Getting back to it.

Despite my lack of posting since moving, I have been doing a little bit of sewing. I've made some curtains and worked on some small projects.

One of first projects was a grocery bag with a built in pouch, for compact storage. The bag is a fairly standard rectangular bag with 2 long handles, no interfacing, but derocartor weight fabric gives it a little weight and strength.

The pouch is fairly large, quite a bit bigger than I expected. It lays inside the bag and the main bag is reversed into the pouch which is also flipped inside out to house the bag.

I shall hopefully takes some more pictures soon and have another post or two before long.

Knitting Needle Organizer

One of my best friends LOVES to knit and recently asked to me to make her a needle organizer like she’s seen on etsy. So I looked through some different tutorials on the net and settle on a basic pattern with a top flap to keep the needles from falling out.



I had found 2 fat quarters on sale a while ago that are a modern floral on white, which I liked but wasn’t sure how to use, (white for bags scares me) which seemed perfect for this. I had another fat quarter of a black white and red floral motif that I think compliments nicely and used a scrap piece of black to go with the other two.


I found the project came together quickly; I was glad I read through a few different tutorials and took the best advice from each before I started. Had I thought it through a tiny bit more I might have sewed the ribbon right into the side seam, instead of adding it right at the end, but at the time I was focused on getting the main organizer as nice as it could be and wasn’t thinking about the ribbon yet. All the tutorials I find called for using a piece of batting, but I thought fusible fleece would be even better as it shouldn’t shift or bunch over time. My walking foot definitely came in handy sewing through 8 layers of fabric and the batting.



Hopefully if I my friend likes it and finds it useful I may make a few more as Christmas presents.

Baby Blocks 2 + Curtains?

My first bit of sewing in the new home was to finish up the simple baby blocks, so that I have all nine ready. Unfortunately I haven’t found a material to sash the blocks yet, so this project may get shelved for a while.

Yes they are a strange assortment of animals, from an ostrich to a whale wearing a sailor hat. But overall I think they make a cute assortment.

Curtains

Some time in the near future I’m going to have to make some curtains for my bedroom. The previous owners were just using shears, and I find way too much light is getting in. I went to a local textiles store yesterday and found a funky material on sale because of printing defects. Luckily they still had significant lengths in between the problem areas, so I was just able to get long enough pieces.

At first I wasn’t too sure of it being black, but I think I’m going to really like it. There were only 2 pieces of fabric long enough to make a pair of curtains, so I didn’t feel like I had time to think it over too much. Hopefully they'll be smashing.

A Whole Room Devoted to Sewing

Well and my wireless modem, that's where the cable is accessible.

After seriously hurting my back and being laid up for a few weeks, and then taking possession of my very first home I am finally ready to start sewing again. Not only that, I am very excited to have an entire room devoted to sewing. I've got separate spaces for sewing, ironing and cutting. Plus actual storage space that is not my bedroom floor. I've got a bookcase and a closet so all my patterns and interfacings can be organized and put away.

On a sad note, I have lost my consummate friend, Stretch. I snapped this pic of him sleeping next to me while I sewed a few months ago. ( Not lost as in died, he belongs to my best friend and former roommate, I had grown very accustomed to him hanging out with me :( )

In being forced to pack, move and unpack my things ( I should be honest I didn't actually pack all of it, with my back hurting, my friend helped me with some packing) I have realized just how much scrap material I am hanging onto for future applique projects. I even have scraps and fat quarters I've been saving for Christmas applique and other scraps for baby/children's applique. I really need to get down to some more sewing.

Sometimes you just need easy

After 2 long weeks or work, a busy weekend including a visit from one of my best friends and my birthday I’ve done nothing in 2 weeks. Not only that I feel too sleepy to think about anything and so I finally decided maybe I would just start something really simple if I didn’t have the mental capacity to do anything at all tricky. Thus I began to put together a few cutesy blocks for a baby quilt. I’ve seen this sort of simple baby quilt a few different places including very modern examples at http://www.madebyalissa.com/.

I dug through my fabric stashes and found some cute animals and began piece the blocks. When I started I intended to use various leftovers for the outer parts of the blocks, but after doing four I’ve now realized that I have a polka dot theme going. I actually have 2 more fabrics with little dots on them one blue and one brown, so I’ll have to decide whether I stay with an all polka dot theme, or do half and half.

Time for a new direction

I love (and hate) getting to start new projects. I finished the full joys of winter quilt top, unfortunately I didn't take a photo of it before taking it to my parents place, where my mother hijacked it. I brought it over to square on her big cutting table, but she claimed it absolutely had to be steam ironed before we could square it and so I had to leave it there.

So today I got to start looking at some new fabrics and supplies I bought on the weekend, and dig into my bag fabric stash and start thinking about some fun smaller projects. I love all the possibilities but I think I worry that I'll 'waste' some fabric that later on I'll find the perfect project for. The modern Asian Toile above is one that I love but can never bring myself to use.

Some cool, environment minded fabric designs that I found this weekend which to me begged to be turned into some grocery/market bags.

A little bit of Amy. These are both home decor weight fabrics, which I thought would be nice for certain styles of bags.
Some new and old fabrics in contention for the next bags. A couple I also think would make beautiful cushions, and the brown and tan fabrics I think would lend themselves well to quilts. Decisions decisions. Hence the love-hate relationship.

Battik Beauty

I finally finished hand stitching the binding of this quilt last week. I had assembled the top by early August, but between finding a backing and then actually getting around to quilting it was quite the delay. I stippled in cordinating colours the half blocks because I really wanted the fun fabrics to stand out. I can't wait for summer when it will be easier to take nice pictures of bigger quilts.


I found this pattern in a quilting magazine, it uses 16 fat quarters and 2 coordinating fabrics, plus the border, I thought it was simple yet effective. I could fit a queen bed, but my intention in making it was just to have a fun quilt to through on when watching a movie or reading. I backed it with fleece for soft comfort.