After two days of intense, muggy heat, today is cold and dreary and I am feeling the same… I have aches and the sniffles and I am just feeling under the weather completely… so I decided to spend the day on my big recliner with  a hot water/lemon/honey/cayenne concoction and change the blog a bit…

It might not show too much as I was quite happy with the design I had before so I stayed pretty close to the same, but I made a new header that keeps the elements that I loved of the other one but a lot cleaner and more fresh.

The footer is gone as I thought it was just adding clutter and the items that were there were not getting enough attention and now everything is slightly clearer.

The biggest change is that it is a new theme altogether that make things easier to modify and update in the long run.

I would love your opinion! especially for those not using a Mac..

The last bag/purse I had made for myself was in Feb 09…

I was due for a new one…

Years ago I had picked up an beautiful thick orange linen tablecloth in a thrift store and for years I vowed to make a skirt from it… and didn’t. I still have plans to do so but when I was looking for the perfect cloth to make a new purse out of, I had to use it. So I cut off a safe amount that I could use for a skirt and had just enough to make the perfect bag.

My requirements for the bag was to have a place for everything. My birthday gift this year was an ipad, so I wanted a safe place to be able to put it. I also wanted place for the cell phone, keys and a few extra pockets to keep things contained and organized. As usual, I didn’t have a pattern or any exact measurements so after I cut out enough fabric for the strap and the sides I went with what was left to determine how big the bag was actually going to be using the ipad as the minimum…

My idea grew as the bag came together and fabric that was left over became extra pockets or little details or finishing touches that I had not thought about… and I LOVE the result.

The inside has a large pocket in back that the ipad can fit into and I added some batting to the back to add a bit of extra stiffness and protection and to keep the batting in place and to add extra detail I tried my hand at some free-motion embroidery…

Just on the outside part of that separation are some small pockets for various other things such as my phone, Ipod and pen and keys etc…

On the opposite side I added a zippered pocket on the inside and another larger pocket on the outside and again added batting between the layers for extra thickness and stability. The sides, top and strap also have batting and I quilted them to help the bag keep its shape…

And finally the flap also has batting and a beautiful dresden flower made from some of my favourite fabrics…

I am going to be working on a pattern and tutorial for this one… it is definitely one of my favourite sewing projects to date…

but it sure is feeling like it….

I have been trying to stay away from the computer which of course means that my blog will be a bit willfully neglected for the next few weeks, though I do plan on writing once in a while… Living in Quebec means having to live with weather extremes and the though we may complain of the hot humid summer weather, it is very much welcomed after months of winter with ice and snow and the temperature being way below 0…. So being outside and soaking it up feels like such an important thing to do and computer time feels like such a waste of beautiful weather and family time…

So, the pool is ready for swimming and has been swam in numerous times, bugs are out and biting and trips and adventures are being planned.

Khéna and bugs don’t seem to mix…

After many years of wanting to go camping with the family but not having the gear, we finally bit the bullet and bought a tent, a camp stove a few other needed camping accessories and are planning on going for our first family camping trip at the end of the month and meeting up with some friends in the Maritimes…

We set the tent up in the yard on the weekend to make sure that the size was right for our family and though it may be tight in a few years, we will have no problem fitting into a 6 person tent…

So here’s to summer and all of the adventures that await!