Gifts – Page 43 – Artquiltmaker Blog

Good Mail Day

Online shopping is a godsend, because I really dislike going to stores and shopping. The looking around and trying to find the right thing kind of shopping. If I know what I want and where it is, I will go to a store, get the item and leave. Online shopping allows me to browse, not talk to anyone. The only problem is the packages.

When I was a solo librarian TFQ would come to visit me and there would be boxes of stuff that had arrived – not a lot, but enough to be noticeable – that I had not opened. I knew what was in the packages and I knew I could open them when I needed to wash the fabric or use the tool. She just couldn’t understand it and would, thankfully and gleefully, rip open all of the packages for me and ooh and aah over my purchases.

One of the dreary tasks forced upon a solo law librarian is that you have to open tons of boxes. Every day scores of boxes and packages come with updates for the legal materials. The packages are taped within an inch of their sad lives and require special equipment and fortitude, as well as serious caffeine to get through opening. I am not kidding when I say that this takes all the joy out of receiving mail and opening gifts. It is probably part of the reason why I use gift bags.

I am now fortunate to work in a larger library where we have a person whose job it is to open the mail, route magazines and newsletters and journals, and process the books so they can be shelved.

it has taken me a long time to heal. This release from the tyranny of mail, however, has allowed me to start to take some joy in receiving packages. Today was a good mail day!

In no particular order, here is the mail report.

TFQ sent these with a little note saying that she found them in the remnant bin at The Quilting Loft! I believe that Angie has an online store. She is a really nice person, has a great shop (which you should visit when you go to Seattle! I am sure the cab drivers know where it is 😉 or you can look it up by clicking on the link). Go buy something!

How nice to receive a surprise!

I love using stripes in bindings. It makes the quilts look more cheerful and adds movement to them. Have you tried using stripes in a quilt binding?

I believe that the upper left hand stripe is a Jane Sassaman print. I went to her lecture last night and I think she was wearing an apron with that stripe as the ties. There is no selvedge, so I can’t tell you for sure, but I am sure TFQ knows and will chime in.

Yes, I went to a Jane Sassaman lecture last night. The opportunity presented itself and quiltmaking is my passion, so how could I not attend? I am writing the blog post as we speak (well, sort of since I am typing this blog post bit now) and will post it soon. Be patient. I have pictures, too.

Remember the post where I talked about the EQ7 upgrade? I have to confess that that was a cheap trick to try and get two free copies of EQ7 – one for me and one for one of you. They didn’t pick me. 🙁 . I was sad. I thought it was a good post, but they pick by random generator and it wasn’t my turn.

The bonus is that they offered me a good deal on the upgrade so I bought that and had to wait forever for it to arrive. It came today, though. YAY!!!

I was inspired by the arrival to consider doing a block of the month.

Consider.doing.a.block.of.the.month.

Artquiltmaker.com BOM

Do I need more work? No.

Am I somewhat willing? Yes.

The key is whether you will participate? Will you at least try it if I do it and commit to posting one or two blocks per month until the end of the year? I thought about not posting instructions, but I would produce rotary cutter instructions for the blocks and somehow enable you to download them. I would have to figure that out.

Let me know by commenting below and I will think about it, too. I am not doing it alone.

Beth is a reader who is in the process of moving to South Africa. I think she lives in Illinois now. Moving is terrible if you move across town, but moving across the world makes me more in awe of Beth. How was she able to send me a small package with a note inside (that is flower postcard) in the midst of such a momentous move?

I don’t know. Beth is a better person than me. My child, nieces and nephews will have to haul my body out of the house from under a fabric avalanche.I hope never to move unless it is to move my fabric to a studio where I can go every day for 8 hours a day and play.

Anyway, this lovely blue fabric will have the perfect home in a couple of different projects that I have going now and for which I am cutting patches. Stay tuned for more on that another day.

So, dear readers, thank you for reading and living vicariously. And thank you to the US Postal Service and the handsome UPS driver who all showed up to work today and made it safely to my house so we could enjoy some quilty goodness.

Another Gift

I think the cycle is complete. For a couple of years, I have been trying to focus on the process of making rather than the finished object. I think the cycle is complete, because I am starting not to care that much about keeping things that I make. (there are no lines for the stuff I make, though) This could be a bad thing, because it is possible that I will just start and start and start projects and not worry about finishing. Let’s not go there.

Jill received her pencil roll yesterday. I have been waiting, for what seems like weeks, to tell you about about, especially since I am scraping the bottom of the barrel for blog posts, Jill’s Pencil Roll. Being sick really cut into my sewing time.

Anyway, Jill has been a loyal contributor to the Creative Prompt Project, along with SherriD, for the past year +. Jill has contributed a fabulous doodle response every week. I wanted to thank her for her contribution. It is a time commitment and I appreciate her gift to me of a bit of her time. I had hoped to post both gift posts together, but SherriD received hers the day after I sent it! (Thank you, USPS) Jill’s took a bit longer to arrive.

Back when I started the CPP, I didn’t plan to reward people for contributing. It is something that popped into my head a month or so ago and seemed like the right thing to do. When I decided I wanted to do this, I thought I would “borrow” some images from Jill’s blog and surprise her. At that time, she had a problem with someone else “borrowing” images. I decided that stealing was wrong and I should just ask. I didn’t give Jill all of the details, but she was very gracious, didn’t ask many questions and sent me some of her images from which I could choose.

I had an idea in my mind of what I would do, but in looking at the images, I decided on something else – what you see above. I don’t like rats, but I thought it was important to include this little guy to go along with Jill’s blog name.

This one was a little more challenging than some of the others I have made, because I had to fit the images in to a piece of fabric that would become the outside of the pencil roll. I went back to the days of piecing journal covers and took a page out of that book in terms of piecing the back. I didn’t want to piece the whole back, because I had a piece of FabMo fabric that screamed Jill at me.

The black and white is a designer sample that I got via Bron from FabMo. It wasn’t very large, so I thought adding the bit with the images would work and wouldn’t be too large and unwieldy. It worked out very well and I am pleased with how it came out.

Everything I use to make the Pencil Rolls is from supplies I already have or from FabMo fabric. You don’t need much more than fabric, ribbon and something to use as interfacing. I save ribbon, which I seem to get a lot of, so some of the pencil roll ribbons have odd words on them. Other things would work as ties as well. I just think it is nice to give these bits and pieces a new life.

I have also started to use a decorative stitch on the pocket of the pencil roll just to make it a little more special. It makes the pocket pucker a bit, so I think I start adding a bit of length to it to account for that puckering. It doesn’t pucker so much that I have had a problem sewing it within the seam allowance.

One thing I learned the hard way on Lil Sissy’s pencil roll was to use a binder clip to gather the ribbon tie out of the way. What is the hard way? Sewing the ribbon to the back as you sew along creating the pencil pockets. If you don’t have a binder clip, get one!

I am really happy that Jill liked the pencil roll. Thanks to everyone who participates in the CPP!. If you are quietly doing it alone, please post a direct link to your responses in the comments section of the prompt or to the Flickr group so we can ooooh and aah over your contributions!

Gift Pencil Roll

This pencil roll was made with FabMo fabric. I found the piece and it made me think of SherriD’s Renaissance Faire activities. I decided to make her a pencil roll as a thank you for participating in the Creative Prompt Project for the past year+.

If I haven’t mentioned this before, the FabMo fabrics are generally samples. They vary in size, but I can usually get only one piece of a particular design. I didn’t have enough to use for the inside, so I tried to pick some fabrics that would coordinate and give the feeling of history. The marbled fabric reminds me of the end papers in a book.

2010 Teacher Pillows

Yes, it is Teacher Pillow time of year. I had resolved to not leave it until the last minute, but being in bed with a nasty virus for over week did not assist me in my resolve.

I made one pillow last weekend after I was feeling a little better. I also made a block during the week for one of the pillow tops, but spent the better part of Friday finishing them up. School is out on Friday, so I had to get it done.

Above is the pillow for the Resource Teacher. She has been working with The Child for the past four years. She has made my life a lot better, because she gets The Child. She has provided support that I wasn’t getting from the lower school resource teacher (through no fault of his own). I will be VERY sad not work with her anymore.

Every year I pull out the same fabrics and make a different block. Now she has a set. I am thinking of making a quillow next year. I have never done that, but my SIL is an expert and I can draw on her expertise.

I was surprised to see that lozenge design show up in the middle of the block. I amy have miscolored the blocks when I sewed the pieces together. The block is called Crockett’s Cabin in Around the Block. That lozenge shape is very appealing and I am wondering if it would work for a FOTY piece?

As The Child has moved up in the grades, I spend less time in the classroom, thus I know the teachers less and less. I try to get a sense of the colors of the teachers and it is very difficult when I have only spoken to them 3-4 times. The literature teacher, who also happened to be The Child’s homeroom teacher had a hard year this year. She was out for four months at the beginning of the year, because of the death in her family. I thought The Child would have a hard transition when she came back to school, but he took to her like a duck to water. He liked her because “she doesn’t think she knows everything” and I found her to be a very intuitive teacher. I don’t know if the above colors or design are her style, but they are what immediately came to mind when I thought of her. I hope she likes it.

I force The Child to do a little drawing for each of his teachers. He had a hard time this year. He is getting out of creative practice and I have to get on him about that. (N.B. I blacked the names to protect the innocent!)

Making the backs fit is the most time consuming part. I couldn’t seem to get it right on any of them. This one is actually sideways on the pillow. I figured that nobody would care, if they even noticed.

I really hope she doesn’t sincerely dislike purple. This block, in Around the Block, is called Star of Hope. It looks to me like a basic Ohio Star. I don’t really believe that blocks should have different names just because they have been recolored. I haven’t taken the time to look this up in the Jinny Beyer’s new book, The Quilter’s Album of Patchwork Patterns.

The Child kind of got into his drawing after a bit. He has a subtle sense of humor. I thought this drawing was very funny. Do you get it?

I mentioned on Tuesday that I found some fabrics I didn’t really like while I was cutting FOTY pieces. A couple of the above fabrics are those fabrics. However, the Science Teacher is male and I have not had the opportunity to make pillows for many male teachers. I found these fabrics to be great for a science man. I think they look a bit like rocks. I only had a fat quarter of each, so I had to add some others and I don’t have any to match next year, but may continue with the rock theme.

You can see that The Child got on to a roll with his drawings as he progressed through them.

The drawings are done on an 8.5×11″ piece of paper. First I fold the paper into quarters and then I draw pencil lines to mark the seam allowances. I also make a note as to which rectangle on the paper goes to which teacher. This year I also put in the name and the year. The Child knows now to keep within the seam allowance

In the past, The Child has chose the blocks for each teacher. This year he didn’t really care that much, so I mostly chose them. He was adamant about what he wanted for the math teacher. He saw the piece of pie I appliqued on the Tarts Come to Tea piece. He was adamant that he wanted that on the math teacher’s pillow. This is the first time I have done applique’ for a teacher.

The Child kept with the Pie/Pi theme for the back. Again with the sense of humor!

So done for another! YAY! I am going to a party today, but am going to find a fun project to work on tomorrow. I am glad I soldiered through and don’t have this project hanging around for tomorrow, except for the wrapping and the card writing.

I have to admit that I am sick of this project. There is only one year left and I am finished. I am not doing them for high school. I don’t think it is really appropriate and would embarrass The Child, but there are also too many teachers.

It is funny how you think something is a good idea and then a tradition and expectations start, which turns the fun into a chore.

I do enjoy looking through Around the Block and picking out the blocks to use. I am tempted to make blocks for next year’s pillows while I have the fabric out and just tuck them away until April or May so I have less to do next year. We’ll see.

Lil Sissy Pencil Roll

Pencil rolls usually take me about 3 hours to make. That assumes, of course, that I don’t sew the ties to the back as I am making the pencil pockets and have to rip out.

This one took me three days for a number of reasons. First, not being one to make simple requests, she wanted one that would accommodate the colored pencils she had cut in half so she could have half of her collection at her job in SF and half at home in Santa Barbara. This meant that the pocket had to be smaller, which meant adjusting the pattern and not just sewing like a demon. I mulled this over for some time and finally came upon the idea of two pockets. The green and white city fabric is used to make a pocket on both top and bottom, so there isn’t really a top. Looking at it now, I should have made those pockets a wee bit wider or the whole piece a bit smaller, but it will work.

Second, I was sick almost all of last week, the weekend and the previous Friday. No kidding and no fooling around kind of sick. Stay in bed and don’t do anything kind of sick except read and sleep kind of sick. I don’t remember being that sick in a long while. The only thing I really accomplished was cooking dinner one night, breakfast one morning, loading the dishwasher twice and reading 4 books.

Finally, I made a lot of mistakes in this project. I blame it on the illness and the mad desire not to waste all this time at home. Getting well just doesn’t seem like enough, but apparently it had to be.

Yes, that is a ribbon or tie from the Merry & Bright Jelly Roll I used for the It’s a Merry & Bright Wrap quilt. It really was the perfect length to tie up this pencil roll. It also fit with the linen feel of the fabric I used for the outside.

Yes, that grape fabric is another fabulous FabMo fabric. I only used half the piece, too, so I’ll have to think of another accessory to make for Lil Sissy with the rest.

I don’t really get a sense of the fabric until I start working with it. This backing fabric was more loosely woven than the quilting cottons I normally use. One of the good things about the FabMo fabrics is that they are generally of good quality. At least I think they are of good quality. Despite the looser weave (and I am NOT saying it was holey), I had no problem with fraying or raveling or any of the sewing. Looking at the back of the piece, I find that the leaves and grapes really look 3 dimensional.

Kathy Mack of Pink Chalk Studio‘s pencil roll pattern has EXCELLENT directions. I really like this pattern and think that you should go off, as soon as you are done reading this post, and have opened a new window, and buy that pattern. I know I have waxes rhapsodic before about her pattern. I like this pencil roll pattern, because the font is the right size, and there are enough visual cues: boxes and borders, drawings, etc for me not to get lost in a mire of directions.

All that being said, I almost never pay attention to making a 12 or 24 slot pencil roll. I see what size FabMo fabrics I have and make as many slots as will fit the piecing of backing fabric I have, so I don’t have to waste or cut it. The thing is that I am probably not going to use these weird fabrics for anything else and it seems a shame to throw them away. Nobody to whom I have gifted an 11 slot pencil roll or an 8 slot pencil roll has complained, so I am going to keep doing what I am doing. One thing about making the same thing over and over (remember all of those Eco Market Totes I made?) is that I get to know the pattern and how the item goes together. This method works for me.

Knitting Box Un-Fail?

Last week I discussed the Knitting Box. I thought it was a hopeless failure and I would have to go back to the drawing board.

My fabulous readers came up with some solutions, including a list of comments about “portable knitting sacs” (thanks, Jessica!) and using a pattern for a take out box (as in Chinese take out). On Jessica’s list, I found the Port-a-Pocket and the Knit Knack Sack. One lady also described how to make something similar from a CD. I couldn’t exactly follow her directions, but my go back to them if the failure cannot be repaired. Knituition also had directions for a knitted wrist yarn holder. Sarah on Ravelry shows a slight variation of Knituition’s wrist yarn holder. Halcyon Yarn also has a wrist yarn holder, which, not being much of a knitter, looks like a torture device to me. I will only subject my SIL to that as a last resort. Finally, there was something called a waisthook. I have no idea how this works and am also thinking torture device!

One of these hints led me to the portable knitting pouch, which is made from fabric and up my alley. I also found a Yarn Traveler bag, which is interesting, but doesn’t quite fit the belt criteria. The portable knitting set was also a source of inspiration.

I decided to bring it with me on the trip to Mother’s Day brunch and show it to the intended recipient. My SIL agreed with me that the Mirkwood Designs pattern has style and I should try and salvage it if I could. My SIL and niece played around with it in the car and we all brainstormed on how it could be salvaged. First, they found a different way to fold it (above). This way of folding it keeps the box together pretty well. It is actually probably the intended way to fold it. The bad part is that the parts still aren’t strong enough to hold a ball of yarn. An idea they had was to sew up the side about an inch, so that the box will already be partially shut.

I think sewing it up a bit is a good idea. I used some Perl cotton so that it doesn’t matter if the stitching shows. If I put some beads on the end of the Perl Cotton I won’t I have to try and hide the knot. My only concern is that they would get stuck on stuff as my SIL moves around with the box on her belt.

I will probably put something on the top to keep it together. I talked about buttons. My niece suggested snaps and SIL suggested velcro. I’ll see what I have around and try them.

I always say that more brains are better and this is a perfect example of more brains getting involved helps a lot. Thanks, all!

Knitting Box Fail

I have been trying create a portable knitting bag for my SIL. The idea is that she can put the loop on the ‘box’ through her belt and the bag/box part will hold a ball of yarn. The point is that she can knit while standing in line and her ball of yarn won’t roll away.

The engineering part of this has been a challenge. I didn’t see the one that she saw and only had it described to me. I searched the web for a pattern (didn’t go to the Library and look through their patterns). I wasn’t sure what to call this thing, so searching and looking in indexes was hard. I thought I was golden when I found a truffle box pattern over at Mirkwood Designs (great podcast, BTW).

Not only the pattern seem like I could blow it up and use it, thus eliminating the need to deal with proportions, but it also has style. The copy center at work helped me blow it up. Then I traced for the fabric and traced it again for the interfacing pattern and traced the square one more time for some Timtex-like stiffener. The short answer is that I couldn’t make it work. You should make the designs at Mirkwood Designs as truffle boxes, though, because I am sure they are fabulous made out of the right materials for truffles. Her recipe for the truffles sounds fabulous, too.

I have to admit that not everything works the way I intend it. This is one of those things. I am not giving up, but I have to regroup and start over.

I am not sure why it doesn’t work, but it doesn’t. One thing I do know is that the sides aren’t right. The piece has style, but no functionality. The idea was that the curves would slightly overlap the straight edge and keep the ball of yarn in. Alternatively, I thought I could also put a cute button on each side with some ribbon to wrap around it, which would keep the thing closed.

I don’t consider failing a bad thing. I am not happy about it, but failure helps me learn and that is good.

Now, back to the drawing board. Need a failed project?

Jennifer’s Quilt

I didn’t find this quilt when I searched for it on my blog, so I think I may never have written about it. That wouldn’t surprise me since it was made in about 2003, before the blog. Perhaps I’ll start dredging up old quilts and showing them to you.

TFQ and I made it back in 2003 for a very special person in my life named Jennifer (yes, another Jennifer!).

It is part of a series of quilts TFQ and I have made in a pattern we call Diamond chain. The pattern originally came from the Spring 1997 issue of McCall’s Quick Quilting and did not list a name for pattern (only a name for the quilt). We changed the pattern somewhat, so we call the overall pattern “Diamond Chain.” It is similar to a Jewel Box. andwe have made at least three quilts (Get the Red Out!, Ocean Avenue, Punk Rock Quilt) in the same pattern. I think TFQ and I have made all the different quilts in the series together.

This is a pattern that is a kind of single Irish chain and anything could go between the chains: stars, applique’, basket, any block. I would like to try to make a version where stars are in place of the on point squares (half square triangles).

I think this is also the pattern that we started working on the self-bordering concept.

I found out that Jennifer died on Thursday and I felt particularly sad. Not at all because of the quilt, but because she a person who really cared about me. She taught me the value of me. She took care of me, taught me to rest and taught me that if I took care of myself I could better take care of my family and others who depend on me. She cared about me in a way that was so valuable, because she didn’t want anything back from me. I didn’t get to say good-bye and that is very difficult.

I mostly don’t make quilts for people anymore, but I do on occasion and I was glad that I made this one. She told me about a month ago, when I last talked to her, that she thought of me whenever she used it and felt like she was getting a hug from me. That is one of the nicest things anyone has said to me about something I have made.

Birthday Extravanganza

I am REALLY fortunate to have wonderful friends and family who are willing to give me books and quilt related items that I love. I really received a lot of gifts; so many I will have plenty to write about and read and think about during the gift giving drought that is the rest of the year.**

My birthday was a week and a half ago and the gifts just keep coming. Julie gave me some fabric, a book, some note cards and some little things while at the retreat over the weekend.

The Quilter’s Album of Patchwork Patterns by Jinny Beyer came from a gift certificate I actually got from TFQ for Christmas. I think of it as a birthday gift to myself! Thanks, TFQ!

Art + Quilt came from DH. I have been borrowing TFQ’s copy and now I have my own. I am pretty excited about some of the exercises in the book.

Sew, So Cute by Mary Engelbreit came from Julie. I have wanted this book because of the apron on the front. I love it. It has some much style. I can’t wait to make that apron. Perhaps I will add it to my gift arsenal?

The bottom three reading material came from my sister. The Crafty Chica book has a very cheerful layout. I also like the pocket bag, which is made out of tablecloth vinyl. I love the tote on the front of the Sew News magazine and Artful Blogging often has links to great new blogs.

I really like they style of that tote bag on the front of the Sew News magazine. I looked at the directions last night and they are a little cryptic. I am going to look up the designer at some point and see if there is some additional explanation before I dive in. We’ll see.

I am so fortunate to have so much new reading material and project ideas. it is nice not to have to get these books out of the library and read them quickly. I really enjoy dipping in and out of books, especially quilt books. Thanks!

That wasn’t all, though. I also have some fabric to go along with the project ideas. Above are some pieces that my sister bought for me. they are colors that she loves, so I wonder if she is angling for another bag or a quilt or something? Hhhmmm.

Here is the wonderfulness that came from TFQ. Her gift was right on time, actually early, and I opened it as soon as I could get it in the door. The journals (Miquelrius) will not go to waste. I think I have to write more so I can get through them faster. 😉

The pink and red fabric (on the right in the middle) is a Malka Dubrowsky screen print (batik, maybe?). The funny part of about that fabric is that I bought TFQ some of Malka’s fabric as well. We roared with laughter about that! Great minds, you know. 😉

I have only glanced through Creative Time and Space, but I love the Voodoo lounge podcast, which is also by Rice Zachery-Freeman. I am reading Life is a Verb and really like it. I will write a full on review when I finish it. One thing I already like about it is that the author says that she created large margins so people could create ‘marginalia’. I have done one of the exercises she suggests and enjoyed it. Unlike Maisel’s book, I can do them in the 20+ minutes I carve out for creativity every day with minimal technology requirements.

I loved all the gifts and cards and phone calls and emails I received, but this card is really special. One thing I really appreciate is when people give me some of their precious time. When someone takes the time to make me something, like a card, or when they take the time to write me a letter, it is most appreciated. I love it when someone sits down and writes me a real letter about things they are doing and observing. Even if those things seem mundane, I love hearing about the day to day things in others lives. Mailing the letter to me with a real stamp in a real envelope is one of the best presents I can receive. I love it that Julie took the time to make and write the card.

I had to cut off the writing because is personal. Isn’t Julie creative? She put flags on the inside, too. I really like this card.

I am so fortunate to have such generous, thoughtful, wonderful and creative friends.

**Do Valentine’s Day, my anniversary, and Mother’s Day count? 😉

Dolores’ Pencil Roll

Dolores, a member of CQFA, faithfully arranges a retreat every year. Every year it is better and better. I had in my mind that I would make her a pencil roll as a thank you. After last week, I didn’t think I would have the time, but, I started it on Sunday, thinking that I could finish it at the retreat and she would be none the wiser.

I didn’t do any piecing on this one, which made it go very fast. I think it took me less than an hour and a half from start to finish. I may be dreaming, though, as I didn’t really time myself.

I am not sure what colors Dolores really likes. She has been working in neutrals and especially black and white, so I chose a black and white FabMo upholstery fabric for the back. The FabMo upholstery samples are a good size. I think you could make two smaller ones from one of the samples. I had a good sized strip left over that may make its way into another pencil roll that I need to piece.

I thought some red and black and white for the inside strips and the front pocket would be great. I just couldn’t do all neutrals. I had to add some color. I think it looks really nice and am pleased with how it came out.

I am concerned that I will run out of friends who need/can appreciate pencil rolls! I see some blog giveaways in my future!

I forgot to put a label on it. Either I will forget it or try to hand sew one on.

Unrelated notes:

* I have no Internet at home at this time, so if I am a little slow responding to comments, I apologize! It makes it a challenge to get blog posts up as well!

* Remember to leave a comment in the One World One Heart post for a chance to win!

Serendipity Puzzle

I went to visit with my friend, Kathy, and her 2YO daughter, Jessie, on Friday afternoon. We had tea.

I made Serendipity Puzzle using a Dutchman’s Puzzle block in 2008.

I finally was able to take a picture at their house at the end of our visit. The image is a bit trapezoidal, but the reality is that I am just not tall enough to get it nice and square.

Jessie uses this quilt as a ‘wallow’ for her stuffed hippo.

Happy Birthday, TFQ!!!

Nota bene: TFQ: if you have not opened all of your gifts, stop reading now!!! Go open them and come back.

Yes, my good friend TFQ is 39 again today…with some years experience. 😉

In addition to the gifts I have been collecting for her, I also made her a couple of things. Did you guess journal cover and pencil roll? I am so predictable, I know.

The black and white fabrics, from Lonni Rossi‘s Paint Box collection, are the fabrics I used to make Marilyn’s Multi-tasker while I was visiting TFQ in November. She admired those fabrics and that stuck in my mind.

TFQ is an excellent colorist. She can put fabrics together in the most amazing ways. I strive to be like her, which requires cultivating more patience and determination in my quiltmaking process. If I want to make something for her, I feel like I need to really do an excellent job of picking colors, thus the clue that she liked these fabrics gave me confidence.

Using only those black and white fabrics together was too depressing, especially in winter. I had to add the dots. They cheered it up quite a bit.

One of the things I like about some of the prints in the this [relatively] new Lonni Rossi line is the screen printed look. Note the black circle on the white fabric. It really looks like a screen print when you see it up close. It doesn’t have that icky, plasticy sticker feel, though, you find with some screen printed-like fabric.

The small rows of lines under the circle also have that screen printed look. It is much more subtle in the white/grey on black colorway.

I didn’t want a repeat of the size problem I had with my mom’s journal cover, so I ripped out the bottom stitching three times until I was satisfied with the fit. I don’t know if I got it to fit perfectly, but I didn’t have to cut the journal’s plastic cover to get the journal cover on it, so I was satisfied.

Lately, when I have started a journal cover I just start piecing until I get a piece big enough for the outside. I use this type of piecing for a warm-up or when I only have a few minutes to sew or when I need a little bit of thinking time. Usually I want to achieve a certain look. With my blue journal cover, I wanted to use a variety of blue fabrics because I liked them and wanted to see them all the time. I also wanted a calming effect.

In this case, I only had scraps of the Lonni Rossi fabrics left and needed to make the best use of them. I wanted it to have a somewhat cohesive design and, finally, but most importantly I wanted it to appeal to TFQ.

I have started to think of pencil rolls and journal covers as sets. I also love this pencil roll pattern so much that I am looking for excuses to make it. Of course, time is the issue on that front.

This is a rather large pencil roll – 18 slots, I think. When I use my pencil roll, I prefer to put pens in every other slot rather than each slot. I find it easier to get the pens out.

For the moment, this is the last gift to which I have committed to make. When I say committed I mean to myself. There is one I am thinking about making, but I need to finish the FOTY 2009 blocks first. Look for a post on that project later this week.

Gift Post #8: Journal Cover #2

This is the journal cover I made for my mom for Christmas. It goes with the pencil roll and bag I also made. She really liked it, which is nice.

I might make it a little bigger for her, because the journal didn’t quite fit. I have to ask her about that. I don’t know if she will use up the journal the way I do, so it may not be necessary.

I am working on another journal now and I ripped it out twice to make sure it fit properly.

Gift Post #7: Denim Bag

This is a denim bag I made out of of an old pair of jeans for my stepdad, The Big Guy. I made one of these in high school that I carried around and embellished. I am not really sure what happened to that bag or whether there are any photos of it anywhere. I stitched around the edges of the pockets with embroidery floss and embroidered flowers on my version.

I wanted to do something like that on this bag, but really ran out of time. I had a lot of gifts to make, as you know.

The shoulder strap is pretty wide. I made it that wide because of the seams and because I thought it might be a little more comfortable for him to carry. The straps will be a good opportunity for him to embellish.

I really had a hard time sewing through the denim and all of the layers in various places. The 9K did NOT like the denim. As a result, I couldn’t do as much topstitching as I normally do on bags. Both of the issues I ran into allowed me to go with the flow, though, and I billed it as a joint work in progress.

The Big Guy is VERY creative. He works in various media including leather. He has made leather slippers before, so I thought the bag might be a good canvas for him to stitch on. He loved the idea! I am looking forward to seeing what he comes up with.

New Year’s Day Work

AKA Gift Post #6

I am pleased [with myself] to say that 2010 started out with a sewing bang. I finished the bag for my aunt (she never reads this blog as far as I know, so I don’t feel bad about posting it even though I haven’t sent it off yet).

I started this bag way back in December 2009, but with one thing and another wasn’t able to finish it until Friday. I feel bad, because it was intended to be a Christmas gift. My aunt really loves purple, so I made this bag in purple for her. In terms of fabric selection I had a couple of things I wanted to accomplish and some limitations to deal with. First, I was limited in my fabric choices because of the size of the pieces of fabrics I had available. For a long time I have purchased half yards and FQs. These are fine for quilting, but I am finding that they are barely adequate for bag making. I intend to try the Mini-Multi (AMH’s pattern for the Multi-tasker tote that I resized)This limitation directed me to more plummy colored purples.

Also, I wanted to try a bag where I didn’t use fabrics with a ton of contrast. I think Marilyn’s Multi-tasker was pretty successful. That one wasn’t boring to make. Thus, I wanted to try another interesting combination of fabrics that were also not wacky looking and my aunt wouldn’t feel bad about carrying around.

I am pretty happy with the way this bag turned out. It looks nice and does not look wacky. I made the pockets and straps at the beginning of the process even though AMH says to make the straps at the end of the process, right before I am supposed to attach them. I think my process worked better for me, because once I got past the tedious, fiddly parts, I was able to put the bag together relatively quickly. I like to get all the fiddly parts done, so I can move through the process quickly as I tend to get bored if I have to keep going back to the fiddly bits periodically throughout the process.

Jeri's Bag - detail 1 — Jeri’s Bag – detail 1

I think the combination of fabrics is a good one. The colors work well together and there is some interest in the combination. They are all older fabrics, so an added bonus is that I delved into the fabric closet and used some stuff that has been hanging around. I think Auntie would have preferred less plummy and more purply colors, but the bag is what it is.

Jeri's Bag - detail 2 — Jeri’s Bag – detail 2

AMH does not make her pockets fully lined. Another change that I have made is that I make them fully lined [by cutting a piece of fabric, folding it in half (right sides together), sewing around, turning] before sewing them on to the bag. I think this method makes a nicer finished product and doesn’t take much longer. I want to remember next time to add a label to the pocket. It seems like a good place to include a label.

Jeri's Bag - detail 3 — Jeri’s Bag – detail 3

I am still liking the cell phone pocket, which I learned to make from the Sweet Harmony bag, so I added one to this bag as well.

I have bought some of the fruit and vegetable fabrics, that seem to be popular, recently. I had a joint project with my mom in mind, but decided I liked certain ones too much to give away, thus I made napkins. Perhaps I am making a series after taking a look at the raspberry napkin I made in 2009? The cake fabric and the pots and pans fabric is from my collection of fabric for backs. Those pieces are large, so I can make FQ napkins with no problem and no piecing. In general, I don’t really like making napkins. Turning the pieces and getting the seam crisp are really frustrating and I am generally not successful at it. I tried a couple of different methods this time and am progressing. I do enjoy using the new napkins! I also enjoy looking at the cake fabric. My sister wants a set, but I don’t know if I have it in me to make a SET. Perhaps I can make one a month for her, then give her a set of 12 for Christmas? We’ll see.

In a way I wanted to set a trend for 2010 of major league sewing. In 2010 I want to make major progress in the sewing-quiltmaking-bag making department. I think I did well last year. Still, I want to do better. Not necessarily in terms of numbers of projects completed, but improvement in my processes. Oh, and I would like to see major improvement in my organizational systems. I am not committing to anything on that front, but would like to see it. We’ll see about that.

JayeL on Working on ChaosThursday, May 14, 2026
OMG! You are right! Maybe I will call it Good & Plenty!! ?
JayeL on Working on ChaosThursday, May 14, 2026
It amazes me how different it looks from the EQ project! I really like it.
Sherri D on Working on ChaosThursday, May 14, 2026
I love this quilt. It reminds me of the colors of Good N Plenty licorice candy. :) It looks amazing…
Julie Stiller on Working on ChaosThursday, May 14, 2026
Ahhh, this is fantastic! I love seeing how it goes together.
JayeL on New Sewing MachineTuesday, May 12, 2026
Yes. It was an adventure. I am excited about it. I think it takes the same feet as your new…

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