Happy New Year!

May 2014 be a much better year for all of us!

For CK

Happy Holidays!

For Naomi:

Another tote

Okay, here's my next bag.  It's also technically reversible, but I wouldn't.  This one has an interior pocket with a zipper.  This is the first zipper I've ever sewn in my life. It kinda looks like it too, but I guess practice makes perfect.  I also put a charm on the zipper and a key chain on the strap.

Kitchen towel totes

I've been busy making tote bags for my daughter for Christmas.  Everywhere I go I pick up a cloth tote bag or grocery bag as a souvenir of my visit.  Whenever I get back, my daughter will invariably say, "that's cute, can I have it?"  Sometimes I give in, sometimes not.  That aside, any time my daughter visits, she picks up stuff from the house and takes one of my reusable grocery bags to take stuff home with her.  So I'm sure she will use the bags I've made.

The first bag I made for her is a reversible/reusable grocery tote.  The main bag (patterned one) has three smaller pockets on one side.  Those pockets hold a calculator, a coupon organizer with small scissors inside, and a notepad and pen, all the things she uses to make a grocery list and go shopping. On the other side of the bag is one big pocket that holds four more reusable grocery bags.  All of these are made from dishtowels so they're made of heavy cotton fabric and are washable.  I pre-washed them so they wouldn't lose their shape the first time she washes them.

The second tote bag I made for her is also reversible and made from dishtowels.  There are loops at the top center on each side of the bag to hook keychains or sunglasses.  I have put a key chain on one side.  I put a pocket on the inside, but since it's reversible, it could also go outside.  My pocket is kind of messy because it was an after thought and too big, so I had to add a button closure so things inside it wouldn't fall out.  My stitches are messy, but considering I haven't made anything on a sewing machine since I was twelve, and I didn't measure, it's miraculous that it turned out this well.  Back to work on more Christmas projects.

New music

I was looking over the NPR's 50 Best Albums of 2013 list and came across Kacey Musgraves' album, "Same Trailer, Different Park."  I remembered hearing the interview a while back and liking her music, so I listened to the interview and her songs again, to refresh my memory.  Now I remembered, I LOVED her songs, her lyrics in particular.  They make me want to write.  I love it when something stirs that in me.  Take a listen to a couple of her songs.  There's nothing unusual about the music, but the lyrics are not what you would normally hear in country music songs.

Here's a story on her that aired on  CBS Sunday Morning News

Here are a couple of her videos:

Follow Your Arrow

Merry Go Round

Blowin Smoke

I guess I know what's going to be added to my iPod.