A bag for my cutting mat!

I've been wanting to make a travel bag for my smaller sewing mat and tools to take on sewing events. Then when I saw the Bekko Line, I knew it was perfect and I had to finally get to it! It's a large scale, home deco weight print. And the geometric print are right up my alley!  I've had this tutorial from Because I Said Sew bookmarked for a while so I set to it and I'm thrilled with the results.

 The tutorial is made for a 24" by 18" cutting mat and that's what I used. The tutorial is pretty good but I would recommend reading the whole thing first. I didn't and wound up ripping a few times at the part where you sew the bag together. I did it wrong several times before I finally wound up asking Jeanna for help! She was so kind and gave me more directions via email. But if I had read through the rest of the directions, I would have figured it out! Sorry Jeanna!

Here's the small pocket on one side. Perfect for all your cutters and tools (note the dora shoes of my assistant!).

And then the other side is one LARGE pocket where you can put all your big rulers and maybe even patterns. Very well thought out! (the white is the lining and the blue is the pocket).

Thanks Jeanna for a great tutorial, I love my bag!

Pretty Little Pouch

My Pretty Little Pouch for the swap is all completed and ready to go. This was my start on the 'front'. I used this tutorial which was perfectly easy to follow and modify (I added more twisters on mine).

 That's Kona Charcoal and then I used scraps that I had in rainbow colors. I wanted the back to be more colorful so I cut triangles out of the rainbows.

I'm always looking for an excuse to use the fancy stitches on my machine so I added a row of stitching to make it a little more interesting.

And I chose a nice light fabric for the inside because it's always easier to find your stuff when the inside of a bag is light.

Now I just have to decide on my 'extras' and this baby  is all ready to be mailed next week! I hope my partner likes it!

Liverpool Top Finished

I don't even know how long ago I bought this pattern. But it's been in my stash quite a while. I finally bought the fabric to make it when I was out with some quilt friends a few weeks ago. I figured if someone actually knows I have the stuff to make this, then I have to do it!

Well, I made it. But I can't model it for you.

I thought since I was a medium in this AB top I would be a medium in the Liverpool. I should have done my measurements. The first top was a little tight around the chest, but was forgiving because of the way it hangs and the fact that it has no sleeves. This one is just too tight for me.

I've never done a top with this much detail/fit. I was nervous about it, but the directions are well written. If I can do it, anyone can!

Darting on the front (new to me!).

Darting on the back (is that what it's called??).

And a full on fancy collar and finished buttons!

So from what I understand, you can't sell things you make from Amy Butler patterns?? Does that count if you accidentally made it too small and now you have no use for it? sigh...

Another Market Tote

Happy March everyone! I can't believe we are already in March, but I'm excited about spring coming. I have actually been getting in some time in my sewing room. Thank you Samantha for still taking naps! I've gotten a couple tops finished and need to get the backs done. Anyone else dislike piecing backs??  It's definitely not my favorite. Once I get them a little more completed I'll share some photos.

Anyway, my family is all coming in to meet the new baby this week so it will still be quiet here on my blog. But I wanted to share another Jane Market tote that I did. My sister is coming and I bought some little gifts for her baby. When I was looking for a bag to put it in, I realized I haven't really made her anything aside from the baby quilt and burp cloths. So - a tote bag to put the gifts in is perfect!

I pulled out my Half Moon Modern to use. With the scale of those prints, I think bags are going to be the best use of these fabrics. I still love this pattern, it comes together so quickly. I used SF101 Pellon interfacing for a little more stiffness on this bag.

And I got to put my label on something finally! And look how well the colors go with this tote.

The inside is more half moon modern. Hopefully it's not too bright for her! If it is, well, I'll keep this one for myself and let her pick out her own fabrics for another. After all, they'll be here for a week and I can whip up one of these bags in no time!

And just because... This photo has my little helper in his carseat. This is where he hangs out while I sew. For the record, he's usually asleep. When he wakes, I do stop sewing and play with him. ;)

A sewing night

Last night was another fun sewing night with Philly Modern Quilt Guild peeps. I forgot to bring my camera but including myself there were 9 of us at Sew Smart Fabrics. 

The first thing I got out of the way was my miles of binding for the king size Aviary Birdbath quilt. I still haven't attached it to the quilt though. But this was almost an entire yard of fabric!

Then I finally got down to the Double Wedding Ring arcs I've been avoiding. As I had posted on flickr, I was struggling with these big time. I was beginning to wonder if I could finish this one. But thankfully there were several people at sewing night who all had experience with curves. They all agreed that the paper backing needed to come off the arcs to make it work. Once I tried that, they came together so easily!

I got a bunch of half melons done and about 4 whole melons done. It made might night!!

Of course there was shopping. I picked up more of this print from 1934.

And a couple fun christmas prints.

The most exciting shopping for me was food related. When we went out to pick up dinner, we found the best Olive Oil store ever. If you are local to Doylestown or even anywhere nearby, this place is worth a visit. It's called Olive Oil Etcetera and they had the most amazing different olive oils and balsamic vinegars. So yummie!

Overall, a fantastic night with friends!

A beach tote in October

My sister asked me to make her a beach tote and of course I told her I would. Sadly, the timing was bad and I got hit with morning sickness shortly after getting the fabric. As a result, she's getting a beach tote in October! Whoops!

When I was trying to find a large enough bag, I came across this tutorial at Creation Corner. I asked my sister to pick out the fabric she likes and this is the resulting bag. She chose Amy Butler Midwest Modern for the fabrics and asked for yellow accents. I chose a yellow I had in my stash.

This is a huge bag, that front panel is 20"x18". I tried to put a beach blanket in it to show scale and it swallowed it up! It's going to be perfect for my sister to drag with her toddler to the beach.

This side has 3 large pockets on the outside.

I took this photo for a few reasons. First off, you can see the lining fabric. And the detail on the yellow fabric. It's not a solid.


The other thing is that this is where I veered from the tutorial. I had used a cotton weight fabric so I lined it with interfacing for a little more strength. That meant the bag needed to be lined also and the original was not lined. So I decided to sew the handles in-between the lining and the front fabric.


Overall, I'm happy with how the bag came out and I would definitely recommend the tutorial! I'll be linking up to Sew Modern Monday this week.

WIP Wednesday {35}

Okay, I seem to be getting back into the swing of things and have a bunch of stuff to talk about this week. And I remembered why I do so many projects at once instead of focusing on one at a time.

Burnout!

After doing another 12 of these birdbath blocks I was ready to move on to something else. Thankfully, I'm DONE! No more of these blocks for me! I got started doing my layout. I have 9 extra blocks for the back. Keep in mind this is just the center of the quilt. Once I get these together and get the final measurements I have to decide on how many and how thick to make the borders.

I did start another little project this week. I saw on someone's blog that they were using their Petit Four for hexagons. I can't remember who it was so if it was you, give me a shout out and I would love to give you credit because the idea is genius! I have a Petit Four of Circa 1934 and I decided to use them for hexagons. I love having some hand work when I'm stuck watching Sesame Street at 6am! Now tell me, what should I do with the hexagons? A pillow, an apron, mini quilt?

And I got done my curtains for the dining room but this is still technically a WIP because hubby needs to hang the board for it. I'm a little too clutzy at this point in my pregnancy to be climbing ladders. Seriously.

I also did an initial fabric pull for my son's quilt! I've been hoarding my Neptune for something special and I think this qualifies. So I pulled a lot of Neptune and Prince Charming. The only thing I'm wondering about is the yellows on the top of this pile (the Prince Charming). Would you leave it in for contrast or is it just too different from the rest?

The idea right now is to do Jaybird Quilt's Fast Forward pattern with a Navy or Charcoal background. Technically her patterns use precuts, but I haven't found a jelly roll where I like the whole roll enough yet so I'll just cut my own strips. That's why I pulled so many fabrics.

And for now, I'm also piling up my work for Fridays PMQG sewing night. Probably going to focus on my neglected Double Wedding Ring. Exciting to have a little social sewing time, and maybe do a little boy fabric shopping. Btw - did I mention that I am now the Vice President for the Philly Modern Quilt Guild. Well, only until February when Anna Ziegner will take over for the rest of the year. Looking forward to helping the Guild grow!

Lee is back this week, so head over to Freshly Pieced to link up your own Works In Progress!

WIP Wednesday {30}

Really? Is it really week 30 already! Amazing. So here's what's on the table this week.


Finished: nada


In process:
Today's big project is cleaning up my sewing room. :(  No pictures because I'm way to embarrassed at how it looks. In addition to my own stuff, my husband has dumped a few boxes in there also so it's a bit crowded. My current sewing room is also the dining room and tomorrow we are getting our dining room furniture back from the old house. So I need to make it work in that room with all my stuff. Should be interesting.

I found the binding for my first quilt.  It was in one of my scrapbooking piles in the guest room. Whoops! Now I just need to get it attached.

Very little progress on the Weekender bag. Well, it was a lot of work, but doesn't feel like a lot of result. I got all the cording done- all 5 yrds! With some advice from Cindy at Live a Colorful life, I decided to use Steam a Seam to fuse it instead of sewing it together. Apparently you sew over the cording several times and each time you get closer and closer. So if you start too close, you can run into problems.

I got 4 blocks done for my mom's Bird Bath quilt. And running out of ideas to photograph these blocks every week. lol

Cutting is done for my Baby Carnival quilt. I need to get this one moving. I realized this friend is having her baby in 3 weeks. Although she doesn't know if it's a boy or a girl and I do have the potential girl quilt ready. Let's hope it's a girl!

I did manage to fix and finish the quilting on my Baby Bicycle quilt. Just need to get the binding done. I've chosen polka dots for that one.

I haven't mentioned the Sew Modern Bee in a while. This month we are doing Wonky Log Cabins and she's requested a fabric flower to go with it. That will be a fun addition. I received this beautiful fabric to work with. I haven't even unwrapped these because I don't want them to get lost in all the shuffle the next few days.

And last but not least, my do.Good Stitches blocks. It's Megan's (Canoe Ridge Creations) month and she put together a tutorial for a bow-tie block. She's requested a rainbow of colors, so here is what I've pulled (and have since ironed).

In addition I've been doing some planning and prep work for a few future projects that I don't have photos of. Should be able to post them soon though!

Total WIP's this week: 7


Head on over to Freshly Pieced to share what you've been up to this week!

Knit Success

I know this looks just like the pictures you've seen before, but I swear it's a new one! I finally had success with knits!
Turns out the problem with the jumped stitches was being caused by me sewing too fast. Go figure. I knew I was a lead foot, but I didn't realize it was an issue until I watched this video by Patty Young of ModKid boutique. It contains a lot of the information that is in the Sew Mama Sew link I posted before. But if you are a visual person (like I apparently am), this will be helpful too.
Here's a close up of my sleeve hem.

YAY! I'm not afraid of knits anymore! Actually, so much that I hemmed a pair of pajama pants for my daughter.

Very excited about this and looking forward to doing more soft and cuddly knit clothing! If you are considering working with knits - do it! It's not that hard and so nice to work with.