Machine on Strike

My embroidery machine has informed me that it is going on strike for the month of August. Apparently there is a wonderful vacation spot calling her name at our local sewing machine repair shop.... :)

I have been ignoring the need to service my machine for quite a while and have decided that it has to be done! After 3,240,276 stitches I am tempting fate to go any further without a tune up. That means that I will be without it for 3-4 weeks. You are more than welcome send inquiries or questions about future orders, but please be aware that I won't be able to start them until the end of August and need about2 weeks to finish most projects.

You may be asking yourself what I am going to be doing with all my free time... I hope to go back into hobby mode and experiment with some new designs and fabrics. So look for posts of my new creations!

Blue Disco Dot Tote

I've been experimenting with some small design changes and have been really happy with the outcome. (Thanks Nicole for the inspiration!) Instead of having the small solid piece of fabric on the bottom I flipped things around and put it on the top. Then I added the embroidery to the top chocolate section. I loved how it left lots of dots but I was able to keep the focus on Taylor's name. The lining of this bag is chocolate with the blue dots at the pockets. I also used a super stiff and sturdy interfacing on the fabric. This bag totally stands on its own. So now there are two choices for interfacing... depending on how stiff you want your bag.

I also wanted to share with you a fun place to shop for fabric on the web. www.craftersvision.com has a excellent selection at a great price. I love the Michael Miller collection. His fabrics are so fun and versatile. He even has a laminated cotton available. It is regular cotton with a clear plastic laminate added to the front. I thought that it would be a great product to use for diaper bags that always seem to get dirty quickly. All you do is wipe with a damp cloth to clean. I will be playing with it soon, so watch for some new designs and fabric options.

BTW... this disco dot fabric also comes in pink and brown!

Black and White Market

A friend ordered this for her sister's birthday. The swirl fabric was fun to experiment with. I'm working on a regular tote using the swirl that I'll be posting in a few days.

This bag is surprisingly roomy. I put three pockets and a key fob to help with organization.

Blue Stripes!

For this bag I used a cotton retro blue striped and dark brown fabrics with a stiff interfacing to give it lots of body. This, like all my other bags, had six roomy pockets inside, a magnetic snap closure, and a key fob to keep everything organized. I also lined the bottom of the bag with a clear vinyl to help keep things clean and for added strength.

Island Baby

This was really two sets in one. The palm tree design used the super soft blue dot minkee on the back of the blanket and bib. The surf board design used a double layer of the hibiscus for the blanket to make a cooler and more light weight summer blanket.