Saturday

Modified Lickety Split Bags

I made my sister the modified version of the Lickety Split bag for her birthday. She uses it often and receives many compliments on it. (I'm so glad.)  Her co-workers wanted to know where she got it and next thing you know, I was making more bags for them.

Of course with use, comes ideas on how to improve the bag.  My sister mentioned that a little velcro closure on the outside pockets would be nice and a longer handle would also be helpful.

I made these three bags and with each one, the handle got longer.  The brown bag is nice for slipping the strap right over my head.  I hope these "improved" versions meet their needs. If not, I won't mind using them or giving them as gifts.

Tuesday

Super Hero Capes

Craft Fair Items
I recently had a customer order for some really small super hero capes. Even though the client did not need them until the week of October 5th, I completed all 25 of them in record time and delivered them right after they were done.

Just as I put the leftover fabric from the project away, I received notice that the client wanted 25 more! Good thing I bought 10 yards of black cotton solid fabric at the last big sale. Once I had those done I was left with a few pretty good sized chunks of black fabric.  So I decided to make some super hero capes of my own.

The leftover pieces I had were enough to cut two 18" x 24" pieces that would make a nice sized cape for a toddler or small child. I know this because once I had my first one completed, I tried it on both my 2 year old and 4 year old granddaughters. It worked well for both of them. So I dug through my stack of larger scraps looking for child-friendly fabrics and I came up with these 5 capes.  They were so much fun to make I think I will make some more.

Thursday

Dresses for Africa

Sweet Sundays Quilters GroupAs part of our Sweet Sundays Quilters church group, we are making Dresses for Africa. The idea is to use up old pillowcases for these dresses however, I don't have any.

The instructions we used can be found on Nancy's Notions website and the link to those instructions are here. They are easy to make and a great way to use up extra fabric. The only thing needed besides the fabric (or pillowcase) is some elastic and binding. Since I make all my own binding, I only had to worry about making sure I had the elastic on hand. So for little investment, these dresses are quite easy yet rewarding to make.

Others in the group used some vintage, embroidered pillowcases and they are gorgeous.

Wednesday

A Business Move

It's official! I take Visa, MasterCard, American Express and Discover. I finally set up an account to accept credit cards for my craft fairs.

It was easier than I thought and the fees aren't all that bad. I hope this will increase craft fair sales. I do like the cool sign I get to put in my booth.

Sunday

Utility Apron Project, continued

I made my second version of a utility apron this week. This one is a lot larger than my first attempt. In fact, I think it's a little too big. I don't like how far down it goes over my thighs.

This project reminds me of the three bears. One's too small, one's too big so the next one should be just right.

Mama bear will try again and post the results in a tutorial. At least I have two samples to use at craft fairs.

Click here for the tutorial I used.

Wednesday

Great Pumpkin Quilt - Completed

Peanuts Halloween Quilt
It's no secret that I absolutely love the Peanuts comic strip and characters. So when I saw this quilt kit at my local quilt shop, I just had to have it. But as is usual, I did not complete it in time for halloween. I did make the quilt top in time, but I never made the quilt back.

Of course by the time I went back to the quilt shop, there was no more Peanuts Great Pumpkin fabric left. So I bought some black Kona.  That seemed appropriate, especially since there is black Kona between the cartoon inspired blocks.

Since halloween was over and done with by the time I considered quilting this, I set it aside.  And now that it is September, it's time to resurrect it and get it done. Surprisingly, I finished quilting it, attached the binding and hand sewed the binding on all in one afternoon.

Here it is, in time for Halloween 2014! Yay!

Peanuts Halloween Quilt

Tuesday

Stacked Coins Quilt - Completed

I made this quilt top over a year ago.  I didn't use a pattern, I just went through a bunch of photos of stacked coins quilt images that I found on Pinterest. From that experience, I decided to just throw a stacked coins quilt together.  I used a jelly roll I had lying around and some Kona white. The bad part of using no pattern is that I cut up many of the strips to get a large variety of prints and colors in the 'stacks' which left tons of leftover fabric chunks. There were more leftover pieces than I used in the quilt top!

Once the top was done, I let it sit because I really wanted to put all those leftover pieces in the back but I had no idea how. Then two months ago, I had a plan to use those pieces. It was quick and fun and it used them up, but again, no pattern. And even after I finished the back, again, I let it sit. The next dilemma that stalled me was figuring out how to quilt it.

I finally chose to soften the stacks of blocks by quilting it in a circular fashion. I took a compass and made a 1-inch perfect circle right smack in the middle of the quilt. From there, I put the needle in the very center and one-stitch-at-a-time, I turned the quilt in circles until I went all the way out to the edges.  It was a very time-consuming project. After three days, I finally finished quilting that sucker! After I was done, I did like how it turned out.  I am certain I will quilt another one this way.

I took my finished quilt outside to photograph. It was a beautiful sunny day and I really liked how I felt in the shade under the tree in the front yard of my house.  So I unfurled the quilt right in the shady spot and snapped a few photos. They didn't quite reflect the bright colors in the fabric but I didn't mind, I still like the way the photos look.

This experience gave me a new respect for pattern designers.


Monday

What's on the design board?

Sandy Klop for American Jane
This month my design board is pretty bare. This is a photo of just a section of the board.  I am happy to report that I've been finishing up some UFOs from last year so I haven't started any new projects.  It feels so good to finish old projects.

I did make a purple star block for my quilt club. During the club meeting in September we have to bring an eight and a half-inch block done with purples. Everyone who brings a block gets to drop their block into a bag then once all the blocks are in the bag, one is pulled out. The owner of the block pulled gets the whole bag of blocks. I can't wait to see what the other blocks look like. Since my most recent project was these star blocks it seemed appropriate to make one for this event.  Plus all the fabrics were still available since I haven't put them away yet.

I also have some of Sandy Klop's fabric on the wall.  These charm squares were completed by someone else and then left with the rest of the charm pack at Quilts for Kids.  I thought I would take them home and turn them into something.  Not sure what yet. Hoping putting them on the design wall would inspire me.

Looking at my empty design board is a reminder that I really need to brush the threads off of it!