Sewing and a Bit of Quilting

I joined the Potholder Pass 8 swap recently (Last year, I did PP3, they've done quite a few since I last participated!). I joined to swap potholders and a reusable grocery bag. The bags people were making in round 7 were so cute that I couldn't not participate in round 8. I've started working on my projects already.

For my potholder partner who likes flying geese, bright colors and modern quilting, I am working on a flying geese potholder. I've got a cool print with lemons on it for the backing. I'm not sure if I'll just quilt in the ditch or do something else. I'm going to think about it a bit. The other potholder (we need to make a pair) will be square in a square blocks with white in the center square and rainbow colors as the corner triangles (I think). For both potholders I want to use metal grommets or eyelets this time instead of a hanging tab.

My partner also likes linen so I thought I'd make her a little something extra--a bag. I've been wanting to work through my bag book, The Bag Making Bible, so I started with the easiest bag and added a lining to it. Not surprisingly, linen can be a bit challenging to sew with! Zigzagging the edges of a stretchy shifting fabric=frustrating.

As I mentioned, I'm also swapping reusable grocery bags. I decided to make the Jane Market Bag by Alicia Paulson because every review of the pattern was so glowing, and the bag is super cute. I can concur that it is a great pattern with clear instructions and it's a pretty fast bag to make. I enjoyed this a lot and will be making more. I decided to use a featherweight fusible interfacing on the sides (the blue floral) to give the bag a bit more stability.

And a bit of Quilting!

I completed another block for my Lotus tile quilt. Five of nine blocks are now done and it finally feels like I'm getting somewhere. My needleturn applique skills still have quite a ways to go (especially when it comes to corners), but I feel like I'm improving.

I've learned that I really need to use a heavy-weight vinyl overlay to help me with piece placement. I tried a clear vinyl shower curtain (I was trying to be cheap) and cutting apart plastic protector sheets but neither of them worked well. I finally broke down and bought a yard of furniture vinyl and it's MUCH better because it is flat and doesn't stretch or shift about as easily.

The One Block Wonder quilt is temporarily on hold until I get these swap projects done. It feels good to be nearing the point of having the sections all pieced together! I'm looking forward to border auditions soon!

Quilting Mode

I've noticed that I can never fully give my energy all at once to the three crafts I love doing most: knitting, quilting/sewing, and crochet. One or two of them always get more attention while the others are sort of neglected. For a long time, knitting was taking precedence but since spring began, I've been wanting to quilt. I cleared off my design wall and put this One Block Wonder quilt on it, which I started back in November of 2008.


Then:

Now:

I just finished piecing the blocks into rows, so now I need to put the rows together. I'm toying with using a black border with an accent strip running down the middle that would be blue, pink, etc.

I told myself I couldn't start any more quilts until I finished this one. Then I rationalized that it was okay to try out a block I wanted to experiment with that I was admiring in the Japanese + and x quilt along on flickr.

Then I made another, and another...

Hmm.