My very first Tote Bag

Last July we had a family meeting of ten cousins to explore the idea of organizing a family reunion. I'm blessed with a big and wonderful family, both my parents had 8 brothers and sisters, and we all remained very close. Two years ago had a big family reunion of my father's family and it was time for the same event for my mother's family. So, on February we had a most wonderful and heart warming family reunion in Jerusalem. There were about 200 people ages 89 to 3 months, 5 generations of the Levin family.

Between July 2013 and February 2014 we (me and my cousin Mickey) dropped almost all other activities, and worked full time on the reunion. We drove around the country to interview our cousins and collect pictures and documents, we put together a book and a family tree going back 150 years and together with the "organizing committee" managed to produce a wonderful and unforgettable evening. That's why my last post was in July 2013...

These are my grandparents, Ben Zion Yaakov and Rachel Levin, picture taken before their marriage  in Jerusalem in 1899. Rachel is 15 and Ben Zion Yaacov is 19.

One day, while driving around the country I heard Mickey's stories about her childhood in Japan (my uncle Shalom, Mickey's dad, was a diplomat) and about her recent trip there. We talked about the beauty of Japanese design and about their wonderful fabrics. That night I decided to make a bag for Mickey using Japanese fabric from my very special stash. I LOVE Japanese fabrics and I've been collecting them for 20 years. Some I bought in Japan many years ago. I figured it's time to use them.

For the outside of the bag I used a lovely blue fabric, and for the lining I chose "Its a Hoot Trees in Cherry" by MoMo for Moda. I thought the bright red really complemented the Japanese fabric.

The inside has 3 pockets, for a telephone, keys, etc. Basically the bag is reversible, and can be used either way.

The bag measures 13" x 4"  (33 x 10 cm)(base) by 15" (38 cm) (height), the straps are 24" (61 cm)(length) by 13/4"  (4.5 cm) (width). I quilted the blue fabric with batting (on the diagonal), then added the lining "pillow case" method.

The instructions for making the bag are from my lovely teacher Marganit. 

I gave the bag to Mickey on her birthday, and she was thrilled, hope she'll get to use it a lot.

It was a great pleasure working on a small project, start to finish in 2-3 days. Very satisfactory!

I got hooked, and planning on making few more bags.

I'm linking to Fabric Tuesday at Quilt Story, WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced
and to Show and Tell TuesdayShow and Tell Tuesday at I have to say

Thanks for stopping by,
Noga

Master chef

Four sets of: apron, tea towel, placement and a pot holder for 4 little chefs, two toddlers and two little boys (4and 5 years old). I totally enjoyed sewing these aprons! Thanks so much Annelise from Aesthetic Nest for this great tutorial!

 

I made a few changes - for the pocket I cut two armholes and sewed them to make half a circle.

Instead of a button I put velcro for the neck strap. That's because I forgot to make the button hole before sewing the two sides together. It's easier to sew and easier for the kids to work open and close.

It was such a pleasure making the tiny pot holders (a 5"x5" square) and the small place mat (8"x11")!
Quilting this little miniatures in few moments, wonderful!

It's really great working on small projects. You get instant gratification and immediate results. I should do it more often.

I still need to finish two more sets, maybe next week.

 

I'm linking to Show and Tell Tuesday at I have to say, Fabric Tuesday at Quilt Story, and WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced. 

Thanks for stopping by!

Noga

  

Kids' stuff

Until  decide about my next project, I'm busy with some fun stuff: kids' aprons and kitchen things.
I found this great tutorial for a reversible kids' apron and started pulling fabrics for 4 aprons: 3 boys and one girl (my beautiful grandchildren).

I have no experience in sewing except for quilting. I never worked with patterns, and I didn't know how to tackle this little project. Luckily it is a great tutorial, at Aesthetic Nest,  very detailed and easy to follow for even a novice like me. The apron is reversible, which make it easier to sew and also gives the apron a nice finished look.

 For this girl's purple apron I used Central Park by Kate Spain for Moda and this lovely dolls fabric - Storybook Lane by Kelly Lee-Creel.

I'm very happy with the way it came out, let's hope my lovely granddaughter will like it as well!

I'm linking to Show and Tell Tuesday at I have to say, Fabric Tuesday at Quilt Story, and WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced.

Please Pop over there to see the great work of the talented quilters!


Thanks for stopping by,
Noga

Kaleidoscope quilt top - finish #2

In January 2012 I started working on a kaleidoscope quilt. It was based on Elizabeth's Kaleidoscope QAL but somehow just didn't progress. Fast forward a year and a half: my son got married, so I decided to enlarge the quilt, and last night I finished the top, at last!

It's a windy day in Haifa

I must admit this quilt took so long for a reason: I discovered i really don't like working with templates. Elizabeth's instructions were excellent, but templates are not my forte. Matching all the points was also a big challenge and I think next time I'll try paper piecing - something I still have to learn.

I also discovered that i don't have enough light fabrics (aka "low volume"), so fabric selection was a challenge. I used only fabrics from my stash, some of the fabrics are:

SD Quilts Collection by Denise Schmidt
Just Wing It! by MoMo for Moda
It's a Hoot by MoMo for Moda
"mocca" in blue by Alexander Henry
Jandango by Kate Spain for Moda
Indigo by Alice Kennedy
Sugar and Spice for Riley Blake
NYC Subway

and many others, more than 20 fabrics
I really struggled with this quilt - creatively and technically - but I'm very happy how it turned out!

I'm linking to Fabric Tuesday at Quilt Story, WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced
and to Show and Tell Tuesday at I have to say
       

Thanks for stopping by,
Noga

I'm back and good news!

After a hiatus of more than a year I'm back to blogging and quilting. I'm so happy! I really missed it all, mainly the creative part of working with wonderful fabrics.

I went back to reading all these great blogs I'm following, blogs of talented women that give me so much inspiration, and guess what? I won a giveaway! Maureen Cracknell had this great giveaway of Remember by Carina Gardner for Riley Blake sponsored by this great shop Sprightly Fabrics.

 

What a lovely welcome! Thanks so much Maureen and  Monique from Sprightly Fabrics! Make sure you visit this great shop!

Last year I finished the Kaleidoscope quilt top, but  then I decided to make it bigger, so that's what i'm doing now - adding 15 more blocks. Hope to finish it soon!

I'm sharing some pictures from of our lovely spring blooms in our garden.

Thanks for stopping by, and you can follow me with Bloglovin

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Noga 

Echo Fabric Giveaway Winner!

A big thank you to everyone who entered my giveaway! I really enjoyed reading about the happy events that happened to you this last winter (or summer). Thanks for sharing it with us!



And the winner of 6 fat quarters of Echo fabric by Lotta Jansdotter is:

kluckingbear Mar 24, 2012 11:31 AM
I'm a new follower. This winter my husband got a job in town and doesn't need to commute 4hrs.day! That's been a wonderful thing!

Congratulations and happy stitching!

kluckingbear has been contacted by email.

Thank you for stopping by!
Noga

Celebration and Echo giveaway!

Echo by Lotta Jansdotter

I can't believe it's a year since I started blogging! Not long after I started quilting, I decided to join this amazing community of quilters. Being part of this wonderful group of talented and creative people is the best part of blogging. It also gave me some sense of structure and deadline (WIP Wednesday! Thank you Lee!).
Most of all I love your comments. Getting feedback is so great! I can't over estimate it. Thank you so much for your kind words of encouragement, advice and support.

Taking stock of the last year I realize that I was not as productive as I would like, but I'm very proud of each one of my works, including my last quilt top - the kaleidoscope quilt, and it all made me very happy.

I want to thank you for following my blog, reading and commenting, so I decided on a small giveaway. These are fabrics I bought lately, I really love them, and I want to share them with you.
I'm giving 6 fat quarters of Echo by Lotta Jansdotter, these are beautiful fabrics with great design.



This is a friendship giveaway, for my followers. You can join by clicking "join this site" on the right.

• To enter the giveaway leave a comment (if you are a new follower, tell me) and tell me something happy that happened to you this winter (or summer - for you in the South).

• For a second entry blog/facebook/google+ /twitter about this giveaway, and tell me about it in a second comment.

International entries are welcome.


The giveaway will be open till Sunday 1/4/12, the winner will be picked randomly and announced in this blog and by email (make sure your email is available).

Thanks for stopping by!
Noga