Commentary about works in progress, design & creativity
Lupine is finished.
It is a little large, so my quilt holder had a tough time. I hope to remember to get some guild members to help me get a better photo.
The poor quilt has been languishing between travel and other more urgent projects. In the middle of all the chaos I finally was able to sew the binding down.
Mary and I talked about this pattern when I visited her. She had the pattern it was on her list to make. I saw it at Picking Daisies, as mentioned, and decided to buy it. Noodlehead patterns are pretty good and I was interested to see how the divided lining was created.
Continuing with the Picking Daisies theme, I used the roses fabric I bought during my visit. The front pocket fabric is an Alison Glass, I think. It was in my fabric closet.
I was surprised at how large this basket is. I did look at the dimensions, but I can never visualize them until I see the actual bag made. It would be good temporary storage for a bag project.
I thought, after I made it that I could place a pocket on the back as well for even more storage.
I was pleased to learn the technique for a divider.
I sewed the whole thing together, then realized I really should have anchored the lining, so I took the basket apart and anchored the lining. I was much happier after I did that.
I sent the basket off to its new home and hope the recipient likes it.
Open Wide pouches by Noodlehead make great gifts. As mentioned previously, they are easy to make, but complex enough to be interesting. Also, the pattern is free.
I spent some time making some Open Wide pouches for the wife of a friend of my Mom’s. He drove Mom and stepdad to an appointment on his wife’s birthday. I thought a couple of pouches would show appreciation.
I used the new Martha Negley fabric I bought at Picking Daisies a few weeks ago.
The one thing I did was delve into math again. The pattern tells you to line up the corners, sew and then cut off the excess. I get better results by cutting out a box and then lining up the edges. DH reminded me of the Pythagorean theorem (!!!!). It is one of those with a lot of letters that made me crazy as an eighth grader. More detail on that later.
Needless to say, I used this theorem and my calculator to figure out a box size for these pouches. Closed they look a little weird, but open they look ok. The open wide aspect is so useful.
I’ll have to work on figuring out the best size to make these look ok.
I have to say that exercise was interesting. I showed DH how a pouch goes together every step during the process and he was really interested. I think he thought the practical use of the Pythagorean theorem was fascinating. I have to say that learning the practical use of one of those stupid math concepts was a revelation.
The other thing I noticed was a lot of similarities in the construction of this pouch and the Retreat Pouch, also free, from Emmaline.
I finished another EPP ball. It wasn’t black and white, but the next one will be. 😉
I had fun using chartreuse and pinks. Some of the pinks are pinky-reds, which I like. I think the chartreuse and pink go together very well. The combination isn’t designed for a boy or a girl and could be used for both.
Do you see a lot of pink in my work lately? I am leaning into pink lately. I am not fighting against the urge; I am just going with it. I don’t know what it means or how long it will last, so buckle up.
Finishing the Sheffield took longer than I expected. I thought I was done, then I had to make the false bottom, and add a label and…
No problem. I really enjoyed finishing it. REALLY! I realized that I have been anxious to get through the final assembly of recent bags, because that was the time when I fought with my machine. I didn’t even realize I was fighting with my machine until I used the new machine to put this bag together.
The Sheffield has been on my list to make for a long time. Since I made Gerre hers, I wanted to make one for myself. The open wide design of this bag is very appealing.
The interior is made from an IKEA lightweight canvas I picked up from the free table. My lining is a little saggy baggy, despite the larger seam allowance. The lining will not fly out since I used my hard won knowledge (thanks, Lynette) of anchoring the lining to the exterior. One issue I had is that the pattern pieces for this bag are not square. They are trapezoids. I think something might have happened, because the pieces are trapezoids, when I was sewing the lining together that made them larger than I would have liked. I don’t know.
I finished most of the exterior pieces while visiting MaryM.
I did the final assembly at home after adding a leash and an interior zipper pocket. I wanted to add a slip pocket,but forgot in my excitement.
The handles on this bag are larger than the those indicated in the pattern. Sara has makers position the handles a half inch up from the bottom. This is so the handles clear the seam allowance. Beyond reducing bulk, I am not sure why. I would like to say I will try putting the handles in the bottom seam on my next one, but I am not sure I will make another one.
I think I could have put the poppy fabric on the frame casing. I think it would have added a finish or border to the top of the bag.
Cutting for the frame pocket was confusing. I have to look at the directions again to see where the cutting went wrong. I wanted to have the exterior match the exterior and same for the interior. I ended up with extra lining pieces.
For now I am just excited about the bag. I don’t know for sure how I iwll use it. I am thinking about putting all of my metal tools in in: KAMsnaps, Snap Setter, awl, hammer, etc. If there is space, I could add in webbing as well.
I finally finished this green EPP ball, which had needed stuffing for quite awhile. I love these balls so much!
I wasn’t sure about the green, but made it because I hadn’t made a green one and had bins of green out for the Green Enigma. Seemed like a good plan.
Also, I want there to be some choice in my friend’s store. As mentioned, I have been leaning into pink lately and I know not everyone likes pink.
I also think green is good for boys, though I know I am encouraging stereotyping. I did add a flower to encourage whoever gets this to have a little softness.
I think my next one will be black and white.
One of the first projects I made on my vacation was another snap tray to use while sewing on the go.
My idea was to put the small Snap tray given to me by Lynette in a larger rectangular Snap Tray and use the leftover portion for schnibbles. I didn’t take a photo of it in use, but it worked really well! As long as I put my tools back in the smaller tray, I was able to find them easily. They also did not roll away or fall off the table while I was sewing.
I found that flat things like packs of hand sewing needles and post-its fit well between the two sides of the trays (bottom of photo).
If you want to make one of these, see the tutorial.
I chose cream snaps for the interior, mostly because I didn’t have enough of the pink snaps left.
I like these trays and think they are great for organizing small items.
One of the first projects I finished on my vacation was an I Spy pouch. I wanted to make one for the Chaos templates. There are a lot of them and I want them to be corralled.
The largest size of the I Spy pouch wasn’t large enough for the templates, so I decided to make a larger one.
I wanted to make the new pouch 12×12 inches-ish. I got confused using Mary’s ruler and the pouch ended up being about 10×12 inches.
When I got home I found that the templates all fit, but the I Spy pouches are pretty flat, at least this one is, so the zipper doesn’t quite close. If I had made it with SF101 instead of the Sewfisive foam from Sewfisticated, it probably would have worked perfectly. I love that foam so much, though!
That fairytale fabric was in my pile of backing fabric. I have a few pieces of novelty fabric that have been hanging around for awhile. I thought about donating it, but decided to use it here. It’s fun and provides a good name for yet another I Spy!
As it is, it will do for now. I’ll make another larger one soon and use this one for something else.
I finished the Book Pouch with only a little bit of fiddling. It has already arrived at its new home. I received a lot of nice compliments.
As mentioned, I used the Bristol Pouch pattern by Center Street Quilts as a guide. I am pleased that I was able to use more of the quilted book fabric. There is less of it for me to move around my workroom.
I didn’t focus much on the other fabrics. The lining was the mish mash I used on the table leaf covers. I pulled from scraps and bits I had laying around to finish the pouch.
I didn’t just grab anything; I tried to find a binding that looked cheerful, but also went with the other fabrics. Brown and turquoise go together so I chose a turquoise binding.
The zipper was also a leftover. The tail is a bit long, but still works. I was pleased that the zipper tab technique I found on Instagram worked pretty well. I had to practice a little trial and error, but it worked in the end.
I find out interesting things on Instagram, but some of the videos are too quick and they are hard to follow. This test worked out.
I found a fun zipper pull in the shape of a pair of glasses that I added.
I finished and sent off this latest Enigma to friend who helped me with a project. It matches the Multi-Pocket Organizer that I gave to her last year.
Like the Green Enigma, I struggled with this Enigma. Many things went wrong and I felt like this project took longer than it should have. Still, I think it turned out well and I am pleased I was able to send it off.
The Tula Pink dots look so great on the inside. This line had some challenging colorways, but the pinky-purple is a favorite of mine.
It also lightens up the inside so it easy to find things.
I fussy cut various parts a little bit so the roses would be highlighted on the back.
The rose pink of the background looks very cheerful. The shapes and shading of the flowers are nice as well.
This is one of the bags that I riveted. Riveting the handles adds to the strength of the bag.
My friend sent me a picture of her closet, which she recently had redone. In it I can see the bags I have made her on the shelf.
The next Enigmas will be finished on the Elna, so hopefully, I won’t have as many problems.
The third and final I Spy for this round is a small Echinacea only version.
I am not sure I have made an I Spy with this color of the Echinacea print. I checked the Minikins page and didn’t see one in this colorway. I bought the at Stitch Ferndale on my trip back from Portland in 2024.
I am pretty excited about how well I matched the horizontal zipper tabs on this one. I also feel like this pouch has a delicate look to it.
This pouch will house Purse Tab templates. Mary and I talked about these when we were riveting the other day. They could be used on the Oxbow Tote to reinforce the side, which was an area we decided would be detrimental to rivet, because it would cut the thread on the side seam.
I also top stitched this one since I used the stick-on interfacing, like the other two.
I mentioned making multiple I Spy pouches when I talked about the Poppy I Spy the other day.
I made all three in assembly-line fashion, so they all got done at once and I made the same mistakes with all, which was forgetting the interfacing! 😉
The lining fabric on this pouch is a Heather Bailey print. I only had a fat quarter, or only had a fat quarter left, and fussy cut it so the rose would show up when the bag was empty. The motif would also be a nice surprise when I take out the templates out of the bag.
Somehow the Echinacea print doesn’t clash too badly with the roses. At least I don’t think so. I like using different prints for the lining as it helps me associate a certain template with a certain pouch.
This pouch will be used for the Newfoundland pouch templates. The Newfoundland is a little like the Sew Together Bag as it has an accordion section in the middle creating some organization. It has a similar feel.
I haven’t made the Newfoundland before. Now that I have been reminded that I have the templates, I will put it on my list to try.
I finally finished the green Enigma. I shouldn’t say ‘finally’, though it did take longer than expected. I felt like everything that could go wrong did go wrong and I am not sure why. Still, it looks great and I am not embarrassed to give it as a gift.
I still want to rivet the handles, but that requires a little coordination with my “rivet press dealer”. LOL! And I can give it without the rivets if necessary.
I am still planning on making a few more of these this year. I want to get over the drama I felt making this one and the pink rose one that I still need to finish.
The lining fabric is one I have kind of been saving. I had it in a pink/orange colorway, but think I used it for something. I really like the blue/green colorway and was looking for a special project on which to use it. I didn’t really try to match up the squares, but they sort of ended up that way, which was nice.
Sara of Sew Sweetness’ quarterly challenge has just been announced. The challenge is to use some aspect of quiltmaking in your bag or pouch. This bag requires quilting on the bottom, so it qualifies. I may enter it as my entry. I don’t expect to win, but it is fun to participate.
I cleared out a box of acrylic templates that had been in my fabric closet for awhile. I wanted to be reminded what was in there. I was surprised to find some smaller templates as well the large ones I knew were in there. I am sure I had a plan when I put the small templates in the box, but I didn’t remember the plan when I found them.
I still want to make a bag for large templates, but that is a project for another day. On that day, I decided to make 3 more I Spy pouches, one for each of the template sets.
I like to highlight a special fabric on the lining. I had very little of the Anna Maria Poppy (Bright Eyes??) left, so I decided to use one of them for this pouch. The last time I used this fabric was for the Andalusian pouch.
This large I Spy will be used for the Mustang Purse Organizer templates. I made a set of these for my Mom in 2021. I have a vivid memory of making them in my machine’s old location, which was before I redid the whole room.
For some reason, I forgot to interface the pieces so I added a bit of the Sewfisticated 2mm stick on interfacing right before I closed the turning pocket. It was a little tricky to get the paper off the stick-on side of the interfacing, but I managed it in the end. This interfacing is much thicker than the SF101 called for in the pattern, but it worked.
The interfacing made the pouch very stiff. I top stitched around the whole edge. It made the pouch very structured and I kind of like the feel.
I am also using some tags I bought for another purpose to label the pouches. Thus far, I have been relying on post-it notes, which are unreliable in this context. All of the templates are engraved, but the words are hard to see sometimes.
I did make an I Spy pouch with the poppy print before. I would say ‘great minds think alike’, but I don’t think one can say that when it is yourself! LOL!
I finished the Patchwork Palooza top in January and now the whole quilt is complete: top, back, quilting, binding, sleeve. Done.
I am pleased with how I finished the edges. I think completing the diagonals looks nice.
There are blocks that I wish I had moved, but that will probably always be the case.
DH actually commented that he really liked this quilt. Maybe it will be a gift for him?
I will be entering this quilt into the Fair.
It must be some kind of record! I started this quilt on about September 6, 2025. Here it is, 6 months later finished. I am really happy and kind of stunned as well.
