I have been working steadily on sewing the La Passacaglia rosettes together. As I watch others from the group post their finished quilts, I despair at finishing. However, I remember that I should not compare myself to others. I also note that I AM making progress.
This is the upper right hand corner. I have just added one of the M17 rosettes, the emerald and chartreuse rosette towards the bottom left.
Even though this is nowhere near the whole piece, it is quite large. I still have the papers, mostly, still on the back. The pieces are getting a little too unwieldy to keep them in much longer. Of course, the pieces I want to stay in are starting to loosen and fall out. Figures!
I worked hard on the Enigma in an effort to add my week 4 sew-a-long effort to the other efforts.
Enigma Zipper Pouch
One of the features of this bag is the interior zipper pocket. It is one of the first sewing steps and I am pleased with how it came out. I am not sure how this will come out, but based on what I know about this type of construction, I am happy with how it came out. I think the pocket is well prepared to be inserted into the accordion pieces.
I started to put the whole pouch together and found the construction to be really interesting.
Side panel with zipper
I like the way the bag, at this point, is hanging off the zipper. I still have to install the bottom at this point.
I have been wondering about what would happen if I applied Odicoat to a finished bag. I haven’t been brave enough to try it on a bag I have made. After returning from my trip, I decided to try it on the bag I used as a handbag.
I am pretty pleased with how it came out. This bag is made from some kind of canvas. It is a very heavy fabric.
I applied the Odicoat to the bottom of the bag only. It turned out that the bottom became stiffer. It’s also slightly sticky or, maybe, just not smooth.
I have heard that Odicoat shrinks up fabric. I didn’t see that in this bag. Still, the Odicoat will keep the bottom of this bag clean.
I also don’t think this is a great example of what can happen with regular quilting cotton.
The Enigma Bag is part of the Minikins Season 4 group of patterns. Sara is having a Sew-a-Long for this bag. I missed most of the opportunities to post my steps as part of the sew-a-long, but I still wanted to make the bag. I started it yesterday.
I used some of the fabric I had Colleen quilt onto foam. It was a little hard to cut, but much easier to work with than having to quilt something on the spot.
This is an interesting bag. It reminds me of the Sew Together Bag in terms of the way it opens.
I spent some time yesterday just sewing donation blocks, including these Spiky 16 Patches. I came home to all the pieces on the floor. This is a problem with my new design wall that is making me crazy. I decided to get them off the floor and sewing together.
These will be part of another donation quilt. You saw these blocks unpieced back in April. I hope to have the fourth one finished sometime this week so I can put the top together in time for Sew Day.
In case you didn’t notice, I just got back from a work trip to Switzerland and a side trip to visit friends in Austria. It sounds glamorous and it is exciting to say I went to work in Switzerland for two weeks. It is hard work, though, being in another location. I am so happy to be home, even though I was happy to meet my team mates in person for the first time. I am also happy I got to see some friends that I haven’t seen since 2016.
Basilika Rankweil
I prepared most of the posts for April 28-May 18 in advance, so you wouldn’t notice that I was gone.
This trip, I took more videos than I have in the past and used the panorama photo function more than I have previously. The views were even more dramatic this time than in the past. Or I don’t remember them being this dramatic.
Pfaender to Bodensee
There was quite a bit of rain while I was there and the clouds created most of the drama. The rain means that the landscape is really green, which I love.
I got to see friends, I was able to visit Basel, a new city to me and see some dramatic cityscapes. I also got to take several train trips, which I like. I moved around a lot, which is exhausting and it made me realize I need a lighter suitcase. My suitcase has been a workhorse, but it is getting too much for me to haul around, mostly because it is somewhat heavy even empty.
Spalentor, Basel
The worst part of the trip was that I didn’t bring any handwork. HUGE mistake that I will not make again.
Anyway, it was a great trip, but I am glad to be home.
The dots were really different than I have seen before. I think it was the colors, because the Tula Tiny Beasts dots are similar in size.
I love that chocolate fabric and have used it for Sweet Dreams pillowcases before. The fabric above is a little different from the ones I have bought before, but similar. It is just fun fabric and makes great pillowcases.
Here is the last Cork I Spy pouch I made at Retreat. The lining fabric is one of my favorites and I just had a bit of it left. I had just enough for the large lining piece.
In general for the three pouches, I found the cork to be easy to sew, but not easy to turn. If (when?) I use cork again on an I Spy pouch, I will definitely round the corners. I think it will make the project much easier to turn.
All that being said, I thought the corners looked fine when I finally did get the pouch turned. I gave these to some work colleagues and they loved them.
I didn’t get to see all the quilts I have sent or taken to Austria, but, as you have seen, I was able to see a few.
Russian Rubix was the last one I saw. It was also one of the first ones I sent to Austria. It looks pretty good.
One of the issues is that Austrians use a different kind of bedding, so the quilts don’t really fit in. Still, I am glad to see it on a bed, even if they just put it there so I could see it.
I visited Family Threads quilt shop in San Juan Batista before the Retreat. This is a great quilt shop. There was a wide variety of fabrics, lots of patterns, bag supplies, solids and good notions.
The shop was small, but they had a wide variety of fabric. They had many, many panels hanging around the upper part of the ceiling. This is only the second shop I have seen with so many panels.
Family Threads main room
The shop also had a lot of fabric. They also had a wide variety of fabrics I hadn’t seen. I saw a lot of novelty fabrics that I have only seen online. Now I know I can go to somewhere relatively nearby and actually look at some fabrics.
The bolts on the floor in the front were a wide variety of polka dots. You can see the main color. The dot colors were all different.They weren’t just white. Yes, I bought a couple of fat quarter packs.
In the photo, right, you can also see the panels mentioned above.
Family Threads main room
The isn’t exactly crammed, but every surface was well used. There are also a lot of different textures in the storage furniture. In the photo, left, you can see the interesting sides of the white shelf.
The shop had lots of pre-cuts and not just jelly rolls. The polka dots I mentioned above were all over the shop in fat quarter packs. There were different combinations, too. I saw some monochromatic packs in blue and others with a selection of rainbow fat quarters.
Family Threads notions
Family Threads notions
The shop had a good selection of notions as well. I was especially impressed with their selection of Creative Grids rulers. You can’t really see the rulers, which are behind the pre-cuts in the photo on the right. You can see a nice selection of some great fabrics in that same photo.
Family Threads solids room
Family Threads solids room
I was thrilled that I finally found a shop that carries Northcott solids. remember I discovered those at QuiltCon in 2016. I didn’t need any the day I was there, but I’ll go back and get some in the future. The solids room was also the shop classroom. Some people were sewing there the day we visited.
Family Threads bagmaking materials
In the vestibule of the solids rooms was where they stored their bagmaking supplies. I was impressed with the setup. The drawers were labelled so it was easy to find different types of interfacing. You calso see straps and webbing stored. I liked this area a lot.
Family Threads patterns area
The shop had a LOT of sample bags and other small projects as well as a wide variety of patterns.
All in all, Family Threads was a great shop and I want to visit again.
Get a different view, though. Julie wrote a good post about what she bought, and the shop.
107 The Alameda, Suite D
PO Box 1203
San Juan Bautista, CA 95045
This 2-in-1 Case is for my Mom for Mother’s Day. I cut this out at Sew Day, I think, and made it at the Retreat.
I forgot to put the foam inside. I did adhere fusible batting, so it has some structure, but it floopier than the others I have made.
I really had trouble with the snaps. I used the Snapsetter and found out that it has to be on a hard surface. The folding table that made my Retreat workstation was not stable enough so I had to redo the top cap twice. I think the bottom part may come off if she isn’t careful, so I’ll have to warn her.
Mom’s 2-in-1-Case – inside
I think she could probably use this for non-sewing stuff in a tote bag or in her purse. I am sure she will think of some way to use it.
I got her a bigger and better gift also, which makes me not so worried about the snap.
Before we could check in to the Retreat center we spent some time in downtown (old town?) San Juan Batista. We had lunch at the Jardines de San Juan. The food there was really good. We sat outside at a big table and enjoyed the sunshine. The restaurant was down the street from the quilt shop.
There weren’t very many people around the town as in it wasn’t packed, but there were plenty of people around.
A. Taix Building, SJB
After lunch we walked around the old part of the town. They had a lot of porches over the sidewalks and a lot of old buildings.
I couldn’t tell if this building was tin, but Julie and SIL #2 said it was decorative brick.
SJB old building
This building is a style that I really like, because of the big windows. I always thought it would be great to have a studio in a building like this, because of the light. I know that light isn’t good for fabric, but I really like working in a nice bright space.
In this building one of the shops was a candy and ice cream store.
Cactus apples
There was a San Juan Batista Historic Park. There was a HUGE cactus, which had a lot of cactus apples on it. Julie knew that they weren’t ripe yet and what color they would be when they were ripe.
It’s interesting how many different textures there are on this plant.
Flowers in SJB
There were also a lot of flowers and blooming plants around. I don’t spend a lot of time outside beyond my walks. I seem to enjoy it when I am outside. I also seem to take photos of a lot of flowers and plants.
In all of these cork I Spy projects, I used 12 inch zippers even though the pattern calls for shorter zippers. It is much easier to cut down a longer zipper after the zipper is installed.
I really like highlighting some good fabrics in the window of the pouch.
