inspiration bag

I carried the bag around for a day only to find out that it was WAY too small for my purse loot.  I liked the shape. I liked that it was vinyl.  I like that it had a “binding” around the edges.

Before I make a bag like this little bag, I’d have to do some re-design work.  That totally works out because for me, it’s like solving a puzzle.  Ok, solving a puzzle backwards….  But still.

Once I started sketching, lots of bag variations emerged.  I think that is a normal part of the process.  But now, I’ve got these mystery bags that I’d like to make, bigger, vinyl, and finished in binding.  I must edit and pick just one for the “test run”.

Hooray for the discount fabric store for having a grey vinyl remnant.  I took a picture of the back of the vinyl, so you can see the “fabric” side as well as the vinyl side.  And of course, there’s some bright crazy Sugar Snap fabric for the lining.

I sketched.  I drafted.  I stitched.  I pinned.  I ironed (the cotton only*).  I basted and finally I made a big bag.

*Turns out the vinyl MELTS!  -which I knew, but wasn’t thinking about… then the kids came into the studio telling me it smelled horrible in there… which it totally did!!!

It is about 14″ across and much wider than the inspiration bag.  I even added little petal details along the front, top edge.

The lining turned out great.  It was supposed to be the lining only… but as  I was going along, I realized that my vinyl remnant wasn’t going to be enough fabric to bind the edges, as I had planned.

I had to improvise.  Honestly, I have to file this in the “oh, I guess that’s neat” section, because I wouldn’t think of doing a quilt binding on fabric that doesn’t fray, and yet- it totally worked out.  And a binding in such a high contrast is kinda cool, too.  I love approaching a project in a “who knows how this will turn out?!” way.  =)

All in all I think the experiment turned out pretty well.  My bag is a little more funky-fresh than the classic small black bag.  My bag fits over the shoulder and makes up very quickly.  I didn’t add any extra pockets- since I really just wanted to test the concept.  It totally works for me though.  Here’s a last photo for the whole story- from inspiration to finished project.

I suppose the only question left is – will I go back and make the other sketched designs on the page?  We shall see….

In August, I got a small mid-arm quilt frame.  It is actually my mom’s “old frame” and quite frankly, one of the best new-to-me presents of all time.  I don’t think I’ve blogged about it yet though.  I got quite busy with preparing for Quilt Market right around Aug/Sept, and I’ve really only quilted 4-5 small quilts on the frame.  Oh but that is all about to change friends.

The 1600 quilt is the first quilt on the frame for the new year.  My frame bars are short and can only quilt up to 72″ wide.  That is fine with me,  I still have quite a steep learning curve to tackle.  I visited a longarm workshop in December and learned tons about thread, needles, tension, rulers and all sorts of machine quilting details.

I hopped out to my favorite local quilt shop, Material Girls, over the weekend to buy some variegated YLI thread and binding fabric for the 1600.  (Turns out, if you make a 1600 quilt from a jelly roll- and all the strips match perfectly- ya might want to plan ahead to have fabric for the binding.)

{{Side note: I had to buy that Karavan Elephant fat quarter.  I just think it is wonderful.}}

So the quilt’s loaded.  I planned on a simple meander, since the family, who was home this Sunday afternoon, wouldn’t have to hear the whole range of cuss words.  Although I really like the free motion quilting with planned designs, I’m kinda re-learning how to quilt on this frame.  I also learned at the longarm workshop that it is smart to use the same thread in the top and bobbin for better tension results.  Oh- I’m soooo doing that.

I’m quilting along… feeling pretty good… then the machine made a sort of jerking motion with only 4 linear inches left to quilt.

Oh hells bells! (do people say that?)  I was out of thread.  Not the usual “bobbin ran out with 5 inches left in the seam. ”   I mean I was OUT out of thread, and on my last bobbin.  I fumbled around the studio and found a different variegated thread to use, and hope no one will notice.  That new therad was a nightmare.  I must have needed a different / larger needle or something.

It turned out.  (though a couple cuss words might have danced around the room) I even added a couple USAF fabric squares in the quilt top, and managed to quilt those just fine too.  Hooray hooray.  Victory is mine.  High fives for everyone!

I just have to add the brand new binding fabric on the brand new quilt.

Machine binding all the way, peeps.  This quilt started out Saturday morning and finished up in about 36 total hours later.  I think I’ll definitely make this again.  I still own a total of 3 more jelly rolls.  (yep, only 3.)

Just a quick little blog post to show you the giant finished bag.  …and all its many many pockets.

And the new bag’s owner picked a red plaid for the lining and contrast fabrics.  It looks great with the college print.

And of course, I should probably tell you- the pattern for this bag is available in the book Deploy That Fabric.

{Let’s see if WP likes that youtube code.}

First you need to pick out a jelly roll.  This one is Kiwiberry by Hoffman.  It is from there Bali Pops collection and is a couple years old.

So you join a jelly roll’s worth of fabric strips (40 strips) together end to end to make one long strip roughly 1600 inches long.

Then fold that strip in half and sew an 800 inch long seam.  Cool.  Cut the fold at the end.

Fold it again and sew a 400″ seam…. I think you see how this is going.  The lap quilt makes up really really fast.  I went even faster by using my serger.  I don’t know what the exact stitch-per-minute is on the serger, but it is somewhere around a ba’zillion.

I opted not to miter each end of the fabric strips.  I just jumped in an started sewing.  And can we talk about chaos for  second?  This quilt is made quite haphazardly, but yet I have a clump of greens together and the darks seem to be all on one side.  Strange right?

~Sorry about the picture sizes.  I’m trying to get everything compressed and the way I’d like to use it, but my “real” computer is on the fritz, so I’m having to blog from the back-up for a short while.

A new bag is on the horizon.  This one is a special request for a lady due in March.  She bought the fabrics while on vacation, down south, over the winter break.  I doubt you can pick up Ole Miss fabrics up here in Kansas.  The bag is coming along nicely.  Her finished bag will be in the Military Monster style.  I’ll have pictures to share soon.

To my surprise- This is my recycled uniform bag that combines a military uniform (flight suit) and college fabrics.  Lots of pockets on the flight suit make for a super functional giant diaper bag.

The pattern for this bag can be found in Deploy That Fabric.

And speaking of the SEC, despite our embarrassing show at the National Championship-

GEAUX TIGERS!!!

This is the first of many sales to come in 2012!  Tell a friend.

I’m happy to announce ReannaLily Design’s first ever CLEARANCE SALE.  That’s right.  6 pattern titles have been discounted and have FREE SHIPPING.  That is sooooo my favorite kind of shipping.  The sale will run indefinitely, while supplies last.  The great prices apply to the traditional paper patterns as well as the pdf files.

*the sale is good only at reannalilydesigns.com and doesn’t include any other e-pattern/paper retailers or etsy.com.

*free shipping to the USA/APO/FPO.  International shoppers are encouraged to grab the pdf e-pattern versions.

I’m working on a collection of quilts and finished the first wall-hanging sized one yesterday.  Ok, ok, when I say finished…. I didn’t do the binding yet.  I did go crazy with the free motion quilting, though.

FMQ Quilt Back

The image size is huge, so you can click on it to see all the stitching lines.

Let me tell you how I made the quilting design-  First I drew 4 hexagons on the quilt top with a frixion pen.  Then I quilted those with my walking foot.  Next I made “echo-quilting” lines inside each hexagon at varying widths.  I left a blank hexagon, about 4-5″ to fill with pebbles.  Once all the hexagon business was done, I just picked my favorite fill design and started filling in the rest of the quilt. (right up next to the hexagon shapes)

I quilted it all on the Elna 3007- home sewing machine.

I’m sorry I cannot show you the front quite yet.  The front looks pretty neat, too, if I do say so myself.  I even used yellow-grey variegated thread (Sulky Blendable) for the quilting.

So I took about 20-30 minutes to make up this super fast snowman table runner for our festivities. Well, that and to mess up the sewing room for a bit.  Having it so clean… I almost didn’t recognize it in there!!!

The runner has heavy sew-in interfacing in it.  That is the only thing sandwiched between the two layers of Kona Cotton.  The face is fusible raw-edge applique’d.  Super super fast to make.  Oh and if you are curious it is 14″ x about 40″.

If I was going to make it again, I might give him a curvy body… but that wouldn’t take 20 minutes to make.  So now, back to cleaning the last little bit and re-cleaning the sewing studio.

Happy Happy to you and yours this holiday season!

QuiltWoman.com is also currently offering a free pattern, Playful Pinstripes, with purchase.  Check out their website to read more about the limited time offer and see all the pattern titles available for your holiday shopping.