Friday, November 23, 2012

Vermillion Teacup & By The Bay SAL Bag


Back in the day, I just could not get my fill of Donna Vermillion designs.  I loved changing colors a billion times within a small space, doing loads of fractional stitches and adding just the right back-stitching to make a really realistic piece.  I still love the look and I still kind of enjoy stitching like that, but it now it just tires me out so fast!   The World of Charity Stitching is doing  a quilt with a teacup theme. Many of the members signed up to do one of the Vermillion teacups in Donna's current free series.  I knew if I chose one, it had to be a really colorful one.. 50 shades of white weren't going to cut it with me anymore.  So I did the poppies.  By the time I hit that third flower and final leaf, I was really ready to stop.  It isn't even that big, but it seemed like it took forever.  I must say, though,  I do love the results and I haven't tired of that part one bit!


And speaking of charity stitching, I'd like to say how happy I am about my contributions to the Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative (AAQI).  I have made nine mini-quilts over the last year.  Three sold fairly quickly.  The remaining quilts languished on the sale page forever.  I stopped making them since I didn't want to burden the organization with quilts they couldn't sell.  In October, the group took about 2100 quilts to the Houston quilt show and sold about 1600 of them between Wednesday and Sunday earning about $75,000 for the cause.  I'm proud to say that all six of my remaining quilts sold as part of that effort!   You can see all of my quilts and how much they earned here.  This is such a great grass roots organization.  All the income from selling these quilts goes to fund research.  And  this group finds the worthy research projects.  They don't just pass the money onto some large organization.   I'm inspired to make more now!


I also finally finished the Autumn By The Bay Mystery SAL, just a bit late.  At least it's still autumn!
I decided to make this into a little cross-body sling bag.   It turned out pretty well, so this one will be a holiday gift.  I make these a little different every time, never quite finding the perfect way to do it.  This one mostly follows the Lazy Girl Runaround Bag pattern.  I add some iron-on interfacing to all the pieces to give it a little more heft.  I also leave really long tails on the straps inside the bag,  Then I sew those down by hand over the side seam allowances.  So no raw edges show inside on the sides.. only on the top and bottom seams that aren't so visible anyway.  Plus the straps are much more secure.  I think I really like this technique the best.  I've done another method that has no exposed seams in the lining. but it doesn't leave me a way to do those straps like this, so I think I prefer this method.  I think it's pretty cute and eye-catching.  Quite a conversation starter in the grocery store lines!






25 comments:

ArchangelDecker said...

Beautiful work, Ms Annie! :)

Cole said...

Lovely!

Vickie said...

Oh it was worth it for the Poppy teacup!
Beautiful bag.

Anne said...

Love your bag and your teacup is gorgeous Annie. I know exactly what you mean about all the tiny stitches. But yes, it sure is worth it! Happy stitching! :)

Margaret said...

Wow! Love how your bag came out! It will make a beautiful present! I love your teacup piece as well. Gorgeous! That's so wonderful about your quilts being sold at the quilt festival too! Hooray! You did such a wonderful job on them -- I still marvel at all the wonderful mini quilts you turned out for them!

Mii Stitch said...

Great work, well done!

Anonymous said...

That bag is simply stunning!!

Ranae said...

Poppies are my favorite
The bag turned out fantastic, love it!

Nima said...

That is lovely Annie

Jane said...

It's a lovely bag, and a great way to combine stitching. I love poppies, so that tea cup is perfect, I can imagine what a lovely quilt it will turn out to be

Jane said...

It's a lovely bag, and a great way to combine stitching. I love poppies, so that tea cup is perfect, I can imagine what a lovely quilt it will turn out to be

Melanie said...

Beautiful work, as always!!! You know how to really rock a finish. :)
And congrats on selling the rest of your quilts.
I really love the colors on the tea cup/poppies but I know what you mean about that type of design. I've done a few Paula Vaughan designs in the past and enjoyed them but they make me tired just LOOKING at them nowadays. How did I ever manage all those color changes?? lol I have a framed one in my hall that I can't even believe I ever finished, it's so complicated with colors.

CATHI said...

The bag is gorgeous! Love it! :o)

Cathi

Karen said...

The poppies are beautiful, Annie, I love that red! How wonderful of you to make all of those lovely quilts and donate them, I enjoyed looking at all of them. And that purse is beautiful, too, I love that landscape!

Anonymous said...

I love your purse!! I had to say that first because I'm really into bags and purses these days (shhh don't tell dh). I had a lookie at all the mini quilts you made....wow! You amaze me with all that you get done and to the benefit of others no less. Way to go!
The poppies are stunning and I too, love the punch of red!

Great blog post as always my dear.

Carol said...

Annie, your poppies are so realistic--I just love the finished piece! The little poppy studded teacup is adorable, too.

I'm so happy that all of your hard work is paying off in an effort to find a cure for this devastating disease--thank you for your efforts!

And what an adorable way to highlight a finish--the little purse is so pretty and the fall fabrics you've used with it are just perfect. You always come up with such creative ways to finish your stitching.

Hope you have a lovely week ahead!

Anne said...

Wow! That teacup with poppies is so beautiful. I can see that it would take awhile to stitch...but so worth it. I'm amazed at how much money was raised for Alzheimer's! How wonderful!! Love your finish of Autumn By the Bay. So creative and functional...two words I associate with you Annie!!!

Siobhán said...

You go girl on your stitching helping to raise so much money! Great job on the teacup (and all the cagillion color changes!) and the bag, too. Very clever way to finish off stitching.

Annette said...

I totally looed over your lovely post..

What a beautifull teacup you stitched. Most of the vermillion pieves I love to.. the snowmen where cute as where the door hangers..
This one is also a cute..
The most smallest piece that the longest

You stitched so many for teh sell. And such beautifull pieces.
And bid pieces!!
How great they all selled them.

Your bag is so lovely ..
Happy stitching

Gray Bonnet said...

The poppies turned out gorgeous! And I love how you made the bag--I would be overjoyed to receive such a lovely gift!

Anonymous said...

Ooh, I love that bag!

Gina E. said...

"fifty shades of white"...LOL! Thank you for keeping up with my blog, and your compliments on my wins at our local homecraft show. But they are nothing compared to yours, Annie - I am humbled when I visit your blog and see what exquisite work you have been doing. I wanted to comment on each of your projects, but it would take up too much space here, so I'll just say ditto to all the above comments!

Jeanne said...

What lovely finishes! Your bag is darling and so are the poppies in the teacup. It's so hard to keep up with all the blogs and everyone's beautiful projects. I try to get around to everybody but it's hard! Kudos to you for helping out the Alzheimers' cause with your quilts - it's such a worthy effort.

Rachel S-H said...

Cute bag, and I think it's wonderful that you helped out that charity!

Anonymous said...

You always have the most wonderful finished projects!! love that bag with the cross-stich. Super! The teacup is really pretty as well.