Another 241 Tote Bag with hexagons

I signed up for another one of Lia's Handmades Secret Tote Bag Swaps. This time everyone is making the Noodlehead 241 Tote. It is a great pattern that is fast, fun and easy to make! My partner wrote in her profile that she loves hexagons but has never made a hexagon quilt! I decided to make her a bag that is embellished with hexagons. I started with a dark taupe fabric that has a linen look about it; I rough cut it larger than the pattern piece, layered it on t80/20 batting and quilted with free form quilting.

Side A

Side B

My next step was to trace the  pattern on the front of my quilted panels so that I could accurately place my hexagons. They were hand appliqued in place. Once the applique was completed I trimmed the panel to the correct size. I did it this way because the dense quilting may have reduced the size of the panel so the bag wouldn't go together properly. Also I wanted to minimize fraying from handling whilst doing the applique.

And here's the finished bag. I lined it with a happy lime green and added a pocket that was fussy cut from a Kaffe print.

The bag has a magnetic closure.

These are the goodies I tucked inside. In the centre is a little zippered pouch and then from the top working clockwise are yellow bee note cards, a little olive green silk notebook, 100 1" hexagon papers, a Prym Needle Twister, a scissor fob/pincushion, Schmetz topstich needles and a hardcover needle book made from the lining fabric.

I made the pouch from a pattern I found here. The hardcover needle books make terrific gifts even for friends who don't sew because they still need a place to store needles and pins. The pattern can be found here. The scissor fob/pincushion is my own design and you can  read my tutorial so you can make your own!

My partner has now received her bag and she is very happy with everything! There's a knock at the door - I wonder who it is? Go grab yourself a cuppa - I'll be right back!

It was the letter carrier with a package. What was inside you ask? A gorgeous tote bag from my secret partner, CeLynn in Colorado. She was worried that she didn't get the colours right but she sure did! But first look at all the lovely goodies she tucked inside the bag! There was a quilt pattern, pincushion, purse frame, buttons, zippered pouch, tissue holder, stabilizer and an lovely little fabric pine cone ornament. Who's a lucky swapper? Me of course. But the best part is yet to come... the bag is STUNNING!

These are pictures taken by CeLynn. I had to share this one because I love seeing the grey guy lurking in the background. Now tell me, isn't this bag fabulous? I think it is perfect for the Autumn!

She added a zipper on the left, beaded the front panel and side pockets, added grommets with batik inserts at the bottom and the strap is a hemp like fabric with grommets. Lots of attention to detail!

Here's a close-up of the bead work and zipper.

Look at the grommets with the batik inserts! Love them!

I'm off tomorrow to prepare the instructions for Block 11 of my Value Proposition Hexagon Quilt Along. I'll have the instructions available for you early Friday morning. We are going to try something new with this block and I hope you'll find it fun and maybe use the idea for other quilts!

Until I post again, happy sewing!
Karen H

Swaps, treasures and quilting Africa!

Well I signed up for the Secret Tote Bag Swap and one of the things you have to do is make a photo mosaic of things you like to give your partner inspiration. Lest you thing I am adept at using the computer let me set the record straight! I am a picnic when it comes to the computer (problem in chair not in computer). I've tried making a mosaic and it generally reduces me to tears in a matter of only a couple of minutes so I decided I'll just throw a bunch of things I like on the wall, take a picture and call it a mosaic. So that's what I did and it worked!

The owl is a wall hanging I made last year and I call it Owl at Night (you can see the whole quilt in my Gallery). I hung four fabrics I really like at the bottom and on the left is a bag pattern I like. So if you are thinking of signing up for the swap but the mosaic thing is holding you back, just take a photo of things you like!

There was a yard sale on the weekend and I picked up two little treasures to add to the curio cabinet! The first is a cute little wooden house. I measures a small 4" tall! This is the front door with a path leading to it.

On the back are two people chatting.

I had no idea what it was but played around with it and discovered that the house comes off the base. It is a little treasure box! Wonder what I should put in it?

The second piece I got is a little cherub riding on a shell! Cute little vase!

I continue to work on Mom's African quilt. I removed the row of stitching above the fraying and did some jagged edge quilting instead. I am much happier with the hut now. The base of the hut is quilted with straight lines going back and forth.

I've quilted a square type of motif for the ground and will now have to think about the sky. Something simple but dense. I like the quilting in the red bands. I think it fits well with the "Africa" theme!

And here is a shot from the back. I love the way it is looking!

Time to take the cats to the vet for their annual exam and jabs! Until I post again, happy sewing!

I've got a secret to share with you!

Lia has just launched her second Secret Tote Bag Swap and sign up is open until August 29th and you'll get your partner information by September 1st. For those who have never participated in a swap I have to admit that Lia's last swap was my first. I signed up and receive my partner information. I knew who she was but she didn't know I who got her name. She provided information about her likes and based on that information I made her a bag. Someone got my name and I posted pictures on Flickr of what I like. We were given a deadline date for mailing the bags. I made this bag for my secret partner. It is appliqued with spiders, butterflies, dragonflies, bees and grasshoppers! I hope she liked it!

These are some of the little treats I tucked inside the bag that I sent to my partner; a large hexagon pincushion that I made, scissors with a scissors tassel that I made and a cute little zip bag for sewing necessaries! There were a couple of additional treats but I didn't take pictures.

And this is the bag that I received from my secret partner! It is beautifully quilted and it has nice long straps that slip over my shoulders. It is being well used! I love the fabrics.....browns, blues and greens!

Tucked inside the bag were some lovely treats!

And there were prizes to be won for participating in the swap. Lucky me won a custom made bag from Lia! It is so beautifully made - it looks like it was made by a professional. Lia did a terrific job and the bag is being very well used!

Tucked inside were some lovely treats! I can tell you that the Toblerone chocolate did not last long! And the pattern is for a cute little pincushion - I do love my pincushions so it was the perfect gift!

If you are interested in participating in Lia's latest tote bag swap pop on over to her blog for the details. I'll be signing up as soon as I put together my mosaic!

That's it for today. Tomorrow I'll update you on my progress on Picadilly to the Nines. It is coming along nicely!

Until I post again, happy sewing!

A lovely prize I won and Picadilly to the Nines

Earlier this summer Lia hosted a Secret Tote Bag Swap and I decided to join in the fun. And fun it was! I made a lovely tote bag for my partner and I received a lovely tote bag from another quilter. In addition there were a bunch of prizes to be won and lucky me won one of them! My prize was a custom made tote bag made especially for me by Lia! The colours are just gorgeous and the bag has outer pockets, a zip closure and a lovely lining.

She did a fantastic job of this bag and I am thrilled with it! Inside the bag were a couple of little treats....a Toblerone Bar (delicious) and a Bunny Hill pincushion pattern). 

Lia is organizing another Secret Tote Bag Swap and the sign up will be in a few days. If you've never participated in a swap this is a fun one!

Basting and stitching the diamonds for the border of my quilt "81" is an evening job so while that is going on I can go back to working on a quilt top, Picadilly to the Nines! This is a quilt that is made of mostly nine patch blocks and variations thereof. I make 3" finished nine patches with scraps and I use them as leaders and enders when I'm sewing. This means I've always got a good pile of nine patches available.

Picadilly to the Nines was inspired by some nine patch variation blocks in my stash. One of the fabrics in those blocks is Picadilly by Free Spirit. I love it and use it sparingly. It is a lovely lime-olive ground with bits of yellow, black, soft turquoise and pale blue.

The other fabric in the blocks is a stripe fabric from Northcott. It is a brighter green with bits of olive and gold. I love working with stripes and directional prints because they can be used to great advantage in blocks.

These two fabrics aren't a perfect match but the originals were made with scraps and when I'm working with scraps I play around and these two fabrics worked together. One of the reasons I think that this is so is because the colours do not bleed into on another. They do have some commonalities and so they do work well together. And I'm only using small bits because the finished block is 3".

And here are three of the 3" blocks from my stash that were the beginning of the quilt top!

I had limited stash of the inspiration blocks but I liked them so much that I decided to make more with the two fabrics. Notice that the Northcott striped fabric is used in the same position in each block. Since the first blocks were made with scraps there are two different backgrounds in each. That was because I was just using the scraps I had on hand. If I had the enough of the right size scraps for the background it would be the same but if I didn't then there would be two different backgrounds and I quite like the effect of different fabrics!

Tomorrow I'll show you how I made these little blocks. They are fun and fast so if you want to give it a go, look for a piece of striped fabric in your stash and we'll have some nine patch fun!

Until I post again, happy sewing!

Pincushions, Glue and Secret Tote Bag Swap

Hello! So glad you dropped by for a visit!

A trip to the Thrift Store on Thursday and my sewing room is now chock-a-block with cups, saucers and mugs that I will use to add to my growing collection of Tiny World Make-Do Pincushions. Among the finds was a pair of small gold cups without saucers.

 

I love the rich warm golden colour so immediately got started making the worlds to fit inside them.

 

You can see just how small they are next to a cup and saucer!

 

I’m going to have to draft a pattern for houses that are a little smaller than those that I’ve made on my cups and saucers so that the scale is right!

When putting the tiny world together strong glue that will bond ceramic is required and my friend recommended Gorilla® Glue. She told me how to use it and loaned me her bottle. After gluing some cups and saucers I returned the glue and went out to get some for myself.

 

While I was waiting in line I read the packaging to pass the time and much to my surprise the glue is water activated!

 

Who knew? I guess there’s something to be said for reading the instructions first. Oh well, at least the glue worked without water!

I signed up for a Secret Tote Bag Swap organized by Lia. This weekend I plan on working on the tote bag for my partner. She likes insects so I am using a lovely linen rayon blend fabric with a floral print with flowers, birds and butterflies. I plan on appliqueing all sorts of insects! Here is a sneak peak of what I am doing!

 Broderie perse butterfly

 



Green cricket

It’s a short post today because I’ve got lots to do! I’ll leave you with a few pictures from the garden taken earlier today!
 

Hostas

Lupine

Saskatoon berries ripening (oh yum)!

 

Last of the forget-me-nots and a caterpillar

Until I post again, happy sewing!