Rice Bag Challenge

 These are photos of the window of Kaimuki Dry Goods on Oahu, Hawaii.  It is my favorite fabric shop, when I visit Hawaii.  They have a great selection of hawaiian, japanese and quilting fabric.  Carol took these pictures to show the window display.  There is a table runner...

 An Apron, a bag, a window quilt...

 my Plantation quilt

and this lovely dress.  I like this short dress with the rick rack and pleats.  I don't know who won the sewing machine, but challenges are always fun to see what your creativity will come up with.

Bath Mat

 I made a bath mat for Midori.  I used a regular towel, folded it in half and then used the walking foot to sew around the edges and into the middle.

It was simple, easy to make and it felt good to recycle an old towel.

Here is a mat that my Aunt Helen made.  It is simple, not so easy to make and uses recycle fabric on a towel.  What a colorful inspiration.  To give the mat depth, she folded squares of fabric into prairie points and sewed them down starting from the edge of the mat to the middle.  This mat was well used, well taken care of and lasted at least 20 years.  Yes. at least.  I'm sure it was washed many times, but you don't see any unraveling.  The mat I made probably wont last a year.  Something made well will give you such pleasure in its simplicity and longevity.  Hopefully, one day I'll have the time to make a bath mat like Helens.