I know I talked about my plans a month or so ago, but hadn’t started it yet. After thinking about this quilt for awhile, I finally started it and it is making me super happy.
I am following the directions in Kaffe’s book, Quilts in the Cotswolds**. However, I am not using many of the fabrics he suggests. I am pulling out the Philip Jacobs fabrics I have stashed for awhile and have not yet used for backs. I am fussy cutting flowers from them and arranging them in a pleasing way. I have also used, so far, one Anna Maria Horner print and one Martha Negley print. I’ll probably had more different prints. The flowers are by no means in their final location. I want to spread them out so the pinks are not all together. For now I am placing them in the order I cut them so I can easily count them.
Stash Fabrics Art Gallery solids
For the sashing, I am using solids I recently purchased from Stash Fabrics. I plan to arrange them in gradation order and use a different solid for each section, gradating out from light to dark.
Every day I have been spending a little time cutting. I may need to sew some pieces and parts together to gain space on my design wall, but that is a decision for another day. In the meantime I am enjoying showcasing the beautiful flowers.
**I use affiliate links and may be paid for your purchase of an item when you click on an item 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.
Someone commented on the Paint Tube fabric when I was at Sew Day. I sent along the post I wrote about past gifts I have given to my mom. It has been awhile, so I decided to update it. I might do another update after her birthday, but here are the various gifts I have made for her with different artist fabrics I have collected.
Sweet Dreams Pillowcase
Mom’s Pencil Roll Open
Mom’s Jane Market Tote in Paintbox fabric
Mom’s Watercolor Box Sew Together Bag
Mom’s Apron Front
Poolside Tote for Mom
Mom’s Paint Tube Flapper Apron
Mom’s Mega Pinnie side 2
Mom’s Persimmon Pouch
Mom’s Scissor Keeper
Inside Outside Pouch finished
Paint Tube Purse Organizer
I was able to find the Sweet Dreams pillowcase. I forgot I made that for her. I also have a few in the pipeline for Mother’s Day and I am sure I will make more for Christmas.
The last Journey 2 Nebula project (except for the bonus project, which I am not doing) is Gazebo. I sort of did the whole project in order to do this one for myself. By the time I finished Candy Dish, I was kind of sick of the whole thing. All of the projects were well received by their recipients, was a relief. I don’t know what my problem was. I enjoyed it until December-ish.
I think life ended up overwhelming me. Big surprise since it was December!
Gazebo Progress
However, I like this design, so I decided just to cut it out and do it. I started after lunch one day. I was able to get the whole thing cut out and pieced by the end of the day. I was also able to make the back and start quilting it.
I worked hard on the fabrics. Since this was for me, I really thought about the look I wanted and am pleased with my choices.
Recently, I bought a Purse Organizer pattern from Svetlana at Sotak Handmade. This pattern came out in 2015, but it was new to me. I made two of them in quick succession around New Year and can see this pouch becoming a go-to pattern for a quick, useful gift.
Purse Organizer
The excellent thing is that I was reminded how easy Zipper slip pockets (top pocket with the green zipper) are to add! Tim and I have talked about these types of pockets recently, but I was reluctant despite the cool zipper ruler I bought. This pattern got me back into the swing of those zipper slip pockets and I feel more confident that I can put them into any bag. I did have trouble keeping the zipper straight as I sewed it, so that is something to work on.
I made good progress right before Christmas on these bags. I wanted to finish them, but life got in the way.
I was pleased when I attached the lining to the exterior and saw how the embellishment lined up. YAY! It looks like I knew what I was doing!
Dresden Plate 2020 STB
The Dresden Plate version came out pretty well also. I like how just part of it shows. I am pleased with the colors, though I wonder if I should have backed the Dresden Plate. I think that dark blue of the exterior is showing through some of the lighter blues. Not a huge deal, but something to consider in the future.
Hexie 2020 STB
I need to adjust my hexagon version a little. Almost the entire motif is on the bottom of the bag and mostly unseeable. 🙁 I am still considering taking the exterior off the lining, ripping out the hexies and re-appliqueing them to the exterior higher up. That is a lot of ripping. I think it is more likely that I will make a new hexie motif and add it to the front where it can be seen. If the exterior fabric weren’t a blender, I would be fine with leaving it as is, but it is a little boring compared to the others.
This is the mask I made for my SIL to go with the Butterfly Cotton Candy Pouch. I actually finished it on December 19. As I have said, I have to wait to show off gifts as some of my recipients read this blog.
I was amazed at how easily it went together. I really didn’t have any problems after getting re-oriented back to the pattern. It gave me heart to get back to some of the masks that are languishing half finished on my cutting table.
I made good progress on the linings before Christmas. I spent one whole Sunday putting the linings together. As I think I have mentioned, I really need more horizontal surfaces to layout my projects.
I am pleased with how it sewed up into a 3D lining in a relatively straightforward manner. I used a denim needle this time and the sewing went a lot better. I don’t want to say it was easy, but I didn’t fight with the layers as much as I did last time.
I think the white looks very clean and fresh.
Green Lining – STB 2020
The green version looks good, too. i used a scrap of a vintage feedsack for the pincushion. I don’t know if the recipient will appreciate that touch, but I like it.
The zippers for the inside are forest green. A little boring, but the recipient likes green so….
I have to say that as much as I complain about the Ultimate Carry All Tote, the way she makes the pockets to minimize the layers would work very well with this bag, too.
I am really not disliking this process as much as I have in the past. It is possible that I should say, I am not struggling as much as I have in the past.
I finished the Butterfly pouch I talked about the other day. It was a relatively quick project and despite some problems I am happy with how it turned out.
I resolved the size issue by cutting off the excess on the side panels. I think this is a little smaller than others I have made, but I still like it. I am particularly happy with the fussy cutting of the main panel.
Butterfly Cotton Candy pouch finished – inside
The inside fabric is a really good choice, if I do say so myself. It is a bright white and reflects the light really well. I think this means that SIL will be able to see her stuff easily.
In Austria the traditional greeting for the New Year is ‘Gute Rutsch’, which means good slide into the new year. I hope your slide out of 2020 and into 2021 was pleasant and happy. Thanks for reading. I look forward to another year of you reading my thoughts and posts about my projects.
Articles, Media, Exhibitions and Shows
I found an article about Sarah Bond’s family history and how quilts have been a part of that history since the early 1800s.
Pantone has released their Color of the Year for 2021. This year they chose 2 colors. The grey is ok, though a little dark for my use. The yellow is too neon-y for me. Pops of it would spark up a quilt.
Cloudless
Kona has done a much better job with their color for 2021. Their blue-sky hue called Horizon is much more my speed. It is similar to the color we painted part of our house last year. That color was called Cloudless from Sherwin-Williams and I am very fond of it.
Fabric, Notions, Supplies, Books & Tools
The Dream Cart site has some nice looking storage solutions. They are not cheap, but if they are well constructed and not flimsy, then the price seems fair. These do not seem to be available on Amazon.
I saw groups of magazine downloads at Quilting Daily. For example, you can get all the2017 issues of Quiltmaker for $35ish. I can’t decide if that is a good price or not. For 2017 issues, it seems high to me, but I understand they may be paying artists, editors, etc. I thought the prices would be lower. Anyway, if you are looking for magazines to flip through on your new tablet, check these out.
Check out the catalog for Sew Expo, Puyallup! Sew Expo, 2021 will be a virtual show. Now is your chance to attend without leaving home! Although there isn’t too much of a quilty nature there are some interesting looking classes. Mister Domestic (Matthew Boudreaux) will be teaching. Sue R posted this on my guild’s member forum.
Friend Julie (all over this post, I know! She is a font of information) told me about Fabric Bubb, an online quilt shop. I was pleased to see they have the Cotton Couture solids by Michael Miller. I do wonder about the names of some shops. I am sure there is a good story there.
The Royal School of Needlework is encouraging people of all stitching abilities to create a piece of hand embroidered art in the form of a postcard about an aspect of your home, garden or region. They want the “RSN Postcard from Home” project to go viral. Find more information on the RSN website. Use the hashtag #RSNPostcardFromHome
Sarah Ann Smith has a free pattern for pattern weights on her website. If you do not sew garments, these can also be used for taming unruly interfacing.
Jennie, from Clover & Violet, has a[nother] zipper pouch video tutorial. One thing she says in this tutorial, which I have never heard is that top stitching next to the zipper helps keep the lining from getting caught in the zipper teeth. That makes a lot of sense to me. She is slowly adding tutorials and other videos to her YouTube Channel. Remember I mentioned the hidden zipper tutorial from Sotak Handmade? I see in the available Clover & Violet videos that they have a two part series on adding a hidden zipper to the back of pillow. You can start with part 1.
Somehow I missed that Joan Hawley is the brains behind Lazy Girl Designs. I went and took a look at her website and found the Freebies area, which has a number of great tutorials and patterns. I like the 1 hour 1 yard free tote bag. There is also a PDF area of hacks where Joan gives information on sewing on a button by machine, choosing zipper colors and making a lanyard for guild (or other meetings).
Yes, Christmas is over, but I keep thinking about bunting. I saw the Apple Green Cottage tutorial and think I might try and make one for Thanksgiving. My sister made me a paper version for birthdays, but never got around to the Thanksgiving version. Perhaps I’ll get my SIL to embroider some of the designs from the napkins as well as letters.
Friend Julie pointed me to a[nother] mask tutorial. I haven’t tried it, but it looks similar to the one I use. I like the pointy bit for the nose, so it will be worth a try. According to an interview with epidemiologists I read , we will be wearing masks for the next 12-18 months at least.
Take a look at the info Julie provided on block printing. We block printed our Christmas cards a million years ago, but haven’t done anything since.
I found another eye mask tutorial. I am not sure I want to bind the whole thing. It seems easier to just flip right sides out after sewing and top stitch. Still, it is another option.
A friend posted examples of this market bag on the Kaffe group on FB. I really like the way it looks.
I saw a photo on Instagram of a pouch. Big deal, right? The photo was in charisecreates top 9 for 2020 post. The pouch was shown on the left in the middle. I love the curve of the top of the pouch. I looked around and the pattern, apparently is in a book called Perfectly Pretty Patchwork by Kristyne Czepuryk. I was able to see some parts of it on amazon, but nothing about this particular pattern. At the moment, I don’t want to buy the book as 1)I have enough patterns and 2) I don’t want to buy a pattern for one pouch. The other projects in the book weren’t interesting to me. Granted I didn’t see them all, but from what I saw I don’t want to invest. Sadly, the library doesn’t have it either.
Karen the DIY Addict posted a YouTube tutorial on the flat back stitch. The flat back stitch is useful for sewing EPP pieces together.
Other Artists
Friend Julie pointed me to an article that references FabMo. I scanned through the article and was pleased to see that the artist featured, who gets her materials through FabMo, makes pieces that are not a jumbled mess. Jumbled messes are perfectly valid forms of art, especially if they create some kind of discussion. I prefer to see FabMo’s materials used in a creative way that conveys a story I can understand or being to parse. I also like to see good technique, which the artist also demonstrates. The piece that highlighted these thoughts for me was Dare! by Zwia Lipkin.
**I use affiliate links and may be paid for your purchase of an item when you click on an item 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 thinking about the two tool totes, I decided to compare them. I already talked a little about them in the Gift Post, but I think showing photos would help you decide which you want to make. I made the Quilts Illustrated pattern in 2018. I use it for my bag making supplies. It is handy to keep them all in one place.
Sheffield Tool Bag v. Quilts Illustrated Tool Tote
As you can see from the photo above, the overall shape of both bags is substantially similar. The Sheffield Tote is larger than the QI Tool Tote. The Sheffield also has some 3D pockets in addition to the slip pockets on the outside. These additional pockets provide extra storage, though I wonder if the items in those pockets would fall out in transit?
The other thing I notice is that the handles are different. They are different widths and made from different techniques. I picked up the QI Tool Tote the other day and found it heavy. With all of my bagmaking hardware and supplies, it would be. That made me worried about the handles breaking. I think if I made the QI version again, I would make the handles wider.
That being said, I have not filled the Sheffield Tool Bag so I don’t know how it will feel with items inside. I do like the padded version of the handles (see tutorial – you can add these to any bag) for a bag like this and will add them next time I made the Sheffield.
Sheffield Tool Tote – inside
Tool Tote: big mouth opening
The other thing I like about these bags is the frame. I haven’t made a lot of bags with frames, but the wide mouth aspect, enabled by the frame, on both bags is awesome. The maker can see into the entirety of both bags.
Again, the pockets are different. The Sheffield has more 3D pockets on the inside while the QI Tool Tote has slip pockets, including some on the ends. In a way I like the slip pockets better. I can see making a smaller slip pocket for the second pocket on the outside of the Sheffield instead of the 3D pockets. I might also make slip pockets for the inside of the Sheffield.
There is a lot of scope for imagination, as Anne Shirley would say, in this style of bag. I encourage you to try it out.
I thought I would pull out my photo of my beloved Pooh in his Happy New Year gear. Last year my wish was to have another year of exchanging quiltmaking and sewing information. I hope we achieved that. I made my best effort with all of my posting and sewing.
Let’s hope 2021 isn’t quite as crazy as 2020, but that we can still exchange quiltmaking and sewing. I plan to sew a lot.
I reached 100 yards used for the first time ever! I actually made it up to 113 by 12/17/2020. I was super excited. Of that 28% was for charity quilts. Of course, then, after writing the post about the Kaffe quilt, I went and bought some fabric, ended up with 95 net fabric used. Oh well! I take comfort in the 152 gross yards used.
Finished 2020 Quilt Projects
Six quilts are now complete for the year. I am thrilled.
In Process
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.
Small Projects to Make or in Process
Most of my progress involves thinking or just cutting.
One Hour Basket for organizing my decks of cards – Creative Strength, mindfulness, etc. I may switch to one of the Minikins or a Catch All Caddy projects for this purpose.
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 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
Ultimate Project Organizer – another project from the Crafty Gemini Organizer Club, also on my list, but not yet started
Officer gifts for January 2021 – working on the project and nearing completion
Ultimate Carry All Bag – Bag-a-Long for BAM – I have the inside pockets made and am struggling with the front pocket.
Westchester shirt – this is a Crafty Gemini pattern. I bought the fabric at PIQF in 2018 and just need to make it. The pattern comes with a video, so there is hope it will be wearable.
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.
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 actually don’t 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. 🙁
Lobster – I think I will make this into a tablerunner for our 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 and still have to get it back. Thus, I had to move this to the WIPs area.
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.
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 sew the satin stitching. Red Scribbles and Friend Julie helped me come up with this solution. Now I just have to do it!
“Sometimes the world’s problems are so big we think we can do little to help. On our own we cannot end wars or wipe out injustice, but the cumulative impact of thousands of small acts of goodness can be bigger than we imagine.”Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II
This year I contributed something positive to the world.
Like last year, I still have in the back of my mind that I would like to make 30 donation blocks per month-360 in a year. This year’s achievement is 124 blocks. I feel like I have made a good effort even if I haven’t quite achieved my goal.
Red/white donation block
Red/white donation block 2
Red/white donation block 3
Red/white donation block 4
Two Donation Blocks – January
Scrappy Community Quilt Day block 13
Scrappy Community Quilt Day block 12
Scrappy Community Quilt Day block 11
Scrappy Community Quilt Day block 10
Scrappy Community Quilt Day block 9
Scrappy Community Quilt Day block 8
Scrappy Community Quilt Day block 7
Scrappy Community Quilt Day block 6
Scrappy Community Quilt Day block 5
Scrappy Community Quilt Day block 4
Scrappy Community Quilt Day block 3
Scrappy Community Quilt Day block 2
Scrappy Community Quilt Day block 1
Blue strip donation block 1
Blue strip donation block 2
Blue strip donation block 3
Blue strip donation block 4
Blue strip donation block 5
Blue Strip donation block #6
Blue Strip donation block #7
Blue Strip donation block #8
Blue Strip donation block #9
Blue Strip donation block #10
Blue Strip donation block #15
Blue Strip donation block #11
Blue Strip donation block #16
Blue Strip donation block #13
Blue Strip donation block #19
Blue Strip donation block #20
Blue Strip donation block #17
Blue Strip donation block #18
Blue Strip donation block #24
Blue Strip donation block #25
Blue Strip donation block #23
Blue Strip donation block #22
March 16 Patch #1
March 16 Patch #2
March 16 Patch #3
March 16 Patch #4
March 16 Patch #5
March 16 Patch #6
March 16 Patch #7
March 16 Patch #8
March 16 Patch #9
March 16 Patch #10
March 16 Patch #11
March 16 Patch #12
Traffic Pattern block #1
Traffic Pattern block #2
Traffic Pattern block #3
Traffic Pattern block #4
Traffic Pattern block #5
Traffic Pattern block #6
Traffic Pattern block #7
Traffic Pattern block #8
Traffic Pattern block #9
Red Donation Block
Pink Donation Block
Pinky-red Donation Block
Red Donation Block
Warm Spiky 16 Patch #1
Warm Spiky 16 Patch #2
Blue donation block – March 2020
Blue donation block – March 2020
Red donation block
Pinkish donation block
Tula All Stars donation block
Yellow space donation block
Orange-pink donation block
Blue donation block
Yellow donation block
Red donation block
New Blue Spiky 16 Patch #1
New Blue Spiky 16 Patch #2
Blue multi donation block
Blue multi donation block n.2
Blue multi donation block n.3
Bright yellow donation block
Dull yellow donation block
Hansel & Gretel donation block
Stripey donation block
Red-violet donation block
Mixed dots donation block
Black & white donation block
Black poppy donation block
Bonnie & Camille donation block
Red & Green donation block
Traffic Jam 2- Block #1
Traffic Jam 2- Block #2
Traffic Jam 2- Block #3
Traffic Jam 2- Block #4
Traffic Jam 2- Block #5
Traffic Jam 2- Block #6
Traffic Jam 2- Block #7
Traffic Jam 2- Block #8
Traffic Jam 2- Block #9
Traffic Jam 2- Block #10
Traffic Jam 2- Block #11
Traffic Jam 2- Block #12
Breakfast donation block
Black & White donation block
Blue Chrysanthemums donation block
Blue Chrysanthemums #2 donation block
Aqua Circle donation block
Black & White 2 donation block
Pinky Red donation block
Black & Peach donation block
Mid-October Bonnie & Camille leftovers
Plaid Donation Block #8
Plaid Donation Block #7
Plaid Donation Block #6
Plaid Donation Block #5
Light Blue donation block
Blue Square Donation Block
Blue Strip Donation Block #3-1
Blue Strip Donation Block #3-2
I didn’t take photos of all of the donation blocks I made:
As I said earlier this month, I finished the Sheffield Tool Bag the week before Christmas.
I am usually pretty pleased with the Sew Sweetness patterns, but I found this one particularly easy to put together. The ease of putting together this bag was in direct contrast to my memory of putting the Quilt Illustrated Tool Tote together.
Sheffield Tool Tote – top
I found two tricky parts and the zipper was involved with both. First was the zipper panel and the video remedied my confusion. The second was the other/non-zipper tab end of the zipper and I am not sure how to remedied that beyond using a matching thread to the zipper and hoping for the best. I’d like to put a zipper tab on instead of folding over the ends of the zipper on that one end. I’ll think about that for future versions. I’d like to make another one of these bags.
On the bright side, I feel like I finally got the concept of ‘veering the zipper’. I talked more about this during the making of the Pink & Green Cotton Candy pouch. There is something about the way it was presented in the Sheffield Tool Bag video that fixed the concept in my head. Yay!!
It has a different feel than the Quilt Illustrated Tool Tote, though I believe the supplies were similar. I haven’t checked the Quilt Illustrated pattern recently, however, and I know I quilted the outside of the QI Tool Tote, though that is an option for the Sew Sweetness pattern as well.
Sheffield Tool Tote – inside
I am particularly fond of the inside. Despite being canvas and VERY loosely woven, I love the design motifs of the fabric I used for the lining.
Now that I know where all the pieces are going to be used, I would make different fabric choices for future versions. Still, I believe the white fabric makes the inside light enough to see all of the supplies (and stuff) that would go inside.
Sheffield Tool Tote – front
I didn’t have enough fabric for the slip pockets to be the same on both sides of the bag, so I used similar colors, but different fabrics. I think they look ok. The ice cream fabric was used so that it goes with the Classmates tote I made last year.
