Super Autumn Super Tote

A few months ago I followed along with an auction on Instagram that was raising money for a charity called Courage House. From their website "Courage House isn’t just a house; it is a home. A safe, loving environment for children who have been rescued out of sex trafficking." 

When I heard they were doing another auction, I wanted to do something to help. And so, with the changing of the seasons, this Super Autumn Super Tote (pattern by Noodlehead) was born. I was a little worried about the color combo at first but I absolutely love how it turned out. Hopefully you do too, so you can bid on it! 

There is a layer canvas between the outer fabric and the orange lining so it's pretty heavy duty. You'll be able to haul all of your gear around, no problem! I used a nice big zipper meant for a parka so it's pretty easy to open and close and there are more of the goldfish lining the outside pocket..

I hope you'll visit the auction on Wednesday and bid on this or any of the over 100 other items. There is so much great stuff up for grabs and you'll be making a difference in a girl's very difficult young life.

Allison

Free Motion Friday: SEAM swap

Earlier this week I showed you my Diamonds in Diamonds mini that I had made with ayliN-Nilya's newest pattern. Now it's time to see all of the fun quilting I was able to do with it!

First up was the blue sections. I wanted to exaggerate those curves so I free motion quilted some curved grids in each of those.

In the yellow and white portions of the big diamond, I tried my best to copy the pattern of those cute little seed pods. It's pretty hard to see from the front but I love the way they look from the back! Here's a side by side comparison of the print and how it looks on the back.

In the green center, I needed something but I wasn't sure what. I ended up doing some straight lines in the diamond and then tried a few ribbon curves. I need to keep working on that one.

For the background, I used my regular foot (my walking foot and I don't get along) to sew half inch and quarter inch straight lines. Overall, I really love how this turned out!

Have a happy Free Motion Friday!

Allison

Diamonds in Diamonds

I was able to test ayliN-Nilya's new pattern, Diamonds in Diamonds, over the past few weeks and I really love how it turned out.

There are two versions included when you buy the pattern - one with straight lines and one with curves. I decided to go for it with the curves on this Botanics fabric version but I have a straight one in the works with some of my Cotton + Steel goodies.

This one I made into a mini for Yeechi, as part of a swap we did at the Seattle MQG meeting last week. I was lucky enough to take home an awesome pouch made by guild member Michelle.

I'll show more of the quilting on Friday. Have a great week!

Allison

Rockstar Bag

Sara Lawson of Sew Sweetness has a new bag pattern out and I was lucky enough to be one of her testers. She writes great bag patterns and even has a book out (and another on the way I hear) called Big City Bags so I knew the Rockstar Bag would be a good pattern to work with. Sara does a lot of fun sew-alongs on her blog that you should check out as well!

I knew I wanted to use this Lizzy House print for the outside of the bag but I only had a half yard minus a chunk and the pattern called for 3/4 yard. With some incredibly careful cutting and patience, I was able to get all of the visible outer pieces I needed. Yay! 

I paired it with this super pretty Andover Chambray and then a really fun older Alexander Henry print (see picture below) for a fun surprise on the inside of the bag.

There are lots of pockets, including the zippered flap on the front of the bag which would be perfect for change - as long as I can remember to zip it shut each time. There are also 2 large zip pockets inside the bag.

My biggest difficulty with this pattern came from the padding - I went with headliner foam (you can get it at Joann's with the utility fabric) instead of the recommended Soft and Stable. It would have been fine except that I used it foam-side out on a few of the pieces. The foam is not a fan of gliding through the sewing machine with ease so I had to put tissue paper under it for Every. Single. Seam. And then rip out the tissue paper from the seam. Ugh. Lesson learned - foam goes against the fabric from now on!

You should definitely check out the Rockstar Bag pattern. Don't forget to link up your versions in Sara's Flickr group!

Allison

Free Motion Friday: Serger cover

Earlier this year, I participated in a Flickr swap called the Sewing Room Swap where we were to make something for our partner's sewing room. My partner had requested a serger cover and I had a great time thinking up the perfect design. Luckily, I have a serger of my own to model for me.

I decided I wanted to make something with a lot of negative space to show off some free motion quilting. I made a row of colorful plus blocks and left the rest a blank canvas to play with.

I ended up quilting pebbles around the plus blocks to make them stand out. I left the blocks and plusses unquilted.

On the sides, I did wavy horizontal lines but I wanted something a bit more fun for the rest of the cover. I searched The Inbox Jaunt until I found this Double Loop Vine tutorial. It was perfect! I drew some guidelines and went to town.

I have to say, I'm pretty happy with how this one turned out. It was a little hard to send it off but I think my partner was happy with it as well.

Allison

That time I won a blue ribbon at the fair

A few weeks ago I read a blog post about why we, modern quilters, should enter more quilts in the local fairs. It was a great post and I really wish I had pinned it because of course I cannot find it now.  [Update: it was this post from Right Sides Together] Anyhow, it inspired me to look up a few of the local fairs around where I live. It just so happened that the deadline for the one closest to me, the Evergreen State Fair, was just a few days later so I went for it.

I ended up submitting 2 quilts and a bag. The first, Crossknot, came from a pattern by Aria Lane. It was the first quilt where I have free motion quilted the whole thing, and also conveniently worked for the Seattle Modern Quilt Guild's binary show last January.

Today was the last day of the fair and the first day I've actually been able to go. It was pretty cool to walk into the sewing building and have this be one of the first things I see.

And that ribbon! First place in my category - though, to be fair, it may have been the only one in the category. As I looked around, there was a ribbon on everything. Womp, womp. But still - first place for me! 

As I turned around, I saw my mini quilt that I had made for a contest a few months ago with Timeless Treasures and Dear Stella. Another blue ribbon! LOL.

There were several quilts there to see, in all different styles.

There was one other item I took as long as I was making the drive out to the fair, my purple and grey cargo duffle (in the lower right of the picture). There were no winners for that category so everyone got a participation ribbon. It's quite a variety of styles.

After the sewing stuff, we checked out some delicious fair food (a foot of bacon drizzled with peanut butter and chocolate!!) and some cute animals before calling it a day. Oh, and a few other fun things like the hamster-like balls on water. I would TOTALLY go on those if they were bigger!