Urban Sling Purse and T-Shirt Quilt = Finished!

It has been a busy couple of weeks since my last post. I had another quilt retreat, this one in Hood River, OR. I really enjoy this retreat. We rent a large house (6 bedrooms, 5 bathrooms), and this year we crammed 14 people in! Two painters, 11 quilters, and a nurse (in case we got hurt). We did a lot of crafting, some wine tasting, and way too much laughing!

It was a pretty productive weekend for me, as I got two big finishes under my belt. The first is the urban sling purse that I have been working on (or as my friend Chris would say 'NOT working on') for the last three years.

 As you can see, I had some fun with the fabrics.  :) I really like the black and white sunflower print with the red rose accents on the flap straps and shoulder strap.

The inside fabric is a fun little red and white Hawaiian flower print. There are three pockets on one side, and two pockets on the other, and a magnetic snap closure for the top of the purse. It also has a cell phone pocket on one side.

The sides and bottom of the purse are reinforced so it holds shape well. The bottom also has four feet on it for stability.

 The strap is long and convertible, so you can hang it on a shoulder or across your body and it hangs at about hip level.

 You can also double it over and tuck the purse under your arm. I am going to sell these in my Etsy Shop (SwissMissStitches) for $50.00 each. They will be make to order (takes about 1 week or so to make and ship), so you can select color combos and make special requests for fabric.

I also finished a memory quilt made out of T-shirts. The T-shirts belonged to a close friend of mine, and the quilt is going to be a Christmas present for her daughter. She has no idea I have done this, so it will be a nice gift for her. The T-shirts are all Hawaiian themed (this was the same friend that received the Hawaiian quilt I made before... see that post). I used a light cotton batting just to make the quilt a little thicker/warmer.

 The finished quilt is about 36"x50", so it is a good lap quilt size.

When putting the pattern together, I had a couple of spots that needed filling, but no sufficient t-shirt material for them, so I supplemented with this beautiful butterfly print. Butterflies are kind of special in my family. When my Grandmother was losing her fight with stomach cancer, my nephew noticed the changes in her skin and told us that she was becoming a chrysalis, so that when she died, she could go to Heaven as a butterfly. That has stuck with all of us for a long time. So this memory quilt got butterflies.

I used a soft minky fabric for the backing, in a bright, happy pink with a fun pattern. Her favorite color was pink, so it seemed appropriate. Instead of actually quilting it, I used a pink embroidery floss to tie the quilt.

I used a slightly different technique for binding the quilt, using an ombre pink satin binding for the quilt. The thought was that it is supposed to be comforting, so the softer textures seemed like a better idea to me. I think this quilt will be quite a surprise, but will get (and give) a lot of love.

Now on to that table topper I have been working on...