More Drawstring Bags from my Craftsy Class

I really like making these bags. My son-in-law has asked if I can make him another one only bigger.
 
I had a little trouble with this pink one for my daughter because I used brocade for the lining and I'm not use to working with it. It only has one drawstring because the channel was to narrow on one end to add the other on. Will do better next time
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Craftsy Class - Drawstring Bag

Hi all I know its been a while since the last time I posted something up. Well to be honest I've been so busy I haven't even been doing any sewing. Well to get myself back into the swing of things I've begun taking some classes on Craftsy to get me back on track. I just finished my first project which is a lined drawstring bag that finishes around 10 3/4 x 8 3/4. I think it turned out well

. Yeah I know you can see the stitching but I'm OK with that because it's not like I'm giving it to someone and I was only making it to give me some practice. However I like it and that's all the matters. Going to work on making larger ones to fit my quilts so the will have individual bags and can stay clean and tidy for years. See you later with my next project.

Coming up in 2012

Hey everyone, update on a couple of projects I have planned for this year. First of all I am going to finish the quilts I began last year during my participation is a few quilt a longs. Secondly I will be starting a couple of new projects one of which is not a quilt. Thirdly I will work on finishing the exiting quilt tops I have had for years.

Yes I know this is a lot for one year and I will soon be going back to work which will shorten my time but I find that if I give myself a timeline for something it usually helps me to get it completed. I love my sewing and wish I could make it my full time profession but for now I have to work it in where I can in between working an outside job.

Now on to the new projects. I am sticking to what I said last year in wanting to get pre-existing projects completed before I begin any new ones but these came up out of the blue. The first project is for my son-in-law. If you recall last year I made a tiger motif pillow at the request of my daughter. At the time he was on deployment and she wanted him to have something to hold on to at night until he came home. Well the pillow I made him last year was stolen from him unfortunately so he asked me if I could make him a new one. Of course I told him yes but I had one problem, I had purchased the material I used for the pillow years earlier and I can now no longer find it, however I was lucky enough to find a better one that he loves there only difference if the other was a small pillow and the new one will be a body sized pillow. This will not be a problem for him as he is now on shore duty and will not have to go out on a ship.

Well here is the pillow I made for him last year. If you’d like to recap the story you can find it here.


Here is the material for the new pillow. As you can see they both have the same feel to them only the one I made last year was a yellow tiger and the new one is a white. Well it turns out the white one is more significant to him and my daughter than the yellow one anyway.


I love this fabric. The panels have such a tropical feel to them. The particular piece I found is I’m sure for a wall hanging because it is very large. I was also able to find a coordinating fabric with small panels and a border. So now I have my front panel and my border but nothing coordinating for the back so I will be using a Kona solid.



The next new project I am beginning is a baby quilt or blanket. I young cousin and his girl friend are about to have a baby girl and I wanted them to have something special for her. I haven’t quite decided on the pattern or the fabric yet but hopefully soon because she will be here before we know it. I would have started this sooner but just had no time with my job and all.

So only 2 new projects as of right now this year and I’ll be working out a time management schedule for completing the others. Also I have come to a revelation that if I want to get my old quilts completed I will have to send them out to be quilted because there is just no other way for me to do it. I just don’t have the time to quilt everyone of my old quilt tops and still keep myself on schedule. I know this prospect is very scary because all of my quilt tops are special to me and I have never sent anything out for quilting so I don’t personally know anyone. It is like the first time I entrusted my daughter to her preschool teacher. You are sure the person is qualified for the job but your still scared of letting your baby out of your sight. We shall see. I will keep you posted each time I send out one to be quilted.

So until next time, happy sewing.

I'm Back

Hi everyone long time no see. I’m sorry to have been away for so long. You see I work for a very popular museum in the retail department. I began working there the summer of 2010. Within 3 months of being hired I was being trained to run one of the small stores within the complex. That training set me up for my bigger elevation in 2011 when I was given the responsibility of running a specified store to accompany the traveling exhibit on display at the museum. After that I was asked to do the same for the next traveling exhibit that arrived. You may ask well why are you tell us all of this, well this is the reason I was not blogging for so long. Sometimes life gets busier than expected and some things have to be sacrificed for the time.

Needless to say I am trying to get back into the swing of things and get back to blogging and sewing. Last year at this time I was starting in my participation in a number of quilt block-a longs. Well I was not able due to my busy schedule to finish the three quilts I began last year like I wanted to. However I have included them in my to do/to complete plan for 2012. With that said there are some changes that are coming in my life that is going to give me the opportunity to explore more with my sewing and textile exploration but I don’t want to let the cat out of the bag just yet.

I want to thank all the people who continued to follow my blog even when there was no new content for them to read, but I am back now and hope to have more for you in the near future. Please stay with me and thanks for your support.

Modern Solids Quilt Along: Block #1 & The Inspiration

Hi Everyone, well here it is the first block for the Modern Solids Quilt Along. At first I wasn’t sure how this was going to work out because I don’t normally work in all solids, in fact this will be my first all solid quilt top so this could be interesting. I love the color combo I was able to create and the construction of the first block works so well with it.

Now a little about my inspiration for this block. As I wrote in an earlier post I learned quilting initially when I went to an adult Girl Scout camp program for quilting. The second year I went there was a mix up and I was not able to going to the in town meeting so even thought I knew which book we were taking the quilt pattern from I had no idea which quilt was picked for the weekends project so I just picked one only to find out that it was the wrong one. The quilt book we used was Quilting Season by Debbie Caffrey but I can’t remember which quilt the group picked but the layout I picked is called Cinco de Mayo. Needless to say I never finished that particular quilt but I did later make a wall hanging from the same design for my daughter’s bedroom you can see below. She picked out the fabric herself. She liked the brilliant colors and I fussy cut the fish fabric to make it look more like a fancy fish bowl.

You can see the components I used for my block.

Well that was it, that’s is where I got the idea for my block. As I don’t have permission to publish any part of the book I made the decision to not post my step-by-step photos or any part of the book. If you are interested in checking out the book or any of Debbie Caffrey‘s other work please check out the her website.

My block is currently posted to the Flicker group for the Modern Solids QAL. So go check it out along with all the other fabulous blocks posted by the group members.

So until the next block, happy sewing.