Seattle MQG Virtual Holiday Swap

It's been nearly a year that Seattle MQG has had to meet virtually. And while our meetings and sew-ins have continued to be a good time, it really hit hard when our holiday party, a traditional sew-in, handmade item swap, and all around good time, had to be held on Zoom too. But it was good to 'see' and hang out with so many guild buddies, and the swap did go on!

So the swap was a little different in that we were assigned partners weeks ago and then mailed our gifts to our partners ahead of the reveal at the party today.

Among other suggestions, my assigned partner, Noelle/@noeleandria, had quilted storage buckets on her wish list. I made the trio known as the Tub Family using the pattern by Rosie Taylor Crafts. I started with the large tub (7'' wide by 5 ¼ '' tall), making the exterior with scrappy rows in Noelle's chosen palette. For the medium (5 ¾'' wide by 4 ¼'' tall), I made each row out of a different fabric; and the smallest (4 ½'' wide by 3 ¼'' tall) was made with one exterior fabric only. 

The interiors were all the same - Spectrastatic in Wintermint from Giucy Giuce's Prism collection. The bucket bottoms were all made of Essex linen, and the bindings were all a stashed Quirky Pin Stripe. So those were a fun sew, and Noelle seemed to like them so yay!

And then, of course, I received a gift too! My friend Aline/@augustdreamsquilts made me a Book & Tool Folio and a coordinating Fold-Up Sewing Folio from patterns in Aneela Hoey's Stitched Sewing Organizers. Both were made in the beautiful "The Blue One" fabric from Marcia Derse/@marciaderse paired with Essex Yarn Dyed Homespun in Limestone, and for the record, they look terrific together! Both folios are so practical, and I can't wait to use them.

Oh! And notice the gorgeous handstitching on the front of the larger folio. It's absolutely beautifully done and it's a little nod to the Stitch Club we've both participated in these last months.

To say I'm pleased is an understatement. And all in all our guild afternoon together was quite different, but still a very fun time.

SeaMQG Swap!

It's tradition, and I do my very best to make time to participate. Every year at our holiday party, the Seattle MQG has a handmade item swap - either a quilted item, or at least something a quilter would use. This year I made another On-the-Go Project bag from Svetlana Sotak's That Handmade Touch. I'm really enjoying mine - though I've been using it more for errands than an actual project. But still, I think it's a bag any crafty person could make good use of. 

Fabric on this one was Triangles in Red from Kobayashi. It's a Linen Cotton Canvas, which I paired with Essex Linen in Natural, and lined with Freckles in Twinkle Metallic from Cotton + Steel Basics. The leather handles I got from Anna/noodlehead.

Sooooo. What did I bring home? A darling little Boxy Clear Pouch made by @sadiesews. The pattern is by Aneela Hoey, made especially cute by the fabrics Katie chose. Super fun all around!

SEAMQG Swap!

The annual quilted item swap is basically a tradition with the Seattle MQG. At least, we've been doing it for years and years. A good-natured event, the swapping goes round and round, and there's a very good chance you'll open one gift and go home with something different!



It's always a bit of a quandary what to make for it, but this year I decided pretty quickly that I wanted to make something with our guild initials on it - SEAMQG. So I perused letter patterns, and chose My First Alphabet by Diane/From Blank Pages. They are paper-pieced, come in both 3" and 6" tall, and I went with the 3". Just a note, this means the letters are 3" tall, but they do vary in width.





I used several fabrics in teal, our guild color - solids for the SEA, and an older Alison Glass print for the MQG - as well as the lining, which I stabilized with some fusible SF101 interfacing.



The background for the letters was Essex natural, as is the complete exterior of the bag. I quilted the linen with some nice straight-lines, added a simple zip and leather pull, and the bag finished at about 12" x 18".



The project pouch indeed got swapped around a bit and went home with Cordelia, who seemed more than happy to have it. So all's well that ends well, right?

Swapped Goods

At our guild meeting this week, we had a swap! The kind where you get assigned a person to create for, they can give you suggestions of what they'd like, colors, etc., but you don't know who you are partnered up with until the reveal. Well I got to make for Kae/
katrineannetteeagling, and thankfully, she was really helpful with suggestions.



She really was hoping for a fold-able thread catcher, so I searched around and finally decided to make her a Fold Up Mini Thread Catcher using the tutorial by lulu_luka/Studio LUCA. This is one quick and fun little make. My first one (bright orange interior) turned out a little sloppy considering I used contrasting thread on the final stitching, so I tried again, and was pleased with the second - the blue and orange one - which I gifted to Kae.



But that was a little too small for my main gift, so I took another suggestion from her list and made a set of potholders based on the Spiderweb Potholders Tutorial by Julie/Jaybird Quilts. You might remember I tried this tutorial a few weeks ago, so I knew the basics, and really enjoyed trying a palette outside my norm. Kae seemed really happy with what I made her, so that was good!

As for me, I received a gift from Jennifer, who I hadn't met before. I kind of embarrassed myself, because I wasn't 100% sure what my item was when I opened it! I finally decided it must be a couch sewing caddy, right?

Thankfully, Jennifer came up to me after the swap and told me nooooo...... she had actually made a double potholder with hand-holds. Of course! I had put potholders on my suggestion list, so then that made perfect sense. And she was so sweet to use some of my favorite fabrics and colors. The size is generous enough it would also serve well as a table runner/
trivet. At any rate, I look forward to using it!

Swaps can really be stressful, at least for me, but they are also a good way to share a bit of yourself as well as receive something a fellow-creator has put their heart into. And that's a good thing.

Linking up with Finish It Up Friday.

Lucky Project Bag Swap

Occasionally Seattle MQG has a made-item swap, and we just had one using Lee Monroe’s Lucky Project Bag tutorial. They finish at 11 1/2" x 10 1/2", with a clear window on the front and a handy tab that you can write on with a Frixion pens so it can easily be ironed off and a new project label written.



My first go was not without its frustrations, so I thought I'd jot down a few notes for future reference.

Step 2 - The instructions called for fusing the interfacing to fabric and then cutting out your exterior pieces, but I found it just as easy to cut my fabric and interfacing, then fuse them.

Step 4 - As you wonder clip the tab, it should be on top of the vinyl when the pouch is facing right-side up. That part was a little confusing to me. I don't use wonder clips much, but they are perfect for this project, and in fact pretty much indispensable.

Step 5 - If you want the zipper pull on the left in the finished pouch, which it pretty typical, place it opposite from the pattern photo during installation.

Step 6 - When positioning the final bag, make sure the zipper and vinyl are on the same side. And when you unzip the zipper, don't unzip outside the edge of the pouch to be sure you don't cut off the pull when trimming! (I had a very close call!)

Step 7 - Use fabric glue to secure the binding before stitching.



So I wasn't 100% happy with my first go, and to be honest, grandgirl laid claim to it, so I started in on another. Not a huge fan of fusible fleece, I used SF101 Shape-Flex on the lining, and quilted the exterior with a layer of cotton batt. I was really pleased with the result, and would go this route again, but it's totally personal choice.



I was much happier with the second bag, and considering I used some especial fabrics from the ole stash, it was a little hard to say goodbye to.



But! I received a splendid bag at the swap, and added to the fun was that I randomly received from my good buddy Sharon/@redapplestitches! Isn't it fun? Now to decide what project deserves to be stored in it!

Another Angle

Instead of our regular December meeting, the Seattle MQG has traditionally had a full-on holiday party/sew-in, and part of that tradition has been a swap. Like last year, I made a holiday pillow, and chose Another Angle, which I sewed up with Cotton and Steel Washi Tape as the accent fabric, mixed with holiday solids and Essex linen.

I quilted it in a large-scale grid, and at 20", it was a good-sized pillow, which ultimately found a home with my friend Michelle/@michellemakesmischief.

In return, I snagged a lovely little quilt made by Pam/@pamjcole, and I love the minimalism and match-stick quilting. And those stripes in the binding. It came with the bonus of a tiny magnet and equally tiny scissors, which I hear she got at snuggly monkey. Sweet.

It was a fun day visiting with my guild-mates, I got next to nothing accomplished, and I had some mighty yummy cookies, which I'll tell you about tomorrow!

#Christmascushionalong #seattlemqgswap

#seamswap

It was swap time at our guild meeting this week! I had drawn Ginger/@illstickwithgin's name to create for, and after perusing her list of what she'd like, I collected some of my favorite fabrics [Carolyn Friedlander's carkai and doe] in her favorite colors - peacock blue, navy, white - and hearkened back to those crosscut blocks.

I fashioned the blocks into a table runner, quilted in the same fashion as my previous crosscut quilts. Something about that organic zig-zag just seems to suit these blocks, and it's alot of fun to do! Just mark a zig-zag with your hera marker every 6" or so, then wing it in between.

For this version, I included some 'plain' squares scattered among the crosses, the perfect opportunity to incorporate some matched binding.

Meanwhile, just look at what I received from @sadiesews! The pattern for this beautiful fabric bucket is by Anna Graham, found in her book, Handmade Style. But my partner took it to another level by making the sides of some woven fabric, aka modern meshwork. This design choice felt a bit serendipitous, as I witnessed @sadiesews create her first meshwork at our guild retreat a few weeks ago. I remember enjoying checking in on her progress several times. Very fun.

So good times! Check out #seamswap if you want to see more of the beautiful projects made for the swap.

Linking up with Finish it up Friday!

Mini Mini

I pretty much have watched the mini mini quilt swapping from the back seat, where I might had stayed if not for the SeattleMQG who declared such a swap for this month's meeting. So the mini I made for the swap is reminiscent of a recent favorite quilt, though this time only 6" square. I kind of can't get the X Marks the Improv block out of my system!

So of course, I got a mini mini too...

It's about 6" square also, and made by Jaci/[jaci_bartol]. Jaci's favorite part of her mini mini is the quilting on the back. I think mine are those teeny tiny bits in the center square! Whatever, I was more than pleased to take this sweet little quilt home with me.

Next month we're swapping Pixie Baskets!