Yesterday was the first time we gave a door prize in 2021. The bag isn’t as full as some were last year, but we are trying to tone them down a bit.
Tim made the bag. SueG made the zipper pouch. Carrie made the coasters, pattern weights and the thread catcher (not shown). The other items were all donations one way or another. I enjoy the team effort.
Earlier this week, I received a big box of items from Carrie. She made coasters, pattern weights and thread catchers for all of the months of this year. She did the work in record time without any fuss! It was fabulous.
Carrie’s coasters
Carrie’s thread catchers
Carrie’s pattern weights
Once I got all of Carrie’s contributions, I decided to organize the offerings. I got everything out of the bag and laid it all out. I put as much as I could into SueG’s zipper pouch. Not everything would fit, so I put each month’s gifts temporarily into a plastic zipper bag until I get more containers for the months.
DH, apparently, has an Altoids habit. I had no idea until he came home and started to work remotely. I asked him to save me a couple of tins and suddenly I had 8 to work with. I wanted to make small sewing kits for the guild officers. I looked for tutorials. The one I liked was DIY Felt Magnet. It turned out, however, that I mostly fumbled along on my own during Craft Nights. Check back in a few days for a tutorial of my own.
One key was letting everything dry thoroughly after I glued it.
Finished Sewing Kits – open
I am pretty pleased with the way the sewing kits came out. I would have done some things differently if I had known, but I didn’t.
I am particularly pleased with the WonderClips** band. I think that is genius. I know I am tooting my own horn and I don’t want you to think I have a big head, but I was trying to think of a solution for storing some WonderClips along the lines of the clippy pocket I made for the UCAB. I wonder if I can sew some bands and add those instead of going through all of the Clippy pocket steps?
Sewing Kits showing Trim
The other thing I realized was that I could use the bias tape makers to make almost perfect trim by cutting fabric on the straight of the grain and applying it like trim. There was no messing around with the iron, trying to get the trim straight. No burned fingers or frustration. Those bias tape makers** are fun to use and I am finding them to be more and more helpful.
I delivered these on Wednesday when Mary and I put the Officer Appreciation gift bags together.
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So, the Journey 2 Nebula is finished. I finished all the projects which were part of the ‘Journey’ and the rulers have been returned to Amy. I am not making the Nebula quilt. If you like hexagons, you should try it. It is an interesting design. I am happy with the small projects I made during this Journey 2 Nebula and am moving on to other designs.
Gazebo Finished
Gazebo, as I mentioned, is the one project about which I was really excited. I did all the projects in order and waited patiently to get to this one.
This project, like all the others, was pretty easy. I was able to start and finish it in less than a day. This is an example of the excellent directions provided by the pattern.
**I use affiliate links and may be paid for your purchase of an item when you click on an item link in my post. There is no additional cost to you for clicking or purchasing items I recommend. I appreciate your clicks and purchases as it helps support this blog
I finally finished the Sew Together Bags and they are now in the hands of their new owners.
Sue’s Sew Together Bag
Sue’s Sew Together Bag inside back
The outsides used different fabrics and embellishments, as I mentioned, but the insides were similar. I used most of the same fabrics for the insides. While the white insides make tools and supplies easy to find, I think they are a bit boring and might use one or two pieces of colored fabric to break up the white next time (yes, I am sure there will be a next time. 😉 )
Carrie’s Sew Together Bag – outside
Carrie’s Sew Together Bag – inside
Carrie’s Sew Together Bag – bottom
As I mentioned in one post, the placement of the hexagon embellishment feature was off. I tried a few different things and considered some others. In the end, I left the original embellishment where it was and added a couple of extra hexagons. I think it looks nice and the original embellishment provides a surprise for the bottom if anyone looks there.
The recipients all claimed to enjoy their new bags. Tim doesn’t do much handwork, so I hope he finds a use for this bag.
I have made various sizes of the drawstring bags from the Jeni Baker pattern a number of times. I had an idea to use them as gift bags and, more recently, I made one to house some juggling balls. At the last minute, I grabbed some Marcia Derse fabric that has been nagging me lately to make some more of these bags.
Last week I cut out two – the Artist size and the smaller Project size. They go together very quickly once cut and are really great for wrapping gifts.
I do like that Marcia Derse squares fabric. I think it is a little hard to use, though, except for, maybe, on the back of a quilt. I think this is a good use for it.
I bought some twill tape awhile ago. I used that for the handles, but am not 100% happy with the look. I may go back and make handles that match.
Now that these are made, I am not sure how I will use them.
Sometime ago I bought the frames for the Retreat pouch. The Retreat pouch is a free pattern from Emmaline Bags. The pattern, as I said, is free, but the frames are not.
Retreat Pouch closed
Over the New Year holiday, I decided I was going to make some bags, the supplies for which had been hanging around. The Retreat pouch was one of the bags I sewed.
I started out with the small size, which is about 8 inches x 4 inches. I didn’t think the small size was tiny. Once cut out, this is not a difficult bag to put together. I was able to finish it in a couple of hours while I catted with a friend.
Retreat Pouch open
I thought the installation of the frame was a little weird because the pattern says to remove stitches you have already sewed in order to install the frame. The pattern didn’t say whether to sew up the hole that I made, so I did.
I just used a frame for the Sheffield Tool Bag. That pattern uses a casing to house the frame. Since I haven’t used a lot of frames in bags, I don’t know what is normal. I prefer the casing.
I plan to use this pouch for my bag making tools. I might need to make the larger version for the tools as I have a lot of them, but I plan to make the larger one anyway.
I found a video that shows how to add handles and make some other changes to the bag while showing how to make the pouch. I have watched it, but I didn’t watch while making this pouch. I may add handles to my next one.
N.B. on Frames: I still don’t have a good handle on frames. I know how to install them in a bag or pouch in a couple of ways, but I don’t know if different frames can be interchanged in different bags. I haven’t made enough bags with frames to understand them very well.
I know I talked about my plans a month or so ago, but hadn’t started it yet. After thinking about this quilt for awhile, I finally started it and it is making me super happy.
I am following the directions in Kaffe’s book, Quilts in the Cotswolds**. However, I am not using many of the fabrics he suggests. I am pulling out the Philip Jacobs fabrics I have stashed for awhile and have not yet used for backs. I am fussy cutting flowers from them and arranging them in a pleasing way. I have also used, so far, one Anna Maria Horner print and one Martha Negley print. I’ll probably had more different prints. The flowers are by no means in their final location. I want to spread them out so the pinks are not all together. For now I am placing them in the order I cut them so I can easily count them.
Stash Fabrics Art Gallery solids
For the sashing, I am using solids I recently purchased from Stash Fabrics. I plan to arrange them in gradation order and use a different solid for each section, gradating out from light to dark.
Every day I have been spending a little time cutting. I may need to sew some pieces and parts together to gain space on my design wall, but that is a decision for another day. In the meantime I am enjoying showcasing the beautiful flowers.
**I use affiliate links and may be paid for your purchase of an item when you click on an item link in my post. There is no additional cost to you for clicking or purchasing items I recommend. I appreciate your clicks and purchases as it helps support this blog.
Someone commented on the Paint Tube fabric when I was at Sew Day. I sent along the post I wrote about past gifts I have given to my mom. It has been awhile, so I decided to update it. I might do another update after her birthday, but here are the various gifts I have made for her with different artist fabrics I have collected.
Sweet Dreams Pillowcase
Mom’s Pencil Roll Open
Mom’s Jane Market Tote in Paintbox fabric
Mom’s Watercolor Box Sew Together Bag
Mom’s Apron Front
Poolside Tote for Mom
Mom’s Paint Tube Flapper Apron
Mom’s Mega Pinnie side 2
Mom’s Persimmon Pouch
Mom’s Scissor Keeper
Inside Outside Pouch finished
Paint Tube Purse Organizer
I was able to find the Sweet Dreams pillowcase. I forgot I made that for her. I also have a few in the pipeline for Mother’s Day and I am sure I will make more for Christmas.
The last Journey 2 Nebula project (except for the bonus project, which I am not doing) is Gazebo. I sort of did the whole project in order to do this one for myself. By the time I finished Candy Dish, I was kind of sick of the whole thing. All of the projects were well received by their recipients, was a relief. I don’t know what my problem was. I enjoyed it until December-ish.
I think life ended up overwhelming me. Big surprise since it was December!
Gazebo Progress
However, I like this design, so I decided just to cut it out and do it. I started after lunch one day. I was able to get the whole thing cut out and pieced by the end of the day. I was also able to make the back and start quilting it.
I worked hard on the fabrics. Since this was for me, I really thought about the look I wanted and am pleased with my choices.
Recently, I bought a Purse Organizer pattern from Svetlana at Sotak Handmade. This pattern came out in 2015, but it was new to me. I made two of them in quick succession around New Year and can see this pouch becoming a go-to pattern for a quick, useful gift.
Purse Organizer
The excellent thing is that I was reminded how easy Zipper slip pockets (top pocket with the green zipper) are to add! Tim and I have talked about these types of pockets recently, but I was reluctant despite the cool zipper ruler I bought. This pattern got me back into the swing of those zipper slip pockets and I feel more confident that I can put them into any bag. I did have trouble keeping the zipper straight as I sewed it, so that is something to work on.
I made good progress right before Christmas on these bags. I wanted to finish them, but life got in the way.
I was pleased when I attached the lining to the exterior and saw how the embellishment lined up. YAY! It looks like I knew what I was doing!
Dresden Plate 2020 STB
The Dresden Plate version came out pretty well also. I like how just part of it shows. I am pleased with the colors, though I wonder if I should have backed the Dresden Plate. I think that dark blue of the exterior is showing through some of the lighter blues. Not a huge deal, but something to consider in the future.
Hexie 2020 STB
I need to adjust my hexagon version a little. Almost the entire motif is on the bottom of the bag and mostly unseeable. 🙁 I am still considering taking the exterior off the lining, ripping out the hexies and re-appliqueing them to the exterior higher up. That is a lot of ripping. I think it is more likely that I will make a new hexie motif and add it to the front where it can be seen. If the exterior fabric weren’t a blender, I would be fine with leaving it as is, but it is a little boring compared to the others.
This is the mask I made for my SIL to go with the Butterfly Cotton Candy Pouch. I actually finished it on December 19. As I have said, I have to wait to show off gifts as some of my recipients read this blog.
I was amazed at how easily it went together. I really didn’t have any problems after getting re-oriented back to the pattern. It gave me heart to get back to some of the masks that are languishing half finished on my cutting table.
I made good progress on the linings before Christmas. I spent one whole Sunday putting the linings together. As I think I have mentioned, I really need more horizontal surfaces to layout my projects.
I am pleased with how it sewed up into a 3D lining in a relatively straightforward manner. I used a denim needle this time and the sewing went a lot better. I don’t want to say it was easy, but I didn’t fight with the layers as much as I did last time.
I think the white looks very clean and fresh.
Green Lining – STB 2020
The green version looks good, too. i used a scrap of a vintage feedsack for the pincushion. I don’t know if the recipient will appreciate that touch, but I like it.
The zippers for the inside are forest green. A little boring, but the recipient likes green so….
I have to say that as much as I complain about the Ultimate Carry All Tote, the way she makes the pockets to minimize the layers would work very well with this bag, too.
I am really not disliking this process as much as I have in the past. It is possible that I should say, I am not struggling as much as I have in the past.
I finished the Butterfly pouch I talked about the other day. It was a relatively quick project and despite some problems I am happy with how it turned out.
I resolved the size issue by cutting off the excess on the side panels. I think this is a little smaller than others I have made, but I still like it. I am particularly happy with the fussy cutting of the main panel.
Butterfly Cotton Candy pouch finished – inside
The inside fabric is a really good choice, if I do say so myself. It is a bright white and reflects the light really well. I think this means that SIL will be able to see her stuff easily.
In Austria the traditional greeting for the New Year is ‘Gute Rutsch’, which means good slide into the new year. I hope your slide out of 2020 and into 2021 was pleasant and happy. Thanks for reading. I look forward to another year of you reading my thoughts and posts about my projects.
Articles, Media, Exhibitions and Shows
I found an article about Sarah Bond’s family history and how quilts have been a part of that history since the early 1800s.
Pantone has released their Color of the Year for 2021. This year they chose 2 colors. The grey is ok, though a little dark for my use. The yellow is too neon-y for me. Pops of it would spark up a quilt.
Cloudless
Kona has done a much better job with their color for 2021. Their blue-sky hue called Horizon is much more my speed. It is similar to the color we painted part of our house last year. That color was called Cloudless from Sherwin-Williams and I am very fond of it.
Fabric, Notions, Supplies, Books & Tools
The Dream Cart site has some nice looking storage solutions. They are not cheap, but if they are well constructed and not flimsy, then the price seems fair. These do not seem to be available on Amazon.
I saw groups of magazine downloads at Quilting Daily. For example, you can get all the2017 issues of Quiltmaker for $35ish. I can’t decide if that is a good price or not. For 2017 issues, it seems high to me, but I understand they may be paying artists, editors, etc. I thought the prices would be lower. Anyway, if you are looking for magazines to flip through on your new tablet, check these out.
Check out the catalog for Sew Expo, Puyallup! Sew Expo, 2021 will be a virtual show. Now is your chance to attend without leaving home! Although there isn’t too much of a quilty nature there are some interesting looking classes. Mister Domestic (Matthew Boudreaux) will be teaching. Sue R posted this on my guild’s member forum.
Friend Julie (all over this post, I know! She is a font of information) told me about Fabric Bubb, an online quilt shop. I was pleased to see they have the Cotton Couture solids by Michael Miller. I do wonder about the names of some shops. I am sure there is a good story there.
The Royal School of Needlework is encouraging people of all stitching abilities to create a piece of hand embroidered art in the form of a postcard about an aspect of your home, garden or region. They want the “RSN Postcard from Home” project to go viral. Find more information on the RSN website. Use the hashtag #RSNPostcardFromHome
Sarah Ann Smith has a free pattern for pattern weights on her website. If you do not sew garments, these can also be used for taming unruly interfacing.
Jennie, from Clover & Violet, has a[nother] zipper pouch video tutorial. One thing she says in this tutorial, which I have never heard is that top stitching next to the zipper helps keep the lining from getting caught in the zipper teeth. That makes a lot of sense to me. She is slowly adding tutorials and other videos to her YouTube Channel. Remember I mentioned the hidden zipper tutorial from Sotak Handmade? I see in the available Clover & Violet videos that they have a two part series on adding a hidden zipper to the back of pillow. You can start with part 1.
Somehow I missed that Joan Hawley is the brains behind Lazy Girl Designs. I went and took a look at her website and found the Freebies area, which has a number of great tutorials and patterns. I like the 1 hour 1 yard free tote bag. There is also a PDF area of hacks where Joan gives information on sewing on a button by machine, choosing zipper colors and making a lanyard for guild (or other meetings).
Yes, Christmas is over, but I keep thinking about bunting. I saw the Apple Green Cottage tutorial and think I might try and make one for Thanksgiving. My sister made me a paper version for birthdays, but never got around to the Thanksgiving version. Perhaps I’ll get my SIL to embroider some of the designs from the napkins as well as letters.
Friend Julie pointed me to a[nother] mask tutorial. I haven’t tried it, but it looks similar to the one I use. I like the pointy bit for the nose, so it will be worth a try. According to an interview with epidemiologists I read , we will be wearing masks for the next 12-18 months at least.
Take a look at the info Julie provided on block printing. We block printed our Christmas cards a million years ago, but haven’t done anything since.
I found another eye mask tutorial. I am not sure I want to bind the whole thing. It seems easier to just flip right sides out after sewing and top stitch. Still, it is another option.
A friend posted examples of this market bag on the Kaffe group on FB. I really like the way it looks.
I saw a photo on Instagram of a pouch. Big deal, right? The photo was in charisecreates top 9 for 2020 post. The pouch was shown on the left in the middle. I love the curve of the top of the pouch. I looked around and the pattern, apparently is in a book called Perfectly Pretty Patchwork by Kristyne Czepuryk. I was able to see some parts of it on amazon, but nothing about this particular pattern. At the moment, I don’t want to buy the book as 1)I have enough patterns and 2) I don’t want to buy a pattern for one pouch. The other projects in the book weren’t interesting to me. Granted I didn’t see them all, but from what I saw I don’t want to invest. Sadly, the library doesn’t have it either.
Karen the DIY Addict posted a YouTube tutorial on the flat back stitch. The flat back stitch is useful for sewing EPP pieces together.
Other Artists
Friend Julie pointed me to an article that references FabMo. I scanned through the article and was pleased to see that the artist featured, who gets her materials through FabMo, makes pieces that are not a jumbled mess. Jumbled messes are perfectly valid forms of art, especially if they create some kind of discussion. I prefer to see FabMo’s materials used in a creative way that conveys a story I can understand or being to parse. I also like to see good technique, which the artist also demonstrates. The piece that highlighted these thoughts for me was Dare! by Zwia Lipkin.
**I use affiliate links and may be paid for your purchase of an item when you click on an item link in my post. There is no additional cost to you for clicking or purchasing items I recommend. I appreciate your clicks and purchases as it helps support this blog.
