Sunset Fireworks Bag

orange bag in garden, originally uploaded by Joey 7.

You know that fabric I bought from the Extra Care charity shop in Hillsborough the other week? Well, I finished the first bag made with it about a week ago. It took me about 15 hours to make in all! I really love this stripey orange fabric, it's so sunshiney and bright and also reminds me of my bedroom when I was about 4 years old. My eldest sister (who is 16 years older than me) had just decorated it as she wanted - completely in a deep, rich orange; and then promptly got married and left home! Not that it was a sudden event because it wasn't, it was a very well prepared event for which I was bridesmaid for the first time, and loved every minute of it. But this meant that I got to have her bedroom - orange walls, orange sink with an orange tiled surround, orange floral curtains (very 70s design in some very nasty synthetic fabric!), and I think the carpet might have been orange and brown, but I may have been making that bit up. I loved her bedroom before it became mine, chiefly because she liked cooking and had under her bed, a couple of shoeboxes of pictures of different food which she'd cut from magazines. These were very lovely, and I wasn't meant to touch them. Anyway, I think this may be one reason why I love the colour orange so much.

You can also tell from this bag that I love buttons and embroidery! I really enjoy the repetition of embroidery, there's something meditative about it, it concentrates your mind but also lets you think of other things whilst you're doing it. I feel so relaxed when i'm embroidering.

Do you love this bag? See the listing for it on my Etsy shop: http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=26329582
My goodness, i'm doing an origami workshop at the Sheffield Pride festival a week today. Naturally, i'm a little apprehensive, mostly that people won't turn up, and i'll be making origami all by myself!! I've spent hours cutting and sticking some nice yellow wallpaper to make squares of paper large enough for hats which will fit adult heads! When I get started on something, I always think it'll take just an hour or so, but that hour turns into 4 or 5 hours... Well, you live and learn. Anyway, if you will be in Sheffield next Saturday (20 June), please pop over to Endcliffe Park off Ecclesall Road at 3:30 p.m. and come and join in the paperfolding fun!

A few friends who came to my 'test' workshop a few weeks ago did blog posts about it:
Janine's blog: http://dilystreacle.wordpress.com/2009/05/17/origami-not-with-ziggy-with-joey/

Louise's blog: http://louisebroomhead.blogspot.com/2009/05/joeys-origami-workshop.html

Julia's blog: http://handknittedthings.blogspot.com/2009/05/test-workshop-origami.html

Thank you again everyone! :D
Joey xx