Random sewing & a Winner!!

For the first time this year there will be no quilt or quilt top in my post.  What?!!  No I am not done with quilts yet,just taking a little breather.  Okay,actually all this last week was spent cutting up scraps.  One tote done one to go(at a later date).

This is the latest pattern I tested for Jessica of Sweetbriar Sisters .  It is called Charming Chicks,the pattern includes the sweet little chick and the egg zipper pouch that holds it!  Just follow the link above to her shop to see all of her adorable patterns.

These are super adorable and perfect for Easter,so I will be making up a few more.  I just need to purchase some safety eyes as one great niece and one great nephew are still too little for googly eyes!

Yesterday I whipped up this sweet little swing bag.  It is actually my own version of The Emma Clutch I won the pattern way back in October and just now got around to trying it out.  The fabric used is some of my Nordika scraps,although the left side looks like two black squares that is not the case(just how the photo came out).  For me this was just too big for a clutch,so I turned it into a swing bag instead.

On the flap I used some bag bling purchased from Emmaline's Shop.  She has some pretty sweet Bling for bags that lets people know your item is handmade!

The Bag of the Month Club's January bag,the Companion Carpet Bag in progress.  The large silver piece is some more of Emmaline's bag bling.

All finished!  The making of this bag sure had its ups and downs.  The end bag is totally worth it though!

A look inside.  This was the first time using a tubular frame for me,surprisingly it was not one of the bumps along the way.

Another first in bag making,adding feet to a bag!  Which by the way is really quite easy.

So who is the winner of the Kona Color Card???

Chiska,Congratulations you are the winner of my old card!  I have emailed you for your snail mail info!

Thanks to everyone who entered,for your comments on my post :)!

Sew Worth It

January recap/February focus

Sewing progress for the first month of 2015..

left to right
# 1 Stick shift quilt front/back
# 2 little Red in the Woods quilt front/back
# 3 Fall Frolic quilt front/back
# 5 butterfly effect quilt front/back

Quilt  # 6

Todays finish,the first for Feb is my Mellow Yellow Stick Shift quilt.  The spot where I usually hang my quilts for photos at the Steam Plant (which used to actually be a steam plant back in the day,but is now a theater and art mecca) had a large pile of snow in front of it.  So the stairs were the photo spot today.

The back side,is a lot more pieced than planned,but then the quilt is two rows longer and three sticks longer than originally planned.

These are the fabrics I am hoping to use for my January BOM bag,if there is enough,if not it will be back to the stash to find something that will work.  There is still some hardware needed for this bag,so we shall see if it gets completed this month.  The fabric for this months bag has yet to be pulled…

Sew Worth It

The (Not So) Convertible bag

This was my ALYOF(button on side bar) goal for this month.  The Convertible bag,only in this case not so convertible...

The bag is designed to work either as a cross body bag or as a backpack.  However since my machine and the thread I was using to sew up this bag absolutely refused to play nice,even after numerous attempts at adjusting the bobbin tension...

This is where I decided to quit fighting and just have a cross body bag.(which I am quite happy with :)! Right below the two center points is where the tunnel for the backpack part of the strap was supposed to go.  If you look close you can probably see the needle holes from where I had stitched it.  Alas,the stitches would not stay in,which I noticed after turning the bag for the umpteenth time...

A look inside.  The pattern called for a zippered pocket on the inside and another one on the outside back.  I opted to omit both of them,and instead just have one slip divided slip pocket on the inside.  There was a little confusion on my part when arriving at the instructions on how to sew the lining and main body of the bag together.  I did figure it out,but had a couple bumps (resulting in puckers) at both side seams.  However I think that could be remedied with practice.

So here she is in all her glory,my not so convertible bag!  The pattern called for a thumb tuck,or catch.  Since I did not have one,and the bag designer was only offering the hardware in silver...I used a front buckle closure instead.  Took me a while to figure out how to make it work,but I managed.

Yes I will make this bag again,I really like it!  Next time I will be using thread that Lil Miss Janome can play nice with.  That other thread,well it is in thread      (the trash)

Saturday evening I finally managed to sew up the other five blocks for Kevin the Quilter.  So this week I can send off ten!  You can still make and send blocks into June.  Info is all at the link above.

During the Flags on a Stick hop I was a Lucky girl!  These lovely patterns came to me from Rhonda over at Revelly1.  They have been added to my "list".

These lovlies came from Shirley C from the blog Shirley C.  After I drool over the charms for a while I will decide what to use them for,and I am excited to start filling up the bobbin holder.

Last but not least are these two new additions to my library!  These are what I chose from Martingale for winning the March prize in the Big-City SAL!  This was a crazy winning month for me,even more so since I rarely win :)

April Goals...

ALYOF:

Since I did not get to the Convertible bag for March (bag of the month bag) it has been moved to my goal for  A Lovely Year of Finishes for April.  Wish me luck...

Aprils Bag for the Big City Bags SAL These are the fabrics I am hoping to use to make my Wonderland Bag this month.  I think that I will just be able to eek the pieces out of these half yard cuts (the pattern calls for 3/4 yard cuts).  If that does not work out I will be choosing different fabrics.

This months bag for the Bag of the Month Club  These are the fabrics I have pulled to make The Midtown Messenger Bag (I haven't printed the pattern off yet so no photo  of the bag for you)

As always there are also other sewing goals that I have not listed,but will post about as or when I work on them or finish them.    Speaking of which,this past weekend I made progress on my Triangle Quilt (button at the top of sidebar).  That will be another post this week!

Wishing you a week with time for sewing :)...

Butterfly Sling Bag Finish

Or as I am calling mine...

The Puppy Love Sling bag.  I was a little worried/scared to start on this bag to begin,but once started it went pretty smoothly,for most of the bag construction.

When you turn the twist lock and open the bag,there is a zipper pocket,an ID window pocket,and another pocket below that.  You can see my phone peaking out of the last pocket.  There are also two magnetic snaps which hold the bag together.  One of the other ladies who made this bag added a little tab to keep her phone in the pocket.  The next one I make will have that addition also.

This is the inside view of one of the two top zippered pockets,there are six card slots in each of these two pockets.  Great for all those loyalty cards everyone seems to have nowadays.  I filled them with my business cards so you could actually see the slots.

Towards the end of the pattern I did have some issues,but that was all me,and my having a hard time with understanding patterns.  So after re-re-re-reading the pattern,and looking at the photos,and thinking about how I have sewn other bags,I was finally able to figure it out :)

When its all said and done,I will be making this bag again.  It is a perfect bag for the essentials,when on the go and you do not want to pack around a large bag.  It would also make a great bag for a night out on the town!  (the heart twist lock looks gold but is really silver)

This was entry # 51 in the goal link up.

On to March's bags...

Snippets...

Are you joining in the Pantone Challenge this year?  This will be the first time for me,as I did not even know there was such a thing until it was too late to enter last year.

The color this year is Radiant Orchid,although I am not so sure that the purples in my stash qualify as that color...I decided to participate anyway.  Here is a little sneaky peak at what I worked on Saturday afternoon.

Friday evening I sewed up these five blocks for Kevin the Quilter's QOV block drive,and plan on another five.

All my pieces for the Meringue Clutch cut,and the interfacing/fusible fleece fused this morning.

Last night I was able to cut all the pieces for my puppy love sling bag,and then fused the interfacings this morning as well.

After dinner,I was able to make quite a bit of progress on the sewing.  Although it is pretty hard to see much on the left side piece,there is a window ID pocket below the zipper,and another pocket below that.  There are also four magnetic snaps pieces installed on it near the corners.  The right side piece is the front of the bag with the strap and part of the twist lock installed.

Not bad for a little weekend sewing!

March sewing Goals

The months are Marching right along ;)  Which means that it is time to post goals for the new month.

I know this photo keeps popping up in my posts recently.  This was one of my goals last month...  Since I do not want to fall behind,The Butterfly Sling Bag Puppy Love Sling Bag is my ALYOF Goal.  Wish me lots of Luck...

 Big-City Bags SAL The next bag in the sew along is the Meringue Clutch.  There was only a small piece of navy (I know it looks purple in the photo) in my stash,so if there is enough of it for the accent piece and the strap I will use it.  Otherwise it will be the the lighter blue for those pieces and the lining as well.

BOMC March's Bag of the Month is the Convertible Bag!  I am so loving this club,and will be sad after the sixth bag is posted,because it will be the last one :(  What I am happy about is the improvement in my bag making skills,and the new techniques,tips,and tricks learned.

Of course there are more goals on my personal list for this month.  However I have decided not to post those here,but rather post about them as they are completed.

Good Luck to each of you with your own sewing goals this month!

Bye Bye Love Bag

On a roll here,as we are only three and a half weeks into the New Year,and I have already finished my second bag!

Most of the fabric used for this bag is DS Quilts from Joann's,I don't remember what line the bicycle fabric is,but it was also purchased at Joann's.

Making pleated pockets was easier than I thought it would be,however there were also a lot more steps than expected.  Attaching the rings was a bit of a challenge since mine were larger than the pattern called for.  I couldn't find the correct size so made do with what I had on hand.

Installing the zipper even went smoothly,of course that could have something to do with the fact that I used a separating zipper,and was able to take the front and back pieces apart and sew them,and then put them back together.  This photo is right before sewing up the sides and bottom of the bag.  It was a little difficult to sew up close to the zipper ends,but I did manage it with only a little puckering on one side.

The zippered pocked on the backside of the bag was a cake walk.

The inside is super roomy,there are supposed to be two pockets on each side,but I made them a tad smaller.  So my bag has three pockets per side.  I think with a couple more under my belt,I would be able to eliminate the little bit of pucker issue.  Practice,practice...

A finish,and another bag started

My first bag Finish of 2014!

The Fireside Bowl bag is done,and I love it :)  Although I expected to have some issues with this bag(mostly because of the shape)it was a breeze to sew!  Love it when that happens.

I had a hard time getting a photo of the inside,the lighting was not playing nice.  It is a very roomy bag,with a pocket on both the front and backside of the lining.  I shortened one of the pockets from 7 inches high to about 4 inches,and sewed a 1inch line on one side for a pen or pencil.  Also added a little tab for hooking a keychain to,because I hate having to dig around for my keys.

I was finally able to get an opportunity to get outside for a photo shoot!  The weather was amazingly warm for a January day.

Today I started on the first bag of the month bag(button on my side bar).  This pattern is called Bye Bye Love Bag,and is exclusively for members of the Bag of the Month Club.  You can join at anytime if you are interested :)

There are 59 steps to complete this bag,today I made it through step 22,and am ready to start on 23!  Of course,I did cut the pattern out last night,so that helped.

The third project this weekend is this mini Swoon block,it measures in at 8 inches.  The plan is to use this block for the front of a zip pouch I am making for a swap...

Linking up to these parties!

Big City Bags SAL

A Lovely Year of Finishes