Author: JayeL

Quiltmaker who enjoys writing and frozen chocolate covered bananas.

Coneflower Hackney #2 in Process

Coneflower #2 Hackney almost finished
Coneflower #2 Hackney almost finished

The Coneflower #2 Hackney is going very well. I think this one is coming out the best of all of them. I think the DecorBond** I added really helped a lot.

I only just added the DecorBond after making so many Hackneys, because I was confused by the directions. I read them as Decovil 526** OR DecorBond. I tend not to watch the entire videos that come with the Sew Sweetness patterns, but I probably should! They are super helpful and would probably answer the Decovil 526** OR DecorBond question.

Then I thought maybe the DecorBond would be a good addition, so I tried it. Fortunately, I had a small amount in my bag of interfacing. It was a great addition that made the top really flat and not wobbly. It wasnt’ bad to sew through either. It didn’t add a lot of bulk to the seam allowances.

As you can see from the photo, I have a bit of finishing to do before I can send this bag off to its new owner.

 

 

 

 

 

 

**N. B. : 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.

EPP Pentagon Ball #3

EPP Pentagon Ball #3
EPP Pentagon Ball #3

In 2020 I made one of these balls and decided that I would make two more for a new-ish grandniece and a new-ish grand-nephew.

#2 is in my Enigma Bag and I take it with me when we drive places. That one is almost done and I’ll try to get a good photo to share with you.

This one uses fabrics that I didn’t use for the Half Hexie Star. I cut a lot of strips for the half hexie pieces and then didn’t use them all. They were available and I couldn’t think of a reason not to use them.

The Half Hexie Star top is done, as mentioned, but I need to figure out how to work with the edges. They still have the papers in, but Colleen can’t quilt it with the papers in, so I need to figure out what to do. I also need to make the back and the binding. Maybe I’ll do that today?

I’ll have to get some more fiberfill** at some point.

 

 

 

 

**N. B. : 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.

Gift Post #10 2023: Project Bag

Gerre's Project Bag
Gerre’s Project Bag

I realized, after posting yesterday’s ‘in the wild‘ post, that I had never posted about the project bag I made for Gerre.

I made this one at the same time I made one for myself, Mom and Julie.

Despite my concerns about the size, both Gerre and Julie said they really love these project bags. Using mine for the Metro Twist has been really useful. I said I would try making the larger size and let them know how it turned out.

Sugar Skulls in the Wild

I have mentioned Gerre using the bags I make her in one or two posts. I always find it nice when people are actually able to use the bags I make. Sew Day was an ‘in the wild’ bonanza!

Sugar Skull bags in the wild
Sugar Skull bags in the wild

Julie and Gerre , as you have read,were both there and are both regular recipients of some of the bags I make. Gerre had three bags there screaming with Sugar Skulls.

They look really nice all together and the stripes and dots are good compliments tot he Sugar Skulls

Gerre and Julie both said they love the ByAnnie project bag, which you know I was a little annoyed with,but only because of the size. The large didn’t seem very large to me.

I actually found my project bag** useful for the Metro Twist pieces and patterns. There is something good about it. Both Gerre and Julie said that they could use many others. They thought a row of them hanging up in their workrooms would look really nice. Maybe I will make them each another for a gift. We’ll see. I do want to try making the larger size (extra large) as well.

 

 

 

**N. B. : 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.

Community Quilts Sew Day

BAM Log Cabin Community Quilt in process
BAM Log Cabin Community Quilt in process

Peggy was very kind about the Ends Quilts I handed in last Saturday instead of working on the log cabin project she planned for Community Sew Day.

She, Julie and LeeAnn worked on it at Sew Day. I know Anna made a few blocks in advance that were incorporated into the quilt. I don’t think it was a very popular project. Maria, who made the suggestion, was in Portugal!

August 2023 BAM Sew Day Log Cabin
August 2023 BAM Sew Day Log Cabin

Anyway, regardless of the popularity of the project, one complete top was finished plus the three I handed in makes 4 total quilts for the day. Not great, but not terrible either.

The log cabin quilt is pretty colorful and scrappy.

Enlarged I Spy

I am finally attempting to enlarge an I Spy pouch. I decided that last week, one evening after work, was the day to do it.

Blazing Star I Spy in process
Blazing Star I Spy in process

Sara’s directions work well regardless of the size. Sizes are always the challenge. I used the widths, but extended the lengths to accommodate the Blazing Star bag acrylic templates.

True Colors Wildflower
True Colors Wildflower

I learned a lot. One thing is to cut the back and lining back after you have put the front together. Normally, having everything cut and fused is a good thing, but in this case, I made so many cutting mistakes that I ran out of lining fabric.

On my next enlarged I Spy, I will put the sides and the vinyl together, then cut the top and bottom, install the zipper, then cut the back and lining back. I don’t know enough about enlarging bags to do anything different.

Serendipity Fabric Pull

Tula Plus fabric pull
Tula Plus fabric pull

I had a stack of fabric from a recent purchase sitting on my sewing table. As I sewed, I would look over at it and at one point, I realized that I had a nice group of fabric for a quilt or bag.

I am not sure what to make and am pretty sure I would need to add some additional fabrics, but maybe not. It looks pretty good as is.

Another Coneflower Hackney

Coneflower Hackney
Coneflower Hackney

I started another Hackney last weekend (??) Not sure. I didn’t take a photo, so this one is the only one I have of the piece in process.

As you can see, I am back to the mesh pocket. In the photo, the zipper looks a little wonky. Let’s hope it is the photo.  Taking Sue G’s comment about the usefulness of the pocket into account, I decided to add one again. It went in fine, except that I cut it a bit short, so added some fabric to the side. I am glad I know enough to make adjustments as needed.

I can’t tell you who will receive this Hackney as a gift, because the person is a reader of this blog. Check your mailboxes soon. 😉

Accordion Pouches

Accordion Pouch
Accordion Pouch

Carrie, one of my students, has been sewing up a storm of bags. She is on the Door Prize team and has just blossomed into an amazing and very creative bag maker. She has also been finding random patterns that interest her for free on the web.

Accordion pouch closed
Accordion pouch closed

She made a few of these Accordion pouches and they came out really well. She said they were easy to make, but hard to make perfectly.

I think it looks like a very cute pouch. I can see using something like this in my handbag. I seem to have a lot of random items rolling around in it, which could be corralled in this little pouch.

 

Accordion pouch open
Accordion pouch open

It could certainly be used for sewing as well. I can see putting smaller items in it for travel to retreats or Sew Day, then putting it into the Kit Supply Tote. I might have to make one of these just to try it out, not that I don’t have 500 other projects on which to work.

Ends n.17 (Plaid) Finished

Ends n.17 (Plaid) Finished
Ends n.17 (Plaid) Finished

Ends n.17 (Plaid) is finished! Hooray!

I have used up that taupe fabric I used to separate the print strips. Hooray! That’s out of my life. 

I have also made backs for all three Ends tops. I couldn’t not do it. I have another day, so I might make another one of these quilts to hand in on Saturday.

Half Hexie Star Top Finished

Half Hexie Star Top complete
Half Hexie Star Top complete

I finished this top last night! I am pretty excited even though I still have a long way to go to finish it.

I rushed to get a photo as I went to bed, so it isn’t the best photo. You can see some of the details in the post I published before.

I have been working on this quilt since August of 2012! I thought I had started it in 2016. Time really flies.

I can’t tell you how pleased I am to have made it this far! Assuming I can get the piece prepped to be quilted and make a date with Colleen, I will enter this in the President’s Challenge for the guild.

Various & Sundry 2023 #8

Admin
I updated the Minikins page.

I also updated the Ends Donation Quilts page with the new quilts.

Tools, Books, Fabric, Notions & Supplies

I am fighting a dearth of tools, books, fabric, notions and supplies this week. I just haven’t had the time to go shopping and, aside from the Sew Tite Magnums**, which you do really need if you are serious about EPP, I haven’t found any new tools, etc this time. I thought I would tell you about Notion. Notion is a personal knowledge management / productivity tool that I have been using at work – or mostly for work. Since it is not approved for use at my office, I have a personal account and haven’t downloaded the app to my work computer. I just use it on the web. Since it is a personal account I have decided to start using it at home. I mostly use OneNote for my random thoughts and notes, but I may switch to Notion. It is taking a lot of time to ramp up, because of the possibilities. I have been watching YouTube videos and that has helped.

If you don’t have anywhere to save your random bits of information (have you heard of Zettlekasten??), then Notion might be right for you.

Projects, Classes, Patterns & Tutorials

String & Story has come a long way since I met the founder at QuiltCon some years ago. She used to be active in the Twitterverse and with the podcast crowd when that was a high point. I was following some links on one of Friend Julie’s posts and landed on a new project on the String & Story site, Garment Sewing Academy. The classes are ongoing and you can signup for the next cohort using the waitlist. Julie will take us through her journey, I think and has her first couple of posts up, including selecting fabrics and the terribleness of PDF patterns.

Julie posted some excellent links in her June Cornucopia. I forgot to include a link in my previous V&A post. One such link was a tutorial / informational post on sew-in magnetic closures from Clover & Violet. I have tons of these and never seem to use them, though, in fairness, the patterns I use mostly require zippers. Still, this will be useful post to which to refer. One particularly good piece of advice is “Mark your magnet with washi or masking tape. If you’ve placed your magnet and intend to quilt the project afterward, stick a piece of tape over where the magnet is, then you won’t accidentally sew on it.” You could use blue tape also.

While I was looking at the sew-in magnetic closure article, I saw Clover & Violet’s Ultimate Zipper Guide. Another useful tool. She includes my favorite zipper shops, Zip-it and Wawak. I buy a lot of handbag zippers, she calls them 4.5,  just to have on hand when I need them. I also shorten zippers if I don’t have the right color in the right size. I don’t buy 8 or 9 inch zippers anymore. I have a lot on hand and rarely use them. I suppose I should use them for some inside zipper pockets.

I saw a FB video showing the Sewing Space Station. This is essentially a sewing machine mat, but it looks eminently useful because of the storage features as well as the ability to roll it up. It is created by Arabesque Scissors. Check out the features in their blog post. You get a lot of information if you purchase the pattern. They have a series of YouTube videos showing how to make the Space Station. They have a number of interesting patterns.

Vanessa of Crafty Gemini has a YouTube video talking about increasing and decreasing the size of a bag. It starts at about 4:30-13:15. Very helpful information. Completely logical, too.

Riley Blake has a whole page of free patterns. One was called the Taco Pouch, which I thought looked like the Persimmon Dumpling pouch from Sew Sweetness.

Lindsay shared the Ice Cream Soda EPP quilt with me. It is from a site called Tales of the Cloth, which has a fair number of EPP projects. Tales of the Cloth has some free patterns including a needle book, which would make a great gift.

Country Cow Designs has some interesting bag patterns. One of Adam’s designs is featured in the Emmaline Bag of the Month club.

Media, Books and Articles

Frances from the Off Kilter Quilt has a relatively new writing project about life with quiltmaking during WW2. The blog is in diary format, one I love. Under the content tab, she has all of her other writing and media projects.

Remember the Great British Baking Show? There is also the Great British Sewing Bee. This is a commentary on a TV show for which I couldn’t find a link. Still, the video from the The Fold Line is entertaining and there are a lot of good garment patterns in video’s description.

Events, Exhibits and Shows

Souls Grown Deep, the Gee’s Bend Quiltmakers, will hold their ‘airing of the quilts’,

  • Quilt displays and sales
  • Beginner and advanced quiltmaking workshops (space is limited)
  • Guided tours of the Gee’s Bend Heritage Trail (space is limited)
  • Panel discussions at the Freedom Quilting Bee Legacy (space is limited)
  • Exhibitions
  • Food
  • Music

The Gee’s Bend Airing of the Quilts Festival is free to attend. A suggested donation of $25 will support the Gee’s Bend quiltmaking community. You need to reserve a spot.
 

 

 

 

 

 

**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.

26 Projects 2023 #7

Finished 2023 Quilt Projects

Finished (for me!) Donation Quilts

I don’t quilt much and I enjoy the collaborative effort of making a top and allowing someone else to quilt it. Thus, the quilts below are mostly tops, but I will include a finished quilt once someone else finishes it for the group.

Finished Bags and Small Projects

This category covers bags, toys, aprons and knitting as well as other non-quilt projects.

In Process or To Make

The ‘In Process’ is used to denote projects on which I am actively working or are on the design wall waiting for me to stitch. I am continuing to try not to put away projects. I find putting a project away ensures I never work on them, because I just lose steam.

Quilts (machine work)

    • Metro Twist – making blocks and laying them out

Quilts (Handwork)

I decided that some of my quilts are in a different class because they are hand piecing or embroidery or beading. They take longer. Thus I created a new category and have moved some projects here.

  • Half Hexie Stars Project– I am reignited about this project after working on it at the November Sew Day. I have been working away steadily and can see the light at the end of the tunnel
  • La Passacaglia – The rosettes are all assembled. I am ripping out the papers and deciding which rosettes to finish into the border.

Ready for Quilting

In the Quilting Process

    • Nothing at the moment

In the Finishing Process

    • Nothing at the moment

Small Projects

Most of my progress involves thinking or just cutting. I don’t have a bag in process at the moment.

  • Ultimate Project Organizer – another project from the Crafty Gemini Organizer Club, also on my list, but not yet started. I did pull the fabric, supplies and reviewed some finished photos that others posted, so I am one step closer.
  • Retreat Organizer – another project from the Crafty Gemini Organizer Club, also on my list, but not yet started. Recently, I saw one of these made up and I am not so nervous about it. I did pull the fabric, supplies and reviewed some finished photos that others posted, so I am one step closer.
  • Rose Petrillo bag – I found the pieces for this bag cut out, but not sewn.
  • Superbloom tote using Hindsight fabric – not started. I did pull the fabric, supplies and found a photo I plan to use as inspiration that others posted, so I am one step closer.

Still UFOs
I still have UFOs. Who doesn’t, after all? A project in the ‘UFO’ category means I am stalled, it hasn’t been worked on in awhile or it is waiting its turn to be worked on. The list is a lot shorter and the projects are newer, for the most part.

I am annoyed that some of these are still WIPs. I just need to work on them!

  1. Handbag Sampler – this is still the forgotten project. It should be on the UFO list. The blocks were teaching samples when I taught a sampler class some time before I started writing the quilt class sampler tutorials. I found one block recently, but otherwise I don’t actually know exactly where the blocks are hiding. I crawled up in the far reaches of my fabric closet to see if I could find them and they weren’t where I thought. I am sort of mystified as to where they could be. I haven’t even found a picture of all the blocks. WTH?
  2. Self Portrait: started in 2006 at a class at Quilting Adventures in Richmond, Virginia. After a brief burst of inspiration, I am stalled on this again. As one of my oldest (I am pretty sure) UFOs, I put it on my blog and out into the Twitterverse and Diane suggested that I not consider this as a self portrait. I think that strategy is a great idea. I am now trying to think of a new persona for her.
  3. Serendipity Lady – I am still planning to take this piece to be framed. It might need a bit of quilting first.
  4. Fabric of the Year 2020
  5. Fabric of the Year 2021 – I may combine 2020 and 2021 into a COVID edition.
  6. Fabric of the Year 2022 – yes, I added this one to the list, but this is the last one I plan to do.

July 2023 Donation Blocks

After seeing what Peggy did with a few of my coordinated donation blocks from last month, I decided to create some more for her to work with. Of course, that means going through my box and choosing the same colors. It doesn’t really matter to me which fabrics I use. It just matters that I use up the squares crammed in my little donation squares box. Black and grey blocks will be good for a boy.

I am also starting to work on more color strip blocks in black and grey. First, I’ll make some for the rainbow version I am planning and then for a grey version alone. I have a lot to do on those quilts.