Another quilted tote

In addition to the messenger bag bonanza. I made another quilted tote, this time to give to my cousin. She lives in Maine so we rarely get together but I saw her at a wedding a few weeks ago. Incidentally, for those of you keeping track, that means I took up one wedding quilt, 5 messenger bags and this tote in my carry on luggage. I barely had room for my clothes.

Anyway..My cousin is a kickass mom of 3 adorable kids and I knew a big tote would be just the thing for library trips and whatever else comes her way.

Once again I followed She Can Quilt's tutorial for the market shopping bag pattern using the same modifications as last time except I did use bias tape to finish the top as stated in the original pattern. I used Essex yarn dyed linen in flax and paired it with a mini charm pack of the odds and ends fabric line. The handles are canvas and I used a too muchery print for the lining. I failed to take a photo of the inside of the bag or the back so you'll have to trust me that they look flawless.

I did manage to capture a puppy photo shoot:

And best of all my cos loved it! I think she can fit at least 20 library books in there with a little help from her trio.

Blogger's Quilt Festival {String-A-Hex}

Deets

Quilt: String-A-Hex

Category: ROYGBIV

Pattern: My own foundation paper pieced design. You can find the tutorial on my blog.

Size: 47" x 51"

piecing: 50wt white aurifil and used up a bunch of random bobbins

Quilting: free motion figure eight quilting with 50wt white Aurifil on my home machine.

I originally designed this quilt for the Festival of Strings contest by Rachel at Stitched in Color. My design is a twist on foundation paper piecing hexagons into scrappy rainbow goodness:

The blocks are unified by a strip of Kona White. I varied the width and position of the white to add more interest. Here is a photo of the completed top floating in the breeze.

The quilting is an allover free motion figure 8 loop. It adds great texture but does not overwhelm the quilt or make it any busier!

The backing mirrors the pattern on the quilt top. I also added a strip of gray flannel along the side - make it work moment! The binding is Chicopee ladder dot in fuchsia. Love this print.

Thank you for visiting my BQF entry. If you are new to my blog I encourage you to browse around, maybe take a look at some of my tutorials or other finished quilts? Also make sure you take a look at the plethora of of quilts being shown at the festival. 

Get the message?

I love the messenger bag pattern from Zakka Style. I must have used it close to 15 times by now. My mom commissioned 6 more when she visited a few weeks ago. I did a "rush order" on the Ostrich one so she could give it as a belated birthday gift and I made the rest to take home when I went to the wedding last weekend.

I had a lot of fun mixing and matching prints and colors for all the bags. I also enjoyed using different techniques to embellish the front flaps.

Bag #1 - Reds and browns. I used some Flea market fancy and Birds and the bees in this one. I love how versitile and sophisticated it looks. The main body of the bag is a gray duck canvas.

 

Bag #2 - Purples and oranges. I toned down the bright purple and orange with some green architectures in the inside flap. I used freezer paper applique on the front. The main body of the bag is a gray duck canvas.

 

Bag #3 - Purple paw print! This one has a raw edge appliqued paw print. The inside is loads of fun with bright colors and some fruits. You can't see it but the outside pockets are lined with snail fabric. I had a lot of fun mixing prints and colors in this one. The main body of the bag is Essex yarn dyed linen in denim.

 

Bag #4 - Purple Explosison. This one is for my mom. She went through my stash and pulled out ALL my purples. She requested that I use them all and I tried to restrain her but it didn't work. In the end I used a little bit of almost all my purples. I also added some decorative stitching on the front flap. The main body of the bag is Essex yarn dyed linen in black.

 

Bag #5 - Purple Diamond. This one just might be my favorite. I used some New Leaf and waterfront park. I love how the purples and orange really pop with the main fabric (Essex yarn dyed linen in black). 

Can you tell most of my mom's friends really love purple?? Thanks for being my best client, Mom! Linking up with Crazy Mom Quilts and TGIFF which is over at Quilter in the Closet today.

Baby Shower!

Ok, so I went to a baby shower a few weeks ago. I made that hip diaper bag. I also promised I would blog about the shower since it was the least awkward/most fun one I have been to ever.

First off - The party was planned by the Aunt-to-be and she did a great job. Within the invitation there was a piece of card-stock for us to return with little messages, drawings, pieces of advice etc for the parents and baby.

I chose to decorate mine with tsuru bunting and some quotes from the Series of Unfortunate Events books which are known to give generally good advice. The quotes I chose were...

"Never trust anyone who has not brought a book with them"

"Your initial opinion on anyone or anything may change over time"

"If everyone fought fire with fire, the world would go up in smoke"

"It is always sad when someone leaves home, unless they are simply going around the corner for ice cream sandwhiches"(NOTE: this one has special relevance for me and the mom-to-be because our friends are moving away left and right, consequently I've had to buy my own ice cream sandwiches!)

"If you are allergic to a thing it is best not to put that thing in your mouth, particularly if that thing is cats"

Baby Cods is going to the most fashionable kid out there with the embellished onesies everyone made at the party. Bring on the puffy paint! These are the two I made.

The theme of the party was books. Everyone was encouraged to give baby Cods some new books or a book instead of a card. I chose to get her started early on Laura Ingalls Wilder books with Little House in the Big Woods. The house was decorated with books:

Mount Presents

Plus there was cake!

All in all it was a jolly good time and now we are just waiting for baby Cods to make her appearance.

Mount Tsuru - Bonus Pillow!

Remember my Mount Tsuru quilt from the last post? I used Janice's (Better Off Thread) Moda bake shop tutorial called Sunnyside diamond zig-zag. The tutorial is easy to follow. But, hypothetically, if you do not follow the directions correctly (maybe because you did not read ALL of the directions before you started cutting) you get to turn the mistake into a beautiful bonus pillow:

I turned my oops block into this pillow and used some Essex linen in flax for the back. 

Want to learn how I quilted this baby??

I actually used straight line quilting with my walking foot. I quilted the front and back with this same design. Quilting how to:

1. I cut out a petal shape from a piece of paper and traced it onto the pillow top four times (black lines below). Then I stitched over the line following the arrows.
2. Then I quilted inside each of the petals (pink lines below) echoing the first quilting line until I filled the petal.
3. Last I echo quilted outside the black lines until I filled up the rest of the pillow top (blue lines).

I'll address any questions you have about the quilting how to in the comments and please let me know if you try it out!

Mount Tsuru

My cousin Gretchen got married last weekend, and in true form, I made her and her new hubby a quilt. I used Janice's (Better Off Thread) Moda bake shop tutorial called Sunnyside diamond zig-zag. The tutorial is really easy to follow. I highly recommend it.

I christened my version: Mount Tsuru

It is made with a Tsuru fat quarter bundle and some shot cottons for the zigs. The background fabric is sketch. The zig-zags conjure up images of mount Fuji, don't you agree?

It was fun mixing and matching the prints:

The construction starts out the same as a lonestar block and wouldn't these be lovely as a lonestar! I especially love how the footprints make a spiral in the center.

Here is a photo of the basting with one of my favorite basting helpers. This photo caught him mid stretch...

The quilting is an allover meander in the prints with zig-zagging straight line quilting in the background. I love the texture the quilting created.

You can really appreciate the design on the back. Appreciate it!

The back is an Ikea print of what I thought was clouds but after I purchased it, I think it is actually men, which is kinda weird. Still, turned on its side they still look like clouds. I know you can't un-see the men now.

I added a label to the bottom corner with the happy couple's wedding date.

I bound the quilt with the dark blue shot cotton which I think frames the quilt beautifully. I hand stitched down the binding because a special quilt deserves the hand stitching touch.

Deets:

NAME: Mount Tsuru

SIZE: 58" x 65"

FABRIC: Tsuru by Rashida Coleman Hale, shot cottons, sketch in black

QUILTING: FMQ and straight line by me on my home machine. Aurifil #2000 (the perfect cream color!)

I'm linking up with TGIFF and Crazy Mom Quilts. TGIFF is sponsoring a giveaway for linkups of completely finished projects in October so definitely link up if you finished something this week!

WIP Wednesday

I'm back on the WIP train as they say. This week I am working on another tote bag. I am making another modified market shopping bag from Leanne at She Can Quilt. You remember my rainbowtastic one right...

Well I am making another using a mini charm pack of Odds & Ends fabric paired with essex yarn dyed linen in flax. This color palette is out of my comfort zone but I think I like it!

Turns out I didn't take many photos but here is a basting shot. I am using a cherished Too Muchery print for the lining. Hopefully I can finish this up today!

Linking up with Freshly Pieced.

Finish-A-Long Q4: Optimistic Goal Setting Time

I decided for the final quarter of 2013 - no more new projects. I do apologize but you will have seen all these photos before, however, I will complete all my leftovers:

1. Quilt for my bed. - I will take this one back out of its project bag. I will!

 

2. EPP. I have a lot of plane flights in the near future so maybe...

3-4.  Two charity quilts (boy and girl). My goal has been 2 charity quilts per year and I haven't made any yet so here we go.

Linking up with the other optimists at She Can Quilt. Let's finish up 2013 with a bang.