Before La Pass started, I was determined to thread baste. That is the way I am basting the Half Hexie Star project and it was what I knew. I was also concerned about putting glue on my fabric.
The BOM came with glue. I wasn’t worried since I have a lot of thread suitable for basting. I read through the posts on the Pink Door private group and some people talked about thread basting. I watched various videos on EPP that were recommended and they all talked about glue basting. This was so puzzling to me. Weren’t people worried about the glue on the fabric?
I ended up using the glue and I like it. It is faster and time is of the essence with this project. As you have noticed, the BOMs keep coming and I want to keep up.
Half Hexie Star – thread basted
For the first time, I noticed the differences in basting as I got into the process at Sew Day. As I mentioned, I did a little bit of work on the Half Hexie project while I was waiting for the month 7 installment of La Pass. For the Half Hexie Star project, I am thread basting. For La Pass, I am glue basting. What I noticed is that I like the tightness of the glue basting.
I have used the Half Hexie pieces over and over. I am not sure I could do that if they were glue basted. I haven’t taken out the papers from the La Pass project yet.
La Pass – glue basted
I didn’t think it would make much of a difference, but it really does. It can be difficult to get the needle into the edge, but I really like the way the pieces come together.
This makes me wonder if I should start glue basting for the Half Hexie Star project? I don’t know. Maybe I’ll try it. Do you have any experience?
After finishing the A Place for Everything bag, I decided to work on something fast. Angela and I had been discussing various pouches, including the Hello Pouches from Knot and Thread Design. I bought this pattern at Ocean Waves quilt shop a few weeks before the coronavirus lockdown.
The website and the model I saw in a shop really excited me. I love the look and the way the vinyl is combined with the fabric.
I haven’t made anything from their patterns before, so it was an adventure and an opportunity to find a new designer.
Hello Pouch for me
Sadly, I do not like the pattern. You may have a different experience and I urge you to keep an open min. Remember: I am *bad* at reading directions and that could have affected my experience. All that being said, the two I made look ok.
First, I thought the pattern was incomplete. One of the first things I noticed is that the finished size wasn’t anywhere on the pattern. There are yardage requirements and then a second section of yardage requirements if you are using ombre fabric. This is where finished sizes should be.
The pattern doesn’t say anything about finishing the side seam with fabric. It talks about sewing it closed, but that looks unfinished in my opinion. You can see what I mean by looking at an IG photo. It also affects the way the end of the zipper sits on the bag. I faithfully followed the directions for covering the top and bottom of the vinyl and could have easily done something with the sides at the same time. I didn’t think of it. I am thinking about whether or not to cover it with a piece of binding or some straight of grain fabric.
Also, the pattern does not say how to finish the end of the zipper beyond stitching. Mine is fraying so I have to do something. Since I still have to finish the side seam, I can include the zipper. The pattern doesn’t show a clear picture of the side seam or zipper, so I can’t really see what they have done.
Second, I didn’t like the way it was put together. I felt there was too much work to get a pouch done and some parts made the pouch hard to put together.
One of the first instructions is to quilt the panel that will eventually bottom. The pieces are necessarily cut larger, but 2 inches larger seemed like a waste of fabric and Soft & Stable. Next, the designer has you bind the quilted bottom. This creates a later problem with super thick pieces that need to be sewn and cut. I think a lining could have been created for the bottom and the quilting could have been omitted.
Hello Pouch flaps
The method they use requires sewing over existing lines of stitching. It probably something I need to practice, but this technique never looks good on my bags. Also, binding most of the pieces means that there are flaps of fabric everywhere waiting to get caught on some of the contents at some point.
I could have stitched them down, but that means going over other stitching. See above.
Boxing corners 🙁
The pattern requires boxing corners. The placement of the sewing line across the flattened corner is difficult to get precise, because of the thickness. If I make this pouch again, I would keep the pouch flat, cut a square out of the corner, then sew. The Jane Market Tote is put together this way and it makes more sense.
I made two at once. One was supposed to be a gift. I am not sure I want to give it as a gift, though I will send it regardless. I’ll get some feedback and have a good discussion.
I want to say some good things about this pattern, so I won’t just be a negative Nellie:
I like the half vinyl, half fabric of the design
They have a clever technique for the zipper. You can get two pouches out of one zipper
The pouch will stand up nicely (if I could get the corners to box properly)
I did look for corrections on the website, but didn’t see any. After analyzing my perceived deficiencies of the pattern in this review, I am tempted to try making this pouch again using some of my experience and thoughts on how it could be different. I looked on Instagram and most of the pouches there look a lot better than mine, which means I could have not understood the directions properly. They do show the pouches from the best angle, of course, and I do see that some of them have the zipper problem that I have.
Month 7 of my La Passacaglia finally arrived. It seemed like it took forever. After months of being behind, I caught up with month 6 and month 3, which meant that I was completely caught up. During my La Pass break, I also finished two bindings and wrote a bunch of cards. I really missed the stitching of La Pass while I was waiting. What a change from a few months ago when I was feeling like it was overwhelming me!
La Pass M7 BOM bundle
I unpacked the bundle, washed the fabric and started in on basting. Bleah on basting!, but it is part of the process and I have to do it to get to the stitching.
Pink Door has done a masterful job using the ombre in this month. I am really glad I am doing the BOM.
I don’t get to count the yardage in my 2022 spreadsheet, because I already counted it last year when I got it back from Colleen. I know I should have waited, but I have no self control.
Scrap Dash finished (back)
This will be a gift for one of my SILs. She doesn’t know yet, but I’ll tell her soon. There is a method to the madness of the back of the quilt. The bluer print fabrics on each side of the fish are shells. There is a small piece of red-violet sea urchin fabric at the bottom making this is an ocean themed back. Except for the batik and the tone-on-tone blue, all of the back fabrics are from the Kaffe Fassett Collective. SIL swims quite a bit so I thought having this type of themed back would be entertaining.
I decided I want to make this quilt again, so I am back to cutting super tiny pieces. Of course, I can use the leftovers I didn’t use from this version.
I haven’t gotten my act together for the BAM door prizes yet. I have a tote bag full of stuff ready to be sorted and nothing sorted. Part of the problem is that I only have canvas bags from a shop. I don’t have any handmade bags. I have several of the canvas bags and they are nice – thick and sturdy and great for something like the Farmer’s Market. I prefer not to give the same bag every month.
At the guild meeting the other week, Maria tempted me to take some canvas. The motif is a kind of Paris theme. I got out my Jane Market Tote pattern and this fabric and made some totes.
I didn’t use the exact pattern; mostly I just used the dimensions from the pattern. I didn’t want to line the tote, because the canvas was thick enough without a lining. That meant that I needed to sew French seams to make sure all of the raw edges were enclosed.
Canvas Jane Market Tote (innie)
With the first one, I enclosed all the seams on the inside of the bag. Enclosing the seams on the inside when very smoothly and the bag went together really fast.The bag came out a little smaller than the already small Jane Market Tote, but I think it is a cute size and different from many bags.
Canvas Jane Market Tote (outie)
After making the first one, I thought I would enclose the seams on the outside for the second one. I thought it would be an interesting design feature. This version also went together pretty well, but I had more trouble with the seams on the outside. I am not sure why. In this version, there is also a big lumpy seam on the outside of the bottom, which is not ideal.
So far I have made two and I think I have enough fabric to make at least one more. My sister might like one. The motif is up her alley. I think the size will work well for the door prizes.
I cut out a lot of gift bags from the fabric in which Friend Julie wrapped my Christmas gifts. I was happy about it initially, but then suddenly I had a whole lot of projects on my cutting a sewing tables that were unsewn. I was starting to get cranky and irritable and feel bad about my sewing.
AGF Red Gift Bag
After finishing the A Place for Everything Bag, I was able to free up some time to finish some things laying around my sewing room. Over the weekend I blew through several small projects including some gift bags and really felt good about myself.
After months of not sewing down the binding, Gelato is finally done. Catching up with La Pass really propelled my quiltmaking forward. I was able to finish a bunch of projects that need a bit of hand sewing and I got to work on the Half Hexie Star project.
I got this quilt back in the middle of last year, then I got a job and the giant puzzle and La Pass and my schedule went to hell in a handbasket. I enjoy stitching down the binding. It is very satisfying.
Gelato finished (back)
Now it is finished. Hooray! DH held it up for me so I could take some photographs. Writing about it here really makes it done in my mind.
I originally made this quilt for my niece, thus the Chrysanthemum back. I think I will give it to a friend who has recently had his leg amputated below the knee. He had an accident about 10 years ago. After multiple surgeries and infections, he decided (and is at peace with) on this course. He will appreciate the front and the thought, I think and won’t mind the flowers. We’ll see.
I actually looked at my statistics the other day and was pleased that 517 views happened one day in mid-January. WOW!
Projects, Classes, Patterns & Tutorials
A few years ago I made a Scissor Cozy for my mom and one for Julie. Svetlana from Sotak Handmade now has a video to go with her tutorial. She has updated the instructions so do watch the video.
In looking for something else, I came across this easy project for carrying your yoga mat. You can probably adjust the length of the strap to carry other things as well. I am thinking of a rectangular folding workout mat I have. It came with an elastic strap that is losing its stretch. This is a great way to use some of the gorgeous ribbons and webbing out there.
Want to make your own bag kit? Check out Build-a-Box from Sew Hungry Hippie. You select the pieces you need. No more being subject to other people’s tastes.
From Pink Door re: managing a La Pass BOM:
Fun fact #2 of the week-
We have ordered (for months 1-6), over 8,700 yards of fabric. That equals 584 bolts of fabric, or 26,280 feet of fabric or 4.98 miles.
We’ve also ordered 1500+ lbs of paper.
Edited to add: the 8,700 yards weighs about 3,000 lbs.
I was reminded about LillyElla Stitchery’s tutorials. I still want to make that Mini Maker Station
Books, Fabrics, Notions & Supplies
Sue Spargo posted about some precision tweezers called Pinzettes. Made in Switzerland. I do sometimes use tweezers when I am seam ripping and I thought the larger finger area would make them useful and also great gifts. Unfortunately, they are $50 so out of my budget right now. They are worth the money and I plan to buy some, but not today.
I saw Brick Bubble on IG one day and took a look at her site. There were a lot of great tags, especially one that says “Handmade – See I’m not just hoarding supplies”. I think it is hilarious.
If you don’t want to make your own using a Sew Sweetness pattern like the Percheron available in Minikins Season 3, you can buy a Maker’s Train Case, also from Sue Spargo’s website. It is designed to fit under most airplane seats allowing you to store all your knitting, stitching, and crafting supplies.
SewFinity found me on IG for the 2 minutes I was visiting the other day. They don’t have tons of fabric, but if you like Kona, this is your place.
Friend Julie reviewed the Sewline Air Erasable Pen I gave her for Christmas. My experience mimics hers.
If you are looking for interesting novelty fabric (I might be starting another college pillowcase project), check out My Favorite Quilt Store. I saw a lot of Disney fabrics I could use as well as other ways to interpret themes for each month. They have a Disney female villains fabric I might have to buy to make something for one of the nieces. They have some Flintstones, Sylvester and Tweety, Baby Yoda, Mickey & Minnie, Hot Wheels, vintage diner signs, bird watching, vintage letters and stamps and a ton of other novelty themes. They have a great selection of fabrics you can use for gift bags. I was really impressed with their selection of birthday relevant fabrics. They also have fun Christmas fabric. I haven’t bought anything from them yet so YMMV.
Friend Julie has a quilt in the Curated Magazine coming out in April. She provides an affiliate code link which gives you 10% off, so read her post and get the code, then go buy the mag.
Articles
I saw an article on how to start knitting in the New York Times. You may need an account to access this article (check your local library). I like the way it talks about practical knowledge you need to know to get started, what the terms are, where to buy and the differences and benefits of a LYS vs Joann or Michael’s. There is also a getting started book recommendation.
I saw an article on the Cricut vs. Silhouette cutting machines
Letterlocking was the cyber cryptogography of Queen Elizabeth’s time. Check out the video to see how it worked.
Other Artists
Friend Julie posted her January Cornucopia. She has lots of great links, especially if you want to enter Visions or start a 100day project.
Sarah Goer sent out her recent newsletter, which is always filled with great links and projects. Sarah also has a 2021 wrap-up post. I enjoy comparing my same Year in Review posts with other people’s – not to compare who has finished more, but to compare the structure of the post. I don’t want to bore you so I am always looking for new ideas.
Another year and more projects to make. I am starting out the year with a fabric deficit. I expected it as I usually buy fabric on my birthday. I am determined to get to 100 yards this year.
Looking at all of these accessories and small projects makes me excited to make more. It is really sad that I don’t have as much time to do as much sewing as I want. 🙁 Well, what time I have is better than nothing. 🙂
Doing Good
Nothing yet
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
The circle quilt is on the design wall, which is still folded up waiting to be re-hung
Small Projects to Make or in Process
Most of my progress involves thinking or just cutting.
One Hour Basket for my stuff that tends to accumulate on the dining room table. I may switch to one of the Minikins projects or a Catch All Caddy for this purpose.
One Hour Basket for DH’s stuff that tends to accumulate on the dining room table. I may switch the pattern to one of the Minikins projects for this purpose.
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
Superbloom tote using Hindsight fabric – not started
Ultimate Project Organizer – another project from the Crafty Gemini Organizer Club, also on my list, but not yet started
Westchester shirt – this is a Crafty Gemini pattern. I bought the fabric at PIQF in 2018. I have the pattern pieces cut out and ready to sew. I was held up by the supply list which wanted a Jersey needle. SIL #2 and Mary C said that a regular knit needle was fine.
Handwork
I decided that some of my projects 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.
English Paper Piecing Project– half hexies – I worked on this a little over the weekend while I waited for La Pass Month 7 to arrive and had no bindings to sew.
La Passacaglia – I am up to date on this project and waiting for Month 7 to arrive.
Ready for Quilting
Nothing at the moment
In the Quilting Process
BAMQG Improv Round Robin – I am probably going to rip out the quilting and send this quilt to Colleen to quilt. I like the look of Big Stitch, but am not working on it and don’t really enjoy working on it.
Still WIPs
I still have WIPs. Who doesn’t, after all? A project in the ‘UFO’ category means I am stalled. A nicer way of saying UFO is a WIP. The list is a lot shorter and the projects are newer, for the most part.
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?
Lobster – I think I might make this into a tablerunner for the buffet. I think that will be a good and fun use of the piece even if the colors aren’t quite right for the dining room.
Pies and Points from 2016 Victoria Findlay Wolfe class. The last time I worked on it was when Julie and I had a playdate in April 2018. I brought this piece with me so I could cut more elements (Julie has a Sizzix). I lost my excitement about this piece shortly thereafter, but I am ready to work on it as soon as I get my design walls back up.
Pointillist Palette #4: Fourth is a series of 6 quilts; needs tiny square patches sewn together. No progress.
Serendipity Lady – I am still planning to take this piece to be framed. It might need a bit of quilting first.
Who Am I? – This piece is still languishing. Perhaps having a larger design wall will help me regain momentum. The amount of satin stitching I was facing was a problem until I thought of BIAS TAPE. I am going to make the words with bias tape, perhaps different widths, then I won’t have to satin stitch everything. Red Scribbles and Friend Julie helped me come up with this solution. Now I just have to do it!
Sheesh! February already! January is never long enough for me.
2022 Blue Journal Cover #2 (front)
This is the second journal cover I made the other day when I just needed to sew.
Most of the details are the same as for 2022 Blue Journal Cover #1. Most of the fabric was already made. I had to piece the flannel, but in this case, I used batting tape to keep the pieces together. Yes, that is an unorthodox trick that I haven’t tried before, but seemed to work ok. The older journals (this one is from 2005) won’t get much use until long after I am dead, so I am not to worried about the batting tape failing.
I thought mentioned that I had received some tea towels for Christmas. I can’t find the post, so maybe not.
Carrie made the white tea towels and I love how good they look with my other tea towels. The color scheme in our kitchen is red, white and black. All of our small appliances are red except the toaster oven, which is stainless steel so everything goes together. It is the best decorated room in our house!!
I also like how well these tea towels work. Some tea towels are too thin or not absorbent or don’t dry quickly enough or have some other problem. These have none of those issues. I can dry my hands multiple times while cooking and they feel dry the next time I go to use them. They don’t feel thin either.
I finally finished the A Place for Everything Bag. This bag is not for the faint of heart. If I had known what it would be like, I might not have made it, but I am glad I did.
I have a love-dislike relationship with ByAnnie patterns. There are a lot of them. Many of the bag shapes are interesting and useful. I can’t, however, wrap my mind around some of the directions. This is not a surprise to those of you who have been reading for a long time. My brain doesn’t work like others. Videos have been helpful. In this case, I found that Annie skips some steps that are considered very basic. After looking through the basics videos, I emailed them and they gave me some suggestions, but also said they don’t have enough resources to do full length videos for every project. Sigh. I blundered through.
I spent a couple of evenings hand sewing the binding down. I know that takes time, but I couldn’t stand the thought of cramming the bag through the machine. I had the time so I hand sewed the binding. I looks great.
APfE: pages strapped in
The strap that keeps the ‘pages‘ in place was WAY too long. Instead of trying to figure out what was going on, I just cut it off, resewed the velcro and moved on with my life.
Despite the problems, I am pleased with the way this came out. I spent a lot of time on the details and it shows. The bag isn’t perfect, but it will be great for when I take the project to Sew Day next week.
I have been wanting to stop by Golden State Quilting and look at their new space. They moved a few months ago. Since I almost never go anywhere on the weekends (when else would I sew?), I haven’t had a chance. On the way back from lunch and shopping with Friend Julie, I stopped off.
First, I checked to see if they were open. Some quilt shops are closing at 3pm now which is very inconvenient. A point in Golden State’s favor is that they are open normal hours, mostly 10-6. I followed Google’s directions there and found the old shop no problem. Fortunately, I had read that they moved only a few doors down from their new shop. Eventually I found it. The new shop is about 6 spaces and across one parking lot ‘street’ to the left of the old space. For some reason, I imagined it being to the right.
The corner space means a lot of light. That is good for choosing colors and makes the shop nice and bright.
Golden State’s Kaffe selection
One of the reasons I went there is that they have a great selection of Kaffe fabric and I wanted some Shark’s teeth to use to make one of the Reiko Washizawa bags. I think I mentioned it the other day. I found the Shark’s Teeth, but when I was about to get it cut the bolt looked like the teeth were blue. They were, but one of the shop ladies found the black and white for me.
I thought the Kaffe offerings were a little thin, but with all of the supply chain issues, I can’t really complain. I think I also visited right before the new collections are set to be released. They did have a Kaffe puzzle that I was tempted to buy. I restrained myself since I value my hand sewing time right now.
Golden State’s notions
The shop has an excellent selection of notions, except thimbles. I have about 3 thimbles, but really only like two of them and wanted another as a spare. I am going to have to go to a fancy quilt show sometime and get one. I wonder when that will be?
The whole corner under the chicken wall hanging contains notions. That free standing rack in the middle is all rulers. I almost swooned. I love a wide variety of notions. To the right is a variety of interfacings and other miscellaneous notions.
Golden State’s selection of Quilter’s Select tools
They also have quite a good selection of Quilter’s Select rulers and tools.
If I had had a gift certificate to Golden State, I might have bought another ruler or the rotary cutter, but I didn’t so I didn’t buy anything from this display. I am very partial to my OLFA squeezy rotary cutter**, but I am also interested in trying the Quilter’s Select rotary cutter.
I tried the new QS ruler I bought the other day and am pretty happy with it. It doesn’t move once you put it down BUT I also can’t slide it around to get it into the general area before the precise positioning like I do with other rulers. That’s a change. I probably would like a QS 4.5 x 8.5 inch ruler, but I didn’t see one, so I’ll stick with my Creative Grids 4.5 x 8.5** version.
Golden State towards the front
Golden State also does longarming there. The machine was going the whole time I visited and that got on my nerves a little bit. This photo is taken from the entry to the Kaffe room/classroom area looking towards the front of the shop/the corner window. They have the longarm set up in the front of the shop to the left of the front door.
Golden State: from main windows twds Kaffe room
Near the cash register I saw some frames. These are similar to the ones I have used for the Retreat pouches and were the Emmaline brand. I have heard that bag frames are a little hard to find lately. Though I have enough for a few more bags, I bought a couple of the small Retreat bag sized. I’ll have to see what other patterns with which they can be used.
Next to the front door was a variety of different solids and tone-on-tone fabrics. Also, right in front of the front door was new fabric including Tula’s Daydreamer. I bought a couple of half yards for the La Pass project.
Golden State: near cash register
One thing about the shop is that they have a full complement of supplies. In addition to the items I have mentioned above, they have a couple of different design wall fabrics, different sizes of cutting mats and even some gifts.
You can see some thread displays in the background as well.
Golden State: some novelty fabrics
I was also impressed with the number and variety of novelty fabrics. Some were not to my taste, but in contemplating another college pillowcase project, I will need some. Looking at them is always better than ordering online for these types of fabrics.
One of the ladies there has a sharp tongue. I have had run-ins with her int he past, which is one reason I haven’t been there in a long time. She was, again, sharp this time, but I was a little more patient this time. I keep thinking that COVID has us all on edge and gave her a break. Very unlike me, but I guess we all evolve. Also, the shop is big so I could get a little space from her if needed.
January 2022 Golden State Quilting purchases
I know I showed what I bought the other day, but here is the stuff again. Everything has been washed and pressed and put away.
All in all, I liked the variety of fabrics and notions. I didn’t really see books or magazines. I must have missed them.
Address: 2435 Winchester Blvd, Campbell, CA 95008-4801
Masks required and hand sanitizer is available at the door.
Nota Bene: I like my OLFA squeezy rotary cutter**, because when you loosen your grip, the blade retracts. You don’t have to do anything to make the blade safe. I wish more rotary cutter designers would take this into consideration.
**Obviously, you should shop at local quilt shops. However, 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.
After not working on this bag much on Saturday, I decided to do as much as I could on Sunday. I was quick to remind myself that there were too many steps and I couldn’t possibly finish.
A Place for Everything Bag almost finished
I was right, mostly.
I was not able to finish the bag, but I made really good progress and the bag is almost done. I have to finish the binding.
The product came out pretty well. ByAnnie patterns do come out pretty well, though I wouldn’t suggest this bag for someone who hasn’t made a lot of bags. There are videos, but Annie skips over some of the parts she considers to be basic or easy. Of course, those were the ones I had the most trouble navigating.
A Place for Everything Bag – detail
I know the picture above looks weird because of the binding, but I am really pleased with how the bag looks, e.g. the fabrics that I chose. I am also pretty happy with the webbing, though I did have to make up some parts of using it as I went along.
I love this hardware, especially, as I said, the triangle piece. I don’t think I really need the carry strap, but I wanted to make it. I can always use it for a different bag.
I am tempted to make a Take a Stand Bag that matches this one. I have to make one as gift, so I might as well make two, right? I need to finish some other projects before I do that.
Saturday turned out to be a kind of topsy turvy day. Once I finally got to the machine, I wasn’t really up for working on the A Place for Everything Bag. I felt defeated by it and wanted to just finish something.
I needed some new journal covers and they are relatively easy to make. I found some already ‘made fabric’ in my blue scrap bin and stitched up a couple of journal covers.
2022 Blue Journal Cover #1 (left inside)
2022 Blue Journal Cover #1 (right inside)
It is pretty easy to make these when the fabric is already sewn together, so this one when together really fast. The hard part was dealing with the flannel, which I have been using for the other side instead of regular fabric. I was running out of the yard I have had for awhile and had to piece bits together. After these two I will need to go back to interfacing a regular piece of fabric. Why buy more flannel when I have plenty of fabric?
2022 Blue Journal Cover #1 (back)
I probably should have used the made fabric for another blue donation quilt. I’m not really worried, though. There are always more scraps.
