April 2023 – Page 2 – Artquiltmaker Blog

Playing with a Cricut

We had a guild meeting yesterday. Before the last guild meeting, SIL #2 and I visited the Makerspace that has recently been installed in the Library. Today, I left for the meeting early to try out the Cricut they have there.

Short story? It worked GREAT! I cut out two bags in 1.75 hours including the learning curve.

I had to prepare in advance by finding fabric and downloading my SVG files to a flash drive. Sidebar: this is one reason I like the patterns from Sew Sweetness. They come with SVG files.

I didn’t have any instructions for preparing the fabric so I went on to the Sew Sweetness site and found a video by Michelle Graham, one of the moderators, on using the Cricut Design Space. It didn’t help me prepare the fabric, but it gave me enough knowledge to work with the software once I got to the library.

I looked at a few different sites trying to find information about fabric preparation and decided I should put SF101** on the back. Later it turned out that for the Cricut Maker** you can just cut out cotton fabric. Cutting the fabric with the SF101 means I don’t have to adhere it later.

Once I got to the Makerspace, I was pretty much ready to go. The photo above shows the small Hackney pouch I cut out. I also cut out a large one. The Cricut only cuts what is on the mat. The mat they have at the library is 12 x 12**, so I couldn’t cut the gussets. Cricut also makes a 12 x 24 mat**, which I think would be useful. Just cutting what I did will save me time.

I had to load the files into the software, which shows where on the mat the pieces will cut. This information helps to position the fabric, especially if your fabric isn’t 12 x 12.

I was really thrilled that the machine cut foam!

All in all, I think this was a good experience. The Makerspace isn’t open very often when I can visit, but I can visit on guild meeting days. I have several bags cut out, so I had better get busy.

The Hackney pieces shown at the top are for the small Hackney. I haven’t made one of those before, so cross your fingers for me!

**Obviously, you should shop at local quilt shops and small businesses. However, if you are too busy or can’t find what you need there, I use Amazon 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.

Another Blue Spiky 16 Patch

I wanted to try the HuRTy, so I grabbed some scraps and started working on another Spiky 16 Patch.

I I have to admit that I mostly ended up using my Split Rects ruler. The HuRTy isn’t bad; I just haven’t gotten the hang of it yet.

I got inspired, partially, because of the blocks with the solid fabrics and the dots. They look really good and I decided I wanted to make something good with them.

Will this be good? I hope so, but if it isn’t great, I know someone will like it.

My current problem is that I am running out of background. I am not running out of ALL backgrounds – just the particular background I chose for this project. I’ll have to select something else to use to finish the quilt. I have time.

A Little Pantone

I sat down and sewed a few more blocks for Julie. I also picked out more fabrics to make more blocks. I just haven’t made them yet.

I am really happy I made some progress, but annoyed I haven’t made MORE progress.

As I have said, it takes time to choose the fabrics. If I can do that, then sewing the blocks isn’t difficult. One thing at a time!

Color Wheel Hackney #2

Color Wheel Hackney - Sue — Color Wheel Hackney – Sue

I tend to make Carrie and Sue the same pouches with slight differences. They are good friends and I think that they were great students.

Color Wheel Hackney - Sue - interior — Color Wheel Hackney – Sue – interior

So, as I made a Hackney for Carrie, so I made a Hackney for Sue. In this case, the exterior fabric is the same, but cut a little different and the interior fabric, zippers and other detail parts are different. I made the interiors different, but still relating to being creative. I am excited about the interior. I also fussy cut it and am pleased with the fussy cutting. It is super fun.

Color Wheel Hackney - end (Sue) — Color Wheel Hackney – end (Sue)

This one also has a handle. As I said before, they are useful.

I wasn’t sure if I liked the way the handle and front panel interacted – the way the fabric motifs overlapped and interfered with each other, but I think fussy cutting the top draws the viewer’s attention to that space and you don’t see the mashup of motifs where the handle is attached.

The front of the front panel (which is a gusset) looks really good, I think. That little piece of color wheel is appealing.

As I said with Carrie’s Hackney, Sue’s also goes with her Boxy Clear Pouch. You know I love to make sets of bags.

How Can I Sew?

All I can say is what a mess! I have just been dumping projects on my cutting and sewing tables, then leaving them. I have been busy and haven’t had a chance to sew, so the piles just grow.

Part of the problem is that I don’t have enough space store in process projects. That pile of interfacing right next to my sewing machine are some half cut bags that Angela gave me. I know I don’t need to make them, but I really like the design. I should just get them done and out of the way. I haven’t yet.

Any clear surface becomes a dumping ground lately. I try and keep everything clear, but it hasn’t worked for the past little while. I’ll have to tidy up sometime.

Amethyst Bag in Process

A long time ago, I promised Alison a bag to give away as a prize at the retreat. I thought I would finish the Brocade Peony Ultimate Carry All Bag and give that to her, but I ended up not doing that.

Amethyst Case - process - top — Amethyst Case – process – top

Finally, I decided to make an Amethyst Project Bag. This is a bag you can put pieces of a project into and keep them all together. It isn’t huge, so you can’t put yards and yards of fabric in there, but templates, most rulers and cut pieces would fit very well.

It is not a Minikins project, but it is a Sew Sweetness pattern.

This is one of the projects I talked about cutting out at Sew Day. It is pretty amazing, to me, at least, that a project can move from a pile of cut pieces to something that is starting to look like a bag in a few hours.

Amethyst Case - in process - bottom — Amethyst Case – in process – bottom

I haven’t finished. In fact, I have only made a start. I hope that I will have enough time to finish it before the retreat. Yes, I waited until the last minute, but I have had deadline after deadline I have been trying to meet. I know they are self imposed deadlines, but they are still deadlines for bags I wanted to give as gifts.

The bag is not exactly square. It is 14.5 x 13.5 x 3.5 (depth). I could only orient those giant peonies in two ways. I chose the other main panel for the top because one of the peonies was close to the center.

Amethyst Case - in process - inside pocket — Amethyst Case – in process – inside pocket

I wanted to make a bag that would be appealing to the guild members. I hope this Tula Pink fabric appeals to many of them. I had planned to put some piping around the edge, but decided I needed to make one first before I started really messing around with the design.

Speaking of messing around with the design, I did make this inside front pocket instead of the short mesh pocket and the two pouches called for in the pattern. I like to see what is in my pockets. I am not sure this came out 100% perfectly, but I think it will work. I used the directions for the pages from the A Place for Everything v.2 bag as guidelines for this pocket.

I normally like to make the bag at least once first, but I don’t have the time.

Color Wheel Hackney

I finished my most recent class with my fabulous students, Sue and Carrie. I had planned to make them each a Hackney for Christmas with this great Carrie Bloomston fabric, but moved the gifts up to be ready for our end of class lunch last Sunday.

One of the reasons I chose this fabric is that it matches another pouch, the Boxy Clear Pouch, I made for them. the fabric is fun and cheerful despite the dark background. Because I can’t stop teaching, I also wanted a reminder to them to use their color wheel. 😉 Finally, this is great fabric. Doesn’t it look like an explosion of color?

Color Wheel Hackney - end (Carrie) — Color Wheel Hackney – end (Carrie)

This Hackney is like all the others. I have added a handle to this one and think that is a standard addition I will make to all the others I make. Having a handle is useful. I am not sure why Sara didn’t include one in the original directions. Perhaps the pattern is intended to go into a suitcase or something? Regardless, I think a handle is useful.

Color Wheel Hackney - interior (Carrie) — Color Wheel Hackney – interior (Carrie)

I am particularly pleased with the fussy cutting I did on the inside bottom. Don’t those pencils look great? I measured very carefully to get the whole pencil on the bottom and am thrilled with how successful I was.

I am still not 100% happy with the mesh pocket. I think it is useful, that is not in dispute, but the construction doesn’t appeal. The zipper tabs end up being too thick. I made a vinyl pocket on the Sugar Skull Hackney. I think it came out ok, but I wasn’t concerned about the final topstitching. My next test will be making pencil loops on the top. I’ll see how those come out.

Color Wheel Hackney - filled interior (Carrie) — Color Wheel Hackney – filled interior (Carrie)

I have put a few things in the bag including some Adagio tea.

Easter Pillowcases

As mentioned, I sewed all the remaining pillowcases at once when I made the Valentine’s Day pillowcases. I didn’t want to miss sending them out after the Valentine’s Day pillowcase debacle.

I bought this fabric at the Granary on my birthday. It isn’t exactly Easter-ish, but I thought it would be better for college boys. I didn’t want the pillowcases to be too girly.

I have to say that I am getting a little short of fabrics for cuffs. I have a few more nieces and nephews going to college in the next few years, so I guess I have time to stock up.

The boys seem to appreciate getting something in the mail. I am not sure how they feel about pillowcases exactly.

A Little Sew Day

It took two of us to be Mary at Sew Day. She was out of town and we had to fill in. Good thing I have done it a few times otherwise I would have been lost.

Of course, I spent the time cutting out the pieces for bags. I am making the Amethyst Project Bag by Sew Sweetness and the Kit Supply Tote by Aneela Hoey. I cut out all of the pieces for both so I can start sewing.

Sara from the Social Justice Sewing Academy was there with more blocks to make into a quilt. Members of the guild had done the embellishment on a lot of the blocks. It was really a group effort.

The first part was deciding how the blocks would go together. They usually go together in a 4 x 6 grid with sashing, which is what happened this time. Still the blocks have to be placed in the right location. In this case, there were some strong designs that had to be dispersed.

SJSA Quilt - April 2023 — SJSA Quilt – April 2023

As usual, I didn’t participate. I kept an ear open and chatted with Sara and the others who were working on the project. I brought the Pink Strip Donation quilt, so I felt like I had been doing good. I also brought several donation blocks. I am doing my part.

I found out that the quilts are given to schools and libraries where they are displayed. I think they are given to the places where the artists come from. What I mean is that if an event was held at a school, then the quilt goes back to that school for display. A good idea, I think.

The fabric used for sashing had an interesting texture, but it was difficult to use and shredded easily. Still, the sashing strips they made look really nice.

You know I am not a fan of beige and brown, but these strips are very appealing.

They didn’t have time to finish putting the quilt together, though several people worked really hard for most of the day. I am not sure what happens if the quilt isn’t finished. Maybe some others will finish it?

Julie has a great post with more information about the SJSA quilt.

Melinda's embellishments on the SJSA block — Melinda’s embellishments on the SJSA block

I also saw Melinda’s finished block – or the block that Melinda embellished. It looks really great! It also got a great position in the quilt.

She added some gold metallic thread around the hands. She also added the stars and the words. It looks really good! The design is also very appealing.

Joelle brought the thin strips quilt as well. She did a FANTASTIC job! The quilt is wonderful. I looked for mine and thought she hadn’t included them, but I saw them scattered across the bottom of the quilt. See the one in the bottom right hand corner?

Sara saw this quilt and wants to incorporate the idea into the sashing of the next SJSA quilt. Interesting idea! I am so thrilled when synergies like this happen.

Contemplating Finishing

I was updating some of the Gallery pages over the weekend and noticing that I finish about 5 quilts (including table runners) per year. Of course, there are years where I finish more. 2018 was a good year. I finished 9 quilts, including the Triple Star, which I really like. It lives with the YM now. 2014 was another good year. I finished 10 quilts, some of them quite large. In 2013, I finished 10 projects. The YM was older, so I had more free time. One of them was the Petrillo bag, which was probably one of my first bags. Mostly, I don’t include donation tops in my final finished quilt totals, but in 2012 I did. I included six donation tops I had made in the total of 18 projects (including 2 books) I finished.

It’s also fun to look at that quilts and remember what was going on. There is a chocolate brown quilt in the 2010 list that I really like even though I don’t like brown. I remember working on it on a retreat in Half Moon Bay.

My quiltmaking has changed a lot over the years. I enjoy looking at my quilts and remembering why I made them, the fabric and where I was. Of course, most of them were mostly made at home.

Between 2005-2009, I only finished 10 quilts. I know I was busy with the YM and work, etc, but that still seems like very few. Perhaps those were the years where I was starting a lot of projects.

Despite have a tiny baby and toddler, I finished 20 quilts and projects, many of them small, during 1996-1999. I was kind of amazed at the number. That seems like a lot for those three years.

So, maybe I don’t finish 5 quilts per year, perhaps it is random.

Finished Pointillist Palette #4

I also finished Pointillist Palette #4. Another finish feels like an embarrassment of riches.

I finished 5 quilts last year, but they felt really hard won. So far this year, I have finished, really finished, 3 quilts and a table runner.

This quilt is 56×56 inches. I forgot to add the size to the back, which will annoy me into the future, I am sure.

You can read more about the series on the Pointillist Palette series page.

New Hackney in Process

As soon as I finished the two Color Wheel Hackneys, I started another. I have decided to make a number of these as gifts. I have to say that this one went a lot quicker than the others. It is a clear indication that practice does make perfect.

I am pretty pleased with how the coneflowers look. I picked the zipper color to go with the yellow coneflower, but also because I wasn’t sure when I would use a yellow handbag zipper otherwise. I think it looks good so far.

I talked about the Hackney lining hack a bit ago. It is for this one. The lining is a little saggy so far, which I have to figure out. Otherwise, I think the piece is looking good.

Selection of I Spys

After writing the last I Spy post, I decided to take a look at the I Spy pouches I had made. I didn’t pull all of them as some are in project boxes with the supplies for projects I want to make.

I was surprised to find that most of them were made with the same coneflower colorway. I have other colorways. I thought I had used multiple colorways to make these, but I have stuck mostly to the one. Interesting.

Various & Sundry 2023 #4

Like many other Californians, we have been experiencing a lot of rain. We have, fortunately, had no leaks or flooding or any other problems. We have been stuck inside, which is great for sewing, but not so great for exercise. I hope this is the worst thing I have to deal with.

Projects, Classes, Patterns & Tutorials

Take a look at this cute pie themed pincushion from the Sewing with Scraps site. I remember my godmother baking mini cakes or brownies in our play baking supplies. For some reason, this project reminds me of that.

There is a free pattern for little triangle pouch. It good for a a little bit of hardware or earbuds or some cash. The pattern comes with a video as well. The site has a lot of free patterns on the free pattern page.

Rosie and David have a project bag that could be used for a tools to-go bag. It has a free video tutorial.

I like a little coin purse on the McCain Tailor site.

Apple Green Cottage has 30 free bag patterns. Most of them are tote bags, but there is also a Messenger Bag, a tablet bag, a jewelry pouch and a couple of drawstring bags. A few of the free patterns are from Sew Sweetness.

Tools, Books, Fabric, Notions & Supplies

Friend Julie talked about a hand sewing aid called a Lap App. She described the features and functionality very well.

Andover Fabrics has Century Solids.

If you need organizer sheets to keep your projects in order the Sewing with Scraps site has a bundle called the Sewing Planner & Organizer Bundle Pack for $14.95.

You might remember that I received a HuRTy ruler for Christmas. I tried to use it the other night with only the printed directions. That doesn’t usually work for me, so I went looking for a video. Of course, I found several. The one I watched was called 3. The HuRTy™ 1 – Cutting HRT Pieces. There are 3-4 videos about the HuRTy ruler, but I just needed to know how to cut. Remember to check my HRT tutorials and resources posts about HRTs in general.

Media

Mrs. K shared the Francesquilts site with me. Frances showed a number of photos and thoughts about QuiltCon recently.

One of the interns with whom I work told me about her visit to the Basel Kunstmuseum. I looked it up and found that they have a great website where you can see a lot of their art. Good inspiration.