Travel Bag

This week will be my first Quilt Con, and to mark the occasion I made a new carry on bag.

I drew up this pattern to work with a fat quarter bundle that I had of Tula Pink’s Elizabeth line along with some denim scraps that I had from another project. The effect is unified, yet scrappy. The front and back of the bag are identical with a zipper pocket and an open pocket behind it. Behind each zipper pocket is a section of coordinating fabric that was pieced in to help stretch the main bag fabric.

The bag is quilted in sections to allow all of the raw edges to be enclosed as the bag came together. The final construction seams attach the bag front and back to the side panel. These seams are stitched with the seam allowances toward the exterior of the bag which will help to give a bit of extra structure to this soft case. The raw edges are enclosed using a custom made bias tape from one of the striped fat quarters in the Tula Pink bundle.

I am excited to take this bag on its inaugural voyage this week so I will have a better idea of what adjustments I should make if I were to create this design again. If you are at QuiltCon, I hope to have a chance to meet you and perhaps exchange buttons!

Goal #8 is Complete!

Bionic Bag

Posted on January 5, 2016January 5, 2016 by thenotsodramaticlifeadmin / Posted in Bags and Pouches / 6 Comments

Last year I made myself a Bionic bag, then I made one for my Mom, and at that point I was having so much fun with them I started another. About 2/3 of the way through, I got distracted (that happens way too often!) and this bag ended up as a UFO for several months.

When it was time for the holiday party at my local quilt guild, I pulled the semi-finished bag out to finish for our gift exchange.

The pattern for the Bionic Bag is by RipStitcher and is available on Craftsy. The directions are extensive, but the construction of the bag is pretty staight-forward, and there are a lot of photographs included in the instructions. I love that this bag has room for practically every sewing notion you could ever need- it goes with me everywhere!

I chose the fabric for the bag exterior first and used that color scheme to select the interior fabrics. There are so many opportunities to play with color on this project, so I used a wide range of colors and prints.

My favorite wrapping paper came out for this gift, and I pulled out some scraps to make a flower decoration.

It was a very popular item in our variation of “Bad Santa!”

Goal #28 is finished!

The Whole is Greater Than the Sum of Its Parts

Posted on January 4, 2016January 4, 2016 by thenotsodramaticlifeadmin / Posted in Finished Quilts, Quilt Shows, Quilting / 11 Comments

I want to start 2016 off on a high note, so I decided the perfect first post of the year would be to share the quilt that will be heading to QuiltCon.

“The Whole is Greater Than the Sum of Its Parts” is based on a Mini Quilt that I designed last summer, and is constructed in a similar manner.

Violet Calm Mini Quilt

The central circle is created by assembling rectangles with strips of the white background fabric between the pieces. Once this initial construction is complete, I cut the circle out of the assembled fabrics. I used extra wide backing fabric for both the front and back of the quilt. A circle with a 1/2″ smaller radius is cut from the quilt front, allowing for the seam allowance required to machine piece the circle in the quilt top.

I used matchstick quilting in colors matching the fabrics the stitching passes through to draw the centralized design out to the edges of the quilt. Most of the quilting is horizontal, but one section of vertical quilting add energy to the piece.

I really love the way the quilting looks, but this technique did result in thousands of thread tails to bury- I’m pretty sure that took longer than the actual quilting!

The binding is made of bias strips comprised of violet fabrics that are used in the central circle. In the next couple of days I will be adding a hanging sleeve and label so it can head off to Pasadena!

I’m linking up with Sew Cute Tuesday at Blossom Heart Quilts. Please stop by to see all of the lovely work being shared!

Quilt Stats

Title: The Whole is Greater Than the Sum of Its Parts

Size: 63.25″ x 66″

Techniques: Machine Piecing

Quilting: Matchstick quilting done with a walking foot on a domestic Bernina 1008

Fabric: Quilt shop quality prints in shades of violet and magenta, extra wide white cotton

Batting: Warm and White Cotton batting

Thread: Pieced with white Gutermann Mara 100. Quilted with 50wt cotton Aurifil in colors to coordinate with the fabrics they are stitching through

Binding: Scrappy Violet fabrics, cut on the bias in 2″ wide strips, machine stitched to the front, hand stitched to the back

Goal #24 is finished!

Simply Starred Mini Quilt

Posted on October 28, 2015 by thenotsodramaticlifeadmin / Posted in Finished Quilts, Quilt Shows, Quilting / 15 Comments

A few months ago I signed up for my first Instagram mini quilt swap, and it is currently wrapping up. Now that my partner has received the mini I made, I thought I would share it here.

This quilt is also my entry into the Mini Quilt Category in the Blogger’s Quilt Festival at Amy’s Creative Side.

The pattern for this quilt is an original design that I drafted using AutoCad to create the foundation paper piecing templates. It is pieced in eight wedge shaped segments and then the corners and borders are added.

There are 83 different fabrics used in this mini quilt, 80 of which form the star. Each color is intended to flow into the next which results in a rainbow effect for the central image.

The quilting in the central star is done using a walking foot on my domestic machine with threads which coordinate with the fabric. Pebble quilting fills the negative space and was done on an A-1 longarm machine. I love it when I have the opportunity to juxtapose organic elements with straight lines, and I was pleased with how the pebbling creates a delightful textural element. The multicolored threads transfer a subtle version of the rainbow effect to the back of the quilt.

Striped binding cut on the bias frames this piece, and I used the same fabric to frame the handwritten label for the quilt.

Quilt Stats

Title: Simply Starred

Size: 19.5″ x 19.5″

Techniques: Foundation Paper Piecing

Quilting: The center star is machine quilting using a walking foot on a Bernina 1008, and the negative space is free motion quilted using a stitch regulated mode on the A-1 Elite Longarm

Fabric: 83 different quilting cottons

Batting: Warm and White cotton batting

Thread: Pieced using 100wt InvisaFil by WonderFil, quilted with assorted 50wt cotton quilting threads from WonderFil, Aurifil, Mettler, and Connecting Threads

Binding: Striped fabric in 2″ wide strips made using continuous bias techniques, machine stitched to the quilt front, hand stitched to the back

What was new?

A new foundation paper pieced pattern

Combining domestic and longarm quilting on a single quilt

Goal #19 is Finished!

Running Hot and Cold: Mini Quilt #29

Posted on August 29, 2015August 28, 2015 by thenotsodramaticlifeadmin / Posted in Finished Quilts, Mini Quilt Mania 2015, Quilting / 6 Comments

Fabric Modification is something that I really enjoy doing, but I haven’t been experimenting much lately. So once I started having fun with the fabric for Fading Florals, I decided to keep going and give Suminagashi a try.

This marbling technique uses a nontoxic ink that floats on the surface of water. Using a paintbrush, I touched the surface of a shallow tray of water in several areas with one color of ink. When the next color of ink is applied, it causes the first color to move away. Once the surface of the water was mostly covered, I gently blew across the water and ink to increase the movement of the swirls. When I liked the design, I carefully laid a piece of white Kona cotton over the inked surface. The dye takes to the fabric instantly so you can pull it up immediately. Once the fabric is dried, heat set, and hand washed and dried, it is ready for use.

I wanted to have the fabric design be the main feature of the quilt, so I decided on a simple block design. White Kona is used to define the blocks and is the only area of the piece that is quilted. The bands of white are stitched in the ditch and then filled with pebbles.

For the backing of the quilt, I went with a solid peach cotton to reflect the warm colored marbled fabric. The binding draws its color from the cool colored marbling.

Quilt Stats

Title: Running Hot and Cold

Size: 16-3/4″ x 16-3/4″

Techniques: Suminagashi, machine piecing

Quilting: Stitching in the ditch with a walking foot, free motion pebble stitching, both on a Bernina 1008

Fabric: White Kona Cotton, most portions treated with Suminagashi, peach cotton backing, cotton print binding

Batting: Warm and White Cotton Batting

Thread: pieced with 100wt polyester InvisaFil by WonderFil in light grey, quilted with 50wt Wonderfil cotton thread in white

Binding: Bias cut in 2″ widths, machine stitched to the front, hand stitched to the back

What was new?

Suminagashi

Quilt 29 / 50

Goal #6 is finished!