Friday Finish: Sew Together Bag

Do you ever make a gift for someone that when finished you'd rather keep for yourself?  I made this Sew Together Bag for my sister who is attending QuiltCon for the first time, and I have to say it was difficult to put this in the mail!  However, I did put it in the mail, she has received it, and so now I can share the ton of pictures I took ;-)))

Sew Together Bag gifted to my sister

Michelle is totally obsessed with loves Cotton+Steel, so I made her bag entirely with prints from their first and newly released collections and linen.  I love the fussy cut centers!  There's Georgia and Mississippi represented along with her favorite kitty cats tigers in the centers as well as the pocket linings.

Georgia close-up

Back in the day "Mississippi" was abbreviated "Miss"!

When I made mine before QuiltCon 2013, I didn't piece the outside of the bag, but with Michelle's I made wonky stars with 1" finished squares.  I had forgotten how much fun wonky stars are to make.  I also forgot how much linen frays...ugh!  I did not have any quilters linen in my stash.  That would have been much better.

love these tiny squares!!!

The outside panel of the bag measures 13.5" x 9.75".   You do the math...that's quite a few 1" squares.  After piecing all those tiny squares, I felt like I had assembled a quilt top!

love my product placement?!

I am proud that I thought about the directional prints and not having the state names or the tigers upside down.  This was a concern on the outside of the bag and the pocket linings.

zippers and pockets

Each zipper is a different color which helps in remembering what is in each pocket.  Notice my zippers are all going in the same direction;-)  I regret being lazy and not switching to a darker thread when attaching the bindings.  My not-so-straight stitching lines are too apparent.

zipper installation

The optional pincushion would have obscured the pretty viewfinder reels, so I opted not to make one. I did add the felted wool needle landing (even though it covers up a cute bee) because I know Michelle is taking an EPP class and this should come in handy.

inside of the bag

Michelle says she loves her bag, and I really loved making it for her.  Have you ever made a Sew Together Bag?  I love seeing all the creative versions.  There's a hashtag on Instagram (#sewtogetherbag) if you're interested in browsing.

you can see my bag in the background

I'm beyond excited for QuiltCon 2015, and so happy Michelle is going too!
Will you be there? If so, please stop me and say hi!

Linking up with finish it up Friday!  

Happy Friday the 13th!

Pillow Swap

It's my daughter's winter break from school, and she's been snuggling under a quilt and taking tamiflu.  We've been watching lots of TV and reading books.

pillow cover

I've also been going through and organizing my photos on the computer.  Remember this pillow I made for the Angled Class swap?   I realized I didn't show the pillow I received in the swap.

Mine traveled all the way from Canada.  I love this pillow cover and zipper pouch that Laura made me.  It now has a pillow insert and goes perfectly on our new recliner.

I don't participate in many swaps (too stressful for me!) but have been the lucky recipient of a few!

What about you?

Bee Blocks for January

Starting in February I am participating in a third bee, but for January I had sent off blocks for these two bees.

Chevron blocks

Two double chevron blocks were requested for Wish Circle of do. Good Stitches using this Jeni Baker's tutorial.

Six inch blocks for Elizabeth

Elizabeth requested blocks for her version of this quilt for Mid-Century Modern Bee.  I selected the friendship star block and the spool and bobbin block.

February block instructions have already been posted, but block making may have to wait until after QuiltCon!

Thanks for stopping by,

Choose Your Own BlockAlong 2/9/15

Another Monday means another Dear Jane block pieced!

Dear Jane Block H-1

I used more beautiful Doe fabric from my stash in this block.  I actually finished this for last week's post but forgot to publish to the blog.  Just as well as I am busy preparing for QuiltCon and may need the extra block for another Monday ;-)))

Anyone else working on a long term project?  How's that going?
Linking up with Live a Colorful Life.

Happy Monday and happy stitching!

Thanks for stopping by,

Choose Your Own BlockAlong 1/26/15

A bright red Dear Jane block to start off a dreary Monday!

Block L-8

Doe fabric for the background and Brandon Mably prints from my stash for the accent pieces.  I'm up to 34 Dear Jane blocks now!

Rumor has it Cindy has finished her Christmas Tula Pink City Sampler blocks.  Head over to her linky party and see for yourself.

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you have a lovely Monday!

Sewing With Friends

Saturday was our OrlandoMQG Sew Day at the library, and we had an especially large group.  It amazes and impresses me how far members drive to sew together!  Another example of how special our guild is.

Sweet gift from my friend Doris!

Members modeling our necklaces.  Thanks Yumi!

Presidents of two nearby MQGs drove over to sew with us, my sister drove down from Georgia and Yumi sent these gorgeous fabric necklaces from Japan.  Too bad Japan is a bit far to travel for a Sew Day!

Michelle's project

My sister worked on her MCM Bee block.  Love the bright florals against the text fabric.

Wish Circle block in progress

I brought fabrics to work on my MCM Bee block too but didn't quite finish with my Wish Circle block.  I blame it on the awkwardness of my walking foot having forgotten to switch feet from my last project.

Fabric gift

Michele was generous in adding to my cowboy fabric for future Leo quilt.

I'm so blessed!

 My sister also hand delivered my Christmas gift!!  She spoils me with her beautiful quilty creations.  Thank you Michelle!  I have spent most of the last few days cuddled underneath.

Pondering options

 Another reason for my sister's visit was a trip to IKEA to purchase furniture for her sewing room.  My daughter went with us as she believes "Ikea is a magical wonderland!"  Michelle did not agree ;-))  She was successful in obtaining her items though.  No need for her to visit Ikea again!

 Yesterday, I enjoyed hand stitching with friends for Crafty Tuesday.  So nice to pull this old WIP out after several years.  I even learned a new embroidery stitch.  At QuiltCon (only 29 more days!) I am taking an embroidery class with Alison Glass.  Will be interesting to see if I add more embroidery WIPs or finish this one sooner because of the class.

Do you get together routinely to sew with friends?

Choose Your Own BlockAlong 1/19/15

Happy Monday and Martin Luther King Day!

Dear Jane Block K-3

I spent a little bit of time already in my sewing room this morning which felt good.  It's been too long.  My sister drove down Saturday to attend our OrlandoMQG Sew Day, and we had a nice time sewing together.  More on that tomorrow.

Block K-3 was rotary cut and machine pieced.  All strips/squares are 1" cut and .5" finished.  Tiny!  Happy that I found another block that didn't require paper piecing or appliqué.  I cut into my new Carolyn Friedlander Doe fabric for this one!  Love it.

33 blocks made

I am going to make only one block per week for a while.  The blocks are getting more difficult and there are other projects I need to work on.  This Dear Jane is a long term quilt goal for me.  No rush.

Last week instead of working on DJ blocks, I played around with adding my blocks to an Excel spreadsheet.  This exercise took WAY longer than it should!  I placed the completed blocks according to the Dear Jane book.  Because of my random pick of fabrics per block, I will be laying my blocks out differently.  Still working on that arrangement.

How are y'all doing with your projects?  Thank you so much for leaving comments and encouraging me along the way!  It helps a great deal knowing others are interested in my progress.  Linking up with Live a Colorful Life.

Happy stitching,