Nina's Tote

I made it home from Oregon in time to finish up this Professional Tote (by Creative Thimble) for my friend (and boss!) Nina.  I had promised to have it done in time for her to take it with her on her Alaskan cruise, and I kept my promise!  I love love love the fabric and am pleased with how it turned out.  The zipper was a bit of a struggle because I used a sport zipper, so  the extra stiffness and bulk created a challenge.  Got it in though and it works just fine.  She loves the tote and that makes me very happy.

                                          Matched the pocket and outer tote fabric motifs so
                                          that the saguaros were in one piece.

                                      Side view. Pockets on either side. I used stretchy hair
                                      bands and cord locks to gather in the pockets.

                                           Interior view. There is a center zipper pocket
                                                     and interior pockets on both sides.

                                                          Two-toned zipper.  Fun!

I'll be teaching a class on making this tote next week so I'm glad I made this one to refresh my class notes!
Now to make up some samples...                                                  

Something Entirely Different

So, I promised my Oregon Granddaughter that I would crochet a doll like the one she did, the next time I came for a visit.  Little did I know that the visit would occur so soon!  But a promise is a promise, so she and I went to Michael's and bought some yarn.  She provided some coaching and I dusted off my old, old crochet skills and went to work on the doll.  By golly, she turned out great!  Thank you, Dear Granddaughter, for your help and encouragement (and your Mom's, too!)!  I think I just might continue doing some crocheting now and then.  (Gotta keep up with the granddaughter and her mom). :D

Blog Interrupted

It has been a month since the last post, but in my defense, I was out of town.  Yes, I did have access to my blog but my brain was elsewhere.  DH and I were helping our daughter & family as she recovered from yet another Crohns-related surgery.  We are pleased to say that she is recovering well and we're happy to be back home. (Even though home is located in the hot, hot, hot, smoky southwest!) We miss our kids and grandkids though. A LOT. Thankfully, we have Skype and Facetime so can both see and talk to each other regularly!  We're grateful for all of the prayers of family and friends and we are positive they've made a tremendous difference in our daughter's recovery.  I'm so grateful to my quilt shop coworkers for working extra hours to cover for me in my absence.  They are the BEST!

On the way home we spent an extra day and drove through Zion National Park.  It is so beautiful and we took many photos. I love the startling geography of the park and tried to capture some of it for a possible landscape quilt.  The striated red-rock formations were fascinating, especially against the brilliant blue of the sky.  I want to go back and spend more time in the park and also take in Bryce Canyon, too.  I will post some photos in the next few days and include some from our time with DD & family.  And some of the "goodies" I found in various quilt-and-other-shops along our trip route (gotta love that iPhone for finding fun places!).

Oh, and Happy Father's Day to the Dads!