I know many of you sincerely dislike January, but I LOVE it! It is my birthday month, which is awesome. More importantly, however, it feels fresh and new and full of possibilities. Thus, today, February 1, is the end of January for another year and one of the saddest days of the year for me. People have told me to buck up followed by their stories about Fabulous February. I haven’t been able to shake off the sadness of no more January for another year. Thus, I wanted to do something fun and cheerful.
EPP Ball #11
After finishing the binding on Triumphant, I felt the lack of a hand project. I need another big EPP project, but haven’t committed to one yet. I need to finish La Passacaglia, but am at a point where I need to fish or cut bait on an idea. As a result I started another EPP ball. These are pretty fast to make, which isn’t great for my hand sewing needs. It is however, keeping my hands away from an addictive game on my phone.
I pulled a few 5 inch squares from my 5 inch square bin and began sewing. 5 inch squares are one of the sizes I cut when I am scrap processing.
I don’t have a baby to whom to give this one, but I am sure one will show up in my life.
One of the patterns I used to make holiday gifts was the Stella Pouch from Center Street Quilts. I have made a couple of these before. One was for a swap and one was my contribution to Laura’s gift basket. I got excited about this pattern when I saw the video with a half vinyl version. I also like the ability to see the fabulous prints used for the lining.
Stella Pouch for Carrie
I made three of these for the holidays. There are no specific directions for using vinyl or adding a Flying Geese strip, as Katrina shows in the version linked above. It isn’t difficult to change substrates or add some Flying Geese, but I forgot the Flying in all three pouches! I’m annoyed because foundation paper piecing, in general, takes me forever and I worked hard at getting these strips done for these specific gifts. Oh well. I’ll make some more of these pouches and add the Flying Geese to them.
Stella Pouch for SueG
The other thing I did just to add a bit of flair was use some of my Renaissance Ribbon as the pull tab. I am not sure how practical it will be. I need to start using my ribbon and this was as good a start as any.
The one thing I need to do differently was the zipper end. It was very thick and hard to turn. I talked to Mary about it and probably need to trim more around the zipper. Another good reason to make more of these.
I finished the Chain Link just in time for Christmas. All I had to finish was the binding. It required hand stitching, which seemed to take forever. As DH was holding it up for the photo, he commented on how large it is. I guess that’s why the binding seemed to take forever.
Chain Link back
I don’t mind. I like having some hand stitching to do in the evening.
I made the back as cheerful as I could after digging into my backing pile.
I quickly made this pouch for Tim as a gift. I usually make him a gift, but for some reason I didn’t plan ahead for him. I will in 2026.
I rounded the corners of this version as it was easier to sew. I also used some great hand-dyed fabric that Sonja made for me a long time ago. It is precious so I save it for special projects.
Green I Spy for Tim-back
Tim loves everything green and he uses the bags I give him, so I decided to use some of this precious fabric for him.
Sue has mentioned a few times that she loves my Clippy Pincushion.
I decided that it was time to make a couple for her and Carrie. I hesitated because the pins have to go into the pincushion almost horizontally in order not to get stuck when you grab the item. I have never figured out a way to prevent that. Of course, I haven’t lined the largest pieces with foam or something either. Maybe I’ll try that.
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For a long time I have had the hardware for the Hold Tite Folios. I bought it to make one for myself and one for Friend Julie. She, however, beat me to it and I never made them.
The pattern is free from Lillyella. You have to buy the hardware kits from her Etsy Shop, but they are currently unavailable. I don’t know if you could get the metal, two pieces 26 gauge galvanized sheet metal: 2”x 5.625”, cut at a hardware store or not. I was going to make more of them, but I won’t since the hardware kits aren’t available. Maybe I’ll ask if they can cut metal at the small hardware store in the City that I visit. I doubt Home Despot would do something like that.
Hold Tite Folio (right)
These are useful, because they can carry and contain Sew Tites. The picture is of my Hold Tite Folio since I didn’t take photos of the insides of the ones I made.
The galvanized steel really holds the Sew Tites in place.
I know it doesn’t always seem like it, but I am trying to use various supplies I have on hand. This was one reason I made the Hold Tite Folios. Another is that I like giving useful gifts.
Hold Tite Folio for Carrie
As you can see these match the other gifts I have made for Sue and Carrie. I like making sets.
After making the Hemingways for my sister, I had a piece of quilted foam left over. I have been collecting strips of quilted foam and it is getting a little annoying. It seems like such a waste to throw them away, especially since I spent time to quilt them (or money to have them quilted). However, they are small and I haven’t found a good project for them.
Eventually, I decided to sew the leftover Paris fabric/foam into a pencil or glasses case. I am not sure which it is and will let Lil Sissy decide.
I decided to make a Hemingway pouch for my sister for Christmas. Partly this was to provide a laptop/tablet cover for her and partly because this is a quick project and I hadn’t started a more complicated bag in time to get it done before Christmas.
I made this pattern once before. I ended up with a section of vinyl and half a zipper. This time I decided to take MaryC’s advice and make a small pouch to go with the larger one. Mary uses hers for WonderClips, but Lil Sissy can use her for small cosmetics or dog treats.
I am pretty pleased with how it came out, though the print looks a little sideways. I also meant to add a handle, but forgot in the process of getting it done.
Baby Hemingway – 1st iteration
The first iteration of the small Hemingway had the binding on the outside. My machine binding still needs work. I didn’t like the way it looked so I cut off the binding, bound it on the inside and made it a little smaller.
It isn’t really a Christmas gift, but I made it and gave it to my niece around the holidays, so I am putting it on this list. It makes the list look more impressive. 😉
Stella Pouches
Carrie
Gerre
SueG
More detailed information about the various gifts will be forthcoming.
I made another EPP Ball, which I will give to my exercise teacher. These are super fun to make. I love having a hand project and babies and toddlers really like them.
I also like using the 5 inch squares I cut from scraps. I have a ready supply so I always have a lot of different fabrics from which to choose.
These are a little hard to photograph. It is hard to get all the different sides. The photos below give you a good idea of how it looks.
I went to visit Colleen the other day and picked up Chain Link. I need it as a Christmas gift, so time is of the essence. I probably have enough time to finish it before Christmas. I have been working on hand stitching down the binding each evening since I got it back, so I am making progress.
I will hand it over on Christmas Eve so the recipient can open it at home on Christmas. I don’t want it opened in front of the whole family since there are still family members who have not yet received quilts.
I finished the Cosquilla pretty quickly, considering I only started it a few days ago. In general, this pattern has only a few pieces, so is easy to cut out. The instructions are excellent and there was only one confusing part where I needed to watch the video to complete.
I was able to use one ByAnnie 30 inch double pull handbag zipper for both of the zippers needed in the project. The yellow of the zipper doesn’t go exactly with the fabric I chose, but I think it looks good. There are not as many zipper colors as fabric colors.
Beth’s Cosquilla: interior
This is the first time I have used the same fabric for both the exterior and interior. I don’t know why I never thought of it before (DUH!), but I think it worked really well. There wasn’t a lot of exterior and there were some focus type motifs that I fussy cut in order to make the parts interesting. I still wanted the whole pouch to read as yellow, so I kept that in mind.
Beth’s Cosquilla: zipper side
This pouch, as you can see, has a lot of vinyl. I recently replenished by supply of vinyl. Mostly I like the glitter vinyl, but this time I also bought some vinyl with stars printed on it. I like the glitter vinyl, because it doesn’t interfere with the pattern on the fabric. In this case, I used the star vinyl and I think it allows the fabric motifs to shine as well. The other thing I like about these two vinyl patterns is I can use every inch. I don’t have to worry about the motifs on the vinyl being in the wrong direction when the bag is finished.
Beth’s Cosquilla: side
The pattern had a really interesting piece for the bottom and the sides. It was a long oval piece that had to be quilted before cutting it out. There are fewer seams when one piece makes up the sides and bottom.
I really don’t know how Sara thinks of these bag designs, but I am constantly impressed. Having the sides wrap around the bottom/sides piece was really clever. I like the way it went together.
Sewing it together was no picnic, but it wasn’t as difficult as the Pearce Sling I made for Mom. They share that curved shape, but this pouch is much bigger and that curve was easier, though not easy to navigate.
Anyway, I got SIL#4 a couple of gifts off her list, but also made her this as a bonus. I like to receive things I want, so I always make sure I buy someone something off their list even if I make them something.
I went over to my niece’s house to drop off the pillowcase I made for my nephew. While I was there I found that Michaela didn’t have her Christmas pillowcase (another to do on my list). We determined that it probably still lived at her parents’ house. In the process of figuring this out, she brought out the Tufted Tweets pillowcase. I made this pillowcase back in 2011! I found that the cuff was half ripped off.
WTH?
I suggested that next time she let me know before things got really bad and took the pillowcase home to repair, which means that I needed to completely remake it. If the fabric weren’t so great, I would have just made her a new one. I love the Tufted Tweets fabric and you can’t get it any more.
Tufted Tweets Pillowcase unsewn
This repair job is definitely a learning experience. This is one of the my older pillowcases, so I am hoping that the newer ones don’t wear in the same way.
All of the edges are unraveled. There was sort of a French seam – an early effort – so this was kind of surprising.
What was not surprising was the color fading. It happens when quilting fabric is used and this pillowcase is definitely a favorite, thus used.
As an aside, the stitch quality was really good on this pillowcase. I used my old Janome 9k machine. The stitch quality has been awful on my 6600 lately, so I really noticed the difference.
I spent the last few months planning and creating the officer gifts for the guild. I couldn’t have done it on my own. Many guild members contributed to the fund, Carrie wrapped everything and MaryC helped me sew the Multi-Pocket Organizers.
SueS’s Multi-Pocket Organizer
I am pleased with how they all came out. I think the fabrics I chose worked well together and coordinate or match with last year’s gifts.
I really like the binding and lining of SueS’ Multi-Pocket Organizer.
Melinda’s Multi-Pocket Organizer
Lee Ann’s Multi-Pocket Organizer
For Lee Ann’s I chose a similar fabric to the fabric I used last year. This one has a little more color in it – some purples, especially, which look really nice.
Melinda’s uses a couple of coordinating, but older fabrics from my fabric closet. I am told she likes purple, so this on the purple side. It’s maybe more of a red-violet, but something she will like.
