Esparta Fiber Arts Blog

Last week, my son stayed home sick from school… I think he was mainly overtired, but he does have ear issues. Anyway, I was in need of a new purse/bag as the handles of my other bag had worn to shreds. So while my son was watching a movie, I drew up the pattern for a new bag. It is based on Lazy Girl Designs “Miranda Bag”. I lost my pattern for the “Miranda” so I came up with this in its place. The quilting is not the world’s greatest, but it is functional. I did draw out the sashiko stitch pattern and stitched while my son learned how to do the stitching on his own piece of fabric. All in all, not a bad bag and it is stuffed with junk already… Picture below.

have fun,

mathea

New Bag

It has taken a while to get anything done here… but finally I have some photos of stuff that I have done.

I finished 2 bags complete with patterns for Mainely Sewing. They were fun to make. Writing instructions, however, is not my strong point. I do not do things in a logical order… Plus, my general lack of willing to follow any sort of directions makes it hard to write them down. I find writing recipes to be the same issue. With recipes, I now assume that anyone who may actually want one has a good general knowledge of cooking. I just write the amounts and ingredients in the order they should be added with a temp and method. Unfortunately, this does not work for quilting patterns where the level of expertise is varied. So I struggle to figure out what words will work on paper. If I could teach it person to person, it isn’t as difficult because of the kinesthetic aspect of learning. I tried to include as many illustrations or photos as possible. But end result is 2 cute bags…

tres petit bag

Quilter's Stow Away

Quilter's Stow Away opened

They are fun and the fabric was cute too… (fabric was chosen by owner and she has a limited amount of it) This is run one of the little handbag. I have designed another with cute applique as well, but its patterns and demo piece are not done yet. Maybe next post. So here are the 2 bags….

I have also more or less finished my self portrait for my guild’s challenge. I originally went with a more realistic type look… But I hated it. I couldn’t get the essence of what I wanted in it. I am quite capable of generating a realistic and accurate drawing/painting of myself. I have had to do this before. It isn’t me though. So I resurected a cartoon character of myself from a strip that I did in college. This comic is 20 years old now… I could not find the originals… so “Mildred” has aged. But she is still the cranky, frumpy, frizzball, that I have remained… Oh, she has cooler glasses now… So here are some pics for your entertainment. There is a copy of the first attempt and it still is not finished… I hate it, I may never finish it. And “Mildred” from the old “sorority bitch” comics…

have fun,

mathea

still not done and maybe never...

another late night editing music...

such a charmer