The Creative Thimble Blog

New Pattern Anouncement!

2011-07-10T20:59:00.000-04:00

Here it is! My newest pattern, called Hidden Treasure Tote. My daughter thought up the name and I think it is perfect. Inside this mid-size tote there is a hidden surprise. You will find a mini purse that is attached to the inside of the bag with Velcro. This is the same bag that I taught at the NC Quilt Symposium. I didn't have a name for it then so it was called Laura's Sampler Tote.
I love the size of this tote; I took it with me on the cruise that my son works on and it was perfect. I carried the whole tote during the day when we were site-seeing and in the evening I unhooked the mini purse and off we went to dinner and the show.

This is inside of the tote with the mini purse attached. The light blue flap folds down when it is out of the bag and covers up the back pocket on the purse. A narrow shoulder strap is hiding in the back pocket while it is in the tote.

I just added this to my website this afternoon. http://thecreativethimble.com/index.html The special offer for the new pattern is 2 free zippers for the tote. In the comment section of the order form, tell me what colors you would like and I will add 2 - 14" zippers to your order for FREE!!! This offer will end Sunday, July 17, 2011 at midnight EST.

NC Quilt Symposium & Hidden Treasure

2011-06-19T18:05:00.000-04:00

I had so much fun teaching at the North Carolina Quilt Symposium. This was the first time that I taught at such a large venue and it was FUN!

Quilt Symposium was held at Peace College in downtown Raleigh, NC. It is a small all girls school with a beautiful campus. Opening day was Thursday the 2nd of June and the temperature was around 98 degrees and humid all day. So just walking from building to building was enough to work up a nice sweat! Thursday night was the opening ceremony where all of the teachers introduce themselves and briefly talk about their classes. This means getting up on stage in front of 400+ people. I am very comfortable teaching in a classroom of 10-20 students, but 400 is NOT in my comfort zone! To make it worse, I was in the company of very famous national teachers, like Pepper Cory, Jan Krentz and Patsy Thompson, to name only a few, who are very comfortable with large audiences. Fortunately, we went in alphabetical order and M is in the middle of the pack, so I didn't have to go first. We had our own "Vanna White" holding up our class projects while we talked about our classes at a podium. I think I managed to say everything that I needed to say in the microphone before I moved toward "Vanna" to try and show the tote myself. I'm sure the front row of teachers heard all about the remainder of the tote. After that was over, I felt much better and was really looking forward to teaching my class.

Here is a description of the tote bag that I taught at Symposium. It is a brand new pattern that will be available for sale. The name of this new tote will be Hidden Treasure Tote.

Store all of your shopping purchases in this roomy tote. It has 2 large front pockets and up to 3 zippered outside back pockets. Inside this midsized tote you will find a hidden pint-sized purse for all your essentials that stays safely secured in place until you want to take it out for a night on the town. Don't worry about changing purses for the evening; everything you need is already in place in your pint-sized purse. Remove the purse to find a shoulder length strap hidden inside the back pocket. This pint-sized purse has 2 outside pockets and one inside pocket and it closes at the top with a zipper. Place it back in the tote and you are ready for more shopping tomorrow.

Here is my class at the end of a long fun day of sewing. Every one of them finished the Pint-sized purse that hides inside of the larger tote. The smaller purse uses most every technique that is on the larger tote, so they shouldn't have any problem finishing the tote on their own.

Front of Hidden Treasure Tote


Back of Hidden Treasure Tote with 3 zippered pockets

Front of hidden mini purse

Back of hidden mini purse

Ann, front row right, finished her tote on Monday and sent me these wonderful pictures above.

Cruise

2011-06-11T13:03:00.000-04:00

Hello again!

My husband and I are back from our wonderful cruise and seeing our son, Dan. (That's my son in the picture, not my husband) It was so good to see him, he looks great and happy. Isn't that what moms want to know. After being so busy right up to our departure date, it took me about 2 or 3 days to finally get really relaxed. The cruise stopped in Cozumel, Mexico; Belize; Isle of Roatan and Grand Cayman Island.
I have to share one special day we had with you. It was my birthday on Thursday of the cruise and we were on the Island of Roatan which is a beautiful island off of Honduras. My husband rented us a cabana for the day and we had a ball. I am not a beach person, but I could get used to it if I had a place like this every time.

There is an air conditioned room and a front porch on our cabana. We also had our own hammock.

Two more lounge chairs on the beach, 2 floats for the water AND A WAITER! The waiter got our drinks for us as we lounged on the beach.

These pictures above where all taken from our private beach area. All I can say is WOW, honey thank you so much, it was a blast.
We even had transportation to and from the beach to the pier via a "Magical Flying Beach Chair" shown below. (a.k.a. chair lift)

Back on the ship, Dan was able to give us a tour back stage and show us were he works and what he does. I love seeing all the behind the scenes activities. One of Dan's consoles is in a perch above the stage and just happens to be right above the dancers changing station. I think I have an idea why he is so happy with his job!

When we got home our daughter, Carol, greeted us at our house with a birthday cake "of sorts" for me. As a part time job Carol is a balloon twister and entertains children and adults with her awesome works of art.
Here I am modeling my birthday cake. My hands are in that position because it's a good way to hide the double chins. I tried to look cheery after a 10 hour day of driving.

Ok, that's enough fun for now. I will be back soon with pictures of quilt symposium.

2011-05-11T22:40:00.000-04:00

It has been a very busy couple of weeks for me. Not only was I finishing up the Ursula & Emily details, like letting my distributors and retailers know about the new pattern, I was writing yet another pattern for the North Carolina Quilt Symposium.

Last fall I was asked to teach at the North Carolina Quilt Symposium which is held the first weekend in June this year. I was thrilled at the opportunity to teach at such a big show. Now, I could have taught any one of my bags at the symposium, but, NO, I had to design a brand new tote bag.

No. problem, I had 9 months to work on it! Well, life has a way of intervening. I had already started on the Ursula & Emily Purse so that was on my plate. I have been sick on and off since November with a nasty cough, (still trying to figure out what that's all about), we had the holidays, travel to CT to see my parents in December, and then travel again to be with my mother when she was back in the hospital again in Feb. I took the month of January to learn Adobe Illustrator graphic program so I could draw better diagrams for my patterns. I had classes scheduled to teach for Ursula & Emily that I had to cancel because I wasn't ready. Can you hear me whining as I write this?

You can stop feeling sorry for me know (as if you were), because I finished writing the new tote which is still unnamed, AND on Friday morning, my husband and I are leaving for a week long cruise on the Caribbean.

Or son, Dan, works on the Carnival Cruise ship "Legend" out of Tampa Bay, Florida. He is the automation technician for the entertainment shows on board. Mike and I are so excited to go, not only do we get to go on a cruise, but we get to see our son. We haven't seen him since January and only get to talk with him once a week when he is at port in the US. It doesn't hurt that we are getting a great rate, too, because Dan can get us a discount. I will tell you all about it when I return.

I also have to tell you what great friends Ursula and Kathy are. They have volunteered to test my newest pattern while I am away on my cruise. Now that is above and beyond the call of duty! I promise to bring them a souvenir tee shirt:)

For today, I am posting a few pictures of the Ursula & Emily purses that were made by my students at Bernina World of Sewing in Raleigh. The "real" Ursula was in the class and her picture is below along with my friend Kathy.


Here is my friend, the "real life" Ursula. Below are 3 pictures of her adorable Ursula Purse showing off a favorite kitty cat fabric.

This is my friend Kathy with her zipper section as a hat. Sorry, Kathy, but you are adorable! Below is a picture of her completed Ursula Purse complete with zipper section.

The 4 pictures above are Emily Purses made by my student Nora. She made one in class and one at home and used a corduroy fabric for each of them. Great Job!!

Ursula & Emily Continued

2011-05-01T17:56:00.001-04:00

Today is the day! I added Ursula & Emily Purse to my website for sale. It is almost like delivering a baby, not quite as painful, but pretty exciting. I think it took me about 9 months to get it together too!

I told you a few days ago all about the front of Ursula so now is time for the back. This time with real photographs. The back of Ursula and Emily for that matter, has one large slash pocket all the way across the back of the purse. A perfect place to keep your paperwork and receipts. I am amazed that I can fit everything that I need in this purse. As I mentioned before I usually carry a larger purse, but I think Ursula (my friend) is on to something here liking a small purse. I don't seem to throw extra junk into my purse anymore and I am more organized. Inside the purse there is another zipper pocket with a small patch pocket in front of it. On the other side there is a large patch pocket that can be divided into 2 or 3 smaller pockets. That makes this a small purse with 8-10 total pockets (depending how you divide them)! I think that's very exciting!

Emily, is Ursula's alter ego. In real life my friend will use Emily as the name she gives when she is signing in for a restaurant reservation or leaving her name for a food order, because most everyone knows how to spell Emily, but not as many know how to spell Ursula. As far as the purses go, the only difference between Ursula and Emily is the handle choice. Emily has two shorter handbag handles, while Ursula has one long adjustable one.

If you have read this all the way through, you deserve a prize. If you order Ursula and Emily before May 15th, 2011, I will include 3 free notions, 1 magnetic snap (your choice of color), 1 vinyl pocket and 1 buckle. Here is the catch... since I don't know how to add a special discount code to my website, you will need to type in the comment section at checkout, "FREE NOTIONS", and then tell me what color magnetic snap you would like.
Tell me what you think of Ursula & Emily!

INTRODUCING URSULA & EMILY

2011-04-28T08:45:00.001-04:00

FANFARE PLEASE!

INTRODUCING THE URSULA & EMILY PURSE PATTERN.

Available May 1, 2011

My friend Ursula has been lobbying for several years to have me design a small purse. She likes to carry a small purse with an adjustable handle that she can wear across her body or over her shoulder. Of course, she still wanted all the pockets and zippers that I have on my other purses, but in a small package.

What's the saying about persistence (A.K.A, nagging)? Well, she finally wore me down. Not before she put me to shame and actually made her own version by using some of my techniques from my previous purse patterns. Ursula made an adorable purse that gave me the push I needed to design a small purse.

I started thinking about what I would want in a small purse. I am usually a big purse lady that likes to fit everything AND the kitchen sink into a purse. How does 8 pockets with a zipper closure at the top sound? All in a 10 wide by 7 1/2" tall package. It's hard to carry a small purse and a bulky wallet, so I added underneath the front flap, 6 credit card pockets and a vinyl pocket for your ID. The zipper pocket above the front flap is wide enough to hold your paper money. Two side pockets are great for your glasses, phone and even a small bottle of water will fit inside the pocket.

To be continued...(I'll tell you all about the back side and lining of Ursula and who Emily is!)

Where Does All The Time Go?

2011-04-23T17:17:00.000-04:00

I am crawling out of my cozy cave, (I must have some bear in me) to say hello! In my cave I have been designing 2 new patterns. The first one called Ursula and Emily will be out May 1st and the second one I think is going to be called Double Duty Tote. That was just a tease, I will have pictures and more details coming this week.

Cincinnati Quilt Festival

I recently got back from helping out my friend Sandy, aka Hissyfitz Designs at the Cincinnati Quilt Festival. This quilt festival used to be in Chicago, but changed this year to Cincinnati. I wanted to go so I could check things out and see if I wanted to have a booth at the Houston Quilt Market and Festival.

I had so much fun checking out every one's cute tote bags and purses as they walked by. Sandy and I tackled and pulled into her booth anyone who was carrying a Professional Tote and told them that I designed that bag, I was even asked to sign an autograph. Sandy had to bring me back to earth as I was feeling pretty special.

Valerie White & Professional Tote

I noticed a gorgeous red, black and white Professional Tote go by and I pulled Valerie White into my booth to admire it. She mentioned that her friend, Bennie Mann, had made the purse for her as a gift and was so excited to meet me that she had to call Bennie right there and then so I could talk to her. Come to find out Bennie Mann makes marvelous purses and has one of her creations in this month's Haute Handbag Magazine. I had to take a picture of Valerie and her beautiful tote.

Rita Jackson, Me & Lynn Mill

Rita Jackson and Lynn Mill both from the Windsor, Canada area stopped by to show me the Professional Totes Rita made for herself and Lynn.

Sandy and I had a great time with lots of laughs and I think I might, just might have to have a booth in Houston. Hope to see you there.

My Friend Sandy

2010-09-23T16:02:00.000-04:00

My friend, Sandy, fellow pattern designer and ex-co worker just started a new blog. She has a very nice tutorial for making quick and easy fabric coasters. http://sandyfitzpatrick.wordpress.com/2010/09/17/coasting-along/. So take a look and while you are there, check out the "Hanging by a Thread" article http://sandyfitzpatrick.wordpress.com/2010/09/20/hanging-by-a-thread/. It is about an art piece hanging in the NC Museum of Art that is made from 5,184 spools of thread. The artist Devorah Sperber has a wonderful collection of photographs on her website of other art pieces made from spools of thread.

Sandy designs darling light-hearted applique quilt patterns, http://www.hissyfitzdesigns.com/, and her business is called Hissyfitz Designs. I just love the name and it fits perfect because her last name is Fitzpatrick.

Here are a couple of her adorable designs.

Where was I?

2010-08-21T11:04:00.001-04:00

Well, well, well, where have I been? I have been deep in a stressful fog and the fog has finally cleared. It all started in mid May with a trip to CT to see my parents because my mother wasn’t feeling well and to celebrate my birthday. The end of May we started a complete kitchen and back hall remodel. For those of you that have done a complete remodel, I need to say no more. Wow, I knew it was going to be inconvenient, but it was awful. I will spare you all the details and tell you that it is all done and I love it.

My mother ended up in the hospital for a total of 4 weeks and 3 days in 2 separate stays for heart and lung problems, in and out of intensive care. My husband and I were in CT for 10 days in July and then I was back in August for another 10 days. Again I will spare you most of the details, but the bottom line is that my mother is an amazing woman. The doctors told her that there was nothing else they could do for her and sent her home. Since she got home she is doing remarkable and getting stronger every day.

My daughter, Carol, has been keeping my orders going and has been a life saver. She allowed me to deal with my personal issues and kept my business going for me. Carol is going to be doing some marketing for me and writing some newsletters and blogs in the future.

With all that business out of the way, I will leave you with some eye candy.
These pictures are from the last meeting of my quilting bee.

Karen made this wonderful recipe quilt. The white squares in the quilt have our favorite recipes written on them that we exchanged last year.

Nancy made this beautiful star quilt with striped and solid fabric.

Carol made this quilt for a relative out of her husbands shirts. The solid squares are the shirts and she bordered them with 2 1/2" squares and quilted a beautiful all over design.

These last four quilts were made by Mary Lou. Every single one was hand cut and hand pieced except for the borders. There are many more quilt tops of Mary Lou's to show you. She must have finished 40 to 50 quilt tops in the last year and every one is hand cut and hand pieced. Amazing!

See you soon!
Laura

Show & Tell

2010-05-31T14:31:00.001-04:00

Where has May gone? Wow! I have been a little more than busy and haven't had time to post. A week after I got back from my first Quilt Show, my husband and I drove up to CT to see my parents for a few days. Now, we are in the process of having our kitchen remodeled. We spent last weekend cleaning out all of the cabinets and trying to find a place for everything. My living room is full of my new cabinets in the boxes and my dining room and family room are full of everything else. We will be without a sink for close to 4 weeks, so trying to do anything in the kitchen is out of the question.

Saturday, our son, Dan, graduated from Univ. of NC School of the Arts, with a degree in Fine Arts. His specialty is Technical Direction. We are so excited for him as his first job will be an Automation Director for the entertainment on a Carnival Cruise Ship. I'm seeing a cruise in my future.

On to the Show & Tell part of this post. I have received so many wonderful pictures of the Professional Totes that you have made. It is so much fun for me to see all of your creativity and excitement making my totes. I love the fabrics and it makes me want to make one more just like it.

I bought the Professional Tote pattern at my local quilt shop, and I LOVE it! So far I have made six of them, and each one is my new favorite. The latest is my jungle bag, with machine embroidered designs on both sides. I've given three bags away as gifts, and have plans for more.
...Phyllis in Colorado

Hi Laura,
Please find attached photos of my first Professional Tote. What a great pattern. Yes it does have lots of pieces but you instructions are perfect and clear to follow. What I liked the most was no seam was to hard for my fussy Pfaff. And that's saying something.
Thanks Again
Merilyn Stewart from Croydon Australia

Betty made this blue paisley tote with patio cloth. The cloth is weather proof, and fade proof, etc. What a great idea! Betty made this one for her sister-in-law who lives in FL.

I made this for a teacher who must carry her things back and forth from building to building. Hope you like it, as I

love, love, love this pattern. Deb Tuck.

Make sure you check out the fussy cut dots at the top of all the pockets. Great job!

Hi Laura!

I just wanted to tell you I love this pattern sew very much. I have made many gifts out of this pattern. It is very popular in our area and I just wanted to pass that on to you and show you a few that I have done.

Thank you for wonderful instructions and PICTURES!!!! I love your patterns.

Sincerely,

Kathi Fahrbach

Jefferson City, TN

This pattern makes the greatest school bag, diaper bag and travel bag and it's just the best!!!!

Kathi has done a beautiful job embroidering all of the front pockets of each of her totes.

Good morning Laura
Attached are photos of my "Diaper Bag" Professional Bag. It was fun AND a challenge, but well worth it. Love the end result.

Colleen French

Judy Clay from Montrose, CO sent me this great picture of her "Easy Stripper" group posing with all of the Professional Totes they have made. Her friend Ludene has made 13 or14 Professional Totes.

There are 8 ladies in this picture and I have been able to count as least 16 totes in the picture. You "strippers" are very busy!!

Thank you so much for sharing all your wonderful pictures! I love them all!!

My First Quilt Show Booth

2010-05-06T10:00:00.000-04:00

I just returned from having a booth at my first quilt show. Now, "just" is a relative term. Today is Thursday and I actually returned Sunday night, but it has taken me this long to recover and I'm still not completely unpacked. I think I'm doing something wrong!
I am familiar with having a booth at a show because I used to go to lots of craft shows in the early 90's. That was when I made all the bags and sold the completed bags. BUT, that was almost 20 years ago when I was that much younger! My mother was right, "Growing Old is Pigeon Poop"! Many years ago, she came up with that saying, and we have been saying it ever since; now I know how true it really is. Do you think all this age talk has anything to do with the fact that I will turn 55 (senior citizen) this month and that I am letting my gray hair grow in (maybe a temporary thing)? I'm having a little pity party.
Anyway, the show was a good learning experience. It was the first year for this show in Hickory, NC. The Bernina dealers did a great job putting it together and had 65 vendors and a wonderful quilt show. I'm sure the people that attended the show were impressed. The only problem was that there wasn't that many people that attended so it made for a slow show for the vendors. After talking to other vendors, I was reassured that this was not a typical show for sales. I'm not complaining because I needed a show to get my feet wet and if it had been busy we would have crumbled. My husband and daughter came with me for moral support and physical help. By the 3rd day, I think we had everything under control. The 3 of us had fun spending time together and on 3 occasions people poked there heads around to our booth and told us we were having way too much fun! There was a lot of laughing involved.

Here is a picture of our booth.

Quilt & Fiber Art Emporium

2010-04-26T11:37:00.000-04:00

I have been so busy getting ready to have a booth at my first quilt show that I haven't had time to post. I figured that I better get a post out and tell you about the show so maybe you can come. If you live in the North Carolina area and have this weekend free, you should stop by and say hello, I would love to see you.

The show is called The Quilt & Fiber Art Emporium 2010 . It will be at the Hickory Metro Convention Center in Hickory, North Carolina. The show starts this Friday, April 30 and runs through Sunday, May 2nd. Marianne Fons will be there on Saturday to give a lecture on the motivations of American quilters from 1776 to the present day.
Did you know that Marianne Fons and Liz Porter, founding editors of Love of Quilting magazine have a paid circulation of over 320,000? This makes it the most widely-circulated magazine in the world. Wow! I think that is amazing. We quilters ROCK! (That's me trying to sound young!)

Come on down and see me, my daughter Carol and my DH, Mike at the show!

...and the winner is!!

2010-04-15T09:39:00.000-04:00

Drumroll please!!

Patty from Momloves2quilt is my very first winner of a giveaway. Congratulations, Patty.

My random drawing was performed by my husband Mike. He works at home in the room right next to mine. I hollered to him from my office and said, "Mike, please pick a random number between 1-45" He hollered back "23". There you go, I think that's pretty random.

As soon as I hear from Patty, she will receive a new Kangaroo Tote and pattern.
Thanks to everyone who played.

Giveaway reminder

2010-04-14T15:47:00.000-04:00

Just a quick reminder that I will draw a winner for a Kangaroo tote and pattern tomorrow morning at 9:00am EST. If you would like to win, add a comment to the April 6th post.
Check back tomorrow to see if you won!

Meeting a customer

2010-04-11T15:10:00.000-04:00

Donna from Northern Virginia was in town near Raleigh for Easter and asked me if I had a store because she would like to visit it. I told her that I didn't have a store, but I used to work at the local Bernina dealer and they are a great quilt shop with thousands of bolts of fabric and maybe we could meet there.

Last Wednesday I met up with Donna and she showed me her Professional Tote and Raleigh purse that she had made. She also showed me the wonderful addition she had made to the Raleigh purse. She added a center pocket just like in the professional tote.

Here is a picture of the Raleigh purse with the center pocket.

We had a great visit at Bernina World of Sewing and I want to thank Donna for bringing her bags for me to see. I love the new idea of the center pocket.in the Raleigh Purse. Great job!

Leather Purse

2010-04-08T22:04:00.001-04:00

Thank you for signing up for the Kangaroo Tote giveaway! I can't wait to have my first drawing. There is still time to enter, just scoll down or find the April 6th post, leave me a comment or two to enter.

I just finished making a leather Carol's Convertible Purse for my daughter Carol. This is a belated Christmas gift. You know the poor Cobblers family story that have no shoes, well Carol had been carrying one of the first Carol's Convertible purse that I had made. I even forgot to sew up the pocket lining and she couldn't figure out why her purse was getting so heavy. All of her loose change was dropping inside the purse between the lining and the fabric.
She really deserves to have a nice purse after all this time. Her favorite color is purple! This purple leather showed the color better on the sueded side so I decided to reverse some of the pieces so the purse would appear more purple.

Start with one pile of leather cut into pieces

Sew the front sections together

Sew the back sections together

Make and opening for a back zipper

Tape the lining facing down so it's easier to sew in the zipper

Sew the zipper in place

Clothespin the side panels to the front section for sewing, etc, etc.

Continue until you have a finished purse.

Carol loves her new Carol's Convertible Purse. Guess who the pattern is named after?

Pollen-yuck!!

2010-04-07T09:14:00.000-04:00

Have you signed up for my first giveaway? Hurry, I'll be drawing next Thursday, April 15th. Leave me a comment to win!

We are experiencing one of the worst pollen weeks I've seen in a few years. It is always bad this time of year, but this year we haven't had any rain to wash it away. Look for yourself!

I wet down the hose to show you what the deck and hose should look like.

This is the mat on my covered front porch with foot prints from the UPS guy. I had to wipe off the box when I got it in the house, it was covered in green yuck!

It makes me feel gritty just looking at it. I guess I'll try a rain dance.

First Giveaway!!

2010-04-06T13:52:00.000-04:00

I am very excited to announce my very first giveaway! I also just sent out my very first newsletter, and to celebrate I am going to give away a completed Kangaroo Tote (below) and pattern to one lucky person.

The Kangaroo Tote folds into its own pouch/pocket and is very easy to make. It is lightweight and portable so you can clip it onto your belt loop or purse and have a shopping bag at your fingertips when it’s needed. It is best to use a fabric that looks the same on both sides like a Batik. All of the seams are finished so there are no raw edges showing anywhere. The pattern includes 3 different styles to choose and is not lined.

Shopping Tote – Use this when you go to the mall and add your purchases to one bag and leave the paper and plastic bags behind. Of course this can be used at the grocery store!

Drawstring Bag – This is great to bring with you on vacation to put your dirty laundry in, or fill with small toys for the kids in the car.

Drawstring Backpack – I use this style anytime I want my hands free but still want carry a few things with me.

Below are pictures of the steps to fold up your Kangaroo Tote for travel.

Step 1. Place bag pocket side down on a table

Step 2. Fold down handles onto bag, and fold each side of the bag over towards the center.

The folds will be up against the pocket.

Step 3. Fold the top and bottom of the bag towards the center butting up against the pocket.

The folded bag will be the same size as the pocket at this point

Step 4. Reach inside of the pocket while grabbing all of the folded parts and turn the pocket wrong side out, placing the folded bag inside the pocket.

Step 5. Kangaroo Tote all folded up! This view shows the inside of the pocket, which shows when the tote is folded and I embroidered the Laurel Burch design on it.

To enter the drawing for a Kangaroo Tote and pattern, do one or all of the following to enter.

Leave a comment on this blog. (1 entry)
Become a follower of the blog (2 entries)
Subscribe to the newsletter (1 entry)
Blog about this giveaway and link to my blog post (3 entries)

The drawing will be on April 15th at 9:00am EST, so you have time to tell all your friends to take a look and enter. Maybe you will get a happy suprise on tax day!

Click on the word "comment" below to enter the contest.

Snooping Around!

2010-03-26T16:08:00.001-04:00

There is this really cool program "thingy" (that's a technical term) that I found on Google to follow “something or someone”. It’s called Google Alerts. It’s kind of cool and scary at the same time. For instance, if you want to follow the news on George Clooney (and who wouldn’t) you can add his name to Google Alerts and every time there is something on the web about him, you will be notified.

So….I have done that with all of my pattern names, Professional Tote, Kangaroo Tote, Janet’s Jewelry Case, etc. to see if anyone is talking about my patterns out there. I have found a few blogs and web sites that have mentioned my patterns. The scary part is that I can do this at all!! I feel like I am snooping around where I shouldn’t be. I can thankfully say that everything that I have seen have been nice comments.

The word professional from the Professional Tote pattern gets lots of hits so I get things sent to me that have nothing to do with my patterns, and Janet’s Jewelry Case always brings in stories about Janet Jackson. It’s kind of fun snooping around!

Here are a few people and websites that are working on making my patterns.

The Attic Window Quilt Shop in Wenatchee, WA had a sew in day to make a Professional Tote.

Bev has a picture of her beautiful tote.

A few nice reviews of my patterns from Sewing Pattern Review

Mary has made a few totes and shows one here.

"As You Like It" Purse Flap

2010-03-24T16:41:00.000-04:00

I promised more flap ideas and this one is super easy and was actually done by one of my students during a class I taught.

She has sewn Rick Rack diagonally across the front of a flap and then interspersed a few buttons in- between. This could be done on a Decor Bond base or a batting base. Put a large scale print or holiday print on the other side of the flap and it will be reversible.

This is so quick and easy that you could make it today and use it tonight for your guild meeting.

Professional Tote Batting Question

2010-03-21T09:03:00.000-04:00

Dear Anonymous!
You asked, "I would like to know if any of you have made the Professional Tote using an iron-on light-weight batting instead of decor bond. I would assume I would have to quilt or stipple the two layers together."
The tote would look great with quilted fabric, BUT, make sure you only quilt the main fabric. You can put a muslin backing on it or just quilt together with the fabric and the batting, the lining will cover the back side of your quilting. The bag will be softer when finished then it would be with Decor Bond and it will be like a pair of jeans and get softer with use. Make sure to Decor Bond the contrast fabric and lining fabric as stated in the pattern.

Happy "Creative" Sewing.

Surprise quilt show

2010-03-16T20:37:00.002-04:00

My DH and I took a weekend trip to Charlotte, NC. It is about a 2 1/2 hour driving trip for us and we just wanted to get away. There is a new IKEA store there and I wanted to look around. I had never been to one before and heard great things about it. We started off with breakfast at IKEA's cafeteria, what a bargin. They were having a special, buy one breakfast and get one free. We each had scrambled eggs, 3 pieces of bacon, hash brown potatoes and 3 French toast sticks, coffee, one orange juice and we spilt a 5" round cinnamon bun. The total for all of that was $5.97. Wow, we were impressed and it was delicious, especially the cinnamon bun! I love to organize things almost as much as I like to sew and they have so many things to help you do that. I managed to only spend $42.00, but came home with lots of ideas.

There just happens to be the biggest fabric store near Charlotte in Gastonia. Mary Jo's fabric store. If you live in the tri state area of South Carolina, Tenn and NC and haven't been there, you need to go. This store used to be a large grocery store and is now a fabric store. They have every kind of fabric that you can think of and laces and trims to match. If you watch Project Runway on television, it is NC's version of Mood Fabrics. Anyway, DH let me wander through the aisles of MaryJo's for almost an hour. It's hard looking at fabric when "he" is following you around like a puppy dog, but I did make a few small purchases.

We then went to Daniel Stowe Botanical Gardens in Belmont, NC (just west of Charlotte) and happened upon a small quilt show. There is a beautiful Orchid Conservatory at the garden and the quilt show was inspired by the Orchids. "Fiber Art Options" is a group of 7 artists in the Charlotte area that work with fabric, paper and thread. These artists took pictures of the orchids and used them as inspiration for their quilts.

Purple Phalaenopsis by Susan Brubaker Knapp

Cymbidium by Linda Stegall

Orchid Pictures by Deborah M. Langsam

This purplish orchid quilt above is made up of 1/2" photo squares, hundreds of them. The picture just above is a close up view of the upper left corner of the quilt. Every picture is an orchid. SPECTACULAR!!

The quilt below is the black and white version of the same orchid above, with all the same pictures in black and white.

Freckles by Susan Brubaker Knapp

The Daniel Stowe Gardens are beautiful. Last weekend there wasn't much blooming, but the gardens, fountains and walkways were still wonderful. Here are a few pictures that I took in the Orchid Observatory and the grounds. Maybe I will be inspired to make an orchid quilt, too!

It was fun to get away for the weekend, we hope to do it again soon.

"As You Like It" Purse Flap

2010-03-11T09:17:00.002-05:00

Well it's about time I posted some flap ideas for the "As You Like It" Purse. I have procrastinated too long!

This first idea is a Western theme, but could be used with any fabrics or trim to change the look. Below is one I made with Western fabrics a concha and fringe. The directions below with make a reversible flap. Two, two flaps in one!! Two for the price of one... you get the idea!

PRINT THE YOKE TEMPLATE BELOW
Click on the orange Menu Tab on the left side of the document and choose Print.

AYLI Yoke Template 2

The purple flap shown below has a beaded trim instead of the fringe.

Step 1. Pick three fabrics for your flap. 1 for the front, 1 for the yoke and 1 for the back and a piece of batting the same size as the flap, using the measurements included in the pattern as a guide, I rough cut out all of the pieces so I have some room to play with. I used a large print for the back and fussy cut it to show the design.
I also traced my yoke pattern onto a piece of template plastic so I could see through it, but paper is fine. Trace around the pattern onto your yoke fabric, but do not cut it out yet.

Back of flap - rough cut around the edges.

Step 2. Take the traced yoke fabric and sew 1/4" away from your traced line along the curved edge only. Now you can cut out the yoke along the traced line.

With a hot iron, turn under 1/4" seam allowance right along the line of stitches you just made. I actually press the stitches to the underside of the yoke. The stitches allow you to turn a very precise edge and no clipping of curves is needed.

Step 3. Stack your fabrics together with the Backing fabric face down on the table, then add the batting on top of that and the Flap fabric (purple on mine) face up. I spray basted the layers together. Place pressed yoke fabric on top of the flap positioned where you would like it. The yoke pattern piece is sized for the large bag, and needs to be centered left to right on your flap. The edges will hang over if you are making a smaller purse. All of my pieces so far are rough cut so you don't have to worry about matching anything except the center (left to right) and make sure the yoke fabric goes close to the top of your flap fabric. The center point of my yoke is about 1/2" to an 1" above the center of the flap (top to bottom).

Pin any trim that you want to add under the folded edge of the yoke.

Step 4. Stitch the yoke through all of the fabric layers in place very close to the folded edge of the yoke with your zipper foot. Position the zipper foot to the right of your needle as shown below.

I sewed a second row of stitches along the folded edge of the yoke.

Below the beaded trim, I added some echo quilting following the curved edge of the yoke. Draw a chalk line down the center of the front flap and that will help you know when to pivot your stitching.

Step 5. Use the Flap template from the pattern for the size purse you are making and cut your flap down to the finished size. Follow the steps in the pattern on page 12, Step 15 for making the buttonholes. Finish your flap with bias binding following Step 12 in the pattern. Make sure you use bias binding so you can sew around the corners of the flap.

Note: I sewed my bias binding on the back side of the flap and then turned it to the front side and machine stitched the binding in place from the front.

Bias tape sewn to back side of flap.

Completed back of flap

Front of flap before sewing binding in place.

Completed Flap - Front View

I look forward to adding more designs in the NEAR future! Promises, promises!:)

Mid-Atlantic Quilt Festival

2010-03-03T21:33:00.000-05:00

My friend Carol R.(not to be confused with my daughter Carol who is also my friend) and I went to Hampton Roads, VA to see the Mid-Atlantic Quilt Festival last week.
We stayed 2 nights and were able to take our time and see all the beautiful quilts and visit all the great vendors. I bought a few goodies to play with and took lots of pictures of the quilts.
I will post a few of the ribbon winners and a few of my personal favorites.

BLUE RIBBON WINNER
"ONCE UPON A CHRISTMAS NIGHT" made by Sieglinde Schoen Smith in Carlisle, PA
An old fashioned advent calendar.

The detail on this hand appliqued quilt is amazing. It won in the innovative category.

BLUE RIBBON WINNER
"INCOMMUNICATO" made by Esterita Austin, Port Jefferson Station, NY

This quilt made me laugh because it reminded me of my husband and I at dinner. A husband and wife at dinner, she is putting on her lipstick while he is looking at his camera and his IPhone sits on the table right in front of him. Even though my husband and I swore that we would never be like those "young rude kids" texting and talking on the phone all the time, we have become them. Right now we are both addicted to the game "Boggle" on our IPhones and will sit and play while we wait for dinner. It's just not right!!

BEST OF SHOW
"CIRCLES OF LIFE" made by Linda French, Centerville, OH

This beautiful quilt was Machine Pieced, Hand Appliqued, Machine Quilted and an Original Design

"CHRISTMAS EVE ABC'S" made by Cathy Wiggins in Macon, NC

I thought this quilt was so adorable. It looks like a cartoon here, but in person it is so cute. The building blocks on the lower left corner of the quilt read "Find things starting with each letter of the alphabet" If you look hard enough you will find all 26 letters there. Cathy has a list of them on the back of the quilt.

"HEY! DID I TELLYOU ABOUT THE FAMILY REUNION?" made by Pat Doyle Mikrot in Palos Park, IL

This one cracked me up too! I thought right away that is was my husband's family reunion (sorry Fennells), but Pat beat me to it and said that it was a quilt of her family reunion last summer, but of course it was her husband's side of the family! Too cute!

I'll post a few more later in the week.

Another Snow Day!

2010-02-13T10:12:00.000-05:00

Here in Raleigh, NC snow is rare. That said we have had more than our share this winter. Last night it snowed another 3 inches. Now, I know the mid-atlantic and northeasteners will laugh and roll their eyes, just as I did when I moved here from upstate New York. But!! I am not kidding when I say 3" of snow can keep you in your house for days.
The first year we lived here in Raleigh, we moved from the Poughkeepsie NY area, I was so excited to see the snow, 2" of snow! I love the change of seasons and was so afraid that I would miss that in Raleigh. I was outside with all the locals taking pictures of the kids in the snow like I had never seen snow before! The day before there was a mad dash to the grocery store for bread and milk and I was rolling my eyes thinking how crazy that was, we were only going to get 2" of snow. Silly, silly me. The snow was hard and icy, not soft and fluffy and we were in the house for a couple of days until the snow melted enough to venture out of our development onto the main streets.
Two weeks ago, we had 6" of hard and icy snow and we were indoors for 4 days! Our development never saw a snow plow, so we had to wait until it melted enough to drive through. So, I am now in the grocery lines with everyone else at the first threat of snow!
The good news from last nights' snow, is that it is light and fluffy and the snow fairies even blew the snow off of our driveway, so I should be able to vensure out today.

Drawstring bags for US Troops

2010-02-05T18:28:00.001-05:00

I designed a FREE drawstring bag pattern to make for our US Troops. http://thecreativethimble.com/index.html
The ASG (American Sewing Guild) has chosen my pattern to use in their year long Charity Sewing Porject 2009-2010. The bags will be sent to the national 501C3 non-profit charity, Operation Care Package in IL. The bags are filled and sent monthly to our troops. The 14" Drawstring Bag will hold a one gallon size "baggie", and filled with toiletries before they are sent to our troops. The troops use the bags for personal use, and some pass them on the children in the area where they are located.

The lightweight cotton bags can be sewn up in any color, but please keep in mind that the majority of troops are men, so masculine colors and prints are recommended.

For more information about Operation Care Package, you can visit http://www.operationcarepackages.org/

Julie Houchin, President of the Laramie WY chapter of ASG had a "sewing for the troops" evening recently. She wrote "We met last Monday night and worked on the bags. I was pleased that we had about 15 finished and I did take a picture of some of the members putting the cord and cords locks on.

Kathy Phillips, Irene Devin, Carole Hertz and Barb Powell, all ASG members in the Laramie, Wyoming Chapter."

Join in and make a few bags for our troops! You don't have to be a member of a sewing group to help. Download my free pattern and send the bags to the address listed on the pattern. Send me a picture of your bags or your group and I will post it on my blog.

"As You Like It" Purse ideas

2010-02-05T17:57:00.001-05:00

This picture is all the way from Sweden where Kerstin Eklöf Persson, made this in a class at Tyger & Ting quilt shop in Burseryd, Smålandsstenar in the south of Sweden. The “As You Like It” Purse has a front flap that is interchangeable and or reversible. Kerstin made 2 flaps and they are wonderful. I love the creative way that Kerstin added the colored squares to the front of one of her flaps.
Making flaps for an "As You Like It" Purse is a great way to try out a new sewing technique that you want to try. It's a small project and you can see if you like the new technique without spending a lot of time on a large project.

Thank you Kerstin for sharing your pictures and ideas.

Judy's Professional Totes

2010-02-05T17:04:00.001-05:00

Judy from Montrose, CO has made 9 Professional Tote bags, and probably on her 10th one by now. This darling cowboy print tote was given to her daughter for Christmas.

This black, white and red one is for her grandson's girlfriend. I hope she knows that she is a lucky girl.

I love the marching turtles walking slowly across the travel strap on this one.

Several of Judy's sewing friends (the "Easy Strippers") got together and made Professional Tote bags (shown above). They all got at least the main body of the bag done in class and will finish at their next meeting. The last picture here shows a grommet in the side pocket instead of a buttonhole. I think that is a really great idea. (What some people will do not to make a buttonhole!!) I worked at a quilt shop for 11 years and it was so funny to see the looks I would get when I said that they had to make a buttonhole:) This grommet though, I think is a great variation and very "professional" looking.

If you would like to try one, follow the directions all the way up to the buttonhole, but put the grommet in instead of the buttonhole. Make sure the grommet is large enough for your cords to go through, at least 1/4" opening.

Thank you Judy for all your wonderful pictures and keep on sewing!

Separating Zipper in Professional Tote

2010-02-05T14:58:00.000-05:00

A few months ago, Welmoed from the blog, There She Sews, http://thereshesews.blogspot.com/2010/02/my-newest-garment-sewing-client.html, wrote me to tell me she had put a separating zipper in the top of her Professional Tote. She very kindly wrote up directions and pictures of how she did that and you can find that info here http://thereshesews.blogspot.com/2009/09/professional-tote-zipper-panel.html
The pictures above are one of Welmoeds Professional Tote diaper bags that she made, complete with changing mat. The separating zipper shows up nicely in the bottom picture.
Thank you, Welmoed for taking the time to write up those directions for us!

Diaper Bag

2010-02-05T14:37:00.001-05:00

I love getting pictures of your bags that you make with my patterns. Kathy Dykstra from North Carolina made this beautiful Professional Tote for her daughter. She will use it as a diaper bag. The color combination is wonderful and the brown bottom piece looks like suede or leather. Kathy you did a beautiful job! Thank you for letting me share your pictures.

Welcome to my blog!

2010-01-28T17:14:00.000-05:00

Welcome to my blog! My name is Laura Martell and I am the owner & designer of The Creative Thimble. I design patterns for handbags, purses, tote bags and accessories. My business is run by 3 people, me, myself and I. We all get along most of the time, but we all have our moments. I love to quilt, machine embroider, make beaded and wire jewelry and digital scrapbooking with Photoshop Elements software and of course make handbags and totes.

I am diving into this blogging thing once again. I tried it last fall and didn't like the options available to me on the old site and now I am trying again with Blogspot.

My plan for this blog is to keep you up to date on any new patterns I have coming out, new ideas and or additional information to my existing patterns, and daily activities I get involved in.

I have been married to a really great guy named Mike for almost 34 years and we have two grown children, Carol & Dan. I was born and raised in Wethersfield, Connecticut, but moved to Raleigh, North Carolina 16 years ago where we love the warmer winters. I still miss autumn in New England and go up to visit my family as often as possible. Although I still think of myself as a New Englander, I really love living in the south. I hope you will have fun getting to know me, my family and friends and I am looking forward to meeting all of you.

Please say hello, I am anxious to meet you.