A Devon Pouch

I'm not a perfectionist, not really. I did tear the zipper out of the first pouch I made for the Sewtopia Swap, twice, but I'm not a perfectionist. And yes, if you were reading closely, you caught that "first" I put in front of pouch. Which strongly implies there is, in face, a second. And if you caught that, you would be right, but it doesn't make me a perfectionist, it really doesn't.

The thing is, I was just really questioning the pouch I made. It wasn't my best work. I didn't like it. I tried, and I thought I was making good choices, but it just didn't work. First, I accidentally cut the embroidered panel too narrow, so I had to make the pouch more narrow than intended. Well, the actual first was the fact that I chose the wrong color thread for the dark linen I embroidered. But, instead of redoing it at the time, like an intelligent person, I persevered. I reasoned that sometimes things don't seem like they're going to turn out until you're done and then they're fine! I reasoned that it was a gift for a random person I don't even know and it was very possible they would LOVE it. I reasoned that if I made a matching chapstick key fob, and filled the pouch with extras, it would make up for the deficiencies I saw in the pouch.

But all the reasoning I could muster couldn't change the fact that I did not like the pouch I had made and I felt badly giving something I did not like in a swap. 

So, I made a new one.

Pouches really don't take all that long, I probably spent more time talking myself out of making another one than I did actually making another one. 

I tried to do better work on this one. I added tabs to the zippers on the top. I used good fabric (even though it was all scraps). I did all the right things. 

And I love how it turned out. If you did a blind swap right, you shouldn't want to give away what you make, and that's exactly how I feel right now. 

I have to keep telling myself, I can make another one. I can make another one 

I used the Devon Pouch pattern by Sotak Handmade and it went much better than the pyramid pouches. I used a Rifle Paper Co print for the focal fabric on the front, a natural linen for the exterior, and blossom fabric from Riley Blake in green for the interior. I have more of all of it, so I really can make another one if I feel so inclined. 

I'm so glad I went ahead and did it.

And now, I'm starting work on my Super Secret Swap project. 

Spoiler: I decided to make MYSELF a super secret swap project 😂

I was going to sign up, because I want to fully participate in Sewtopia. BUT, I decided that instead, I'd just make exactly what I wanted for myself. So I'm making a Sandhill Sling and I'm using the good fabric, including a floral canvas by Rifle Paper Co for the focal print on the front and a cute stamp print from the Bon Voyage line by Rifle Paper for the interior. It's going to be GREAT. And I'm going to buy myself the treats I would want as extras and take them for myself. Yes, it's fun to get surprises picked especially for you. But I wasn't sure if I'd be up to it enough when sign ups happened, and I didn't dare sign up. Of course, I'm doing loads better now, but I didn't want to risk disappointing someone else. Plus, when I looked through past hashtags, people have gone NUTS on their packages and I didn't want to spend $50+ on extras alone. 

So, I'm making a swap package for myself. :) I think it's brilliant. 

I'm in the first prep stage and I always remember at times like this how much I hate interfacing. It's my least favorite part of sewing bags. But, it gives good structure, sigh. Hopefully I'll have a finished bag to show off before too long!

Mid-February Already?!

I don't have any big quilts to post but I have finished a few things, and I'm expecting a couple quilts back from the quilter soon. I have one at my custom quilter's, and she texted a week ago that she was getting started on mine, which is exciting! And I have one at my regular quilter, that is waiting in line for an edge-to-edge. I also have a finished top that I need to decide what to do with; do I want custom quilting, or just a regular panto? Decisions...

Other things I've been working on are pouches for Sewtopia and belated teacher Christmas gifts, which I'm helping my girls sew and which are not done, yet. They are now cut out and pinned, but getting girls to sew when they don't want to is hard. 

I am really excited for Sewtopia, even though I'm going alone...I keep crossing my fingers my friend will get a ticket, but so far she hasn't had any luck on the waitlist. :( I want to participate in the Sewtopia Swap, and I thought it would also be nice to make little pouches for my tablemates, since I don't know anyone...so I've got those done. 

This is the pouch I made for the anonymous swap. It didn't turn out as great as I'd hoped; I used the zipper I had that I thought matched the best among my stash, but it's too light, and the fabric I embroidered on is too dark for the thread I chose. I did use a cool Tula print for the lining, the same one I used to make a chapstick key fob. I hope it's good enough even though it didn't turn out like I'd hoped; I'm finding I'm having a hard time judging because it's different than my expectations.

And these are the pouches I made for my tablemates. I tried the large one first, because I wasn't sure how large it would really be, but it was too big, in my opinion, so I made three of the smaller ones. It's a tricky pattern; I used Sotak Handmade's pattern, and I don't know if I'm doing it wrong or what, but I end up with fabric that isn't completely stitched down. It's basically enclosed, and I guess as long as you don't wash it, it'd probably be fine, but I handstitched it closed because you could also see the stitch lines for the other side through the gap it left. Shrug. It's not my favorite pattern, I'm pretty disappointed, actually. But it's okay. I got them made, and I think they're cute! The fabrics all came from scraps, so score!

We had sewing night last weekend, and I also got a bunch cut out for my Candlelight quilt, so I'm looking forward to starting to sew that. 

Fabric Friday Week 43: February 16

I'm still figuring out my next quilt and one that I've been toying with is another Candlelight quilt, designed by April Ronsenthal, but in color. She emphasizes the value gradient and that it's important to the look of the quilt, but I kind of want to try a color gradient instead. The pattern assumes you're using single cuts, and I don't have any cuts large enough for the fabric requirements, so I pulled out several pieces that are close in color to each other. I'm not sure if this will work or not, I printed out a coloring page for the pattern so I can try it out with colored pencils first. We'll see,,,I've cut it out, and I hope it turns out as pretty as I think it will!

Fabric Friday Week 43: January 26

I've been itching to plan my next project, even though I have started on my 6 petal Hexibore quilt top that I bought fabric for on Black Friday. I'm feeling better about curves, so yay! Anyway, it's a relatively quick project anyway, that I'm still searching for what my next project will be, so I started pulling fabric. Today, my color scheme is an idea for an Interwoven quilt. I saw one that was more earthy colors and loved that it was different than most of the quilts in the feed, so I went that direction.

I pulled these so quickly, but I really think they work well together. After how long it took me to pull fabrics for the Hexibore, I'll take the quickness! :) I think the reason they work so well is that they have a similar value, and a similar earthiness. The only one I might need to rethink is the green. Either the palm or the grass green, they're not quite close enough to the same value. I think either works, but not together. One is either too dark, or the other is too light. 

Terra Cotta Mini

After my stroke, I was itching to get back to the sewing room. I had done a little bit of English paper piecing in the hospital, but machine piecing is my preferred sewing method. But, my first week or so back was definitely time of recovery. I was worn out, I was sore, I wasn't walking very well at all. And I wasn't super confident in my fine motor skills needed for cutting and precision sewing. I was no where near confident to work on curves, which was my current WIP. Oh, and I wasn't limber enough to get down on the floor, so finishing the quilt I had in progress was out, too, since I was piecing rows together at this point. 

So, I had to figure out what to sew that I was up for sewing, and also had all the materials I needed...I toyed with a simple charm pack/HST quilt that's on my list, but I didn't want to use white for the background and didn't have enough of any other fabrics for the background, so that was out. I thought about Interwoven, by Lo and Behold Stitchery, but I didn't have solids and wasn't sure if the prints I picked were small-enough scale, and I read a reviewer who said the pattern required a lot of precision, so that was out. 

I had ordered a random sample pack of mini quilt patterns from Modern Makes (by Alderwood Studio) on Black Friday so I looked at the 5 patterns I was sent. To be honest, the set of patterns I got was pretty disappointing and if anything, it confirmed my decision to not participate in the program. I really only liked 2 out of 5, and 1 was excessively disappointing. Oh well, c'est la vie, non? One that I like is called Terra Cotta and I decided to make it as my first post-stroke project. The great thing about mini quilts is they don't take a lot of fabric, the cutting is minimal, and they wrap up quick. Plus, I can quilt mini quilts on my own machine. I'm not confident enough to quilt big quilts myself, so I send them out. But minis can be completely finished in a few hours. 

Luckily, I had some solids that worked great together and I finished it up a couple weeks ago. After I pieced it, it took me a few days to figure out how to quilt it. I didn't want to just quilt along the pieced style, I felt like that was boring. So I looked at my Walk book, by Jacquie Gering, and found a great design I felt like I could do. 

I'm really happy with how it turned out, and the only frustrating part is that I used a Sewline ceramic pencil to mark lines for quilt guides and I didn't actually get it all out. I tried scrubbing it with water with a microfiber cloth and a toothbrush, I even washed it in my washing machine (air-dried it after to avoid the heat of the dryer). They're faint, so I just gave up. Sadly. Lesson learned, don't use the ceramic pencils for quilt marking! At least for me. 

Fabric Friday Week 42: January 19

I have an absolutely dreadful picture of a rainbow group that I will most likely not use for the purpose I pulled it, but it's a lovely pull and I actually really like it.

Here's the story. 

I had a stroke at the end of November and wound up spending most of December in the ICU. I was fortunate to come home just in time for Christmas, and I've been very lucky that I've made a great recovery. Aside from massive headaches, the only symptom I experienced from the stroke was double vision which resolved early on in my hospital stay. But, after spending three weeks in the hospital, and knowing I had a brain injury, my speed and confidence in my motor skills plummeted. 

Still, I wanted to get back to my sewing room when I was up for it. So early on, I'd visit my sewing room and pet the new fabrics that arrived from my black friday shopping (I was hospitalized when black friday packages arrived) and I tried to figure out a good first project to get back into sewing. I was so stiff I couldn't really do anything that required I get on the floor, or pick things up from the floor, so finishing up a quilt I had left in progress was not going to happen really early (though I have since finished it, so yay!) and another project I've been working on has a lot of curves. Like, a lot. And I wasn't sure I was up to that just yet either. I needed something simple and achievable. 

One of the patterns I had ordered on Black Friday was Interwoven by Lo and Behold and I thought it would be great: it's all straight lines, there's piecing shortcuts, it sounded great, until I was scrolling through Instagram looking at other versions and someone mentioned the precision necessary...I wasn't ready for precision just yet. 

But, I had pulled this bundle before I decided I wasn't up to it. Most Interwoven quilts are made with solids, which is a great modern choice. But I love prints too and if I'm going to my stash, it pretty much has to be prints. I have solids, but not nearly enough for what this quilt would require. 

I think this bundle is great and would look great on this pattern, except for one thing. The pieces are too narrow. The finished width of the strips is only one inch, and the prints would just get lost. It makes me sad, because I think the color and style overall is great, they're just too big. 

I'm sewing a bit better now and I'm feeling better about my coordination, so I'd like to make the quilt, but I'll have to pick some solids I think for it. Or maybe some really small prints, like the speckled line, or some of the other basics by Ruby Star or even Riley Blake. Some of these prints would work, of course. The citrine, I think is small enough, as is the navy Rifle Paper, and the speckled and blossom basics I have in the bundle already. But the pinks are too large scale for sure. We'll see. I do have some other projects that will be ahead of this one if I'm feeling confident. 

Christmas Shimmer

Do you have any patterns you just make repeatedly? I have a few clothing patterns I do this with, but only a couple of quilt patterns I've made more than once. This is one of them. It's Shimmer by Cluck Cluck Sew and it's a really fun sew. I like how it comes together, and it's a style I really enjoy sewing and think looks good. It's not too quick, but it doesn't take a long time and it shows off fabric well. The piece sizes are a good fit for the type of fabrics I usually purchase.

And, if you want, you can fussy cut. This is the first one I've made with fussy cut centers but I picked the pattern for this quilt specifically because the centers were a good size for fussy cutting the fabric I had chosen. 

See, I picked up a cut of a super cute retro style Christmas print at Garden of Quilts in 2022. I just couldn't resist it, even though it's completely NOT my normal style. And then I supplemented it with a few other focal prints...and set out looking for a pattern that would enable me to really show them off. 

Shimmer has centers that are a great size for the scale of these prints. The center is large enough there's a good amount of space so the entire selection can usually fit, but not so large that there's a lot of extra space around it. 

This is decidedly unlike my other Christmas quilts.

But I don't care, I love how it turned out. And I have a bit more of the focal prints so maybe I'll be making another quilt sometime in the future so it has a buddy...hmm...