U R Priceless Coin Purse Blog Hop

This is so exciting to be a part of a Blog Hop. I've never been a part of a blog hop before. 

Sew here goes.

My first thought when I first saw this blog hop on Madam Samm's blog was, 

"Sign me up!" 

I had purchased several coin purse frames quite some time ago, and wanted to make some. I had also found some patterns online and had printed them. . . 

. . . but nothing happened. 

The patterns and the coin purse frames got shuffled, moved aside and eventually buried as I worked on more urgent projects.

Here is the thing, unless I am nudged, nothing happens. 

No coin purse fairy shows up and magically makes the coin purse.

Sew when I saw this blog hop, I figured if I were a part of it, maybe that would get me going. 

But then, life happens. 

Madam Samm and Katherine gave me plenty of time to get my act together and make a coin purse in preparation for the big day. 

I just didn't seam to get going like I thought I would if I obligated myself.

 Madam Samm's instructions were beautifully done with many pictures, I didn't want to have to sew next to my computer, so I decided to print them. 

But when I told the printer "print all" it turned out to be about 30 some pages. 

Cancel.

 I figured out how to make the pictures smaller and copy/paste everything onto a Word document. After several days of fiddling and learning how to make all the pictures smaller so my document wouldn't crash the whole computer, I finally got everything printed onto four pages.

By this time I had misplaced the frames I had purchased so long ago. I began to panic and finally got online and ordered three from I Have a Notion.  

Kelly from IHAN graciously agreed to stock these frames in her shop, sew all of us in the blog hop could get a frame. Thank you Kelly.

But then I had to wait for my shipment to arrive. Sew that gave me time to misplace my instructions.

I'm not implying the shipping from IHAN was slow. She sent them within the week.

But I have a sewing business and the customer's needs take priority. Things get shuffled and put away as I make room for the new projects. The instructions were misplaced under several other pieces of paper. No big deal, just enough to make me panic. 

 Finally I found everything, including the original frames in safe places and began to sew. 

I had chosen some left over fabric from another project.

Earlier in the year I had recovered a stroller (click on photo to see the names on the stroller) for my daughter and her brand new baby. I had some of this outdoor fabric left and decided my first coin purse would made from  this, since I thought a purse would be great out of this as well. It will match my future purse. 

When I get around to making it.

After I had cut everything out and sewn it together, I realized outdoor heavy-duty fabric is NOT supposed to be made into tiny things like coin purses that have to be turned right side out. 

It took me quite a while to convince this very stiff fabric to allow itself to be nudged through the tiny opening. 

I had used the fleece Madam Samm told us to use, but maybe with this stiff fabric, I could have gotten by with not using it. 

When Madam Samm said one of the things needed to make this purse was "patience", she was not kidding. Basically it was the turning right side out that took patience. Otherwise it really went smoothly. 

Well, almost. 

Once I got it all turned right side out, the next step was to sew it to the frame. I didn't have the exact thread she recommended and I was very impatient to get it done. Sew, I used other thread which broke several times. 

I tried several kinds of threads, and decided I'd better order the kind she recommended. We live in a small town that doesn't have everything at our fingertips, sew I shop online a LOT.

This required more patience because I now had to wait for the new thread to arrive. 

 Meanwhile we had decided to take a trip to Oregon. A two day drive requires all sorts of handiwork to be packed. I included the unfinished coin purse and hoped the specialty thread would arrive in time.  

But just in case, I got into my knit-cro-sheen stash and found a beautiful blue that matched perfectly. 

The very day we were leaving, the specialty thread arrived in the mail. What I had found on Ebay was a package of browns, blacks, and neutral colors. Sew, I packed it as well.

The Oregon trip was beautiful. We drove for miles with this kind of scenery to enjoy.

We stopped to take many pictures along the way. This is a picture of Crater Lake. 

Not THE Crater Lake in Oregon, this is one near a rest stop in northern California, but it was worth the 14-mile round trip over bumpy gravel roads. 

My goal was to complete all the projects I had brought. And I did, in spite of the beautiful views out my window. 

I chose a muslin lining so it wouldn't detract from the beautiful blue fabric on the outside

I decided to use the blue knit-cro-sheen instead of the specialty thread. It required a bit of patience as I struggled with keeping the coin purse lined up and finding the holes in the frame with my needle. You sew around the purse frame twice to get the stitches next to each other. 

Madam Samm's pattern and instructions are so very nice. I hope she makes this pattern available to everyone. I definitely  will use it again and again. Thanks Madam Samm, and Katherine for hosting this and being our cheerleader.

As you can see, I didn't center it very well, even though I thought I had at the time. I needed a way to baste or pin it to the frame before I sewed it. 

 That's OK. I love it anyway. I guess it adds to the charm. People who see it will realize someone hand made it, right?

 Tinkerbell seams to like her new resting place. Normally she sits in my cup of crochet hooks.
 Thank you Katherine and Madam Samm for hosting this. 


Thank you Madam Samm for your beautiful instructions. They were easy to follow and beautifully illustrated. 
I've seen many patterns for coin purse patterns, but yours is by far the cutest of all.  

 If you, the reader, have made it to the end of this post, then I have a surprise for you. 

Add a comment, and I will have a drawing at the end of this blog hop and send one of you a frame from Kelly's site- I Have a Notion.

Be sure to provide a way for me to contact you via email, or you will be disqualified. 


Don't forget to check out the other blogs who are on the blog hop today, and the rest of the week. 
I will draw a name at the end of this blog hop. Good luck  
 Day 1 -  Nov. 5th

Quiltin' Jenny
Hill Valley Quilter
Loopy Lou's Adventures Into Handicrafts
Just Let Me Quilt
Lixie Makes It
Beaquilter
Sunshine, Handmade
Buzzing and Bumbling
Needled Mom
The Slow Quilter
A Quilting Sheep
I Have A Notion
Quilt-n-Queen

I

Wonder box

Just before Christmas I decided to make my husband a Wonder Box. He built an 18 foot sailboat which we take to Lake Powell every year. And I thought it would be nice to be able to cook as we traveled.

The box is fabric and filled with the small Styrofoam balls you use in bean bag chairs. The pattern can be found here. The cool thing about these is you can start your meal cooking on your stove at home, or on your open fire at the campground, but then if you need to move on, it can be placed aboard (or in the car) and it will continue to cook.

Today, for the first time, Sailor used it. He made some chili for work. They all celebrate Cinco de Mayo and bring some South-of-the-border cuisine for a pot luck lunch. Before work, this morning, he mixed all the ingredients and got it cooking. But chili tastes better if it simmers and steeps all the flavors together, so he packed it away in the Wonder Box in the back seat of his car and headed to work.

This picture shows it continuing to cook in his cubicle. I'm sure the administration building has some wonderful aroma wafting around today. I wonder if anyone followed the scent and found the source?

It was pretty simple to make. I got the Styrofoam beads from JoAnn Fabrics online. I got a free shipping coupon so the total was the cost of the beads, which was about $18. I used fabric I had on hand.

Hope this helps someone out there. What a fun invention.
~a

I've been featured on Blue Cricket Design!!!

I'm being featured on Blue Cricket Design!! Hop on over to Becca's blog and see my post. I feel so honored. squeee!
~a