A Small Project & 1st Tuesday Rug Group

Two weeks ago our rug Guild had a meeting where we learned how to make a darling small bag. We used lots of the techniques that Ali Strebel taught us when she came to Utah last summer - especially quillie flowers and proddy. I got a pretty good start on mine that day, and when I got home I was determined to finish it up - otherwise it would have ended up in a pile of UFOs and who knows when I would have gotten back to it....... 

The paisley fabric was the inspiration for the color choices I made. The lining is stitched totally by hand to the outside of the purse.

You can see some of the other color combos that the group made here on our blog. It is so fun to see the versions that people created.

Yesterday was our annual outdoor meeting at Kay's house for rug group. I didn't snap as many photos as I thought I did, but I do have a few to share. Tonia has finished hooking her Three Billy Goat's Gruff rug and was crocheting the edge while we were there. Her next project is all drawn on linen - it will be Little Red Riding Hood. Fun rugs!

Sandy finished her fall rug and was also crocheting the edge on it. Love those colors. (sorry the picture is crooked)

Angela has been having a love affair with vintage sewing machines for a few years now - I think I heard her say once that she owns about 35 different ones. She has recently begun buying old damaged Featherweights when she finds them. Then her hubby repairs them so they run like new and gives them a fresh coat of paint in the most wonderful colors you can imagine. This is the first one that they've finished and it's totally awesome! She has started a blog to document her journey.

Last year when I made strawberry jam, I added the ingredients in the wrong order and it never set up properly - turned out more like syrup than jam. So a few days ago I dumped it all out and made two fresh batches that are perfect. Now it's getting eaten almost daily on toast and peanut butter sandwiches!

I recently finished reading the very last book that Maeve Binchy wrote before she died in July. She's been one of my favorite authors for a long time, and I really tried to savor each page and take my time with this one, but as usual, I gobbled it up because I enjoyed it so much.

And finally I wanted to share a pet peeve. I often used to use my 40% off coupons at Jo-Ann Fabrics to buy magazines cuz they're SO expensive these days. Then they started have them on 'sale' for 10% off so the coupon wouldn't work. Now I've discovered that their coupons state that they cannot ever be used to purchase magazines - what's with that? ARGH!