Quilty Pleasures: Sew Together Bag

Well, Hello, Strangers!

I guess I'm the stranger because dang, where have I been?  Let's blame it on winter. I guess I just don't feel like I have enough to share with you, so why be lame and bore you?

But spring is finally here and the days are gorgeous.

I've been stacking wood.  Lots and lots of wood. It's good exercise, so don't feel sorry for me. This morning I started my fourth woodpile and  suspect there will be one more after Tom finishes splitting the logs he has cut.

But let's get to the cool stuff. I actually made something and finished it, too! Not finishing is a "Paralyzed Perfectionist" thing where lots of projects are almost, but not totally, completed.  It just might not be perfect, so that fear of completion is real. Right now there are four very cute quilts waiting for binding, and they'd be done! So lame, yessirree, but I am working on it.

The bag is called the Sew Together Bag, pattern by Sew Demented. The Chicken River Modern Quilters hosted a class at ThreadBear a couple weeks ago taught by the extremely patient and highly talented quiltist from Albuquerque, Becky Welch. The twenty students had a good day with several completing their bags right there in class. I had to take mine home to finish because, well, sewing machine problems.

So here are some photos of my completed bag. Every bag I've seen using this pattern is cute!

The fabric I used for the outside is from Windham fabrics and designed by Carrie Bloomston.

I think it's called Basket Weave. The main zipper is extra long, and the ends are anchored to the bag's base, so it acts as a handle.

Because the zipper is extra long, the bag opens wide.

I had so much fun choosing the zipper colors. I wanted them to be very "zingy." The blue lining fabric is Avantgarde designed by Katarina Roccella.

This will be my new traveling sewing kit. Check out the pocket lining. I can't remember who the designer is here. But I purchased all the fabric, the pattern and zippers at http://www.threadbear-nm.com/

If you look in the background of this photo you can see The Blessed Mother, keeping an eye on me. Who knows what trouble I might be getting into next?

Quilty Pleasures: Kansas City Star Sampler Finished

I am a great starter of quilts, but finishing them is something totally different. I get all angsty and second guess myself and it's just easier to place the almost finished quilt in a bag and start something else. People who can complete a quilt project from start to finish with none of this drama are in my Hall of Fame, but that's just not me. (Honesty time: It's been eight months since I did the layout for this quilt.) Dang!

So when I finish something, it's usually because someone has gently twisted my arm or the old Catholic Guilt Machine started drilling into my psyche, creating more angst than not completing the project would.

You might remember a few of the blocks in this quilt because I featured them here and here. I even showed you the layout here.

So it's done. This was a Block of the Month project, and I didn't want to use a traditional setting, so adapted one I saw on the GenX Quilters' site.

The quilting was done by the excellent Claudette Maitland, who owns Turquoise Angel Quilting in Angel Fire, NM, and each block has been quilted differently. I asked Claudette to quilt the negative space in the center with wavy lines about a hand's width apart. After I got the quilt back, I decided to add a few more quilting lines to the center to make it more interesting.

 

In the larger photo you probably thought the black background was solid, but surprise, it's a pin dot! 

If I were to do this setting again, I would have added six more blocks, with the first row on each end filled with four blocks, then three, two, and one. 

Quilty Pleasures: Almost Finished?

Four projects are close to being finished, so here they are in their unfinished states. Maybe posting them will be a reminder that they are patiently waiting.

This is my modern quilt, started last September at a workshop presented by modern quilter Jacquie Gering.

It's been pieced and pinned for a while now, waiting to be quilted.

Why isn't it done?

The Paralyzed Perfectionist speaks: "I am afraid that I won't quilt it perfectly!"

Jacquie Gering her ownself saved the day by appearing on The Quilt Show, showing me (only me) how to quilt it using the Bernina serpentine stitch.

OK. I can do that.

The next quilt in the wings is this one:

Sorry about the weird light thingies on the top right of these pics. The sun was coming through the window and there was no way I could go out in the wind to take photos.

So this one is a baby quilt I made alongside my very first beginning quilting student in November-December. Hers is done. Mine is not.
Layering, basting, quilting and then it's done.

But I am not worried because I know how to quilt this one.

I bought the batting last night, so it will be quilted soon.

Since a baby is imminent, there's a deadline and I'm sticking to it!


Below are two blocks from a project I started last year. It was a Block of the Month and last night was show and tell. I showed them my blocks and told my quilt buds it would be done soon.

 I have all but one of the blocks appliqued, but still need to add a skinny border and an appliqued scalloped border to each block.

Here is how it will look someday:

And, here is my other project, almost, very close, so close to being finished I can almost taste victory:

 I need to make six more of these setting triangles for Bonnie Hunter's Easy Street mystery quilt.

The rest of the blocks are done (whew) and next is to put it all together.

I can't wait to see this one completed. Lots of little pieces, many hours watching internet tv shows and listening to BBC podcasts will be my memories for this quilt.

There is more stuff started and lurking in boxes and bags, but these are the closest to being finished, so they are the ones to be completed in the next weeks.

Besides, if I dragged out all the Works in Progress I have, I might get discouraged.

And I don't want that!