New Bag

It's hard to believe that I am ahead of the game. That doesn't happen very often in my world! This my the ISE quilt group will be finishing up the laptop bag that was presented in Quilter's World October 2010 issue. I finished mine the size presented, and my husband's laptop won't fit. I think he is rather thankful for this, as I made it pink and red as a bit of a joke. I wanted to see if he would actally carry it. He's off the hook for now. I guess I would be pushing my luck. He does carry the fabric shopping bags that I made and they are flowery. Since he has taken over the grocery shopping duty, I should probably make him some masculine ones.

This is the bag the group picked for the next quarter. I can hardly believe that I have it done and I have another month! This is a very simple bag, so we may have to do more than one for the second quarter. It is very large, and my daughter has already claimed it for her overnight bag. Notice I found an adorable model who was delighted to model my bag. My friend Sue gifted me the lining fabric. I think it is just perfect.








If you are interested in the pattern, it is in the McCall's Quilting April 2009. The pattern is by Penny Sturges and it is called The Big Bag Theory. I modified the inside to add more pockets, and I did my handles differently.

Off the frame

This one belongs to my sister Mary. It is from Thimbleberries club several years ago. I am sure she will be happy to have it completed. I used Bamboo batting from Quilter's Dream. I used Signature thread (Wheat) in the top and bobbin. This is a new panto that I purchased because of this blog http://blog.maryquilts.com. She used it often and it always adds nice texture.

These pictures aren't great, but I don't have anyplace to hang a quilt that big, but it won't quit snowing. Hopefully I can take some better pictures of the quilt tomorrow.

On a side note, the best way to capture your quilting in a photo is to have the quilt side lit. This quilt is laying on my bed, and the sun is shining through the window accents the quilting design.

Christmas Party entertainment

I know, tomorrow is Valentines day not Christmas. I can't seem to get as much done as I think I can. Several people from my small quilt group have asked about the pictures from the Christmas party. At the Christmas party we had a little "roast" for the naive and reserved quilter E. Now E is a very reserved kind of person who happened to have a piece of leopard skin fabric in her stash long ago. Well we (especially me) were quite shocked by this. The group decided that we needed to shower her with some lovely leopardy items to go with her "stash" This became a 6 month hunt for the perfect gifts. The first item E opened was a lovely cape (which she chose to wear around all night)with her initial appliqued on the back. I think it was a nice touch.


She was quite surprised with the first gift and wondered why someone would bring her a special gift. After several more gifts, she began to see a theme.

A leopard mug, a thread catcher, a tote bag, a snuggy, ironing board, a new bra. She never did tell if she modeled these for her husband.

Barb had to hunt for the perfect bra to make for E. I think she was successful. Diane made a special garter for E. She said it was perhaps the sexiest one she ever made. I don't know if E is excited to try it on.

I think this gift was perhaps her favorite gift. Thank goodness her sister was sitting next to her and could explain what it was and how it was to be worn. It was a special bikini made by Joann. Those are the bottoms that she is holding up.

I think all the excitement wore E out. She is looking kind of tired in this picture playing bingo, and there was a report that her belly hurt so much from laughing. E I'm glad you took this so well, and I am glad that you felt the love that went into the roasting.

This one was supposed to be done for Christmas, but when my deadline moved, I put it off to work on my own stuff. Most of the fabrics were dyed by my customer. I love how it turned out. This is the first quilt I have successfully attached the binding in the longarm frame. I tried it once with one of my own quilts, but I did it a different way and it didn't turn out so well. I was pleased with this one. I was saying my prayers as I turned the last corner. Ellen only left me with 3" extra of binding.

Apple Core

I have had the Apple Core die for my Accucut for quite some time. I have been itching to try it out, but I have been really lacking time to play with it. I decided to give it a try for a gift exchange that I needed in a hurry. I cut this out last night and pieced it today while the kids were having rest time. It went together very well. I am not pleased with my color selections, but hopefully it will find a happy home.



It still has to be quilted and bound by Thursday. I work better with a deadline. You can even see my new flooring in the background.

Kicking my Bootie!

Have you ever had a quilt block that just won't work out? I have new admiration for anyone who has completed a dresden plate quilt.

I think I went about this the correct way. I started with a pattern (not one of my own). I gave it a go - three times I might ad - and none of the fans came out to a quarter of a circle. I finally wised up and tested the pattern (after I was the queen of the ripper). After taping the pattern pieces together on the dotted lines (alias stitch lines), I discovered the pattern was wrong. At this point I didn't feel like a complete failure.

I ordered the Easy Dresden template. Guess what? I didn't have good results with this either. It was better than the first attempt, but this pattern requires extreme exactness. If anyone has any pointers, just send them my way. At this point I am thinking my summer banner needs something different than a beautiful sun across the top.

Obsession!!!

Yesterday I spent the evening doing a very broad search on quiltshops.com for my stripe fabric. I just can't come up with a plan "b" at this point without a lot of unsewing. It's bad when you start dreaming about fabric. I was dreaming that maybe I saved the selvage.

When I discovered the selvage blog (http://selvageblog.blogspot.com/), I started saving my selvages and dreaming up projects to do with them. In addition, other quilters have been gifting me their selvages. Today I decided to dump them and put the dreams to rest. Did I save the selvage or not?????

First - I found all my hidden containers and baggies (there were a lot of them), then I did the big dump. This is what the pile looks like
I feel bad saving these little strings, but they are so pretty to look at that I just can't part with them. I just love all the things I can create with them. My husband will want to get me some help when he sees the pile. Do you see it in there? The stripe, the dreaded stripe. Let me zoom in for a closer look-



It's there!!! My dream was right. I don't remember trimming that off before I demonstrated the Studio cutter to Bonnie. I hope my fabric nightmares will stop. I now have a name. It is from Alexander Henry 2005 and it is from the line "Super Stripe". It came in several colors. I have found some of the colors on the internet, but not this one. If you find this in your stash or at a store in any amount - I am willing to buy or trade. The pieces in the quilt are 1 1/2" big, so scraps will work.