Thursday, February 28, 2013

Another Finish

I made a tote bag to teach in class at Viking next month.  I call it a String Tote Bag.  I used strings (small strips of fabric I used to throw away) to make blocks which became the front pocket of the bag.  There are several pockets inside also.  I finished it while at work today and left it there as a sample of my class.  We will take three classes, one each week, to make the string blocks (which a lot of people have never tried) and then to put the bag together.  I am working again on Saturday so I will take pictures of it then.  I am using this blog to document all my finishes this year.  I have never done that before.

Friday, February 15, 2013

Another Quilt Top Finished

 I know that I haven't posted recently.  I've been busy with many things.  The first weekend of February I went to retreat with my very best friends.  We spent three days at Cedar Lakes in Ripley, WV sewing and eating and talking and laughing.  I worked on the blocks for the quilt pictured here.  This is a pattern I found in a 2007 magazine.  I like to go thru my old magazines every now and then.  I usually find something I overlooked before, or else my tastes change and I get interested in something different.  I liked the scrappy look of this one, and I liked that Judy Laquidara designed it.  It is called Topsy Turvy Nine-Patch, and that is such a good name for it!  I started out putting together the nine-patches out of my scrap bins while making my Tropical Punch quilt top.  I had a little trouble with the brown/beige half-rectangle triangle (I don't know what else to call it).  Judy said to foundation-piece it but I won't do that unless I can't figure out any other way to do it.  Fortunately, the pieces were cut over-sized so I soon learned how to piece them.  I had almost no beige fabric left, but I had enough brown for the top.  I am backing it with the same brown fabric, and I will probably bind it with the brown also.  I love the border on this one!  I will definitely use the border again on other quilts.  And all the border pieces fit - exactly as Judy designed it!  Judy has a book out featuring borders, and I think I will get it soon.  I have made several of her designs and I have loved every one.  I hope to deliver this quilt top to my favorite long-arm quilter in the next few days, and she usually gets them back to me with little delay.  I can't wait!