Commentary about works in progress, design & creativity
This is the second of the blocks for the Country Revival/The Sad Quilt. I was able to lay it out much easier than the first block.
I added some solids I had in my pile of Tula fabrics and I think they look really good.
I am really in love with how this looks. I can’t wait to see how it looks sewn together.
I have started block 3, but I have only 4 pieces on the design wall, so not really much to show.
I had the Flower motif from the Country Revival pattern** on my design wall for a long time without sewing it together. It wasn’t quite right and looking at it was the only way to figure out how to improve it. I knew I couldn’t use white in the place I had put it originally-leaf area around the outside. I wanted to use white as a background and the white as shown would be lost and change the shape of the flower motif completely. I also didn’t know what to do.
I often find that if I just do something, then I can get started improving a piece.
The first thing I did was decide the white ‘petals’ needed to be replaced with green and become leaves. It was a good start.
I liked the addition of the green, but decided I needed more and different greens. In this photo there are two different Tilda fabrics. One reason is that I used some of the green on the tips of the flowers for a pillowcase for my friend. I didn’t have much left, but I wanted to include some so it would kind of match the pillowcase. I had just enough to make four leaves.
I wasn’t 100% happy with the look and feel. I really wanted an emerald green solid. I didn’t have that so I tried some dots. They were close to an emerald green and looks like a great addition to the overall look.
I still felt like there was nowhere for the eye to rest, so I moved some of the tall, skinny pieces with the slightly curved tops around. Better, but not perfect.
I added in some of the Dovetail by Ghazal Razavi background I bought at Bay Quilts with Julie a few weeks ago. It is a bright white, which I like and the many colors go well. I know it is hard to see in the photo. You can enlarge the photo to see it better.
I can’t get away from symmetry, so I cut more pieces and changed the fabrics around so there was more symmetry, e.g. the piece looked more symmetrical.
I know the changes are slight and hard to see. I changed the corner fabrics and moved some of the other greens around.
My eye was honing in on the pink dots. I wasn’t liking them, but I wasn’t sure what to do. I didn’t want to add more of the pink solid as I thought it would overwhelm the piece in general. For the moment, this is the final version of block 1. I may make some more changes, but I decided to work on a second block and give myself a rest from the pink.
I love that pink and blue Tilda fabric and it is now much less prominent. I’ll have to use it in another block.
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The Pearce is not going well. This curve is nearly impossible to sew on the machine. I have tried at least 4 times and ripped it out that many. Right now it is on timeout while I finish the Multi-Pocket Organizer.
The bad part is that this was going SOOO well. I got to the point where there was one seam left to sew (photo left) really easily. I mean the pattern has been a bit of a challenge, but nothing like I am experiencing with that last curve.
I am afraid I should have sewed the curve first. If I make this again, I will do that. For now, I will think about what to do and get back to it in a few days.
There have been a few bumps in the road to finishing this project. Due to the thick interfacing described in the previous post, this is taking additional time. I thought I would finish over the weekend, but am still working on this.
The lining is done and ready to be put together with the exterior.
I really should, as a rule, make bag linings smaller than exteriors. This designer didn’t note that in her directions and I didn’t do it. I’ll need to think about a measurement that would be good to use when cutting a smaller lining. For example, should I cut the pieces one half inch smaller or an inch smaller or what?
I added a leash to the inside. This isn’t part of the pattern, but they are easy enough to add. I may make a small Open Wide pouch with a lobster clip for added storage. The leash will also be useful for keys.
Putting everything together is proving to be a challenge. Despite my practice at anchoring linings to exteriors with Lynette, I can’t figure out how to do this one.
If I make this again, I will consult with Lynette about that. Neither of us could make the meeting and I need this done before the 26th.
I found the Sewing Date Traveler pattern a few months ago. It is a free pattern on the Robert Kaufman site. It was designed by Cynthia Frenette. I looked her up on IG, but didn’t see any other bag patterns. I wasn’t sure whether I would make it or not, but saved the pattern anyway.
Recently, I found out that my mom has to have another surgery. After looking at various examples on IG, I decided to make this to corral all the little things (phone, glasses, book, etc) that lay around a hospital room. She had a nice big ICU room before, but we hope she doesn’t get sent there and I don’t know how big the normal rooms are.
The bag doesn’t have a closure, so it will be used more as an organizer than security. I keep thinking of it as a tray. The picture on the RK site is a little confusing until you read the directions (which I actually did for once). I thought this bag was more like the Sew Together Bag. I thought the green pocket on the inside back was another zipper pocket. In truth, that is a slip pocket on the back lining. The construction is a bit like the Sew Together Bag. If you have made one of those, you should be able to make this without much trouble.
Famous last words. LOL. The construction, for me, hasn’t been the problem. It is very straightforward, if different from the other bag designers whose patterns I normally use. The problem is the interfacing. Since this will be used for who knows how much stuff, I wanted it to stand up to some heavy use. I thought foam might be ok, but wanted something stiffer if I could find it. The pattern calls for Pellon 65. It is described as “… Extra Heavyweight is a sew-in interfacing for extra firm body and stiffening. It is great for printing, visor brims, backpacks, and drapery headers.” I have a chart for interfacing equivalents, but I couldn’t find an equivalent for Pellon 65 on any of them. The description told me a little about how stiff it was and I thought I wanted it stiffer. I used Pellon Peltex 71F, which I knew was thicker than how Pellon 65 was described. It is thick! I don’t use it that often, but once I started, I couldn’t backtrack.
At the moment, the exterior, which has the Peltex attached, is flat on my ironing board, but the lining is assembled. I thought the bag would be larger, but I think it is a good size. Also, it isn’t exactly small.
I thought I would get the whole thing finished over the weekend, but, as you can see, that didn’t happen.
I am very pleased with how this experimental quilt is coming out.
All the pieces are not in their final location yet, but seeing them start to look like something is very gratifying.
This may turn into two of these as I think I need to have a bit of red in each sashing piece.
Yes, you might recognize some donation blocks that I unsewed so I could use them in this quilt. LOL.
Well, the Rose Petrillo sort of returned. I found the project bag in which I put all the pieces.
There are a couple of pieces missing like the strap. I’ll have to find some good fabric for that.
The fabric pieces are all interfaced with SF101, but no foam is cut out. It could be that I didn’t have foam at the time I cut out the pieces. I really don’t remember.
I visited Cyndi for a Sew Day last weekend and was able to get the Old Town sashing to a good place. I had a lot of 1.5 inch squares to cut and then a lot of trimming to make a house shaped rectangle. It was a lot better to do all of that work with a friend. We were able to chat while I did the tedious parts and that was great.
I got out the Simply Folded Ruler** again to create the flippy corners of those house shapes. That ruler is a gem. I always forget, but it really makes those flippy corners easy to sew. I didn’t have to draw diagonal lines on the squares, which would have made the process even more tedious. AND there was no trimming afterwards which meant no opportunity to cut off the wrong triangle. I haven’t tried one of the Simply Folded patterns (actually Antler Quilt Designs). I remember seeing one that was interesting at the Granary, but thought I was too busy to buy it. I was surprised at how many patterns the company has. I remember them being kind of country colors and having weird looking angles, but that isn’t true. There are a variety of patterns, some with brighter colors and fewer weird angles.
The good part about Bonnie Hunter Mystery quilts is that she suggests different methods of making the various units. I was reintroduced to the Simply Folded Ruler** through this project. It is good to be reminded of how I can use different tools.
Work has been very busy. It is stressful and I have been sewing a bit at lunch and after work. I haven’t had much time, but my effort at the Retreat at block making has gotten the process down to a science. I can make each block in about half an hour. Still, it has taken me several days to make this batch.
With this group, I only have four more left to make.
I didn’t have much time to sew on Sunday due to my caregiving duties. Between Sunday and Monday, however, I sewed two more Old Town blocks. I really like having my design wall on which to lay them out.
These two blocks were possible because, first, I sewed all the HSTs I would need to finish the block assembly. Now it is just laying them out and sewing the pieces together.
I made really good progress on Old Town at the Retreat.
I was able to piece 15 (of 25 total) blocks. Each block has 69 pieces so that was a LOT of piecing. I was SUPER happy to be doing that piecing, I have to tell you.
Julie helped me put them up on the design wall so we could look at them.
Even with out much sashing, there is a distinct secondary design going on.
I sewed a little bit of the sashing and put that up as well, so we could kind of see what was coming.
I am excited to work on this some more.
I did a lot on Saturday at Sew Day.
Mom came along, but I didn’t have to do as much for her. She is moving slowly, but moving around a lot more. It is great to see her progress.
The first thing I did was cut out pieces for my next Superbloom totes. I was able to, mostly, cut out the larger pieces. That is super helpful, because of my small cutting table.
I thought I had everything in a project bag, but I didn’t check before I left. It turned out that I forgot ShapeFlex, Soft & Stable and lining for one of the bags. Oh well! I cut out as much as I could, so that is some progress. Definitely better than nothing.
I also worked on Old Town a bit. I had to line up and mark the pieces for a million Flying Geese, so I did that.
Finally, I worked on my scrap bin some more. Did I make as much progress as I wanted? No, but I never do. I had about 2 zipper bags of scraps. Now I have 1.5, so some progress.
First, I cut all the shapes I need for various projects. Not tons, but quite a few.
Next, I cut strips, which will be used for quilts like the white color strip top I discussed the other day.
For some reason, I have a lot of orange. I also have a lot of grey, which will add to the grey improv top sitting on my design wall. I know they are strips and I should make some color strip blocks with them, but I want to get that grey improv top to the community quilt people. It has been hanging around for an eternity.
Finally, I had various real scraps that will end up as an improv quilt in the various colors at some point.
I also found some triangles, which I will make into HSTs for that mythical HST quilt I have on my mind.
Not bad for a Sew Day. I would have liked to have gotten more done, but what can I do?
Mary put a baby quilt together. It is Playmat – newborn size and made from two charm packs.
Mom worked on the binding of her first (!!!) quilt while chatting with Friend Julie’s mom who joined us also. The quilt has been finished except for the binding for years. I am glad she is working on it. I am also glad she has something on which to work.
None this month
This category covers bags, toys, aprons and knitting as well as other non-quilt projects.
WIPs are projects on which I am working. This means that I am past the cutting out of pieces stage, some sewing has taken place.
I still have UFOs. Who doesn’t, after all? A project in the ‘UFO’ category means I am stalled, it hasn’t been worked on in awhile or it is waiting its turn to be worked on. The list is a lot shorter and the projects are newer, for the most part.
I am annoyed that some of these are still UFOs. I have to give myself credit for completing some of them last year.
I am changing up the 26 Projects post in 2025. Instead of posting all the projects every month, I am going to post new projects finished in that month. Then the year end roundup will be a true round up. This will also make the posts shorter.
As you know, I don’t quilt much. I really enjoy the collaborative effort of making a top and allowing someone else to quilt it. Thus, the quilts below are mostly tops, but I will include a finished quilt once someone else finishes it for the group.
This category covers bags, toys, aprons and knitting as well as other non-quilt projects.
WIPs are projects on which I am working. This means that I am past the cutting out of pieces stage, some sewing has taken place.
I still have UFOs. Who doesn’t, after all? A project in the ‘UFO’ category means I am stalled, it hasn’t been worked on in awhile or it is waiting its turn to be worked on. The list is a lot shorter and the projects are newer, for the most part.
I am annoyed that some of these are still UFOs. I have to give myself credit for completing some of them last year.
I didn’t really understand the directions for curving the zipper at the top of the Atlas Zipper Case pattern. My first one came out a little weird looking. There is a weird lump in the curve on the top. Underneath the end sticks out a little bit. None of this is fatal, but I wanted to do better on the second one.
I decided to make a triangle out of the end of the zipper. It makes a neat end with no lumps or bumps. I sewed the end down in the triangle, like in the photo (from another project). This keeps the end of the zipper in place, so I wouldn’t have to worry about it moving. As a bonus, I was able to create a nice curve as well.
The zipper on the Cal Atlas came out much better than on the Paris Atlas. There are no lumps and the curve is much flatter. In the future, I’ll do that to finish the zipper ends.
I recommend this method for crating zipper ends in the right circumstances. If you have a zipper tab, then you don’t need to do this. This is a great finish if the end of the zipper will be exposed for whatever reason.