More Children’s Art Bags

My hairdresser is such an awesome lady and she has asked me on several occasions to make my crayon bags for her.  This Christmas I made two for her daughters and just a few weeks ago she asked me to put together two more for her friend’s little boys.  I am thrilled with how they came out!  Especially the accent fabrics I chose.    I also like my decision to make the pocket on it in both the print and the accent fabric.  It makes it more fun!

 

Lime and Raspberry Bags Are Done!

Many interesting things happened on the way to… completing this bag.  Most resulted in the use of the seam ripper!  Ah, well.  I suppose in this case, when life gives you limes, you make limeade! 

As I finished putting together the squares for the body of the bag, I next ironed on some deco bond and quilted it to some cotton batting.  Then I tacked on the beaded fringe.  The band around the top of the bag was sewn on using my zipper foot and took quite a while to do.  I had to simultaneously sew tightly against the beads (without sewing over them) in one direction and pull the band fabric in the other direction so the seam allowances lined up.  Needless to say, when I melted the sequins on the fringe with the iron, I got a tad grumpy.  I should have known this was going to happen as I had bought extra fringe.

Then the side seams were closed up, the bottom sewn, and I added handles.  The lining was the last step and went in very nicely.  I always like to double sew the top seam that attaches the lining to the bag.  I think it helps reinforce the seam, especially where the handles are.  Turn it right sides out, close the turning hole in the lining, and finally sew another seam around the top of the bag to discourage the lining from pulling out of the bag as it is used.  Viola!  C’est finis!

 

Lime and Raspberry Bags, Oh My!

While I was at the Vermont Quilt Festival, I found this really eye-popping raspberry silk fabric that I just had to have.  I needed to make a bag for my sister that was young, fresh and hip – and she loves the color pink.  Then I hit upon this great Timeless Treasures batik in shades of green (all in the same booth!  What luck!) and had my epiphany.  Take all this yummy fabric, pair it with beaded fringe and you have a really cool bag!

Here is a shot of the to-be-ironed-pile.  Aren’t they pwetty?

All of the strips are cut…

Here are the strips sewn in the on point pattern.

I love this pattern, but cannot, due to copyright reasons, share it with anyone.  If I had made it, I would gladly post it because you can do so much with it.  But I think that any enterprising quilter can look at the photos (esp. the last one) and get a pretty good idea how I made it. 

 

Bobbin Work Bag Now Finished!

Seven months after the bag was supposed to be done, I finally get it finished!  I guess this makes it Christmas in July…

To see the start of the project, see my earlier post, Bobbin Along. 

Here is a shot of the body fabric with the start of the bobbin work:

 

Here I have added bobbin work flowers and filled in the leaves, petals and added tendril-y thingeys:

 

Here is the first row of piping and the border added:

And finally the finished bag:

 

Pigs in a Purse

My Aunt loves pigs – especially pink pigs.  And I found just the fabric for her!  I was shopping this spring and picked up a yard of this silly fabric with her in mind, and I think I finally know what I am going to do with it.  A Pink Pig Purse.  With pink and black & white accents, it should be fun!  Her birthday is next month and this should put a smile on her face.

 

Bobbin Along

First, I must thank my Grandmother who has been so very patient in waiting for her Christmas present.  Yes, I said Christmas present.  So you now know exactly how patient she is.  This year I wanted to give everyone handmade quilted bags for the holidays, but I ran out of time.  Grandma (or Gigi as her 7 great greandkids call her) unfortunately drew the short straw.

Now that all of my commitments are done with, and the new bobbin casing I needed finally came in, I get to work on her gift.  First, I found this really cool fabric at one of the local quilt shops and thought that doing some bobbin work in a complimentary design would be really fun.  I have never tried bobbin work before and have always been really interested in it. 

I took some deco bond and cut it to the size of the body of the bag and fused it to the background - a really yummy dark blue with rain-like speckles on it.  Then I drew the design I wanted in pencil on the deco bond.  Last night I started the bobbin work on all of the green thingies and I say it looks awesome!  Using pearl cotton, I have outlined all of the leaves and grasses and will go back when I do the quilting and fill them in. 

I decided to do the bobbin work first, without the batting, so I would be able to better hide the thread ends.  Using a tapestry needle, I pulled the long tails of the pearl cotton through to the reverse and knotted them off.  Then I coated the ends with permanent fabric glue to make them stay.  The person who taught a guild workshop in this did her bobbin work on the finished piece and used Elmer’s glue on the ends.  I totally do not like this idea as I am a big believer in the power of the washing machine.  Why wash by hand when you have a machine to do all of the dirty work?  (The same rule applies to dishwashers).  Also, I hope my way will hide all of the mess of the loose ends to give the completed piece a better look.

 

African China Star Quilted Bag

I have been invited to teach a class at one of our local quilt shops, Maplewood Quilts in Northfield, VT!  On May 3rd, I will be teaching a paper pieced star class to make this quilted bag.  The pattern is the China star from Carol Doak’s Mariner’s Compass Stars book and the bag is from my own pattern.

All of the fabrics are in shades of gold and amber set against an Amish black Kona cotton.  My DH says it looks Mexican/Aztec but I think it has an African vibe to it.  Either way, this bag is really hot and I am so glad it is mine, mine, mine!  Of course, I have to display it at the shop until the class, but I can wait… maybe. 

 

Purple Australia Bag

At a loss for what to make my friend Alison for Christmas, I was thumbing through Carol Doak’s - Mariner’s Compass Stars book when that proverbial light-bulb went off.  So I called Alison and asked her, “If you could travel to any country in the world, what would it be?”  She replied, “Australia.”  Perfect!  Problem solved.

Each of Carol’s paper pieced stars in this book are named after countries and, since Alison’s favorite color is purple, we get the Purple Australia Bag.  The focus fabric is a Michael Miller Fairy Frost and the accents are a fat eighth bundle I won in the volunteer raffle at my guild’s quilt show this fall.  Both sides of the bag are the same with solid black framing the bag and making up the handles.  I made piping out of the fairy frost fabric and edged the top of the bag.

Here’s a close up of the block.

 

Trouble With Timtex Part 2

When faced with the dilemma of making this quilted bag into a really weird hat, or biting the bullet and just finishing it – I chose to finish it.  And you can see why!   

       

Man,  I am such a dork.  Definitely not my best look ever!

But, seriously, I did finally finish the darned thing.  I had a really difficult time wrestling the bag under the presser foot of my machine.  With the stiffening from the timtex and the boning along the back, it was really difficult to get the lining sewn in.  Attaching the handles on the sides was no picnic either.

When I put in the magnetic clasp, I could not sew completely around the outside edge of the flap, so I added a large button to cover the break in the stitching.  I was planning to do this anyway to dress up the front, but I got the added benefit of covering the “blank” spot.

Here are some more photos of the bag in progress.

I am NEVER EVER EVER making this bag again. 

Really.

Ever.

Amen.

   

 

 

Quilted Children’s Art Bags

After seeing a post for a little crayons and paper art pad for children, I came up with the idea for an art bag.  One side would have slots for markers and the other would have slots for crayons and a pouch for miscellaneous stuff.  The inside of the bag would be perfect for a couple of coloring books. 

I figured it would be a fairly easy project to whip together for all the kiddies in my life who need presents.  And while it is easy, the first one took a lot longer than I had anticipated since I was making up the pattern as I went along.  I think the other 7 will go more quickly now that I have some of the kinks ironed out.

First I made 2 panels a couple inches bigger than the coloring book.  I quilted them onto some batting and no backing.  Next, I made a 5″x8″ pocket with an iron on Velcro closure.  Man, I LOVE iron on Velcro!!  Then I took a strip of material which, when folded in half, was a little shorter than a crayon.  This I sewed along the bottom of one of the panels using a zipper foot and crayons as guides.  On the back panel I did the same thing but sized it up for markers.

Next, I made some handles and sewed a lining into the bag.  Turned it all right sides out, closed the turning hole in the lining, and ran a stitch around the lip of the bag to keep everything in place.  Here is a shot of the finished bag. 

This was a good project since it used up scraps I had left over from making pajamas for my 2 boys and batting I had trimmed off past quilts.

 Now I need to make 7 more!