Bags

I decided to get a bit more into bag making as a change.  I have  posted a few things in previous posts, here are a few more.

This a the diaper bag I made for my daughter-in-law.  I'm happy to say that it is being well used!  She doesn't use all the strap options (I didn't think she would) - but they are there if she needs them in the future.  This is a Sincerely Jen pattern called "The One with the Baby".

Front (above).

Back (above)

Side (above).

I bought the grey batik to use for the lining, but I had a request to use something waterproof.  So I used some Denier nylon with the pvc backing.  It's not the best thing to use but I had it.  It's a bit heavy/stiff.  But it seems to be working.  I think next time I'll try to find something lighter but still water resistant.

Inside (above).

Jess's Mom asked for a little phone/purse.  I made an experimental one last year but she wanted it to be a bit more protective of the phone - it was one layer of fabric.  So I did this one - again with Denier that I had.  She says this one is too stiff.  So I'll do a different one using regular fabric but will put some fusible fleece.  That will be coming up in the list in the next little while.  For this one I hacked an OhOh pattern called "Buddy ID Pouch".

I made this purse about a year ago (below).  I've been using it all that time and it's starting to get a bit grubby so time for a new one.  I've been super happy with it.  Another Sincerely Jen pattern called "On a Break Crossbody".

Then this year I signed up for the Bag of the Month Club.  This is the bag for January.  It's an Emmaline Bags pattern called "Mountain Saddle Bag". (below)

Here is the Feb pattern called "The Hope Handbag" by MrsH. (below)

Front (above)

Back (above)

Bottom (above) - hard to see them but there are little "feet" on the bottom.

And March - "The Tumbleweed Toiletry Tote" by Blue Calla.  This one was particularly interesting as it has a "train case" bottom compartment.  I'd never heard that term before, but if you look closely, you can see there is a top part that is more or less like a regular purse and then the zip around the middle opens into a second compartment that has a little mesh zip pocket on the top (which is the bottom of the top compartment).  Does that may any sense????

Front (above)

Back (above)

Opened from the top looking down (above).

Middle zip opened and looking in the "train case" bottom section - the mesh zip pocket is on the top part here (above).

So that's my round up of recent bags.  There will be more in the future.

Easy and Kiddy Quilts

For the last couple of years I have seriously been trying to work through the older stuff in my stash.  With the pandemic, I have been able to use quite a bit of the really old/ugly (the what was I thinking? fabric) in charity related items (masks, scrub bags, etc.).  But I still have quite a bit of stuff that I like, but just want to get out of my cupboard.  I'm getting there.

I love penguins and had a little stash of penguin fabric, which included this panel.  It made up into a very cute little kiddy quilt.  Initially, I would have found a "worthy" recipient as we didn't have any little people in our lives.  But then, our youngest son and his wife presented us with a little granddaughter!  So she will get this quilt eventually.  

And (below) a close up of the quilting.  I cross hatched the 2" squares and then treated the panel as if it was applique.

Here is another panel - picked up at the Red Deer quilt show a few years ago (probably 5 or 6!).  Halloween themed.  I've got a bunch of Halloween quilts now - not quite sure what I was thinking - but the fabric is so darn cute and a lot of it was on sale, of course.  Anyway, about 3 or 4 Halloween quilts later, I think I've used most of it.

And below are some shots of the quilting.

Here we are, back with penguins.  Two penguin prints.  I cut each piece into as many 6" squares as would go.  I literally used my 6" x 24" ruler so the squares actually finish at 5 1/2".  Then I framed them.  This is a super simple and fast quilt but I really love the finished look of it!  Just goes to show the KISS principle rules!

I liked the penguins so much, I decided to do exactly the same thing with a bunch of New Zealand themed FQs that I picked up on our NZ trip a few years ago.

And with the left over NZ prints, I made the quilt below.  There were some "whole" squares, but I had to piece quite a few of them.  My initial idea was to frame in alternating black and white, but at the last minute, I decided to make coloured frames (resulting in the quilt above).  So for the second one, I thought I'd try my B/W idea (with the exception of using some blocks that were left over from the first quilt - no way was I going to take them apart and reframe them!).  In the end, I was very happy I decided on the coloured frames, I like them a lot better than the B/W below.  What do you think?

And I had to dig around to find some pix of the quilting, but I did!

And another panel.  This one has a bit of a story.  Our nephew requested a baby quilt for his wife's niece's baby.  I figured I could do a fast quilt starting with a panel so went out and got this panel especially for their quilt after determining that the Mom likes giraffes.  If you look closely, you'll see a giraffe in the panel.  But why make something easy when you can make it hard?  I spent quit a bit of time making then quilting this quilt.  In the end, I liked it too much to give away and I would have had to charge a LOT for it - probably more than they were willing to pay.  So I decided to keep it for my granddaughter (she's going to have a pile of quilts!)  Then I went out and got a second panel (the same one) and framed it with a few rows of squares and some simple quilting.  I didn't even get a pix of that one before I mailed it!

So there you go - the moral of the story here is for a fast kid's quilt, start with a panel and keep the framing and quilting simple.  Also, for a very effective but easy quilt for novelty prints, just cut them into large squares and frame them!

Tula Pink - Eye Spy

This is an either you'll love it or hate it kind of quilt.  I think.  I have ended up with quite a few Tula Pink prints - left from the butterfly and added to.  I decided to make a quilt where I fussy cut the design elements for most of the blocks - hence the "Eye Spy" title.  No pattern - made it up as I went - same process I use for T-shirt quilts only with maybe a bit more control. 

Some quilting detail is below.