SIL#2 led at swap at the meeting on Saturday. As mentioned, I made a pencil roll. I decided at the last minute to make another organizer in case a new member or potential member came and wanted to join in.
I found the pattern in a book I reviewed some time ago called Make It, Take It: 16 Cute and Clever Projects to Sew with Friends by Krista Hennebury. I am glad to say that I did notice this project when I reviewed the book.
Make It, Take It needlecase
I am very pleased with the needlecase I made. It is kind of a portfolio and holds quite a bit of stuff. I like it because it is useful and practical, but also has scope for creativity.
I used some of the leftover improv piecing from the latest improv donation top. I think it would work to use Quilt-as-you-go to make the cover as well. I could just as easily use one piece of fabric for a very quick finish.
I was also pleased to see the way the zipper was installed, because I thought it would help me with another project on which I have (mostly not) been working.
Make It, Take It needlecase – open, inside
This was a fairly quick project. I had all of the supplies, which helped. You do need some wool felt and a long zipper.
Each section could be used for a different type of needle, if one were that organized.
One of the reasons I am pleased with the pattern is that it gave me a different way to install a zipper on a circular piece. I can use this technique. I need more practice, but it came out better than my other project.
Make It, Take It needlecase – open, outside
I am also pleased because the exterior looks really good. There is ton of scope for creativity with the outside, as I mentioned. This might be a great project to work on in a group.
The other day I went over to Tim’s to sew. He planned to longarm and I planned to work on my flock of pouches. I was very well prepared and got some new pouches sewn so I could give Mom an even 10.
I was able to get them done except for the zipper tabs. I forgot to bring extra fabric for that.
After making good progress on the Open Wide Pouches, I switched to the Zeppelin pouch, which I had cut out the day before.
I was able to do the prep with the interfacing and foam and get started on sewing the pouch. I had some trouble understanding the zipper tab sewing. Good thing Continue reading “Sewing with Tim.. Again”
As mentioned, we had an organizer swap at the guild yesterday. I was not the organizer of the swap, but I was put in charge of selecting swap items for a couple of people who weren’t able to attend.
Christine and Mary thought the swap was at Sew Day. Since it wasn’t, they gave me their organizers and put me in charge of selecting something for them.
Mary’s Atlas
Mary made the Atlas again. I made a couple of these and still want to make one for myself. Remember one was Cal themed? I am not done with this pattern yet, but I have other things to finish first.
Mary did a fantastic job on hers, as usual. The fabric is so fun! She also used some specialty vinyl with sewing motifs for some of the inside pockets, which is super cute. I normally stick to the glitter vinyl, but some of the specialty vinyl is tempting me.
Mary’s Atlas – open
As I have said before, this is a great portfolio. It is so useful and I think it would be used much more if you had one as pretty as Mary made.
Mary’s Atlas – zipper pull
I really love her zipper and zipper pulls. The actual zipper reminds me of the zippers I found at Sewlarium.
Mary’s Atlas – zipper ends
Mary has been experimenting with different methods of finishing zipper ends and the photo on the right (above) shows one of her favorite current methods. The pattern has the maker fold the zipper under into a kind of curve. I have had mixed results on my efforts using the recommended method. I haven’t tried Mary’s method yet.
Christine’s swap divided basket
Christine made a very interesting divided basket. I went and found the pattern, because I thought it was so cool.
There are a lot of pockets and storage areas included in this pattern. I think it is a great idea to have some slip pockets on the outside.
Christine’s swap divided basket
We discussed the construction and decided it would be worthwhile trying some different interfacings to see if they made a difference.
The shape and positioning of the handles reminds me of the One Hour Basket. I have made several One Hour Baskets, but I put the handles on the sides as I find it more useful.
I also like the shape of this design. The skinniness would make it easy to tuck into certain spaces.
Christine’s swap divided basket
Christine used some great Philip Jacobs fabric for the outside.
As I have mentioned recently, my sewing time is short these days. My job isn’t especially demanding, but it takes a lot of my best hours.
Pencil Roll open
Back in May, I decided I needed to do a two birds one stone project. I needed something for the Fair and a swap project, so I pulled out my Pink Chalk Studio Pencil Roll pattern and the fat quarters from Family Threads and got to work. I was done in time to enter the project in the Fair. Today it will go to its new home as part of the organizer swap at the guild.
I am trying to squeeze as many projects as I can out of these fat quarters, so I cut enough strips to make another pencil roll.
Somehow the Zeppelin pattern from Minikins Season 1 got lodged in my mind. I decided to make it as a birthday gift. July is a birthday extravaganza! There is one almost every day.
Once I decided to make it, I got a little nervous, because I could remember what the pouch looked like, but not how many pieces it had or how difficult it would be to make.
Zeppelin: Crazy pattern shapes
I went looking for templates, thinking that I had some. When I couldn’t find them I looked at the pattern and realized there was no way an acrylic template could be made in that shape, which was weird!
I couldn’t imagine how the pouch would go together from looking at the pieces, but I did once I went through the pattern and was impressed with the design. I cut everything out so I could take it to a Sew Day I was having with Tim. There weren’t very many pieces, so this might be a good pattern to have as a quick make when I need a project.
I was pleased that I was able to start and finish this pouch very quickly. This was destined for Tim’s birthday and I wanted to take over to him before he left on his trip.
This is another Retreat Pouch, which is pretty easy to make and comes out very well. I have made both sizes, which come in the pattern. I still want to make the handbag version I talked about last summer, mostly to use the border print. In general, I prefer the small size. The large size is hard to carry.
I also like it that it has a frame (not free). I like the open wide aspect that frames create. They sometimes have the required type of frame on Amazon, but I don’t see it today.
Tim’s Retreat pouch – interior
The interior fabric was printed by Sonja about a million years ago and gifted to me. I thought Tim would really appreciate her artistry and he did.
The high quality of the greige goods she used is another pleasure.
Tim’s Retreat pouch – interior
I consulted with Lynette to confirm my anchoring of the lining to the exterior. I am working on that technique and trying to do it with every bag. It worked well with this one using the same technique as I used on the Open Wide pouches. It is a difficult technique to explain in a pattern, which I why I want to do it over and over with different pouches and bags so it becomes second nature. You can see a little bit that the seams are tight against the bottom of the pouch.
Tim’s Retreat pouch – top
Tim said he would probably use it for travel. I thought he might and would have added Odicoat** to the pouch if I had planned ahead. He is going on a trip so I said I would do it after, if he wanted. He wasn’t sure how he would use it for traveling, but pouches are super useful for organizing stuff in your suitcase, so I am sure he will find a use.
Anyway, the pouch was a success!
**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 website.
My appointment with Colleen is coming up quickly and with Triumphant well on its way to being finished I went looking for the Handbag Sampler. That project was found a year ago and nothing has happened, so I decided to sew it together and get it quilted as is.
OMG! I have no idea what the deal is with this project. It has hide and seek in it’s seams. As mentioned, I couldn’t find the blocks. I KNOW I put them somewhere easy to find. I took boxes off the top shelves of the fabric closet and looked through them again. Stay tuned for some posts on the projects <insert eye roll here> I found.
Handbag Sampler July 2025
No dice so I started working on zipper pouches, but I couldn’t get my mind off of these blocks. I had a couple of more ideas for where they could be, which didn’t pan out, so I looked through my project boxes. I found them, eventually, in a box of random blocks. They were easily accessible, but not visible. Now they are on the design wall and will be sewn together soon.
I am not putting them away until the top is done and it is ready to go to Colleen’s.
I got online with Latifah Saafir the other day as part of her Mystery Quilt project. I almost didn’t, but am really glad I did, because it was me, Latifah and one other person for almost the whole session. I didn’t have a Zoom background installed so the other participants could see my small design wall. Latifah asked about the Blue Improv piece hanging behind me and we talked about it for awhile. I almost swooned. Latifah admiring MY piecing.
Finished: Triumphant top
One of the things I got to do during the session was show my finished Triumphant top. Despite having continual cutting problems, I was able to finish the top. Now I need to make the binding and backing then it will be ready to go to Colleen.
I am pleased with how it came out. I am glad it is done, but happy with the finished result. It is really different than other quilts.
I am also not feeling as cranky about the rulers as I was. I think I will try the HuRTy PuRTy design to try and get the way those rulers work stuck in my mind.
Once again, the Handbag Sampler blocks have gone missing. WTH? I know I put them somewhere safe where I could find them. I can’t find them. <insert head shakes and eye rolls here>
April Cornell squares
I found this quilt top or some piecing and an extra charm pack while I was rummaging for the Handbag Sampler. I got it out of the box and will piece the rest of it then hand it in as a donation quilt.
I sort of remember being in a big slump when I was working on this. Since it isn’t finished, I am not sure it ever did anything to get me out of my slump.
There are a few other gems in this box, which I will dig out when I need another donation quilt. I don’t need to hoard old projects that I am going to do nothing with.
This piece is at the painfully growing stage since the last time I showed it. The rest of my blue scraps are either very small or weirdly shaped, which makes it hard to use them. I am trying to use as many of them as I can, despite the problems. I am not sure the piece will be big enough for a donation top. It might be close and I’ll have to figure what to do with it if it is.
I didn’t get Triumphant on the wall as early on Sunday as I would have liked. I was busy finishing the Sidewalk #2: Blue Strips so Triumphant would have some design wall space.
Triumphant blocks on the wall
When I finally did get it on the wall, I found that I had miscounted the pieces I cut at Sew Day. I was short about a dozen units. Sigh.
The photo doesn’t show any of the side border pieces I cut on Saturday. You’ll have to trust me when I say it wasn’t enough.
I was actually glad to get it on the wall as I could see what I was working with. The main part of the quilt is just a giant 9 patch, so I sewed it together and then sewed the top and bottom borders on which I had finished a week or so ago.
Then I sat down and had to correlate the pieces I had with what I needed. Once I figured out what happened, the cutting went relatively quickly.
As mentioned the other day, I worked on my Open Wide Pouches at Sew Day. They went from flat to 3D.
They are not yet finished, but I have only a few steps left: finishing the zipper tabs and sewing up the lining where I turned the pouches. I’ll definitely be able to finish these to take to my mom next week.
I worked on Sunday to get Sidewalk #2 off my large design wall.
I am really pleased with how it came out. I like the differences between this one and the first one. I am excited about how it looks, excited about the possibilities of other versions and excited that it is finished.
I think the scrappy strip blocks look good. I will be curious to see how they look in different colors. Maybe I’ll use a colored background for one of these quilts?
Sidewalk #2 back
I delved into my box of blues to find backing fabrics. I came up with oldies, but goodies.
I’ll give this one to the Community Quilts team at the next meeting.
I followed the Sweet Cinnamon Roses IG “tutorial” and had mixed results. I was making 4 at once. Two were ok and I could use them. The other two needed unsewing. I sewed too close to the zipper tape and couldn’t turn them right side out. After unsewing and sewing the two again, everything was fine. Once I gave the zipper tape some space, the technique worked pretty well.
What I learned is that you don’t need to sew right next to the zipper tape. It is actually better to sew farther away so there is less bulk to sew over when inserting the zipper into the pouch later.
I suspect that I don’t even need to sew up the sides next to the zipper. I suspect that is just for convenience, or because it looks better/ easier on the video. I haven’t tried that, so stay tuned for further results.
2. Cut some squares or rectangles of fabric about 2.5 in. by 3.5 in. I made sure I had at least .75 in. on each side of the zipper tape. This is not exact and you’ll be cutting off much of it anyway, so use scraps. These will be your zipper tabs. The longer you make your zipper tabs the more options you will have for positioning the head of the zipper. I found that a solid would have worked better for the pizza print. Having part of the print show just looked a bit weird to me. YMMV.
3. Lay two zipper tab squares / rectangles on top of and under your zipper. You will be able to see the end of the zipper and the stop after you lay them out. The squares will have the zipper sandwiched in between. The zipper stop and 1- 1.5 ish in. of zipper tape will be sticking out. You are going to cut off the zipper stop, so make sure you have enough space so your needle does not hit the stops.
Sew in a U shape
4. Move the zipper pull out of the way
5. Sew in a U shape from the side where the zipper pull lives towards the zipper stops and back towards the pull. Make sure the top of the zipper tab fabric, by the zipper stops, is sewn a quarter inch away from the top. Sew far enough away from the zipper tape (on the uprights of the U) so you don’t catch it in the stitches
6. Make sure you haven’t caught any zipper tape in your stitching
7. Cut off the stops at the top. Use the edge of the fabric as a guide
Zipper tab finished
8. Turn the zipper tab right side out.
9. Press
Zipper with zipper tab inserted into pouch pieces
10. Insert your zipper into your pouch or bag. In the photo of the stingray view of the pouch, you can see that I have at least 1.5 inches of extra zipper tab. I could have lined the end of the zipper tab up with the edge of the exterior pouch pieces in order to lengthen the zipper. This is a good way to eek out a little more space if your zipper is not quite long enough.
In my case, I positioned the zipper head where I wanted it and sewed it into the pouch pieces.
Zipper tab finished
Once I turned the zip pouches right side out, I was happy and unhappy with the results.
I think the technique looks good. It is a useful finish for a zipper end. It came out as expected.
What I don’t like about it is that it isn’t great for an Open Wide pouch like the Noodlehead Open Wide Pouch. It doesn’t allow the part by the zipper to open wide.
Lynette gave me some tips for finishing the zipper ends, so I’ll try those and see what happens. For certain types of pouches, like the Triple Zipper pouch I sewed awhile ago.
As you can see it was a beautiful day. It was a nice day for getting away from the fog of my neighborhood. I went with some friends to Morgan Hill the other day to visit Quilts & Things. This was the first time I visited a quilt shop since I went with Mom to Quilter’s Hollow back in March. The visit was fun and was also a good break from all the other stuff going on.
I left my phone in the car, so all the photos are courtesy of Carrie and SueG! They were kind enough to take photos for me and let me use their phones to take the shots that I wanted. These photos don’t have watermarks, but that doesn’t mean you can steal them. Thank you for respecting my work on this website.
Quilts & Things – view from front door
The store isn’t large, but it had a great selection. As is usual, it had a number of fabrics I hadn’t seen before. I thought there was a good variety. I saw a number of fabrics I would use for gift bags or drawstring bags.
There were some areas that were super messy, but the store was dusty and just seemed to have some regular clutter.
Quilts & Things – right from front door
Quilts & Things – right from front door
Off to the right as you come in was a selection of pre-cuts and a variety of panels. I was pleased to see that they had some samples that gave shoppers ideas of how to use the panels.
Quilts & Things – right – FQs
On the right of the store but farther back was a good selection of fat quarters including some fat quarter stacks/packs. I was tempted by the arrangement. They had Kaffe dots together and I thought I could use those, but decided to look and see what I had at home. I also saw a pack of Ruby Star Society FQs, but decided that I needed to work through the FQ packs I bought at Family Threads before I bought another one. A few days have passed and I don’t regret that choice.
Behind the fat quarter section (at the top of my photo) was one of the messy areas. I am sure it is on their to do list. 😉
Quilts & Things – more cutting tools
Quilts & Things – left – notions
Off to the left as you entered the store was more fabric and a rack of notions. You know I love notions. The section was small, but well curated. I show only one side of the stand, but all four sides had different groups of notions. This side shows sharp things – needles, rotary cutters, blades, etc. Over near the blenders and tone-on-tones was another rack of scissors and other sharp things.
Behind the notions, I found some more chocolate fabric and intend to make some pillowcases for the Angel family parents. The fabric (see below) isn’t exactly the same as the ones I made for their little kids, but it is similar. It is also different enough so the pillowcases don’t get mixed up.
In the front window was a selection of food fabrics that made me nostalgic for the Food Quilts I made for Will, Kieran and Jeremy. I seriously considered whether I should buy more food fabric and make another one. I decided that the ship had sailed and restrained myself.
Quilts & Things – back left
There was a small classroom area in the back behind the section shown in the photo. There was a class or workshop going on, but I couldn’t tell what project the students were making.
This section had a lot of blenders and tone-on-tone fabrics. This is where I found a white I can use for a background. I couldn’t find a plain bright white – not cream or eggshell or any of those other off white options. I found the white you can see below and at the register I noticed it had a faint dot motif. The owner / lady checking us out said that the plain had been on backorder for awhile. I decided to go with the fabric I had chosen. Why not? Most of it was going to donation tops and blocks anyway.
Quilts & Things – blenders
That area was intriguing as well. There weren’t tons, but well chosen blenders and tone-on-tone fabrics. I didn’t see any brown or Civil War fabrics in the shop which is A-OK with me, though I do respect those, like Liz Porter, who love those Civil War prints.
I found a really nice dot print with a white background, but decided that I would look through what I have before buying another background.
Quilts & Things – bag patterns
This section was also where the bag patterns were congregated. Julie and Carrie were looking at some that I had made in the past. One was the lunch bag I made for my Grama a million years ago. I thought the pattern was a free one so I sent it to Julie later.
Another good thing about this display was the samples. It is so much better to be able to see the size and shape of bags in person rather than relying on the measurements. I can never visualize the size from looking at finished measurements.
Quilts & Things – Sewing Caddy
One example is in the upper left hand corner, the Stylish Sewing Caddy. I was interested in this pattern when I first saw it some months ago. I am really interested in bag patterns that use frames to make them open wide. This was a new one to me when I first saw it. The fabric on the pattern front was not that appealing and I also don’t like the design of the pattern. I know that shouldn’t matter, but sometimes I just can’t get past it. I think the Sheffield and the Quilts Illustrated Tool Tote are better patterns IMO. I suppose this one would be good if you needed something similar, but smaller.
Quilts & Things – thread and books
The shop had a small selection of Aurifil. I bought another spool of 2600 since I am down to my last spool. They had a large selection of Guterman.
Next to the thread the shop also had some books.
Carrie bought some bowl cozy kits. The shop has the Accuquilt die** and cuts out the fabric, batting (the kind that can go in the microwave) and sells the kits with a sheet of directions. OMG! I thought this was a fantastic idea. It makes no sense for me or one person to buy the die. How many bowl cozies can one person make? I suppose if you are selling them at craft fairs it might be worthwhile. Otherwise, I can see making them for the family one time and then moving on and never using the die again. Now I am thinking about going there, getting her to make me kits for the whole family. LOL!
Quilts & Things purchases
I went with a small list of things I needed. I came away with a couple of extra things, but they are earmarked for projects that I hope to start and finish this week. I don’t feel like I lost my mind despite the temptations. The little scissors were a nice gift from SueG.
I feel like this shop was a trip down memory lane for me. I saw so many things that reminded me of projects I had worked on or quilts I had made.
Julie is already on top of the visit. She wrote about it on her blog a few days ago.
Quilts & Things is in a strip mall not far from the freeway, though I wasn’t driving, so look at a map. The shop is worth a visit. The people were friendly, the lady working knew people who came in and there was a good selection of quiltmaking supplies.
There are a few restaurants in the mall and a Dollar Store, which was interesting to visit.
Quilts & Things
16985 Monterey St, Ste 316, Morgan Hill, CA 95037
Tel: +1 408 776 8438 Online Store – always open. 🙂
Hours: Mon – Fri 11am – 5ish
Saturday 11am – 4ish
Sunday *Closed
**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 website.
