Saturday, May 30, 2015

Finished Trail Tote

I finally finished another bag!

I've wanted to make Noodlehead's trail tote for a while now. I actually started it back in March (it was on my 2015 FAL list for 2nd Quarter), and took much longer to finish than I expected! The tote itself was easy enough to make, just took a while to get around to it.


I have gotten used to using smaller bags and carrying fewer items around with me all day, so the small size of this tote is perfect for me. It's just big enough to hold my wallet, phone and kindle.

The tutorial was easy to follow, and everything came together fairly easily (as with all of the Noodlehead tutorials and patterns I've tried). I have made a few bags this year, so I am getting more and more comfortable with them. I did have a bit of trouble with the strap, and the slider. I've never used a slider and "o" rings before, so I wasn't quite sure how to attach everything. I figured it out eventually though.


This was also my first time making piping. I think the piping I chose is a little too big for this size bag, but it's not too bad. I have some leftover, and I think it would be the right size for the large version of this tote.


I would definitely make another one of these. It's nice to have something crossed off of my to do list. This is my first posted finish of the quarter...and it's the end of May already! I've been doing a lot of sewing lately, just not a lot of photo taking and blogging.

Happy Saturday!

Saturday, May 16, 2015

Blogger's Quilt Festival - Supernova

Hello Again!

Here is my second entry for the Spring 2015 Blogger's Quilt Festival (you can see my first entry here).

I am entering my Supernova Swap Quilt in the hand quilted category.

My Supernova was pieced last year, using the tutorial by Lee @ Freshly Pieced. The swap was hosted by Stephanie @ Late Night Quilter and Sandra @ One Million Stitches. My partner, Amy, and I swapped blocks for 5 months. I used 9 of those blocks to put the top together.


I decided to hand quilt this quilt with black perle cotton. I was nervous about it at first, but I love how the black pops against the light background and bright colors! It makes me want to quilt everything with black perle cotton!


I made the back from leftovers I had. I think the quilting shows up very well on the back:


You can see the rest of the hand quilted entries on Amy's website. Hope you enjoy!


Blogger's Quilt Festival: Colorado Beauty

Hello!

It's that time of year again for the Blogger's Quilt Festival from Amy's Creative Side. If you are new to my blog, welcome!

My favorite quilt from the last 6 months is my Colorado Beauty Quilt. This one was so much fun to make, and it's my entry in the scrappy category.


This quilt is very close to my heart because it reminds me of my home state, and one of my best friends, who is now the proud owner of this quilt. I was home for a visit a couple of weeks ago, and it was so nice to hear how much they loved the quilt I made them!

This quilt started with a few piles of made fabric/scrappy blocks sorted by color. I turned these into HSTs, and played with the design for a while, so many choices! You can read more about my progress in this post.


In the end, I chose this layout for a few reasons. I wanted the quilt to look like a map of Colorado when held horizontally--red rocks, purple mountains, and the green and amber plains (from west to east). When you hold it vertically, with the red at the top, I think it looks more like a sunset over the mountains.


The quilt's center is Denver (I marked it using a map), and created a Colorado Beauty block around it.


I love hand quilting, so I did add a bit around the center. I quilted the rest in straight lines.

And here's a picture of the back:


I loved the entire process of making this quilt, and was so surprised at how well my scraps came together. I wish it motivated me to make more scrap quilts, and use up the rest of my scrap bin!

You can see the rest of the entries for the Spring 2015 Blogger's Quilt Festival on Amy's website, it is fun to see everyone else's best work from the last 6 months. She has quite a few categories open, so there's something for everyone!


Wednesday, May 6, 2015

SMS Giveaway Day - Quilting Jetgirl Patterns

Happy Wednesday and welcome to my post for SMS Giveaway Day!



Today I am giving away two patterns (of your choice) from Yvonne at Quilting Jetgirl. Yvonne has a selection of instant download PDF Quilt Patterns for sale through Craftsy. Her patterns have been tested and/or reviewed by other quilters, and she documents her process, ideas, and tutorials related to quilting on her blog, Quilting Jetgirl. 

Here is a collage of the patterns available in Yvonne's shop. You can read more about the individual patterns here.



I was lucky enough earlier this year to pattern test Yvonne's Triangle Transparency Pattern. You can read more about my finished quilt here. I can tell you from my experience that Yvonne's patterns are not only creative, but very well written and easy to follow.



To enter the giveaway, please leave me a comment telling me about your favorite sewing pattern (for quilts, clothes, bags, anything!) For a second chance to win, my followers (old and new) can leave a second comment telling me how you follow me (email, bloglovin, instagram, etc).

Please be sure to leave an email address or some way to reach you!

The giveaway will be open until Sunday at 5pm PDT, and I'll pick a winner on Monday, May 11th. This is open to everyone.

Good luck!