ruston we stopped at The Fabric Shop.  Take a look at these goodies:


My sister Angie will be thrilled with this pink piece.  It's the focus fabric for her grand-daughter's ballet quilt.



The ones with the green are actually only two pieces of fabric.  The pink plaid is one.  The rest is the other.  It's a fabric with four different designs.  Well, maybe I should count the tape measure as a separate design.  








I'm not really sure.  I just decided that it would be a good green to add to the stash.  And Richard was in a good mood.  That always means extra fabric is okay!


And speaking of extra fabric....how about this Amy Butler fabric.  Isn't it just wild.  No, that's WILD and fun.  I couldn't decide between the two pieces.  I asked Rich's opinion, but he'd rather get both than be forced to choose.  Guess what I did--both!  Of course!

So here I am--the clothes put away, the puppies cleaned up and the house presentable.  I played in the studio for a while looking for the worktable.  I found it under a huge pile of stuff left from previous projects.  Somehow I found a place for all that stuff, but wait, I had more stuff....

I just couldn't resist these beads and metals all tossed into a ziptop baggie.  Little did I realize that they match quite well and I could put the pieces back together.  There's a necklace and two bracelets, plus assorted other items.  Then, as I was wondering around, I found the ribbons and embellishments.  


I had to have a few yards of the micro-rickrack in little girl colors.  My favorite find though is this bias tape with the tiny white lace attached.  I hope to make a little dress for Sophie using this around the Peter Pan collar.   Actually, I bought enough that the three little ones could each get a dress.


So, back we are to my now afternoon and what I accomplished in the studio.  After putting stuff away for a couple of hours, it was easy to decide on a small project.  I picked up a couple of little wallets not long ago and wanted to make a few for the girls.  


Since they are very small and have only one continuous stitch, I settled on making a few of those.  They are quite easy to make, so I zipped up two or three.  They are meant to hold credit cards, business cards or folded paper money.  They also don't take much space in a wallet, which is especially nice.


Once I sewed up these, I started thinking that the design is one that I could adapt to something else.  Finally, I realized what that something is.....a book cover.  I've made a couple but this is much easier and faster than my older design.  




I still have a little work to do on the design, but we're pretty close to what I'd like.  The problem is that books aren't all the same size.  I easily thought of three different paperback sizes and I'm pretty sure I am not aware of every size that is available.  I think I'll try to come up with one or two standard sizes and just go with that.  




Don't forget about the giveaway.  You should go to the original post for the rules and information you'll need to be eligible.  I will add some of the items I created today to my Etsy store so those will be items you can choose from.  Good luck.