Ultimate Travel Bag

Let me just say I love byAnnie patterns. I have figured out her methods and know which ways I like to change them to make them my own. I've probably made 50+ bags from her patterns. I would say my favorite is the Ultimate Travel Bag. I've made it twice and I like the size, the shape, and how well it comes together. I made this UTB in Homemade by Tula Pink as part of my "sewing" travel items. 

The only difference between the Carry All Tote (I don't think the pattern is available anymore, but in case you have one) and this is the back travel strap. It's made to fit over the handle of a suitcase. If I ever travel by airline, this will be my travel bag. I haven't made the carry strap pad. 

I did put the mesh pockets in both sides of the bag. I don't necessarily like these, but they work well with the thickness of the bag. 

 

This weeks sewing

This week I have been busy making Meadowland blocks. I signed up for a quilt retreat and decided I want to get a bunch of blocks made so I can make tops. I'm happy with the 9 blocks of Meadowland I finished. I have one block "missing" and I still need to find it. 

I used the Handmade line by Tula Pink for this quilt. 

Last night I finished this scrappy bargello in yellow and blue. I'm really pleased with how it turned out. I think I'll give it to a friend for her wedding. 

These are the other Meadowland blocks I made over the weekend. 

Last week I made Swoon blocks in Glamping Gypsies. I have 9 finished and 7 left of my Swoon 16 quilt. 

I finished the top for Good Morning. I hope I can get it quilted next weekend and give it to a co-worker. 

 

Last Weeks Sewing

Last was crazy busy. I started Cardiac Rehab, so I'm going to that 3 days a week and not getting a lunch hour. It sure cuts into my prepping time for sewing. Sara sent me these yellow and blue strips to use in an SDSU quilt I am working on for a friend. I had sent her some Tula strips and scraps for her quilt. 

Mik is taking swimming lessons, so I have about 30 minutes to sew. I made a few hexie flowers last week. 

Monday night I finished up the Harper Holdall Tote, a pattern by Lazy Girl Designs. The back side is fabric with Decor Bond. 

The front side is a piece I quilted of Soft and Stable. I had a chunk where the backing flipped up and I couldn't use it for other bags, but since this has a lining, it worked perfectly. 

Handles are Decor Bond as well. It's become my gym bag for Cardiac Rehab. 

I spent 2 nights making this sew-together bag with Pinkerville. The unicorns are in both sides of the open pockets. I love how it turned out. 

I'm really pleased with how the bags turned out and this week I hope to focus on piecing. 

 

Small Thread Dispenser

Last night I started to work on a Zip It Up case. I had it cut out and started to figure out which pieces went to it, when I realized nothing was matching up. I had cut 3 different projects all in the same fabric and put them all in the bag. I couldn't figure out which pattern they were for either. I finally figured out I had all the binding cut for the large thread dispenser, but had used green instead of the teal. Now I'm thinking I should just make another to use up all this excess binding I already have cut! 

As I was organizing I found all the materials for the small thread dispenser, so I quickly made it up last night. I need to put an elastic and button on it, but it's done. I used scraps of Pinkerville, so the head is cut off, but honestly I don't think I'll even notice and it matches all the other bags I have cut out from this line. Now I just need to get busy and actually sew them up. 

The inside has vinyl pockets. I bought mesh for the Zip It UP and wouldn't you know I have 2 packages of the same color mesh! And LOTS of zippers. I see a few more of these in my future. 

 

Large Thread Dispenser

I fell in love with a thread dispenser pattern I saw in a group on Facebook. I used this leftover piece of Pinkerville, which was 1/4" too small, and quilted it up at dad's house last week. I know the heads are cut off, but it was the right size and I don't think many will be looking at the outside. 

I used 5" pieces with the zippers, so they are a bit wider than the pattern, but I wanted my big Aurifil threads to fit in the pockets. I kept the bottom one the same size, so I could put extras in it. 

I put all my thread in, except the purples and I'm pleased with it, although I think I have it a bit too full and could take some out. 

It was a bit hard to photograph, but you can see that you can see the bottoms of the spools to be able to see the numbers on them. 

I rolled it up and will get a button for it. 

The friend I made the baby quilt for, gave me these beautiful orange roses. It was our high school colors, so they are even more meaningful. 

 

Thursday night sewing

Last night I finished sewing and pressing the caring heart blocks. I have 14 made, so that should last me through the year. I hope to be able to start sending them out to the guild members who have health challenges. I have received quite a few and I look forward to putting them into a quilt. I used pink scraps I had in my drawer for these. 

Threadology quilt along from 2019 is my APQ UFO challenge for February. I had hoped to get 1 block per week done. We're in the 3rd week and I had only gotten block 1 done, so last night after adding a 6" piece of binding to the Jungle Friends baby quilt, I quickly sewed these up. These are the block 2 blocks and the simple 9 patches went together very quickly (30 minutes). I cut the entire quilt out in Little Snippets and it's very organized by block, so I hope to get another one done this weekend. 

I spent most of yesterday working on the binding of Jungle Friends. I had an hour at the orthodontist and then 1 1/2 hours at the First Communion parents meeting of hand sewing time on the binding. I had ran short by 2" when I put the binding on, so I had to pick more up at The Sewing Center yesterday and sewed it in last night, so I can get it finished this weekend. 

I am also working on the Thread Dispenser, so I need to cut out the pieces that go with the zippers. Only I decided to use green zippers and I need a fabric to go with it or I might use the cream Tula fabric. I'm so thrilled to be able to work on these projects as I am done with all my "customer" quilts. I do enjoy doing these projects, but often my own projects get set aside. I'm ready to work on my own stuff. I keep cutting out more and more projects and I need to just work on them instead of cutting out more. I have at least 5 bags cut out in Pinkerville Unicorns. 

The weather has finally warmed up (14 above 0), so I am looking forward to a weekend with no plans, yet we don't have to worry about the cold. 

 

President's Day Quilting Marathon

Monday was a day off for both the kids and me. I planned to quilt at dad's house and for once the weather didn't prevent us from going. It was cold, but the warmest day in over a week, so we went.  I finished the Jungle Friends baby quilt top on Friday night and quilted it up. It turned out beautiful! I think I'll add a dark gray binding. I used a off white King Tut and Bottomline. The backing is a cream color with gold giraffes. 

I started with this Sukura Stars runner. I finished it up on Sunday night and took out all of the papers while we watched the Daytona race. It's a gift for a very special friend. I hope to have it finished by her birthday. 

I quilted up this Tula Pink Rock Candy table topper. It's made of scraps and I don't know who will receive it, but I'm happy it's quilted. 

I plan to make a sewing thread organizer from ByAnnie and so I decided to quilt it, but I had left very little in the way of backing, so I had to only use 1/4" on each side to attach it to the leaders. It worked and now it's ready to be made into a bag. I have 5 bags cut out in this fabric, so I hope once I put the thread on, I can start making the bags. 

I wanted to quilt some quilts for Quilts for Kyds, so I picked up two. This Star Wars one got a gray/black King Tut thread on it. 

This dog quilt was quilted with a colorful verigated King Tut. 

The backing had silver Bottomline. 

Then I left the biggest ones for last. I quilted up my Hope quilt. I used aqua minkee on the back. It turned out really nice. I used an aqua King Tut on the front. 

I used the same aqua King Tut on the front of this Random Shuffle quilt. I used aqua sparkle minkee on the back of this one. 

I did loops on this one. 

I'm really pleased with all I got done. I would have finished another runner, but I forgot to pack the backing fabric. Six and one half hours later, I had 8 quilts quilted and I was done for. We were able to grab a quick supper and make it to Shooting Sports with 2 minutes to spare.  

January Sewing

My quilting friend Linda had her daughter-in-law make these beautiful cookies for me. She used the Tula Pink fabric below as the inspiration. 

Monday was a holiday, so I was able to quilt these two table runners. They are Desert Stars by Atkinson Designs

I also quilted this minkee blanket for Mikaela for her birthday. I just quilted it with loops and it quilted up BEAUTIFULLY!! I couldn't have had a better day quilting. 

Here's the table runners as I got them made. They are a custom order for a gal I know from back home. 

I have been working on hexie diamonds to make a quilted table runner. I got these finished and have started on the white hexies. It's going together surprisingly fast. 

I made Mikaela some new, bigger masks with nose pieces. She really likes them.