Another quilted bag

I hadn't quilted in such a long while that I joined the Spring Quilted Bag Swap through the Quilting Gallery. I had some reservations about the first bag I made (although it did receive positive feedback on flickr) so I decided to make a second one. The tutorial for the quilted bag is free from Geta's Quilting Studio (thanks Geta!).

This time I reinforced the handles with interfacing and instead of using cotton for hidden inner layer, I used canvas, which makes the bag stand up easily on its own. The print is one of my old favorites from Kaffe Fassett and I think it is reminiscent of spring, which is appropriate for a spring themed swap. I quilted it differently, loose circles in a kind of freestyle pattern that I think I like. I am looking forward to writing a letter to my swap partner, who is overseas, and sending this bag along with a handful of other sewing goodies.

Quilted spring bag

It's been too long since I've quilted and my fabric stash isn't getting any smaller, so I joined a quilt-a-long for a quilted bag exchange and promised myself I'd use only scraps.

Here is my first quilted bag made from this tutorial. I do like the bag but I'm thinking it looks more like a diaper bag with these whimsical colors and less "serious" and adult like so I'm not sure if my swap partner will like it or use it.

I'll be sending this bag to another country, so I want it to be special. I think I'll sit on it for a week and see if I want to send this one. The good news is that it sews up in no time at all so if I change my mind, I can prepare another one quickly.

I also decided to send my swap partner one of my big, fat potholder hearts. I still use mine all the time.

Quilts of 2009

Quilts of 2009
Originally uploaded by alwayscreatingsomething

Here's a review of my quilts this year. Three quilt swaps, two charity quilts, four gift quilts and three keepers.

My favorites are the Afternoon on Oahu quilt, Baby Isla's quilt and the Aloha quilt. I think I only have two WIPs at the moment which is great for me and one is a finished quilt top.

Sew many fabric combinations, sew little time!

Fall Mini-Quilt Swap

I completed my Fall Inspired Mini-Quilt for my swap partner. I didn't get a good idea of the kinds of quilts she likes from her blog, so I had to wing it. I hope she likes it.

I selected fabrics for this quilt a long time ago but haven't had the chance to start work on it until a few days ago when I had an unexpected "opening." I'm so glad to have completed it while it's still Fall, although as I write this, snow is falling (and sticking!) outside my window. I used a simple natural muslin fabric and made a small strip of fall colors across the top (or side or bottom, depending how you look at it). Then appliqued a maple leaf in the corner. It's simple and I hope more classic than boring. I wanted to create something that could be used practically as a placemat or small table topper as well as hung, if desired. It measures approximately 15" by 18".

I quilted it in intersecting lines - something completely new for me but I used my walking foot and took my time with it. I like the clean, modern lines of it. If I quilt in straight lines again, I think I'll use my water soluble pen or chalk to mark the lines before sewing. 

The maple leaf I cut out by hand instead of following a template. I wish I could have used a real maple leaf as a template but I waited too long and now they're all brown and crispy or decomposing in my compost pile.

Here's the back before I added the hanging sleeve where I signed the quilt to my swap partner. I like the binding fabric but didn't measure it out correctly this time. I cut 3 1/2" strips for the binding but 3" would have been plenty. Usually I like thinner bindings than what I added to this quilt.

Autumn Quilt Colorway

This maple is the inspiration for my upcoming mini-quilt for Fall.

Here's my fabric selection for my mini Fall Quilt. There are a few more days to join if you're interested in the Quilter's Fall Swap. I'm planning to make a mini-runner or place mat with the fabrics and to get it out as early as I can so it can be enjoyed while it's still autumn.

The colors remind me of Savannah's tree swing under the maple's autumn dress of red, gold, chestnut and green:

 
 The perfect place to read her Halloween books and eat apples from the local orchard.

Swaps received

My Friendship Bag partner was all the way around the world in Australia! Thank you Vickie. Vickie lives in a town called Humpty Doo Australia - what a name!
It came filled with sewing goodies and fabric for me and stickers for my daughter - sparkly stickers! I received it a week ago and intended to take its photo right away but Savannah decided to use the bag to pack for one of her imaginary trips to Florida and I just found it today while cleaning her room...

Also, I received my swap for the Good 'Ol Summertime Mini Quilt Swap from Cynthia in Missouri. She's new to quilting but created all this. I say "all" this because her mini quilt was 36" by 36", so not so mini! Thank you Cynthia and welcome to quilting!

Friendship Bag Swap

I finished my friendship bag for my Quilting Blogger partner. I made it from Kaffe Fassett scraps leftover from Nana's Memory Quilt. This is a great bag to make with small leftover scraps or strips. Purple is the color of friendship and sharing. I'm sending this one overseas. I hope she likes it.


The tutorial comes from Rachel at psIquilt but I did change the handle style. Instead of two small fabric handles, I made one basket-style handle that's an inch wide with batting in the middle so it feels good (solid and strong) in your hand. There are some excellent ones already made in our Flickr group with many other quilters taking poetic license too.


I made this pincushion to send along with it and use up some more scrap fabric. The inspiration comes from Heather Bailey but I didn't follow her excellent tutorial.

I might fill it with some extra fat quarters or squares too - anything to pass along the wealth and reduce my stash!

Good 'Ol Summertime Mini Quilt Swap

This is the mini quilt I made for my swap partner (who is still a secret). It's a Dresden plate pattern that I made in yellows for a sunflower. I downloaded the template for Dresden plates from Eleanor Burns' website, Quilt-in-a-day, for free. (Thank you Eleanor!)

It measures about 20" by 20". The center of the sunflower has circular quilting in dark brown thread to look like sunflower seeds and there's some decorative stitching on the petals. The rest of the quilt (the green background with mini sunflowers) is stippled in a meandering pattern. AND I used only scraps from my stash since I'm still on a fabric diet. I need to sign the quilt and put a fabric sleeve on the back then it's ready to ship to Canada.

I hope my swap partner likes this one. From her website I learned that she does appreciate the vintage patterns but this turned out to be not as traditional looking as I had planned it to be.

Organizing my fabric stash

We've completed another part of our house so I've finally been able to unpack some more boxes from my old craft room. I have to say that I have so much fabric I should be ashamed of myself! I definitely need to use it up before buying anything new. Making scrappy charity quilts helps. I have two WIP charity quilts that I'll need to finish this month and a baby quilt that's nearly done. I'd like to find another local charity that I could donate a quilt to for the holidays or perhaps donate to our library to auction off at a fundraiser. Our little library desperately needs the funds to be able to move to the old train station they are renovating, which is much larger than the basement below the bank they currently inhabit. I like thinking that my work is going directly to someone in my community.

I'm also restricting myself for fabric choices for the "In the Good Ol’ Summertime Mini Quilt Swap" I joined to use only scraps. I know I want to make a simple sunflower using the old-fashioned Dresden-plate pattern, so it's a good thing that the quilter I will be making it for enjoys vintage and traditional quilt styles.

Spring Blooms Mini Quilt Swap - Quilt Received

Look at the beautiful work that arrived in the mail for me today for the Spring Blooms Mini Quilt Swap!



Mini-quilt by Barbara Moore.

I love the traditional quilter's fabrics and the hand appliqued design. This quilt is a nice mix of traditional and whimsical. The sweet blue bird (state bird of New York) is great and I really like the unique shape of the flowers too. Also, I've never seen a quilter sign on the fabric sleeve before but I think this is a great idea that I'll plan to do on my next mini-quilt swap (and as soon as I find my fabric pens). Thank you Barbara! I love it.