Sewing for Spring!

My boys have been away, leaving me for my favorite type of vacation: one spent here at home, alone! It is amazing what can be accomplished when I am not tending to their needs---hours of the day are freed up! I have been studying, working on school projects, an exam, and a term paper. But I also had time for a special visit with a friend from afar, a couple of walks, and some sewing! Now I am thoroughly ready for my boys to make their way homeward.

In case you felt I stiffed you on pics of my recent Alewives purchases, here are a few.
If I have cute notepaper, I write notes! How could I pass up Amy Butler notecards?
So I had in mind this bag that I had seen on the Made by Rae blog, a small purse, and very cute. Sort of the algorithm that translates to when your kids get bigger, your purse gets smaller. I had never made pleats, but what the heck. AND it takes just a couple of fat quarters! I chose this home dec weight fabric for the outer, because I wanted a little bit of "body" to my purse.
And, sorry for the awful indoor lighting:
I wore it out for its debut today in the super market (right, those boys will be eating when they return and I will be feeding them), and I felt so very hip and adorable as I trolled the aisles. It fit my wallet, phone, and checkbook, really the bare essentials...but so Spring-feeling to be unencumbered by stuff. Now that I am hooked on this easy and quick pattern, I have to return to Alewives for more magnetic closures and perhaps more home dec fat quarters. Sigh.

The great part is I feel kick-started back into sewing! And my fabric-hungry tiki from Mary Anna is beginning to fill his tum! (Click on that link to her blog, she is making this totally chic trench coat right now.)
Atop Beech Hill, looking eastward. The sun was sunny, but the breeze was brisk. Soon, it will be green.