Fat Quarter Bags

I made a pile of fat quarter bags in May to give away as gifts in June.  Despite the fact that they were given away I'm just now finishing the blog post for them.  I'm not always timely...so don't be too surprised when I put up a post of the sewing I did for Christmas!

I had some lovely fat quarters left over from the sewing I did at Christmas and wanted to make something that would be appropriate for a wide age range (the youngest recipient was 3, the oldest recipient was older ;-)).  

After thinking on it and looking through the blogs I subscribe to I saw this tutorial for Fat Quarter Bags from Amy Smart on her blog, Diary of a Quilter. And I thought, "That's it!"  But I can't leave well enough alone and I made a few changes. :-)

So, here's what I did:

1. Added sew in interfacing to give the bags more body.  I imagine iron on interfacing, fusible fleece, quilt batting, re-purposed jeans or another hefty material would work as well.

2. Added a pocket, because you always need a pocket, right?  The pocket was sewn on to the fabric and interfacing for a bit more stability.

3. The bags are totally reversible.  I boxed the corners (both the outside fabric and the lining) prior to turning it right side out.

4. I left the opening to turn the bag right-side out at the top (between the handles) instead of along a side, then top stitched it closed. I thought this worked out better since the bags are reversible.

The directions for the tutorial worked really well, but I think if I make these again I'm going to construct them a bit differently. I'll probably sew the inner and outer bags separately, then sew the bags together while adding the handles. I'm thinking that with the alterations to the tutorial I made it'll be a bit easier to put it together that way. I learn something new with each project, even if it's that I prefer to do things using a different method!

Until later!

WiP Wednesdy #7

We really enjoyed the break in the hot weather that we had over the weekend, especially since it was Arts Fest and People's Choice weekend.  We had a great time walking through the festivals and seeing all the artists.  But now I feel like I'm melting again!

I was hoping to finish the placemats, sew a robe for Puppy Boy using the pattern by Dana from MADE and work on the Challenge block for the Skill Builder Sampler hosted by Leila at her blog Sewn.  Here's where things stand with those:
-I got the binding pinned to the placemats, but not sewn down yet (did I mention there's 8...and that sewing binding is my least favorite part?  It's just so tedious!)  So a little progress, but not done yet.
-Still in the gathering/planning stage on the robe.  The pattern is printed out, but it's not assembled yet, and I'm going to need to make some alterations since Puppy Boy is a pretty tall dude for a 3 year old.  The towels are bought, but still need bias tape though.
-I got the Challenge Block done, and I love it!  I also finished Block #4, and I'm really happy with how well my points line up in the pinwheels.  You can read all the nitty gritty details here if you want.

I'm not sure that I'm going to be doing a lot of sewing this next week.  I really want to get my Teacher Work Sample done this week.  It's going to be a bit of a pain, I have to reconstruct some stuff due to a computer hard drive crash. :S So, we'll see how it goes.  Maybe some sewing will be study break time, but it's more likely I'll be doing something to try to keep cool and play with the kiddo.

On Hold:
-My mom's jewelry keeper (Christmas gift) I'll pick this up when I'm done with the placemats
-stacked coin throw quilt

WiP Recap:
Last week's total: 5
Finished this week: 2
New this week: (1...maybe...hopefully)
This week's total: 3, maybe 4

Until later!

Skill Builder Sampler - Bonus Block & Block 4

A week ago Friday Leila challenged us to design a block on our own as a Challenge Block for the Skill Builder Sampler.  The challenge was to design our own 12" finished block using squares, rectangles and triangles.  How this is different from the previous blocks we've sewn for the sampler is that the block should be designed using a 4 x 4 grid pattern instead of the 3 x 3 that the previous blocks have been based on.

So I started sketching and after some time, came up with a block I wanted to try.  I started playing with fabric choices and decided that I liked the block better upside-down.

Then I figured out the best way to cut and sew the fabric and made a cut list for myself.  I thought about doing an inset seam for the gray along the bottom, but didn't feel like going through the trouble right now of figuring it out.  I'm really happy with how this turned out, and may do a different quilt later expanding on the idea.  The sewing looks better in person than it does in the photo, I think it needs another good press!

For Block #4 for the skill for the Skill Builder Sampler is more half square triangles.  To practice half square triangles (HST) the block for the week is a pinwheel block.  We used a tutorial for a block called Pinwheel Parade by Vanessa of V & Co.  I did this pretty much according to the tutorial, but used 5 colors for the 5 pinwheels instead of one (well, I am making a rainbow quilt!)  The biggest decision was which fabrics to use and where to put them in the block.  Once I figured that out it was all about the sewing.  This is one of those blocks where it pays to pin and go slooooow where the points intersect (I was hand cranking that needle at the intersections!)  I am super happy about how the points line up!

I think that's all I've got for this week.

Until later!