my heart knows warm moments...

...for the kindness of friends.

i can't tell you how wonderful it was to receive this delightful wonky star and sweet season's greetings from Stephanie yesterday. visit with her at Jonquils and Ladybugs for creative goodness and inspiration to a homemade life. thank you, Stephanie, for your kindness, your support, your person good and peaceful. i share this warm moment with all who visit here as a way to extend my own greetings and thanks for wonderful friends and as a means of reflection on the beautiful people that i've known throughout my life. may we all receive and give kindness in quiet gestures, handmade with love.

go to swing bag

pattern: swing bag by amy butler
external fabric: kaffe fassett stencil carnations in taupe
lining: tina givens for westminster fabrics tropics in aqua
other notions/materials: cotton duck to line the external and interior fabrics
modifications: inside pocket
date completed: 9December2009

on tuesday i basted all the canvas to the exterior and interior fabrics for the main panels, pocket and straps. i like my bags extra sturdy for carrying everything but the kitchen sink if need be! so yesterday, when i sat down to sew, it was nothing but to stay with it, start to finish. it was the perfect day as the rhythm and motion of stitching and ironing is a good way to process life happenings in calm and of rational mind.

are the fabrics a bit of a departure for me? perhaps, but i like a basic tan bag, particularly in the fall and winter months when i'm most often in jeans and boots, colors more neutral then they are in the bright sunshine of spring and summer. i had bought the stencil carnations specifically for a bag and the aqua tropics, well, i thought it coordinated well, yet added a bit of pop for the pretty blue.

this is such an easy pattern and the bag so practical, seriously good to get me back into the "swing" of sewing after a few months off. and now i've been once again bitten by the bug and have a few more patterns selected to decide on my next project.

and do you know how long it's been since i've browsed fabric? i can only imagine the wonderful designs come out in my time away.

peace and love to you and yours these holidays!

and thank you to my friends who haven't forgotten me, but continue to show me their support and love, time after time, in quiet gestures of a spoken word. you rock!

lost & found

i realize that, if i had waited but one more day, it would be exactly three months since my last post. goodness. it's been much too long and i've been missing some of my blogging friends.

i've been away, if but here, in my small urban environment, enjoying what has been a glorious autumn and playing with a new camera. oh my. i do love it so!

but, yesterday on what was a rainy, gray day, i was craving a little sewing time. i've not a tan bag that i "need" to wear with jeans other then store bought, and that just won't do.

it's my go to pattern, the swing bag by amy butler, the one i find most comfortable to wear and easy to use.

i promise i'll be back when it's finished. and i'll be visiting with you!

peace and joy this december day!