Gehring Road

sewing for summer school

My Go Anywhere Bag from Noodlehead Patterns 

Thank you all so, so much for your sweet birthday wishes and welcomes back. I really love how warm and welcoming this community of creative folk are, and since very few in my life are creative kindred spirits, it makes every one of you so near and dear to my heart. Thank you. This weekend, I did some sewing... ahh. I also graded 27 research papers and on Monday finally gave myself some time to sew something up. I've had this Noodlehead pattern since last summer and thought it might make the perfect 'summer school' bag. When I printed the pattern, I found that I needed to increase the pattern on the copier to make the one inch tester true. While I was at it, I increased the pattern size on the copier just a bit, it's at 110%, which I found made the bag (a bit) bigger. I'm anticipating filling this with loads of work and books this summer. It's made with Martha Negley Farmington Feathers in red, Kaufman Carolina Chambray in black (a really nice grey as it turns out), Kona Solids Charcoal lining and Joel Dewberry Aviary II Woodgrain in Vintage Yellow.

I found that beautiful feathers print at Franklin Mill Store, one of my new favorite sort-of local quilt stores and simply fell in love. I love how quickly this bag came together, but don't really love the interfacing that I used (Pelon 808). I used what I had lying around which is never a good idea, but I thought a trip to the store would interfere with my sewing mood. It just feels a bit too stiff and wrinkled terribly when I turned it right side out. I still have threads to clip, topstiching to do on the top (for some reason my lining fabric wants to pop out on the top...again, it's the interfacing). I do however love the two types of pockets on the outside. One has pleating and the other lies pretty flat. I think you could easily change the pattern to do the pleating or other on both sides. I also included two inner pockets instead of one and installed a sew-in magnetic snap, which the pattern calls for. Love, love, love those snaps.

Anyway, I'm really loving this bag, I think it will follow me back and forth to school really nicely. I just purchased six books for one class... good thing this bag is a little over-sized! Happy Thursday everyone, hope your week has been filled with lovely things and much happiness. 

back... a year older

Liberty Mini Bundles purchased at Purl Soho

It really does feel like I've been away for a year... but no, I'm just a year older as while I was away from this space, we celebrated two birthdays, Rob's and mine. May is a bit of a birthday-Mother's Day whirwind for us as Rob's day is two days after my father's and mine is two days after his mother's. After all of that celebrating, the weekends can be a bit hectic. This year, for my birthday, Rob and I had a bit of a whirlwind of our own... and it was so, so much fun. We went to the theater, New York, and stopped by PurlSoho for a birthday present for me! Score! Have you been? If you are in New York, you must, must go to Purl. It is just the most inspiring and gorgeous space...

(this photo is blurry... I think my hands were shaking from all that liberty...)

Oh my, I loved it there... it's true, I tried to move in in that little space to the left of those liberty bolts. Rob bought me those two stacks of liberty lovelies as part of his birthday gifts to me, as if I needed another reason to love him. I've been collecting Liberty prints for years with the intent of making a really simple squares patchwork quilt in the future, once I had enough prints, you see. I think I'm ready... and can't wait. 

If you should happen to be in New York a few blocks away from Purl, get macaroons at Mille-Feuille Bakery... they were so, so, so amazing. These poor little guys suffered in Rob's backpack and looked perfect before we loaded my fabric haul and someone (that's me) crushed them up against a wall in Grand Central Station. Their taste however, was not diminshed one bit by our treatment of them. Lucky, lucky birthday girl. Those are the chocolate praline, chocolate, salted carmel and raspberry macaroons and I recommend them all... seriously, try them all. The pistachio and rose macaroons were eaten on the train ride home. So good.

So that's just a little glimpse into the Purl Soho portion of my birthday extravaganza... there was more. And hopefully I'll be back with those details really soon. I've been enjoying a break from grad classes for a brief little moment before they start up again in June (over and graduating in August!). That's where I've been... thank you for those who sent sweet little notes and emails asking if all was ok. It is, I've just been attempting to plan and organize so that June isn't so horrific for me or my students in the face of two intensive classes at once... and planning lovely little adventures with my favorite guy. Before those classes begin, I'm hoping to get a bit of sewing in, finish grading research papers and read in preparation for those classes. Things might get a bit quiet around here again... until then, I hope you have been well and enjoying your own little life adventures as much as we have. More soon!