A "Finish" Feels Good...

It's high time I showed you something I've been working on, lest you think I'm doing nothing but sitting here eating bonbons.. lol  I must admit I haven't been as productive this winter as I had hoped to be, but I have been working away on a few things. I have stitched 3 more of my stitched and beaded Santas- I needed two more for my recent Giveaway as I had gifted a few over Christmas. When you have a Giveaway and you've offered "winner's choice", you have to have all choices on hand in case the winner picks the very one you are without (which would be just my luck!) I have one more hat to finish and I will have all five designs "in stock" again. I did promise my friend Sandi a complete set as thanks for her hosting me in Florida. She'll be "home" in late spring, so I now have that taken care of...Whew!

I finished up a totebag last week too. I recently taught this class at our local quilt shop, the Christmas Crab Quiltery. The Twister Totebag was designed by my buddy Sue Robertson; she wanted to come up with another use for several rulers/templates she had purchased. She taught it for our Guild a few years ago. When shop owner JoAnne saw my bag, she asked if I would teach it and I told her "It's not mine to teach". But Sue didn't wish to teach it again and gave me her permission and blessing. I made up my own notes/instructions with a few small changes and off we went.
It is made using the Lil' Twister template and Sue Pelland's Leaves Galore ruler (both are available for purchase at JoAnne's shop). I like to  have a project under construction in stages to show during the class, as many people are visual learners. How many bags does one person need, especially of the same design? I told JoAnne if she chose fabrics she liked I would make her a bag. So this is it, now completed after the class held a few weeks ago. We do have several more people who would like to do this totebag, but we need a few more to fill the class, so if you are in this local area and are interested, please get in touch with JoAnne and give her your name. The

bag is a good size (approx. 16" wide by 17" tall), has optional inner pockets, optional magnetic closure, is quickly machine quilted and is do-able in a 1 day class! Large buttons and bead dangles can be added for embellishment, if desired, as I did on mine which you can see here. Straps can be purchased commercially or made. I made the straps for both bags - on mine I covered purchased strapping with fabric and top-stitched the edges, and on JoAnne's bag I made the straps with fusible batting and fabric, and again top-stitched with my edge-stitch foot (LOVE that foot!) So there you go - a finished project. That always feels good - another one crossed off the proverbial list!
I am finishing up a new Miniature as well. It should be ready to "unveil" in another few days. The top is finished but it calls for some embroidery - with a single strand of floss, so that gives you a hint as to the size. We're talkin' small here folks! I'll show it soon...
Are you happily working on a project today?

Peace.
Linda

"Nothing can be done except little by little." ~ Charles Baudelaire