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.
Book Pouch -open
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.
Zipper tab
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.
Nykky’s Rose Enigma-top, open
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.
Nykky’s Rose Enigma-back
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.
Nykky’s Enigma-riveted
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.
Nykky’s closet
The next Enigmas will be finished on the Elna, so hopefully, I won’t have as many problems.
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.
Pink Echinacea I Spy – small
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.
Pink Echinacea I Spy – small – back
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! 😉
Rose I Spy – medium
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.
Rose I Spy – medium for the Newfoundland templates
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.
Tim’s Enigma – open
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.
Tim’s Enigma – back, closed
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.
Poppy I Spy – large, back
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.
Poppy I Spy – large for Mustang templates
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.
The sad part is that it only took me about an hour to finish it. The hardest part was turning it right side out as I had used a little too much interfacing.
I reflected on the stumbling block in an effort to avoid that particular problem in the future.
Paris Cell Phone Wallet – open
The issue was that I ran out of the Paris fabric before I could cut all the pieces. As you can see I decided to use an AGF solid, Festival Fuschia for the pieces where I didn’t have enough fabric. I think it looks fine! And DONE is better than perfect, right?
The reason I got back to it, however is the guild’s UFO challenge. I might grumble about it, but it is helping me to get some projects off my To Do list, which is a good thing.
Even though I don’t know what the next number will be I might start working on one of my other UFOs.
I finished another EPP Ball a week or so ago. This one is heading off to a Farmer’s market for my friend to sell. It’s a new adventure for me and we will see how it goes.
I have never wanted to sell my creations, because I love making things and want to continue to use it as a method of expressing my creativity as well a way to reduce stress.
EPP Ball #11: orange & pink
This foray has a fairly low commitment. I am sending her two items to sell. I priced them on the high side, so we will see. I don’t want to encourage orders or people telling me what colors to use.
This one does not have any Beanie Baby pellets inside it. I had a reason for not including them, but I don’t remember what it is. I am working on another one and will add the pellets.
EPP Ball #11: orange & pink
Working on this project has made me want to get back to La Passacaglia, which is languishing.
Megan’s Bone Enigma has been on my list for awhile. It doesn’t show up on any of my 26 Projects lists, because I hadn’t started cutting or sewing. It only shows up on my UFO Challenge list, because I have been wanting to make it for awhile and hadn’t quite gotten to it.
I could have waited to write the “All the Enigmas” post, but I will have to write another one as I am already cutting others out.
Megan’s Bone Enigma-interior
This bag goes with Megan’s Hand Bone Hackney. She said she liked this fabric and I hope that is true. I bought it for another purpose for which the fabric will not be used. I did make several projects from it, but still have at least 1.5 yards left.
One thing I did on the bottom, which are pieces that need to be quilted, was fuse the fabric, both lining and exterior, to the foam using MistyFuse**. I had forgotten to cut the lining and exterior larger before quilting and wanted to try and mitigate shrinkage. I think I could have left the bottom unquilted, because the MistyFuse really adhered well to the fabric. I was kind of surprised since the MistyFuse has been laying around my workroom for years.
I am pleased with how the center looks. I just feel like it came out really well. The fabric, a Birch Organic, looks really great.
Megan’s Bone Enigma-bottom
I tried really hard to line up the fabric so that the motifs were oriented in the right way.
In the photo of the bottom you can see how the motifs are oriented towards the top. See the handle? When the bag is closed the part of the bottom with the skull forms the back of the bag and that skull as well as the other motifs are right side up.
Megan’s Bone Enigma-bottom-> back – closed
Cool, huh? Sadly, I did not match up the motifs on the top piece with the back piece. I was pretty proud of myself for doing this much, though I don’t think anyone will notice. *I* notice and that is what is important!
Megan’s Bone Enigma-top closed
I am on the fence about the striped handle and pull tabs. I didn’t have any solid black at the time I cut those. The design works pretty well, but I think a solid black would have been better. Or maybe a black and grey stripe? Not sure, but I’ll have to think about it. I did use this same strip on the handle of Hand Bone Hackney, so that is something.
An unintended effect looking at the top is that the handle is enclosed by two hand bone motifs! It looks kind of cool.
I also used MaryC’s rivet press at Sew Day to put rivets on the handle. I am super excited about that!!
Megan’s Bone Enigma -side
Megan’s Bone Enigma -side
I still love the diagonal zipper. I thought the zipper tape I chose would be too large, but it worked out ok.
Well, even though that number hasn’t been picked in the UFO Challenge, I have finished it. I am giving it to Megan today, so needs must.
**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.
I wanted to make a second donation top for the year and going through a stack of fabric helped. I found the neutral background and that cemented my resolve.
I used the edges that Colleen cut off of Gelato #2 to start this donation quilt. That back was quite large, so I had long pieces from which to choose.
I shoot for about 40×40 for these quilts so a yard of fabric total works. The neutral I found was a half yard.
Ends n.23 back
Except for the back, I didn’t need to dig into my bins of fabric. I chose some light oranges for the back, then dutifully measured and put together some batting scraps for the batting.
I finished the Project Bag that has been on my list for a long time. Or what feels like a long time. The last time I posted about project bags was a year ago and I was thinking about making this project bag.
I wanted to make sure that the zipper tape was covered. The ByAnnie patterns don’t always take care about that and it is a particular annoyance of mine. I know it doesn’t really matter, but I like the zipper tapes completely covered, even on the inside.
My extra large project bag-back
MaryC uses a technique where she folds a piece of zipper tab fabric in half and slips the zipper tape in then sews and folds the excess back. I tried that this time and found it worked well. My only problem was that I made the piece too small in width. I had to add an an extra piece on top to close the gap. Still I liked the technique. I just need to figure out a better size for the zipper tabs. I think I might have read the pattern wrong and reading it correctly might help. We’ll see if I make this bag again. I think I have enough project bags for the moment. I don’t want too many as it will encourage UFOs.
This is #9 on the guild UFO challenge. I’ll bring it to Sew Day to show off.
I am into sneak peeks lately! You got one the other day about this finished Pandora Charisma.
Yep!
Finished! Done! Complete!
I powered through a lot of the finishing steps, which were the hardest, on Friday so the bag could be done for the Month 1: UFO challenge reveal.
When I brought it to Sew Day, as mentioned, I wanted to add some additional rivets, but for all intents and purposes, it was done before I did that. I am pretty pleased with it, though I know there are things I could do better and want to do better.
Pandora Charisma – back, finished
I am really pleased with the back. I think it looks awesome and I can’t really believe that I made it using all the weird substrates.
The zippers look good, but I wasn’t happy with the way the teeth were so high up from the zipper tape (the teeth were not flush or flush-ish with the tape). Also, there was something strange about the zipper tape. I am going to use a different brand when I make this bag again, maybe Wawak or ByAnnie continuous zippers next time. Using the continuous zipper was good for small zipper areas like the back zipper shown on the photo, right. The teeth were too high, but I had to secure the zipper with fabric, so the stitches looked ok. In general, though the high teeth kept me from making nice straight stitches. It was good that I had enough continuous zipper yardage to have the same zipper tape on all of the many zippers required for this bag.
Pandora Charisma – large pocket, open
Pandora Charisma – large pocket, open
There are a lot of pockets and places to hold stuff in this bag. The front pocket is like a regular purse area. the main area has a mesh pocket, which will keep things safe but handy and a slip pocket. The leash is very useful for keys, but also for attaching anything you don’t want to lose. That leash could be made of ribbon, tiny webbing or leather.
Pandora Charisma – tablet pocket, open
The back pocket has a small tablet sleeve, which is padded to keep your Kindle, iPad or other type of tablet safe. The pocket opens a lot more narrowly, so you have to use that side for items that can be slipped in and out.
The most challenging part of this bag can be seen in the photo, left, and that is the binding. The final step, which, seriously, almost made me give up, is putting the bag together then binding the edges. It is really hard to shove so many layers under the needle and get it to look ok. I did one side of some of the bindings by hand, which was a big effort, but looked a lot better than my first binding by machine. My binding effort is not stellar, but I was able to finish.
I do want to make another. I plan to borrow my mom’s 1960s Emdeko machine, which is one of those all metal machines that can sew through anything. I also plan to go through the pattern while I have the bag at hand and decide which pockets I can sew in vinyl, which need more interfacing, etc, so I am more prepared next time. I also want to count up all the hardware I used so I have matching hardware when I make the next one.
I am really pleased that I finished it and plan to take some time to relax with some easy projects.
You got a sneak peek the other day that I had finished this quilt. I plan to enter it into the Fair, so I need to start working on a sleeve. I could have made it when I made the binding and prepared the quilt for longarming, but I didn’t think of it so here we are.
My quilt holder is my youngest nephew. He spends at least once a week with me doing yard work, though the day I took this picture his duties expanded to quilt holding. This was his first outing as quilt holder and he is as tall as the YM or DH, but you can see the quilt pretty well.
Triumphant back – finished
I used much of the leftover fabric for the back, which I really like.
This was a great quilt to finish, because I’ll be really happy to see how the recipient likes it.
I think I am calling this quilt Gelato, because of the style in which I pieced the first one, but more because of the name of the fabric I used for the first quilt.
Gelato #2 back
The back is pretty wild, but I also like how cheerful it is. This is what happens when I pull out all of my backing fabrics and pull out ones I haven’t seen in awhile.
