100 bags - Bags 4-10

10 down, 90 to go.

2 snakes bags and a grapes bag

This is my favorite so far. I used the border of a Daisy Kingdom fabric. I will make 2 more police bags out of the non-border of the same fabric. All 3 have German shepherd dog pockets inside. 

Wacky hippie fabric. 

100 Bags - bag 2 and bag 3

I'll try not to post so few in a day, but got bags 2 and 3 done today! One is a pizza and toppings bag and the other is pinstripes and M&Ms. 3 down, 97 to go.

For this one, I double layered and stitched together the M&Ms ribbon to make the handles. 

I have some grapes, snakes, and orange fabric cut out and ready to go. Now to find the cowboys, cars, firetrucks, soccer, and other fabrics!

CDR Bag Project - 100 bags!

Child Development Resources provides services for local at-risk infants, toddlers and their families, be it socioeconomic, physical, mental, or a myriad other reasons. They were there when my twins were born premature and provided assistance and support to me and mine. For that, we will be forever grateful. They also provide literacy support for the kids and often give books for the families to take home. In my opinion, those books need bags and those bags need a pocket to hold a library card for future reading!

And so, I've begun a 100-bag project. I will make 100 totes with pockets for the children and families of Child Development Resources, Early Head Start, and whatever program they'd like to use them for. Today, I completed number 1. They'll all be the same size and will be made with colorful novelty fabrics. Number 1 is a bag made with banana fabric!

The fabric is cut in 2 14x"x16" rectangles. The pocket is cut in 2 4"x5" pieces, then sewn right sides together and turned, then attached to the inside of the bag. These bags are not lined. I did serge the 1/4" seams. I basted the handles 2" away from either side of the center, then came a piece of bias tape (you can use any fabric you like) to sew right sides together with the bag, turn under, and machine hem. The handles are caught in the seam of the facing and bag. Easy, right? 

Here's what number 1 looks like without all the dimension stuff written on it. I think they're going to work out just fine.

What is your project of love? 99 to go for me!

Robin's mom's quilt is done

A few days ago, I posted that I was working on a friend's mother's quilt and showed you the back. I finished it today. The binding is done!

That's me peeping over the top. It's hard to see the detail of the handkerchiefs, but it is beautiful in design and heart. I'll be handing it over to my friend tomorrow.

I'm tying my hexagon quilt when I have time and working on a denim quilt of hexagon flowers for myself. In the meantime, I have my eye on a culotte's pattern I want to try and will probably make a coordinating top to go with.

I'm not retired. I still work, but maybe 30 hours a week. It's been great to rediscover my sewing projects and to complete another one is just magnificent.

My next big project will be making 100 tote bags for the parents and children of Child Development Resources. I have been trying to figure out how to destash without just giving away yards of fabric again and the parents can use the bags with their kids for trips to the library. I did this one time in the past and look forward to my stack growing. I have SO MUCH fabric! 100 16"x 18" bags might make a dent! By the way, their the best and if you ever have a dollar to spare, they can always use donations of any kind, be it money or time or whatever. Okay, enough shameless plugging.

Keep sewing!

Sewing in June

I've had a couple projects going for a while - a friend's mom's quilt and one last quilt for myself. They're still in progress, but I'm ready to share some of it with you.

My friend's mom approached me toward the end of her life and asked me to "help her finish" a quilt. She wanted to make one out of handkerchiefs she's received over the years, some of them from her aunt. I said, "sure, let me see what you have." Out came a hat box filled with handkerchiefs sort of pinned together. Right about there, I asked if I could just make it for her. It took her 2 shakes of a monkey's butt to agree. We were visiting her in Florida at the time and I said I'd take them home with me, find a complementary fabric to go with the handkerchiefs, and get started. She asked me to give it to her daughter if she was not around to see it. On the drive home from Florida, I asked my friend if we could stop at Walmart on the way home, knowing that I had seen some sky fabric that would be just perfect there. So we did and I bought it. They didn't have much, so I wrote to the manufacturer and they sent me some more.

I've been doing a quilt-as-you-go method for this one and yesterday, put on the last row. It's ready now for the hand stitching on the back I have it pinned and should get that done in a day or so. The back is not a pretty sight, but it is what it is as they say.

Today, I made the binding and got it all rolled up. I do not use bias binding with quilts as there are no round edges to navigate. This is a 3" wide binding and I'll hand apply it as well.

I suspect in a couple weeks, this one will be done and delivered! I'll show off the front when I'm done.

As you might already know, I'm addicted to hexagons. I like to have a portable sewing project, and they fit the bill perfectly. I'm working now on what I deemed to be our last quilt. Yeah, right. I've made hexagon flowers with the same fabric for the centers, 9-patch denim squares (using 4" squares), and will be using a 2" spacer between the blocks. I'm not very excited to match up corners and with the spacer/sashing, I don't have to. Here are some in-progress pics:

Hand stitched flowers using English piecing.

One flower attached to a 9-patch with sashing attached. 

A couple of squares sewn together to begin a row.

Stack of 9-patch denim squares ready to embellish.

I have a beautiful piece of fleece for the back and will stitch the rows one at a time onto that as I go. This is a great way to use up old denim regardless of whether you do a hex flower on it or not.

So, that's my sewing for June. I hope you all have something going on as well. Sew on, my friends!

Busy!

It's been a busy time in the sewing room. It seems like there's always something to mend or to create or fabric that just needs to be looked at one more time.

My sister recently moved in with us and the sewing room is filled to the brim with boxes. Two days ago, I mentioned to my husband that I needed to create a path to the sewing machine and ironing board, that I was having withdrawal! We spent a productive 15 minutes moving things around, and voila! I was in business again.

I finished some brain and blood spatter potholders:

and started to work on a denim project I have going.

I took a quick inventory of my UFOs hanging around - a quilt for a friend's mother, a vest I've been designing; and some items recently finished - a doll outfit and vest made of M&Ms fabric, and realized I need to step it up!

There is always sewing that needs to be done. Or is there sewing that I want to do? Is there a difference?

The bottom line is that I'm glad I have access to my machine and have 1,000 ideas of what I want to put together.

Here's hoping your spring is filled with sewing ideas!

Quick denim quilt tutorial, part 1

Cut yourself a bunch of squares out of recycled denim. We used six 4" squares for the tutorial to give you the basics. I recommend at least 6" squares for a lap or full sized quilt. Precise cutting is the key to everything. You'll be happy later if you take time to do this part right.

Put one square right side up.

Place a second square right side down on top of the square above.

Using your presser foot to measure seam allowance as shown in the picture, stitch these two together. At the beginning and the end, do a forward and reverse stitch or two to secure the line of stitching.

Place the two squares right side up.

Place one square right side down on the end of the first set of sewn squares.

Stitch this square down as above, securing with a forward and reverse stitch on the ends. 

This is what it looks like when turned over. Use as many squares as you like to make a row. 

You remember your iron, right? You're about to use it.

Turn your row right side down. 

Press the seams open with a hot iron. 

When you've done all the seams, turn the row right side up and iron from the top to give it an extra oomph to keep the seams open. Repeat with all rows. 

Place an ironed row right side up.

Place a second row right side down on the first row.

Match the seams. Try to match the seam and not the seam allowance. 

Pin on the left side of the seam to hold. Repeat with all squares in the row. Don't worry if there's a little give in the squares. 

Start at one end (forward and reverse) and stitch the two rows together until you get to the seam/pin. You can stretch the squares a skosh with your hands if there was a little give. The goal is to not have pinches of fabric, especially at the seams. If you cut them precisely, you should be fine. 

Take the pin out and hold the seam in place by hand. Go very slowly here. The fabric is thick. 

Stitch the seam intersection together...

Go forward, backward, and forward again to double reinforce the seam joint.

Seam done. Repeat as often as necessary with rows. you can do two rows, then two rows, then two rows, etc. to make handling easier, then stitch the sections of two rows together. 

Take this to the ironing board and place it right side down.

Press the new seam open with high heat, paying attention to the intersections of seams. Go slowly. It pays to do it right the first time. 

Here is the wrong side pressed. 

Turn it over and press again. 

Your quilt top is now made. 

How to add backing and tie the quilt will be in part 2 of the tutorial. Now, go make a quilt!