Making My Own

With son's wedding coming up soon, I decided I needed a little clutch to use at the ceremony. Rather than run out shopping, I thought I'd try stitching something up. I didn't find any fabric in my stash that really did it for me, so again, I thought I'd wing it and 'design' something myself . . . with quilting.

I started with two pieces of Essex Linen in the "Linen" color, and two pieces of Pellon fusible batt, both slightly larger than my purse frame, which was 8" x 3". I fused the two pairs, and chose a couple of threads - an Aurifil 50 wt, #2314 (medium beige) and a 28 wt #2625 (pigeon, ie. silver). Honestly, I didn't choose the different thread weights intentionally - the colors were what went best with my dress. And I didn't think it would hurt to have a contrast in texture.

I used my hera marker to draw half a dozen curved lines across what would be the width of the purse. Then I took the 'front' piece, quilted with the beige along my marked lines, and from there I just went for it - no more markings. I stitched with my walking food and used a longer stitch length, just like any other quilting I would do. My regular quilting needle seemed to work just fine with both thread weights too.

I had adapted a pattern from one I had used previously and used it to cut all my purse pieces, hoping for the best. One extra little bit of stitching I like to do on these glue-in purses is to stitch the finished top edge about 1/8" from the edge before trying to fit it into my frame. I know it's not necessary, but it really helps me get a clean smooth edge that fits easily into the frame.

The lining, by the way, is a "Habitat" by Michele D'Amore stash find that I thought went great and was a good contrast in scale to the exterior. The photo below shows the first side of the frame drying for a bit before I inserted the second side.

And the finished interior . . .

And it's a wrap! Start to finish, it took me under two hours, including drafting my own pattern. Certainly alot more relaxing than traipsing through the mall on a hunt, and I know come wedding day, it'll be an accessory I'll enjoy using!

W.i.P. Wednesday

Whew! I've been going non-stop. Work is b.u.s.y. this time of year so the days are long and the deadline looming. Same can be said of the sewing room. Mass gifts and wraps  - some already gifted, some soon, some in progress. I know it's W.i.P. Wednesday, but I can't show you all the wips, if you get my drift and I'm sure you do. So please forgive if there's more finished projects to show this week. I promise you, all in due time . . .

Completed Projects
Ruby Star Wrapping Snack Sack minis - I tweaked the pattern to make the little sacks just right for a gift card. Talk about quick and easy!

 

Falling Flakes stocking - Love this pattern by imagine gnats, who offers a free tutorial on her blog. It was super fun to put this together. I trimmed about 1" off the top to make its size more comparable to our other stockings, plus made my own fabric hanger, rather than use a ribbon.

 

Drawstring bags - Used Jeni's pattern of course. I'd really planned to make oodles of these, but so far have only managed to make the two that have already been gifted. oh well. The dotty one is The Project Bag (13"  tall x 8") and the bird one is The Snack Bag (8" tall x 4.5").

 

Zakka potholders - Used some DS prints and plaid along with some white Essex.

Zakka frame purse - just for fun. I adore this pattern.

Infinity scarf - Not very photo friendly, but fun to make. I referred to a tutorial by Nancy Zieman, plus got some help from Heather. I'll keep trying to get a decent photo - love the voile I used - first real item I've sewed using voile.

Frame purse - I confess I love how this one turned out with fussy cut Field Study poppies. 

 

Lining is Nordic Diamond by heaven & helsinki. Sorry I only managed to get the thread in focus, but my tiredness precluded me from popping the camera card back in and trying again. At least you get a peek at the contrasting interior. It makes it, imho.

Ongoing projects

Modern Crosses quilt - No progress but top priority once Christmas is done! Serious.

Zakka frame purse without the pleat - I set it aside for a bit, so still working at stitching that frame on.

A stocking for hubby - Not sure why I decided he needed a new stocking this year, but I'll be using Camille Roskelley's Merry pattern (the zig-zag one), so am working on piecing some hst's. Shouldn't take long once those are done.

Plus other Christmas surprises are in the works!

Upcoming projects
* more Christmas!
* more frame purses
* Ruby Star Wrapping - pillowcase pouches + ??
* Binary quilt using blocks from Modern Blocks Bee
* scrappy Metrolink - January?
* Polaroid block projects - January?
* placemats

Linking up with W.i.P. Wednesday.

W.i.P. Wednesday

Two weeks from this W.i.P. Wednesday, Christmas will be over! SO much still to do!

Completed Projects
Ruby Star Wrapping - The Simple Drawstring Bag had a slow start but ended up being just delightful and I hope to make a few more.

December do.Good Stitches blocks - Shown in last week's Random post, they were mailed off today!

More Brrr! Potholders - Love this simple design, and I love making them in pairs!

A Maisy Quilt - This was my proudest finish of the week! Not only is it on my fourth quarter Finish-A-Long list (two done!), but it coordinates with the tree skirt I made last year. In the reveal post where there's plenty of pics, I failed to mention that the initial fabrics came from Nancy Halvorsen's Jingle All the Way, so there are really "Christmas" fabrics in there, though several stash favorites were also included. Unconventional as it is, I'm super pleased with it and love it in our living room.

Ongoing projects
Modern Crosses quilt - It may not look like much, but I have all the remaining blocks started - over 10 yards of continuous piecing! Now time to cut apart and press.{oh joy}

Snack Sack minis - Haven't touched these yet. In addition, I have several other littles in a variety of stages . . .

Falling Flakes stocking - I loved this pattern by imagine gnats, and have the front and back of this one quilted.

A Zakka frame purse without the pleat.

And some Zakka potholders.

Plus other Christmas surprises are in the works!

Upcoming projects
* Christmas!
* more frame purses
* Ruby Star Wrapping
* Binary quilt using blocks from Modern Blocks Bee
* scrappy Metrolink - January?
* Polaroid block projects - January?
* placemats

Linking up with W.i.P. Wednesday.

UR Priceless Blog Hop

Today is my day to participate in the UR Priceless blog hop! A special thank you to Madame Samm from Sew We Quilt, who created this darling pattern. And thanks also to Katherine form Sew Me Something Good who has been cheering all the participants on. Do visit some of the other stops for today. There is such a fun variety of little frame purses.

as sweet as peaches

Deborah B

Birgit H

Fish Creek Studio

A Quilter's Table {you are here!}

Lily Patch Quilts

Cherry Blossoms Quilting Studio

Mary F

Rose Prairie Quilts and Farm

The Desert Rat Chronicles

Sally K

Paris at a Certain Age

From Blank Pages

Quilt Taffy

Barb H

I had made one sew-in frame purse before, but this one was smaller, fitting into a 3" frame. The pattern was full of pics and easy to follow. This was a pretty quick project, and I love the little gusset. The first one I made was a basic "follow the pattern" project, and it turned out so sweet in Violet Craft's lovely Madrona Road.

For the second, I decided to omit the fusible batt called for in the pattern, and use a heavier fabric for the outside (Melody Miller's cotton/linen viewfinders for the front and back, osnaburg for the sides). I love the look, and it sits just fine, but it is pretty 'soft,' convincing me that using the batt was definitely the way to go. Though this method is still totally usable.

For the third little purse, I stitched up a piece of patchwork from a mix of Camille Roskelley's Marmalade, Ruby, and Vintage Modern, fused it to a piece of batt, and then machine-quilted the entire piece before cutting out the pattern pieces for front and back. I adore the look, even though it was kind of tricky turning with the extra structure the quilting gave the piece. Still worth it though.

All in all, this was a very fun little project, and I'd love to try more design options such as some embroidery on the front or some pieced selvages. Unlimited possibilities!

Purchase the pattern here. And 3" sew-in frames are available in a variety of shops, but I purchased mine at I Have a Notion. All the purses made during the hop are also being pinned on Pinterest: UR Priceless Coin Purse Blog Hop.

Linking up with Fabric Tuesday.

W.i.P. Wednesday

There was a moment or two of sewing room crisis this last week when
1) the needle fell out(!) of my sewing machine while I was quilting an upcoming feature project; and 2) after switching to my back-up machine, the walking foot broke(!). Needless to say, my 'good' machine is in the shop for 10 days, getting an unscheduled checkup. And thankfully, the back-up machine is doing straight stitching just fine. W.i.P. Wednesday waits for no one, so on to what I managed to accomplish . . .

Finished projects
Metal Frame Purse - After my fun first glue-in metal frame purse, I really needed to make another right away. Seriously, I can't wait to make another one!

Sew Lux Challenge project - I did manage to finish this up. Once the tutorial is done, it'll go public.

Ongoing projects
Halloween Stitchery - Almost done, then I'll make a sweet little goodie bag with it.

Mod Pop Quilt-along - TWO blocks done!

Christmas lap quilt - Finally got the center 9 blocks sewn together, and 3 of the next set done!

Modern Crosses quilt & Dresden project - Unfortunately, no progress.

Upcoming projects
* October & November bee blocks - soon!
* scrappy Metrolink - who knows when, but I still really want to!
* more frame purses
* Polaroid block projects
* placemats
* Binary quilt using blocks from Modern Blocks Bee
* UR Priceless Blog Hop project - excited to start working on this!
* Christmas!

Linking up with W.i.P. Wednesday.

Metal Frame Purse Take 2

The one hands-on class I took at Sewing Summit was "Metal Frame Purse" with Kelly of kelbysews, who has oodles of cute samples on her blog. Even though I had made one metal frame purse before, it had a sew-in frame.

Basically, these little purses aren't difficult to construct, but I was a bit apprehensive about that glue-in variety!

In reality, it wasn't difficult at all! {Thanks, Kelly!}

So this is my one finish from my time at Sewing Summit. Just a little (8" wide) project, but I have a feeling it'll open a new world as far as making little purses goes.

One of my classmates shared a little trick that, in my opinion, made the final assembly so clean and easy. And that was to top-stitch the entire upper sides and top very close to the edge before sliding the purse into the glue-filled frame. Here, I made another frame purse so I could show you.

That stitching compresses the top edges of the purse just enough to easily slide into the frame, and then, of course, is hidden.

Anyway, I'm kind of fond of my new little achievement, and look forward to trying other shapes and sizes!

Linking up with Finish it Up Friday, Off Friday, {sew} Modern Monday, and Fabric Tuesday.

W.i.P. Wednesday

Considering I've only been home about 48 hours in the last week, I don't really have much project progress to show, but I do have proof that I met W.i.P. Wednesday's lovely host, Lee, at Sewing Summit, and to me, that's worth something!

Finished projects
Metal Frame Purse - Made in a SS class, I'll share more about this project later in the week.

Ongoing projects
Halloween Stitchery - Got a good start on it.

Mod Pop Quilt-along - I almost have all of my curve blocks sewn, got one full block completed, and am about ready to stitch up another.

Modern Crosses quilt - More piecing done at Sewing Summit open sew!

Christmas quilt and Dresden projects - no progress.

Upcoming projects
* October bee blocks
* scrappy Metrolink - who knows when, but I still really want to!
* more frame purses
* Polaroid block projects
* placemats
* Binary quilt using blocks from Modern Blocks Bee
* Sew Lux Challenge project
* UR Priceless Blog Hop project
* Christmas!

Linking up with W.i.P. Wednesday.