With A Little Help From My Friends

 I borrowed a sewing machine, a ruler, a rotary cutter, a mat and a pair of scissors!  I told you I bought a purse pattern I wanted top make, right?  This isn't it.

This is about number 25 Everything Bag that I've made but I wanted to try out the machine on something I was comfortable with before I tried the purse.  I love making these bags - they're really simple and I use them for everything from groceries to library books to my Bible study or library books, and even use one for an overnight bag.  I guess I got a little overconfident because when I finished the bag I discovered I'd put the pockets on upside down.  Good grief!  It wasn't easy fixing that mistake but with a little unsewing and a little hand stitching I made it work.

I also did a little embroidery this last week.  I bought this bib at Hobby Lobby and found a font on the computer that I liked and traced the word Baby onto the bib and I was in business.  I added a little decorative stitching around the outside of the bib part because it seemed awfully plain.  I'm working on a yellow one too - these are for one of the ladies here who is expecting two granddaughters in the near future.  

I've been working on Twas The Night Before Christmas for at least a year!  I love this quilt but this is just one panel and it has four!  The embroidery goes all around the outside and the inside has some pieced blocks.  I stitch a while, get tired of it and put it away for a while, then drag it out again a few weeks later.  There are only a couple of inches left on this panel so I hope to finish it this weekend so I can start another side.

And the machine I borrowed?  It's a brand I've never used and so it sounds different, threads differently, and feels different but it sews a great seam.  I didn't realize how spoiled I was to "my" machine!  It's good to do something a different way or in a different order or with a different machine just to make you pay more attention to what you're doing.  But I should have a lot closer attention apparently so that pockets would have been right side up.  :)