Today's Observations About Totes, Duffels, Kits

I bought a kit to make this Cargo Duffle, designed by Noodlehead.  The kit came with some Robert Kaufman canvas.  In fact, it came with too much.  The black and white diamond fabric was the suggested lining.  However, I am going to make a second bag out of this.  This fabric is too pretty to use as a living.  And I'm not sure I'll follow the Noodlehead pattern again.  I like the Satchel shown here on the cover of Stitch - the one I made is in the background.  It's a bit larger and has some features, like hidden outer pockets,  that I like.  I tried to use the suggested snaps for the feature pockets, and that didn't go so well.  I wound up using magnets and hiding them with an additional tab.  The next bag will also have black fabric and not feature fabric for the bottom gusset.  This bag finishes nicely except...all seam allowances are visible on the interior and need to be covered with bias tape.  The suggested handle - at the bottom of this picture - just didn't feel right to me, so I went rogue and used the kind of handle I know works with a bag like this.  What started this particular bag is fellow guildster Debbie Pine.  She did a Sew Sweetness Tudor Bag using this fabric.  Luckily, Debbie is comfortable with my shameless copying of her fabric choices!   So, just to recap:  the next bag will be a bit bigger, have a dark bottom, pockets on the outside but not with snaps or flaps, pockets on the inside, and handles like I like to make.

Design Wall: Waiting for Background Fabric

A medium grey textured fabric is on its way.  That leaves me a couple of days to continue to look at this and rearrange and make changes.  Input is welcome. 

Design Wall

Trying to decide whether I can use several light grey fabrics for the background or if I should place an order for a uniform background fabric...  And I know the answer.  These six blocks are too special.

Three Turn Into Six

Finishing the final three of six paper-pieced blocks hold the key to progress in the studio.  All the reds and greys need to be put away.  But not until I use the scraps.

These will eventually be a zippered shopping tote. 

And then I can move on to some of the other things I want to do! 

Key Wristlets and Paper Piecing

These key wristlets were demoed at the September CMQG meeting and are addictive to make. 

There are now two 12" blocks of six completed from Amy Garro's Paper Pieced Modern.  

This quilt top is on its way to Terri and Frank's to be long-armed.  More about this later...

Projects: Too Much!

 

a 12" x 12" paper-pieced block from Amy Garro's Paper Pieced Modern

Projects - oh, do I ever have a list of projects.  What is worse - not having enough to do or having too much to do.  Not having enough fabric or having too much fabric?  Clearly, I fall into the "too much" category.  But I am pretty happy about this glut of things I have on hand and want to do.  It's like I'm getting my sewing mojo back.

This is the suggested layout for these beautiful blocks.

This is the preparation for the paper-pieced blocks

These Doe kitted fabrics for a Trail Tote were just too reasonable to pass up.

Same with these fabrics for a Cargo Duffle.

Same with this kit of Jinny Beyer RJR fabrics.  I made one of these totes years ago, and now I want to do one with Soft and Stable as the foundation!

Don't even get me started on what I want to do with this fabric (yes, I have made one bag from this fabric already - what's your point?)

This is a quilt backing.  Quilt front still to be determined...

Maybe from these fabrics.  Just not sure...

Compression hose do make fabulous thread catchers.  Seriously, these threads won't come off, even with masking tape.

Wedding Shower Present for Amber

My White cousins grew up in Indiana.  The youngest is my cousin Kathy, the only White girl cousin.  Her daughter Amber is getting married in North Judson, IN, this Saturday to Derik Lenig.  This belated wedding shower present is an insulated casserole carrier, complete with a 9" x 13" covered pan and a spoon for a carrier handle . But this isn't just any spoon.  This spoon is one made by my cousin Jerry White - Amber is his niece.

The church where Amber is getting married is one I sat in many times when as i child I visited my grandparents Jack and Eloise White.  My uncle Leonard, my dad's only brother,  and his wife Elizabeth were married in that church.  My grandpa Jack's funeral was in that church.

 Making this shower present has put me into a "Circle of Life" mood. A former student and his wife just had a baby. Amber's getting married. A guild friend just last night sat with her father as he passed from this life. For now, I rejoice in Amber's new life as a bride and a wife.

The carrier opened up

The top and bottom portion folded over the 9" x 13" pan

"Almost Normal"

My hematologist Dr. Seghur told me yesterday that I was "almost normal."  Having never been even close to "normal" - ever - I am pretty excited about this.  While he may have been talking just about my blood,  I am choosing to interpret his words at a much broader level!

Finishing Bags

These Mors bags are the last in this batch.  Three of them are going with me tomorrow to my appointment with my hematologist.  As much as I love the Interventional Radiology Team, this doctor - Faisal Saghir - represented my comfort level throughout August.  He even checked in with me on his day off, which was the day after my big procedure.  I am expecting nothing but good news from him! 

I also finished a zippered tote bag.  All the parts were cut out in early August, but then things happened.  One of the generous people during this long summer has been my physical therapist.  Chandra knows my passion for Indian food and several times has dropped off yummy dishes. She needs no more bags, so I proposed making something for her daughter, a play director who lives in the city and uses public transportation.

Lavina is always carrying lots of things, and I know she puts her bags down on the floor.  So I tried using an iron-on vinyl for the bottom of this bag - I have no idea how it will wear.  There's an outer zippered pocket, and there is a zippered top.  However, if she decides to carry marbles, they will fall out.  So I made her a little zippered pouch and attached it to the bag.

A little 5" x 7"zippered clutch

I missed a couple of deadline for two wedding quilts and a bridal shower present.  Fabrics for these three are already in a pile.  And I want to do some fabric key chains.  Oddly enough, these are the same width as the handles I make for the Mors bags.  But before I do any sewing of any kind, I must...

put things right

clean up the various piles

and make everything tidy.

I have a birthday coming up soon.  My present to myself will be a clean and organized studio!

CMQG and the AAMQG Swap

"Woven Glass" by Donna Moscinski, CMQG

Reverse of "Woven Glass"  (Art Gallery Fabric - I am a Maker)

 The Chicago Modern Quilt Guild and the Ann Arbor Modern Quilt Guild made some connections, mostly thanks to Camp Stitchalot
and QuiltCon 2015.  A swap of mini quilts was proposed, and several of us in both guilds jumped all over it!.  My swap partner has not yet received hers - all Chicago minis are in the mail.  I used fabrics from designer Alison Glass and wove them over a neutral background.   I love the back almost as much as the front - it's Art Gallery's fabric "I am a Maker".  The wool batting gives the machine quilting a nice dimension that isn't very visible in these pictures.  The Ann Arbor Guild will receive their quilt next Monday!

"Give and Care" by Brenda Rowley Gray, AAMQG

Reverse of "Give and Care"

Meanwhile, the Chicago guild received their minis at last Sunday's meeting.  My mini- quilt is a "Give and Care" quilt, Brenda Gray's homage to Swiss Army blankets.  Brenda honored my color preference and told me about her uncles who died during World War II.  That my dad and uncles were veterans who survived this war makes Brenda's story even more meaningful. 

Give and Care?  It's what quilters do!