Zipper Pouch / Bag, v. 6 & 7

I hadn't considered how many of these zipper bags to make until blogging buddy Janet O. of The Rogue Quilter (link) asked yesterday.

My first response was that I was going to make six zipper bags for a gift stash.

After making this zipper bag, I remembered that I had a remnant from the very first quilt I made for my niece Deborah and went looking for that.

I had to add a border at the top because the remnant wasn't quite big enough but... it's so pretty, I wanted to use it.   I had enough of the pink batik to use for the lining too.

So, I don't know how many of these zipper pouches I'll make.  Any suggestions?    

Zipper Pouch / Bag, v.5

I had some batik scraps left from a QAL that I couldn't bear to toss and decided to use them in a zipper bag.

Definitely labor intensive sewing all those squares together... didn't have enough of anything to strip piece.  Most of the fabrics were just 2" wide.  I didn't have a complete row on the bottom because I would be cutting the corners off to have a boxed bottom.

I even put a pocket in!

Because I used squares for the outside and didn't want to have partial squares, this zipper bag is a bit taller than the others.... but I like it!

Zipper Pouch / Bag, v.4

Bored yet?  I'm not... plus I tweaked how I made this one!

I boxed the corners as directed in Noodlehead's great tutorial (link)...  but found it awkward marking the corners as well as sewing the corners together.   Then I remembered that I knew another way to do this.... from my Fabric Storage Bin tutorial (link).  This is what I did...

I dug in the trash by my sewing machine and pulled out a corner cut off an earlier bag and measured it...  about 1.5" square.  Then, using a specialty ruler, I marked all four corners.

Next, I cut out the marked corners and the bag looked like this:

Taking the bag to the sewing machine, I opened up a corner...

... and, matching the seams and the cut edges, pinned the opening together.

Then, I sewed the opening closed.

After I sewed all four corners, I turned the bag right-side out and went on to finish the bag as usual.

I made the pocket from a 4"x5" rectangle of fabric to make it a little smaller than the postage stamp bag I made previously.  That pocket started with a 4"x6" rectangle.   I like this size pocket better.

 

I'm starting to have a nice little collection!

Zipper Pouch / Bag, v.3

I am so enjoying these quick finishes... no matter how frustrated I am or how tired I am after work...  a little fabric therapy is good fer what ails ye!

I've been pondering about the best way to put in a pocket that wouldn't be beyond the corners of the bottom nor extend into the bottom of the bag....  

A little measuring and I came up with this size and sewed the pocket to the lining after getting the zipper sewn in.  This allowed me to get the pocket placed where I wanted it to go.  Next time I will make the pocket a bit smaller.  

It's been fun playing with remnants and making these small bags.  Kinda nice seeing them all together!

Not sure I'm going to be able to give up the birdie bag tho...   *lol*

Zipper Pouch / Bag, v.2

I made a second zipper bag after work yesterday using the same tutorial by Noodlehead (link).

The bag went together more smoothly this time around...

...however, this time.... I didn't make the base quite as wide as the first one.

Can't decided which width I prefer....  more research required!   *wink*

Zipper Pouch / Bag

I finished my first zipper pouch after work yesterday... the first of many to tuck away for gifts.

I used Noodlehead's Open Wide Zippered Pouch tutorial (link) because I liked how the pouch will sit upright when open...

..... ready for you to reach in and grab whatever you need.

I think next time, I'll put a little pocket on one side of the lining...  this would make a nice little bag to carry hand-sewing projects with you to appointments to keep you busy while you wait.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Link is now working, thanks to head's up by Janet O!

Payback and Planning

I've been bad... I let the fabric scraps/remnants pile up on the cutting board while I moved quickly from one project to the next.  However, there comes a time when one must clear the cutting table and organize, sort, and dispose of said scraps / remnants appropriately.   So I bit the bullet and carried everything to the dining room table to give me enough space to sort and organize.

What a mess!  Most of the actual scraps too small to use have made the trip to the circular file... and I've sorted some.  The big pile on the upper left needs to be tackled next.   And since my son and family are driving up to spend the day with me tomorrow...  I need to get busy so I can clear the table off.

After the finishing the 16-patch, I thought I would take a break and make some zipper pouches to tuck away for gifting...  so sorting the above-referenced fabric was necessary because I was looking for several fabric "sets" like the grey and yellow prints in the lower right corner above.

I have some zippers on hand, ordered from kandcsupplies on Etsy.   So I just need to select fabrics and get sewing.

A Little Nostalgia

Once upon a St. Paddy's Day eve, a little blonde girl was upset.  She didn't have anything green to wear the next day and didn't want to get pinched at school.   So her mom made her a shamrock from green crochet thread... no pattern, just free-handed it... and pinned it to her shirt in the morning. Little blonde girl wore it several years for St. Paddy's Day but the shamrock always lived in her mom's dresser drawer.

That was 30 yrs ago and it's still in my drawer... however, my daughter says she wants her shamrock back...

16-Patch Progress: A Finish

I've never had a problem selecting a thread for the binding but this 16-patch was a bit of a puzzler.  I used an off-white/natural thread for the quilting but it was too light/bright for the red binding.  I have a red thread but it stood out like a sore thumb on the soft prints on the red binding.   So I selected...

The grey doesn't blend in with the red but it does tend to disappear or otherwise be unnoticeable.  And the grey blends in with the soft prints on the red background.

After a trip through the washer and dryer, the 16-patch quilt was oh so soft and crinkly....

  

...and ready to snuggle under!

16-Patch Progress: Binding

Today's project is to bind the quilt...

..today's goal is to sleep under the 16-patch quilt tonight!

16-Patch Progress

I was able to finish quilting the three panels of the 16-patch project last weekend and had to lay them out on the floor to see how they looked.

The next step is to pin back the batting and the backing on one panel and just the backing on the other.  I pinned the batting and quilt top of one panel to the quilt to of the other and sewed them together.

Trim the batting close to the seam and open up the quilt.  Press open the seam.

Trim the batting on the other panel close to the seam joining the two panels and tuck it under the seam allowance.

Smooth the backing from one panel over the seam and then fold and pin the backing from the other panel over.

Next, sew the backing together. 

Turn the quilt panels over and pin-baste.

 

I'm going to give the newly joined panels a good pressing before I start quilting the join strip.   Then it will be on to the last panel...

Quilting Panels

I have to say quilting a panel of a quilt sandwich is much easier than working with the entire and bulky quilt sandwich...

I'm using the "grid" of the fabric squares to help me meander and have more even spacing between the quilting lines.   Doesn't stop me from working myself into a tight spot but it is helping...

I'm going to have to wait-see if the process of sewing the panels together will go as smoothly.  Wish me luck!

Yellow Snow?

I had to order backing fabric for the 16-patch project because the LQS had no solids in any permutation of white.... white, off-white, winter white, cream, etc.  So I was excited to find the package with the awaited backing on the front porch after work yesterday!

I opened the package immediately, of course, because I needed to pet some fabric after a long week.  When I saw the backing fabric,  I thought...  when is "Snow" yellow?

I don't know if it was the lights in the kitchen, the dim light from outside (it'd been raining all day), or all the white-white stuff on the table but I swear the fabric was a pale yellow!  And it still looked yellow this morning...  so I started getting ready for a road trip to the nearest JoAnn's, found my coupons, and pulled an orphan block from the 16-patch project to take with me.... and, passing the "Snow" fabric on the kitchen table on the way to my purse, I looked at the block... then I looked at the "Snow"...   hmmmm....

The "Snow" fabric is under the block and the white batting is to the right.  This photo has not been color adjusted; however, the fabric is now on the dining room table under different lighting.   Looks perfect, doesn't it?   So what's going on?   The fabric still looks like a pale yellow to me but the block blends perfectly.  Very strange....



So I'm not going on a road trip today...  I'm gonna pin and start quilting.

I'm thinking about breaking down and buying the Moda and Kona solids color cards.   Ordering online is stressful...    

The Jelly Roll 1600 Finish

I finished the quilting yesterday and made a run to the LQS to find some binding...

...there were several options but this one was the winner hands down!

The blue print has a yellow-green print with touches of purple and goes perfectly with all the wild colors in this bali pop assortment.

   

 

Like the thread, the binding fabric pulled all the colors together and I'm quite pleased with how this quilt has turned out.

The quilt is now in the wash and will go to it's new home this afternoon...  it's for my SIL's birthday, which is this coming week.  Yes!  I got it finished ahead of time... be impressed!

This is the penultimate quilt of my "everyone in my family is going to have a quilt" project.  I have just one more to go... for my youngest nephew.

While I was at the LQS, I also picked up a fat quarter of this fabric... don't know why.  It just appealed to me and made me smile...