Color audition

Hello, everyone. Today I started working on a small quilt. I pieced a few squares and found some more pieced squares, then raided the (many) charm packs to find some compatible squares. This is just an allover collection of 5" squares. 

I'm auditioning fabric for narrow sashing between the squares.

This is the color shot.

This is as close as my phone gets to plain old black-and-white. (To look at values of the fabrics) Somewhere during updating, some idiot decided that I REALLY need about 8 different color variations but only 2 that are at least close to B&W. And at the end of the row there's a little arrow. I tapped it to see if the B&W option has been hidden in the corner. NO-O-O!  The arrow leads to some pitch that involves Samsung membership update. Or something. They don't even tell you why you want to do that.

Way to go, Samsung! That was pure genius. (Not, for the sarcasm impaired!)

I might move or change out one of those dark purple squares. They're both batiks. I'm pretty sure there is a milder shade of purple available in the stash. 

Tried out a new (to me) design

Hello,  everyone.  

The new design is a rose, that was sitting in my hard drive. I don't remember where I got it. I'm getting into Christmas prep mode and wondered if it would be a usable ornament, or be part of gift tuck-in froufrou.

This is a 5 inch charm square--quilting cotton. The heart completely filled the side to side dimension. Also the fabric needs a backing. I could see it as the decoration for a small pouch...on a  6 inch square with some light batting behind for support. It would need a reverse side square if it were the front of a bag.l, or it could be appliquéd onto a larger item like a tote.

I could see this heart on felt, too, actually. (With felt backing or cotton backing) A little big for a Christmas tree ornament but it could be hung from a biggish wreath.

This was a fun little break from chores and used up a charm square. 

Bonus Blocks!

Hello, everyone. There were bonus blocks leftover after the patriotic centerpiece was completed. They found their own purpose for existence. 

Several of these, on being stitched out on the white twill, proved not to fit into the petal template for the centerpiece. Also some are thematic in that they have lines from "My Country 'Tis of Thee" embroidered on them. (Not all the lines of the first stanza got embroidered. And one had far too dense of stitching in its test and has joined the scraps pile.) 

I had gotten the white cotton twill for making  Christmas gifts...still on the To Do list...it worked out reasonably well for this. The backing of these little flags is cotton from stash. 

Photographing something at the top of a window was tricky. I finally resorted to doing it after dark, using the room light for illumination. During the day the sunshine shone in and overruled the pennants.

A hint about the latest project

Hello, everyone.  Today's photo is a little tease about the latest work in process.

The squares of this item are chosen, trimmed to size as needed, laid out, and labeled for sewing into rows. 

All from stash, too! More later.

A new Christmas craft project

Hello, everyone. As promised, a picture of the latest Christmas craft project.

As you can see from the pattern photo, this makes two fabric trees. The first is done enough to stand on the table. It lacks a seam or closure on the third side. If I do a seam as called for in the pattern, I have to find a place to store it standing up. The tree is around 15 inches tall, so this is a little bit difficult. 

If I do a closure on the third side, like maybe some little snap tabs made of ribbon, the tree can be stored flat with such larger objects as the Nativity scene.

The second tree has been pieced and cut out. It needs the binding on the three triangles, decorations, and the seams. (Plus closure?) 

The decorations on the tall tree are sequins, in stash, and #8 seed beads, also from stash.

Speaking of stash, all of the fabric and batting was in stash. I do think that my scrap batting was a bit too thick. If I make this again, I'm going to either cut the batting strips narrower than the fabric strips or buy a craft pack of the extra thin cotton batting for potholders and potato bags.

This is what needs to be done with the batting. 

One more pair of the Hemingway pouches

Hello, everyone.  The slant-zipper pouches are so much fun--when the zipper cooperates!--that I made another pair. I used most of a fat quarter of ocean-themed fabric for the face and part of a blue, speckled one for the lining. Zippers were from stash, this particular pattern only uses one half of the zipper for a bag, leaving the other half in inventory to be combined with a zipper pull on another one. As witness, the larger of these pouches has a "pickup " pull and the maroon zipper tape that was also on a different pouch.

Now that there are three sets in the house, they will need to find a purpose to fulfill. The smaller ones are just the right size for coin purses. Phones would fit in some of the larger ones. 

A break from the history (edited to add link)

Hello, everyone. This is a little update on sewing projects.

This baby quilt went together very smoothly. I used some of the squares in a layer cake and 10 inch squares of panda fabric, plus jelly roll strips and scrap 2.5 inch squares at the corners. (These little squares are sometimes called mini charms; some of them are small four patch squares.) 

One of the bags from the Ripstop By The Roll sample DIY kit. This was HyperD300 fabric, so it didn't turn into a stuff sack. It's too stiff for the drawstring closure. It did work well with a zipper. 

The other two bags from the kit, both in ripstop fabrics and using the provided drawstring and cord locks. The black one is a  really thin and slick ripstop, so it would do great with managing socks and lingerie on a trip. The green one is also ripstop, but it has a brushed feel rather like Taslan.

I tried to embroider on a scrap of the HyperD300, but the fabric drew up a lot. I did something wrong, but I don't know what yet.

That's all of the projects that have been photographed. Some others haven't posed for the camera yet. 

I always feel like I need to use the test stitching

Hello, everyone.  Today I finished a book tote. It started out as test stitches for the embroidered brown pillow last year. The pillow went to its new home, but the test swatch sat there staring at me. For months. Reminding me that something should be made from it.

Fortunately there was more of the red duck in the stash.

It is lined and has a slip pocket. There is also a small D ring at the side for a key chain or charm. It's the right size for many hard cover books, too. 

Fabric: cotton duck canvas from stash, quilting cotton lining also from stash.

Another class project finished

Hello, everyone.  Today's finish is a sewing club project that we started last February.  It's the Sisters Common Thread Caddy Pad. I did the "Junior" size because that's the one that fits my travel iron. They also have a tiny size and a regular size. 

This is a combination iron tote and small ironing pad. 

The front cover of the instructions.  If you shop carefully you can get a pattern that includes the silver toned heat resistant fabric for the inner surface.

The finished tote. (Yes, I did stick the iron in it without removing the official Rowenta cover. It's late.) I followed the directions as written, pretty much. It's been a while since I started the project

 I did make a stitched box for attaching the handles, though, even though it will probably not have a lot of strain to contend with. I just like it this way.

Fabric: a fat quarters of quilting cotton for the outside in a lilacs and leaves abstract print. Binding and handles are from stash fabric, as also the yellow buttons and the elastic loops.

The parrot is finished

Hello, everyone.  I might have put up a project progress report a few months ago on this bird. It's from a quilt pattern by Quilt Fox Design. The wall hanging version was a class project at RGV Sew and Quilt, a little ways down the road. The class was a lot of fun.

I was so excited to have this finished that I hung it up even before ironing the rumples out. (Sorry) Much of the quilting was basically echoes of the fabric shapes, with a couple of areas done in straight lines. I did change the thread color to go with the fabric substrate so that the bird would remain the focus of the project. 

The pattern, in case anyone wants to make a pieced parrot.

Quilt in progress: Cowboy Culture (edited to correct spelling)

Hello, everyone.  This is just a short "catch-up " on the queen-sized quilt that's been a Work In Process since before we left on our Camino walk this spring. 

The genesis of this quilt was a really cool display quilt we saw in Hannibal,  Missouri, on our way from Denver to Alton, Illinois, a year or so back. I'm reasonably sure that the quilt display was mentioned in a blog post about Hannibal. It was quite a while after that road trip before work commenced, beginning with sketching on graph paper, construction of star blocks,and piecing. At this point, the whole top is assembled,  the back is assembled--used up a lot of spare blocks in the bargain there-- and the quilting is done. The binding has been constructed and now it's ready to be added. 

The binding strip is about 10 yards long, so I used a piece of scrap fabric to prevent tangles. 

The angled pin is to mark where I will stop sewing at the corner so it can be mitered.

A finished quilt, plus bonus from scraps

Hello, everyone.  There has been all kinds of activity around the home place. Particularly there has been sewing.

The baby quilt, draped over the sofa. (Nobody else was available to hold it up.)

Y'all might recognize the color scheme here.

This is the Quiltsmart Midi bag. The squares finish at 2 inches, the pattern comes printed onto fusible interfacing which makes the corner matching easier. I followed the directions to add a pocket, but I'm not excited for it, as the fold a pocket into one lining piece methods they use leaves one with a pocket on a 45 degree angle. (Oh well, I have now tried that idea out.) If I make another I'll either skip the pocket or use a more sensibly aligned method to put one in.

Color play: reverse side edition

Hello, everyone.  Today's color play is a test layout of the reverse of a queen-sized bedspread. The yardage alone isn't big enough to get the job done, and an assortment of blocks are posing with it here.

This isn't going to be the final, but it's looking good as a start, in my opinion. Here is the black-and-white version:

It seems like the values are reasonably spread out. 

Study of the small blocks reveals that they're not 4.5 inches, mostly, they're 4 inches. This calls for either switching them out or adding sashing strips.

As these are all orphan blocks, this counts as a stash festival. 

Tried something new

Hello, everyone. Sorry it's been so long between posts! Things are getting busier as Christmas season gets a little closer.

This past week I tried out a new machine embroidery applique pattern.

As y'all can see, it didn't come out tiny! I decided not to stuff this not so little owl as it seems to me more like a dangling decoration. This is from Sweet Pea. There are two others that are similar that I haven't tried yet.

All fabric is from stash: assorted quilting cottons. I did put Shape-Flex on the back of the main body pieces because the quilting cottons are all so thin. I got into that habit from making so many little, and larger, bags.

A new sewing class project (updated to add link and fix spelling)

Hello, everyone.  My nearest local quilt shop, Annie's Quilting Corner, had a class on using the Sew Kind Of Wonderful curve ruler. This was the small size called Mini Curve. The project was from their seasonal project book Mini Wonderful Curves. 

The project was this tree: 

As usual with a project with many fabrics, there were scraps. I cut them into "potato chip" pieces, 2.5" by 5" mostly, and made them into a themed binding for this wall hanging.

All stored neatly on a cardboard tube.

A sewing club project

Hello,  everyone. Today's post is the most recent sewing club project. 

This is a design from Designs By Ju Ju. It's machine embroidery panels which are assembled with the regular sewing machine at the end.

The front:

The back:

I did depart from the instructions a little at the end. I wanted to try making triangle pockets for hanging, which are concealed on the back and allow the piece to be a table topper if desired.  This decision required a separate binding instead of the fold over binding the project designer had recommended. 

I chose to use a pieced binding, using various fall tones. Instead of a bias connecting seam at the end, since the pieces weren't connected by bias seams, I used a straight seam for the connection. 

All fabrics, batting, and threads are from stash. There's a little hand beading on the pumpkin square, also using up a bit of stash.

Lessons learned in this project: use matching threads for the tackdown stitches in the applique. Be extra careful with the quarter inch seam allowances as it's hard to take out hidden stitches that accidentally end up showing.

 

A new finish

Hello, everyone.  This is a little interruption to the road trip posts. I have finished a new pouch.

Front

Back

There's always a place to embroider something!

And a small pocket inside.

This will probably be a Christmas gift for a young lady. It's not really long enough for a pencil bag, but it can hold a small snack, lunch money, or a small stuffed doll or creature. Or hair goodies.

Fabrics from stash, though the lining is from a new fat-eighth that was picked up just-because at Missouri Star's Birthday Bash during the road trip. 

Beads also from stash, and the zipper too. 

Color Play, beads and bag edition

Hello,  everyone.  This is the first Color Play post in a while.

This is the front half of a little bag for a young lady. The needed flowers are sewn down. The ric rac is clipped in place to test the look. There is enough extra to add a small diagonal at the right edge. 

Also, whether this is right-side-up in the photo has not been decided yet. 😀 Until zipper tape and seams appear it's still possible to switch one long edge for the other as the top.

This is from the Atkinson Designs Hippy Zips pouches, with a different decorative scheme. I will probably still use white tassel fringe at the bottom in the end, like they used ball fringe in the one in their photo.

I see that the Blogger app flipped the picture on its side. Again. I think it's still usable anyway.

Finished placemats

Hello, everyone.  The placemats started a few days ago are completed. 

Front view:

The center accent for 2 mats pretty much uses up all of a fat quarter.

Back view:

I do like the spiral quilting for a lot of things: no stressing over which design, no worries about getting out of the "ditch" by a couple of threads, no real need for marking if your fabric has a suitable motif to make the center round. (Here, it was one of the turtles' shell plates.) I used pale blue thread for the quilting. 

The binding is sewn on by machine, with a canned fagoting stitch that came with it. I like that there are little side to side stitches that help convince the back side to stay reasonably flat.

I used the Superior Pima cotton thread for the first time in the bobbin with the binding attachment and it is very nice. The top of the binding attachment is a multi-colored green spool of 30 weight Sulky cotton.

The binding piecing gave me a number of pretty green small triangles, I have to find a partner strip to turn them into half square triangle blocks now. One of these days the various HST scrap blocks will turn into something. 😀

Starting on a pair of placemats

Hello, everyone.  I saw a pieced placemat idea online and thought it would be fun to try out.

Can you see the directionality in the center print? I didn't notice that at first! Fortunately the seahorses are right side up. 

I love these colors. They remind me of the beach--hence the sea life print in the center.

The fabrics are from stash, but I did cut into unused fat quarters that I had bought on spec.