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In progress, an improvised baby quilt.
The inspiration is a piece of Alexander Henry's 2D Zoo in sage. The animals are in various pastels, including several in a soft and pretty shade of pink. I think I'm probably supposed to care that there's pink in a quilt I'm making for a boy...buuuuuutIdon't.
A set of picnic napkins made from Heather Ross's Mendocino collection. I like the look of napkins that go together but are all different, and these prints just cried out to be enjoyed with one of the al fresco seaside dinners Vermont is known for.
Yeah. Anyway...
Unclear on how well the fine poplin will hold up when subjected to repeated food-related abuse, but I decided it was stupid to hoard the fabric when we could be admiring it all summer.
I used this tutorial to make the nifty mitered corners. And, sure, I suppose I could have titled this post "Mendocino Monday," but...look, I like mayonnaise, okay?
This is a medium-sized tote bag made using Erin Michael's Uptown collection. It was out a few years ago and I bought lots of it. Lots of it. I'm finally getting to the point in my fabric collecting where I look at my stash and feel appalled instead of energized, so I'm making a real effort to use some of my favorites.
My feelings about this bag are mixed. I sort of wish I hadn't combined the birds with the strippy panels, as I think it may all be too busy. And I already have two pink homemade handbags. (I still carry the second; the first, a prototype, has been relegated to the "What was I thinking?" shelf.)
But I did a pretty nice job on the construction, and I'm happy to have used some of the birds in something I'll see frequently, instead of in a quilt I'd give away and never see again, and I learned something new by trying a new technique for the strap. So we'll call it a qualified success, and move hastily on to the next thing.
(If you want to make a strippy handbag of your own, I wrote up a tutorial about a thousand years ago and just moved it over to TypePad. Please forgive the formatting; I haven't updated it to comply with the Web standards of the 19th century, much less the 21st.)
I made it to go in my living room, but I'm not entirely happy having it in there. Oh, I like the quilt — it has all the right colors and I'm pretty pleased with its non-traditional look. The problem is that it makes me want to redecorate the rest of the room. I wonder if I can arrange to have the rug stolen by very selective thieves in the dark of night.
Interested ninjas may apply via e-mail.
