a bag... finally

Whenever I find a chance to get to the studio all I've had time to work on are pieces for other people.  A few hours ago I arrived in my little workspace and did NOT feel like continuing that.  Instead I took the cover off my sewing machine.  I haven't sewn in something like 2 or 3 months.  All the sewing skills I had started to collect are now far less than rusty.  But here's a bag I just finished up.  I decommissioned one of those old orange live vests and incorporated the more interesting sections of material into the bag.  Construction wise it's fairly crappy for my standards... but I'm happy to have made something that I have complete aesthetic control over again.

where to begin

1. Oliver finally found a new foster home!  The rescue group did some foster dog juggling and he is now happily housed with a few older dogs.  Hopefully they'll teach him some puppy manners. 

2. Last Friday I packed up the car, secured Allie in the back, picked up my boyfriend (Pat) in Buffalo and drove out to Cleveland to spend some much needed time with my family.  Saturday morning Pat headed off to Ray's Indoor Mountain Bike Park to practice for an upcoming race (the US Open Downhill MTB race in New Jersey this May).  Normally I would go with him to the park but I decided to stay back and drink coffee with my mom.  Just as my mother and I were about to head out for some shopping I got a call from Pat.  He'd broken his collar bone on the jump course.  The x-rays show he snapped his clavicle near the shoulder.

I took Monday off work and drove him to a specialist that morning.  The verdict was surgery which was scheduled for Wednesday.  They gave him a pain pill prescription which Pat, of course, decided not to fill.  Why do guys do that?!  I drove out to Rochester on Tuesday for work.  Wednesday morning I woke up bright and early, coaxed the puppy back into the car, drove to Buffalo and brought Pat to the hospital.  He ended up being in the OR much longer than was expected.  He has a metal plate reattaching his clavicle to its former home at his shoulder and sutures securing the ligaments in place.  There is a chance the tip of the clavicle will die and they'll have to extract it.  In any case the plate will probably have to come out in 6 months to a year as it may start to bother him.  

I then took work off on Thursday since Pat was not allowed to be left alone the day after going under the knife.  On the car ride back to Rochester the anesthesia finally wore off and the pain set in.  The pills we got after the surgery seem to have no affect.  It's terrible to watch his face grimace as I help him sit up.

3. Allie will officially have a new home in 1 week!  A wonderful family with an 11 year old son has fallen in love with her.  I could not have found a better family!  I will definitely be spoiling her this next week.  I'm really gonna miss my little wiggle worm.

4. My sewing machine has stopped working.  I really wanted to start and finish a bag last night since I may not be able to visit the studio for a week if not longer while I take care of Pat.  Things were going well, then about 3/4 of the way through the bag the machine started to squeak and then stopped moving all together.  There's no thread bunch up, its something more internal, something which will have to go to a shop to be fixed.  I'll be finishing the bag by hand tonight.

I'm doing my best to keep the stress levels under control but I've already blown up at Pat a few times when things get to be too much.   I think its time for large amounts of yoga and tea.

Bag 4

It's almost midnight.  My normal bedtime is much closer to 10.  This bag has taken up way too much of my life and doesn't look all that great. 

I think it's time to step back and realize that I am a complete n00b at sewing and shouldn't expect miracles - something I have certainly been hoping for.  It's going to take me a while to perfect my sewing skills so I just need to keep practicing and wait for that 'aha' moment.  Damn.

In other less frustrating news I'm currently dog-sitting for my all time favorite pooch, Minnie.  She is pretty much perfect except for the fact that she will eat any other dog that crosses her path.  Because of this a good friend of mine is taking care of the puppies for the time being.  They'll be coming 'home' this Tuesday.  I can't help but feel guilty for enjoying my puppy-free days... 

Minnie trying to snooze

eh...

The blue and white ticking bag is finished.  I'm not so keen on the way I decided to attach the button and loop  - but overall I'm happy with the outcome.

I spent a good portion of today trying to play around with the burlap I've collected.  Needless to say burlap is a TERRIBLE material to sew with.  I have no idea how some people are able to make such gorgeous items from it.  I ended up putting together a little bag of sorts.  I still need to figure out how to keep it closed.  I'm starting to get rather frustrated.  The images in my head are not translating to the fabric as I hoped they would.

Sigh.