Elephants, zebras and my secret tote bag!

Ella dropped by for a visit yesterday! She lives next door and I haven't seen her for almost 18 years! I made her as a gift for the new baby! I asked the baby who is almost an adult if she still have her but she wasn't sure. There had been a flood in the house and the family lost a lot of their belongings. As it turns out she survived and is safe and sound. She is pretty cute!

 

Reunited with a couple of old friends!

 

My secret tote bag for the swap hosted by Lia's Handmades is almost finished. I have jute straps for handles that I have yet to attach to the bag and I'm not sure how I will do it but the solution will come to me. I'll have to figure it out quickly because the bag has to be finished by the weekend!

It was a lot of fun appliqueing, beading and embroidering grasshoppers, dragonflies, butterflies, bees and spiders. I have a few little goodies that I'll tuck inside the bag! It is pretty large and the reason for that is that I love the print and didn't want to cut it down. I think it would make a great beach bag as there would be plenty of room for a big towel, sunscreen and a bottle of water. I hope the recipient likes what I've made for her! She didn't give me much information about her likes and dislikes so I just had to wing it!

And what's in the garden today?

Blackberries are coming along nicely!

and the red currents will be ready for picking soon!

 

Pink sedum...

 

and yellow sedum.....

 

and a close-up  look at what was on the sedum!

 

 

Butterfly milkweed (isn't the colour spectacular?)

 

Close-up - amazing!

 

The lavender is just starting so I'll have to make some lavender bottles!

 

Ironweed

 

And Forest Gumby sprawled on a picnic table!

 

Until I post again, happy sewing!

 

Post Script: My Mom just heard that her quilt In My Garden was the voters favourite in the Quilting Gallery Show and Tell. She is thrilled to bits. It is the perfect tonic for her broken arm and she is very excited to get some new fabric and start sewing again. Hopefully she'll be able to do so before the summer is over. For those of you who voted she sends her very sincere thanks.  This is the quilt - I just love it because it is my Mom exactly!

 

In My Garden by Anne H