Try saying “A Funky Friend Finish on Friday” three times fast and then one more time faster! Actually, don’t bother … your tongue will likely not get as twisted as mine.
But yes, I do have a finish … The pattern is “Ellie the Elephant” from Funky Friends Factory … isn’t she cute?
She was made with fabric from the “Deco Revival” Island Batik fabric collection. She was easy to make as the Funky Friends patterns are excellent!
Ellie will be residing my my sewing room. She is not fit for young children because I used button eyes. However, if you use the appropriate eyes, Ellie would be fine with the littles. (one day I will find the appropriate eyes for my stuffies!)
Here is Ellie, posing in front of the elephant quilt that I made. You can see more about this quilt on the post “Thread Painting with Aurifil.”
I just realized that I must LOVE the Deco Revival fabric collection: I’ve used in in 3 other projects … all that I LOVE. See HERE and HERE and HERE.
This week, a bunch of us were suppose to retreat at a lovely place about a 45 minute drive from my house. There are usually 18. Then, since Covid, the facility reduced the number to 12, then to 10 and then said “no” to overnight stays. But they offered us “Day” retreats where we could go out to sew, go to a restaurant to eat and go home at night. Uh, no thank you … I probably live the closest to the facility and many of the others have about 1.5 hr drive. And who wants to drive home in the dark on a stormy November night? None of us. And, in the end, we would have had to cancel anyhow because of further Covid restrictions.
SEW … since we’re lamenting that we can’t retreat in person … I bit the bullet and paid for 1 month of unlimited Zoom. Everyone that is part of our core group and a few others were sent the link and we Zoom and sewed away for 4 days.! That’s a LONG time for a Zoom quilting retreat!!!
However, it seems like everyone got a lot of sewing done. One lady said, “I got way more done staying home because I wasn’t up wandering from table to table to chat with everyone!”
It was a LOT of fun to “see” friends that I haven’t seen for a LONG time.
SEW … you’re probably wondering what I got done. Actually quite a bit. A lot of this and a lot of that. I did finish 2 pillowcases with the John Deere fabric I bought.
Now that some self-imposed deadlines are met, I feel like I’m catching up.
Connected Project
I haven’t mentioned this project before. Our guild decided to do the “Connected Project.” A fun project where it connects various guild members together. We’re not suppose to know what the finished block is like and although I’ve seen a Youtube videos, I don’t know exactly what my block will look like. The idea is that we are divided into groups of 8. Each of us is given a paper pieced block (with various options from simple to complex) and we make the block in the colours that are chosen by my group mates. It was fun to go through my scraps and use some of them up! I can’t show you yet … but I will show you what I’ve done when I’m allowed to.
On the right is s a picture of the scraps of fabric left after I cut the blocks into their finished sizes.
Below is the 7 envelopes all ready for the mail. AND, they are nestled into a UFO that is NOT even on my list. It was just sitting there when I was looking for something to show off the envelopes. OH my … how many more UFOs will I find when I’m not even looking for them???
If you look closely at my PHD list, you’ll see “connected” is not considered “Finished.” I have done my part for now. I’ve got 7 envelopes from other quilters that I get to open Dec. 1. Then I’ll be putting my block together.
Hanging Sleeve
In my last post (HERE), I showed you a B&W photo of a hanging sleeve using a blind hem. One lovely person asked if either Kathleen or I had a tutorial on it. Well, Kathleen, the very smart quilter that she is, has a tutorial on it. You can check out her blog post HERE. While you’re visiting Kathleen, check out her tons of tutorials. Well worth the visit!
Morewood Mystery
You can find details of the mystery quilt HERE. I’m all caught up. This is November’s clue.
Inspired by Nature Blog Hop
This week you have the opportunity to win a fat quarter bundle of Venetian Marble or Tiki Punch! Both are wonderful collections!
After Quilt: This term is new to me … but I completely understood it when I heard it. It’s those bits and pieces that are left over when you finish a quilt. SEW … I’m going to be working on an After Quilt.
Scrappy 4 patches: This is in the same state that it was last week. It hasn’t moved off the design wall.
Quilting:
Nothing happening … yet
Stash Report
A sad week in this department. A local quilt store was closing their doors … with some good sales. When I went, everything was 65% off. Can’t complain about that! One good thing: a quilting friend was right behind me in line … we chatted up a storm and the wait went quickly then!
Here’s a picture of the damage. My husband was with me when I bought the first pieces of John Deere fabric and he “ordered” me to buy more (6.5 yards). He has a plan for them … of course I’ll be doing the sewing! The blue with white polka dots is for backing baby quilts (4.5 yards). A total of 11 yards will be added into Fabric Added this year.
And yes, I bought some quilting rulers, glass head pins in a tin, and (2) 4 yard zippers by Annie (with zipper pulls).
Fabric Used this week 0 yards
Fabric Used this year: 279.5 yards
Fabric Bought this week: 0 yards
Fabric Added this year: 61.5 yards (my husbands amounts as well)
Net Fabric used 229.0 yards
Husband’s purchases: 17 yards (which are added into my total amount of Fabric added this year). For those of you who don’t know … my husband often buys more fabric than I do … so, I’m keeping track!
Stitchin’ Time
I’m aiming for at least 30 minutes a day.
January – Sept: 290 / 304
30 min days/ Nov: 22 / 22
Total days in 2020: 312 / 325
Percentage = 96%
For more Stitchin’ Time, you can check out Kate’s blog: Life in Pieces
TO DO
I’m linking up to Roseanne & Sue’s “TO DO” Tuesday. Their blog is “Home Sewn by Us.”
I can’t wait to see what my fellow Island Batik Ambassadors create this week!Make sure you follow along! Scroll down for the rafflecopter link for your opportunity to win some awesome fabric!
I received “Ohana” fabric collection to use for this blog hop. Aren’t the fabrics awesome?
They made me think of flowers … Well, there are pretty flowers in some of the fabrics. H I thought of the Accuquilt die that I have, “Cleopatra’s Fan.” To me, this die never made me think of a fan, but it did make me think of flowers …
SEW … off to EQ and I played around with the design and the fabrics and came up with this …
Below is some of the pieces on the Accuquilt die. I wasn’t able to lay all of the fabric out at once because I wanted specific fabrics in specific places. So each fabric was cut and placed into the sections where they were destined to go.
I did need to have reverse pieces of each fabric for this block. However, working with Island Batik fabrics, it is seldom that I can decipher the wrong side from the right side. That made it super easy! I just needed 8 pieces of each cut and I didn’t have to worry about right or wrong sides! Island Batik fabrics are pretty cool that way!
Here are all of the blocks on the design board before being sewn together and borders added.
Here’s a close up of the quilting from the front. I outlined all the shapes and quilted little 3 or 4 petal flowers in the grey neutral portions. Wavy leaves formed the border.
And from the back showing more of the border’s wavy leaves.
Once the borders were added and the quilt quilted, … I only had 2 fabrics that I had not used in the quilt … and neither of them was good as a binding. A scrappy binding just didn’t feel right for this quilt. I was given “Marble-Purple-BE” as a coordinating fabric and it is perfect for the binding. Just a hint of the dark purple frames the quilt.
Stats:
54″ x 54″
Quilted with Aurifil #2600, light grey.
Binding attached with Aurifil #2581, dark purple.
Hobbs 80/20 batting
Pieced and Quilted on my Janome Continental M7 sewing machine.
Be sure to visit my Blog Hop Partner, Mania and see the quilt she made with the same fabric collection! Ohana!
Ohana should be arriving in stores soon!
Opportunity to Win
There are 3 opportunities to win some fabric! One from me and 2 from Island Batik.
From Me:
You could win scraps from 5″ x 10″ to 12″ squares of 12 Ohana fabrics. If you live in Canada, in the comment section, tell me how nature inspires (or could inspire) your quilting.
From Island Batik:
Click on the link below to have an opportunity to win Fat Quarter bundles of wonderful fabric: either Sweet Hearts or Love and Kisses
Disclaimer: All of the fabric and supplies (other than my sewing machine and iron) were given to me by Island Batik and the industry partners! Thank you!
Did any of you see this article from CBC Marketplace about masks? Click HERE.
After reading this article, I asked Island Batik what the thread count is for their fabric. Here’s what Elizabeth Phillips (Marketing and Graphic Design) said, “Our greige goods are the highest quality we can purchase. The thread counts are stated a little differently when buying the prepared for dyeing cotton but It’s a little higher than 600.”
So there you have it! If you’ve been making masks with Island Batik fabrics … you’ve been doing the best you can.
And yes, I’ve made masks with Island Batik fabric … here’s a picture of my purse with the matching masks!
Design Wall
Piecing:
Scrappy 4 patches: The setting triangles are added as well as the first border. I need to dig out some fabric and audition it for the 2nd border. This needs to be bigger. At the moment, it’s 38″ x 44″ … if I add a 4″ border, that will make it 46″ x 52″. I’ll be happier with that size!
Quilting:
About the secrets … Secret #1 & #2 are done … #3 is almost finished. Then I’ll add the hanging sleeves (with a blind hem and invisible thread) to #2 and #3.
Stash Report
No finished projects, no shopping …
Fabric Used this week 0 yards
Fabric Used this year: 279.5 yards
Fabric Bought this week: 0 yards
Fabric Added this year: 50.5 yards (my husbands amounts as well)
Net Fabric used 229.0 yards
Husband’s purchases: 11.5 yards (which are added into my total amount of Fabric added this year).
Stitchin’ Time
I’m aiming for at least 30 minutes a day.
January – Sept: 290 / 304
30 min days/ Nov: 15 / 15
Total days in 2020: 305 / 318
Percentage = 95%
For more Stitchin’ Time, you can check out Kate’s blog: Life in Pieces
TO DO
I’m linking up to Roseanne & Sue’s “TO DO” Tuesday. Their blog is “Home Sewn by Us.”
Well, I got the priority quilting done: IB November will be showcased on Tuesday as part of Island Batik’s “Inspired by Nature” Blog Hop. I was privileged to work with a fantastic fabric collection! Come back on Tuesday to see the quilt!
Last week’s list:
IB November: Quilt and Bind√ done
Work onSecret projects:Finish #3 not done
Work on UFO (Scrappy 4 patches) (to flimsy stage) not done
Tidy & clean studio for 30 minutes. √ done
This week’s list:
Secret project #3 : finish quilting, bind and photos
Work on UFO (Scrappy 4 patches) (to flimsy stage)
Tidy & clean studio for 30 minutes. √
No UFOs finished. One Start in 2020 finished.
I did add the remaining UFOs to my list … just so that you KNOW I have more! (grin)
Inspired by Nature Blog Hop
Click HERE to see this week’s awesome Ambassador quilts!
Yes, I’ve had a busy week. Since Covid started, my calendar has been pretty blank. A couple of weekly Zoom things, daily walks and not much else, you tend to get use to it! Then BAM … all of a sudden, I had 2 dentist appointments (cleaning and fillings), a blood work appointment, a doctor’s appointment, a short guild Zoom meeting, a family Zoom quilting day, as well as the usual 3 weekly Zooms … Oh me, oh my … I felt almost overwhelmed. And to think, I used to have all those appointments, work full time and still managed to get a lot of quilting done! Sigh … Enough of my week … back to what’s important to me: Quilting!
Design Wall
Piecing:
Scrappy 4 patches: On point was the final decision on making this little quilt. I know it looks like a mess at the moment! I have some of the setting triangles sewn on … some are pinned and one row ready to be sewn together. I got most of this done at the family Zoom quilting day!
How can this be? Sometimes it seems like the days take their sweet time … and I turn around and it’s close to the end of another month!
SEW – What’s happening?
Design Wall
Piecing:
I’ve been slowly working on my Charming Bag. The last picture I showed was of it pieced together. (HERE). If you go back to the last picture, you’ll notice that the ties are not in the picture. That’s because I forgot them. Thankfully, I remembered before it was quilted … it was a simple matter of taking about 3/4″ stitching out and inserting the ties.
It is now quilted. Nice simple 1/4″ lines. I like the look … and it’s what the pattern suggests. Aurifil # 2625 (grey) was used for the quilting and the edges of the ties.
Quilting:
Quilted the above bag …
Stash Report
No finishes … no shopping …
Fabric Used this week 0 yards
Fabric Used this year: 277 yards
Fabric Bought this week: 0 yards
Fabric Added this year: 50.5 yards (my husbands amounts as well)
Net Fabric used 260 yards
Husband’s purchases: 11.5 yards
Stitchin’ Time
I’m aiming for at least 30 minutes a day.
January – Sept: 260 / 274
30 min days/ Oct: 25 / 25
Total days in 2020: 286 / 299
Percentage = 95%
For more Stitchin’ Time, you can check out Kate’s blog: Life in Pieces
TO DO
I’m linking up to Roseanne & Sue’s “TO DO” Tuesday. Their blog is “Home Sewn by Us.”
Last week’s list:
IB November: Sandwich not done
Work on Secret projects √ done
Work on Charming Bag√ done
Tidy & clean studio for 30 minutes. √ done
This week’s list:
IB November: Sandwich
Work on Secret projects
Finish Charming Bag
Tidy & clean studio for 30 minutes.
From the Heart Blog Hop
Did you see the post HERE? It’s a wonderful blog hop that’s happening now. Make sure you check it out. Plus … I want to know what YOU are going to make from all the inspiration!
Here’s what I made:
Are you interested?
If you’re interested in applying click HERE. You can read all about the program and what is involved. It’s a fun program to be in and one that has expanded my quilting abilities! I LOVE being an ambassador!
Carol from “Just Let Me Quilt” mentioned this blog hop WAY back in July … and of course, I jumped on the band-wagon. What could be better than a blog hop a mere 2 months before Christmas featuring small gift ideas? Carol comes up with the BEST blog hops!
Here’s my small gift(s) … they all nest inside this one!
Here they are poking out:
What they look like inside: (sorry it was hard to get a good picture with no shadows!)
And all 4 of them:
Details:
Island Batik fabric from the Deco Revival collection was used for the lining and outer side.
Make sure you visit all of the participating blogs … there promises to be LOTS of eye candy and all sorts of projects to tempt you into making some gifts “from the heart!” Let me know which ones YOU plan to make!
Usually, I try to have something to show on Fridays … and I like it best when it’s a finish … but this Friday all I have to show is this:
This is some playing with rulers on the guild’s mystery quilt … it’s all I’m showing because I don’t want to give away what the quilt will be. Plus, I am still in the process of quilting it … so it’s not even finished!
Other happenings …
I have TWO machines in to be serviced and have a spa visit. I took my Janome 6500 in before we left on holidays … they told me a month … I know they’ll phone when it’s ready … but I’m getting impatient!
With the 6500 visiting the spa doctor, I pulled out my trusty Featherweight and … GROAN … I’m not sure what happened, but it decided it also needed to go to the spa!
However, this meme is NOT true in my house!
I’ve also been working on some “behind the scenes” work … I’ll show you eventually … but it’s taking it’s time …
Socks …
I got my alpaca socks from Prairie Spirit Alpacas. It is cool enough today to have them on! They are pretty awesome! My toes are warm and my feet are not itchy! (they get itchy with wool). Alpaca fleece is hypoallergenic – so perfect for me! (If you order from them, put “Gail” in the code and you’ll receive a discount). (I don’t make anything from your order, except a smile!)
I’ll be ordering more socks for Christmas presents … I just need to find out if they want “Lux” for hanging out in or “Slim” for wearing with shoes …
Island Batik
Did you see the Elephant quilt that I made for Island Batik’s October challenge “Thread Painting with Auriril?” You can read about it HERE.
Scrappy Repro is now webbed together. (See How to Web a Quilt) And next up is borders … I’m thinking a burgundy for the 1st border and a neutral for the 2nd … or who knows … I need to audition some fabric before I make that decision!
Guild “Clue-Sew Fall 2020” Mystery Quilt: Sorry, no pictures … in the piecing stage …
Quilting:
I finished October’s Island Batik Thread Painting Challenge and shared that HERE. I used the fabric collection “Deco Revival.”
Stash Report
No finishes. I needed backing fabric, so I bought 4 yards.
Fabric Used this week 0 yards
Fabric Used this year: 261 yards
Fabric Bought this week: 4 yards
Fabric Added this year: 50.5 yards (I added my husbands amounts in … )
Net Fabric used 244 yards
Husband’s purchases: 11.5 yards
Stitchin’ Time
On Sept. 6, I stated that I had stitched 13 out of 13 days in September … that was SEW incorrect! Impossible to stitch for 13 days when only 6 days had passed … it should have read “6 / 6“!!!
I only sewed one day while we were away.
January – Sept: 260 / 274
30 min days/ Oct: 4 / 4
Total days in 2020: 264 / 278
Percentage = 94%
For more Stitchin’ Time, you can check out Kate’s blog: Life in Pieces
TO DO
I’m linking up to Roseanne & Sue’s “TO DO” Tuesday. Their blog is “Home Sewn by Us.”
Last week’s list:
Web Scrappy Repro√ done
Work on the guild mystery quilt (I’m leading this challenge, so I can’t show you until the Mystery Sleuths have all the clues.) √ done
I am NOT an artist – as far as drawing and thread painting goes. Nope, not me! So, this was a very challenging and intimidating challenge for me to attempt!
I started with an idea … and started it and … it sat, because it wasn’t quite right …
I had this circle on the design wall for the longest time … I had cut 2 wedges out of each of the Deco Revival fabric package that I was sent in my July Island Batik box. Many of the pieces were directional and I needed to piece them to get the wedges to go in the direction I wanted.
I hesitated in piecing the wedges together, because I just wasn’t sure … and so they sat some more, were rearranged a few times and sat … and sat …
I had NO problems at all with the fabrics … I love them, but my idea … parts of it were good … parts of it were not …
So, the wedges sat.
By the way …. this fabric should be in quilt stores now … make sure you ask for it!
I haven’t finished any UFOs this month … Scrappy Repro is close … but it’s still a UFO and it’s still NOT finished.
Here’s a recap of the UFOs I’ve completed this year! There’s a total of 15, but some of them turned into 2 or 3 quilts (Dog/cat and Florabunda) … but they counted as 1.
New Starts
I’m hosting a mystery quilt for our guild … so of course, I can’t show you that until they have all the clues.
A couple more Island Batik projects … which I will show you when the time is right!
“From the Heart” blog hop is later this month, and that project is still a WHIMM (Work Hidden in My Mind)
I was going to link up to Cheryl at Meadow Mist Designs for my Favourite Finish for September. At the time this is going live, I don’t see her link … I’m going to post it anyways and will link up when it’s available!
This purse, pattern byAnnie, is my favourite!!! I also think this is my favourite purse EVER!!! I’ve been using it a lot! It has tons of pockets and I’m able to keep everything organized! You can read about it HERE. This purse was made for the Island Batik blog hop “It’s in the Bag.”
I just feel like I haven’t gotten a lot done this month … but that is probably because I was away for almost 2 weeks!
3 Housekeeping / Updating things
First
Did you see my post about when we were visiting friends who live off-grid in the wilds of British Columbia? I showed a picture of a quilt being made by one of the girls. I thought she was at least 14 or 15 … and it turns out she’s actually 13!!!! WOW!! Oh to be able to quilt at that level, using scissors (no rotary cutter) is amazing. You can see the post HERE.
That’s right! Alpacas! We visited a dear friend, Carmen, I’ve known her for ages and ages … she has an alpaca farm … just a few alpacas! It was a ton of fun! Her farm is called Prairie Spirit Alpacas,
Every single alpaca has a name! I can remember a few of the names, but Georgia is the only one I can identify! She’s the one with the spots on her. We were in the barn and it was feeding time for the gals and young gents that need extra food.
Each one has a different face and expression! I don’t think they liked me very much – many of their ears were back. And some of them looked at me as if to say, “who are you?”
I hope you enjoy the slide show … and can you pick out Georgia??? And to make this about quilting … look at all the various neutrals in their fleece!
The alpaca fleece is very soft – especially from the young. One thing I love about alpaca fleece is that it is hypoallergenic. AND, it’s warmer than sheep’s wool. Now if you’re interested in trying any alpaca products, from Prairie Spirit Alpacas, put “Gail” in the purchase code and you will receive a 10% discount! I’ll be putting in an order for some socks for my cold feet!
Ah yes, shopping. While we were visiting my sister in Edmonton, we just happened to visit a couple of quilt stores!
Our first stop was Quincy’s Quilting in Leduc (just south of Edmonton). I bought a couple of rulers and no fabric. And yes, there was a lovely sleepy dachshund in the store!
At Lori’s Country Cottage I bought a few Studio 180 rulers and my husband bought some fabric … I didn’t buy any fabric. Do you remember in August, for the Island Batik challenge, I used the “Four Patch Square Up” ruler and how much I LOVED it? (see HERE) Well, I bought 4 more Studio 180 rulers. I can’t wait until I’m able to play with them!!!
Design Wall
Piecing:
I finished all the blocks that I need for the Scrappy Repro quilt. And here’s some of the blocks – ready to be organized into groups to start sewing them together.
Quilting:
I’m working on October’s Island Batik challenge (sorry, no pictures, yet)!
Stash Report
No finishes, but my husband bought fabric from the sale area at one of the quilt stores. He rationalized it all. The red might be enough for a backing, the bug fabric will go in the quilt he’s planning (for me to make) and the green is to add to my stash because he thinks I need more green). I think he is an enable-er.
Fabric Used this week 0 yards
Fabric Used this year: 261 yards
Fabric Bought this week: 0 yards
Fabric Added this year: 35 yards
Net Fabric used 237.5 yards
Husband’s purchases: 11.5 yards
Stitchin’ Time
On Sept. 6, I stated that I had stitched 13 out of 13 days in September … that was SEW incorrect! Impossible to stitch for 13 days when only 6 days had passed … it should have read “6 / 6“!!!
I only sewed one day while we were away.
January – July: 239 / 243
30 min days/ Sept: 10 / 20
Total days in 2020: 249 / 263
Percentage = 94%
For more Stitchin’ Time, you can check out Kate’s blog: Life in Pieces
TO DO
I’m linking up to Roseanne & Sue’s “TO DO” Tuesday. Their blog is “Home Sewn by Us.”
2 week’s ago list:
Work on Scrappy Repro√ done
Welcome Fall project√ done
Work on Oct. Island Batik project √ done
Tidy & clean studio for 30 minutes. √ done
This week’s list:
Work on Scrappy Repro
Work on Oct. Island Batik project
Tidy & clean studio for 30 minutes.
No changes from the last report …
BLOG HOP
This is Week 3 of a delightful blog hop. So many projects that are not quilts, but are using Island Batik’s wonderful amazing fabrics! Make sure you visit the other Island Batik Ambassadors that are showing their byAnnie creations!
For your opportunity to win some AWESOME fabrics – a fat quarter pack of Urbanization or Nouveau Soul check out the Rafflecoper at Island Batik’s blog.
Yes, HOLIDAYS! We loaded up the camper and went to northern BC and then over to Alberta … I’ll tell you more about a few of the visits in future blog posts, but this is about our first stop …
Off Grid
We visited some friends that live in the wilds of northern British Columbia and they are off-grid. We had a wonderful time. They have a parcel of land and have homesteaded and … well, it’s just great. If you want to know more, visit their website or youtube channel and watch some of their videos …
An exciting part for me was Christina and her quilt. (I forgot to ask, but I think she’s about 14 or 15). She has an electric sewing machine (they have power from solar panels) and she is making a quilt for one of her sisters. This is the first quilt she has made. No rotary cutter … totally cut with scissors … What a LOT of work!!!
The pictures were taken with natural light from outside … Here’s a closeup of the piecing … I was in awe!!! Where the pieces are suppose to meet up – they are PERFECT!
Here is a picture of Christina – about to measure the width of the quilt because she wants to add borders to make it bigger.
I can’t wait to see the finished quilt!
It’s in the Bag Blog Hop
Week 2 of the blog hop is finished! What an awesome week with many wonderful bags! To see all the bags, go to this POST and follow all the links.
Go HERE to have an opportunity to win some AWESOME Island Batik Fabric!
This month’s Island Batik challenge is to make a ByAnnie bag. There are SEW many bags to choose from and I choose the “Bowl Me Over 2.0” bag.
When I did my unboxing video from Island Batik in July, the kit to make this bag was in the box. (You can see the video HERE.) Annie had picked out the Island Batik fabric from the Deco Revival fabric collection. Everything to make the bag was included: Soft and Stable batting, the hardware, zippers, mesh, elastic and webbing … Everything I needed to make the bag. There was also a coupon with the pattern to access the videos to assist in making the bag. Here are the fabrics from the Deco Revival collection that I was to use:
Deco Revival is shipping to stores now!!! It’s a wonderful line of fabric … can’t you just imagine all the wonderful bags and quilts you could make with it?
The Bag
Here’s a picture of the kit that was in my box!
When I make bags, I usually end up doing my own thing … but I needed to follow directions with this one.
Making the Bag
The instructions first told us to print out a sheet with labels on it to keep all of our cut fabrics organized. WOW!! Am I glad I did that! It helped a LOT!
Before I cut the coordinating fabric, I needed to decide what I wanted for handles. I choose Option 1 which gives me an over the shoulder strap along with short handles. It was fantastic to be able to choose how I would carry the bag! We all carry our bags differently and have our favourite ways!
I quilted the fabric with Soft and Stable (byAnnie) between 2 batik fabrics. The pattern suggested either straight lines or quilt as desired. Of course, I chose to do my own thing and quilted lines that sort-of followed the fabric. Aurifil #4225, a purple that came in my July box, was used for the quilting.
As I followed the cutting directions, I carefully labeled each piece, using hair clips to hold each label on. There are a LOT of pieces and the labelling was both a life saver and a time saver! A life saver because I didn’t become frustrated with which piece was which! And a time saver because I could identify each piece easily as I followed the pattern.
One of the inside pockets gave me the choice of using fabric or mesh. Well, since I had never sewn with mesh fabric before and I like the idea of seeing what’s in the pocket, I chose the mesh. For that pocket, I used Aurifil #2625 – Grey – to match the grey zipper.
As I followed the pattern, each of the components were made as directed.
Finally, I was able to put the bag together. Using clips was a great way to go. As you can see in the photo below, I used a couple of hair clips (on the right) because I had run out of the “cool” clips. The hair clips easily popped off. I obviously need to get some more “cool” clips!
Schmetz Super Nonstick 80/12 was used. It was the perfect needle, especially at the end when I was sewing through 6 layers of batik and 3 layers of Soft & Stable.
Then the bag was done!
The Front View … the flap at the front has a magnet closure and it’s nice and strong!
The Back View … there is a nice roomy pocket with a zipper.
The mesh pocket inside is large enough to hold my iPad!
The pocket with fold-over elastic is in 3 sections … will be perfect for my phone, reading glasses and a small notepad …
I LOVE it!
I had some fabric left over … SEW … I made a couple of coordinating masks using by Annie’s free mask pattern. The mask on the left was made with the alternate fabric for the inside pocket (where I used mesh). Annie’s mask pattern is a different from the usual pleated masks … there is a small pleat at the bottom which helps the mask fit better.
Questions:
Would I make this bag again? Absolutely! Even though I’m not a great bag maker, it was made and I’m very happy with it!
Was it hard? It was challenging for me. However, the videos that Annie provides for the difficult, or more challenging steps, made those sections a lot easier.
Did I like “Soft and Stable?” Yes. It was easy to use and it gives the bag fantastic body!
Was the mesh hard to put in? Absolutely not … Annie has a unique way (to me) of inserting zippers and it was easy peasy!
Do I have any suggestions for someone who is thinking of making this bag? Yes … go to ByAnnie’s website and make the free pattern, “Easy Does It.” I watched a lot of the videos for this bag as I was making my Bowl Me Over 2.0 and it helped tremendously.
Would I make another byAnnie pattern? YES!! I already have the patterns for “Running with Scissors,” “Take a Stand,” “Easy Does It,” and “Clam Up.” Obviously, ByAnnie’s patterns appealed to me prior to making the “Bowl Me Over 2.0” bag!
Disclaimer: All products used for this bag were provided by Island Batik and the industry partners: byannie, Aurifil and Schmetz needles.
BLOG HOP
Make sure you visit the other Island Batik Ambassadors that are showing their byAnnie creations! It’s a wonderful blog hop!
When I make bags, I usually end up doing my own thing … but I needed to follow directions with this one.
Quilting Gail 