Island Style Quilting

Mystery Mix

What do you get if you mix these fabrics together?

How about if you cut them up into little 6.5″ and 3.5″ squares?

Then sew them back together like so…

Now, what to do with the 12×12 squares…what could they become?

What if the big squares are mixed with a few other bright fun fabrics?

Your life needs fun. Go ahead, have some fun! –
smiles,
alicia in Hawaii

Hawaiian Hapa Teddy Bear Boy and Girl

To prove that I have been sewing and stitching creations other than purses and bags…I bring to you…

BEARS

*and…don’t be fooled. Sewing up 3D stuffed animals is WAAAAYYY harder and more difficult that sewing any purse or bag! Talk about digging deep for your sewing skills…  🙂 *

First the cute little girl. Complete with Honu (turtle) bikini and flower lei! (crochet lei)

And now, the Boy.  Showing off his Honu (turtle) boardshorts and his flower lei.

These were the most fun to make! I got to challenge myself a bit to create a pattern for the clothing…and of course…after crocheting all the lei for graduation after graduation and a wedding this year, I was happy to only crochet an itty bitty lei for the bears! 🙂

Your life needs fun. Go ahead, have some fun! –
smiles,
alicia in Hawaii
See my ArtFire Studio! http://Curiosities808.artfire.com

Gingerbreadman tote, Snowman tote, Leaf Pattern Pocket Purse and Vintage-like Hawaiian Print Purse

Whoo hoo! PHOTOS!!

I’ve been on a roll to get so many photos resized and loaded! I’ve got more DONE!!! I even managed to figure out how to add a page to my FaceBook profile. See the little button there on the right? You can become a fan of my page! I’m catching up to the tech world at a slooooowww crawl.  lol

I’ve been so busy sewing, hand embroider-ing, and creating patterns that I haven’t given myself enough time to actual sit at the computer and share any of it..so NOW is the time. (I actually have TONS of finished creations that haven’t even had an appointment with the camera yet!…as soon as I get this daunting batch up to date, then I can put on my photographer’s beret!)

Of course, I can only show you the items that are NOT gifts, so far. After Christmas, I can upload all the GIFT photos…[some gift recipients are rather sneaky…and would peek here to find out what they are getting!  😉  ]

And now, without further ado…

This is the ‘project tote’ size that I am developing a pattern for. It will be available soon. 🙂

This snowman bag is a great purse size tote. I’m also writing up a pattern for this size with the directions for the variations of the interior.

This one was really fun to do up! It’s a variation of the notes I’ve kept for the snowman bag…This one creates a different ‘feel’ with the 4 blocks for the front and back, as well as the metal rings added on the straps.

I love this pocket purse. It is from a  pattern that I bought.  🙂

Check back soon for other new photo uploads. I still have sewing and embroidery to add to the mix!

Your life needs fun. Go ahead, have some fun! –
smiles,
alicia in Hawaii
See my ArtFire Studio! http://Curiosities808.artfire.com

Christmas Candy Canes and Snowman Winter Totes, Project Bags and Purses

Creations of items and … a Pattern!

I’ve been busy creating some fantastic fun items! I have been cutting and sewing all kinds of fabric and this is what I have so far to post about.

The first 2 bags are great practical sized totes. I’ve done up several trials of sizes and proportions of this overall style and I absolutely love the combinations of this ‘model’.

I’ve loaded them with knitting supplies as project totes to show how they work wonderfully for projects.

Here’s a peek.

I’m working on cutting and sewing up a few more of this size and construction. While I construct them I will be creating a pattern or photo tutorial for it. Think a pattern would be a good idea?

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This next on is my most favorite for a purse or bag. I love the size and the handy pockets key fob! It’s a little taller and more ‘square’ than the first two. I can get a LOT into this bag.

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I’ve added a button on the right linking to my ArtFire Studio. My creations that I blog about are items that I have a LOT of fun making.  Some of them end up in my Studio. 🙂

Your life needs fun. Go ahead, have some fun! –
smiles,
alicia in Hawaii
See my ArtFire Studio! http://Curiosities808.artfire.com

Merry Christmas!

Last year, we didn’t have much of a Christmas. It was minimal and very subdued. This year, we are thankful that we are all together and that we’ve all helped each other get a little settled. We have 3 generations here together…and my son has his fiancee here with us as well. (They got engaged Nov. 1!) There are six of us, 60’s, 40’s and 20’s. 😉

We just finished our living room floor in time for Thanksgiving…so we have a tree there this year!

It’s covered in some bought ornies…and some new and yesteryear handmade goodies. My mom made these just this year.

and amazingly, after uprighting it, it somehow ‘grew’ presents!

Hubby and I have wrapped gifts in plain butcher paper for years now…we’ve painted, stamped, and drawn on the paper in the past…this year…we used old plain crayons!

And we have a small skinny tree in the kitchen…

Last year, this was our one and only tree. This year it dons the kitty ornaments, some mini crochet, some amigurumi, some cross stitch, and some collectibles.

My mom filled the rest of the tree with little stuffed doggie toys for Mr. MacKenzie. She gets a big kick out of him wiggling and shaking, wanting to raid the tree. She makes him wait for the goodies…and from today on, he’ll get one a day out of the tree until they are all gone. (Entertainment for both of them!)

Hubby and I made up a stocking pattern this year and decided against names on the socks. We used bands of fabric, matched to the personalities of the ‘owners’…<evil grin>…to identify each stocking.

Cats, collection of ‘junk’, ukulele, dragons, monkey, wizard…our misfits.

As if by magic, they somehow got filled up as well. Everyone is wondering who did what…

We are still waiting for the fun to start…as my son is still AWOL with his girlfriend. We are giving them just a few more short moments to show up…then we are tearing into the goodies!

May your holidays be fun and memorable!