projects in the works

 Hi!  A little re-cap here and some new, too!
I finished up this tote bag as my first encounter with Kraft-tex.  It's that brown stuff on the bag bottom portion.  It's a papery fabric alternative, and something I have wanted to try for quite awhile but never made it a priority.  Not very long ago, I saw a purse/bag pattern in a shop that uses Kraft-tex, and their sample was appealing.  Knowing that this was in supply over at Bear Patch, I immediately wanted to make it!  But first I found this free pattern over on the C&T website and thought I would start with something easy.  So here's my first project!

I have continued to whittle away at my Mini Rings quilt (shown below) and as of bedtime last night I now have it 2/3 done, with the first 2 vertical rows all sewn together.  I do like the color and design style of this.  But it also is made with some different techniques, and I'm not sure I have mastered those!  I'm not sure if it's my sewing, or just the nature of the beast, but a lot of my seams and corners do not match, which is not my norm.

On a whim, I took a few spare minutes and glue-basted these 2" hexies from a pre-cut pack of Tula Pink's newest fabric line, Slow and Steady.  The colors are happy!  No definite plan for these yet, but I'll cook up something from those ideas running around in my brain!

And I've picked out fabric and supplies for the next little bag project--

Since I have a couple of sewing retreats coming up this fall, I want to be prepared!  This Sew Together Bag has been simmering on the back burner in my sewing room for quite awhile, just waiting for me to pay attention and pick out the fabric!  I love picking out fabrics to go together, but I often can't be rushed with that.  I just like to take my time, I guess!

a special visit

We have just had a fabulous weekend with these 3---

Dan, Jessica, Sage

They are on a vacation road trip from the far reaches of Montana to West Virginia, with a couple of stops in between.  It's wonderful to have "my boy" back home, and it's nice to have him settled back into his spot here, however briefly.  And to have a chance to meet and know Jessica for more than just a moment was perfect!  And Sage is like the "cherry on top"!  Such a calm and patient dog.  She's very quiet, not barky at all!

Dan hadn't been here for a couple of years (we've been together in other places over that time) so there was some reminiscing to do and that was augmented by the fact that we sat down to sort through some of his old things that remained stashed here for quite awhile.  We set aside the things that were important for him to keep but couldn't go with him right now, and found a good bit of stuff for the garbage and donation.

We did some sight-seeing and visiting places both new and familiar--

We wanted to visit the Sculpture Garden at the Walker Art Center in downtown Minneapolis.  But we discovered that it is not open to the public and very much under construction!  This picture is taken from the footbridge that connects to Loring Park, so we could still see a bit of the cherry and spoon amidst the rubble.  We will have to designate a time to visit about a year from now when it's finished!

We walked around Loring Park, a great little urban oasis.  Then down to the Uptown area of the city to walk and explore places like LynnLake Brewery and shops on Hennepin before crossing the river to St. Paul for the Surly Brewery experience.  That's a fun place to visit, and we had some real good brisket there along with a couple of beer selections.

We did some biking/roller blading around the neighborhood and gave Sage a run.  And then we made another little field trip to Pine Tree Apple Orchard (which was a very popular place to be on a sunny fall weekend) and found this wonderful tall corn that's part of their corn maze.  This corn patch must be on a fertile spot, because it was looking very healthy!  Dan is over 6 feet tall, so these were some good-sized stalks!

Much sooner than we wanted, it was time for them to pile back into their car and continue on down the road.  I hope they have a wonderful and safe trip, and plan to come back again, sooner than 2 years!