Bucket Bag

Bucket Bag

I love sewing bags but sometimes they don't turn out as well as I would like. Not "sew" with my new "Bonnie" bag from Swoon Patterns. Alicia Miller is a wonderful designer that makes very user friendly patterns that make sense. There are also tutorials on the blog page on her site. 

There is also a strong, active Facebook group Swoon Patterns Group with over 10,000 members that are always willing to help. A lot of inspiration there also. 

The vinyl is from Joann. The fabric is an outdoor print and a tone on tone green stripe, also from Joann.

You can make the welt pocket with or without a zipper. I chose to make it with. I added a couple of extra pockets to the lining for convenience. 

August 16, 2015 this bag has been featured on:

Threading My Way Features

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Finish it Up Friday on Crazy Mom Quilts

Quilt Matters

Falling Charms Baby Quilt

Sweet Baby Boy Quilt

The sweet baby boy that received this quilt spends his weekends with his parents, grandparents and cousins on a beautiful cove on the Tennessee River. They Boat, fish, ride jet skis, swim and go trail riding in their Jeep. Nice way to grow up, huh. 

I selected Boat House Fabric by Sweetwater for Moda Fabrics.

The pattern is Falling Charms, you can see the tutorial by Jenny Doan of Missouri Star Quilt Company here: 

Falling Charms

I kinda stretched it too much in this pic. :(

Quilt measures about 40 x 40. 

The quilting is free motion, meandering with stars. I love dense quilting!

 I love the back!

A friend at Tampa Modern Quilt Guild had this fabric to use for our Project Linus Quilts and I "Really Like IT". 

 Blurry pic of label. 

I received a lovely note from his parents and that meant the world to me. Hope it becomes tattered and torn from being dragged around at the River House. 

Aren't quilts just the BEST?

YES!!

Modern Turquoise Pillow Cover

Modern Turquoise Pillow Cover.

Improv pieced. Striking Colors and Quilting make this piece HAPPY!

It measures 14 x 14". Straight line quilting except for McTavishing on the outer left and lower leaf print. Bound in black. 

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WIP Citrus Sunshine

Citrus Sunshine

I have made a bit of progress on this yellow quilt. A visitor who commented on a previous blog post on this quilt that said it reminded her of the colors of lemons and limes. I thought that fit since I live in Florida, so I named this one 

"Citrus Sunshine". It is a modification of a strip and flip quilt. (see previous posts) I am free motion quilting with wavy lines alternating with loops. 

Maybe I will get to post it as a "finish" soon!!

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Let's Bee Social

Pin Cushion

Pin Cushion

We had Christmas in July at the Tampa Modern Quilt Guild last week. 

The food was great and the friends better, oh but the gifts. They were spectacular!!!

This was my small contribution. 

made from this tutorial and pattern.

http://www.bhg.com/crafts/sewing/wild-flower-pincushion/

This is about 6 inches in diameter. Hope my guild mate enjoys it.

Merry Christmas!!

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Thanks!

Sewing Space

My Sewing Space

I have lived in my current home in the Tampa, FL area for about 15 months. My studio for quilting, sewing and crafting is my "living room". 

I wanted it to look reasonably attractive but also there was a list of 

Must Have features. 

Cutting Table

I have seen many of these great DIY cutting tables on Pinterest. 

Mine was made by using 2 bookshelves from the K store. Then I bought a table top from IKEA. It is attached with L-brackets. Measures 

30w x 48l x 36h. Makes life so much easier. 

The shelves are filled with boxes for storage.

Shelving Units

For storage we had bookshelf units that were in my boys rooms when they were growing up. I would love to paint these but haven't taken the time. 

I bought some boxes and store a lot of my fabric there.

I store craft supplies in the drawers. I also have 2 drawers full of machine embroidery thread.

Sewing Machine Table

For a Loonnnngggg time I wanted a table made so that the bed of my machine could sit flush with the table top. I had looked into buying several tables from big box stores or thrift stores, but had an ah-ha moment when I saw my son's old computer desk. The machine sits on the keyboard drawer and it is a dream to sew on. 

There are file cabinets on either side. On one sits my serger, under the cover, and the other provides additional space to support quilts. Patterns and other supplies are in the files. 

Desk

No pictures here. LOL. Let's just say it has several WIPs on it right now. It is 

L-shaped and has my computer and 2 other machines.

It is far from perfect and not always as organized as I would like but, I am working on it. Leave me comments and link to your sewing space.

Thanks for coming by ya'll.

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Christmas in July, Oh yeah!

 

I have been to a couple of "Christmas in July" events recently. Last Saturday, the Tampa Modern Quilt Guild had our Christmas Party (In July!).

We had a great time. Check out our pictures on our Facebook Page https://www.facebook.com/groups/TampaMQG/

I have some truly talented guild mates. 

The Christmas in July has me thinking about the upcoming holidays. You know, those that will "be here before you know it". 

These are my families quilted stockings that I made a while back. Do you already have holiday projects lined up???

I am sharing this post on 

Let's Bee Social at Sew Fresh Quilts.

 

Check out some of the other projects there.

If you are visiting from there, thanks for stopping by and I would love for you to follow me.

On The Go Baby Boy Quilt

On The Go Quilt

This is my version of the Moda Bakeshop Recipe On The Go Baby Boy quilt.
It is for the baby brother of Megan, who received Megan's Buttons and Bows.

 Free motion quilted in a "Square Stipple". Don't know if that is a term or not but that's what I call it.

Please leave comments.

I Have a Tip for You

I have a tip for you!!

As you have seen, probably a bit too much, I have been working with string quilting projects. I am making the companion to my Friday Finish Quilted Pillow top.

Again I have used the 10" quilt papers Missouri Star Quilt Co.

I love these papers and they are very easy to tear when you shorten your stitch length to 1.5mm. HOWEVER :), when using strips that are very narrow, 1.5 inches of less it can be hard to get things started and on the right track. 

Soo, my great tip is to use scissors to start the process as shown here:

Then, crease the paper on the stitching line and tear the paper away. 

Brilliant, or maybe just obvious!!

First block of the next pillow.

Hope this helps ya'll.

Star Pillow Finish

Star Pillow Finish!!

You have seen it every step of the way. Here it is FINISHED!

Piped in orange. It will have a mate. Will post when they are together. Love scrap projects. 

If you look carefully you can see scraps from a number of my previous posts!

How many can you find?

Also, I have been pleased and amazed at the response to my entries in the Blogger's Quilt Festival. Thank you to every one who has visited. I would love for you to follow me.

Sugar & Spice Bag by Chris W Designs

Sugar & Spice Bag

I have been searching for a bag pattern off and on for about 6 months. I had lots of other projects to finish first. Then the quest began. There are many good ones out there but I decided on the Sugar & Spice Bag by Chris W Designs.

This is her stock picture for the pattern.

 

I made some modifications, of course. Less tall, more wide, east/west rather than north/south. Chose a separating zipper. Decided to quilt the fabric, in a diagonal grid pattern, a la Vera Bradley. Added metal feet. I used 2 layers of plastic canvas and one of peltex in the bottom for stability. These are held in place by the metal feet. 

Here are some "in progress" photos.

 This is the front and back. They are identical. There are 2 slip pockets on each side.

 Lining. The green pocket is divided in half and sized for sunglasses etc. The smaller is divided into 3 sections for lipstick and smaller items. The other side is a mirror image.

 This is the zipper casing. You will see it is different on the finished bag.

The straps are lined with interfacing and fleece. They are about 1.5 inches side and are quilted with 5 lines of straight line quilting. The bottom is also quilted in the diagonal grid. Yes, there is a pocket on the bottom, inside.

Soooo, for the finished product.

 Not bad, Huh.

 Kinda fun, kinda preppy.

Can hold a LOT of stuff!

 I changed the zipper casing so that it would let the separating zipper, well, separate! To open wide like this.

 

 Bottom with feet!

Another view, yep, I'm a proud Mama!

Please check out Chris W Designs 

I am also planning to write a review on patternreview.com