New Gym Bag

What a deal!  I got several kits at Connecting Threads on clearance and couldn't wait to start on this gym bag.  It's a  Lazy Girl Designs pattern and she's got some great patterns.  Usually one of the totes I have is stuffed with my gym needs, keys and billfold.  This is one big gym bag, no kidding.  It has handles plus a optional shoulder strap.  Other than top stitching the handles/strap, I followed the directions exactly.  There was plenty of fabric to cover cardboard to stabilize the bottom.  Also,  I added metal feet to the bottom.  In fact, as big is the bag is, another four metal feet might protect the bottom.  For quilting, I just followed the fabric. Don't you just love a big bag with a zipper?  Might be perfect  for travel too.  With the elastic side tops, it's stuffable too.

First of Fall Pumpkins

Fall is in the air.  The weatherman has ordered us cooler weather and it is delightful.  However I am sure we won't escape a few more hot days.

Here's one of the projects my friendship group took on this summer.  Two of the girls brought in patterns found on the net.  One of the girls must have made more than a dozen.  They become addictive like the stuffed strawberries with each one taking on its own personality.  Again, all the fabric was bought from my stash.  The smaller two are cotton and the larger one is flannel.  The leaves are felt and the veins stitched on my sewing machine.  The stems are twigs.

The smaller two are eight pieces and the larger one is just a rectangle sewn on one side to make a cylinder and then gather the top and bottom before stuffing.  The twine was used to make a pumpkin form.

Repurpose

This, my sewing friends, is a toothpick holder.  I believe it is Fostoria purchased on a trip in Iowa (not Ohio where Fostoria was located) well over 40 years ago.  Heck, that was probably the only piece I could afford at that time.  It has served its time well as a toothpick holder but now it needs to move on.

It hit me.  Use it to hold all those short sewing tools that get lost in the larger container and with larger tools. See all these shorties?  The longest is a skinny golf pencil.

 

Now they are right at hand--or shall I say "right at finger".  The pink thingie in the right lower corner of the bottom picture is a baby bottle nipple brush found in a package in Target's baby section. I use it to clean my sewing machine guts.  (Guess I could have taken a picture of it.)

Inspiration

Going to the gym is a natural routine for me.  Last week at the gym, the instructor gave me a bracelet and gave one to a couple others.  First I thought it might be because I'm probably the oldest in the class.  However, the other two were far from my age.

I asked her, "what's the deal?"  She quietly said "you do inspire me."  You are here regularly and because of your devotion you have benefited.  "But," she said, "you and others have inspired the whole class.  Each of you bring something different to the program and it seems to challenge the others."

So why am I mentioning this?  Because I feel the entire blogging community has pushed me to do my best and attempt projects not on my "do" list.

I bet you didn't realize when you add a new post, join a hop or comment on someone's blog you, too, are inspiring others.  We do it for one another.

Perhaps the bracelet should say "Y'ALL INSPIRE ME."

How to Make Grandmother's Flower Garden Coasters Tutorial

I showed these hexagon coasters in an earlier post and my friends have asked for a tutorial.  This is not  easy for me, but what the hay.  So I snapped pictures along my way.

First, make a template by drawing hexagons on graph paper and then photocopy on cardstock to make a sturdy template.  You can use any size hexagons you desire. 

Trace one pattern onto backside of just piece of  fabric and cut one quarter inch beyond lines.  Then cut a square piece of fabric just a bit bigger plus a piece of batting of your choice.  You can use most any batting even the iron on.

Layer as follows:  Cut fabric piece, right sides together with the square fabric piece and the batting on the bottom.  Carefully cut an X in the center of the top piece—not in both pieces of fabric—just the top fabric.

Pin the fabric to the batting.   Sew on the inside of the marked line backstitching at start and end.  Cut out about 1/8^th inch away from stitching and clip corners.  Cut a slit in the inner corners as well.

Turn inside out through the X and press.

Trace one single hexagon onto fusible web.  Cut a window as shown. 

Press the fusible to the backside of the fabric selected for the top center.   

Cut out on the marked lines, remove backing paper and fuse in place on the center of the coaster where the cut X is located.

To make the faux hexagons, draw chalk lines to form the six outer hexagons as it shows on your paper/graph paper pattern.  Start stitching at an inner corner on the outside.  Proceed to the center and travel to the next corner along the edge of the center hexagon.  Sew down the line to the outer edge.  Pivot around and stitch back to the center over the stitches you just made.  You should now have a double line of stitching emphasizing the hexagon.  Continue around to the next center corner, stitch down and up the chalk line. Repeat until you have gone all the way around and stitch down to where you started.

Now stitch the center's edge with your choice of stitch.  You can use a plain stitch, zig zag, buttonhole or a fancy stitch.

Cute Small Pouch

Again this morning I got out some fabric for stash busting.  Inspiration came from this cute little "prize" my husband got in his cereal.

Lightning struck somewhere near my brain.  Karen at Sewmuch2luv had one of these Minions on her site and also a tut for this easy little pouch.  Her pictures and directions are so clear and make it quick and simple to put together.

When it comes to zippers, I want them straight.  So I use WashAway Wonder Tape rather than pins.  This tape is sticky on both sides.  One side is covered so you can press it onto the fabric and then carefully remove the top paper to expose the sticky side.  Easily line it up on the zipper and press.  Works for me.

Flipping it together was a breeze.



However, maybe I have a reading instruction disorder (RID).  As you can see, I put the ric-rac on the backside.  Now I am thinking it should be that way so when I lift it to unzip, the pretty side is facing out.  Ha, ha.  Work with me on this, okay?



Well I am off to find some  more doo-dads to make some more zipper pouches..  If you fear zippers, this tut will cure you.

Teapot Trivet with Coasters

Since it is gloomy outside and hot, why not do some stash busting.  Adapting a pattern (more like making a stupid measuring mistake) from a tutorial at Quiltscapes (hexie hot pad tut), it didn't take long to put this set together.  The coasters are assembled like the others I have made and posted here on the blog.  Pink is not my color so you can understand why it was deep in the stash.  There's plenty of the teapot fabric but not much of the pink left.  Do you ever wonder why we bought fabric that ended up in the stash pile?

Magic Vine (UFO) Finished

In 2007 when Eleanor Burns spoke to a small group of quilters in the old school house in Julian California about her new book, Magic Vine Quilts, it became this quilter's must have.  The applique was all completed while we were on a cruise that summer.  The embellishments were added and the construction completed later in the fall.  Lucky for me, in the closet appeared a packaged batting purchased at Road to California (another must) the very size needed.  The type of batting is beyond me at this point, but it could have been wool, silk or bamboo.  Whatever it was, my opinion said hand quilt even though I was not competent.  I'd hand quilted on some baby quilts but my skills were limited.  It has taken this long to complete--not so much the stitching but the procrastination.  Hand quilting is very relaxing and sad to say a dying art.