A Bump in the Road

It's been awhile since I've posted anything, but I've been doing a lot of traveling.  I'm still working on my Vera Bradley knock-off luggage set (henceforth to be refered to as my Christine Larie signature luggage :)) and I got a chance to do some more sewing when I went to visit my Dad.  I've finally finished all the quilting, and have all my pattern pieces cut out.  Yay!!!

I wanted to get the pieces put together right away, unfortunatly I left my interfacing at Melissa's house.
:(  I have to wait until I get some more bought.  I have iron on interfacing in my cache of materials, but I need sew-in.  Oh well, guess I get to start a new project for now!

Vera Bradley Knock-off

Vera Bradley look out...I'm up and coming and taking you down!!!

I'm visiting my friend Melissa and we've been sewing all weekend.  We started by going to Jo-Ann's to pick out fabric because I wanted to make myself a weekender bag, Vera Bradley style.  I love her bags, but they are sooo expensive.  I think we did a pretty good job of picking out fabric.

The flowered fabric is going to be the outside.  It's lined with brown.  We figured the outside was going to be so vivid, I could use a more subdued color on the inside.

We've been sewing all weekend, and it has been so much fun sewing with Melissa again.  It has been over ten years since we have had a chance to do this together.  We used to sew together all the time in high school, but since reaching adulthood, we have both been too busy.  Sometimes, I don't want to be an adult anymore!  What did we really complain about in high school?  It was bliss!

And this is what happens on little to no sleep, after two straight days of sewing.  You decide sewing fabric isn't enough, and add a little metal to your quilt.  I really don't know how I sewed a safety pin to my fabric without breaking a needle, but it did happen.  At least it wasn't a finger, right?

I have all the quilting lines sewn in one direction, at least.  Why, oh why, did I decide it was a good idea to quilt my fabric before sewing my bag?  Oh yeah, because it's going to look fabulous!!! :)







I've decided it's finally time to call it a night.  I only have about 1/5th of my quilting lines sewn in the other direction, but I am too tired to continue.  When you start to fall asleep on your sewing machine, it's probably better to quit while you're ahead!

Christmas Quilting

So, I've been sewing for as long as I can remember, but my friend Melissa just talked me into creating a blog.  I think it's so she can hold me accountable to actually finish the projects I start! :)  I know it's already May, but the last big project I finished was a quilt that I gave my mother for Christmas.  Her favorite colors are red and purple, so these are the fabrics I chose to use.

I used a pattern from one of the Better Homes and Garden's quilting issues.  It was really easy since it called for all rectangles.  I was able to get all of my blocks cut in two days. (I did have other things to do as well, like shopping.  Jo-Ann's was having a big sale)

This is just a small portion of the rows sewn together.  If you can't tell, I'm not especially neat about my sewing.  I take up tons of space and usually end up pushing random objects off the table with my fabric. :)

This is the finished quilt.  It is backed with red flannel and stuffed with a single layer of batting.  That way it's extra warm without being too heavy.

When I went home for a visit, I put it on my mom's bed on Christmas morning, after she woke up, and then told her I had a present for her in her room.  She walked in a saw it on her bed and LOVED it!!  She said it was the best present ever.  She was really excited.

Yay me!!