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WARNING: THIS IS A LONG READ

 I started making purses for Sew Powerful in 2016.  Intrigued by the mission of menstrual hygiene education for junior high girls in Zambia and fascinated by the purse pattern, I threw myself into purse making.  Here are some of my first purses.  

If you go through my Instagram account @moquilt, you could probably get a number of how many purses I’ve made.  I’m not a counter though, so I haven’t done that.  But I estimate I’ve made over 300 purses, probably more.  Some months I would do a purse a ...

And what’s been on the design wall is the start of my 100 day project, the goal of which is to make a useable quilt from ...

I’ve sort of lost track of what purses I have posted.  But I haven’t lost track of how many I made during September.  My goal was 24, but I made 40.  Combined with the 12 from August, I’ll be putting 52 in the mail next week.   And each one of these will have a note of encouragement that neighbor Lynne has created.  The purse below features my latest fabric crush.  But more importantly, people I know have donated over $5500!  I am still stunned by the generosity of people I know.

The photo I used for this ...

The past 19  days of the 2025 Sew Powerful September Sewathon have been so affirming, thanks to the generosity of my friends and neighbors and acquaintances.  And apparently one of my superpowers is underestimation.  I thought maybe I could raise $500.  But I have had to up my goal a couple of times.  Currently my total is almost $4500.  My Weight Watcher group is responsible for $500 of this! I normally do 12 purses a month.  So I thought I’d do 24.  As of today my purse total is 36.

The giraffe purse is courtesy of a scarf my ...

I love sewing.  I like making quilts, bags, and purses.  And the mission of  Sew Powerful - to combat extreme poverty by creating local jobs, providing vocational training for adults, and producing purposeful products like feminine hygiene kits, school uniforms, and soap - resonates with me.  After 9 years and over 300 purses, I’m realizing that making purses and my meager monthly financial support isn’t enough.  The bags that I and all the other pursemakers create and ship are worthless if there isn’t money for what must go inside the purses!  This year’s goal is 33,000 purses ...

 I know what you’re thinking: all of what I do in the studio is play.  Okay, true!  So even though I loved making these 12 purses for August, it was play,  not work.  September I am committing to 24 purses instead of 12.  And these 24 will all be for the September Sew Powerful Purse-a-Thon.  Since I technically can’t start on these 24 until September, that means some real play time in the studio

 I am trying to be more consistent with my Sew Powerful purses efforts.  One dozen a month seems a doable goal.  And although it’s early days in 2025, so far so good.  The March purses will be shipped along with 13 purses from February.  And my new project is Brandon’s quilt.  I have finally figured out what I want to do! So tomorrow I will pack up these purses and go to UPS.  And then?  I’m putting all purse makings away and getting busy! (And yes! three of these purses are from Cecilia’s drapes.)

Why do I think I need an even number of purses to mail to Sew Powerful?  I have 18 completed and think I need two more before mailing.  But I’ve been distracted by the lure of other projects.  Evenings I’ve been hand quilting a project that I am still so in love with.  I’m may be  half way done and am enjoying every stitch.

My never-ending supply of scraps and UFO’s call to me loudly.  At the beginning of the pandemic I took an on-line workshop with the revered and lovely Carol Lyles Shaw(who sad ...

Today I am 75.  This morning’s 4 mile walk was great. The weather is gorgeous - we’re heading into my favorite time of the year.  Next week we’re taking a river cruise out of NYC up the Hudson River.  And I live in a neighborhood where people have money to decorate in style!  Note:  These things that make me happy are listed below but not necessarily in order of importance.  

Crafters have different working styles.  Mine is to keep several projects going at once and be okay without a sense if completion.  And I’m pretty happy working like this.  The fabrics above are for a challenge sponsored by Windham.  For a couple of years challenges have not interested me.  But this one? For some reason I’m doing it.  My goal is to do some fabric manipulation using a pleating process.  In the middle is a practice sample in reds right beneath the challenge directions. Guild mate Rob Stoller generously bought fabrics and distributed/mailed them. 

My Chicago MQG ...

The design wall also holds the finished purses nicely, too.  Most of these four use recycled blue jeans for the body.  And the flaps are from other deconstructed quilted projects.  I am having a serious love affair with double- sided tape!