Eleven bags

 

Some weeks ago, I visited my favorite Aja Votrubcová patchwork store in Prague. I was looking for a nice fabric for sewing advent bags. I wanted Quilters Shadow in holiday red and some thin linen. That was the plan, but I immediately noticed the newly arrived heavy linens, a great basic for my beloved shopping bags. I couldn´t resist. I went home with a hefty (and expensive) bag full of happiness.

At home, I prewashed the linen first and started calculating how many and how big the bags would be. In the end, there were eleven!

I worked in my favorite technique: first, I laid and quilted a collage background, then ironed a fusible appliqué on it and quilted it by machine. As a final touch, I added lace and buttons.

Eleven bags means 22 handles!

Here they are. Two of them with Cori Dantini fabrics:

With the other ones I used two beautiful panels, which I bought some time ago not knowing who the designer was: 

Some of my favorite details:

Yesterday evening, the last bag was finally completed. 

Suddenly I felt, they lacked something, I missed the icing on the cake. A badge!  I used some scraps for sewing the badges and embellished them with a Tim Holz token. I´m satisfied now.

The final inspection by Norioka:

Happy stitching!

Michaela 

Slow stitching on holiday II.

 

 

At the beginning of September, we spent one beautiful week in Ruprechtov, a very small village near the Spa Karlovy Vary. We made some nice trips but also spent a lovely time in the garden of the pension reading, drinking tea, and (in my case) sewing. I had plenty of time to finish (or almost finish)  two fabric collages which were „in progress“ for some time already.

This is how they were prepared at home:

The bird

And the cat:

And this is what they look like now:

Both, the cat and the bird are to become journal covers, something like this:

Happy stitching

Michaela

 

 

Two Zippered Bags for two Sisters in Law

I´m planning a short trip to the Netherlands to visit my good friends. Due the pandemic we didn´t see each other for a very long time and I´m really looking forward to it.  I have still to wait a few weeks, so what could be better than to pass the time by sewing gifts?
Going through my stash I found a small bundle of scraps, all from the fabric collection "Wordsmith" by Janet Clare for Moda Fabrics. I knew immediately, I found the right material to make two small pockets for two sisters in law: similar, from the same family, but still very different, like my two friends.
I worked in my favourite technique – sew as you go. After sewing all four panels I still found them unfinished. Linen lace and the embroidery with linen thread were definitely the right finish.

Voila, here they are!

 

Happy stitching!

Michaela

Advent Calendar Bags 2022

Yes! It´s still very hot summer, nevertheless the fabric shops are filling up with festive fabric collections and the very first preparations for Christmas are beginning. For my part, it means that at least one advent calendar has to be sewn till the end of summer. Some time ago, my good friend Alena asked me to sew advent calendar bags for her grandson, which was actually an honour to me. As I wrote once before, I am quite picky and there are usually only a few fabrics that meet my requirements. This time I chose beautiful motifs by the Czech artist Amélka. 

I made two colour versions to give Alena the possibility to choose: the red version made from Quilters Shadow cotton and a neutral version from a beautiful linen fabric, both coming from the shop of Aja Votrubcova.The pictures and numbers are machine appliquéd.

   

Happy (festive) stitching!

Michaela

A Beach Bag for My Sister in Law

 

My dear sister in law celebrates this year a round anniversary. She loves sun, sea and Greece, therefore „a beach bag“ was my first thought, when I wanted to sew a gift for her.

A few weeks ago I spontaneously bought a layer cake from „To The Sea“ by Janet Clare, which suited perfectly to this project.

The patterns on the fabrics are so nice that I didn´t want to cut it in small pieces. I chose a very simple pattern, only simple rows of rectangles, quilted in waves.

I like the result and I hope Martina will like it too. 

 

Happy stitching!

Michaela