Make It Modern

I worked on my Place for Everything Tote yesterday afternoon. I am reasonably good at binding, but binding these byAnnie bags is not easy. The Bernina 880 has zero trouble handling the extra bulk. It’s just tricky to make the binding look nice. I ended up making my binding 2-1/2" wide instead of the 2-1/4" wide called for in the pattern. Part of that was because I cut bias strips on my Accuquilt cutter and part of it was because that extra 1/4" makes a difference.

[I am not a fan of machine-sewn binding. I prefer sewing down binding by hand. On this project, though, there is no good way to hand sew binding to clear vinyl. Interestingly, all of us who made jackets for BU sewed down the binding by hand, so I don’t think I’m the only one who feels this way.]

The pages are done:

I am hoping the rest of the bag comes together quickly.

I’ve got a few free days next week (finally) and my plan is to cut out three woven tops and sew them together. I want to wear me-mades at Bernina University.

[On Wednesday, I wore one of my woven tops and a pair of denim wide-leg crop pants that I bought at Kohls. Several people asked me if I had made my pants. I just had to laugh. I wanted to say, “No, I made my top! Ask me about my top!”]

During class on Wednesday, Ashlee and I talked about marketing my learn-to-sew pillowcase class that is scheduled for the end of July. She asked me to make some store samples and gave me fabric from a new line called Groove, by Emily Van Hoff for Moda. Modern is not really my vibe, but every so often, it’s fun to sew with something I wouldn’t choose. We did a positive/negative with the pillowcases and I love how they turned out:

That pop of yellow in the flange is fun.

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Today is payday for the employees. I am now on my third pay period without a functioning payroll module in QuickBooks. Heads need to begin rolling.

Our church conference kicked off last night with an Anabaptism At 500 hymn sing. I wish I had recorded it. We had 75 people in a room together, all of whom know how to and love to sing, and the sound was amazing. I accompanied some of the songs, we had additional instruments on some of the songs, and some of the songs we sang a capella. (So I also got to sing a bit.) I expect to be a bit sleep deprived this weekend, but it will be worth it.

When I got to the Lutheran camp last night, I noticed all the ground squirrels running around. Tons of them. It was a target-rich environment. 😛