Baby steps forward

 Between work and watching the inauguration yesterday, I didn't get much sewing done.  I had good intentions, but it just didn't happen. 

One of the hard steps in making the Sew Together bag is stitching those pockets into the folds of the end sections.  The other difficult thing is then sewing that end to the quilted bag front along with the binding that encloses the raw edges. LOTS of layers of fabric.

The end looks a little rumpled right now, but once I've had a chance to apply a bit of steam it will be better.  However, normally I manage to push each of those "pleats" so they lay in the same direction, but this one just wouldn't cooperate.  

It's ready for the final step of putting on the top zipper and the binding that makes the finished edges and the handles.  That is a much quicker step because there are NOT lots of layers to sew through.  

This is Sew Together bag #16.  I posted about #15 on May 1, 2020. http://mysewingroomsara.blogspot.com/2020/05/sew-together-bag-15.html

Cat bag progress

 I made a little progress on the Laurel Burch cat bag.  The pockets and lining are ready to add the end sections.   Usually I've purchased colored zippers that blend better with the lining, but I was able to buy a large bag of white 9" zippers recently.  And the closest place to buy zippers otherwise is 70 miles away, so it seemed like a good option.  They are inside the bag and the only zipper that is outside will match the bag colors much better. 

I love that black lining with the stars. It makes me think of the art projects for kids where they scratch off the black coating to reveal the colors and picture underneath.  And the orange batik looks great against the cat fabric of the outer part of the bag.  

Next steps are the hardest - stitching through many layers of fabric to attach those end sections to the lining and pockets, and then adding the edge binding and attaching to the quilted outer bag.  Lots of thick seams make for slow stitching. 

 

Stay At Home Round Robin

I know I shouldn't start something else new, but . . . I couldn't resist.  For the past week I've been seeing info about SAHRR - Stay At Home Round Robin - online, and have been very intrigued.  I've enjoyed the round robin and row robin projects our guild has done in the past.  This one will be done by ourselves, but with a different person assigning each new round.  

Check out the information here:

https://quiltinggail.com/2021/01/01/sahrr-pronounced-stay-at-home-round-robin/

Early Monday morning I checked out the info on the 1st Round.  The host recommended we go to each of the "co-hosts" to see how they interpreted the instructions.  That is what finally convinced me to dive in.  Each of the 7 designers had unique ideas for the piano keys assigned for Round 1, and each of them used totally different center blocks, even different sizes. 

So, I had a couple of orphan blocks tucked into a labeled project box that would make excellent center squares.  This one is the 9" Jackknife block that Bonnie Hunter had in a fall issue of Quiltmaker magazine, and she has recently been showing 2-color blocks she's working on using this pattern.

https://quiltville.blogspot.com/2021/01/weekend-projects-mystery-thoughts.html

I have to admit that I tried out the block, but had some major issues getting the hourglass sections the right size even though usually the hourglass is so easy.  I cut them wrong the first time, and again a second time due to not following the instructions properly.  Once frustrated with the block it went into the orphan block box, possibly never to be seen again.  But yesterday I decided it could maybe be rescued with this project.  Luckily I had enough of that little dot fabric in the scraps to add the 1.5" border, and found 4 little red squares in my postage stamp tin. It felt like it needed that border to stop the eye before adding anything.  Next came 2.5" piano keys and dark blue corner squares. I had to sliver trim the piano key border lengths to fit but that's OK.  

This finished block is now 13.5" square and is hanging on the design wall waiting for next week's new round assignment.  The nice thing with this SAHRR is no pressure.  I can choose to add a round or not depending on whether I like it or can come up with an idea for it.  

Design Wall Monday - January 18

 The project that is front and center for later today is another Sew Together bag.  The interfacing is now attached to the end sections and the lining pieces.  So now it's ready for the next step, which are the 3inside pockets with zippers.  

The ends are that orange batik and the linings are the black batik with stars.  I have a deep purple for the edge bindings and handles.  I think this will be a really cute little bag.

I've linked up with https://smallquiltsanddollquilts.blogspot.com/ for my Design Wall fun.

No sewing has happened around here since last Wednesday.  We had planned to leave Friday mid-morning to drive to Omaha to meet our niece and husband at a college basketball game.  We are all Jackrabbit alumni and fans, and our Jacks women were playing the University of Nebraska Omaha Mavericks on Friday and Saturday afternoons.  Well . . . a winter storm was moving quickly toward us, and our niece suggested we drive down on Thursday. So we left right after lunch. Good thing we did since I-29 was closed by 10 PM that night. 

The basketball games were fun - with ugly wins both days.  And the evenings were a blast with card games.  On Friday night we played Shanghai where the object is to build various sets and runs of cards. Each player has 3 chips to "buy" a discard out of turn.  A great game!  And on Saturday we played a different card game -Tripoli.  And her husband loves to cook so he kept us filled up with yummy food the whole weekend.  

It was a wonderful escape.  We felt very safe since my niece has already had Covid, and her husband is tested frequently at work including twice in the past week.  Both work mostly from home these days anyway.  And the basketball arena required masks and social distancing, and had fewer than 300 fans. 

When we got home on Sunday afternoon we saw the effects of the terrible wind that came with that storm.  For the second time this year, very strong winds have tipped over the buffalo statue on this street corner here in Mitchell.  The buffalo and steer statues are a long time fixture on a corner just north of the interstate.  Thank goodness that steer is more solidly anchored.   

 

Sewing & winter storms

Thursday afternoon we were under a winter storm watch (soon to be warning) which put a kink into my plans.  And it's all about me, right?  Mother Nature has been showing her multiple personalities lately.  Tuesday and Wednesday were nearly 50 degrees, which isn't normal for South Dakota in January.  Thursday the wind began to howl - tipping over semis on the Interstate type of wind, and the schools east and north of us began to close early.  So we pushed up our "road trip" to Thursday afternoon which meant I didn't get to sew.  But I'll survive.

Those flannel pillowcases are now finished and ready to mail to 2 kiddos in Australia.  Flannel may not have been the best fabric choice for their locale, but it was what I could find at the time.  The Hogwarts theme should make them happy, as they have just begun to read the first Harry Potter book with their parents.  

The only other thing I have to show is the "test block" I made for the Grassy Creek mystery.  Where my navy blue is, Bonnie Hunter had red. And she had orange where I put purple.  Otherwise I kept her colors of gold, grey, green.  It's not bad as is, but I may make another block with the "right" colors and see if I like it better.  

Lunch hour sewing

 Getting more organized this past couple of weeks has helped me when I only have a short amount of time to sew on any given day.  

I've long made monthly, and sometimes weekly, sewing goals and posted them on the blog.  List making has always been one of my "go to" ways to stay on task with work or at home.  So, this month I copied those January goals from my blog and printed them.  That list is now hanging right by my ironing board where I can see it at all times.  

On Wednesday I mostly had my lunch hour to sew, and when I walked in I checked the list for something quick to work on.  The pillowcases were already kitted up and in a labeled box, so I had a ready made project.

The cuffs are now on 2 of the 6 pillowcases kitted up in the box.  When done, there will be 2 of the flannel Hogwarts/Harry Potter pillowcases for my niece's kids in Australia.  And there will be 2 of the zebra pillowcases for the spring birthdays of my granddaughters.  I left off the contrasting trim on the flannel cases because it would have added to much bulk in the seam.  And yes - the flannel has been washed and dried before making these.  Side note - I really do NOT like sewing on flannel.  

One other quick project was to sew the 4 Blossom Time tulip blocks I had made this week into a "quad" block.  This ends up being 13" once the 1" sashing is added between these little tulips.  This is the 7th quad set that is done.  And I love, love, love how cute and cheerful these totally scrappy blocks are. 

More organizing

Somewhere in my sewing room was a gallon ziplock baggie full of zippers.  Where had I put it last spring when I made the most recent Sew Together bags?  I needed to find the zippers to see if I had a purple one long enough for the next Sew Together bag.  And the search caused a little more organizing to occur, which is good.

And yes - I found the bag of zippers and yes, there was a long purple one just perfect for the next Sew Together bag.  The kit was something I put together a couple of weeks ago, along with sorting the parts and pieces for a couple more.  The Laurel Burch fabrics are all so wonderful and I've been hoarding this cat print for just the right project.  This should be a very cute bag. 

I had this lovely big basket up on a shelf and now it's holding the kits I've gathered for bags and aprons.  Tucked into the front is a ziplock bag full of the zipper pulls and other things I've purchased to use with bags.  And there is still room to add all the zippers, so everything is together but not in a messy pile.

When I found the zippers in a drawer, hiding under it was another gallon bag holding a forgotten project called Bricks and Stepping Stones.  These blocks were a wrinkly mess, but I pressed them and they look pretty good.  The "bricks" are all children's prints left over from baby quilts and burb cloths I made over the years.  This could be an I Spy kind of quilt once it's done.  

And in the bag with the blocks was this big stack of bricks, already cut and there was a photo of a finished quilt that I had obviously printed off the Internet so I would remember what I was making.  I'm wondering if maybe this quilt belonged to Lorri 2 R's, and that I "borrowed" her photo.  

Bricks and Stepping Stones is one of Bonnie Hunter's free patterns found on her website.  Go to: https://quiltville.blogspot.com/p/free-patterns.html .  It's made with 2" squares or strips of black and white to make 4-patches (3.5" size), and 3.5" by 6.5" rectangles.  It's a simple pattern and the bricks are cut, so it's going onto my UFO list so it has a chance of being completed.