More Nikki bags

I made two bags for my friend L and her daughter L. I promised I would make her a bag if she sent me the materials. Turns out she had more fabric than I needed since she picked out a decorator fabric that was wider than the standard 44 inches. I needed to get a little more fusible interfacing and use some scraps for the inside and pockets but I was able to make a big bag for my friend and a smaller bag for her daughter. Same pattern just reduced to 80% in Adobe. I think I used a smaller seam on the handles just to make sure I had enough room to turn them. Good news though, no broken chopsticks. Just leave a large opening for turning and it's not too difficult.   

Some links

Yes, I know.  I'm over due for some pictures.  I've been doing some sewing lately and haven't gotten those last two matching bag pictures posted. 

In case you want to spy on what I've been doing, are the pages I've been using for my projects.

A quiet book.
I made some interactive pages instead of texture pages. 

And then a car caddy.
Two pairs of pants and some scraps later, I'm almost half way through. 

Here's what I've learned-
-I do not like to applique.  I've done the freezer paper trick but I just can't do it right.
-I need to invest in fusible web.  I can press and then sew down my applique pieces instead.
-I like hand embroidery though.
-It reminds me of hand quilting. 

Decisions

And more decisions.

Duvet

Oh my lord.  I thought making a duvet cover would be super easy.  Make a top, make a bottom, sew three sides together and then add snaps. 

I used this tutorial on Design Sponge for the most part and the instructions from Prudent Baby for adding the snaps.

The project was almost too big for me, literally because of the sheer size of the thing.  88 inches by 92 inches finished and about  89 X 94 unfinished.  While I'm glad I made the french seams to join my panels together it was a bear to match the patterns too.  I was terrified of making a mistake that I measured and remeasured everything, matched patterns, evened out the wrinkles and measured again.  I'm happy to say that it's done and washed now, off to it's new home soon.

 

I promise to take some better pictures before sending it away.

I might make myself a duvet cover if and only if

-I can find a fabric that I love

-Double points if it comes in something wider than 45 inches (hoping to only have to join two widths of fabric instead of three with this one)

-Triple points if i won't have to fuss so much with matching my patterns

More props to my awesome iron though too.  Love that thing.

 

Finally, some craftiness

I decided to craft some of the Christmas gifts for our family and friends this year.  And now, off the camera and on to the blog. 

Here are four though I ended up making 7 in total.  The pattern is here at Noodlehead.

Then I ended up making some large tote bags.  Need to make a bunch more because they turned out so cute.  I even might make one for myself.   Pattern for purchase here.  Please don't break any chopsticks trying to turn these handles.  Make the seam allowance 3/8 inch instead of 1/2 inch.  Just a little bit of a difference makes a world of difference in ease of turning. 

And then for my smallest nephews, I made some hooded towels.  Instructions here at One Simple Bliss.

I just yesterday washed and pressed a lot (!) of yards of fabric to make a duvet cover for my sister and brother in law.  That's the last of the crafting for gifts for a while. 

While it was a lot of work to do all that crafting in December and I know I should have started earlier, I loved seeing people open their gifts.  All that hard work was worth it. 

And next year, I'm starting earlier.  :)

My quilt resume

I thought it might be neat to make a post of all the quilts I've finished so far.

My first quilt, a baby quilt for my friend Angie, summer 1997.  Fence Rail pattern.

Then I jumped into my huge oversized queen quilt.  Machined pieced, hand quilted.  Stars and Stripes from Quilts, Quilts, Quilts.  Started winter 1998, finished the hand quilting fall or winter 2000.

(Hmmm, I don't have a picture of this one.  I'll update that soon.  And by soon I mean, I'll try to remember.  At this point, it's not my favorite quilt.  I had no idea what I was doing and the fabrics are really not my style anymore.)

Edit, here it is in use with cute kiddos. I made another Stars and Stripes lap quilt in red white and blue for Operation Homefront Quilt, an organization that was collecting quilts for the families of fallen soldiers but never took a picture of it before sending it away.  Machine pieced and quilted.  Spring 2002.

I moved on to a wall hanging with scraps from my Stars and Stripes lap quilt.  Another pattern from Quilts, Quilts, Quilts.  Machine pieced, hand quilted.  Not really sure when I made this one.

I really streched myself with this one.  A wedding quilt for my sister and my brother in law.  Her color selections were orange, green and purple.  It was a much more successful approach to making Y-seams and a lesson on hand drawing feathers.  I wasn't done in time but I'm pretty sure I finished hand quilting it in the fall of 2004, machine pieced Lone Star pattern.

I made another wall hanging, urged on by my sister, based on Penrose Tiles.  English paper pieced and machine quilted.  Fall 2003 or 2004.

After a quilting class through my quilt guild, I made a curved wall hanging.  Machine pieced and quilted.  Fall 2005 (?).  It went to live with my BFF Em at her house.

Another gift for my friend Em.  A small pillow.  Oooh, mitered borders. 

I'm still working on a crib sized quilt I started in fall 2006.  I had it maybe 3/4 quilted when I found out I was pregnant with twins so I put it away for a really long time.  I've only got a small border left to hand quilt.  Here are some in progress, post twins picture.  This one is a favorite of mind.  So favored that it has a name, Fire and Ice.  I'll update with closeups of the quilting after I'm done because then the title makes sense.  ;)

Then the baby boom happened.  My sister was expecting her first baby several months before me and I squeaked out a baby quilt for her.  Machine pieced and quilted, summer 2006, my own design.

Then I had a huge break and didn't make another quilt until my sister's second baby.  Pattern by Oh, Fransson, machine pieced (early 2011) and quilted (early 2012).  I had the top done for a very long time but had a hard time getting the quilting finished because I had gotten my new machine.  I was ready to toss my new Viking out the window because of all the jams and broken top threads.  Turns out I needed to learn how to use the machine, needed a different sized needle and I learned that I really disliked the fancy Gutterman variegated thread I was using (I'm going to stick with a smaller weight thread for quilting from now on).

Rag quilt for my friend A, machine pieced and quilted fall 2011.  The top fabric was donated by a bunch of multiple moms and I put it together with some help from my friend Tiff as a gift for A who is battling breast cancer. 

Baby quilt for my nephew J, inspired by Ara Jane.  Machine pieced and quilted early 2012.  turns out, I really like stippling.

Another baby quilt, machine pieced and quilted spring 2012, pattern inspired by The Quilt Engineer.  This was my first time with fancy designer fabric.  Citron Grey by Robert Kaufman for Moda.  

With all the baby quilts, my kids started asking for their own quilts.  I planned one for each of my girls and they picked out some fabrics and color scheme and I used scraps for most of the rest of the tops.  For Miss P pie, machine quilted and pieced, summer 2012.

And then there's the one for my C cupcake.

Iron love

I got a new iron for Christmas and I got to break it in today. Love it!

Look forward to some posts on what I've been sewing coming up soon.