I knew those fish would come in handy...

I fell in love with the "Persuasion" sampler by The Sampler Girl in the Jan, 2009 issue of JCS. I've only recently started to appreciate this style of design, and the sentiment on this one expresses exactly what I have to keep reminding myself in these troubled times.

The stitching is done on Vikki Clayton's hand-dyed linen from a grab-bag of light neutrals...a joy to stitch on. I used only DMC threads and changed a few colors here and there... like multiple blues for the alphabet to give the look of color-variations.

I finished it up into a sling/hipster bag to use when I want to carry a minimum of fairly essential items and stay hands-free. It's lined with the same fabric as the backing with one pocket on the inside. I used Pellon fusible fleece to give it some padding and little heft. My sewing machine is not new to say the least, so I also did a little praying that it would be willing to sew through all those layers. But it performed like trooper. The zipper cooperated this time too. And finally, I've got a home for those fish beads that I bought some time ago with no idea as to how to use them.






And in the spirit of the season, I crocheted a little shamrock thanks to Kathy, who supplied the link to the pattern.