Coin Purse

I was shopping today and stumbled on coin purse clasps. I just had to give it a try. It took a while to come up with a pattern that fit (the clasp did not come with a pattern) Once I was happy with a muslin mock up, I made two miniature log cabin quilt blocks and then set them into some black fabric.


I added a little pocket on one side for an ID or other little thing.


The purse actually holds a bunch of coins. I think I may try it again in the future. It was rather fun to do. This purse will be available on Etsy soon.

Applique Scrap Quilt

I made my first quilt in the fall of 1997. I was in college, and my best friend convinced me to take a quilting class with her. Since then, I have made more than 50 quilts. As you might imagine, I have developed quite the pile of scraps. Until now, I have avoided scrap quilts like the plague. The idea of cutting out each little piece rather than strip quilting has always seemed rather unappealing. Only slightly less appealing was the idea of appliqueing a quilt. Yes, I have appliqued some small things, but I generally dislike it.

I came to the conclusion the last time I moved that I really should do something with all my scraps or stop moving them. I cannot part with unsewn fabric, so I finally started feeling like I should at least try a scrap quilt. I looked through the quilt books in my collection and found a charming quilt made for fat quarters. Most of the scraps I had were fat quarter size, so I thought it might just work. The applique hearts were so cute, I could not part with them. I also liked that their crazy quilt look would lend to using up the smaller scraps.


I am not good with being random, so there are some color "rules" I made for this quilt. 1. All the blocks must have the same color in both fabrics. 2. All the blocks must have the darker of the two colors on the corner and center of the 9-patch. 3. All the hearts must be made of the darker colors of fabric. 4. The hearts may have only one color. 5. No two blocks may be identical. I had another "rule" of not putting two similar-colored blocks next to each other. This rule was nearly impossible to do, so I had to break it a few times.

One of the reasons I did not mind this applique as much as I thought was by picking my applique method carefully. I have great respect for the people who make the applique 1/4" larger and then turn under the seam. Holy cow, that's a lot of work! I am lazy, and there was just no way I was going to do that (I already spent my allotted fussy time cutting out all 500+ squares). I am thankful that my machine has this special quilting stitch. It gives it a cute country look without making me go insane. Yes, the fabric will fray a little when it's washed, but over-all, the quilt will be fine.



I kept the quilting rather simple. I have a normal sewing machine, so the bigger the quilt, the harder it is to quilt. I followed the diamonds in the quilt top and then continued them onto the border. I also quilted around the border hearts, but not the ones in the center. I think it would have looked really awesome to quilt around all the hearts, but I just knew it would be a mess to try on my machine. I also quilted around each small diamond in the last border. This quilt took at least twice as long as most of the quilts I normally do. It was fun to try something new, but I doubt I would ever try to sell a quilt like this. I would never make up the hours I put into it.

(Mending Hearts, Scrappy Applique Heart and 9-Patch, 90"x73" 7/22/2010)

Four Seasons Wall Hanging (Part 2)

I finally finished Rhonda's quilt. I had originally planned on quilting it with this really pretty iridescent thread. Unfortunately, I could not get my embroidery needle to be happy. It kept shredding the thread and then breaking it. After a few frustrating hours and lots of ripped out stitches, I settled on using white thread for the pinwheels and blue on the border. Once the quilting was complete, I added a little sleeve on the back so it can be hung with a curtain rod.

I am much happier with these pictures. The colors in the older post's pictures were not very accurate. It is still a little hard to see the shimmer of the fabric, but the color is almost dead on (at least on my computer screen it is).

Spring

I picked these colors because they reminded me of Easter eggs and spring flowers.

Summer

I picked the two shades of green because they reminded me of grass.

Fall

These colors represent the falling leaves.

Winter

Ice, snow and the winter sky often have these light blue and white colors.

I don't normally take photos of the back of a quilt, but the quilting looks so cool on the back side, that I thought I should.

(Pinwheel, approximately 35"x35" 7/19/2010)

Blue and Yellow Watercolor Quilt (Part 1)

If you have been reading this blog, this quilt will look a little familiar. When I was working on my brother's quilt, I wasn't using a pattern (mostly because this block is really too simple to bother). I bought a yard each of 10 different colors, cut out as many 3" strips from each color as I could and then sewed them together in sets of five. When I finished, I cut the strips into blocks and discovered I had miscalculated on the number of blocks needed for a queen-sized quilt. I had 22 extra. The blocks are about 10" each, so there was plenty for a nice lap/baby blanket. I did the block lay-out slightly differently on this quilt, but you would have to put the two quilts next to each other to see the difference. I am also thinking I will use the last two blocks and some scraps for a tote bag.


Micah, my brother, and I have been discussing the best way to quilt his quilt, and we came up with the idea of using this diamond pattern. I wasn't sure he would like how it looks, so before launching in and quilting his queen-sized quilt, I thought it would be safer to test it out on this quilt. I will be selling this one on Etsy, unless Micah can convince me that he absolutely has to have both.

You may be asking what is a watercolor quilt? Watercolor quilts are not easy to define. Generally, quilters use the term when they are trying either to play with lots of grades of colors or when they are using blocks of different colors to make a picture. This quilt "steps" from dark blue to white and yellow to white, with each fabric gaining more white than the last. This quilt is not as elaborate as some watercolor quilts I have seen, where they manage to move from one color to the next in ten or more fabrics. In my case, it was hard enough to find five yellows that work together, let alone ten; the blues were no problem. I did do a log cabin watercolor quilt many years ago that went from dark blue to white in nine fabrics. I wish I had a good photo of it to show you, because it looks like a Blue Willow plate.

Again, if you are interested in buying this quilt, send me an e-mail, and I will let you know when it goes up on Etsy.

Skinny Mini Musical Table Runner

This table runner was a little kit my aunt gave me. Even though the pattern was called "Skinny Mini" I was still surprised at how small it really was. My dad was joking that it looks like a large tie. It's only about 5 1/2" wide and 39" long. I think it would be really cute on a counter bar or on an upright piano.


The fabric was strictly black and white with only a hint of gray on the instruments for extra details. It had a little red bow holding the fabric in a roll, and I thought the red looked really nice with the black and white, so I used red thread, front and back, to quilt it. I wanted the thread to pop, so I sewed 1/8" from the seams on all the black pieces.


If you are looking at it and trying to identify the instruments, here they are in score order (orchestral): Clarinet, Soprano Saxophone, Alto Saxophone, Tenor Saxophone, Trumpet, Euphonium, Snare drum, Hi-hat (cymbals), Conga, Maracas, Tambourine, Acoustic Guitar, Electric Guitar, Banjo, String Bass and Electric Bass. I swear it's just a coincidence that clarinet is listed first (no flutes or double reeds)!


Here, you can get an idea about how looooong it really is.

Frilly Purse

This is another purse to sell. I had a bunch of the crocheted lace, and I wanted to find some fabric to make a purse with it. After I got home with my selection, I dug through my button tin and found the blue cameo button. I got it for another project last year and it didn't work out as I thought, so it moved into the button tin. The blue and cream are not quite a perfect match, but the cameo with the lace is so perfect that I had to go for it.




Again, I am including a free key fob. I need to remember to get the jump rings for this and the other purse next time I shop.


Cameo and crocheted lace... so new-antique looking!


This small purse packs a lot of storage.


It's easier to see all the pockets with the bows untied. There are 14 pockets inside ranging from 1 1/4" for pens to 6" for the bigger things and another 2 pockets outside. This is a good shot of the purse bottoms I make. The instructions on the pattern called for cardboard, but it's not washable that way. I found this super stiff fusible lining material. I use two layers and sew them together. The purse bottom is more flexible than thick cardboard, but it's about as strong or stronger than thin cardboard. I have had my purse for over two years now, and the bottom is still in great shape. Oh, by the way, the key fob is made the same way as the purse bottom, so it's also washable.

Sand Dollar Purse

It's time for another leap of faith. I have had a lot of encouragement from friends and family to start making and selling quilts, purses and clothing online. I just set up an Etsy account, and I am about to try to sell my first item (selling under the name SewHoneybee). I still need to set up Pay-pal, so don't go looking for it yet! If you happen to fall in love with this purse, please help me out by buying it through Etsy, so I can start establishing my reputation. Just send me an e-mail, and I will let you know when it is posted for sale.



It was really fun picking the materials for this purse. I tend to shy away from large prints when I work on quilts, because generally seeing only one leaf or half a seashell is no fun. I've had my eye on this aqua sand dollar material for a while, and have been trying to find a project to us it in.
I picked the other three fabrics based on the sand dollar material and the idea of a day at the beach.


I love this tan fabric for several reasons. It reminds me of sand, and has a beautiful depth to the shades of tan. It also has some gold glimmers, which don't seem to photograph very well. I had a little fun with the quilting and included a decorative flower stitch. I like how it adds a bit of interest without being overwhelming.


After the experiment with satin cording on Teresa's purse, I have shied away from using ribbon on the sides of the purse, but I did happen to have a bunch of aqua ribbon that was exactly the right color. I normally use some decorative stitches on the handles and the top edge, but this time I thought it would be a fun change to put the satin ribbon on instead.


One of the reasons I love this purse pattern so much is that it has so many pockets. This purse has 14 pockets inside and 2 pockets outside. The pockets range in size from 1 1/4" wide to 6" wide to fit everything from pens to blackberries and even sunglasses. There are a few pockets that are shorter to help hold lipstick and other items that could get lost in a deep pocket. I added the ribbon trim to the pockets as well as a little decorative touch.


I made a matching key fob when I made my purse, and I always get lots of complements on it. I have decided that I will include a matching key fob with all the purses I sell (free of charge). On this one, I echoed the pattern in the dark brown fabric by using a leaf-shape.


I am having a little bit of an issue on how to price my purses, and if you have any thoughts I would appreciate the feedback. From what I have seen, most seamstresses charge $20-30 per hour of work, plus cost of materials. I have found that my purses take about 4-5 hours to do. I was really hoping that if I pushed myself, I could make it faster, but I have found that with the level of detail I add, such as the decorative stitching, that I am already going as fast as I can while doing a nice job. I refuse to make sloppy looking purses. I have found that most purses on Etsy that are made of similar materials run from $40-90, and most of them at the $40 mark. I would like to be competitive, but $40 leaves me with $20-25 for labor, which is less than minimum wage. I love sewing, but if I am sewing to sell, I want to earn a normal seamstress salary. So, the question boils down to this: is it fair to ask $80-100 for a purse? I plan on making every purse "one of a kind" (mostly because I hate doing the same thing over and over again), and I plan on making them all have as many details as this purse has (fancy stitches, ribbons, lace, trim etc.). If you'd like to give me your opinion, e-mail me or leave a comment on this post. Thanks!

A Camping Blanket

This project came my way from a friend of my dad, Rick. He came up with an idea for the perfect camping blanket, and then had a co-worker sew one for him. He loved it so much, he asked me to make him another. I must say, when my dad described it to me, I thought it was a little strange. Then Rick dropped off the fabric and his old blanket, and it all made sense. The blanket has a semi-waterproof nylon on one side and fleece on the other. The two fabrics are quilted together and then bound on the edge with bias tape. In the end, it turns out to be rather like a light weight sleeping bag without the zipper.



Nylon side up...



and fleece side up.


The quilting was on the pretty easy side. I simply followed the boxes in the design on the fleece side. I used clear nylon thread for two reasons: first, to help it remain a little more water proof, as nylon thread will not wick water from one side to the other and second because the colors were so different on each side that I could not pick a single color that would look good on both sides. The nylon thread did pucker a bit, but I think it simply looks like a sleeping bag. Honestly, with a stretchy material and a non-stretchy material sewn together, I expected the puckering to be a lot worse.

I think I would like to try this again some time. I am betting it would be great for football games, and I wonder if it would also work for a picnic blanket when the grass is dewy and likely to soak through a normal blanket.

The Cheater Quilt

Warning: what you are about to see is not really a quilt.




My aunt gave me this kit for my birthday last year, and it is hanging in my sewing room. The kit involved cutting out the fabric and then pushing it into a laser-cut foam board with a thin layer of batting. A butter knife and scissors were the only tools this quilt required. The kit even included the fabric. I have to admit, it took me longer to finish than I thought it would, because there were so many pieces to cut out. If you've never quilted, are afraid of sewing but like the look, this kit and others like it are a good option. Happy fake quilting!