January 2023 – Page 2 – Artquiltmaker Blog

Gift Post #9: Black Moto Pouch

In addition to the Pink Moto pouch I made, I also made a black one.

I have said I like to make more than one of the same pattern so I can get the process in my head or smooth out the challenges I had with a pattern. These two pouches were no exception.

As mentioned, I struggled a bit with the drop-in lining on the pink version. I don’t sew patterns with drop-in linings very often, but I would be smart to make more to cement the techniques for making them look good in my mind.

I used the same lining as the Skeleton Hackney, because it was handy, I think, and looks good with the black.

It is somewhat cheerful. The background fabric used for Who Am I? is the same print, but in a different colorway.

I am pretty happy with the way the lining came out. It isn’t too saggy-baggy. Since the lining is sewn separately and then inserted, it is pretty easy to sew it with a smaller seam allowance.

As you can see I added in a Wunderlabel at the last minute. That’s why it ended up in such a weird place. I am trying to be better about sewing them on intentionally.

I can’t remember what size Moto Pouches I made. I think these might be medium. They were fiddly enough without going to the small. I really admire the testers for Sara’s patterns. They have to make all the sizes whether they want to or not.

I think this a useful size. Not sure what I would use it for, but I would probably make it again as a gift. It might be good for the nephews.

Gifts for Gerre Update

I guess I am revisiting all the gifts for my friends regularly now. it is really fun to see them all together. I also enjoy seeing how my fabric choices for each person have evolved.

Gerre's EPP Travel Pouch — Gerre’s EPP Travel Pouch

Gerre's Journal Cover — Gerre’s Journal Cover

Gerre's Pillowcases - February 2019 — Gerre’s Pillowcases – February 2019

Gerre's Classmates Tote — Gerre’s Classmates Tote

Gerre's Mega Pinnie Gift — Gerre’s Mega Pinnie Gift

Gerre's Purse Organizer (#2) - inside — Gerre’s Purse Organizer (#2) – inside

Sheffield Tool Tote - front — Sheffield Tool Tote – front

Gerre's Project Bag — Gerre’s Project Bag

More Who Am I? Progress

Who Am I? Progress - Dec 2022 — Who Am I? Progress – Dec 2022

I really made a lot of progress on Who Am I? Despite taking a day off of my winter break to do other things, the quilt is looking good.

I added ‘Paul’s Wife’ using bias tape and it took me just as long do straight stitch down those letters as it did to satin stitch the two other lines. I didn’t enjoy it and don’t think the bias tape worked as I had hoped. I think it looks fine, but I probably won’t use more of it for the other lines.

Gift Post #8: Bowl Cozy

One of DH’s cousins no longer eats sugar and made a kind of deal about it with me last year. I have a lot of feelings about this, but put them aside and made a bowl cozy for them.

I like the way this one came out. I didn’t think too hard when I chose the stripes, but they came together in the darts really well. DH asked for red and blue and this was a blue that I thought would look good but not too patriotic.

This might be the first bowl cozy where I didn’t have to rip out any seams!

Who Am I? Progress!!!!

I made some good progress during my winter break from work. Can you believe it? It wasn’t even that terrible. I worked pretty quickly, which meant I got almost all of the satin stitching I needed to finish done in one afternoon. It was amazing. Again, I was kind of shocked at why I was balking at ….sooooo muuuuccchhh saaaatttiiinnnn stiiiitccchhhiiiing…… It wasn’t super fun, because there were a lot of loops and swirls to stitch around and I am out of practice. I had to go over some spots a second time to smooth them out but, all in all, it went relatively quickly. Now it is over.

I am using a variety of techniques in addition to the satin stitching.

Who Am I? Progress - detail — Who Am I? Progress – detail

The black letters are attached using a straight line, raw edge applique after I fused them to the background. This quilt will not be washed, so that type of treatment is fine.

The two parts that have been stitched down for a long time, ‘Mary’s daughter’ and ‘William’s Mom’, are sort of couched. I pinned ribbon into place, then stitched it down. I made some 1/4 inch some bias tape that I will use for one of the other lines.

Hooray for progress!

Gift Post #7: Green Hackney

I finished the second Hackney in record time. Now, as I mentioned, have plans to make a few more. The second one always goes a lot faster than the first and I am enamored with the shape.

Cutting wasn’t even terrible for this pouch. Something must be getting into me, though it’s probably the templates. I have a set of acrylic templates for this pouch and cutting with templates is a million times easier than when I have to use a paper pattern. It might be even easier if I used a rotating mat.

The one problem with this pattern, as written, is the lack of a handle. I am not sure of the original intention of the bag, but having a handle I think is important. I asked a few questions of the designer and her team about when to add the handle. I got enough information and ended up adding after step 13. I think it worked out pretty well.

I love the pouch even more set upright like the picture (right). I think it looks so cool. It makes me want one, though I have no idea how I would use it. Some people sew elastic bands on the bottom in such a way that pens and such can be anchored to the bottom. It’s an idea I will have to consider. I have also seen this made as mini first aid kit. Lots of good ideas.

The same fabric that I used for the handle was also used for the lining. I am really pleased with how the stripes came out. Also, I think the inside zipper matches, without matching, very well.

The inside pocket is mesh and I think the center zipper looks a little weird, so I think I will try moving the zipper up a little, though I know that might interfere with the operation of the zipper. I might be able to move it up to where the curve starts with no ill effects. The other idea I have is to put a vinyl pocket on top and no zipper. Stay tuned for further iterations.

Sew Sweetness has a hashtag for the Hackney on her FB group (you have to be a member) and I scrolled through a lot of versions of them to get ideas. It was great.

Finished: Take a Stand Bag for Julie (Gift Post #4)

This poor bag’s post has been juggled around for at least two months now.

Julie's Take a Stand Bag — Julie’s Take a Stand Bag

I finished this bag back in May after I finished my Mom’s Take a Stand and before I finished mine. This was originally scheduled to be a gift for Friend Julie’s birthday. That meant I couldn’t show it to you until at least December 2. This state of affairs was terrible enough for me, but then I decided to give her this gift for Christmas and give her the Ultimate Carry All Bag for her birthday. That meant I had to wait. Then our New Year’s plans to go out with Friend Julie and our DHs were postponed, because of terrible weather. It is hard for me to wait to show you what I am making. It is so fun to read what you think. Also, I get to think about what I made when I am writing about it. Anyway, we made it through.

Finally, I gave her this bag over the weekend. I had filled it with a lot of little gifts.

Usually, I choose purple fabrics. Julie and I were out together and she mentioned this fabric, which gave me the idea to make her a bag from it. It won’t exactly go with her other bags because I usually choose a darker purple. I hope she likes it anyway.

Julie's Take a Stand interior — Julie’s Take a Stand interior

I am REALLY pleased with the inside. The fussy cutting came out really well. Also, the construction of the ByAnnie bags means the linings are really taut, which I like.

A happy accident is the lines at the end of the pencil points. The bottom matches up with the sides! The pencil fabric is from Crimson Take and I am really glad it is highlighted.

Julie's Take a Stand front pocket - interior — Julie’s Take a Stand front pocket – interior

I used an old Moda Marbles light purple for the main part of the bag. This is fabric that will mostly be covered. I found that to be true with the APfE v.2 as well, that is that most of the outside is covered by pockets so choosing a tone-on-tone rather than a special fabric makes more sense. This Moda Marbles light purple fabric ties the bag to her other bags.

I used the Tula Pink Scissor ribbon from the Homemade line for the interior of the front and back pockets to cover the zipper join.

Again, I used the Tula Pink webbing for the strap (see above). Mom’s was kind of my test bag so the strap for this one went a lot quicker. I am pleased with how well the webbing color fits with the colors of the bag.

I am still calling this the Without a Trace bag periodically. And I still don’t know why!

Roadtrip / I-Spy

I went on another organizing rampage this morning. I decided to gather all the fabrics and supplies for several bag projects I have planned. This task has been on my list for awhile, so I decided today was the day. In the course of this effort, I tidied up some project bins that were stuffed full of fabric, patterns, etc.

In one of the project bins I found two of the smaller, completed Crafty Gemini Organizer Club projects. I know I left them there so I could put them together with the last two projects. The last two projects, the Retreat in a Bag and the Ultimate Project Bag have not yet been made, but are on the list. Thus, they were two of the projects for which I gathered supplies and materials.

One of the projects I found, which will be clipped into the Ultimate Project Bag was the Roadtrip bag (right, photo above). Seeing this project again made me think of the templates for which I made a number of pouches.

The Roadtrip bag (pouch) was not used for the templates, but it could be. It looks very similar to the I-Spy pouch by Sew Sweetness (left, photo above), which I did use for the templates. Not counting the size differences, the main difference is the side strip on the Sew Sweetness bag. I made several of the I-Spy pouches for acrylic templates.

The reason I am talking about these is that I thought I would make a larger one, adjusting the size, to suit two sets of templates which don’t fit in the sizes given in the pattern.

The Sew Sweetness I-Spy pouch comes in 3 sizes. The largest size is 10.5 in x 8.5 in high, which is great except that it will not fit the larger templates that need a home. I want to make a pouch for the Chickadee Backpack templates I bought last year when the pattern came out. The templates need a pouch that is about 8 in by 19 in.

Yoko Saito's Natural Patchwork bag — Yoko Saito’s Natural Patchwork bag

I know I talked about the bag from Natural Patchwork**, which I still want to make, but I don’t think today is that day. I do like the idea of handles (makes me think of the Grab & Go pattern, also from the Minikins patterns) and I may use foam instead of batting since the templates are quite large and I don’t want them to break.

What did I gain by today’s organizing effort? 1. I have everything ready when I decide to cut new projects out; 2. I have zippers on order, which weren’t already in my bin of zippers; 3. I have more of an idea for securing some templates; 4. Bins with less junk in them.

**Obviously, you should shop at local quilt shops. However, if you are too busy or can’t find what you need at quilt shops, I use affiliate links and may be paid for your purchase of an item when you click on an item’s 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.

Gift Post #6: Skeleton Hackney

As briefly mentioned when I posted about the Minikins Season Three patterns from Sew Sweetness, I made a Hackney pouch as gift for the YM’s girlfriend/partner. She works as part of a forensics team and loves skeletons. This Timeless Treasures fabric is perfect for gifts for her and I still have quite a bit.

I made her a Sidewinder pouch a couple of years ago, but that had no skeleton fabric. I used a bit of skeleton fabric for the pincushion in the Leaf Sew Together Bag I made for her last year.

This turned out to be all skeletons all the time, though not the lining. I can’t get away from light colored linings.

I think the center looks super cheerful and people using it can see their stuff.

This was my first try at the Hackney pattern, but I like it as a bag. These are quite large (I made the large size), so not really a pouch, but a small bag. I really want to know if it fits a Switch**. I’d like to see a photo of the large Hackney with a Switch inside it.

I plan to make a few more for more gifts, but also one for myself. I need to think of what to put inside before I make one and have it hanging around.

Even More Advent

Here are the last of the Advent tags.

I used one in the green Hackney I made. Friend Julie suggested that there were instructions on sewing them into projects. I’ll have to look for those. I just stuck this one in the seam allowance of the lining and sewed.

Julie got a different version and suggested some trades. I’ll have to remember to bring my selection to Sew Day.

Gift Post #5: Pink Moto Pouch

I finished the Moto Pouch not long after my last post. I like this pattern despite the drop-in lining. I think I have figured out a way to deal with the lining that looks good and isn’t terrible to sew.

Whether I need that knowledge, we’ll have to see. I don’t know that I’ll make another one. I do know that there are other patterns with drop-in linings. I can use what I learned there. I should make another pattern with a drop-in lining in order to cement the techniques in my mind.

I put the zipper on the side without the handle, but I think that was a bad choice. The handle acts as an anchor for pulling the zipper. The directions are clear and I put in on the handles side on the other one I made, but didn’t understand the reason until I made this one. Live and learn.

Last La Pass

My last BOM packet for La Passacaglia came a few days ago. <insert crying emoji here>

It was a fat packet with a lot of fabric for the last rosette. I probably won’t use most of it since I am changing the predominant color from green to blue.

I’ll use fabrics that I used in the Month 16 rosette. I found more of the fabrics wrapped in each other when I went to wash everything, so not all of the fabrics are shown. Since I won’t be using most of them, you can ignore the selection. LOL!

Words of the Year

Purpose
Miracle
Breakthrough
Self care

These are mine. I don’t usually do this kind of thing, but I saw this image on FB and decided just to write down the first words I saw.

Mine are listed above. I don’t know if I feel any affinity for them, but I do feel a little spooked. They are oddly what I need to consider.

Various & Sundry 2023 #1

Admin

The Minikins page has been updated again.

I received a whole shedload of “your posts go against our community guidelines” messages from Blogger about my old Blogger blog. Since I moved my blog here in 2009, I decided not to spend time telling them their algorithm had screwed up (or someone decided to cause me trouble) and just delete the blog. It doesn’t need to be there anymore. If you want to see any posts pre-2009, they are all here. You can either search or check the sidebar. It’s really annoying to have to deal with something like that, but easily remedied. Hope you had a great New Year!

Projects, Classes, Patterns & Tutorials

For those of you playing along with Chilhowie, the 2022 Bonnie Hunter Mystery Quilt, be sure reprint the Part 3 PDF. Bonnie made some corrections and posted them right away. Just make sure you have the correct pattern. Find all the different parts on the Chilhowie page, but be sure to download what you need before Bonnie removes it.

Bonnie Hunter has also posted a block webbing tutorial. Block webbing is a method of sewing blocks together so they stay in order. She uses a 16 patch block (like the donation blocks I make) as an example. Very clear and very useful.

Jaybird Quilts has a Temperature quilt project that looks different from others. It’s more like a braided quilt.

Persimmon Dreams, in association with another quiltmaker has Project Quilting challenges. I think each week brings a new challenge.

Media

The Tula Pink video from early December is fabulous! She made a bunch of stuffed animals from her Everglow collection. They are adorable.

These paintings look like awesome quilts. I don’t want to get into a big discussion about art vs. craft, but how much would this painting cost vs the cost of a quilt with the exact same design?

Friend Julie has another great Cornucopia post from December. Some of the links in this post originally came from Julie’s post. It is so interesting how we see different things on the web.

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