More Like A 3-Weeker Than a Weekender

 OK, well, here she is: my Weekender bag in all her glory. Complete with adjustable shoulder strap and matching luggage tag.  I won't lie - this bag was a wh0re to make, but I am absolutely in LOVE with it.  I changed a lot of things from the pattern, so I cannot blame the pattern - it was clear and I did not follow the instructions.  I'm really bad at following instructions.

Weekender Tip #1:  Follow the pattern - not me

What did I change from the pattern? Well, lots of things - basically the whole construction of the bag.  I constructed mine very similarly to Michelle's Weekender. I wanted pockets on the inside and no saggy lining, so I basted the lining to the bag pieces before I put them together - leaving 2 big shaggy seams exposed on the inside, which I had to cover with bias binding.  I ended up having to stitch the bias on my hand because my machine wouldn't sew through all those layers. I also added an adjustable shoulder strap so I can wear it across my body - I rarely have a free hand.

Weekender tip #2:  don't use a heavy canvas/duck cloth for the piping fabric

During my construction of the bag, I put my poor little machine to the test. I ended up using the piping foot to guide the bag through, but had to use my scissors as a presser foot to press the fabric together before each stitch. It took FOREVER. I couldn't pin the sides to the middle section, I did however end up using staples and that worked fine.

Weekender tip #3: Staples are better than pins

 

I added a 10" zippered pocket to the outside of the front pocket - to keep things like ID/plane tickets safe. That part was easy and didn't interfere with the construction of the rest of the bag. 

I also added a zippered pocket and 2 open pockets to the inside lining of the bag. Even though I love how these came out, it was a huge pain in the arse to sew over these extra layers of fabric when attaching the sides to the middle section.

Weekender tip #4:  If you add inside pockets - don't let them go all the way into the side seams

So maybe my favorite addition to the pattern was the bag feet (acorn nuts with allen bolts on the inside).
My hubs help me cut a masonite hard bottom for my bag, and I attached these 'feet' right through the fabric to help protect and extend the life of the bottom of the bag. It's also now super sturdy. I just added a false bottom that matches the lining to cover up the ugly masonite.

 Weekender tip #5: Read the whole pattern through before starting, and understand all the cutting that you have to do.

The cutting is the biggest part of this bag, and it took FOREVER. It can be very frustrating when you want to just jump right in. It's also pretty boring.

So that's it!  I'm off to The Sewing Summit this Thursday! Hubs and the kids are going to take care of each other for 3 whole nights. I can hardly wait - but there's still so much to do before then. I'm just really, really happy to have finished this bag in time to take with me.

Also check out Megan's bag!

No Turning Back Now...

Well, here it is - my Weekender Bag, up through step 7:

It's kind of like a rite of passage in the bag making world, isn't it?

It's gonna get tricky from here on out - which is entirely my fault. I cannot just follow a pattern. I have to customize it. I need lots of pockets inside, an adjustable shoulder strap, clips for small bags and keys, etc, etc. Because of my changes, I'm worried about the installation of the lining as outlined in the pattern, I'm afraid it won't be sturdy enough to hold loaded pockets. Sooooo..... how do I move on from here? I'm thinking Michelle's solution may be the one for me. But I'll likely tweak as I go. My hope is to take it to Sewing Summit! T-minus 2 weeks and counting.

Cheers All

I Made a T-Shirt!

I've never attempted this before. A first. I bought knit fabric at Fabric Depot's outdoor sale for $3.00/yard, I got a pattern (by Figgy's - Tee For Two), and away I went. I traced and cut last night, went over design options with my 4-yr-old this morning before school, and sewed the whole thing while fighting off an active 2 year old this afternoon.

 

It was actually pretty easy - and I'm generally not a knits person.  He loves his new pirate ship shirt! It's pretty darn cool looking, for being made by his Mom ;)

 

I think I'll make a bunch of these, since I have like 10 yards of knits now, and I only used about a 1/2 for this.   Cheers All,  hope back to school is treating you all well!

Swap in Swap out

I've been doing some swaps over on flickr this summer.   My latest is called 'For the Love of Solids'.

This is what I've just sent off to my partner:

 A mini quilt, and a pouch.

 I used the same block style that I had designed for the Jay McCarroll Challenge.

I'm pretty much in love with it, and really wanted to hang it on the wall of my dining nook, but I didn't.

It took me 8 straight hours to cut and piece these 4 blocks. I love all-day sew-ins at fabric depot sponsored by PMQG.

 Here's the back.

 

 This is the AMAZING package that I received from Sarah all the way from Shetland:

 It's pretty fabulous really, a wonderful 20" cushion cover which looks like it was born to live in my house. I guess it was :) , this totally darling quilted tic tac toe set which has been envied by everyone that has been through my house in the last few days,

 and a gorgeous colorblock zippered pouch that I'm just totally in love with, stuffed with goodies in the form of fabric and candy.

 I keep thinking, oh, I maybe don't really have the time to do anymore swaps for awhile, but then I get a package like this, and, well - I'm probably going to sign right up for another one :)

Cheers all!

Sandbox Pants

 

I hit some Labor Day weekend sales on Saturday morning with my lovely friend and neighbor Beverly. We first went to Modern Domestic .  They had a fabulous sidewalk sale, where I picked up 4 new feet for my dear little Janome (including a ruffler foot!!). They also had a $1 bin, $5 grab bags, and 50% off magazines, books and patterns - I partook of all of those. The pattern I got was this Oliver & S one.  I got the 4-8 sized pattern since my son is 4. Turns out I should have bought the 6 month-3t one, because he is nowhere near a size 4. Maybe for Junior high.

 

We also went to Fabric Depot to check out their outdoor sale which has an extra 10% off thru the weekend. I picked up all apparel fabric - so unlike me. But I scored this lightweight stretchy black denim for $3/yd and also some blue denim and a really lovely plaid twill type fabric for the same price. 

 

 I traced the pattern smaller than the size 4 lines, trying to interpolate it to about a 3, but used the size 4 pockets. My little guy picked out the 'bee' fabric for the pockets, and very excitedly helped me use the tailors chalk (all over the rest of the cut of fabric, and on the tablecloth). It was a super easy pattern to follow and put together.  I made sure to take extra time on my topstitching because I picked a nice lime green thread to go with the waistband.

 I serged all the inside seams and then topstitched them down to lay flat.  I had to re-learn how to make buttonholes.

 

I even lined the front pockets with the bee fabric. So cute. I'm really happy with how these turned out, but I may have to go hunt down the smaller size pattern - The 3 was still huge, I had to really tighten up the elastic in the back to keep them up, and my daughter now wants some, and she's a size 2 (so maybe 12 month ;). 

 I would definitely use more of their patterns, so cute, and so easy to follow, even for a new-to apparel-sewist.  So we're looking at 90+ degrees for most of the week - Vaughn had no interest in modelling these pants. "Momma, it's too hot for pants, I won't wear them". Nice. We have another week before he starts school. I. Can't. Wait. I mean, I'll miss him....  

Jay McCarroll Habitat Challenge

Have you guys heard of the Jay McCarroll Habitat Challenge put on by Free Spirit and The Modern Quilt Guild? Well, all of the members of our little PMQG were given a fat eight bundle of some Jay McCarroll Habitat fabrics and asked to make a 12.5" square block adding only solid fabrics to the Habitat. These will then be assembled into a quilt for a local charity. I think this is a great challenge and was eager to participate. I knew I wanted to design a block for this challenge, and this is what I came up with:


I took my Habitat and added 2 aquas and 2 yellows, and started cutting and sewing curves (yikes). Super bias-y and stretchy. OK, so this block won't be going viral or anything, but I like how it looks, and I hope quilting will flatten it out. (Sorry Nancy.) Check out the Flickr group for the challenges from all the different Mod Quilt Guilds!



Then I played around with how these blocks would look as a quilt:


I kind of like it (lots)...but I don't know if I want to sew it. Hope you're all having a great quilt-y day!

Cheers, Jill!

A Busy Summer, and Some New Pillows

Summers are pretty busy around here... camp, beach trips, fairs, swimming, birthday parties, yard work, construction projects, friends and family visiting from out of town, brew fests. You get the picture. It's hard to fit sewing into that schedule - but surprisingly I have found some time.

I tend to do things backwards. We (ok, I) decided to re-do our family room. This involved some demo, some wall building, and dry walling. Really, I had the vision in my head awhile ago, so I decided to make some throw pillows for our newly revamped space before I started the revamping.


I wanted to use these pillow to try out mini-samples for some quilts I have in my head. The first one is the squares in descending sizes, I have a plan for a twin quilt with a similar pattern (in much different colors).


The second was this apple core pattern. Which I have to say was kind of a beast to sew together. (I'm new at curves.) It turned out looking fine, but I quilted the heck out of it. I think I will not want to deal with a whole quilt of apple cores.


I backed them both in chocolate Alexander Henry Heath, which I love. I also quilted the back which gives them such a nice sturdiness and texture. I'll make 2 more in these colors for our final family room re-do. I think maybe a tumbler pattern, and maybe something else with curves?

I really love my new pillows!

Pillows are great little projects, I love the sense of accomplishment I get from finishing something. I did the square one in 1 day, while wrangling the kiddos - and the apple core took maybe 2 or 3 days between kid antics.

Hope you're all enjoying your summer!!

Cheers, Jill

A Catch-up Post and Some Randomness

Lots going on here, but nothing really too exciting - ever have that problem?

My son finished his first year of preschool, he's changed so much in the last year, I'm a bit emotional about his first school year ending.

My Dad came from Buffalo for a visit and stayed with us for 3 weeks. 'Nuff said.

My Mom is coming next week and staying for 10 days.

My daughter slept through the whole night and stayed in her crib until 8am this morning - this has NEVER happened before, she's 2. I haven't slept for a whole night in 2 years.

My husband is working on 4(!) projects at one time, which is relatively equivalent to 4 full time jobs. He builds architectural models and he's been a bit dry on work for awhile, so this is good, but I miss him.

My sewing machine is a bit dusty. So sad.

I have completed a few things though. The Portland Modern Quilt Guild had a block swap/challenge with all solid fabric. So we each brought in a 12.5" square block made of all solid fabric, and did a blind swap. Then we made a project (pillow, mini quilt, etc.) out of the block adding our own (solid) fabric and returned it to the original block-maker. I received Cherri's block, and made her a pillow out of it, here it is:


Cherri's block ended at the blue/purple edge, and I added the gray and everything outside of that. It was a super fun project.

My block was turned into a darling little pillow by Michelle, unfortunately I can't take a picture of it now, because my son (who doesn't nap) is napping on it right now.

We also had to bring in a 6" block each to be added to the PMQG banner for the Sisters quilt show, where several members (including me!) will have quilts on display. I used my leftovers from Cherri's pillow to make a simple block.


I received my pouch from the Pretty Little Pouch Swap! It was made by the lovely Naomi (linen&string). Look at all the sweet goodies included in this fabulous bag! I adore the fabric covered magnets which live on my magnet board in the kitchen (where greasy little hands can't touch them).

Just look at the gorgeous little details she added. I LOVE this bag, I've already used it several times to carry sewing essentials to meetings - and I've gotten tons of compliments on it. I intend to use it as a toiletry bag for travel, but it's so pretty, I don't want it stashed away when we're not traveling.


I did actually make a whole twin sized quilt top out of sherbet pips... just haven't gotten around to taking pics of it. So stay tuned!

Mother's Day Nicey Jane Quilt

A few weeks ago, Jen and I were having a mellow playdate and missing Megan. The kids were so unusually quiet that we started 'playing' with fabric. I was telling her that I have a couple collections that I bought, that I LOVE, but I'm afraid that if I don't use them, I may lose the love someday, and I'd hate for them to go unused. Let's face it, all of our tastes change, and styles change. But I am seriously still in love with Nicey Jane in a major way. Jen and I went back and forth about what to do with it, and we finally ended up at a lattice quilt with big blocks of the prints to show them off.

CAD drawings and came up with these 2 schemes:



I finally settled on the second one and off I went. It was a pretty quick top to put together, but Jen put a whole quilt together in this pattern in about 2 or 3 days, beating me by about, oh, a month.

Here is the finished product. I managed to quilt the whole thing free motion on my tiny Janome Jem 720. It's the 1st quilt that I've free-motioned on my baby. I'm really happy with how it turned out.

The pattern on the back was inspired by this quilt that I found over on flickr.

I gave this to my Mom for Mother's Day, I really love this quilt, and really love my Mom. Happy Mother's Day, Mom!

note: all pictures of this quilt were taken by Jen Bailly (bettycrockerass)

A Pretty Little Pouch

Well, pretty by my standards anyway. I really love this box-style pouch shape, so cute. I also LOVE the Ruby Star Rising fabric. I paired it with linen and kona solids in aquas and yellows to compliment the Ruby colors. I followed this tutorial for the pouch. It's fully lined. I hope my partner in the swap likes it too!

It's a gorgeous, sunny day here in P-town. I think I'll try to go soak some of it up before it disappears. Cheers all!

Project Modern Challenge 2

Woah, I can hardly believe it! My yellow quilt is one of the winners of Project Modern Challenge 2! I'm super excited! All of the entries in the flickr group look amazing, so I'm really surprised I'm one of the chosen 3. Here is what I submitted:

This quilt measures 62"x50"

This quilt is called "Yellow Quilt". I was inspired by a very bold, graphic photograph I came across of a tile pattern on the side of a building. I had been wanting to make a quilt for our brown and yellow family room, so I decided to take this image and translate it into a yellow quilt. This is a color that I have not worked with much and I wanted to really challenge myself. My process started with pulling the original photo into a CAD program and drafting a pattern for the quilt over the photo. I then took the drawing and 'colored' it with several different schemes in Illustrator until I came up with one I liked. With my color scheme in hand I ordered 10 different kona solids from the yellow palette. I didn't end up using all of the solids, I really wanted to add some prints for a bit more of the fun, modern feeling that I was going for. It was really hard to find fabrics that gave me the feeling I wanted and were truly monochromatic. The solids range from the palest wheat-yellow to a deep ochre, and the prints are all yellow on yellow and simple dots. It was really fun and challenging to make a quilt with a limited palette like this, and it has given me a lot of confidence that I can step out of my comfort zone and come up with an end result that I am really proud of.

I'm just still kind of blown away and in shock. Thanks Malka (The Challenge 2 Judge)!

A Process Post

So I made a monochromatic quilt for Project Modern Challenge #2. I thought I'd give you all a little insight into how crazy my process is when designing a quilt. Remember that I was trained as an Architect and not in using textiles in any way. So this whole process just seems normal to me - even though looking at it all spelled out it seems a bit insane and ridiculous.

It all started with a really cool picture that I happened upon on flickr while searching for cool pics of Architecture. This is the picture. I did not take this photo, I just found it online.

I really like the movement in this pic and thought it'd make a great quilt - a great monochromatic quilt. So my first move was to draft it up in AutoCAD. I draft EVERYTHING up in AutoCAD. I'm weird that way. This is what I came up with:
Pretty do-able for a quilt, 29 rows made up of little pieces. Then I imported the file into Illustrator and colored it. I decided on yellow, because we have a brownish room in need of a yellow quilt. This is what I came up with next:


I really fell in love with the yellow image and was highly motivated to keep going by this point. So my next move was to separate all the rows out and dimension each piece for cutting. This terribly dull and boring image was what I came up with next:

I used this as my cutting guide to cut out 1 row at a time. I was afraid to cut anymore than that for fear of getting pieces mixed up. Oy, it took awhile to get all of the rows made up, and i did make a few mistakes in the process and ended up ripping some pieces out. I know, this is all the boring part, I'll show you the finished product in my next post. How do you guys go from idea to cutting fabric? Anyone else feel the need to put everything into the computer before cutting? Cheers, Jill