It is kind of funny how we come to feel about our tools. As I mentioned, I have a loaner machine. It is also a Janome, so my feet fit. It is a smaller model with a fewer number of stitches and no knee lift. I don’t know the model; there doesn’t seem to be a number or anything on it.
Loaner Janome
This is, generally, a nice machine. It sews quietly, the stitch is nice. It fits my 1/4″ foot, is easy to thread, has the needle up/down feature.
It isn’t my machine, though and it buzzes. It makes a loud-ish, electrical buzzing sound all the time. It sounds weird, but that might be part of why I felt out of sorts on Saturday. The machine was off most of the day on Sunday and I felt fine.
It also doesn’t fit well into my table, so I moved the pneumatic lift platform up to table top height and put the machine on top of it. I worried that my hands were going to hurt , but that didn’t happen.
Why You Should Care: It is always good to have information about different machines when you are going to buy a new one.
I spent the day Saturday doing laundry and working on four patches. I had really looked forward to a day in my workroom and, while I got that, I felt out of sorts. I am not sure why, but it just wasn’t the relaxing sew day I thought it would be. I sewed, but I didn’t enjoy it as much as normal.
112 Four Patches
Still, I made progress. I finished the 112 four patches that were part of the first sewing step in Charlotte’s Mystery quilt. I had started them last week or the week before, so about half of the halves were sewn. I needed to do the rest and I had to cut enough pieces to make them.I alternated cutting and sewing. It works better for me.
I have to figure out how and where to store these. I don’t have a good sense of when the next step will happen.
Example Four Patches
As you can see, my background fabric is dots. I figured I would use some of the dots I have been collecting sinc they are just sitting there waiting for a project. As I mentioned, I had to cut much of the background from yardage. I rummaged through my scrap bins as much as possible. Now, I am pretty much left with weird shapes and smaller than 2.5″ squares in many of the colors.
I have to say that part way through making the 4 patches, I was ready to make some larger blocks and see where I was going. I got a little sick of 4 patches, which is sad, because I really adore the simplicity of four patches. There is a lot one can make with a four patch as a base. I think part of what is going on is that I am not organized in my sewing room right now. I don’t have a good handle on the projects I have going. I know what they are, but I don’t have the steps in my head.
If you haven’t been following along, I went down to SoCal for a week and that trip, along with problems with my machine, kind of ruined my flow. I’ll get back into it; it is tough, though. Learn from me: sew or pet fabric every day.
Since I finished the 25 4 patches already as well, I think I am ready for the next step. I don’t see it posted on Sandy’s blog, so I guess I’ll get back to some cutting, of which there is plenty left to do.
Why Should You Care: You can see that it is possible to get work done even if your machine is out of commission and you have a loaner. You can also see that it is possible to create some organization, even in a scrappy quilt.
Once again, I am working on the background for the Russian Rubix. I know this seems like more drama than it is worth, but there are a couple of reasons, I am being picky:
White seems like an easy choice
Solid grey seems too boring and I don’t want to be depressed making it
I have to sew octagons together. I don’t want to sincerely dislike the background of a quilt that is difficult to piece
I don’t want the white in the foreground fabrics to bleed in the background and distort the look of the wreaths made up by the octagons.
I finally washed some greys and here are the choices I am contemplating:
Grey on White Batik
In no particular order, I am posting examples of the backgrounds I am considering. I like the movement of the grey on white batik. It does interfere with the light blue (bottom, center right).
Grey on White Batik detail
Above is the detail of the Grey on White Batik with only a little bit of other fabric for reference.
Painter’s Canvas from Magnolia Lane Collection by Laura Gunn for Michael Miller
This is my second favorite. It adds interest. It doesn’t interfere with the foreground fabrics. It isn’t boring.
Painter’s Canvas detail
I wish it weren’t so directional, though I think the directionality wouldn’t interfere with the design of the piecing. I could be wrong.
P&B Happy Go Lucky Grey
This my favorite. I love this grey. I have gone on and on about this grey and I am kind of angry that I didn’t realize I loved it when I had the chance to buy 1,000 yards. It is nowhere. I may call P&B and see if they have a bolt they will sell me.
I am worried I am just on the grey bandwagon and will sincerely dislike all of these quilts made with grey in 2 years.
Why Should you Care: you should care because of process. My thought process in the making of a quilt will give you some ideas of what to think about when you are making your next quilt. Maybe.
In reading Oliver Twist, the phrase ‘stow that gammon’ is uttered by the character of Mr. Sikes
Post the direct URL (link) where your drawing, doodle, artwork is posted (e.g. your blog, Flickr) in the comments area of this post. I would really like to keep all the artwork together and provide a way for others to see your work and/or your blog.
We are also talking about this on Twitter. Use the hashtag #CPP
The Creative Prompt Project, also, has a Flickr group, which you can join to post your responses. I created this spot so those of you without blogs and websites would have a place to post your responses.
The Sad Face is because of the ‘missing’ machine. Again.
I posted something similar on Twitter a few weeks ago. I wasn’t worried, because I was planning on being out of town and I could get the machine back relatively soon after I returned.
When I dropped the machine off, I clearly articulated that the machine was running by itself. In the imaginary universe a machine running by itself would be a good thing. You could line up a bunch of patches and go iron fabric while the machine sewed away. I am imagining household management a la Molly Weasley. Sadly, this is not the imaginary universe and, besides, I get a lot of pleasure out of feeding patches through the machine.
I always think it is important to tell the people working on my device or gadget what the problem is. I always thought they might want to know since I was asking them to fix it and they were taking my money for fixing the machine.
When I picked up the machine, the repair person was there and said that had told him about my machine running by itself. He gave me a new foot, assuring me that that would solve the problem. Famous last words, but you knew that was coming, right?
I got the machine home and it still ran by itself. I really thought I was losing my mind. I had a stressful week prior and thought that that may be contributing to my obvious insanity.
In reality, the intake person didn’t write any notes on my ticket, so the repair people just did a service on it. Service is great. The machine, you have to know, needed to be serviced in the worst way, but I don’t want the machine running by itself.
As you saw, the problem didn’t prevent me from sewing, but I couldn’t use the needle down function, because that had something to do with creating the problem. It also meant that I had to drive back to the shop, which is 50 miles from my house.
I had yesterday off work, so after a few fun things, I drove the machine down to the shop, then went out to lunch with friend Maureen. I called on Tuesday to tell them I wanted them to look at it right away so I could take it back home with me after lunch. As much as I enjoy having lunch with M, I’d really like to stay home and sew once in a while.
I called again late in the day. They said they couldn’t find anything wrong with it, so I went to pick it up feeling quite discouraged. The repair guy suggested I test the machine in the shop, so we set it up, he showed me how beautiful it was running and invited me to sew on it.
Immediately, I pressed the needle down button and it was like touching the ‘never stop’ switch. The repair guy’s mouth practically dropped open as he watched the machine run by itself. He looked at me and said that he had never seen the needle down sensor affect the running of the machine that way. He said he would have to call the company, so I would have to leave the machine again. Sigh.
Janome Loaner
He offered me a loaner, which I almost declined, but took at the last second. I don’t know what model this is, but it has a needle down function and uses the same feet as I have. I might just use my Jem. We’ll see if I can get along with this machine over the weekend. Who knows how long it will take to get my machine fixed and I hope it isn’t a $500 repair like it was when I had to have the screen replaced.
Why You Should Care: This is a reminder that you make sure the intake person writes down the specific problem. This is definitely a #firstworldproblem. I know that I am fortunate to have a machine, fortunate to have a backup and fortunate to have been offered a loaner. I am also fortunate not to have to take my machine by donkey to be repaired.
I succumbed to the Siren call of the mystery quilt. Just like Jason and the Argonauts or Odysseus or the sailors passing Die Lorelei, I couldn’t resist their call and am working on the Scrapitude Mystery Quilt.
The Scrapitude Mystery Quilt was created by Sandy’s friend charlotte after the ladies in their guild begged. Sandy put out the [Siren] call and many of The Twilters joined in. I found an already cut batch of 2.5″ squares, so I joined as well. Lame reasoning, I have to say, because there are a whole bunch of other shapes I need to cut as well.
Scrapitude First 4 Patches
It turned out to be good, though, because I needed something easy where I could accomplish a lot in a short amount of time.
I only had about 3 hours to sew yesterday and was able to finish 25 four patches and make a huge dent in the 112 I still need to make.
One of the first sewing directions was to make 25 four patches out of the foreground fabric (e.g. not the background). I found a container of 2.5 squares I had cut sometime ago and started out with those. I was able to make good progress and finish the first 25 pretty quickly.
2.5″ Squares
The next 112 would be a little harder and I knew that before even starting the sewing. Part of the difficulty was that I hadn’t, yet, picked a background. Fortunately there were enough dots with white backgrounds already cut to sell me on the idea of dots as a background. I toyed with the idea of blacks on whites, but went with the dots. There aren’t enough dots in my life ever. 😉
There were a lot of orange squares in the container, so, periodically, I rummaged through my scrap bins and cut some other colors. A lot of what I was cutting were greens. It is fun delving into my scrap bin. First, I use up scraps, which is always a bonus. Second, I enjoyed thinking about the fabrics through which I was rummaging and the original projects for which they were used. I found a lot of Philip Jacobs prints and joyfully cut those up to use.
112 4 Patches in Progress
Now I have about half of the 112 finished. I have had to use some yardage for the background, but I have plenty of dots, so it is ok.
Sandy has a tutorial on her blog on making 4-patches. Nonnie pointed out a very interesting 4-patch tutorial on the NZ blog, Bee in my Bonnet. I have not tried this tutorial and she doesn’t give sizes, so I don’t know how it works. It looks cool, though.
Why Should You Care: Perhaps you want to join in or use the directions for an activity for your guild?
Heat Rises by Richard Castle River’s Edge by Marie Bostwick Frozen Heat by Richard Castle Deadly Heat by Richard Castle The Murder Room by P.D. James
Yes, there is a lot of murder and mayhem going on in my reading life right now. The Heat books were all Kindle books, 2 of which I was able to borrow from the library. Since I haven’t been around much, the Kindle books are great for reading on the go. The last book is getting me back into the P.D. James/Adam Dagleish series. I am more interested in the character development of Dagleish than of the murder, really. Thus book is on audio. P.D. James writes mysteries that tend towards academic, but you get all the information and there are no loose ends, so I like them. I would have finished it during my trip last week, but Mom and I talk rather than listen to books.
Inspiration
Virginia, a CQFAer, sent an interesting thought: Pablo Picasso said: “The purpose of art is washing the dust of daily life off our souls”
Death Cab for Cutie Album Cover
Death Cab for Cutie is also providing some inspiration with their album cover for Narrow Stairs. The name of the album (do they call them that anymore?) looks like a selvedge. I wonder if they know? Is it a secret conspiracy to promote quilts? Thanks to Liesl Gibson of Oliver+S for pointing it out.
Fabric, Tools & Supplies
Look at these nice looking swivel clips! One of my frustrations with bag making is that the hardware isn’t that appealing. I was pleased to find this store so I can get some nice looking bag hardware.
Anna Maria Horner announced a new bag pattern recently. Some of the examples she shows are lush…a little over the top lush, but also a treat for hardworking women. The post also has some beautiful pictures and some of her life.
Iron Tote Pattern
I might have mentioned that Friend Julie made an iron tote. I liked the idea so when I was on my way down to Super G’s house and happened to stop (ahem) in at Quiltin’ Cousins in Pismo Beach, I saw a pattern and, once Julie confirmed it wasn’t the one she used (she had trouble), I bought it. The pattern came with a piece of that insulated silver stuff. One of the things I liked about it was the fabric they used for the pattern. They used a Philip Jacobs-like fabric and Ta Dot dot for the straps and binding. Why didn’t I think of that?
I think I need to make one for myself. I don’t know that I will use it much, but I love the idea of a Philip Jacobs something that I can carry around.
Iron Tote Pattern Store Sample
I wanted to make it for my secret Santa at BAMQG, but that is not on her list, so, perhaps, I will have to make some for other friends. I have no comment, yet, on the pattern. I’ll let you know how it goes.
As a result, I don’t know what I’ll make for her. Perhaps a needle case? It seems so small, though it is on her list. I’ll think about it and come up with something to make it special.
On the Web
Thanks to Katie, we can now use the hashtag #qhc when we engage in quiltmaking. Researchers in Scotland have done a study on hobbies and speficially mention quiltmaking. The article in the Daily Mail online talks all about it.
I heard about a QuiltGuy retreat. Only guys? Do they go to quilt shops? Talk about their kids? There were some photos. Discuss amongst yourselves.
Awhile ago, I posted about my work on Chris’ start to the BAMQG Round Robin. Kathleen did a blog post recently about a start she worked on. I am posting a link so you can see more of the group’s work.
I love the quilting on the quilt on this post from Melody Johnson. There is something about the few rows of stitching in, what looks like, Perl Cotton that is simple and effective. I don’t visit Melody’s blog as much as I would like. Her colors are so fabulous.
If you want to be really impressed with some longarm quilting, check out this quilt, which was quilted by Kathy Perino. It looks like trapunto in some places. She does longarming if you need a quilt quilted….
Jill is always doing something interesting and now the ‘something interesting‘ is with wool and Perl Cotton. She even dyed some of the wool. I can’t wait to be retired. I should buy a lotto ticket.
Out and About
Thanks to Cathy Izzo at the City Quilter for these tips:
KATE STIASSNI OPENS AT THE ARTQUILT GALLERY·NYC Just opened in our gallery is Spaces in Between: Contemporary Textiles, 16 striking quilts by Kate Stiassni. This show will be up through October 19.
The Virginia Quilt Museum is having a fundraiser. Vicki Welsh turned me on to the antique looking, though newly made quilt. I can think of a few of you in whose houses this would look great. You can purchase chances through PayPal.
Luke Haynes et al will be showing quilts at the American Folk Art Museum in NYC call Alt Quilts. The show will be up from October 1, 2013 – January 5, 2014.I hope some of you are able to visit and will tell me all about it.
Purse Palooza 2013 started yesterday. Have you visited the Sew Sweetness blog to see the bag reviews?
Other
I was reading a blog post by Abby Glassenberg about having a successful craft blog (not getting into the art vs. craft of quiltmaking here or now!), which said that to have a successful blog, you should tell your readers why they should care about what you are writing. Sharing isn’t enough. I haven’t decided if I believe this yet, but I am going to try to figure out why you should care about what I am writing in each post. In the meantime, this post from the Creative Creativity blog is a good start when she says “you create what you consume.”
Why Should You Care: I write these Various & Sundry posts because I think it is good to expose you to things you might not normally see or read.
Sara of Sew Sweetness kindly asked me to participate in her Purse Palooza, as I have mentioned. Today is my day. Find my review on the Sew Sweetness blog TODAY! Go leave a comment so Sara knows how popular I am. 😉
A Day in the Park Backpack
I decided to, finally, make and review A Day in the Park Backpack Tote by Liesl Gibson. It is a few years old and I was relieved to see the pattern is still available at the Oliver+S website. I was pretty excited when I bought the pattern and I didn’t want you to get excited and then not be able to buy it. Also, it is about time I made it.
One of the reasons I bought the pattern in the first place is that I liked the verticality of this bag. Vertical bags are good for commuting as they don’t hit people when you walk up the stairs from the train. The size ended up being good-not so large that I would hurt my shoulder, but a nice size for commuting with a snack, a book, and a few odds and ends. Lunch wouldn’t fit unless it was bills in your wallet. 😉
First off, the look of this pattern reminded me of the Vogue and McCall’s patterns we buy to make clothes. I am not surprised as Liesl Gibson designs children’s clothes. I don’t think she has created many bags or small accessories.
The pattern is in a paper envelope with newsprint instructions. The pattern pieces are printed on tissue-type paper. I am always a little scared of the tissue paper patterns as I am afraid they will rip and be useless. I find it interesting how pattern expectations (plastic envelope with folded 8.5″ sheets inside) have changed since I bought this pattern.
Sara suggested a couple of ideas to get the review started. I don’t have any problem finding things to say, but I thought these were good ideas, so I will include them. Sara asked:
What fabric/supplies were needed to make the bag?
What did you think of the illustrations and instructions?
Did you make any modifications to the pattern?
What Difficulty Level did you think this pattern was at?
Fabric and Supplies
There is a complete fabric and supply list that includes 11 items. You will use all of them if you make the bag as directed. I didn’t find this to be a bag you can decide to make at 11pm on Saturday night and finish to take to brunch with friends on Sunday morning. There are some specialty hardware items that I don’t keep around. I made a special trip to Britex to purchase most of them and Britex is not open at 11pm on Saturday night. 😉 I am sure they are also available online.
I found it difficult to find the O rings required for the pattern. I ended up buying two key rings that were on sale at Joann just in case. After visiting 3 stores and multiple online sites, I ended up using them. They were a little small so make sure you buy O rings on the large end of the spectrum described on the package instructions.
O Ring Option
I found this package in the beading aisle at Michael’s, which was another option. I didn’t really want to buy 20 O rings, though. I don’t plan on making 10 of these bags.
In the finishing process, DH was helping me with the rivets. I told him about the O ring problem and he suggested a hardware store. He said Home Depot and Lowe’s are more home improvement and don’t have much hardware, but a real old fashioned type hardware store where you can buy individual pieces of metal thingy-ma-bobs might be a good source. I’ll have to check it out. I have heard of other quiltmakers finding supplies at hardware stores, but I never think of it.
Additional Supplies I Used
Aurifil 2250, a red, for the top stitching.
Free Spirit/Joel Dewberry Notting Hill Midnight Poppies (this is home dec weight)
Soft & Stable (instead of the canvas for the interfacing)
Good Morning by Me and My Sister for Moda (same fabric I used in the Star Sampler) for the lining
Pellon #100R Vinyl Fuse for the base
Shape Flex fusible interfacing
Saral paper to transfer markings from pattern to fabric. You might need two colors if you use a light and a dark. I wrote a post about Saral Paper that gives more information.
Directions
My first thought about the directions were that they were long and confusing. I always think that, though, because it is hard for me to read through the directions of something and understand what they mean until I start working through the steps. I am much better at figuring things out or being shown techniques BUT the former strategy doesn’t work for bags and the latter wasn’t available.
In the end, I thought there were a few things that could have been improved on the directions, but, in general, the directions were good.
There is a nice little chart that tells what to cut out of which fabric. In the chart, they list Primary Fabric, Contrast Fabric, Lining, Canvas. One immediate problem was that I didn’t know what pieces of the bag were going to be made out of which fabric. The section titled “Materials Needed” cleared that up a bit, but I was still unsure how the canvas (used for stabilizer) would be used until I read much further down the directions. I would have liked more of an explanation of the whys and wherefores of the fabric/supplies choices as well as a list of possible substitutes. For example, I would have liked to have known why the designer chose canvas rather than another kind of stabilizer. Look and feel? Weight? Availability? Cost?
It occurred to me that the pattern might not have been appropriate places for the whys I needed, so I went to Flickr and searched for “A Day in the Park” backpack. I found a Flickr group of these bags. You can get a good idea of the placement from the random photos and the photos in the group. I got a better idea of what pieces belonged in which fabrics. Hooray for Flickr! Nota bene: Please note that I said a better ideanot that I knew exactly. There was some variation in the way pieces and fabrics were referenced, or, at least, in the way I understood them to be referenced. I would like to see the different supplies referred to in the same way on all of the pieces, the chart, the supply list and the instructions.
I didn’t find much on the Oliver+S blog through web searches, but there was a post about why she created the pattern (sewing class). I did see that shops who are teaching classes could, at the time (don’t know about now), purchase packs of the hardware along with the pattern. While that would not have worked for me, I could have called to see if the packs were available for purchase by non-wholesale customers.
I also saw one forum post, which had some helpful information about making the straps. I didn’t explore to see if there were more posts.
Joel Dewberry Notting Hill Pristine Poppy (midnight)
Once I decided which fabric to use (Joel Dewberry Notting Hill Midnight Poppies, home dec weight), and after I washed it, I got started on the cutting. The cutting was a bit daunting, like the Petrillo Bag, simply because there are a lot of pieces involved. [Nota bene: when I cut out the second one, I cut the main fabric, then the lining and stabilizer fabrics that went with that main fabric piece and the cutting seemed less daunting.] I persevered and found the chart of how much of each fabric, etc. to cut to be very helpful. I was able to use it as a check to ensure I had enough of everything cut properly.
Making the Petrillo Bag was still fresh in my mind, so I decided use some of the supplies from that project. Since I didn’t have the canvas and don’t like floopy bags, I decided to use Soft & Stable instead of the canvas. I knew I was taking a risk. I usually like to make things as per the instructions the first time through, then start making changes if I make the bag again. I have enough bag making experience and I wasn’t doing anything completely crazy, so I decided it wouldn’t be completely crazy to use Soft & Stable.
The other thing I did was use iron-on vinyl for the base. I have been wanting to do it for the bottom of bags for awhile and this was a good opportunity. Pam did it first and gave me courage. The Base pieces on the A Day in the Park Backpack tote were small, so it was a good test. They came out pretty well, but, mid-process, the vinyl was stickier than I expected. I used Pellon #100R Vinyl Fuse. I used an applique pressing sheet on my ironing board and the vinyl release paper on the top. If I had been able to find my second applique’ pressing sheet, I would have used that on top. Nothing came off on my iron. Remember to cut the Base piece a little large, apply the vinyl, then trim the fabric with vinyl to the size of the pattern. This will avoid any issues with shrinkage.
I lined all of my lining pieces with Shape Flex fusible interfacing,to help prevent floop. Floop is bad on the lining also, because it means that the inside pockets aren’t strong enough to hold your stuff, and pens, etc can flip out of your bag. I felt that having iron-on interfacing would work fine and give the pieces some added body. It also saved me time and used a product I already had on hand.
I also didn’t want to baste all of the pieces I needed to cut. I used the WonderClips to help prevent the need to baste. They are too thick to sew over, but keep all the layers together with no problem.
I don’t think the main fabric really needed interfacing since I was using home dec weight fabric, but I put it on anyway. I haven’t used a lot of home dec fabric, so I was not 100% confident. As I said, there is very little out on the web about this pattern so I didn’t have a lot of information and experience to choose from when looking at what other people did. FreeSpirit and Joel Dewberry both replied to my question about washing the home dec fabric, which was GREAT!
Instructions
I thought the instructions were detailed enough. The way the pattern is written makes it clear that there is a certain level of knowledge expected. I would make several bags, including something as complicated as the Petrillo Bag before tackling this bag. In the blog post I referenced above, this pattern is designated as an advanced beginner pattern. I think that is optimistic. Not to discourage beginners, but there are a lot of steps, a lot of supplies, including a zipper, and sewing through many, many layers. I’ll defer to Liesl Gibson, but would categorize this pattern as Intermediate.
The instructions were a little hard to follow. I think they needed a bit more testing by random makers with a variety of intermediate to advanced experience. The more I got done, the easier it was to navigate through the pattern, but the designer should revise it for consistency with terminology and add some additional explanation, especially at the beginning.
Inside A Day in the Park Backpack Tote
The instructions didn’t say how to put in a zipper (I don’t necessarily think they should), so make sure you know how to do that before starting the bag. Instead of making a zipper pocket, you could make two of the lining panels with the appliqued pocket. I do think that the directions for the appliqued pocket don’t tell the maker how to apply it in a nice way. The finishing isn’t very nice looking and I went around the pocket twice to make sure that it stayed on, if I put something heavy in it.
The fabric I used for the interior wouldn’t necessarily be my first choice again. I like it, but it frays. Definitely use a light colored fabric for the inside of your bags when making your own. A light colored lining makes it much easier to find things in the bottom of your bag. I am using a black on white for the second version.
Finished A Day in the Park Backpack Tote
I am pleased with how the bag came out.
Things I Liked
No errors in the pattern
Shape of bag
The directions on how to make the zipper pocket. It came out really well
If I Made this Bag Again
I would try it with the canvas as the stabilizer
I would eliminate the facing and magnetic closure at the top and add a flap instead
I would add a larger pocket, such as a file folder pocket on the back
I would add a messenger bag type strap and not make the backpack straps
I would use a slightly larger seam allowance on the lining as cutting it per the instructions make it a bit large for the size of the outside of the bag. Alternatively, I could cut the pieces a little bit smaller
Leave a larger opening in the lining to turn the bag, especially if I used the Soft & Stable again. The Soft & Stable takes up more space and was kind of a problem to turn using the opening size indicated in the pattern
The lining bottom is made of two pieces sewed in the middle. I would try to cut one entire piece rather than two pieces. It is the lining, so who really cares, but I think it would look better and be one less step
Modifications to Materials
Iron-on interfacing (Shape Flex) instead of basting on interfacing
Soft & Stable instead of canvas
WonderClips instead of basting
I have already started a new version of this bag with the modifications described above. I am not very far along, so stay tuned.
Thanks to Sara for inviting me to join Purse Palooza. I really appreciated the opportunity to make a bag that had been on my list for awhile and write about it. Check out the other bags that will be shown in the next two weeks.
I am happy to be participating in Purse Palooza this year with a special bag sewing pattern review! Here’s how the event works:
1. Every weekday from September 30th – October 25th, there are at least 2 amazing guest bloggers on the Sew Sweetness site scheduled to share with you a purse sewing pattern review. None of the purses reviewed from the event last year are being reviewed again, so these will be fresh sewing pattern reviews! Each review will contain detailed information about what the reviewer thought about the sewing pattern, modifications made, what kind of interfacing used, and more! There are a few technique and product review posts sprinkled in as well.
This is a great way to get inspired to make the bag you have always wanted to make. Having a buddy really helps. Remember when Pam and I did the Petrillo Bag-Aong?
Aeroplane Bags
2. Even more exciting…THERE WILL BE A GIVEAWAY EVERY WEEKDAY DURING THE EVENT! That’s right, 20 GIVEAWAYS!
3. At the end of the event, you will get a chance to show me your purse in order to win some amazing prizes! Of course, international entries are welcome too!
1. Check out all the purse pattern reviews throughout the month and get inspired to sew up a purse of your own!
2. Link up your completed purse on the Purse Palooza 2013 pageBETWEEN SEPTEMBER 30th AND NOVEMBER 11th. Your purse must be created and photographed between those dates; purses made prior to September 30, 2013 will be disqualified. The purse may be of your own design, or made from a sewing pattern. You can link from Flickr, your blog post, or wherever else you host your photos.
3. There is no limit to how many purses you may enter, as long as they were made between September 30th and November 11th. Only one link-up per purse please.
*Note: Besides bags and purses, for this event also acceptable are clutches, backpacks, wallets, etc.
Greenbacks Wallet Trio
Prizes
This year, there will be 1st-4th prize winners chosen from all those that submit a purse during the event. There will also be a randomly-drawn winner out of everyone who enters!
1st prize – 4th prize will receive an AWESOME prize pack courtesy of Pat Bravo, genius fabric designer extraordinaire! The prize packs will each include 3 Pat Bravo sewing patterns (La Boheme Skirt, Barcelona Bag, and Capri Bag), a pack of Pat Bravo Aurifil Threads (thread pack may vary, as there are 3 different packs), and 10 Pat Bravo fat quarters (fat quarters may vary).
In addition, the 1st prize – 4th prize winners will also receive a copy of Sara Lawson’s new book, Big-City Bags!! The book releases November 5th, and you can pre-order your book now!
Retail value of each prize pack: $127.
There will also be one randomly-drawn winner out of all purses entered, and this winner will receive a $50 gift certificate to Sara’s publisher, Martingale (as well as a copy of her new, not-yet-released book, Big-City Bags!).
Retail value of prize pack: $77.
Judging
Purse Palooza will be judged this year by Kay Whitt of Serendipity Studio. Kay writes the most stylish and fun-to-sew clothing patterns and bag patterns out there.
Thank you to all of the wonderful sponsors that are supporting this event!
As I mentioned in a previous (ok, really old) post, I talked about
my new/old cutting table. Normally, the table is in the middle of the room and working piles are scattered around. Not this week. The cutting table has been in the closet for over a week and the room looks strangely clean. I hope to change that this weekend by sewing.
Yes, I am able to sew today, because the machine is back. I picked it up on my way from Grama’s. The boys are gone at a band review (I really should go to one of those sometime) so the laundry and I will have the house to ourselves.
Russian Rubix Octagons
The Russian Rubix is on one of the design walls – all the little octagons crammed together jockeying for space. On the other design wall is the Attack of the Hexies.
Russian Rubix with Grey
One plan is to pick a background for the Attack of the Hexies. I received the grey i ordered and it is the wrong grey. It is the darker version of the grey I used in the A-B-C Challenge (HAP 207 S not HAP 207 LS). I hope the company will let me return it, otherwise I’ll be calling Candy’s Quiltworks to see if they still have the one I want. I am not hopeful, so I have to plow through some of my other fabrics and see what will work with what grey I have.
Scrumptious Green
My other idea is from the new Scrumptious line. It is a green stripe and there are a couple of things that concern me.
One, it is a stripe. What if all the stripes going in different directions drives me crazy?
It is a Moda fabric. I love the Moda designs, often, but I don’t love the way the fabric ravels. I am not sure I could stand working with it again on such a large project.
This is a companion post to Pam’s Hip to be a Square podcast episode #148 where she and I talked about finding inspiration.
You won’t find inspiration unless you look and actually see what is around you. The texture of a building that was not a blip on your radar yesterday may inspire you today. In the podcast we talked about finding inspiration at a quilt show. Listen to find my tips about that.
Some examples of where to find inspiration:
junk mail
billboards
sidewalk cracks
what is around you on your walk to work? new flower springing up int he parking lot planter? Building decorated for the holidays?
glossy magazine ads.
Look at the CPP posts (yes, I had to throw that in)
Once you find inspiration, here are some things to do:
take a photo
make a drawing, rubbing or other kind of sketch
create your own personal 365 project where you look at the same statue, building, public art, fountain or parking garage every day.
Take a photo (or draw) and compare the photos (or drawings) you have taken over time (a Flickr set is good for this). What has changed? How is the light different? Do the colors change with the seasons? How does your artifact look in the rain?
What is it you like about the piece? Color? Shape? Pattern?
After this, it is a good time to translate your inspiration into a quilt. Use the essence of the inspiration, you don’t have to make a replica. Use what you like to make something reminiscent of your inspiration.
Blossom is a non profit charity organization that empowers youth by providing important and meaningful volunteer opportunities.
The Blossom by William Blake
Merry, merry sparrow!
Under leaves so green
A happy blossom
Sees you, swift as arrow,
Seek your cradle narrow,
Near my bosom.
Pretty, pretty robin!
Under leaves so green
A happy blossom
Hears you sobbing, sobbing,
Pretty, pretty robin,
Near my bosom.
watching someone blossom
National Cherry Blossom Festival
Post the direct URL (link) where your drawing, doodle, artwork is posted (e.g. your blog, Flickr) in the comments area of this post. I would really like to keep all the artwork together and provide a way for others to see your work and/or your blog.
We are also talking about this on Twitter. Use the hashtag #CPP
The Creative Prompt Project, also, has a Flickr group, which you can join to post your responses. I created this spot so those of you without blogs and websites would have a place to post your responses.
Definition: “In botany, blossom is a term given to the flowers of stone fruittrees (genus Prunus) and of some other plants with a similar appearance that flower profusely for a period of time in spring. Colloquially flowers of orange are referred to as such as well. Peach (including nectarine) blossoms, most cherry blossoms, and some almond blossoms are usually pink. Plum blossoms, apple blossoms, orange blossoms, some cherry blossoms, and most almond blossoms are white.
Blossoms provide pollen to pollinators such as bees, and initiate cross-pollination necessary for the trees to reproduce by producing fruit.
Blossom trees have a tendency to lose their flower petals in wind-blown cascades, often covering the surrounding ground in petals. This attribute tends to distinguish blossom trees from other flowering trees.” (Wikipedia)
I just returned from Southern California Tuesday night late. My mom and I drove down Thursday to stay and take care of Grama and to help her celebrate her birthday. Grama’s birthday was Thursday. She turned 90.
She was really in bad shape when we got there and it turned out nobody had brought her dinner. 🙁 Miscommunication, but she was a little manic and confused when we got there.
It was a hard weekend. I did get to run off with Susan for a few hours on Sunday, but aside from that and a trip to return some clothes, it was all Grama all the time. At least she doesn’t get up in the night. I cleaned house. I shredded about a gazillion old bills and generally fetched and carried for Grama.
I have to say that I visited two quilt shops – one on the way down and one on the way back. I also picked up my sewing machine, which means that if I wake up, I can sew on the weekend.
I thought I was ok when I got home, but at work today, it was the last place I wanted to be. I should have taken the day off. I didn’t because PPTO days don’t grow on trees.
Simplify Aurifil
One of the packages had the most delicious treat in it. Now I know that at least one person reads my blog. 😉
Simplify Aurifil inside
The colors included are so fabulous. They are just what I wanted even though I didn’t know I wanted them.
That was my one special whine and you can be assured that I won’t indulge too much. Thanks, Mrs. K.
I was visiting Grama over the weekend and took a few minutes out of the constant care and cleaning to visit with Susan, have lunch and take a trip to the quilt shop in Northridge. I used to live near Northridge and the place looks so different now. I don’t know if my eyes have different standards for how streets should look or if the streets have really changed or if I never went to this area of Northridge. The area we drove in had lots of concrete, not much green, signs stacked on top of each other right near the sidewalk to announce the businesses in each strip mall. I guess I am not used to seeing the types of strip malls they have here. I don’t know.
Candy’s Quiltworks backdoor
Regardless, Susan came and got me (what a saint) so Mom and Grama could go to Grama’s lunch bunch. She also did all the research and found a pizza place that served GF pizza and a quilt store right down the street. Perfect!
The pizza place was called Pizza Rev and they had GREAT GF standards for handling the ingredients. The only thing I didn’t like was how loud the place was. However, Susan and I could hear each other and we couldn’t really hear the people around us, which was good. I would go there again in a heartbeat.
We chatted quite a bit at lunch. I am interested in Susan’s remodeling project. Of course, she had questions about Grama, we talked about our kids and, of course, quiltmaking!
Much too soon, we had to go to the quilt store. 😉 We could have talked for a long time.
Quilts on the wall
Candy’s Quiltworks is a big shop. In the picture above, you can see that there is one of those rolling doors like auto garages have. The walls were cinder block, which is odd to a girl from earthquake country. I assume it is reinforced, but in an earthquake, I think I would run outside.
None of the above has anything to do with the shop. Candy’s has over 10,000 bolts of fabric, at least according to one of the clerks. I believe it. Their entire front wall and one side was filled with bolts of batiks. One entire side wall was tone on tone fabrics. The middle was filled with different lines of fabric, mostly together, as well as an aisle of blacks on whites and whites on blacks.
The quilts in the photo above are two of the sample quilts they had hanging. I thought there was a lot more space for samples, but perhaps they were in between hangings? The one with the white background looked like it could be a Jelly Roll quilt. I thought it looked like an updated log cabin version.
Notions wall
This is part of the Notions area. They focused on Creative Grids rulers (saw a Tumbler and a strip maker as well as others), but also had some specialty rulers from Eleanor Burns.
I didn’t see any Fons & Porter rulers, but they have a wide variety of the Marti Michell rotary template sets and rotary rulers such as the 60 degree triangle rulers. I also saw the Clear Angle ruler needed to cut the hexagons in that strip piecing method I used (originally on Little Bluebell’s blog) a few years ago for the Attack of the Hexies quilt.
This is also where they keep their sale fabrics – $5.99/yard. Can you believe how many bolts of sale fabrics they have? I didn’t really do more than glance at them, but it seemed like a lot of novelty prints.
Books and Such
The shop had these racks of books all over the store. I wasn’t in the market for any books today, so I only took a quick look at them. From what I saw, they were a little off the beaten path. It was an interesting mix of books and I think you would find some interesting titles. I think it would have been a little difficult to find a specific book.
There were a wide variety of panel projects hanging all over the store. In the photo with the books you can see some Halloween panels (the one with the pumpkin looks like it has a Halloween bunting as well), a gingerbread house panel. I saw panels from which you could make aprons and other small accessories.
These things are hard to display. I don’t see them in quilt shops up north, so I don’t know if they sell or not. I got one as part of a pack when I bought the fabric to make the Frosted Stars quilt. I thought it was fairly hideous, but I used it for the back anyway. This was a good way to display them as shoppers couldn’t avoid seeing them. The annoying thing was that we had to hold them out of the way for each other so we could see the fabric.
In another area, I saw Aurifil thread, mostly in neutrals. I saw a HUGE selection of DMC floss.
Tone-on-tone wall
TFQ and I have been lamenting the lack of tone-on-tones now that solids have returned with force and bold modern prints are such the rage. I love solids, but sometimes you need a good tone-on-tone to add interest to your fabric selections.
Candy’s has you covered. This is a picture of HALF the wall of tone-on-tones. It looked like they had every tone, shade and hue of tone-on-tone imaginable there. I was very disappointed that I didn’t need to buy some tone-on-tones to fill in for a project.
Near different groups of fabrics, the staff has posted patterns and pamphlets with different ideas for quilts, bags and small accessories as well as baby projects.
You can see a little peek on the top of the bolt shelves of other stuff. The tops of the shelving were stuffed with different things: Jelly Rolls, patterns, kits for handbags (we saw some by Riley Blake that had everything you needed to go home and start sewing a gift.), fat quarter packs, though not a lot, and a multitude of other stuff that I can’t even remember.
Batik wall (front)
I don’t think I have ever seen this many batiks in one place. It was an amazing number of batiks.
I don’t like those kind of shelves, normally, but in this case I think it worked well for two reasons: 1) the aisle was big enough to so I could get far enough back to see the different shades and tones; and 2) there were a lot of bolts of batik fabric.
I was kind of looking for a background for the Russian Rubix. I was thinking of a white with some grey on it. Shockingly, we didn’t find any of those colors. There didn’t seem to be any white batiks at all.
Rows and rows of fabric
I really could have bought a piece of almost every one of these batiks. I am really noticing how they glow in projects near regular quilting cotton.
On top of the shelves, you can see more of the samples and projects.
I have never seen as many novelty fabrics in one place. They had as many junk food fabrics as a person could wish for. I saw some of the RJR food fabrics and was tempted for the other two food quilts I want to make, but refrained.
We saw a ton of baby fabric. Susan noticed the American Jane Punctuation fabric and several other lines from a few years ago. They might be worth calling if you are looking for something out of print.
There was a whole aisle of Asian fabrics.
We really had a short amount of time to visit this store, so I wasn’t able to look in detail at all of the fabric. It will definitely be worth another trip.
Actually I may not have seen this much fabric in one place in California ever. I have seen this much fabric in one place in Lancaster County Pennsylvania.
Patterns and Pink
This is a shot from the restroom across the store to the opposite wall. The back door, where we entered would be to your left if you were in the store.
In the area to the left of that rounder of pink were all of their charm packs. there were piles of Jelly Rolls that were just the beginning of the Jelly Roll Extravaganza (not to leave out Anthropologie strips and Bali Pops) available at Candy’s.
They also had patterns galore in that rack and all over the store.
The store was a bit messy. I think it is hard when there is so much inventory. All in all, though, worth the trip. As I said, I would go there again.
Vital Statistics:
Candy’s Quiltworks
8549 Reseda Blvd
Northridge, California
(818) 349-7397
(between Napa and Chase)
There is no sign in front and the windows are tinted black. We went around and parked in back, but found out that there was a front door later.
Why Should You Care: you might have to travel to Northridge someday. This would be a great shop to visit if you need to get away from a conference or a little too much family for a few minutes.
