Latest bag & cruise

Here's one of my latest bags, but certainly not the last, as I have to take a picture of it!



I have this bag entered in a contest on one of the embroidery sites.

Now on to the cruise! Only 4 days to go! We have our boarding passes, passports, and luggage tags all ready to go! All that's left to do is getting my wardrobe in order. Today I'm going to attempt to make myself a skirt, but the fabric is thin and will need a slip to go under it. So I'll have to go find one! That means a trip to Walmart first, and from there who knows?

Totes a plenty!

Since I bought my embroidery machine and sewing machine, I've been using both for creating tote bags! I've been fortunate in that we have several sources for fabric in this area. When I spot a fabric that would look cute as a tote, I choose an embroidery design that works with it. The latest one is this one:


The one I finished before this was this one:


The totes I'm making will be part of my inventory for a craft show in November. I'm sharing a booth with another lady at the Omelet Festival in Abbeville. You can find out info on the Omelet Festival by going here:

http://www.giantomelette.org/

What's left after the festival will be available for sale on my Etsy site.

Knitting Cruise!

At long last, I'm going to go on a Caribbean cruise! I've booked passage on the Carnival Triumph through Vermilion Bay Yarn Co and the Travel Machine who are organizing the activities.

AND, I've talked my sister into going with me! The ship will dock in Key West, and she's always wanted to go there, but none of the cruises that she's been on with her hubby have gone there.
The ship will embark from New Orleans and stop in Key West before going on to Nassau and Freeport in the Bahamas.

I've been to Freeport TWICE, but flew both times. Hubby and I have a membership at a resort there (Ocean Reef). We use the membership for exchange through RCI. It will be interesting to see what changes have been made in Freeport since I was last there in 1995.

First day at sea will be class day. I am taking two classes, both taught by the yarn shop owner, Jason. One class will involve knitting a lace shawl, the other is on fixing mistakes.

Have you ever been on a knitting cruise? Let's hear your comments, if you have. What did you like or dislike about your cruise? I will tell you this that they've assigned us a balcony cabin on deck 6, which is right above Lido deck. I checked the layout and discovered that it's right above a night club! I hope it's not too noisy! Maybe my sister and I should bring ear plugs?

New pattern by me! Enjoy!

I've been making these for a local craft show.  Very simple, only four rounds.  Thought I'd give you the pattern so you can make your own if you need some quick items for a bazaar or fundraiser.



You will need:

Worsted weight cotton yarn, color of your choice
G hook

1.  Ch 4 (ch 3 counts as a dc), make 11 dc in 4th ch from hook, sl st in top of ch 3 to join.

2.  Ch 3, dc in same st, 2 dc's in each dc around.  Sl st in top of ch 3 to join.

3.  Ch 4, dc in next st, (ch 1, dc in next dc) around, end with ch 1, sl st in 3rd ch of the first ch 4 to join.

4.  Ch 1, sc in same st, 2 sc in next sp, (sc in next st, 2 sc in next sp) around, end with sl st in first sc, ch 10 for loop, sl st in same st, end off.

 

I fixed my embroidery machine!

For a while now, I'd been having problems with my threads shredding somewhere in the machine. I thought it was bad thread, but yesterday I found the culprit! With the help of hubby's LED flashlight, I was able to spot a loop of thread lurking in the hole of the take up lever. So, after enlisting the aid of a straight pin and my trusty tweezers, I was able to nab the varmint! It's now resting with it's buddies in file 13.

Also, I've been crocheting dishcloths to sell at a craft show in Nov. I'm working a booth with a friend of mine. We're both making different things so as not to compete with each other.

At long last, I'm posting again!

Yes! I'm back! I'm not sure what I'm going to be talking about in future posts. There are so many things I can expound on. I've learned out to use my embroidery machine for one thing. Also, I have a new sewing machine I've been having fun with.

If you'd like to see some of the things I've been making, you can visit my Flickr site:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ladybee_51

The latest thing I've made is a bag to take to bunco. I finished it in time for the monthly bunco night, however there were only 6 of us who showed up, so all we did was eat and talk. We have played with as few as 10 ladies before, and sometimes 9, but 6 is not enough (the ideal no. is 12).

Here's the pic of the pocket area of the bag:



Sorry it's so fuzzy. I used the zoom feature on my camera, and I guess my hand wasn't steady enough when I snapped the photo.

My mom isn't doing so well these days. It's a long story, but to make it short, she fell three times in one week, is recuperating from bruises, but is afraid to go anywhere because she's afraid she'll fall again due to a balance problem she's having. She's applied for home health, and she'll get that for 2 months while recuperating from her falls.

Now that I've gotten past writer's block, I'll be updating this blog more often.

Wednesday, April 28, 2010

New items have been posted on my Etsy page since my last post! Today I added a totebag I finished today! It's the Chicken Bag!


See link at right if you wish to know more.

Message from flickr today

Woohoo! I received a message from flickr.com today announcing that Simplicity Patterns picked my photo of a project I made from their pattern for their flickr gallery. You can see it here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/simplicitypatterns/galleries/72157623722904916

I'm now on Etsy!

Today I created my very own Etsy shop! I have only 2 items listed so far, but will add more later.
You can find it at:

http://ladybee.etsy.com


P.S. Item #3 has been added!

March, 2010

It's almost Easter! Do you have a neat idea for Easter projects? I came across an easy one here:

http://www.favecrafts.com/Felt/Cross-Felt-Ornament

We're doing this at the Crafty Ladies of Lafayette gathering on Monday.

Also, I went to a seminar at Hancock Fabrics recently sponsored by Bernina. It was about the proper use of stabilizers, how to embroider on towels, baby items, etc.

I'm planning to visit my mom sometime in April, depending on when she can get an appointment for a medical procedure she needs to get done. She will need someone to drive her to the clinic on the day of the test, and having gone through this myself, I know what she'll be going through.
Hopefully the test will turn out negative.

Note 4/28/2010: Mom decided not to have the test done as it would be hard on her because of her age. I did go for a visit though. Had an uneventful trip.

Finally!

Wow! Where did January go? It's the middle of February already!

We made it to AZ and back okay, came back with bags of oranges from my daughter's trees (she has three of them in her back yard).

Did some embroidery on my new machine while we were there, also sewing with the new sewing machine.

Anyhow, I have a Valentine for you that I created with my digitizer.



I've been doing a lot more sewing since we got back from our trip to AZ. Plus I'll be using the digitizing program for new designs. Just wish I was a graphic artist, but I can't draw worth a flip!

Later...