Bag Handles

I'm progressing on the Tote Bag project. Handles on 6 of the bags are now complete! I'm a little worried that they might be just a tad too long....but I can't decide for sure, so I'm leaving them for now. I don't have to finalize them until the linings are inner-faced, so I can procastinate for a little bit longer.

BTW, see the light blue fabric underneath the bags? That's the backing for the Modern Buzzsaw quilt, the one I was going to finish in time to bring with me to Seattle for a host gift. I leave for Seattle tomorrow....so I guess I'll be mailing that quilt later.

Oh well, that's how it goes sometimes. I've been an unfocused sewer lately, and a little bit lazy. Sometimes I'd rather watch the new season of Outlander than sew, believe it or not!

Quilted Bag Panels

I've started working on the 8 quilted bags I'm making for my sisters friends. So far, I have 6 of the bag panels complete. I'm piecing them out of scraps, using a variety of techniques. The bottoms are made out of canvas decorator fabric.

The first two I made using the disappearing 9-Patch method (sew a 9 patch block, cut it into four pieces, sew back together.)

The next one, I used up some leftover blocks from the Dresden Coin quilt, and added a few strips of the background fabric.

This is leftover Miss Kate fabric I sewed into patchwork.

This one is just some improvisational pieced Amy Butler leftovers.

I'm not so sure about this one - I thought the green and blue would be a good combination, but it's looking kind of obnoxious. I might re-do.

I have two more to complete, then it's straps, interfacing, lining, pockets, more interfacing, zippers...

From the Archives: Dresden Coin

 

My housemate Marilyn was flipping through an issue of Block Magazine one night, and fell in love with the Dresden Coin quilt. We had the following conversation:

Marilyn: I LOVE this quilt! This would really be perfect in my room!"
Me: Do you want me to make it for you?
Marilyn: You could MAKE that?
Me: Um...yeah. In case you hadn't noticed, I make quilts. It's sort of my thing.

Marilyn wanted it EXACTLY like the picture in the magazine, so I purchased the Michael Miller Citron collection, and this baby came together really fast. I quilted the whole thing in a large stipple, and as the finishing touch, also made some throw pillows out of the leftover material.

Sugar Block Quilt Top

I decided to finish up the 2014 Sugar Block Club quilt, so I got out all my blocks, gave them a good pressing, squared them up, and tried to figure out a layout.

They were too boring side by side, so I put pink sashing in between each block. This spiced things up a bit, and increased the size of the quilt. It was still kind of meh though, so I decided to add a piano key border to the whole things, since I had a ton of leftover fabric.

I think it was a mistake. Now the whole thing is a big mess of color and pattern, only not in a cool Amy Butler way, more like in a "Who was color blind when they sewed that thing together!" way. I don't think this is bad as the Worst Quilt Ever, but it's a close second.

I'm not sure if the lesson is to beware of piano key borders, test ideas before implementing them, pick fabrics more carefully, invest in quilt layout software, or what exactly (I'm guessing all of the above), but I'm not big on regret or looking back, so I'm going to quilt this baby up, find it a good home and move on.

Friday Finish: Miss Kate's Turnover

Well, this one was a struggle, but I'm glad I buckled down and finished it.

I learned a few things along the way - the main one being that sometimes trying to avoid something (the pattern writer wanted the look of curved piecing without actually doing curved piecing) makes things more complicated and difficult then if you just went and did the thing you're trying to avoid. In other words, face your fears. Curved piecing? Not very easy, but a hell of a lot easier than making this pattern.

Anyhoo, I actually like the quilt. I wish it was bigger for all that work and effort I put into it! I considered adding a few borders, or experimenting with sashing between the blocks to increase the size, but in the end I just decided to be done with it.

The backing is a FreeSpirit print from some designer I don't remember - it was on the $2.99 rack at SR Harris. I quilted it in squiggly lines, just quick and simple.

Free fabric and 8 new projects

My sister Grace told me I could have all of her leftover fabric from a project she's finishing up. It's quite a decent amount, and all in good colors, so of course I was happy to take it off her hands.

She also asked if I'd make 8 quilted tote bags for her to give to fellow teachers as We-Made-it-Through-the-School-Year gifts.

Turns out free fabric comes at a high price...:)

Cathedral Stars Update

Still plugging away on the stars! I've made all 18 of the blue star blocks, and I have 6 more of the red star blocks to make, and then I'll be done with the stars.

After that, I only have to make 25 of the ladder blocks, and I'm hoping those will come together quickly.

Recipe Time!

Since starting the Whole 30, I've been doing lots of cooking. Mostly just easy stuff, like grilled chicken, grilled pork chops, grilled sausages, grilled steaks...and then when we're sick of grilling, stir fry's, and soups. Last night I decided to be a little more creative and make two recipes from the Nom Nom Paleo blog, which I follow religiously.

These were both totally awesome. The Brussels sprouts salad was fast and easy - basically, shred the Brussels sprouts, roast them, toss them with the vinaigrette. Done.
You can find the recipe here. 

The Spicy Tuna Cakes were also a hit. You use a sweet potato to bulk up the tuna vs. bread crumbs like in a normal recipe, and I was worried they would taste overly sweet, but no. They were delicious, and that recipe is here.

I made a sort of home-made tartar sauce to serve with them out of fresh home-made mayo, chopped pickles, capers, mustard, and salt and pepper.

Just checking in...

Hey there - I don't have much to report this week, but I just wanted to write a quick post to say hello.

The North Street ladies started the Whole 30 program this week, so I'm detoxing from sugar, grains, dairy, and legumes, which means I have ZERO energy. After taking my detoxing bath of epsom salts and baking soda last night, I crawled into bed at the ungodly hour of 8:00 p.m just because I couldn't keep my eyes open another second. It's about 3 p.m.as a write this, and I seriously am considering shutting my office door, crawling under my desk, and taking a little nappie. This lethargy is supposed to last for a few days, and then it all turns around I should be filled with boundless energy. I'm looking forward to that.

In the meantime though, not much quilting getting done around here. I basted the Miss Kate's Turnover quilt over the weekend, so my goal is to get that machine quilted by the end of the week. I don't think it should take long, since the beastly thing actually turned out quite small.

Hopefully I'll have more to report in the next few days!

Friday Finish: Moda Trifle Dish

Well, here it is, finally finished!

Taking pictures of this was challenging. It was really windy, my quilt-holders were anxious to get back inside to watch "Scandal", the dogs were all worked up about some cheeky squirrels in the yard, someone wasn't wearing shoes and got a sliver from the deck....And THEN, I realized the quilt was held sideways in all the pictures. Oh well, I'll try and get some better ones later and update this post.

My very first blog post was when I started this quilt back in August of last year. I wrote a lot about not liking to make Half Square Triangles, which I've now made my peace with.

Here it is, right side up!

I was concerned about the Amy Butler fabrics not really being at their best with this pattern, since the scale of the prints are so big. I think overall the effect is just fine though. Phew!

You might notice that I decided not to include the "Strawberry" blocks, that actually looked more like wonky hearts. I screwed up the blocks when I made them, so in order to make them fit into a row I would have had to do math, and other fiddling about. It seemed too exhausting at the time, so I just tossed them into the scrap pile. I didn't like those strawberries anyway!

This ended up being a nice queen-sized quilt, so I think it'll go on the guest bed for now until it can find a worthy forever home.

Luck of the Draw: Fat Quarter Mystery Box

Craftsy sells fat quarter mystery boxes, and every now and then I buy one for fun. It's a total mystery what you'll get - the only thing you know is that it'll be 50 fat quarters, all from a certain manufacturer. In this case, I knew I'd be getting Rowan or Free-Spirit fabrics.

I've heard horror stories about boxes that are full of hideous fabric, or all one kind of design, but I've always had pretty good luck with my previous purchases.

It's always very exciting opening the box and seeing what's in it, and when mine arrived yesterday, I thought I'd better take some pictures so you can see my haul.

Not bad, huh? Some good blues and greens in there, some neutrals. I'm pretty excited for these Tula Pink ones:

I'm not so excited for these ugly upholstery looking things, but that's how it goes.