Can you believe this twirly sweater-dress created by Katwise? I love this! That lime green splash along the bottom edge is gorgeous, but the icing on the cake is the hood. See the fringe that would frame your face (and cover your eyes, yeah yeah I know) and the long hood? Oh, this is so cool.
This is a morning view from Kay Peterson's backyard in Trent, South Dakota. Wow, that's so beautiful! Thanks for sharing your neighborhood with us.
If you've been reading the Selvage Blog lately you probably knew this was going to happen: I just bought this charming little sewing machine on eBay! You are the first one I'm telling! It's cast iron and measures only 7" x 7." They say the handle turns and it works, but I think I'll still use my Juki 98Q.
Today we're looking at more creative selvage bags by Fernanda Gomes of Portugal. Above and below, she uses selvages and ribbons sparingly to add little messages and design flair.
I have a warm place in my heart for "Dick, Jane and Sally" (see the fabric on the left in the photo below) because I learned to read using that series of books. Somehow, reading "Run, run, run." wasn't boring, it was reassuring. :) I like the little cartoons on the pink background too.
Using selvages this way is so clever. I like the light and airy look she has created. And look at those handles!
Having a small selvage stash is no longer a reason not to make a selvage bag.
Wonderful job, Fernanda! Thank you for all the inspiration. It makes me want to head to my sewing machine right now.
Fernanda Gomes from Portugal has made a stunning collection of selvage bags. These 4 bags were made by applying selvages and fabric squares with machine zig-zag stitching. What a creative idea!
Fernanda has such a carefree improvisational style! Bravo, Fernanda! I like the fabric with the little Russian dolls (on the white background above, and on the brown background 2 photos up).
What a beautiful blast of color in the bag above. See more of her work tomorrow too!
Cindy Cooksey of Orange County, California made this pretty little selvage quilt. Here's her story:
Gretchen Thompson of Spicewood, Texas writes:
JodieFlowers has some delightful artwork on Flickr. These are wall leg vases. They don't have flat feet, but duh, they are "wall" vases so they don't need a flat base. It took me a minute to process this. That's part of why I like them. Also see her colorful Wall Monsters. Very clever. This kind of stuff gets my creative juices flowing.
No, this is Erica Spinks' neighborhood at 6:45am yesterday in Australia. They are having a dust storm and this is the exact color of the sky. This is some of the best weather I've ever heard of for quilting. (Tough on farmers and people with athsma, though.) Check out Erica's blog: http://creativedabbling.blogspot.com/. Other Australian bloggers have photos too.
When I saw Sylvie's toy sewing machines (see next post) I decided to take a look at some antiques. Where else can you see an instant collection but eBay? These are all currently up for auction. The green one is in Bulgaria, the black one is in the Netherlands, and the blue one is in the US (but made in Germany). 
Sylvie from France saw the recent post about toy sewing machines and she wrote this: 
You know how fishermen have stories about "the one that got away?" Well here's the quilter's equivalent. This antique Singer "Red Eye" (called that because of the painted decoration) was on eBay and I "knew" the price would climb sky high, so I didn't bid. That was dumb! (And yes, I do have a BS in Finance.) The machine sold for only $91. I'm just getting to know my way around this market a little bit, but that seems like a very good deal to me. Wouldn't this machine look stunning in a quilting studio? I think I'm getting bit by the Singer bug!
Melinda of the East Cobb Quilters' Guild in Marietta, Georgia was featured in the local newspaper with her Kiwi Zinger quilt. They had a quilt show this month that exhibited 363 quilts! Take a look at Melinda's blog to see many photos of the winning quilts: http://melinful.blogspot.com/2009/09/september-sylvia-bridal-sampler.html. 
Darlene's made this purple tote bag using a bit of her selvage collection and a pattern from McCall's Quilting magazine. What a conversation-piece this will be at her next guild meeting. Good job, Darlene!
She says she's now hooked on making selvage items and is almost finished with a bed-sized purple zinger quilt! We'll keep you posted.
Lynne in New England was inspired by the quilt on the cover of my book "Quilts from the Selvage Edge" when she made this stunning wall quilt. She has such an artistic eye. Look how she handles all those blues, and the little splashes of red, orange and yellow are just right. I also like how the quilting lines echo the selvages. The red cherry dot near the center of the quilt, the brown lacy strip in the southeast corner, and that sparkling black and white binding...oh this quilt has it all! Yayyy, Lynne!
Lynne made this selvage quilt for a Doll Quilt Swap. Here's what she had to say about it:
"There was a discussion on the swap forum about what some abbreviations mean. I didn't know what kwim was, so I proposed some funny possibilities... like Kisses With Important Messages... Kiwis With Impromptu Mangoes? Kangaroos With Illegal Machineguns? My swap partner (who's flickr name is quiltinkimmie) suggested "Kimmie's Wonderful In Michigan."So when I had this very long, very blank selvage I had a little idea... and wrote that on the edge of the selvage and sewed it in the quilt."
Visit Lynne's blog at: http://patcherymenagerie.blogspot.com/. Your time there will be well spent! Her cat Millie also has a blog: darlingmillie.blogspot.com.
Isn't this the most intriguing treehouse? It's one of two on Vancouver Island in British Columbia (Canada) that you can stay in for $125 or $175/night. The interior reminds me of an RV. See more about these spherical hotel rooms at http://www.freespiritspheres.com/
Another quilter welcomes us to her part of the world: Judy lives on Cape Cod (or "on the Cape" as they say) and this is the view in her backyard. Isn't it gorgeous? Those boats are so New England. I can hear the fog horn in my imagination when I look at the photo at the top. Do they even have those any more? 
Sherrill in Texas made this charming little selvage scrap saver, her first selvage project. Nice job, Sherrill. The buttons are a nice touch. See her blog at: www.quiltinginmysleep.blogspot.com.
Jocelyn at happycottagequilter.blogspot.com wrote to tell us about this selvage sewing machine cover made by Margie in Oregon. She made it for a contest and it took her one whole day. And now she doesn't have to use that white plastic cover that comes with the machine. Good idea. Margie's blog is: http://threadingmyneedles.blogspot.com/2009/08/sewing-machine-cover.html
Rebecca in Florida took this photo from her front yard as the Space Shuttle Discovery launched.
Do you know anyone who doesn't know what this is? Take a minute to introduce someone to poison ivy. You may help them aviod weeks of itching! I had a case of poison ivy on my leg in August and decided to post this photo as a public service.
I've heard awful stores of people unwittingly making wreaths and centerpieces with this nasty stuff! Do you have poison ivy in Australia? (No. See Comments.)
I took this photo and invite everyone to spread it around.
I just saw this quilt on eBay. Isn't it wonderful? You can see it at: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=370260074988&ssPageName=ADME:B:FSEL:US:1123
